Thank you everyone for the kind comments!
Vendor Reviews I am going to make these relatively short as I just dont have the time to go into too much detail, but if anyone has any specific questions about anyone we worked with while planning our wedding, please feel free to ask!
________________________________________
Disney Fairytale Weddings 9/10
Let me just say I had very high expectations for what my DFTW would be, due to the fact that I had visited on so many occasions and loved the great customer service at Disney, and also because of the hefty price tag. My actual wedding day was AMAZING. I couldnt imagine being married anywhere else, and the customer service was indeed amazing that day. Disney is able to put on a truly magical wedding that I dont think could be replicated anywhere else in the world. The only reason I rated them a 9 rather than 10 is simply because of the lack of contact and information during the planning process. I had almost every person I worked with changed, including my planner, assistant planner, florist, and room block manager. I dont know why there is such a turnover of staff at DFTW, but honestly it kind of bothered me that I constantly was being contacted by someone new. Overall they did a great job, but I feel like more consistency in staff would have led to more contact and therefore left me feeling more confident during the planning of the wedding. I will also not that I was less than impressed with much of the customer service of staff members during my wedding trip. I dont know if Disney has lowered their expectations for staff in general, but this was the first time I felt as if myself and some of my guests were not treated as great as I am used to expect while vacationing at Disney.
Wedding Planner Amy R. 8/10
Amy was our wedding planner and overall I thought she did a great job. She was very friendly at the planning session and wedding, and the wedding turned out great! I wont rate her assistant because it changed throughout the planning process and I honestly cant even remember the name of either of the two assistants who worked with us. I gave Amy an 8 partially because of the limo issue, and partially because I felt contact lacked between us throughout the planning process. I always felt kind of out of the loop with what was going on with my own wedding. Now let me say that I think this is not necessarily Amys fault, but more a DFTW issue as I know many other brides feel the same way and have had different planners. I think Disney should either not call planners planners or give brides a more accurate description of what their job entails. When I heard the term, Wedding Planner, I immediately thought of Father of the Bride and that I would be in constant contact with my planner. The reality is, these planners do multiple weddings EVERY DAY, and I dont think its possible for them to keep in contact with all their brides on a regular basis. Overall I really liked Amy, I just think I had too high of expectations for what A DFTW planner is.
Photography - Randy Chapman 10/10
I cant say enough great things about Randy. When I began looking at photographers for our wedding, it seemed to me there were three main photographers typically used by Disney brides, so I checked out all threes website, photos and contacted them all. When I got quoted prices, Randy s packages were about 1/3 of what the other photographers were asking, and I couldnt see any better quality pictures from the other two, so we went with Randy, it seemed like a no brainer. When we did our engagement pictures with him I was nervous about having to pose and feeling uncomfortable and afraid Dh wouldnt like it, but we ended up having such a fun time, it was one of my favorite things we did from our Planning Session Trip. Randy is so friendly and professional and made us feel very comfortable, suggesting great ideas for poses. Our engagement pictures turned out great, and I was totally confident going into the wedding about working with him. He was also great about designing a package that fit our budget and also working with us to determine the best schedule for the amount of time we had him. We have over 3,000 fabulous wedding pictures and I HIGHLY recommend using Randy for your wedding!
Officiant Luther Kistler 10/10
We LOVED Luther! When we met him during out planning session trip, we knew instantly we had made the right choice! He was seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met, and super funny! He had us laughing the whole time we met him as well as us and our guests laughing at the rehearsal and ceremony. All of our guests thought he was great! He brought his wife, Dottie, who was also extremely nice. My grandparents actually ended up spending quite a bit of time talking to them which was great. I dont think Luther is used a whole lot by DFTW brides (although he is on the list of officiates provided by Disney), but I would HIGHLY recommend him. One of the best choices we made was choosing him to officiate our wedding.
Floral - Elizabeth Sutton 10/10
We originally had Warren Halestine, who was wonderful working with at the planning session. I really appreciated his efforts to keep our costs down and how friendly he was. I never met Elizabeth in person, or talked to her over the phone for that matter, but everything turned out beautifully the day of the wedding. The contact I had with her through email was always quick and responsive. She also sent us a little gift after the wedding to congratulate us, which I really appreciated. Floral was perfect!
DJ
Scooter 10/10
Dj Scooter was awesome! We wanted a lot of dancing and that is exactly what we got with DJ Scooter. He played all of our request, as well as requests of the guests at the wedding. He made the night flow very smoothly, and he was funny and entertaining. All the guests loved him and his props! I would highly recommend requesting him if you want a party atmosphere.
Coming Up: Honeymoon report with pictures!