Kelleigh710
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2010
Hi Everyone!,
We just returned from our AMAZING 1 year wedding anniversary trip to the world and dare I say....it was better than the honeymoon! I think with wedding planning you get so pre-occupied that you don't put as much time into the honeymoon. Well, not the case with this trip!
I wanted to do something different for our anniversary and decided that an intimate dining experience is just what the doctor ordered. I must say, it was well worth EVERY penny! The experience from planning to execution was seamless and my husband and I felt like absolute royalty from the moment our butler came to the lobby to greet us. It was among the most magical experiences of my life.
The planning part was super easy. I contacted Pat Anderson at the Grand Floridian and told her I was looking into booking this experience. She works kind of odd hours, so I was suprised to get a phone call from her at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night. She promptly e-mailed the contract to me, along with menu choices. It is my understanding that you can order ANY food from ANY restaurant in the World, it just costs more to go outside the parameters of the menu she gave me. So we ended up choosing a 5 course dinner which consisted of: Lamb Braised Ravioli, Tomato Florentine Soup, Garden Salad with Vinigarette Dressing, Filet Mignon with Truffle Scented Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus, and for dessert, Pastry Swans filled with Dark Chocolate Mousse.
Since we were married in Florida last year, I hired the same stylist that did my hair and make-up for the wedding. This was completely over-indulgent on my part, but it was vacation, right!?
Of course, since we were getting all dolled up, I hired a photographer (not a Disney photographer because they were SO expensive) to take photos of us before dinner in the lobby and on the grounds. Mind you, Grand Floridian has a strict "no outside photographers" rule so our photographer dressed down and said she was a family friend. There were no problems! Keep in mind, you can dress up or dress down for an intimate dinner. There is no dress code because you are the only one's in that dining location. So feel free to wear what you want!
After our lovely photoshoot, we were greeted by our private butler, Bill. We met at the Grand Piano and he greeted me with a single red rose with a light up Tinker Bell attached. We were then escorted to the elevators, and promptly got off on the Concierge Level. We were brought out to the 3rd floor balcony, and it took my breath away!
Sorry for the bad lighting in this pic, but this shows the view we had for the Electrical Water Pageant:
Here is a close-up of our beautiful table:
When I first got to the table, I couldn't help but smile with the personalized touches they had put on our menus!
I was just in awe at this point. We had booked the dinner reservation for a little later than usual so by the time our appetizers had been served, Wishes had already begun. Of course, I was too caught up in the moment to actually take photos of the appetizers or the fireworks, so please forgive me for skipping that part! This is actually the only fireworks pic I have, but it can give you an idea as to the view we had:
I can tell you this much, there was not a morsel of food left on either mine or my husband's plate! Here is a picture of the filet:
For me personally, it was all about the dessert! It was sensational!
I have to say this for our butler Bill and all the staff at the Grand Floridian....they really are the makers of magic. They all did everything they could to make this a magical evening. Bill shared amazing stories of people he has served since starting work in the Grand Floridian in 1988. From providing butler services to Princess Diana, Saudi Arabian Royalty, you name it, and his stories were just so entertaining! My husband had to shake hand LOL!
The cost for something like this can be overwhelming, but at the end of the day, it is a once in a lifetime experience. The cost is $95 per person, $75 for private butler service, tax, gratuity, and drinks. When it was all said and done it all came to $322.00. It may be expensive, but it provided me one of the most romantic nights with the love of my life. I hope you all get to experience it at least once!
We just returned from our AMAZING 1 year wedding anniversary trip to the world and dare I say....it was better than the honeymoon! I think with wedding planning you get so pre-occupied that you don't put as much time into the honeymoon. Well, not the case with this trip!
I wanted to do something different for our anniversary and decided that an intimate dining experience is just what the doctor ordered. I must say, it was well worth EVERY penny! The experience from planning to execution was seamless and my husband and I felt like absolute royalty from the moment our butler came to the lobby to greet us. It was among the most magical experiences of my life.
The planning part was super easy. I contacted Pat Anderson at the Grand Floridian and told her I was looking into booking this experience. She works kind of odd hours, so I was suprised to get a phone call from her at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night. She promptly e-mailed the contract to me, along with menu choices. It is my understanding that you can order ANY food from ANY restaurant in the World, it just costs more to go outside the parameters of the menu she gave me. So we ended up choosing a 5 course dinner which consisted of: Lamb Braised Ravioli, Tomato Florentine Soup, Garden Salad with Vinigarette Dressing, Filet Mignon with Truffle Scented Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus, and for dessert, Pastry Swans filled with Dark Chocolate Mousse.
Since we were married in Florida last year, I hired the same stylist that did my hair and make-up for the wedding. This was completely over-indulgent on my part, but it was vacation, right!?
Of course, since we were getting all dolled up, I hired a photographer (not a Disney photographer because they were SO expensive) to take photos of us before dinner in the lobby and on the grounds. Mind you, Grand Floridian has a strict "no outside photographers" rule so our photographer dressed down and said she was a family friend. There were no problems! Keep in mind, you can dress up or dress down for an intimate dinner. There is no dress code because you are the only one's in that dining location. So feel free to wear what you want!
After our lovely photoshoot, we were greeted by our private butler, Bill. We met at the Grand Piano and he greeted me with a single red rose with a light up Tinker Bell attached. We were then escorted to the elevators, and promptly got off on the Concierge Level. We were brought out to the 3rd floor balcony, and it took my breath away!
Sorry for the bad lighting in this pic, but this shows the view we had for the Electrical Water Pageant:
Here is a close-up of our beautiful table:
When I first got to the table, I couldn't help but smile with the personalized touches they had put on our menus!
I was just in awe at this point. We had booked the dinner reservation for a little later than usual so by the time our appetizers had been served, Wishes had already begun. Of course, I was too caught up in the moment to actually take photos of the appetizers or the fireworks, so please forgive me for skipping that part! This is actually the only fireworks pic I have, but it can give you an idea as to the view we had:
I can tell you this much, there was not a morsel of food left on either mine or my husband's plate! Here is a picture of the filet:
For me personally, it was all about the dessert! It was sensational!
I have to say this for our butler Bill and all the staff at the Grand Floridian....they really are the makers of magic. They all did everything they could to make this a magical evening. Bill shared amazing stories of people he has served since starting work in the Grand Floridian in 1988. From providing butler services to Princess Diana, Saudi Arabian Royalty, you name it, and his stories were just so entertaining! My husband had to shake hand LOL!
The cost for something like this can be overwhelming, but at the end of the day, it is a once in a lifetime experience. The cost is $95 per person, $75 for private butler service, tax, gratuity, and drinks. When it was all said and done it all came to $322.00. It may be expensive, but it provided me one of the most romantic nights with the love of my life. I hope you all get to experience it at least once!
.
