• About Jayme
  • Partnerships
  • Press
  • Shop My LTK
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • All Blog Posts
  • Fashion
    • Spring & Summer
    • Fall & Winter
    • Lilly Pulitzer
  • Travel
    • Disney World
    • Disney Cruise
    • Disneyland
    • Palm Beach
    • Paris
    • Palm Beach Travel Guide
  • Lifestyle
    • Wedding Planning
    • Beauty
    • Fitness
    • Recipes
  • Home & Decor
    • Hosting & Parties
  • Gift Guides
  • About Jayme
  • Shop My LTK
  • Featured Press
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

The Northern Prepster

The Northern Prepster

Lifestyle + Fashion Blogger | Pittsburgh, Palm Beach, and Disney World

  • Fashion
    • Spring & Summer
    • Fall & Winter
    • Lilly Pulitzer
  • Travel
    • Disney World
    • Disney Cruise
    • Disneyland
    • Paris
    • Palm Beach
    • Palm Beach Travel Guide
  • Lifestyle
    • Wedding Planning
    • Beauty
    • Fitness
    • Recipes
  • Home
    • Hosting & Parties
  • Gift Guides
  • All Posts

We Went to Franck’s at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion – Wedding Planning Diary No. 4

January 27, 2020 · In: Wedding Planning

Last time I talked to y’all about Grant and I’s wedding, we were prepping for our first meeting at Franck’s (the wedding studio at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion/The Grand Floridian). Well that meeting has come and gone, and we made some great progress during it.

Things are far from being set in stone, but I still wanted to share what venues we toured with y’all! All of our current thoughts on what we think we will choose are going to stay private for the time being. But as we move down the timeline, I’ll open up and share more with y’all. I included some pictures of the venues for some reference, but they aren’t the best so bear with me!

We had our meeting scheduled for 9am on Tuesday, January 14th at Franck’s. Upon arrival we were introduced to our consultant in person. We were then taken into a private room to talk in more detail about some general information. None of our answers had to be super specific, but more general questions such as:

  • Potential date
  • Estimated guest count
  • Estimated budget
  • Ceremony/reception venue ideas

We also chatted for a bit about room block information, transportation information, amongst other things, but we didn’t get into too much detail. Our consultant also gave us a booklet with general pricing information on venues, food, entertainment, etc.

Prior to the meeting, our consultant asked us which three venues we would like to view. We were somewhat disappointed to learn that the one we were hoping to look at was unavailable that day. While I am now satisfied with the venues we did look at, I wish she would have looked at the other venue’s schedule earlier and asked us if we wanted to reschedule due to it being unavailable.

The three venues we wanted to look at were California Grill, Living Seas Salon, & GM Lounge. The GM Lounge (located above Test Track) was the venue that was unavailable. However, I am now kinda happy we didn’t look there since they are unsure of the timeline for Epcot construction (which could make for a not-so-pretty view), we’d have to get GM’s permission to book it (since they own and operate it), and out of our three choices it had the biggest price tag for venue fee (which was over $2,000, not including guest transportation, which is also required). Thankfully, we were able to add another venue since that one was unavailable. Our consultant recommended Atlantic Dance Hall, which I knew would be a no from me, but I figured we’d look just because it was offered to us.

So we hopped into a Disney Fairytale Weddings branded car, and headed to our first venue: The Living Seas Salon. If you’re a Disney World lover, you’ve probably heard of the The Seas with Nemo & Friends. It’s located in Epcot and home to a few Finding Nemo attractions, as well as Coral Reef Restaurant. The restaurant and pavilion’s claim to fame is the 5.7 million gallon Sea Base aquarium. The Living Seas Salon is in the back of the pavilion, and there are quite a few private meeting areas of various sizes. However, the largest one is where they hold wedding receptions and has multiple windows looking into the gigantic aquarium,

This location has a rental fee of $700 plus tax, and can hold a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 100 guests. Private transportation is also required for all guests due to the location; all guests enter from backstage.

Next, we rode over to Atlantic Dance Hall at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. Boardwalk holds a special place in my heart since it is one of my family’s Disney Vacation Club (DVC) home resorts. However, I knew this location would not be for us. While some elements of it would be perks, such as the dance floor and second floor for cocktail hour, I knew the ambience was not up my alley. And it just felt too big. You’d need well over a hundred people in there to not make it feel empty.

This location has a rental fee of $500 plus tax, and can hold a minimum of 80 guests with a maximum of 120 guests.

Finally, we went to California Grill at the top of Disney’s Contemporary Resort, overlooking Magic Kingdom. Our friend Ashley came with us on our tour, and she had never been to California Grill, so it was very special to see her reaction seeing it in person for the first time.

California Grill does not have a rental fee; however, it is important to note that receptions must start after 10:30am and end before 3:30pm. The maximum number of guests is 120.

And that, y’all, is only skimming the surface of the information given to us about those locations. There is so much that goes into planning any wedding, but especially a Disney wedding. The hardest part is finding locations that check all of your boxes. Some locations only allow certain meal times, some only allow a plated meal instead of a buffet, some do not allow a dance floor, certain in-park locations may require you to start your reception 2 hours after park closing, etc. So in that sense, it’s more difficult than planning a normal wedding. However, it’s nice having a planner appointed to you and it not costing any extra, and it’s essentially a “one stop shop.”

//

Needless to say, our first meeting contained a lot of information. Our next step on our wedding planning to-do list is sitting down and talking with my parents about everything we’ve learned so far. They are coming to visit next week, so I’m excited to present them with this information and talk through our currents thoughts with them. After that conversation is over and done with I think I will be in a better place mentally. As of right now I’m trying to not think about too much since it’ll just stress me out lol.

I hope you enjoyed this installment, and hopefully it gave you a tiny bit of insight into the planning process. If you’re interested, check out my other wedding planning diaries, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Cheers!

xoxo
Jayme

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and based off of my own experiences. All information given was received from the current Disney Fairy Tale Weddings booklet.

By: Jayme · In: Wedding Planning · Tagged: atlantic dance hall, bride, california grill, disbride, Disney, disney bride, disney fairy tale wedding, disney wedding, Disney World, Epcot, the seas with nemo and friends, wedding planning

you’ll also love

The Best Disney World Experiences for Adults Without Kids
NEW Lilly Pulitzer Hearts Disney Collection
The Cake Bake Shop Disney Tea ReviewThe Cake Bake Shop Disney Afternoon Tea – Honest Review

Join the List

Stay up to date and receive the latest posts in your inbox.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Annaliese says

    January 27, 2020 at 6:42 am

    I had no idea Disney had so many wedding venue options! Best of luck as y’all figure out what you want to go with- I know it’ll be great whatever you pick!

    xoxo A
    http://www.southernbelleintraining.com

    Reply
    • Jayme says

      January 27, 2020 at 11:39 am

      Thank you, Annaliese! There are more venues than I could ever name or list, but it was great being able to look at some that interested us. Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  2. Ashley says

    January 29, 2020 at 8:07 am

    Seeing all these venues were absolutely amazing! Still have chills walking into California Grill for the first time. Can’t wait to hear what you guys decide on your final decision.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Next Post >

Weekly Notables

Primary Sidebar

About Me

About Me

Hi there! My name is Jayme.

I love sharing my travels, fashion finds, and so much more here on my blog. You can expect a preppy, quiet luxury flair to my content. If that sounds something you're interested in - you're in the right place!

Thanks for coming on this journey with me!

Read More

Connect

join the list

Never miss a post! Sign up to receive updates and join my subscribers to see what's new!

Search

email me

hello@thenorthernprepster.com

Follow Along

@thenorthernprepster

4 years ago today💕 I love you more and more e 4 years ago today💕 

I love you more and more every day Grant🫶🏼 I’m so thankful to have the man with the world’s biggest heart and purest soul to conquer life with🤍

#weddinganniversary #palmbeachwedding #palmbeach
💫My Short Review of Epic Universe💫 *as a Dis 💫My Short Review of Epic Universe💫
*as a Disney annual passholder*
(blog post & YouTube video coming soon)

‼️TLDR: Overall it was as chaotic as I expected so I was neither impressed nor disappointed. However I’m unsure how things will suddenly be running smoothly at the opening that’s just 2 weeks away.

✨I’ll start with our highlight which was mainly Super Nintendo World! I was a big Nintendo kid so this was very anticipated for me. While the rides were meh the land is extremely immersive. I do wish we had more time to explore the games you can play with the power up bands! 

🍔As for food we didn’t eat a ton but had lunch at Oak & Star Tavern (BBQ) which was much better than I expected! Not the best theme park food I’ve ever had but definitely better than anything I’ve had at Universal in the past. We also got a frozen melon apple drink in Nintendo that was perfect for a hot day!

🐉Isle of Berk was cool overall but for such a niche IP I wasn’t really interested. The one ride we rode in the land - Hiccup’s Wing Gliders - ended up being our favorite!

🧟‍♂️Dark Universe was a tad underwhelming. I was really looking forward to it but it didn’t really do it for me. At night it was cool but the ride wasn’t as good as I was expecting. I’ve heard quotes that this is the “most technologically advanced ride in the world” and that’s simply not true. However the ride wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be!

🇫🇷Magical Paris was neat despite me not being a Harry Potter fan. It really felt like Paris! However the lack of attractions there is a huge problem. 

🎢Despite it being technical rehearsals to me does not justify the amount of rides that were either completely shut down or broke at some point. Only 2 attractions in the entire park had zero issues all day. We rode 4 attractions since everything else was closed (2 would’ve caused motion sickness). I don’t see how these will magically be working in 2 weeks. The closures caused long wait time and chaos in every aspect. At opening they had no system for filtering people into queues in a reasonable manner. Something Disney figured out decades ago. 

Glad we went and experienced something new! #epicuniverse
I really perfected my travel look today✈️🧳 I really perfected my travel look today✈️🧳

I shared this sweatshirt from @skinnydiplondon on my stories - I’m obsessed!🎀They have such a fabulous Disney collection and the quality is AMAZING✨ They get the Jayme seal of approval✅

This flight was my first using my new @barringtongifts tote and I can already tell it’s perfection🤍

#mco #disneyworld #disneycontent #disney
~✨a magical trip is loading✨~ pouches: @stone ~✨a magical trip is loading✨~

pouches: @stoneyclover
cup cozies: @happilyeverthreads 
sneakers: @newbalance 
sweatshirt: @skinnydiplondon 
hat: @shopchord 

#disney #disneycreator #packwithme #stoneyclover
Spring has sprung🌸 I snagged this iconic tweed Spring has sprung🌸

I snagged this iconic tweed jacket from @lillypulitzer most recent sale and I’m obsessed - I got the matching dress and can’t wait to wear it as a set💚 

I’m also loving this belt from @jmclaughlin 🤍 As someone who struggles to find belts curated to my style when I saw this I fell in love. I finally snagged it in Newport Beach a few weeks ago and I’m obsessed! It truly elevates every look👏🏼

#classicstyle #lillypulitzer #jmclaughlin #springfashiontrends
🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 #trendingreelsaudio #tre 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

#trendingreelsaudio #trendingaudio❤️ #travelcontent

As Seen On

National Geographic TODAY Palm Beach Illustrated NBC News

Footer

On the Blog

  • Fashion
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Wedding Planning

More

  • About Jayme
  • Partnerships
  • Featured Press
  • Shop My LTK

Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved.