We had our reception at the White Hall Room and Patio at the Grand Floridian. It was absolutely the perfect spot for us. The room itself is a decent size, more than enough for our small party, and there’s an out door patio that sits just off to the side under the monorail track. Next time you’re going past the Grand, (away from Magic Kingdom) look out to the right, and you’ll see it. It was perfect for us, because it gave our guests a place to relax after the ceremony to enjoy pre dinner cocktails and snacks, and also an area to cool off if you needed a break once the dancing started. The fact that we get to see the monorail go past is an added bonus, and of course, Nate was quick enough to snap a pic of the Avengers monorail, which I always MISS!
So, Sandra will be better than me at listing out what was up for offer on the food side of things, but I can say this… NOBODY went hungry! There was SO much food, and ALL of it was amazing (my favorite being the sweet corn bisque with lobster and prosciutto) Of course we had sampled all of this at our food tasting in May, but to see it being dished out, and to see everybody’s excitement with the food, was incredible. Speaking of food.. our chef was Chef Gary Anderson, who is an incredible chef AND used to live in Bermuda. We had a great time chatting with him and really genuinely felt like family with everybody from the Disney Weddings team.
Now, I know we had a part in planning, and decor with the wedding and the reception, but I have to say, we were still going in blind when it came down to HOW everything was going to look.. I mean, we knew what we’d asked for, and we knew what we’d said we wanted the cake to look like, and the decorations, but we hadnt seen anything at all leading up to the day. There’s a lot of trust that goes into that. If we hadnt had a Disney wedding, I would be incredibly nervous to leave everything up to the planner. You give your input, you know what decorations and what type of flowers, but the details in how it all actually plays out, is still up to Disney. And for that, I can truly say, TRUST DISNEY! I would recommend a Disney Wedding to ANYBODY getting married, whether they like Disney or not, whether they want a Disney influence on their wedding or not, it is truly just a stress free and remarkable experience.
So, we got our sneak peak and the room was beautiful (Sandra was the smart one, and had most of the input on decor, and good job for that). Laura Kidd at Disney Floral had everything set up perfectly. When the time came, our guests entered into the room, and we were formally announced, which felt weird and awkward, but hey, it’s a wedding and that’s what you do… and then we ate.. well our guests ate, we were too pumped with adrenaline to really eat, plus we were going around to see all our guests.. and then we had some special guests…
With a knock at the door, in came Mickey and Minnie… to see the kids faces light up was beyond unbelievable.. and to see the grown ups faces light up was beyond unbelievable… We are big suckers for Mickey and Minnie, and will regularly line up to meet and take photos with them. Heck, every time Mickey jumps out on stage during Dream Along with Mickey, and says ‘Hi Everybody! I made it!’ Sandra and I tear up. So to have them come to our wedding JUST for us and our friends and family, nobody else, was the best feeling ever..
We cut the cake, we ate the cake, and we danced.. and we danced… and we danced! Now, I’m not a dancer, i dont claim to be, and I dont play one on tv… but I danced the WHOLE night, with Sandra, with our families, with the kids and of course, with Mickey and Minnie. All told, I’d say the reception was a success, I for one have never had so much fun in my life.
Now, the reception was over, we were 2/3 of the way through our wedding… I was still amped on adrenaline and happiness.. but sad that the day was almost done.
We bid farewell to Mickey and Minnie, Carol, Chef Gary and the Roots and headed out to Epcot for our dessert party…