KellyJo18's Planning Journal - WP/LS/UK - June 21, 2007

[KellyJo18]

I've been productive lately when it comes to wedding planning and thought it was about time I posted a planning journal. I have been occasionally posting on the boards since January when I found out it existed but never properly introduced myself. :wave2: I figured it was about time I started sharing some ideas instead of just stealing all of yours :rotfl:

How we met
My DF (Mike, 25) and I (Kelly, 24) met during our sophomore year of high school through mutual friends. Actually, the first moment we met I had just finished working at a fish fry fundraiser, definitely not looking or smelling my best I'm sure. I'm surprised that didn't scare him off :rotfl2: Over the years we became good friends with him occasionally asking me out and me continuously claiming that I just wanted to be friends. The night before we both left for separate colleges I remember feeling a lot more upset than I had expected. We still talked even though we were at schools nine hours apart but the conversations slowly died down during our first semester away. We found ourselves at the same party over Christmas break of our freshman year and our friendship quickly got back on track. We started talking constantly once we returned to school and a month after Christmas break Mike decided to make the nine hour road trip to visit (the first of many). Now it's five years later and we are finally ready to say 'I do' with our own DFTW.

The proposal
If four years at separate schools hadn't been hard enough, Mike decided to stay at school for another two years to work on his Masters degree, which meant our long distance relationship would continue. After completing my year long student teaching internship I wanted to celebrate and decided to visit him at school. Towards the end of my visit we went to a nearby beach on Lake Superior. This wasn't a typical beach with sand but with a shore completely covered in rocks. Mike and I sat down to wait for the sun to set and we began looking at some of the rocks knowing that some rare stones can be found along the shores in the area. I had no idea how to tell one rock from another so I kept showing Mike different stones asking "what about this one??" After about an hour of sitting there talking the sun began to go down. Mike turned to me and asked "what about this one?" but instead of one of the rocks from the beach, as I was expecting to see, he was holding a ring in his hand.

So here we are, engaged since August and only a few months left until we are Mr. and Mrs. :goodvibes:

[DVCGirl49]

Wow, that is an awesome engagement story! :goodvibes Can't wait to hear more about the plans for your big day!

[StephSFL]

CONGRATULATIONS!
Thank you so much for sharing your story- it is wonderful.
Where in the UP did he propose- I lived there for 5 years? Did you go to school there?
Congrats again!

[KellyJo18]

Our Site Inspection Tour
We flew down to Orlando over Thanksgiving this year and met with Cathy from DFTW. Mike was not completely sold on the idea of a Disney wedding – he had only been to Disney once before and it was 13 years ago when he was in the seventh grade (who knew people vacation places other than Walt Disney World :confused3 ). I warned Cathy that she was going to have to help me convince Mike of how great it would be... seriously, how hard could it be??? It's Disney World! :cool1: The day before our site inspection we had tried to make it to all four parks so I could show him all of the things I knew he would like. I should have known better... all four parks in one day??? I must have been crazy :confused3 We ended up going on about 2 rides per park and being way too exhausted to completely enjoy it. I was beginning to worry that Mike would veto the idea of a Disney wedding :scared:

Well... I got lucky! Mike is a big fish person and the moment he saw the first venue during our site inspection tour, the Living Seas, he was sold. We were so excited about the location that I forgot to take pictures :sad2: Even though we knew we wanted to find a date that the Living Seas was available Cathy suggested we still take a look at the other locations we had asked to see. During our original time frame for the wedding the Living Seas was booked solid and we thought we would end up using Ariel's instead. In the end we decided to move the date of the wedding up one week in order to be able to use the Living Seas.

If my first attempt at posting pictures turns out here are some of the pictures from our site inspection tour:

The entrance to Ariel's
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006033.jpg

Sorry this one is blurry but I was using a new camera and it took me awhile to realize the flash wasn't on :rolleyes1
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006034-1.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006028.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006030.jpg

The Whitehall Room at the Grand Floridian. I thought this space would be perfect for a smaller group especially with the connecting patio that could also be used. It's hard to tell from my great photography skills that it is a round room that they often set up one large round table for all of the guests to sit at.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006037.jpg

If I remember correctly this is the ballroom across the hall from the Whitehall room at the GF. They were setting up for a reception and were using long tables that I loved but are impossible to use at the Living Seas. Again, not the greatest picture, the long table I liked ended up looking like a wood floor.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006038.jpg

And, of course, we had to check out the wedding pavilion
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006040.jpg

It's so gorgeous I think it's almost impossible to take a bad picture of it
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DisneyNovember2006043.jpg

Originally we (or maybe it was just me :rolleyes1 ) had our hearts set on using Sea Breeze Point for the ceremony and we went off on our own to see it after the site inspection tour was over. We were told that holding our ceremony there in the June heat would not be the smartest idea... I was upset about it at the time but am now extremely glad that Cathy convinced us to use the Wedding Pavilion.

Once we got back to Michigan we called to confirm our date and location. It was finally official!! June 21, 2007!

[KellyJo18]

Hmm... I'm going to have to learn how to do the quote thing.

StephSFL - To be honest I can't remember the name of the beach he proposed on... that's probably something I should know :rolleyes1 I do remember that it was just outside of Calumet, MI.

I have a ton more to post but since I now look like this :surfweb: and with daylight savings happening tonight I should probably continue this tomorrow.

Next up... dresses, wedding newsletter, guest bags, and more!

[Kashmir104]

How exciting! When did you do your site tour? I'm afraid I will overwhelm them with questions! Did you find it really helpful?

[PrettyInTink]

Great start! Can't wait for more.....

[KellyJo18]

How exciting! When did you do your site tour? I'm afraid I will overwhelm them with questions! Did you find it really helpful?

We flew into Orlando a few days before Thanksgiving (2006). We spent one day at the parks, the next day was our site inspection.

I did think the site inspection tour was extremely helpful to us since we had not yet decided if a Disney wedding was what we wanted. When we first arrived to Franck's Cathy took us into one of the conference rooms to answer any questions we had and also to discuss what we were interested in seeing during our tour. I was probably the most excited about getting to go through the back entrance of Epcot. She warned us that some people do not pick the Living Seas because of the fact that you have to use the back entrance. She said you lose some of the Disney "magic" by seeing it behind the scenes but I thought it was really neat and figure our friends and family will love the opportunity to see what is usually off limits to guests.

I know that without the site inspection Mike would have hesitated to agree to a Disney wedding and I would have had to do a lot of convincing. I think if we hadn't gone on the tour we would have picked Ariels for our reception location since the Living Seas was booked for our original date. After seeing the Living Seas in person though we knew we had to find a way to make another date work so we could use it. There is just something about that space that cannot be capture in pictures.

In my opinion, I would say that if you can find a time to go on the site inspection it really is worth it. Seeing all of the venues in person really helped us make our decision. I don't think it is possible to overwhelm them with too many questions, they are used to it. At the time we were still trying to decide if we wanted to move to Florida so we were not only asking wedding questions but random unrelated questions as well. She went out of her way to be extremely helpful... telling us what it was like to live in Florida, what to expect, the reputations of different areas we were looking at, etc - on top of all of the wedding related information!

[KellyJo18]

My Dress
It took me forever to decide on a wedding dress. I ended up ordering a dress that was the exact opposite of what I wanted. I swore I wanted a dress that had a lace top with a ribbon around the waist and full bottom. I looked for months and finally decided the dress I wanted did not exist. I tried on a few dresses that I would have loved if I could have torn them apart and put the top of one on the bottom of another. I finally found one that was somewhat similar to what I had been picturing and hated it once I put it on... go figure :rotfl: I was somewhat relieved though. I think not liking that particular dress made me feel better about some of the other styles I was leaning toward.

I found the dress I wanted a few months before I actually ordered it. I kept putting it off thinking that I might find something else I liked better. We drove an hour and a half to a bridal store near the college I had went to... the year before my sister had a bad experience getting her wedding dress and I knew I did not want to go through that. If anyone is in Michigan I highly recommend Lett's Bridal in Lansing, the service so far has been amazing and my dress is coming in two months early!! :woohoo: Anyway... the day I went to order my dress there was a flyer in the window advertising a one day only sale of Jasmine dresses, this was definitely a sign. I wanted to try it on one more time just to make sure. The second I put it on I got that "this is the dress" feeling :love: and knew I was making the right choice.

Here it is:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/a28d241c.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/6290a9cf.jpg

They let us take a few quick pictures in the store even though we weren't supposed to, they were pretty nice about it since they knew I was ordering it. Somehow I was making goofy faces in most of them but here is a picture of the back.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/02a02ecc.jpg

Have you all noticed how the sizing on wedding dresses is off? I swear they just do it so we leave feeling lousy and more motivated to work out.

The Bridesmaid Dresses
For some reason, I let Mike pick the color of the wedding. I was undecided and had narrowed it down to a few options. He really liked the olive green wedding I had found pictures of online. Little did we know, olive green dresses are almost impossible to find. I knew what kind of style I was looking for but could never find it in the right color so my grandma volunteered to make them. I figured this would be a great way to save the girls money since they were already having to buy plane tickets. I ordered the fabric for less than the cost of ordering one dress... the only problem is is that when you order fabric they only have small swatches of the material for you to look at. When the order came in the color was not the olive green I was expecting but a bright (and I mean bright) green :sad1: Needless to say, I was freaking out. It didn't look all that bad in a dark room but out in the sun it started to glow :scared1: . After many restless nights I decided to go to another fabric store and reorder. This time when it came in the color was perfect... luckily.

I went to visit my grandma last weekend and saw her practice attempt with the dresses. I was really nervous about seeing it. Now don't get me wrong, I knew my grandma was a great seamstress but I also knew that if I hated them I probably wouldn't have had the heart to tell her. The dress turned out to be exactly what I had been picturing, I'm really excited about them. Here they are but I have to warn you that she used the bright green fabric to practice with so she wouldn't waste the good stuff. The real fabric is a much more subtle olive green.

The front
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0779.jpg

The back
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0780.jpg

This is the flower girls dress that she will make out of the same green as the three bridesmaids but she will also use the matching shear fabric for some of the panels.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/ce35a281.jpg

And here is what our ring bearer is going to wear, although we probably won't use the hat and he is going to be wearing a green tie to match the groomsmen
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/black_suspenders_shorts_851_full.jpg

[DisneyFairy19]

Congratulations... I love your planning journal.. Thank you for sharing it with us... Would love to hear more and I love your pictures

[KellyJo18]

This is the newsletter I sent out to the guests just this past Friday - much later than I had hoped to be sending it out. Thanks to all of you that helped by posting or emailing examples, they were incredibly helpful.

This is the first page, I stole a lot of the wording on the bottom half from Jonette - thanks again! :yay:.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/page1newslettercopy.png

The second page
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/MikeandKellysWeddingNewsletterpa-1.png

I also had two more pages but am having problems posting them. They answered a lot of the questions people have been calling and asking us about. I included information about the extra magic hours, fastpass, the June park schedule, photo pass, magical express, places to eat, room information, etc. I'll work on posting those sometime soon.

[orangetiggs]

I love your newsletter, we a relooking at holding our reception at epcot but we just cant maek our minds up

[JJClemson]

KellyJo, your wedding is only 4 days before mine :goodvibes I'll actually be in WDW during your wedding. Which resort are you staying at? I'd love to meet another DIS bride!

Everything looks great so far! I love your BM's dresses. I know all about having a difficult color. My colors are peach and orange and it took us forever to find peach BM dresses.

I'm one of the brides who is making my guests come to SBP in the June heat :laughing: We're having a morning ceremony so I'm hoping it's not too bad!

[KellyJo18]

KellyJo, your wedding is only 4 days before mine :goodvibes I'll actually be in WDW during your wedding. Which resort are you staying at? I'd love to meet another DIS bride!

Everything looks great so far! I love your BM's dresses. I know all about having a difficult color. My colors are peach and orange and it took us forever to find peach BM dresses.

I'm one of the brides who is making my guests come to SBP in the June heat :laughing: We're having a morning ceremony so I'm hoping it's not too bad!

I'm jealous you are using Sea Breeze. The wedding photos I've seen taken there are gorgeous! Did they give you a hard time about it? I was pretty much told it wasn't an option, although, we had never looked into doing a morning ceremony. I bet she would have responded differently to that. I'm really hoping that the end of June isn't too terribly hot. As long as we don't hit any record highs :sunny:

For our complimentary night we are staying at the Polynesian Resort but we are still trying to decide where to stay the rest of the time. It's looking like we might pick Port Orleans Riverside. We leave in a couple of days (Tuesday) for our planning session and are hoping to find time to check out some of the resorts while we are there so we can finally make up our mind. Where have you guys decided to stay?

[JJClemson]

I'm jealous you are using Sea Breeze. The wedding photos I've seen taken there are gorgeous! Did they give you a hard time about it? I was pretty much told it wasn't an option, although, we had never looked into doing a morning ceremony. I bet she would have responded differently to that. I'm really hoping that the end of June isn't too terribly hot. As long as we don't hit any record highs :sunny:

For our complimentary night we are staying at the Polynesian Resort but we are still trying to decide where to stay the rest of the time. It's looking like we might pick Port Orleans Riverside. We leave in a couple of days (Tuesday) for our planning session and are hoping to find time to check out some of the resorts while we are there so we can finally make up our mind. Where have you guys decided to stay?


Yeah, I'm sure SBP would be really hot in the afternoon. Hopefully it isn't in the morning! I definitely wanted an outside ceremony and I want a beachy theme, so it was the most logical choice :)

We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside the first 2 nights we're there, June 20 and 21. Then we're moving to the Beach Club for 3 nights, and then 5 nights at the GF for our disneymoon. I'm so excited :goodvibes Our weddings are so soon! I remember when my ticker said 15 months!

Have fun at your planning session! The cake tasting is sooooo good :cloud9:

[KellyJo18]

I thought I would post my planning session trip report within my planning journal since so many of my photos have to do with planning for the wedding. I hope that is okay :)

We were in Florida for a week and just got back a couple days ago. We had soooo much to get done while we were there - engagement photo session with Randy Chapman, house hunting for our upcoming move, a day in the parks, and finally on our last day we met with Michelle Shumate for our menu tasting and planning session.

Day One - We're in Florida! :woohoo:
My plane got into Orlando two hours before Mike arrived. We were flying in from different locations and I had my first solo plane ride. To be honest I am not the best when it comes to flying, I tend to get really nervous at any little bump, so boarding a plane alone was a huge step for me. Anyway... I was extremely antsy waiting for Mike's plane to arrive because I knew that was the only thing holding me back from being at Disney! :cool1: I spent my time at the airport checking out the Disney stores and trying to come up with an idea for a wedding favor. I had to hold back and not buy anything because I knew I would find so much more when we got to the parks.

After Mike got in we headed downstairs towards Magical Express. This was our second time using this service and I love it. Somehow both times we got extremely lucky with catching the bus right before it was about to leave so we didn't have to sit around and wait in any lines. I have heard bad things about it from some friends who got stuck waiting for quite some time and they refuse to ever try it again. Mike isn't exactly Disney's biggest fan (and this trip didn't help, I'll explain that later) and if he had to sit around for hours waiting for a bus he'd probably be wanting to cancel the wedding :eek:

We even got lucky that no one on the bus was staying at one of the hotels so we only had one stop before getting to our resort. We decided to try to save some money this trip and were staying at the All-Star Movie Resort. We have never seen any of these properties before and I was excited about getting to check them out (especially since we recommended this one for the wedding).

When the bus pulled up Mike remembered our last trip and the huge lines that we got stuck in since everyone gets off of the Magical Express at the same time and heads for the lobby. So trying to be sneaky he told me to go get in line while he grabbed our luggage :rolleyes1. I got up to the front desk pretty quickly (even though they only had two people working and a long line) and began to ask the woman if it would be possible to get a late check out the next day. We were only staying at Disney this one night and then renting a car drive to our future town to look for a place to live since we are moving there a few weeks before the wedding in June. She wasn't very helpful at first but I started to explain that we were having our engagement photos taken at the Grand Floridian the following morning and wouldn't make it back to the hotel until around noon. She got extremely excited for us and started asking tons of questions (sorry if you were stuck in line behind us ;)). She wanted to know when the wedding was, where we were having it, how we liked the DFTW team, told us about the weather in June, etc. All of a sudden we can have a late check out even though moments earlier she acted like we were speaking a different language when I asked :goodvibes. She then turns back to her computer to work on what would be our first wedding pixie dust... she tells us that she was able to upgrade us to a preferred room! :yay:

We were told that the room wasn't quite ready so we decided to go check out the pool area while we were waiting. It turned out to be a horrible idea since we were still pulling our luggage around with us. Here is my attempt at taking a picture of the pool... it turned out to be a better view of the trash cans though.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-11.jpg

The lobby
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-12.jpg

Mike was really hoping we'd get to stay in the Toy Story building because he thought the Bucket-O-Soldiers was the greatest thing ever. I always get excited when he seems excited about something at Disney. It's not that he doesn't like it (we obviously wouldn't be getting married there if that was the case), he just wasn't raised on it like I was. I can barely sleep when I'm there because I'm so excited and ready to go do anything and everything that I can possibly fit in during the trip.

After waiting around for an hour I decided to call to see if the room was ready. We had just been sitting around the food court trying to waste time. The room was still not ready... not a big deal, right? I mean, we were getting a nicer room out of it. We took turns watching the luggage while the other one of us went to look at the gift shop, use the bathroom, etc.

After this it took two more hours before the room was ready and by this time we were very tired and frustrated. If we would have known we'd be waiting so long we would have ditched our luggage with the bell service and gone to Downtown Disney. Oh well... when we did finally get to the room we realized that a "preferred room" only means it is closer to the lobby. For a longer trip that would have been great but we really weren't needing any specific location. By this time Mike was mad we just didn't take the original room. We had originally planned on taking a quick nap since we had both been up since 4 am and it was now about 5:30 pm but a friend of mine from college that now works for Disney was picking us up at 6 to go out to dinner. She started out as an intern and was offered a permanent position while we were there (yay Ana!) :woohoo:. Since we are going to be living about two hours north of Disney Mike was nervous I would constantly be dragging him to the parks. We are both excited that I can always just meet up with Ana when I am needing my Disney fix and he has too much work to come along.

Our room
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-01.jpg

After a power nap, Ana called to tell us she was out front. She said she was craving Carrabba's which isn't on Disney property but is very close to Downtown Disney. It was nice to see her and she had tons of questions about the wedding for us. It turns out that she has been in charge of an upcoming conference in the Living Seas so I got to ask her a bunch of questions about the space since she said she's been spending so much time there. She offered to let us ship things to her place before the wedding so we wouldn't have to worry about traveling with all of our favors, guest bags, etc. I have a feeling it is going to be really nice to have her nearby during the wedding. All of our college friends that are flying down for the wedding are getting a free place to stay and she is letting them use her guest park passes. I was starting to feel bad that it would be such an expensive trip for them but Ana helping them out certainly saves them a lot of money. I am going to have to find time to go hang out with them at her place. I worry that all of our friends and family being there at once will make it hard for us to decide who to spend time with or that we'll be pulled in tons of different directions.

When we were done with dinner we went to check out the west side of Downtown Disney since Mike had never been. We didn't go into too many stores but just walked around checking things out and talking. Ana was telling us tons of stories about her first time to DisneyQuest... she had a blast which made Mike think this might be a good thing to do with his groomsmen before the wedding - although he is also thinking they'd have a lot of fun taking the surfing lessons offered at Typhoon Lagoon. The one store that we did have a lot of fun going into was Starabilias. I love how all the memorabilia they have is constantly changing so you always get to see something different when you're there. After that we walked through Pleasure Island and Ana told us about each of the clubs. I thought it was funny that one of the clubs has a revolving dance floor - if you've had a lot to drink I'm sure that could get pretty interesting :laughing:.

We called it a night around 10 since we still had to go back to the room and pick out what we were going to wear for our engagement photos the next morning. Since we weren't in the same city before we left for Florida I just went out and bought a bunch of shirts I thought Mike might want to wear so we had options. I know if I would have just packed the one shirt I wanted him to wear it wouldn't fit or he'd hate it and we would have ended up making Ana take us to the mall to franticly search for something that would look nice. Luckily he only rejected two out of the four shirts I brought so it wasn't an issue :thumbsup2.

Up next... we finally get to meet Randy :) but are we any good at being in front of a camera? :eek:


***I'm realizing now that I didn't take nearly enough pictures. I did end up taking tons at the menu tasting and in Franck's - I'll get those up in the next couple of days :)***

[StephSFL]

Great TR! Thank you so much for sharing. Can't wait to hear about the pics!

[KellyJo18]

Day Two - Engagement Session with Randy Chapman :goodvibes

We were supposed to meet Randy in the lobby of the Grand Floridian at 10 am. I woke up around 7:30 because I was extremely worried about not having enough time to get ready. I had ironed our clothes the night before so I wouldn't have to worry about it when we were rushing to get out the door. I was stressing out and kept telling him he needed to get dressed. He finally explained that he knew the second he changed he would end up with orange juice down the front of his shirt. I felt bad pestering him and realized he was probably being smart. We were out the door five minutes later than I had been hoping and Mike stopped giving me a hard time about waking up so early.

We headed toward the lobby to wait in line for the Magic Kingdom bus. Just as we turned the corner we saw it pulling away. Mike sprinted and luckily the bus driver saw us coming and stopped. The last time we tried to get to the Grand Floridian it took us almost an hour so we were worried about being late since we basically had exactly an hour to get there. I got the last seat on the bus and Mike had to stand but at least we were on a bus and not wasting time waiting around. When we got to the Magic Kingdom we headed straight for the monorail. I got so excited seeing everyone heading toward the gates, it felt so weird being there without having any intention of going to any of the parks.

We boarded the monorail with 40 minutes left until we needed to meet Randy. Mike was complaining that he could have slept longer but I was extremely happy that we weren't going to be late. We ended up having 30 minutes before Randy was supposed to arrive which was perfect. We had enough time to go freshen up and also check out the gift shop at the Grand Floridian. I had heard that this was one place at Disney that sold wedding products but we didn't really see much when we were there. They were down to their last bride ears so I figured maybe they were about to restock. Mike doesn't like drawing attention to himself so I knew he wouldn't agree to wearing the wedding ears. During our site inspection tour in November we were waiting in line for Mickey's PhilharMagic and saw a couple wearing the "Just Married" pins. Mike was actually the one that spotted them and then shocked me by saying we need to wear them in June. So during this trip I didn't want to push him by trying to get him to agree to the ears. My sister says she's buying them for us so he feels like he has to be polite and put them on :rolleyes1 but I doubt that works.

After wasting time checking out the Grand Floridian we decided to find a spot to wait near the door so we could watch for Randy. I had seen what he looked like in one of the photos posted here but I figured we wouldn't miss the big camera he was carrying. The second he walked in we felt comfortable with him even though we were extremely nervous about getting our pictures taken. Personally I just don't feel like I'm very good at posing so I was worried our pictures would turn out horrible.

It started off a little rough probably just because we weren't totally comfortable yet but Randy was good with directions. For the first photo he simply told us to hold hands and walk toward the end of the dock that is behind the GF. Then he started giving us the basic "look left... no, your other left" directions :rolleyes:. He made it really easy though and after awhile we had the hang of it. The only issue at first was that the clouds were moving so fast that he would get us in one location and all of a sudden the sun was right in my eyes... I have the most sensitive eyes for some reason and they water really easily (Randy even asked if it was because of contacts but I don't wear contacts or glasses). So hopefully I don't look like I'm crying in all of the pictures!

Once we were feeling more comfortable being in front of the camera the wind really started to pick up and I mean really pick up. This was when we were heading to the beach. Walking down the beach in flip flops wasn't the easiest thing to do so I kicked mine off to the side. Now that I've looked at other people's engagement photos on his website I see that most of you carried yours.... sooo cute! I wish I would have done that instead of just throwing them to the side. Randy asked us to roll up our jeans so we could play in the water which I had really been wanting to do... Mike is a lot taller than me though so he got to go in the water and I stayed near the edge since the sand was higher there. He asked me to give the water a kick so I did but the water flew a little more than I expected. I probably have a startled look on my face in that picture... Randy yelled at me "I said a kick, not a cannonball" which made us both laugh (so hopefully we look happy in those pictures and not scared about being photographed). The wind was so bad during the rest of our session, I just know my hair is going to be all over the place in the photos. I was afraid to look in the mirror afterwards and told Randy he was going to have to do some PhotoShop work to make us look better :rotfl2:.

After getting some shots of us on the GF beach we headed over to the grassy area by the WP but Randy's plans didn't work out. The sprinklers were on! He said that in all of the sessions he's done there the sprinklers had never been a problem. So instead we just went back down by to the beach that is near the WP and took more photos at a different angle with a different background. There were a couple ducks there that kept chasing us around. Wherever we moved on that beach they followed us. I'm guessing that they get fed a lot and were hoping we had a treat for them. When we were posing for these shots a group of women walked by and we got a bunch of "awwww"'s from them. I think Mike was a little embarrassed. Whenever people were watching us he'd point them out to me like we should stop until they went away. I'm sure Randy got a bunch of pictures of us talking to each other... opps.

We were pretty much done at this point. We walked back into the lobby and he had us come out front to do the last few shots on the bench near the entrance of the hotel. I asked him a few questions about when I should send him our last payment and then he told us when we should expect to hear from him again (although I don't really remember what he said, a few weeks before the wedding maybe? :confused3). Then we were off to reboard the monorail and make our way back to Magic Kingdom. When we got here we were walking against a huge crowd of people trying to get into the park (it was around 11 am) and we were getting weird looks from people probably wondering why we would already be leaving even though the park had just opened.

We had to wait quite awhile for our bus to come but it wasn't really a big deal. We stood around talking about Randy and how we thought the photos would turn out. While we were waiting a duck came up from behind us started picking at a piece of gum that was stuck to the sidewalk. At first we thought it was just eating some of the popcorn that was on the ground but all of a sudden he started opening and closing his mouth really fast. He was chewing the bubble gum! :rotfl: After we got over our concern for him (bubble gum can't be good for ducks, can it?) it turned out to be really funny. He would open his mouth and you could see the gum sticking on the top and bottom of his mouth... he really looked like he was chomping on it, I kept waiting for him to blow a bubble. After awhile he went back and tried to get more gum off the sidewalk. He was pretty entertaining and seemed to be okay after eating it.

We finally made it back to the hotel and called Alamo right away. We were renting a car that afternoon to look for a place to live. We had about 40 minutes before they were going to come get us and take us to the Disney Car Care Center so we decided to get lunch at the food court. We finished with enough time to just quickly grab our bags and head for the lobby. Luckily we already had everything packed and ready to go. They were a few minutes late and we were glad not to have made them wait for us. When we got on there was another family who had the cutest kids. The mom was trying to get one of the boys (they had twin boys) to take a pill for motion sickness. The dad was telling us that his son gets car sick easily but he still insisted on sitting in the back of the van. I felt so bad for the poor boy, you can't get sick when you're at Disney!

Up next... fast forwarding past our house hunting journey and onto our return to Orlando! :yay:

[PrettyInTink]

Great TR! The duck chewing gum is priceless! :lmao:

[KellyJo18]

Great TR! The duck chewing gum is priceless! :lmao:

I wish I would have had a camera with me... I tried taking a picture with my cell phone but you couldn't tell he had gum in his mouth. It would have been great to get on video.

[KellyJo18]

Day Five - Back to Disney :banana:

It was finally Saturday which meant we were driving back to Orlando to meet up with my mom, sister, and Mike's mom. They were flying in for the planning session and decided to come a couple days early so they would have time to enjoy Disney. Mike and I got on the road around 10:00 am so we could be at the hotel when their Magical Express bus was pulling up. With the way Florida residents drive the flow of traffic varied between 80-90 mph and we made it back in about an hour and a half! Although we did see lots of cops along the way :rolleyes1.

Luck would have it, just as we are approaching Orlando we start to see detour signs for WDW. So after 10 minutes since the first (and last) sign we started to worry but we kept going... and fields kept rolling by. I kept trying to figure out where we were on the map but had little luck :confused:. Finally instead of just seeing fields some trees began to pop up... we weren't really sure if that was a good sign though. Typically when there is a detour don't they continue with signs so you know where to go?? All of a sudden I see a mountain top behind some of the trees and I get all excited (Mike claims I need to stop doing this because he thinks we're about to get in a car accident). It's Mount Everest!!! errr... Expedition Everest :woohoo:. My only guess is that the detour was sending us in the back way and that all the bare land is what Disney owns for future parks (I'm crossing my fingers anyway because that was a lot of land and it would take a lot of parks to fill it up :goodvibes). Mike claimed all of the land must be where they really grow food and that the Land at Epcot is staged :sad2:. I thought if they were growing anything it'd be food for the animals at AK since that's what we were near. I felt like I was playing a car game "spot disney landmarks" (although Mike wasn't joining in so I don't know if I can consider it a good car game :rotfl:). After passing Expedition Everest we finally saw a sign that told us we were going the right way!

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-34-1.jpg

Yay! We were officially at WDW!! :banana: I called my sister (Mandi, 27) to find out where they were. I figured even with the detour we would beat the bus. She said that they were pulling up to All-Star Music and that our hotel was the next stop. Opps... maybe they would beat us. Mike and I were pulling in and didn't see the bus anywhere and figured it had come and gone. After checking the lobby and not seeing them we figured it was taking them longer than Mandi had claimed. The line was huge in the lobby for some reason so Mike trying to be sly again told me to get in line. His plan didn't work out so well this time because no one else got in line before our families arrived and both of our mom's were confused about why I didn't meet them out by the bus with Mike... opps, oh well...

We decided that during this part of our trip I would stay with my mom and sister in one room and Mike and his mom in another. When we made our reservations we asked to have connecting doors but when we had both finished checking in we realized we were on completely different floors of the same building :confused3. **NOTE: During our planning session our EM told us to make sure our guests request connecting doors, not adjoining, because for some reason that is the only way those requests are typically followed** FMIL and Mike's room was ready but ours wasn't so we went to see their room and drop off everyone's luggage before heading to Downtown Disney to find some lunch. After staying there last week we knew not to wait around for our room to be ready.

We got into the Downtown Disney line while it was still empty which most likely means we just missed the bus. After waiting awhile we finally got on and found seats. We seemed to have a very energetic bus driver, one lady on the bus even quietly asked the man she was with if he thought the bus driver was sober. He finally got the bus loaded, or so we thought. Apparently he decided to see how many people can actually fit on one Disney bus. He kept screaming "oooohh yeah! that's it, keep it moving" into the microphone. The people that were standing were literally on top of each other. Talk about hoping you remembered to wear deodorant. I kept looking for elderly people that were going to get stuck standing in what felt like a mosh pit but it seemed to be all teenagers and young adults. It felt like MTV Spring Break on the bus, I thought it was pretty entertaining but FMIL was a little worried about it always being like that (her mom is in a wheelchair and this wouldn't have been a good situation for them). I really wish I would have taken a picture of the amount of people on the bus because it was crazy!

When we finally arrived to Downtown Disney we headed toward Wolfgang Puck Express which is our absolute favorite restaurant at WDW, if you've never tried it you really should. I've always wanted to try his restaurant on the West Side. After refueling I could tell my mom and Mandi were ready to hit the shops but Mike and his mom looked like they could use a nap. I felt like this could become a problem. We started off by going into the Christmas store because it is my mom's favorite but Mike and his mom just browsed a little near the door and just kind of stood around waiting for us to finish. I was feeling really bad and unsure what to do :guilty:. I told Mike him and his mom could head back to the hotel and we could just meet up later for dinner at 'Ohana's but they claimed to be okay. I went to see what my mom was up to and came across some mints that I thought would make great favors for the wedding since we were holding the reception at the Living Seas. We bought one tin and asked the woman working at the store how long they had been carrying them for and if it would be possible to buy 80 of them. She said that they just started selling them so they should be around for awhile but not to wait until June if we really wanted to use them.

Nemo's Lucky Fin Shark RepelleMints (it says on the tin, "Sharks hate fresh breath!")
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/NemosLuckyFinSharkRepellemints.jpg

I thought they would be cute and something that people could keep for awhile although I don't want anyone to be offended and think we were telling our guests to freshen their breath. Our friend Ana also suggested a good favor being light up ice cubes with a note that said something like "Add a little fun to your drink!" but I think that could get messy (with people trying to transfer them from one drink to the next. They also make light up straws that has color move up and down it when you take a sip.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/liteupicecubes.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/glowstraw.jpg

I for sure want to use glow in the dark necklaces at our dessert party and found the ones Disney sells in the parks online for $1.75 each instead of the $5 you get them for there. I don't want to go overboard with glowing items so I think the mints might be a good choice.

This is the necklace
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/disneyglownecklace.jpg

Anyway, back to the trip... After going in a couple more stores I could tell that Mike and his mom really weren't enjoying themselves so I suggested we take a boat ride over to Port Orleans Riverside to see another one of the wedding resorts. Everyone seemed to think this was a good idea and it gave us a good chance to relax.

Leaving Downtown Disney
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http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-41.jpg

Docking at the French Quarters to let off some fellow boat riders gave us a chance to kind of see this property - Mike decided that we would have to resort hop during the wedding trip so we could try out the dragon slide
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-37.jpg

When we first got to the resort we decided to check out the gift shop to see if we could find something special to put in the bags of guests staying at this resort. After looking around awhile and not seeing anything that jumped out at us we decided to go see the pool.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-39.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-38.jpg

My family stayed at this resort a couple Christmas's ago and I was surprised to see they had a life guard on duty during this trip. I swear I remember there being signs out when we had been there before warning parents to watch their kids because there were no lifeguards.

After seeing the pool we walked over the bridge and headed toward one of the buildings to see if we could sneak a peak of one of the rooms. Mike's family had been having issues about where to stay during the wedding. Almost my entire side is staying at Port Orleans and his mom really had been hoping to stay there also but her brother in law refuses to pay more than necessary for a room that they will barely be in (which I totally understand since it's true, when you're at Disney you are rarely in your room). Anyway... her mom is coming with her sister and brother in law and they were all wanting to stay at the same resort so she gave in and made reservations at All-Star Movies (which is why we were staying there during this trip, to check them out). I kind of felt bad after we got to Port Orleans though because I could really tell she was wanting to change their wedding plans. Mike had already been bugging her about changing resorts because he doesn't want the colorful bedspreads at ASMo to be in the background of all of his getting ready pictures. Plus after he gets ready he's going to have to drive over to POR anyway because I asked Randy to take pictures of us there before the wedding. I love wedding drama :rolleyes:.

Walking over the bridge
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-40.jpg

Mike's mom, Mike, Mandi, and my mom walking around the resort
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-42.jpg

While we were walking around we noticed a maid cleaning some of the first floor rooms. Mike's mom kept asking if we thought we could peak our heads into a room so my sister, who has no fear of anything, walks up to ask if we can look around the room. Well... this maid did not speak English and started to hand us all extra towels for the pool. Mandi tried to ask again and used a little bit of Spanish to clarify things. The woman asked us to wait one minute and she left. We thought maybe we scared her off. Mandi speaks Spanish pretty well and I was teasing her about not just asking the entire question in Spanish but she claims she is "rusty" and didn't want to end up asking something completely off the wall or inappropriate. So we wait around for about five minutes and the maid comes back with another lady who speaks English. They had no issues about letting us see the rooms so Mike's mom could see what they were like.

After that we headed back towards the bus stop to wait for the Downtown Disney bus. The boat ride had been fun but it takes a lot longer than the buses do. While we were on the bus I called to see if our room was ready but it wasn't. I didn't have very good luck with hotel rooms during this trip. After we got back, Mike and his mom went to take a nap and my family and I hung out in the gift shop and food court wasting time until we could get into our room. It was around 3:30 when we got back and we ended up having to wait until 5 again before our room was ready. My sister started to get fed up and decided that if we were going to be waiting so long they could at least put us closer to Mike's room. So after spending some time on the phone we had our room and it was just around the corner from Mike's.

Next up... Dinner at O'hana's

[KellyJo18]

Downtown Disney and Dinner at Ohana's

We decided to head back to Downtown Disney before going to dinner since it was our last chance to shop there before our trip was over. Mike and his mom has a couple hours to lay around resting and said they wanted to go with us. I made sure to point out to Mike's mom that this was what the bus was typically like so she wasn't freaked out about how crowded it had been before.

We decided to go check out Disney's Magical Store of Memories first. For some reason I always think of it a scrapbook store and am always surprised by how small the scrapbook section is, although they do always have neat Disney items. During our last couple of trips my mom has really wanted to buy the Mickey Mouse scissors they sell there but never can because we typically don't check luggage. We figured we'd end up having to throw them away at airport security but we actually checked luggage this trip. We were expecting to buy a lot for the wedding while we were there and thought we'd need big bags - my mom was extremely excited she finally got to buy her scissors.

We went into Goofy's Candy Co. next. Not the best store to go to just before dinner - way too many yummy things to tempt you when you're hungry (or at least they tempted me). I love the drink toppers they offer now, soooo cute!!
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/goofys_glacier2_web.jpg
We were all hoping we'd come across something really cute there to use as our wedding favor but didn't really have anything stand out. I did think that the chocolate covered mickey pretzels would be fun but with having cake and a dessert party I don't want people to be overwhelmed with sweet things. I'm not sure if I like the mints the best or if the ice cubes or pretzels would be better. What do you think? :confused3 I need help deciding.

We didn't do as much shopping as my mom and sister would have liked but we only had about 30 minutes before we needed to get back to the bus stop and head toward the Polynesian Resort for dinner. We quickly walked through the ESPN store to see if we could find any cute sport Mickey shirts for our ring bearer. I was disappointed they only had official team clothing and nothing really with Disney characters. Although to be honest I didn't look extremely hard - I was distracted trying to find the Michigan State score on the tv's they had in the store. It was hard to be at Disney during March Madness - I kept forgetting when MSU games were being played (although we didn't last long in the tournament so I didn't miss much :sad1:). After that we briefly walked by the lego structures which are always impressive before heading toward the bus stop.

Since we booked our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana and Mike and his mom have never been we figured we should try them out during this trip. So we hopped a bus from Downtown Disney to the Magic Kingdom and then boarded the monorail. Mike's mom had never seen the WP in person so I tried to point it out when we went by it on the monorail but it was already dark and you couldn't see much. I didn't think it was too big of a deal since we'd be able to see it on Monday before our planning session.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Ohana.jpg

We got to 'Ohana 15 minutes early. I was worried we wouldn't be seated because I completely forgot to bring our confirmation number along. Luckily they just needed our name. They told us that it would be about a 20-25 minute wait so we took our buzzer and headed toward the gift shops. The second I walked into the shop our buzzer was going off. I figured it was a mistake but we all headed back over to the restaurant. No mistake, our table was ready in less than two minutes :goodvibes. The man that was taking us to our table was very talkative. I forgot to warn FMIL and Mike that they call everyone cousin here and it was great to see their reactions the first time the man asked if any of us cousins had been to 'Ohana before :lmao:. I explained that some of us had and that some hadn't so he went on to explain that 'Ohana means family and that we're all cousins, etc.

When we finally got to our seats I decided to ask about where they seat large groups since we were all curious where we would be sitting during the rehearsal dinner. I told him that we would have between 50-65 people attending. On the phone I was told that we had to have at least 65 people in order to make the reservation and I figure if we are a little under count we can just go ahead and pay for a few extra meals. The man, I mean "cousin", explained that they try to sit groups of 50 near the entrance of the restaurant where they have many round tables that fit about 6 people each. This is where he had just sat us. It is the area adjacent to the bar by the kitchen and further back from the entertainment and windows. My FMIL is really hoping we get to sit in this section because it is away from where the majority of people are sitting, a little more private, away from the games they play with the children, and near the bar for those who are wanting to drink. However, my mom is hoping we are put in the area further up near the windows (where groups over 50 are placed) because of the view and she likes the idea of having long tables so we can all sit together instead of spread out among the round tables. I'm glad it sounds like we are just assigned a section depending on the number of people so I don't get put in the middle the decision... luckily neither my mom or FMIL realized they had differing opinions. He also said that if our group wants centerpieces on the tables we could just drop them off beforehand and their staff would be more than willing to set them up. After we finished eating we decided that we probably wouldn't want any centerpieces on the table since they serve family style and that the food takes up pretty much all of the free space. We're thinking about possibly getting leis for all of our guests. Has anyone else done anything like that?

The dinner was incredible!! They couldn't bring out the potatoes fast enough for us, they were soooo good. I also really liked the chips they brought out as an appetizer (I can't remember what their real name was though). My mom was worried about eating here with Mike and his mom before the rehearsal dinner. She was afraid they wouldn't like it and we'd have to change our plans but luckily they loved it too :).

Just as we were finishing dessert (I never thought I would like bread pudding but it was to die for) Wishes was beginning over at the Magic Kingdom. We decided since we couldn't see it from our seats that we would go down and watch it from the beach. It was fun to watch but a little cold. My mom couldn't get over the fact that there were kids in the pool. Afterwards we went back to the hotel so we could get enough rest for tomorrow's attempt to get to all of the parks.

Next... "Sneaking" into the Living Seas :rolleyes1 and our one and only day in the parks

[purplegirl247]

Great trip report. Your wedding favor ideas all seem great. I can see what you mean about not wanting to overwhelm your guests with sweets. I personally, would find all the sweets delicious, but that's just me. ;)

We're doing mints as our favors as well. I bought mickey/minnie tins with mints in them, which we're using as the base of our favors (we're putting four Hershey's kisses on top, then tying it all up in tulle with a ribbon). I didn't think about the paranoia I might inspire by giving our guests breath mints. That's pretty funny. I thought they were fun because the mints are actually in the shape of the charactes.

Keep up the good work!

[KellyJo18]

Great trip report. Your wedding favor ideas all seem great. I can see what you mean about not wanting to overwhelm your guests with sweets. I personally, would find all the sweets delicious, but that's just me. ;)

We're doing mints as our favors as well. I bought mickey/minnie tins with mints in them, which we're using as the base of our favors (we're putting four Hershey's kisses on top, then tying it all up in tulle with a ribbon). I didn't think about the paranoia I might inspire by giving our guests breath mints. That's pretty funny. I thought they were fun because the mints are actually in the shape of the charactes.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks purplegirl :) I'm the type of person who would also be fine with tons of sweets. I think that most people eat (or snack on) the favor right when they get to the reception so they would get dinner before we gave them more sweets. I just can't decide what to go with so I question little stuff like that. I love that you are giving both mints and Hershey's kisses... hmm... I might have to steal that idea :rolleyes1. Too many decisions :rolleyes:.

[purplegirl247]

If you want to know my original favor idea (that I "stole" from someone else on dis from a long time ago), I wanted to have one or two Hershey kisses somehow attached to a nice spoon (not a plastic spoon but a more sturdy one). The attached note would have said "A spoonful of sugar makes the wedding go well." Alas, I couldn't find a cool-enough spoon that didn't look cheap!

[JJClemson]

Great report so far Kelly! I'm really enjoying it :goodvibes We're having our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana too and are considering getting leis for all our guests.

[KellyJo18]

If you want to know my original favor idea (that I "stole" from someone else on dis from a long time ago), I wanted to have one or two Hershey kisses somehow attached to a nice spoon (not a plastic spoon but a more sturdy one). The attached note would have said "A spoonful of sugar makes the wedding go well." Alas, I couldn't find a cool-enough spoon that didn't look cheap!

That's a very cute idea. I can imagine a spoon like that would be hard to come across. I love how many good ideas people come up with on here! I can't even begin to imagine trying to plan this wedding without this site and everyone's help :yay:. Thanks!

[Belle1981]

Great TR! I can't wait to hear more!!!!

[KellyJo18]

Great report so far Kelly! I'm really enjoying it :goodvibes We're having our rehearsal dinner at 'Ohana too and are considering getting leis for all our guests.

Great TR! I can't wait to hear more!!!!

Thanks :goodvibes I'm glad people are actually reading and also enjoying it. You can never be sure and I don't want to bore anyone with too many details :rotfl:.

[lurkyloo]

Love the details! Regarding the favor ideas, I say go with the mints - they fit the theme, they don't compete with the other desserts and everybody wiill know what to do with them!

[KellyJo18]

Love the details! Regarding the favor ideas, I say go with the mints - they fit the theme, they don't compete with the other desserts and everybody wiill know what to do with them!

I am starting to lean towards the mints. I have the tin I bought in my purse and every time I go to get something out I see them and think of Disney :goodvibes. Thanks for the advice and for reading!!

[KellyJo18]

Day Six - "Sneaking" into the Living Seas & our one and only day at the parks

Mike and I decided not to use our AP's this trip since we would have to go three months without using them before the wedding in June. Since we are moving to Florida we figured it would be better for us to activate them in June and be able to use them for a full 12 months. It was hard to be on Disney property for three days with only having one day in the parks but hopefully it will be worth it :goodvibes. My mom and sister ended up just adding an extra day to the passes they are using for the wedding with the no expiration option so they saved a bunch of money by getting the wedding discount for this trip as well as in June. I got lucky and had an extra day on a hopper pass that was from way before they started an expiration date. Mike and his mom didn't want to spend the money on getting hopper passes so our plan was to meet up with them later in the day at MGM.

We woke up bright and early to Stitch screaming at us on the phone. I forgot to mention earlier that the day of our engagement session with Randy I scheduled a wake up call... let's just say Mike doesn't find Stitch as entertaining as I do :lmao:. Anyway, my mom, my sister and I got ready and headed for Animal Kingdom. We always like to go to AK in the morning so we can get a better look at the animals on the safari and beat some of the lines. When we first got there we had to wait in line to pick up my mom and sister's park tickets... when did they start giving paper ones instead of the heavy credit card type pass?

By the time we got into the park it was extremely busy - so much for beating the lines. I really wanted to try out Expedition Everest but we knew the line would be ridiculous and finally decided that it might be a fun ride to save for the wedding when we had a large group to go with. Instead we decided to head to Dinosaur to get a FastPass before getting in line at the safari. My mom and sister kept getting mad at me along the way because I was walking too fast for them but I knew how much they wanted to get done and we only had ONE day! When I got to the Dinosaur I noticed that there was no wait so we decided to ride it right away instead of getting a FastPass. My mom hates rides like this but has never complained about going on it for some reason. Usually she waits outside and shops while we ride but since AK opened she's been a fan of this ride. So all three of us start through the weaving line that is empty and get right in to watch the movie. We ended up in the back row of our "time rover" and my mom didn't have anyone riding on one side of her - she freaked out the entire ride because she felt like she was going to fall out. I thought the picture was a riot but didn't want to spend a lot of money on it and noticed other people just taking pictures of the monitors so I figured I'd give it a try too. Sorry if it's blurry! We're in the back row - I'm on the far right next to my sister who is being attacked by our mom (although she looks pretty freaked out too).

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/3-20-2007-43.jpg

After laughing at our picture for awhile we head over to the safari and see that the wait is already at 60 minutes. We've all been on this ride a few times and figured it could wait until June so we start walking back toward the bus stop. Yup we went on one ride and were leaving. I don't know if that says we don't have a lot at AK that we like to do or if we just had sooo many other things we wanted to do at the other parks. I do really want to see the new Nemo play at AK but it wasn't starting until noon and we didn't want to wait around (apparently our theme for the day).

On to Epcot! As we are walking toward the bus stop we see the Epcot bus was just pulling away and I immediately think about how we're going to have to spend more time that we don't have to waste waiting. All of a sudden the bus stops and opens it's door when it reaches where we are walking - SWEET! :woohoo: I'm excited and confused at the same time but when we finally sit down I found out that my mom had been waving obnoxiously at the bus... I wasn't sure if I should be glad or embarrassed.

Once we finally arrive at Epcot we decide to go to Guest Services to see about the pins I keep hearing about on here :disrocks:. Instead of asking for the Just Married pins (which I kept meaning to do during our trip but forgot) we asked about 1st visit pins. We have many guests that have never been to Disney before and thought these would be great to put in their guest bags (I'll take a picture tomorrow and add it to the post). We also picked up a birthday pin since the father of our flower girl and ring bearer's birthday is the day before our wedding and a few anniversary buttons as well for two couples that have wedding anniversaries during the trip. The woman at guest services seemed to hesitate about giving us a bunch but we explained that they were for guests attending our Disney wedding and she seemed to be a little more helpful.

When we finally head toward the park I think we were a little overwhelmed about what to do first. We found ourselves standing near Mission Space which Mandi and I have never been on so we decided to go check it out. The way the signs are angled it was hard to see what the wait was - we thought it said 2 minutes (we should have known that wasn't possible) and headed to get into line after sending our mom off to some shops. When we see the wait we decide to pass and again wait until June. At least we'll be looking forward to some rides that we've never been on before when we are there for the wedding.

I must say that I LOVE the new(is it new?) sign they have in Epcot that flashes all of the rides and their wait times, very helpful :thumbsup2 (or so we thought). We see that the wait for Soaring is only 20 minutes and we decide that is not bad at all considering it's new and we really, really wanted to try it. We had been on the original at California Adventure when we were in California in 2001 and remembered loving it. By the time we hike our way to the Land pavilion and down the stairs to Soaring the time had been increased to 70 minutes. We really debated this one but decided to come back later in the afternoon to see if it got any better.

Now what? I was getting frustrated that they didn't want to wait in line for anything so I dragged them over to the new Nemo ride. It was a 30 minute wait but I was not letting them say no! So after taking a bunch of pictures outside (since this is where we are holding our reception) we get in line.

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For future reference, I started timing the line when we entered the indoor part of the line and it only took 15 minutes! :banana: Not bad at all - we're in Disney, lines are a given. Before we boarded our clamshell we saw them rotate one of the shells to load a wheelchair. I was so impressed by the engineering of this clamshell - it twisted and bent into a ramp! The ride itself was cute. I thought it might be confusing for some of our wedding guests that don't watch the new Disney movies since they had Dory asking who Nemo was which I thought was funny but some might not get it. Anyway... very cute! I loved how they made it look like the Finding Nemo characters were swimming with the real fish :fish:.

After the ride is over my sister decides she is going to find a way into the VIP room. My mom and sister have never seen it and I forgot to take pictures when Mike and I saw it on our site inspection tour. So we look all over the tank area for the elevator I remember being told our guests would take to get to the reception but had little luck. Granted I was praying we wouldn't find it because who knows what her suggestion would have been - I was pretty sure it was a locked elevator (and kept telling them so) but I did not want to get kicked out of Disney World when our wedding is just around the corner!! :eek: I suggested that we just stick our heads in the Coral Reef so they could get a feel for it that way but I had never been and quickly realized the restaurant is nothing like the VIP room. I made the mistake of leaving my mom and sister alone while I used the restroom and when I am washing my hands I hear my sister ask for the manager :scared1:. What is she doing??? I hear her explain to the hostess that "her sister" is having her wedding in the VIP Saloon in June and we were wondering if we could see it.

I was almost afraid to leave the bathroom but I do... when I walk over to them I see the hostess approaching and start to worry. She says that the manager will be out as soon as possible to take us up but adds that they won't be able to give us any of the pricing or availability information. No problem! It's already booked. I think I owe my sister an apology at this point but I don't think she knows I was freaking out. So a younger gentleman comes down about 15 minutes later - I forgot to mention that we were bugging the manager of a restaurant at NOON :rotfl: opps. I apologized about it but he seemed excited to show it to us. He told us that he just started working at the Coral Reef and that his sister was in the middle of planning her wedding when he got the job - apparently she was mad that he now had access to such a gorgeous venue and that she already had another place booked. We took a bunch of pictures.

The entrance
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation020.jpg

They had a conference the next day (which was why we couldn't see it during the planning session) so it was all set up
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation019.jpg

The bar
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The piano they can't remove
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He told us that the best part of the venue was the bathrooms and told us we had to check them out... he was great!
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation021.jpg

[DisneyFairy19]

WOW... You took such beautiful pics.. cant wait to see what the wedding pics will be like...

[KellyJo18]

After leaving the Living Seas we decided to go check out our dessert party location. When we got near the United Kingdom I realized I really had no idea where the UK lower terrace was and decided to stop to ask some security guards (which I don't think I've ever seen walking Disney? :confused3) where it was. We were in the right area but couldn't see it because it was hidden behind whatever building the security guards had been entering.

I am all excited to see the location and think it's great until my mom and sister start freaking me out about how small it is. I assume that Disney wouldn't let us book a location that won't fit our party and tell them they are crazy. Turns out they were right though and we are trying to figure out another location or also book UK Upper Terrace along with the lower.

Here is the entrance to the location. The ramp is to the left and there are stairs to the right.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation022.jpg

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To the right
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The left side
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation025.jpg

The view to the right is of the French Island
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation031.jpg

The view of UK Lower from France
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation036.jpg

UK Lower is to the left in this picture
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We also looked the French Island which is so pretty! but not handicap accessible
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After looking around at these locations we headed towards Germany to get lunch. I noticed that they have a train garden near the Germany pavilion which I had never really looked at before. Mike's dad loves trains and I took some pictures to show him. I don't think FMIL appreciated me giving him any ideas and is worried he's going to want his own train garden now :rotfl:

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While we were eating lunch Mike called to tell us they had just finished watching the new stunt show at MGM. I was so bummed because this is one of the attractions I used to convince him that he would love Disney and was really hoping to we'd get to see it together since neither of us ever had been. Last night Mike made me feel bad about not going with him today and I was hoping we'd at least go over to MGM to meet up with DF and his mom for a little while. I could tell my mom and sister weren't all that excited about the idea. For some reason they claim MGM is their least favorite park but I think they just haven't given it enough of a chance, there are tons of things there they have never done!

We go to check out the sign that shows wait times one last time and decide that there isn't really anything for us to do that will be fast so they agree to go to MGM with me :yay:.

I call Mike when we are on the bus to figure out where to meet. He was just about to get on the Star Wars ride and said to meet him outside of the Great Movie Ride. My mom and sister have never been on the Great Movie Ride and I think they'll really love it. Ana had taken me and Mike when we were there for our site inspection trip in November. The actors we got that time we so incredible that I really had high hopes about it this trip. Once we got into MGM we decided to hit up this guest service shop for more pins before heading toward the ride. We got to the ride entrance before them and did some shopping at the store under (near?) the hat.

From the outside it looked like there wasn't a line and we quickly walked in to the area with the movie playing. It was nice to get a chance to talk with Mike and his mom before we got on the ride though. I felt really bad that his mom missed out on seeing the LS and wasn't sure if I should tell her about it right away. Instead I showed them the picture of us on the Dinosaur ride and asked them about their day. Turns out that they had almost finished all of the attractions at MGM. They only had the GMR and Indiana Jones left. We quickly were boarding the ride and I heard my mom and Mandi talking about how they couldn't believe they'd never been on it before. Unfortunately the actors we got this time weren't all that great. We were in the back of the car and it was hard to hear what they were saying. The woman that hijacked our vehicle was supposed to be a cowgirl and just kept screaming into the mic. I'll have to get them to go on it again in June and hopefully we'll have better luck then.

After we got off the GMR we headed over to Indiana Jones. I hadn't seen this show since I was in the 4th grade and I had hated it then so I wasn't really looking forward to it. I was surprised though and really ended up enjoying it. I guess my taste has changed since I was 9.

My sister decided to get her husband an Indiana Jones shirt and I headed up to guest services with Mike and his mom. They wanted to make reservations at Fulton's for dinner and weren't sure where to go to do so. My mom, Mandi, and I had planned to end our day at Magic Kingdom since they were having Extra Magic Hours until 2 am!

After MGM, Mike and his mom were going back to the hotel to rest some before dinner. Our bus was boarding so we took of running and I barely got to say goodbye to them... I felt bad for ditching them again. We were so tired on the bus I was joking that we wouldn't make it until the parks normal closing hour.

Once we get to the Magic Kingdom we forget about our plan to go to guest services to get the Just Married pins and go straight for Pirates of the Caribbean pirate:. I had gone on the new version with Mike in November but my mom and Mandi were determined to go on it during this trip. They didn't care about the wait time at all so we got in line. I noticed that every little kid that was in line had to click the chains when they walked by them. Not a huge deal but it got annoying after awhile. We had a large group of high school girls in front of us and all of a sudden they started to shriek about something. Apparently they spotted someone famous in line and were extremely excited about it. Typically we don't try to listen to other people's conversations but we couldn't figure out who they were talking about. They were really entertaining and made the wait fly by. After about 20 minutes of scanning the crowd looking for some familiar "celebrity" face I decided just to ask them. Just as I was working up the nerve I saw who they were talking about. It took us awhile but I finally figured out that his name was Nick, the winner of last season's Project Runway. I don't know how I figured it out because I only watched a couple episodes and my sister watched it almost weekly. Anyway, it was our first Disney celebrity spotting. Actually, that might be a lie. When I was in the forth grade we saw Joey Lawrence (who I loved :love:) but he was there for a parade, not just waiting in line. We also met Ed McMann that same trip in a grocery store north of Orlando :rotfl:.

After they got to experience the new Pirates ride we grabbed burgers at Pecos Bills. Once we sat down we realized how tired we really were and it was only about 7pm. There was no way we were going to make it to 2 am!! We decided to head over to Splash Mountain but it was broke so we decided to get in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As we were getting in line we realized that large numbers of people were getting out of line... it was broke too!! We decided to go give Space Mountain a try but everyone must have had the same idea because the line there was incredibly long. My mom decided she wanted to see the Carousel of Progress and we agreed since Mandi and I both couldn't remember ever seeing it. It was pretty entertaining. Definitely a ride to recommend to my grandparents to go to during the wedding trip. My mom said that they updated it since she had been on it last as the family of the future wasn't as out of date - although my sister and I thought they could have gotten a little more creative with what a future household would look like.

We tried to make it to the next showing of the Laughing Floor with the Monsters Inc. characters but had just missed it. Since we were dragging and feeling really tired we decided we should head towards Main Street to do a little shopping before heading back to the hotel. We got distracted on the way and stopped to watch the SpectroMagic Parade. None of us had seen it in years.

I loved the fish!
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We didn't have the best view and decided half way through to start looking at some of the shops. On our way out we decided to stop and buy souvenirs for the kids at my mom's daycare. We bought them each one of the flashing necklaces that they sell during parades and fireworks. As we were walking out we remembered we wanted to buy Magic Kingdom water bottle holders (the straps) to put in the guest bags for the wedding. I thought it might be good to attach one to the water bottle in the bag so people know what to do with them and will be able to carry water in the parks. With the wedding being in June I know it's going to be hot and want everyone to stay hydrated. The CM looked at us like we were nuts when we asked to buy 30 of them.

As we walked out of Magic Kingdom there were CM's standing at the top of the train station waving their Mickey hands and saying goodnight. So cute! I can't wait to go back!!!

We headed home to get enough sleep to be re energized for the planning session in the morning :yay:.

Next up... The disaster of the trip :scared: and our planning session :goodvibes

[curiouser]

Ooooooh the Living Seas room looks great!!! :thumbsup2 I've watched Illuminations from the UK lower and its a good spot. The dessert party venues are so pretty, its too bad I really don't like Illuminations! :rotfl:

[KellyJo18]

Day Seven - The Planning Session :yay:

I made sure that our alarms were set so we would have plenty of time to get ready and make it over to Franck's to meet our EM. I woke up excited and nervous about the day. I claimed the shower first so I would have the most time getting ready so that if anyone was running behind they could just meet us at the WP once they were ready. The plan was to get ready, grab a quick bite to eat, and Mike was driving us all over to Franck's in his rental car.

My mom and sister went to grab snack's from the resort food court and I went to go get Mike and his mom from their room. His mom opens the door and just gives me this look like "you're not going to believe it". The second I see her my heart drops. I look around the room and don't see Mike and I ask what's wrong :scared:. She says that he's been throwing up since 4 am :scared1:. I didn't start to panic right away. He was getting out of the shower and looked normal enough so I thought maybe he was over it but that wasn't the case. He laided down on the bed and informed me he wasn't going to the planning session :sad1:. I knew we very well couldn't have him going to the menu tasting because even mentioning food made him feel sick but I was still extremely disappointed.

We had been in Florida for almost a week and he could have gotten sick ANY other day. He asks how we will get there since he can't drive us and this is when I start to panic. Typically it takes 40-60 minutes to get to the WP with Disney transportation (from where we were anyway) and by this time we had 30 minutes tops to get there. I wasn't exactly positive if we were meeting our EM at 9 or 9:30. When our EM emailed us the schedule it said to meet her at 9:30 but the confirmation email from DFTW said to arrive at 9am. The first thing I do is find our EM's number. It was her voicemail so I decided to talk to her assistant instead. I explained that Mike woke up with food poisoning or the flu :confused3 and that we were running behind because of it. I asked what time we were supposed to arrive and she confirms it is 9:00 :eek:.

Mike decides that since we are in such a time crunch that we should all take the rental car without him. We quickly load our luggage into the car (since we wouldn't be back before check out) and get ready to go. I volunteered my sister to drive since I was a nervous reck at this point. Mike and I had gone to the front desk the night before to get directions to the WP. I was worried that I wouldn't remember how to get there since I had only been half listening and figured Mike would remember them himself :rolleyes1. After a quick goodbye to Mike we all climbed in the car and tried to navigate our way.

As we were driving over my EM's assistant called to say she was wrong and we didn't have to be at the WP until 9:30 (at least it wasn't just me who was confused about it). We pulled up to Franck's at exactly 9 and we figured we could spend the extra time snooping around the WP and looking at Franck's. Mike and I were the only ones that had ever seen either in person.

We walked into Franck's to tell them that we had made it and asked if we could go take a look at the WP. The receptionist gave us the okay and told us that there wouldn't be a wedding until noon.

Walking into Franck's
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My mom made sure to get a close up of the sign because my dad loves Father of the Bride and doesn't believe they named this place after it
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Mike's mom, me, and my mom
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I'm checking out the ceiling
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The ceiling
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Inside the Bride's Vestibule
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I can't remember if this is the other room (there were two) in the Bride's Vestibule or if this is the groom's room :confused3
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation057.jpg

Picture Point
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Next... I'll post my pictures of inside Franck's and all of the delicious food we tried at our menu tasting :goodvibes

[KellyJo18]

WOW... You took such beautiful pics.. cant wait to see what the wedding pics will be like...

Thanks :) I'm not the best photographer so it must just be how great the venues are :rotfl2: It's a good thing we'll have Randy for the wedding :goodvibes

[KellyJo18]

Ooooooh the Living Seas room looks great!!! :thumbsup2 I've watched Illuminations from the UK lower and its a good spot. The dessert party venues are so pretty, its too bad I really don't like Illuminations! :rotfl:

I'm glad you liked that spot, I've been worried about it recently. I haven't seen IllumiNations since I was 9 years old so hopefully I'm not disappointed. I've heard mixed reviews about that particular show but I'm sure we'll have fun either way.

[PrettyInTink]

Great pics! The WP is just dreamy :love: :love: :love: :love:

[KellyJo18]

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but our wedding invitations arrived so I've been busy putting them together and finally got them in the mail today. I'll post a picture later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Now to the best part of the trip, our menu tasting. Since Mike was stuck back at the hotel and missing out on all of the delicious food I made sure to take lots of pictures. My sister even mentioned that I was getting lots of good food shots for the "boards I'm constantly on" :lmao:. I have never had such great tasting food and am even more excited about the wedding because of it :thumbsup2 (no exaggeration!).

After taking a look at the WP we headed back to Franck's to meet Michelle. While we were waiting we took a look at all of the ideas they had setup to see if we liked anything in particular.

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FMIL, DM, and me
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FMIL, my sister, and me after we finished looking the DFTW photo albums - they had some gorgeous shots! I'd recommend taking a look at them when you're there.
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Our EM arrived a little after 9:30 and I immediately knew I would like her. She had been out of town and had flight delays on her way home - she only had one hour of sleep before coming in to meet with us, I don't know how she stayed awake and so upbeat throughout the day. Right away she noticed that Mike wasn't with us and we had to explain to her what happened. Once we got into the van and headed over to Epcot for what she called "dinner for breakfast" she was so helpful in suggesting how to find ginger ale for Mike (which they don't sell at ASMo but of course they have behind any bar! I can't believe I didn't think of that), where to get a doctor, etc. She was wonderful and I am extremely happy that she will be the one in charge of our wedding.

After we arrived to the Epcot Catering Kitchen we were brought in to look at place settings and meet the chef.

I was so overwhelmed when they told me to look at all of the place settings and pick one out. I had no idea which one I liked :confused3 and was kind of mad that Mike wasn't around. I knew he would have pointed at one quickly without hesitation but I am so indecisive. What a day for him to get sick :(

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I ended up picking the tuxedo but am going to have it changed to the shell/fan fold. Laura from floral was excited about the tuxedo and explained they like to put flowers in the lapel and add a bow tie which sounded great (very cute) but adds to the budget.
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While we were choosing a napkin our waitress, Kelly, came out to ask what we'd like to drink. She was very impressive, ready to fill glasses the second we were even the slightest bit low and asking what we needed. Which I'm sure they do to show you that the service at the wedding will be impeccable, plus, there are tons of Disney staff members there to see that things are going smoothly.

They wanted us to see exactly how everything would be the day of the wedding and brought each of us a dinner size portion of everything we tried!!! At 9:30 in the morning! We definitely did not need to eat breakfast! Just a warning for all of you who have yet to do the menu tasting, it's a lot of food.

They first brought out the appetizers that we had been thinking about getting at the wedding.

Bread crisp (bread lightly toasted and topped with olive oil, herbs, and Parmesan cheese) and chicken quesadillas
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The bread crisps were soooo good. We are definitely having these are our pre-reception except that the chef recommended putting tomatoes on the top of some (so they'd be more like bruschetta) to give guests more of a variety with it still only being the cost of one appetizer. The quesadillas were also excellent, not any different than most quesadillas though. We have these on our menu as of right now but it depends on how much over budget we are when we get our BEO to determine if we'll be keeping them.

Next they brought out the five spice chicken and sesame seed appetizer that Mike had really wanted to try. I hate cold meat though and this is a cold item so I wasn't so excited about having to try it. If Mike had been there I would have just let him sample it but since he wasn't I felt like I had to. I was not a huge fan but the rest of our party thought they were pretty good. They had a lot of pepper and onion in them. My FMIL said that she preferred our other appetizers more because this chicken looked like it might get messy because of the shell.
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After that they brought out the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup which was different than I expected. I have heard raving reviews about it so maybe I just had played it up in my head. I thought it was good but unlike any other cheddar soup I had ever had before, I still can't describe what it tasted like. Me being dumb asked the chef what kind of cheese was in it... duh, cheddar! I must say the pretzel bread that accompanies the soup was incredible. Very light and fluffy even with the toasted outside, great along with the soup. Yum... I shouldn't be writing this around dinner time.
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Following the soup we had one more appetizer to try, pan-seared crab cakes with lemon dill cream. I hate seafood but I figured that our guests might like a little more variety than I do. Again, since Mike wasn't there I felt like I had to try it. I told our EM that I don't like seafood and that I had never tried crab before so she got excited I was giving it a try for them. My mom and sister were shocked I tried it, I figured that it was the least I could do since they had made it for me. To be honest I did not take big enough of a bite to really review this one. I just thought it tasted like celery :confused3. My mom and FMIL loved it though and really liked the dill sauce that topped it.
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We were already pretty much decided on the Caesar salad but we also tried the field greens salad from the Epcot catering menu which was an Asian type salad with mango and ginger dressing (again one of Mike's requests). The Caesar salad was amazing! Sorry I'm not very descriptive, I'd never be hired as a food journalist. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Caesar Salad (sorry it's small, I can't get it any bigger for some reason)
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation083.jpg

Field Greens
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation084.jpg

After the salad comes the sorbet course, also called the intermezzo (if the budget allows). We first tried the tropical fruit sorbet which just tastes like mango.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation085.jpg

After we finished tasting this they brought out Cinderella's Glass Slipper. I always commented about how I thought this was a waste of money (it's $20/person) but when she brought it out I fell in love with it! I can just imagine them turning down the lights and bringing a bunch into the reception at once. We tried the raspberry-champagne sorbet in the glass slipper, it was so good. I liked it tons better than the mango flavored sorbet (but then again, I don't like mango). It had somewhat of a bubbly taste to it because of the champagne and was very refreshing.

We were told that you can either get a red or blue glow light beneath it. Our EM said the light is fun because after people finish eating the sorbet they take the light out and wear it for the rest of the evening.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation086.jpg

The entrees - We were pretty sure we wanted to do a dual plate with a chicken and steak. First we tried the filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables. I had requested a few sauces to try because the recommended blueberry demi did not sound too appealing to me and DF. The chef prepared a red wine demi, a mushroom sauce, and also a peanut sauce for us to test out. I tried the peanut sauce first. I think the chef could tell I didn't like it. They watch facial expressions so carefully so they can tell what you are thinking without you telling them. The red wine was a very thin, very light sauce that just made the filet taste somewhat juicer - very good (we ended up picking it). My mom and FMIL both like the mushroom sauce the best but Mike hates mushrooms so it was out.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation087.jpg

Our next entree was AMAZING!!!!! I have been craving it since then and will continue to until the wedding. It was heaven. The parmesan crusted chicken :love:. Try it and you will not regret it :) It was very moist and very light tasting. It had some sort of thin cheese sauce on the top that was incredible (sorry I can't remember what it is called - if you want to know PM me and I will email my EM). This plate also included yukon gold cheddar potatoes and grilled vegetables. The garlic mashed potatoes that were on the other plate were very good and we are having those instead, neither would be a bad choice though (IMO).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation088.jpg

We were all so full even though we had only been taking one or two bites of each dish. I felt horrible that we wasted so much food but it was way too much to try at 9:30 in the morning. People need to go into a menu tasting there around dinner time without having had much to eat all day because it is a lot. I kept telling the chef that they should just bring out one plate that we could pass but he insisted that we all needed our own plates.

We weren't done yet. We had requested to try a couple items from the dessert party menus. Somehow we managed to try both the strawberry ricotta cheesecake and the chocolate pecan pie. They both melt in your mouth.

They brought so much even though there were only four of us!
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation092.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation091.jpg

Next... I'm going to go track down my notes from the planning session and let you know what I thought was important/helpful

[cryssi]

yummmmm, looks so good! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 especially those desserts...;)

[lindajoan]

KellyJo18, this is so helpful! Thanks so much for sharing. Your WP and food pictures are phenomenal!!

[orangetiggs]

We are having our wedding at the exact same places, it looks so nice and all the food looks fantastic. We looked at the chicken as well so I'm going to make sure I try that!!

We are not going for our planning sessions till september but I cant wait now!!

[luna99]

what a great trip report!! it's totally making me miss disney and miss living there!!!!! maybe I'll move back one day and work for the mouse when I'm old and retired. ;)

[KellyJo18]

yummmmm, looks so good! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 especially those desserts...;)

They were incredible... definitely worth the DP menu upgrade :goodvibes

KellyJo18, this is so helpful! Thanks so much for sharing. Your WP and food pictures are phenomenal!!

I'm really glad someone is finding it helpful! I remember seeing a planning session TR that was extremely helpful (especially the food pictures). I figured it was about time I returned the favor and tried to help out others that are still planning.

We are having our wedding at the exact same places, it looks so nice and all the food looks fantastic. We looked at the chicken as well so I'm going to make sure I try that!!

We are not going for our planning sessions till september but I cant wait now!!

You won't be disappointed in the chicken (IMO). Good luck planning!

what a great trip report!! it's totally making me miss disney and miss living there!!!!! maybe I'll move back one day and work for the mouse when I'm old and retired. ;)

I've always wanted to work at Disney too. We're moving to Florida but I figure a two hour commute to work everyday might be a little too much :rotfl:.

[sunsh1ne]

this was very helpful and informative. i love your menu chices. one question what course does the soup fit in? we also wanted the soup the one from canada in epcot is it in place of te salad??

[DisneyFairy19]

I love your newsletter.. I might use some of the wording myself

[KellyJo18]

this was very helpful and informative. i love your menu chices. one question what course does the soup fit in? we also wanted the soup the one from canada in epcot is it in place of te salad??

Following the pre-reception most Disney menus have dinner beginning with an appetizer once all of the guests are seated. We figured after having a bunch of appetizers during our pre-reception this was unnecessary and decided to substitute this course with the soup. So we will be having: soup, salad, sorbet (possibly), and then the dual chicken/filet plate.

[KellyJo18]

I love your newsletter.. I might use some of the wording myself

Thanks :goodvibes It took awhile but I think it finally turned out all right. I'm glad it might be helpful to you :)

[Kashmir104]

This planning trip report is fantastic!!!!! Thank you soo much for sharing this! I had no idea about the ice sculpture slipper! That's awesome for sorbet! You made me really excited for my own planning session (which is 15 months away!!!! hehehe)

Can't wait to hear more (and see more pictures!)

[KellyJo18]

Our Planning Session

I figured it was about time for me to finish up my planning session trip report since it has been three weeks already since we've been back. Hopefully I remember everything well enough to give you a good idea how the planning session portion of the day is run.

We got back from our menu tasting and our EM had to go print off the planning kit we had sent her a few days prior. While we were waiting for her to return we decided that my sister should drive FMIL back to our hotel so she could help DF figure out what to do about his flight. My sister was a little disappointed that she was going to miss the beginning of the planning session but really once our EM finished printing off our paperwork and we got settled into a conference room she had already made it back from dropping of FMIL.

I would recommend you bring your "Let the Planning Begin!" paperwork as it was pretty much the outline of questioning our EM went through for this part. I used mine to remind myself of what we had decided and it was a good place to take notes (especially looking at the notes now it makes it easier to figure out what we had been talking about).

When we finally got started she first went over what the BEO was and how it was important. She explained that the BEO is the program/guide to our wedding. The BEO will show what will happen and in what order events will happen. More importantly what is not in the BEO will not occur so once we get it back we need to go over it line by line and make sure everything we are expecting on our wedding day is written out in the BEO. She said that we'd receive it 4-5 weeks following the planning session (right now it's been three - I heard from her last week and she said that it'd be another two weeks until she completed it because of a busy wedding schedule). She also stressed that we shouldn't freak out when we receive it or the budget because changes can be made. It bugged me how throughout the day they did not discuss prices at all. A lot of my decisions might have to be altered to fit our budget.

Next she explained that our payment would be due mid-May which is 30 days before our event. We are having to email her and floral our official guest count on May 15th (38 days prior to the wedding). Around this time she also needs our arrival and resort information. During this trip we were still trying to decide where we wanted to stay before and after the wedding and DF was trying to convince his family to stay at a nicer resort. When we were discussing our reservation plans she pointed out that if anyone wanted connecting doors to make sure to request it when they make their reservations. She stressed the point of using the term "connecting" instead of "adjoining" because that is the only way the request would be fulfilled and even then there aren't any guarantees. She also gave us the tip that if we really wanted to make sure we received connecting doors to explain when making our reservation that the adjoining room has either minors that need supervision staying in it or elderly with special needs. She said that when the request is made in that manor they pretty much have to see that it is fulfilled. I thought that tip might be helpful for some of you :).

The wedding pavilion is booked the entire day before our wedding so our EM reminded us that our rehearsal would have to be held in one of the open ballrooms at the Grand Floridian. I didn't think this was a huge deal, it would have been nice to get into the WP but it will keep it more of a surprise for our wedding party since they have never seen the inside of the WP in person. She made sure we knew that whatever items we would need to give her for the wedding would need to be brought to her at the rehearsal (I think it is so that she does not have to store a bunch of things for too long of a time). Another tip that you might be interested in was that if you plan on mailing guest bags to the resorts before you arrive for the wedding you either have to use UPS or FedEx or they will get lost in the mail :eek:. Apparently anything that is sent with standard US postal is taken to their P.O. Boxes instead of the actual resorts and that UPS and FedEx would deliver the bags to the resort lobbies.

After discussing the rehearsal we moved on to the actual wedding. She said that with 10 people in our wedding party (3 bridesmaids, 3 groomsmen, FG, RB, and us) we would need to book 3 limos :scared:. We hadn't even budgeted for one and figured that we could add this if our budget allowed after we saw how much we were spending. She said that we would need three to fit our parents and grandparents as well as our wedding party because each limo only hold 8 people. We decided just to book one and let our parents and grandparents ride in the buses. We also figured our FG and RB would be okay staying with their parents instead of going with us in the limo. She said that we would need at least one limo because after our "staged exit" from the WP when our guests line the walkway we are taken in the limo for a short ride while our guests board the buses and head over to the pre-reception. After they have all been taken away the limo returns to the WP for our formal photographs.

We also had to decide where we wanted our grandparents seated. She said that the formal manor is to have them also in the front row with our parents but that a lot of times if the bride and groom are worried about filling the WP they recommend grandparents sit in the second row. I didn't really have a huge opinion on where they sat and let my mom decide - she had been wanting them to sit in the front row. She also said it's better not to have our grandparents come early for the photos taken at the GF before the wedding and have them ride in the buses with our other guests. She said it works out better to do photos with them after the wedding in the WP.

Buses - we had to request one of our buses be handicap accessible because DF's grandma is in a wheelchair. Typically one of these buses hold about 45 guests but 15 seats are removed in a handicap accessible bus. Hopefully this doesn't make it necessary for us to hire three buses instead of the two we had budgeted for.

One thing I was excited about was that once DF and I arrive at the pre-reception she will pull us into a private room so we can get some food in our systems before facing everyone. She said that she likes to grab a plate full of appetizers for us and does this because so many times the bride and groom never even get to taste any of the food they have at the wedding because they spend the whole time talking with their guests. I had originally told DF that I didn't really care if we had food I didn't like at the pre-reception because I just assumed it would be unlikely for us to eat any of it.

We then moved on to photography and our officiant. We are using Randy Chapman all evening except for our DP because he was already booked for one the night of our wedding :( so we will be hiring DPS and using their DP package. Then we moved on to the extra Disney items - Cinderella's coach, major domo, english butler, characters, etc. We are not having any of these extra touches at our wedding - she joked about us already having enough characters coming to the wedding as guests.

One thing that I thought was interesting is how they do the budget for the bar. We picked a hosted bar (which is billing per drink) and to figure out how much to charge you prior to the wedding they do not take age into consideration. Each guest (no matter their age or if they drink) will be charged an estimated rate because it tends to balance out because some guests will drink more than others. She said that we will be required to pay this estimate before the wedding and if we do not drink as much as they expect they will refund the money or if we drink more we will just owe more after the wedding. She said it tends to be pretty accurate and if a refund or charge is made it's typically not for a large amount.

Our pre-reception begins at 3:30 and the DJ will ask guests to take their seats around 4:30. Mike and I will have our first dance and then dinner will be served. After dinner we'll have more dancing before we go outside for the DP. Sorry but I can't remember what time she said we'd cut the cake but I'm thinking it was around 6:30 or 7. The schedule I have in our notes is: announce, 1st dance, meal, dad dance, cake, last dance at 7:50-7:55.

After we finished all of the paperwork discussion we got back to the good stuff, the cake tasting!

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation097.jpg

The cake choices were yellow, chocolate, marble, and almond. The frosting they brought us (from left to right) in the bottom row is tropical mousse, raspberry, chocolate mousse, and amaretto and the top row has buttercream, can't remember? :confused3 , white chocolate mousse, and Bailey's.

I picked chocolate with chocolate mousse and vanilla with buttercream. Kind of boring and basic but it's what I've always enjoyed at other weddings.

After our cake tasting our EM had figured out a way to move up our floral appointment by an hour and a half so we could get back to the hotel early to check on DF and figure out our travel plans since DF had decided to change his ticket and we had all been scheduled to leave at 7 that same evening.

Laura with floral was amazing, I can't say enough good things about her. She was interested in every little detail of the day and would get so excited about pictures we brought and ideas we had. I can't really tell you what flowers we ended up picking because I don't remember any of the names.

I showed her this picture for the bridesmaids but asked her to also add some white flowers to it since I was having an all white bouquet. I also asked her to include lots of different shades of greens in both mine and the girls.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/large_image2.jpg

This is the original photo I found that actually made us pick olive green for our bridesmaids dresses and the flowers are from this photo as well.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/large_image.jpg

I had tons of other pictures that I had cut out of magazines and had been collecting in a folder to take with us. I bought those old school photo album pages that are sticky and have the plastic cover that pulls back. Many of the pages of my planning folder are now empty because I left things with Disney. I had even made two copies of the photos I really liked so I would be left with a copy but ended up giving one to our EM and one to floral so make sure to take lots of copies with you. This is my planning folder:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0924.jpg
When Laura found out the my grandma was making the bridesmaids dresses she got extremely excited because she knew there would be extra fabric. She asked us if she could get three squares of the fabric (around the size of a handkerchief) and so that they could wrap the stems of the bridesmaid flowers in the same fabric as their dresses.

For our centerpieces we decided to use the same kind of flowers that I will have in my bouquet (whites and greens). We are just going to have small vases of flowers, nothing fancy or too large because the tables at the LS are small. To save money I also asked if we could have floral arrangements on every other table and just use the standard candle holder at the LS on the rest of them and maybe put petals around them. This is the candle holder:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/WeddingInvitation010.jpg

That's pretty much all I remember and all of the notes I took during our planning session. I hope it gives some of you a better idea what to expect. :goodvibes

[ohmersgirl]

Sounds like your planning is going well! I'm from MI too, and also went to MSU (and now work there full time). Your wedding looks like it will be beautiful!!!

[KellyJo18]

Sounds like your planning is going well! I'm from MI too, and also went to MSU (and now work there full time). Your wedding looks like it will be beautiful!!!

Thanks :goodvibes. I miss it - I'm jealous you are working there full time, that's so great. When my bridesmaids saw the original green fabric for their dresses they said "go sparty!"

[ohmersgirl]

Thanks :goodvibes. I miss East Lansing - I'm jealous you are working there full time, that's so great. When my bridesmaids saw the original green fabric for their dresses they said "Go Sparty!". I love MSU but not that much and figured that was a sign I needed to find a different shade of green :lmao:. I need to make a trip down to EL sometime to stock up on MSU merchandise before I move to Florida. For some reason they like a school known as the Gators down there :confused3 :rotfl2: .

Haha, yeah you could go to Steve & Barry's and stock up real well. :goodvibes I was the maid of honor in my old roommate's wedding and they did do the "spartan green" for the girls dresses. They did turn out nice, but after 4 years of school here, then working here full time, I'm kinda sick of green.

[JJClemson]

Wow you got so much accomplished at your planning session :goodvibes That's too bad your DF wasn't able to join you. The food from your tasting session looks amazing mmmm :)

[lurkyloo]

Thank you for all this great DETAILED information - it is so helpful to an uberplanner like me to know exactly what happens and when! :)

[KellyJo18]

Wow you got so much accomplished at your planning session :goodvibes That's too bad your DF wasn't able to join you. The food from your tasting session looks amazing mmmm :)

The planning session was what I used to convince Mike that we should have a Disney wedding so it was kind of ironic that he couldn't go. He loved the idea that we only had to spend one day to plan the wedding instead of trying to decide on what vender's to use and me dragging him to tons of different appointments.

Thank you for all this great DETAILED information - it is so helpful to an uberplanner like me to know exactly what happens and when! :)

I'm glad it was somewhat helpful :goodvibes . I wish I hadn't waited so long to finish it, I'm sure I forgot something :confused3 but when you don't know what to expect any information is helpful. I know I always appreciated it when other brides posted their experiences and finally I'm at the stage where I can return the favor for those just starting to plan.

[KellyJo18]

We finally got our wedding invitations sent out last week and I took some pictures to show you all. We ordered pocket invitations from mygatsby.com. I had an extremely hard time finding invitations I liked and, to be honest, I am still not a huge fan of the invitations we ended up ordering. We had gotten to the point where we had to order something or our invitations would never be sent out. The only reason I'm somewhat disappointed in them is because no one sold invitations with the olive green color we have been using. I also debated getting cream pockets instead of the black ones we picked in the end.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0914-1.jpg

Instead of giving a directions card (since we have buses picking up all of our guests the day of the wedding) we decided to use the third slot in the pocket to invite our guests to the rehearsal/welcome dinner. We weren't sure if we should be inviting everyone to this but when I made the reservation at 'Ohana I was told we were required to have at least 65 people and that made the decision for us (we'd have to invite everyone to hit the minimum amount).

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0915.jpg

Here is our reply card. We decided to have our guests reply to both the wedding and the rehearsal dinner. Mike hates the "M" on the line where guests are supposed to write "Mr. and Mrs. _____" or "Miss _____" etc. He said that he would assume the M was for the first letter in his name and just write "ike _____" next to it. Sure enough, we have an "ike" atteding the wedding. His college roommate and best man (also named Mike) filled it in that way :lmao:. I was laughing so hard when we got his reply in the mail. I even asked Mike if he had paid him to do it that way since my Mike had made a huge deal about the "M___________" being dumb.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0916.jpg

Lastly, this is our reception card. I just wanted the traditional "reception to follow...etc." but my mom and sister convinced me that we should give a little more information about the evening. I still am not a huge fan of this wording but it was such a headache at the time we ordered I just went ahead and used it anyway.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0918.jpg

[princessdisneybelle]

We finally got our wedding invitations sent out last week and I took some pictures to show you all. We ordered pocket invitations from mygatsby.com. I had an extremely hard time finding invitations I liked and, to be honest, I am still not a huge fan of the invitations we ended up ordering. We had gotten to the point where we had to order something or our invitations would never be sent out. The only reason I'm somewhat disappointed in them is because no one sold invitations with the olive green color we have been using. I also debated getting cream pockets instead of the black ones we picked in the end.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0914-1.jpg

Instead of giving a directions card (since we have buses picking up all of our guests the day of the wedding) we decided to use the third slot in the pocket to invite our guests to the rehearsal/welcome dinner. We weren't sure if we should be inviting everyone to this but when I made the reservation at 'Ohana I was told we were required to have at least 65 people and that made the decision for us (we'd have to invite everyone to hit the minimum amount).

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0915.jpg

Here is our reply card. We decided to have our guests reply to both the wedding and the rehearsal dinner. Mike hates the "M" on the line where guests are supposed to write "Mr. and Mrs. _____" or "Miss _____" etc. He said that he would assume the M was for the first letter in his name and just write "ike _____" next to it. Sure enough, we have an "ike" atteding the wedding. His college roommate and best man (also named Mike) filled it in that way :lmao:. I was laughing so hard when we got his reply in the mail. I even asked Mike if he had paid him to do it that way since my Mike had made a huge deal about the "M___________" being dumb.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0916.jpg

Lastly, this is our reception card. I just wanted the traditional "reception to follow...etc." but my mom and sister convinced me that we should give a little more information about the evening. I still am not a huge fan of this wording but it was such a headache at the time we ordered I just went ahead and used it anyway.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0918.jpg

Very elegant!

[Married_Him_@_Disney]

I just tuned in... you've made some awesome selections, and you will have an incredible wedding.

We were married at the wedding pavillion in October 2005. Our wedding was amazing. The one thing that we were most impressed with is that we did not have to worry about anything on the day of the wedding.... there was always an entire crew and my planner with us the entire time, keeping us on schedule and directing us throughout pictures, travel, the ceremony, reception, etc. The best advice that I can give you is just to relax and breath it all in. Enjoy!!

[FSUDisneyGirl]

this is so fun to read! i'm super excited for you! can't wait to have my own disney wedding some day...

[KellyJo18]

This planning trip report is fantastic!!!!! Thank you soo much for sharing this! I had no idea about the ice sculpture slipper! That's awesome for sorbet! You made me really excited for my own planning session (which is 15 months away!!!! hehehe)

Can't wait to hear more (and see more pictures!)

Thanks! I saw pictures of the ice slipper before our planning session and thought they were even better in person. I never expected to actually want to spend the money on it though but I'm really hoping our budget allows us to have them :)

Very elegant!

Thank you! I was wanting something more elegant.

I just tuned in... you've made some awesome selections, and you will have an incredible wedding.

We were married at the wedding pavillion in October 2005. Our wedding was amazing. The one thing that we were most impressed with is that we did not have to worry about anything on the day of the wedding.... there was always an entire crew and my planner with us the entire time, keeping us on schedule and directing us throughout pictures, travel, the ceremony, reception, etc. The best advice that I can give you is just to relax and breath it all in. Enjoy!!

Thanks for the advice :). It is so easy to worry about things but I know the day of the wedding will go smoothly thanks to everyone's help planning and the crew at DFTW.

this is so fun to read! i'm super excited for you! can't wait to have my own disney wedding some day...

I'm glad you are enjoying it :goodvibes.

[AuroraBorealis]

I like your invites! I also like your olive maid's gowns. Thanks for sharing your planning TR with us; it's been a lot of fun to read!

[M&M126]

You were so organized for your planning session! You are my inspiration ;) I love your colors. Very nice. Good luck with the rest of the planning!

[KellyJo18]

I like your invites! I also like your olive maid's gowns. Thanks for sharing your planning TR with us; it's been a lot of fun to read!

Thanks for the compliments :goodvibes.

You were so organized for your planning session! You are my inspiration ;) I love your colors. Very nice. Good luck with the rest of the planning!

I'm glad it looked like I was organized for our planning session :rolleyes1. I had kept cutting out pictures from the bridal magazines I collected throughout our engagement and kept meaning to get them organized but I really didn't get it all ready for our planning session until the week before we left for Florida. I wasn't sure what they would need so I had a couple pages for each topic I thought we'd cover: cakes, flowers, my dress, bridesmaids dress, favors, etc. Our EM didn't look at it much but I was extremely glad to have it when I met with floral. She wanted to know every little detail and I don't know the "technical" terms for things so I would just show her the picture. Good luck with your planning!

[M&M126]

I'm glad it looked like I was organized for our planning session :rolleyes1. I had kept cutting out pictures from the bridal magazines I collected throughout our engagement and kept meaning to get them organized but I really didn't get it all ready for our planning session until the week before we left for Florida. I wasn't sure what they would need so I had a couple pages for each topic I thought we'd cover: cakes, flowers, my dress, bridesmaids dress, favors, etc. Our EM didn't look at it much but I was extremely glad to have it when I met with floral. She wanted to know every little detail and I don't know the "technical" terms for things so I would just show her the picture. Good luck with your planning![/QUOTE]

Thanks! I've been doing the same thing. I keep cutting things out and just stuffing them in my binder but they are not at all organized. One of these days I'll put them all neatly together. I think it's great that the floral rep wanted all the details and pics. That way you know you'll get exactly what you want by showing it to her! :)

[KellyJo18]

Here is the guest bag we have been making for the wedding. And when I say "we" I really mean my mom :rolleyes1. I found a pattern I liked and have been trying to help make them but all she lets me do is the inside lining because, in her words, "no one will be able to see it". Apparently, I'm not the world's best sewer :rotfl:.

I think she's been doing a great job but it is taking "us" awhile to get them done. I did all of the embroidery on the outside of the bag that says "Walt Disney World" and the family name underneath.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0922.jpg

So far we have included:
Sunscreen
Wet Wipes
Band aids - We are giving Disney tattoo band aids to families with children
1st aid kit
Pocket tissues
Water bottle
Magic Kingdom water bottle lanyard
Disney Dollar
Disney Photo Album
Park buttons - here you see the 1st visit pin but we also got anniversary and birthday pins for the families that they apply to during our wedding trip
Park Maps - during our trip for the site inspection I grabbed handfuls of these brochures whenever we went by a stand. The last time we were there I asked at the front desk of our hotel and they brought out tons for us which was much easier! I've also heard that EM's will get them for you if you ask.

We still need to add our food snacks but figure we should hold off to buy those until the wedding gets closer in case they go bad or someone gets hungry in the middle of the night and they start to disappear.

Can you think of anything else that our guests would like?? :confused3

This is the inside of the bag. We used a Disney print fabric to line each of the bags.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0775.jpg

Oh! and I stole the tag saying from Fantasia Sam. It says "We made this welcome bag especially for you. Since you traveled all these miles it's the least we could do!"

[princessdisneybelle]

Here is the guest bag we have been making for the wedding. And when I say "we" I really mean my mom :rolleyes1. I found a pattern I liked and have been trying to help make them but all she lets me do is the inside lining because, in her words, "no one will be able to see it". Apparently, I'm not the world's best sewer :rotfl:.

I think she's been doing a great job but it is taking "us" awhile to get them done. I did all of the embroidery on the outside of the bag that says "Walt Disney World" and the family name underneath.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0922.jpg

So far we have included:
Sunscreen
Wet Wipes
Band aids - We are giving Disney tattoo band aids to families with children
1st aid kit
Water bottle
Magic Kingdom water bottle lanyard
Disney Dollar
Disney Photo Album
Park buttons - here you see the 1st visit pin but we also got anniversary and birthday pins for the families that they apply to during our wedding trip
Park Maps - during our trip for the site inspection I grabbed handfuls of these brochures whenever we went by a stand. The last time we were there I asked at the front desk of our hotel and they brought out tons for us which was much easier! I've also heard that EM's will get them for you if you ask.

We still need to add our food snacks but figure we should hold off to buy those until the wedding gets closer in case they go bad or someone gets hungry in the middle of the night and they start to disappear.

Can you think of anything else that our guests would like?? :confused3

This is the inside of the bag. We used a Disney print fabric to line each of the bags.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0775.jpg

Wow! I'm impressed. I love your bags.. I wish I was a guest at your wedding. I think you have thought of some great things. Were did you find the disney sunblock?

[KellyJo18]

Wow! I'm impressed. I love your bags.. I wish I was a guest at your wedding. I think you have thought of some great things. Were did you find the disney sunblock?

Thanks! I haven't thought of nearly as much as you though, I love looking at all of your ideas :) I found the sunblock at Walmart a few weeks ago. They had a few different types of Disney choices so you might want to go check it out.

[princessdisneybelle]

Thanks! I haven't thought of nearly as much as you though, I love looking at all of your ideas :) I found the sunblock at Walmart a few weeks ago. They had a few different types of Disney choices so you might want to go check it out.

Oh thanks. I'm going there tomarrow. You might take a look at Dollar tree they had some great pens. Might be nice to include.

[KellyJo18]

Oh thanks. I'm going there tomarrow. You might take a look at Dollar tree they had some great pens. Might be nice to include.

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to go check it out :thumbsup2.

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

How about autograph books and pens for the families who have children?

A disposable camera maybe?

I love the things you've already got, and the bags! I think they're awesome!! The little tagline is way cute!

[KellyJo18]

How about autograph books and pens for the families who have children?

A disposable camera maybe?

I love the things you've already got, and the bags! I think they're awesome!! The little tagline is way cute!

We do have a few children coming and I was planning on getting them autograph books for their bags, I think they would love it. I am also considering using a autograph book in place of our guest book at the wedding. I didn't think DF would go for it but he didn't turn the idea down when I asked which is always a good sign. I thought having our guests sign the autograph book instead of a normal guest book would be different but I also love the signature photograph mats. I guess I should probably decide soon.

I love the saying on the tag too :goodvibes. I thought it was so cute when I came across Sam's post and knew I wanted to use it. Thanks Sam! :cool1:

[KellyJo18]

I posted this originally during my planning session trip report but here is a more finalized version of our favors. We found ribbon in the colors we are using at the reception (they match the standard linens at the LS) and I get to spend some quality time folding paper into boxes. It should be a blast :lmao:.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0902.jpg

I punched out Mickey heads and attached a circle thank you charm that I got from Michaels.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0903.jpg

[Chantelle]

I love your favours! Is it hard to find the packs of mints in DisneyWorld? I wanted to give some out after our dessert party.

I was also at the grocery store today and saw that they have Finding Nemo Sour Real Fruit Gummies and instantly thought of your planning journal. I thought they would be perfect in your welcome bags if you could find them where you live. I can't find a picture of the Nemo ones, but these are other disney ones you may have seen in stores. I have also seen Nemo fruit snacks from dare, so that might be an idea too if you can't find the gummies.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t190/chantelleames/RealFruitGummies.jpg

[KellyJo18]

I love your favours! Is it hard to find the packs of mints in DisneyWorld? I wanted to give some out after our dessert party.

I was also at the grocery store today and saw that they have Finding Nemo Sour Real Fruit Gummies and instantly thought of your planning journal. I thought they would be perfect in your welcome bags if you could find them where you live. I can't find a picture of the Nemo ones, but these are other disney ones you may have seen in stores. I have also seen Nemo fruit snacks from dare, so that might be an idea too if you can't find the gummies.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t190/chantelleames/RealFruitGummies.jpg

I was so excited to see this posting :cool1: since I haven't written anything in awhile and I love the fact that you thought of me at the grocery store :hug:. The nemo gummies sound great and I am definitely going to have to hunt them down at the grocery store this weekend. DF loves sour gummies and putting them in the welcome bags is a great idea :).

About the Nemo mints, we seemed to see them in quite a few different locations around WDW. I was surprised to see that the Days of Christmas store in Downtown Disney had a large selection of different mint tins (that's where we first noticed the Nemo ones). I am pretty sure that every gift shop type store at WDW had at least one or two different types of mint tins but I only really remember where we saw the Nemo tins. I have a friend that works in the Animal Kingdom offices and am making her track down 70 tins for our wedding. If you have a particular type/character in mind I can ask her to check it out. Also, I asked one CM at the Days of Christmas store if it would be difficult to get a large quantity of them and she replied that they would not have a problem tracking enough down. I'm not sure if that meant we would be running around WDW picking them up or if the store would gather them. :confused3

[KellyJo18]

I've gotten a few PM's about how we made the boxes we are putting our favors in for the wedding and I thought it might be helpful to post step by step directions for assembling them. Hopefully some of you find it helpful!

Step One: Cut selected paper into a square. We used an 8x8 piece of paper to make the box you will see posted below. I have since changed the dimensions to better fit our Nemo tin box favors.

Step Two: Fold the paper diagonally in both directions so your paper, when unfolded, shows a large X.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0929.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0941.jpg

Step Three: Then fold the paper into thirds in both directions to create a 3x3 grid of smaller squares.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0942.jpg

When finished folding it should look like this:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0927.jpg

Step Four: Once you have finished folding you will need to bend the paper in at each corner in order to form the walls of the box.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0931.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0932.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0933.jpg

Step Five: You will need to glue the inside tabs of the box in order to keep it from unfolding. However, I saw the idea originally as a box that unfolds when the top is removed in order to display a scrapbook page/letter.

Step Six: To make the top of the box you follow the same instructions but make the paper slightly larger so it fits easily onto the bottom of the box. I did this step without folding the paper from corner to corner because it results in a large X that would leave creases on the top of the box.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0925.jpg
You can see tape in the above picture because it was our test box but originally we were going to fasten the box together with eyelets but found it to be much easier (and less time consuming) to use glue.

Step Seven: Next I attached the ribbon by just wrapping it around the top of the box and gluing it to the inside of the box cover. I figured it would be easier if our guests could take the top off without untying the ribbon.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0903.jpg

Step Eight: I punched out Mickey heads using a hole punch I found at a local scrapbook store. I believe you can find the punch easily at any store that sells scrapbook supplies.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0936.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0939.jpg

Step Nine: Once I punched enough Mickey heads I punched a small hole at the top in order to attach the round thank you charms you see in the above photo. I found these charms in the wedding aisle of our local Michaels store.


I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions about how to make the boxes :).

[Kashmir104]

Wow!!! Those are awesome!!! Thank you soooo much for giving the step-by-step! They came out so well... I hope you don't mind if we all copy you now :rotfl: hehehe j/k (kind of!)

Your guests are very lucky to be receiving such awesome favors!

[mermaidbride1108]

Wow - you made those? I thought those boxes were store bought, they look professionally done. Good job, pretty crafty!

Can I ask how much the mints themselves cost you per tin at WDW?

[AnnieBelle]

Those boxes are AWESOME! How many are you having to make? Do you have people signed on to help put them together?

[orangetiggs]

I have that punch!! and I'm going to be making them now, i love them!

[KellyJo18]

Wow!!! Those are awesome!!! Thank you soooo much for giving the step-by-step! They came out so well... I hope you don't mind if we all copy you now :rotfl: hehehe j/k (kind of!)

Your guests are very lucky to be receiving such awesome favors!

Thanks! I'd be flattered to see that someone is using my instructions to make their own favor boxes :) Heck, I know I've gotten enough ideas from you all that I should finally be returning the favor.

Wow - you made those? I thought those boxes were store bought, they look professionally done. Good job, pretty crafty!

Can I ask how much the mints themselves cost you per tin at WDW?

Yup we made them. Our flower girl's mom claims we are putting too much effort into something that everyone will assume was purchased but this way we get the exact colors we will be using at the reception. I'm using the same paper to make our menus and some other items. Thanks for the compliment :)

The mints are $2.00/tin +tax.

Those boxes are AWESOME! How many are you having to make? Do you have people signed on to help put them together?

Thanks :goodvibes. We are making about 70 boxes. One for each person at our reception. We are also making larger boxes for the kids at the reception and putting in a mini version of the fishing game (the one that spins around while the fish open and close their mouths while you try to catch them with your magnetic fishing pole). I'll have to post a picture of that later. Unfortunately we only have two boxes made right now, guess I should be doing more work and spending less time on the DIS :rotfl:. My mom and I are going to sit down next Saturday and try to make as many as we possibly can... hopefully we can finish them all but I highly doubt it.

I have that punch!! and I'm going to be making them now, i love them!

I'm glad you were able to use my idea :) Good luck :thumbsup2

[Maggimus]

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0925.jpg



My mom and I used to make boxes like that every year out of received Christmas cards. We then would put little things in them the next year for Christmas (Like jewelry, etc). :yay:

[KellyJo18]

My mom and I used to make boxes like that every year out of received Christmas cards. We then would put little things in them the next year for Christmas (Like jewelry, etc). :yay:

What a great idea! I have to tell you, I was looking at another post earlier today and my flower girl was sitting next to me. She freaked out when she saw your wedding picture with Mickey and Minnie! She was so excited that we might have to add them into our budget so she's not disappointed :lmao:

[Maggimus]

What a great idea! I have to tell you, I was looking at another post earlier today and my flower girl was sitting next to me. She freaked out when she saw your wedding picture with Mickey and Minney! She was so excited that we might have to add them into our budget so she's not disappointed :lmao:

Aww thats so sweet!! I remember being young like that and getting so excited to be around the characters. Seems like back then we had so much less to worry about (no bills:laughing: , no responsibilities)..:hug:

[pooh98378]

Aww thats so sweet!! I remember being young like that and getting so excited to be around the characters. Seems like back then we had so much less to worry about (no bills:laughing: , no responsibilities)..:hug:

This was so bad of me -- when we were at Epcot near Christmas (yes - as in four months ago Christmas), the characters had just finished the tree ceremony and were in one of those double decker type buses to go backstage. DF and I were walking along and all of a sudden I saw the bus coming and screamed as loud as I could, "There are the characters!!!" Then I realized how loud I actually did scream that in front of everyone and it was kind of embarrassing :rotfl2: I think DF told me to calm down after that...

I LOVE the boxes as well -- I especially like the bow and mickey thank you. They look awesome!

[KellyJo18]

Aww thats so sweet!! I remember being young like that and getting so excited to be around the characters. Seems like back then we had so much less to worry about (no bills:laughing: , no responsibilities)..:hug:

Ahhh Disney when we were young... got to love trips that don't involve budgeting or worrying about anything but where you are going to spot your next character.

This was so bad of me -- when we were at Epcot near Christmas (yes - as in four months ago Christmas), the characters had just finished the tree ceremony and were in one of those double decker type buses to go backstage. DF and I were walking along and all of a sudden I saw the bus coming and screamed as loud as I could, "There are the characters!!!" Then I realized how loud I actually did scream that in front of everyone and it was kind of embarrassing :rotfl2: I think DF told me to calm down after that...

I LOVE the boxes as well -- I especially like the bow and mickey thank you. They look awesome!

:rotfl: Great story! You're never too old to be excited at WDW. I'm sure you're not the only one that has done something similar, especially when there is a bus full of characters rolling by.

[KellyJo18]

I got an email earlier today from Disney Floral with our wedding proposal!! I was so excited to get to finally see the prices for some of the items we picked out at our planning session and thought you all might be interested too. I know that prices vary depending on your venue, date, time, etc. but figure my information might be able to give you a ballpark range of what to expect.

Bridal Bouquet:
Round, French bouquet of white roses, freesia (with buds) and light accent of light green amaranthus. 75% ribbon wrap the faux stems in antique white satin. No bow. Cost: $275.00

Maid of Honor Bouquet:
Round, French bouquet of dark peonies, white peonies and light green amaranthus. 75% wrap the faux stems in bridesmaid's dress fabric (to be provided by bride). Pearl pin closures up the handle. Cost: $150.00

Bridesmaids Bouquet:
Same as the maid of honor. Cost: $150.00/each Quantity: 2

Flower Girl:
Dark pink rose flower wand with sheer cream ribbons. Mist with pixie dust. Cost: $25.00
Flower halo of dark pink spray roses, white waxflower and shear cream ribbon accents. Cost $70.00

Groom:
White freesia with buds, ruscus, wrap stem in antique white satin ribbon. Cost: $15.00

Best Man:
White rose, light green amaranthus accent, rucus, wrap stem in antique white satin ribbon. Cost: $15.00

Groomsmen:
Same as best man Cost: $15.00/each Quantity: 2

Fathers/Grandfather:
Same as best man Cost: $15.00/each Quantity: 3

Brides Mother:
White presentation rose, filler, ruscus and sheer cream ribbon accents. Cost: $20.00

Grooms Mother:
Same as bride's mother Cost: $20.00

Grandmothers:
Pin on corsage of white rose, light green amaranthus, ruscus, sheer cream ribbons. Cost: $25.00/each Quantity: 4

Hostess:
Same as grandmothers Cost: $25.00

Ceremony:
Option 1 - Altar arrangement of a long and low stylized arrangement of mixed coordinating floral. To include white roses, peonies, light green amaranthus. Mixed light green greenery. Cost: $225.00
Option 2 - (3) 6" cylinder vases filled with hand-tied mixed arrangements of white and light green floral with accents of lily grass inside of the vase. Space evenly across the altar. Cost: $55.00/each (reception charge)

Pre-reception:
(12) Accent conversation areas, bar, etc. with votive candles Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 12

Dinner:
(7) 6" cylinder vases filled with hand-tied mixed arrangements of white and light green floral with accents of lily grass inside of the vase. Centerpieces for every other table. Cost: $55.00/each Quantity: 7
Remaining (7) tables to use existing Living Seas candle lamps Cost: $0.00
(7) Accent around each candle lamp with loose white and light green blooms Cost: $10.00/each Quantity: 7
(14) Accent each table with (3) votive candles Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 42
Epcot to provide existing blue and green linens.

Cake:
Custom cake (see picture) - White roses, white freesia and light green dendrobium orchid blooms. Floral topper and an accent at the base of cake. Cost: $75.00
Accent the cake table with (6) votive candles. Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 6

Subtotal: $2,060.00
Discount: They have those? :confused3
FL Tax (6.5%): $133.90
Subtotal: $2,193.90
Move Fee: $25.00
Total cost: $2,218.90

*COST OF CAKE FLORAL MAY BE ALTERED DEPENDING ON SIZE AND STYLE OF CAKE SELECTION. FINAL COUNTS ON FLORAL, LINENS, AND CHOCOLATES MUST BE DETERMINED 15 DAYS PRIOR TO EVENT. FINAL CUT OFF DATE: June 6, 2007.

[KellyJo18]

I realized that there are some items mentioned in our floral proposal that I have yet to post pictures of here.

Here is our cake except we are only having three layers. The floral on the top will be different and we are also having a group of flowers at one corner of the base.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/18.jpg

[princessdisneybelle]

Your proposal seems very reasonable. Are you happy with it?

[KellyJo18]

Your proposal seems very reasonable. Are you happy with it?

Line by line it didn't really freak me out but seeing the grand total was a little shocking. They had added things into this proposal that we aren't using which makes it better (like the altar arrangement) and DF's parents are paying for the guy's flowers and my bouquet which also helps :). Overall, I don't think it's too bad.

[princessdisneybelle]

It's good to see that. Very good information that I am sure will help alot of brides.

[M&M126]

I got an email earlier today from Disney Floral with our wedding proposal!! I was so excited to get to finally see the prices for some of the items we picked out at our planning session and thought you all might be interested too. I know that prices vary depending on your venue, date, time, etc. but figure my information might be able to give you a ballpark range of what to expect.

Bridal Bouquet:
Round, French bouquet of white roses, freesia (with buds) and light accent of light green amaranthus. 75% ribbon wrap the faux stems in antique white satin. No bow. Cost: $275.00

Maid of Honor Bouquet:
Round, French bouquet of dark peonies, white peonies and light green amaranthus. 75% wrap the faux stems in bridesmaid's dress fabric (to be provided by bride). Pearl pin closures up the handle. Cost: $150.00

Bridesmaids Bouquet:
Same as the maid of honor. Cost: $150.00/each Quantity: 2

Flower Girl:
Dark pink rose flower wand with sheer cream ribbons. Mist with pixie dust. Cost: $25.00
Flower halo of dark pink spray roses, white waxflower and shear cream ribbon accents. Cost $70.00

Groom:
White freesia with buds, ruscus, wrap stem in antique white satin ribbon. Cost: $15.00

Best Man:
White rose, light green amaranthus accent, rucus, wrap stem in antique white satin ribbon. Cost: $15.00

Groomsmen:
Same as best man Cost: $15.00/each Quantity: 2

Fathers/Grandfather:
Same as best man Cost: $15.00/each Quantity: 3

Brides Mother:
White presentation rose, filler, ruscus and sheer cream ribbon accents. Cost: $20.00

Grooms Mother:
Same as bride's mother Cost: $20.00

Grandmothers:
Pin on corsage of white rose, light green amaranthus, ruscus, sheer cream ribbons. Cost: $25.00/each Quantity: 4

Hostess:
Same as grandmothers Cost: $25.00

Ceremony:
Option 1 - Altar arrangement of a long and low stylized arrangement of mixed coordinating floral. To include white roses, peonies, light green amaranthus. Mixed light green greenery. Cost: $225.00
Option 2 - (3) 6" cylinder vases filled with hand-tied mixed arrangements of white and light green floral with accents of lily grass inside of the vase. Space evenly across the altar. Cost: $55.00/each (reception charge)

Pre-reception:
(12) Accent conversation areas, bar, etc. with votive candles Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 12

Dinner:
(7) 6" cylinder vases filled with hand-tied mixed arrangements of white and light green floral with accents of lily grass inside of the vase. Centerpieces for every other table. Cost: $55.00/each Quantity: 7
Remaining (7) tables to use existing Living Seas candle lamps Cost: $0.00
(7) Accent around each candle lamp with loose white and light green blooms Cost: $10.00/each Quantity: 7
(14) Accent each table with (3) votive candles Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 42
Epcot to provide existing blue and green linens.

Cake:
Custom cake (see picture) - White roses, white freesia and light green dendrobium orchid blooms. Floral topper and an accent at the base of cake. Cost: $75.00
Accent the cake table with (6) votive candles. Cost: $2.50/each Quantity: 6

Subtotal: $2,060.00
Discount: They have those? :confused3
FL Tax (6.5%): $133.90
Subtotal: $2,193.90
Move Fee: $25.00
Total cost: $2,218.90

*COST OF CAKE FLORAL MAY BE ALTERED DEPENDING ON SIZE AND STYLE OF CAKE SELECTION. FINAL COUNTS ON FLORAL, LINENS, AND CHOCOLATES MUST BE DETERMINED 15 DAYS PRIOR TO EVENT. FINAL CUT OFF DATE: June 6, 2007.


That doesnt seem too high. Was it what you were expecting?

PS Cast Members get discounts.... :) Very little but they do

[KellyJo18]

That doesnt seem too high. Was it what you were expecting?

PS Cast Members get discounts.... :) Very little but they do

Once we subtract a few items we don't need and what DF's parents are paying it makes it so we only owe about $1500 which is very reasonable. I was expecting it to be about that price, no huge surprises with anything. Actually, I thought our centerpieces would be much more than $55/each so I am really happy.

I figured the discount was for Disney employees... when I saw it I thought "I wish!".

[orangetiggs]

have you got any pics of the centrepieces? I was thinking that they would be more than that and was worried that my budget would not allow us to have centrepeices through disney

[KellyJo18]

have you got any pics of the centrepieces? I was thinking that they would be more than that and was worried that my budget would not allow us to have centrepeices through disney

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the exact flowers we will be using. I showed her a few pictures I liked and we went from there. I am picturing the bridesmaids bouquets to look somewhat like this but instead of the dark pink roses we will have pink peonies.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/peonies-roses-bouvardia-liz.jpg

Our centerpieces will have the stems hidden behind lily grass like in this picture (this might be around the right size as well).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/TF147-1.jpg

Or maybe more this size :confused3
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/pinkparty-1.jpg

The flowers for the reception are all white with greens (like my bouquet). Flowers like this but without the pinks:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/six.jpg

Sorry but I won't have the actual pictures until after the wedding in June. I hope these photos help a little bit.

[KellyJo18]

Along with the floral proposal we were sent some options for favors our floral planner mentioned at our planning session. This was before we decided on the Nemo mints so we no longer are thinking about using these but I thought some of you might be interested to see.

This their rainbow fish favor in white chocolate that are 5 1/2" (width) by 3 3/4" (height):
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/Rainbow_Fish.jpg
The rainbow fish favors $4.25/each and can be airbrushed in coordinating colors of your event (I am not sure if this price includes the airbrushing).

Another fish favor in chocolate that are 2 3/8" (width) by 2 1/2" (height):
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/Fish.jpg
These are $2/each

Some chocolate shells that are 1" in size:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/Assorted_Shells.jpg

They are all available in white, milk, or dark chocolate. The shells can be marbled with two different chocolates.

[princessdisneybelle]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the exact flowers we will be using. I showed her a few pictures I liked and we went from there. I am picturing the bridesmaids bouquets to look somewhat like this but instead of the dark pink roses we will have pink peonies.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/peonies-roses-bouvardia-liz.jpg

Our centerpieces will have the stems hidden behind lily grass like in this picture (this might be around the right size as well).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/TF147-1.jpg

Or maybe more this size :confused3
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/pinkparty-1.jpg

The flowers for the reception are all white with greens (like my bouquet). Flowers like this but without the pinks:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/six.jpg

Sorry but I won't have the actual pictures until after the wedding in June. I hope these photos help a little bit.

Your bridesmaid bouquet is almost like mine that I made. :). Love the centerpiece ideas.

[Belle1981]

That is a great Price! I actually borrowed :rolleyes1 allisonswonderland's photo of her centrepieces(except requesting Orange, Green and Cream Roses instead of pink ones) and got them to quote on it! Disney was actually more reasonable than going with an outside vendor (Emily charming events). Having seen Disney floral with my parents anniversary I have COMPLETE faith in them. They will do an AMAZING job for you! The Cast member discount is great! Thank goodness the whole family (MIL, FIL and BIL) all still work for Disney! Good luck in your special day! Great Planning Journal

[M&M126]

I LOVE your centerpiece ideas! I'm hoping to do something similar in the darker pink hues. :)

[KellyJo18]

Your bridesmaid bouquet is almost like mine that I made. :). Love the centerpiece ideas.

I just checked out your bouquets and they are really similar!! You really did a great job, very impressive :thumbsup2

That is a great Price! I actually borrowed :rolleyes1 allisonswonderland's photo of her centrepieces(except requesting Orange, Green and Cream Roses instead of pink ones) and got them to quote on it! Disney was actually more reasonable than going with an outside vendor (Emily charming events). Having seen Disney floral with my parents anniversary I have COMPLETE faith in them. They will do an AMAZING job for you! The Cast member discount is great! Thank goodness the whole family (MIL, FIL and BIL) all still work for Disney! Good luck in your special day! Great Planning Journal

It sounds like your centerpieces will be beautiful. Allisonswonderland really did have pretty flowers at her wedding! I'm glad to hear your parents had a good experience with Disney floral and I am extremely jealous you are getting to take advantage of that Disney discount, lucky you! :yay:

I LOVE your centerpiece ideas! I'm hoping to do something similar in the darker pink hues. :)

Thanks :) Our flowers are going to have darker brighter pinks than are showed in the pictures but they at least give an idea of what our flowers will end up looking like.

[pooh98378]

Thank you so much for posting the flower proposal! I have never seen one before so now I know more what to expect!

[KellyJo18]

Thank you so much for posting the flower proposal! I have never seen one before so now I know more what to expect!

No problem :) I'm glad it's giving you a better idea of what to expect. It's so hard waiting around to receive your information from DFTW but finding out information like this on the DIS does seem to give you a better idea about your own proposal.

[dizneyfreak]

You are putting me to shame! :lmao: My wedding is Oct 1st and I'm no where near where you are in your planning. I will start my planning journal soon, but I have to figure out how to post pictures first. :confused3 I'm clueless when it come to that stuff. Thanks for sharing everything! It all looks wonderful!

[KellyJo18]

You are putting me to shame! :lmao: My wedding is Oct 1st and I'm no where near where you are in your planning. I will start my planning journal soon, but I have to figure out how to post pictures first. :confused3 I'm clueless when it come to that stuff. Thanks for sharing everything! It all looks wonderful!

You have plenty of time to get most of your planning done. We only have one month until we move to Florida and I have to have everything ready when we go so I'm in crunch time trying to get it all done.

I can't wait to see your planning journal and don't worry about posting pictures. It's much easier than you'd think. I use www.photobucket.com. After you upload your photos you just copy the link for message boards, paste it into your post, and are good to go. Good luck!

[pixie08]

Hi Kelly. I just wanted to drop in and say hi! I just realized our dessert parties are on the same night right next to each other! I know yours is after your wedding congrats!

I am having mine at the upper French terrace as a welcome party! My wedding is the next night- yikes! We are getting so close- just under 2 months woohoo!

[KellyJo18]

Hi Kelly. I just wanted to drop in and say hi! I just realized our dessert parties are on the same night right next to each other! I know yours is after your wedding congrats!

I am having mine at the upper French terrace as a welcome party! My wedding is the next night- yikes! We are getting so close- just under 2 months woohoo!

That's so cool that we'll know who is having the party next to ours! I love the upper French terrace but it wasn't originally the right fit for our group. Are you by chance the bride that has Randy booked that night for the DP? We have him booked throughout the day but he's sneaking off to cover a DP he already had scheduled and we are having DPS come in to take our DP photos. We'll have to wave at each other from across the channel between the two locations :wave2:. Aren't you getting excited?? It's getting so close! Congrats to you too!!

[pixie08]

Oh my gosh - yes oops Randy is booked for our DP! We have him booked for our wedding day also...Sorry! :goodvibes

I am going to keep a lookout for you guys! I know it is going to be an awesome night! Now we just have to do the no rain dance!

[KellyJo18]

Oh my gosh - yes oops Randy is booked for our DP! We have him booked for our wedding day also...Sorry! :goodvibes

I am going to keep a lookout for you guys! I know it is going to be an awesome night! Now we just have to do the no rain dance!

No need to apologize! :goodvibes I think it will be interesting to see the difference between Randy and DPS - plus we'll have two different styles this way. When Randy told me he was open for our wedding but not the DP I didn't even think twice about still booking him. I can't imagine having anyone else but him with us throughout the day. Hopefully we don't get stuck with one of the rude DPS photographers I've heard about lately. I'm going to guess they won't be too happy to just be coming to cover for Randy :rotfl2:.

I will definitely be doing the no rain dance with you and hopefully it's not too hot!

I'm sure we'll run into each other sometime during our trip. It's hard not to spot the buttons or ears! Good luck with the rest of your planning :)

[pixie08]

Have you met Randy? you will nor be disappointed. I just loved him. This is coming from someone who doesn't like to be in a ton of photos 91 0r 2 is fine but I was having anxiety over a 45 min e-pic session:rotfl: ) he couldn't have been more amazing and less obtrusive! You made the right choice. Where are you guys staying? We will be athe the BW...it would be great to run into each other!

OK so let the no rain no heat no humidity dance begin for June 21 and 22 nd :goodvibes

[KellyJo18]

Have you met Randy? you will nor be disappointed. I just loved him. This is coming from someone who doesn't like to be in a ton of photos 91 0r 2 is fine but I was having anxiety over a 45 min e-pic session:rotfl: ) he couldn't have been more amazing and less obtrusive! You made the right choice. Where are you guys staying? We will be athe the BW...it would be great to run into each other!

OK so let the no rain no heat no humidity dance begin for June 21 and 22 nd :goodvibes

We met Randy when we were in Florida in March for our planning session. We had him take our engagement photos a few days before and we loved him! I can't imagine having anyone else. I'm like you when it comes to being photographed for an entire session (my DF is worse about it) but with Randy he made us feel comfortable enough that the time flew by. Although, DF says he hates 95% of the pictures but it has NOTHING to do with Randy but the fact that he didn't listen to me and get a hair cut before hand :rotfl:.

We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside before the wedding and are still trying to decide on what to do for the five days after. His parents are paying for it and say to pick whatever hotel we would like but I hate to ask them to spend the deluxe resort prices so I'm not sure what we'll do. I'd love to stay in one of the remodeled rooms in the Contemporary. Our comp night is at the Poly.

No heat, no humidity, and no rain sounds perfect :lmao:

[KellyJo18]

Here are a few more things I have been working on lately. I seem to start a lot of wedding projects before I finish the last one.

Here are the bubbles we are going to hand out for our staged exit. I punched out more Mickey heads and used the bubble Mickey's that can be bought at Michaels. I attached the bubble sticker to the paper punch so that each side bulges out and kind of looks like a bubble. Hard to explain... here is the picture.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0906.jpg

Close up
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0904.jpg

These are the stickers I put on both sides of the Mickey head.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/clearmickeyheads.jpg

[KellyJo18]

My mom bought this fish vase for the entrance table at the wedding.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0907.jpg

She wants to put a sign by it or in it that says to sign our guest book. This is what she is thinking:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0909.jpg

I am still trying to decide if I like it like that. What do you think? I'm not sure what all we could do with the vase except just have it out for decoration.

This is what we are doing for the our place cards. We bought a few large trays to pour sand into and decorate like this. We have about 8 of these fish and a bunch of the coral that we will use to decorate the place card table.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0723.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0724.jpg

[silverangel879]

First of All, I love your creativity. The bubbles thingys...so cute!

She wants to put a sign by it or in it that says to sign our guest book. This is what she is thinking:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0909.jpg

I am still trying to decide if I like it like that. What do you think? I'm not sure what all we could do with the vase except just have it out for decoration.


It looks pretty cool and Fun! I really like the idea! Have you tried maybe adding a little sand at the end like you did with the place cards. Maybe you'll love it more and it looks more coordinated with the other things. I don't know...just an idea!


This is what we are doing for the our place cards. We bought a few large trays to pour sand into and decorate like this. We have about 8 of these fish and a bunch of the coral that we will use to decorate the place card table.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0723.jpg


This looks so nice, simple but elegant! I LOVE IT!

Thanks for Sharing!:goodvibes

[Lynn5700]

I love the fish!!! everything looks great!

[princess110607]

Everything looks super cute! I love the bubbles :)

[princessdisneybelle]

Everything is so cute! If you don't want to use the vase for a sign. Could you use it as a card holder. You know when guests give a card. Kinda like your own card box?

[KellyJo18]

First of All, I love your creativity. The bubbles thingys...so cute!

It looks pretty cool and Fun! I really like the idea! Have you tried maybe adding a little sand at the end like you did with the place cards. Maybe you'll love it more and it looks more coordinated with the other things. I don't know...just an idea!

This looks so nice, simple but elegant! I LOVE IT!

Thanks for Sharing!:goodvibes

I love the idea of putting sand in the bottom of it! That really would tie everything together. Thanks!

I love the fish!!! everything looks great!

Thanks :) The blue and green fish are probably my favorite. We found them after Christmas this year, they are supposed to be ornaments but once we took the hooks off it's hard to tell that's what they once were.

Everything looks super cute! I love the bubbles :)

Thanks! I had originally just tied the ribbon around the top but thought the Mickey bubble heads finished them off.

Everything is so cute! If you don't want to use the vase for a sign. Could you use it as a card holder. You know when guests give a card. Kinda like your own card box?

When my mom had originally described it to me I was really hoping we could use it as a card box but unfortunately it's too small. I'm still hoping I come across one a size larger so that we could use it for our cards. I think it's such a cute idea! Thanks for the help :goodvibes.

[jasonandlisa]

All your new wedding things/projects are just adorable! I'm so jealous!! We're having a Living Seas wedding, too, but DF agreed to a Disney wedding on the condition that we have "no theme". I love your colors and how elegantly you've put everything together. It'll all go perfectly with the Living Seas decor.

[KellyJo18]

All your new wedding things/projects are just adorable! I'm so jealous!! We're having a Living Seas wedding, too, but DF agreed to a Disney wedding on the condition that we have "no theme". I love your colors and how elegantly you've put everything together. It'll all go perfectly with the Living Seas decor.

The only way mine agreed to having the wedding at Disney was if we did it at the Living Seas and that it is not "Disney-ish" as he called it. I have slipped in a few Mickey heads here and there but he hasn't seen them yet. I've told him about them and he doesn't seem to mind too much (hopefully he won't anyway). I never meant to have a theme but just the fact that it is at the Living Seas leads me to decorate more with that in mind. My DF is a huge fish guy, he has quite a few aquariums, so I don't think he'll mind me using fishes in the decoration.

[pixie08]

Oh my gosh Kelly! Everthing looks amazing. I looovvvve that fish bowl and place card idea- it is perfect!

[KellyJo18]

Oh my gosh Kelly! Everthing looks amazing. I looovvvve that fish bowl and place card idea- it is perfect!

Thanks :goodvibes I'm starting to feel like things are finally starting to come together which is good since we only have two months left!

[princessdisneybelle]

Thanks :goodvibes I'm starting to feel like things are finally starting to come together which is good since we only have two months left!

Aw I love your sig pics. You are the cutest couple!

[KellyJo18]

Aw I love your sig pics. You are the cutest couple!

Aww thanks so much Laura! That's really sweet of you to say :) Randy really did a great job! If he can make us look good he must be very talented :lmao:. I just wish DF would have listened to me and gotten a hair cut. He made me promise not to show them to anyone because he thinks he looks like a goof but I figured none of you would tell him. I guess it's a good thing he never checks out the DIS :rotfl2:.

[princessdisneybelle]

Aww thanks so much Laura! That's really sweet of you to say :) Randy really did a great job! If he can make us look good he must be very talented :lmao:. I just wish DF would have listened to me and gotten a hair cut. He made me promise not to show them to anyone because he thinks he looks like a goof but I figured none of you would tell him. I guess it's a good thing he never checks out the DIS :rotfl2:.

He doesn't look like a goof! Ha my DF's hair is long! He is wearing a ponytale for the wedding. But I love him so I do not care.

[Tabetha]

That fish vase is beautiful.

What about making it a wish-fish bowl? People write down their well wishes for you on slips of pretty origami paper, fold them and put them in the bowl.

[KellyJo18]

That fish vase is beautiful.

What about making it a wish-fish bowl? People write down their well wishes for you on slips of pretty origami paper, fold them and put them in the bowl.

That's a great idea :) It is probably the perfect size for a wish bowl. I'll have to see what DF thinks about it - thanks! :thumbsup2

[KellyJo18]

Now that I have officially finished writing and sending out all of my thank you notes I can show you guys pictures from my bridal shower. It was last Sunday and we had about 60 people attend. It was so much fun and I thought they did a great job with the decorations!

This is the view from the balcony.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0943.jpg

To the right is the gift table (you can see the towel cake my mom made) and the table on the left is full of prizes.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0947.jpg

Table setting
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0948.jpg

They made a candy buffet with boxes for the guests to take home with them after the party.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0950.jpg

My grandma made the cake. She used to make wedding cakes all the time and has the best tasting cake ever. I told her she's lucky it's not easy to fly with a cake, I'm kind of bummed we don't get to have her make ours. This cake is extremely simple compared to what she used to do but her hands aren't as steady as they used to be so she tries to go simple these days.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0954.jpg

Closeup of the towel cake. I accidentally called it a diaper cake and got lots of strange looks and some laughs... opps :lmao:.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0958.jpg

Prize table
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0961.jpg

You can see the wall of windows in this photo. There is the most gorgeous view out of these windows but apparently they broke ground the day before on some construction work on a neighboring building. The only thing that you saw out the window as a bright orange construction fence and machinery... I thought my poor mother was going to have a heart attack when she saw it :rotfl2:. She didn't find it as funny as I did but I'm not the type to let little things like that bother me (although I probably would have felt different if it was the wedding and not just a shower).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0973.jpg

Finally a picture with people
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0979.jpg

I had a lot of help opening presents. My flower girl is the little girl on the right and she was handing me the gifts. When the other two girls saw her up there they decided they wanted to help too. I felt bad because it made it harder for people to see and they were talking and it made it harder for people to hear me. Eventually I had them sit down by my feet and help rip from the bottom of the boxes.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/Bridal%20Shower/DSCN0987.jpg

[pooh98378]

It looks like you had a BEAUTIFUL shower!!! Thanks for posting pics!

[Tink143]

All of your ideas are so creative! I am needing to take a trip to Michaels alone, so I can look for that kind of stuff...DF and DS get on my nerves in places like that 'cause they are either impatient, or make fun of things...BOYS!

Anyways, thanks for sharing all your ideas...where did you get that ribbon for the favor boxes?...very cute!

I'm also looking forward to my trip to WDW at the end of next month, so I can get some other cool stuff.

Maybe an idea for your welcome bags...we're getting each family a Hidden Mickey book. It might be more pricey since you have more guests, but it might be fun too!

What are your welcome bags made out of, and how did you make those? That is VERY creative! I'm wanting to give all the women (7) a bag similar to that, but can't find exactly what I'm wanting for the $ I'm willing to spend. Too creative! I think the creative gene skipped me at birth!

Thanks again, and congratulations...your engagement pictures turned out really good.

[Lynn5700]

Your shower was so beautiful!! I love the colors and everything looked great together. Thank you for sharing:)

[KellyJo18]

It looks like you had a BEAUTIFUL shower!!! Thanks for posting pics!

Your shower was so beautiful!! I love the colors and everything looked great together. Thank you for sharing:)

Thanks ladies!

All of your ideas are so creative! I am needing to take a trip to Michaels alone, so I can look for that kind of stuff...DF and DS get on my nerves in places like that 'cause they are either impatient, or make fun of things...BOYS!

Anyways, thanks for sharing all your ideas...where did you get that ribbon for the favor boxes?...very cute!

I'm also looking forward to my trip to WDW at the end of next month, so I can get some other cool stuff.

Maybe an idea for your welcome bags...we're getting each family a Hidden Mickey book. It might be more pricey since you have more guests, but it might be fun too!

What are your welcome bags made out of, and how did you make those? That is VERY creative! I'm wanting to give all the women (7) a bag similar to that, but can't find exactly what I'm wanting for the $ I'm willing to spend. Too creative! I think the creative gene skipped me at birth!

Thanks again, and congratulations...your engagement pictures turned out really good.

I feel like I've been in Michael's every day the past few weeks. It is basically where I have bought everything for all of my wedding projects. My DF would never last during one of my trips there either - even though most of them are a quick in and out thing since I usually don't buy enough supplies and have to go back. The ribbon from the favor boxes was something I got from Michaels. They only sell it on very small spools though and I had to drive to about 3 different Michaels stores on multiple weekends to get enough. Usually I had to wait a week or two in between trips so they had enough time to restock! :rotfl:

I've heard about the hidden mickey books but have never actually seen them before. I will have to check them out, thanks for the idea :)

My mom is making the guest bags out of a terry cloth fabric (towel fabric). I found the pattern at JoAnn's and thought they looked like they would make cute beach bags for everyone to use during the trip. They are turning out to be more expensive than we had originally thought but I think it will be worth it. I like the pattern a lot because it allowed me to use the mickey fabric I had found without making it overwhelmingly disney-ish.
This is the pattern we are using - it is Butterick B4821.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/welcomebagpattern.jpg

I'm jealous you are headed to WDW at the end of the month... I hope you have a great trip!! Remember to come back and tell us all about it :goodvibes

[lamagique]

Beautiful pictures! And your Bridal Shower looked GREAT! And your grandma really knows what she's doing with those cakes! ;)

[KellyJo18]

Beautiful pictures! And your Bridal Shower looked GREAT! And your grandma really knows what she's doing with those cakes! ;)

Thanks :) Her cakes are sooo yummy... my wedding dress came in this week and I went to try it on yesterday, I was going to blame her if it didn't fit. She had made the cake way too big for the shower and we snacked on it all week :rolleyes1. Thank god my dress still fit!

[Tink143]

Thanks for the information about the bags. You've gotten my creative wheels spinning...more like knocking off the cobwebs!:rotfl:

We've been trying to figure out what to do for invitations to our At Home Reception, since we're having an intimate with just immediate family, which is 20 people. We looked at Disney invitations, but I think the price is outrageous. So I was thinking we could make our own somehow out of pretty card stock, and then use the idea from your favor boxes to make cool personalized thank you cards - obviously in our wedding colors (Navy, Red, and Silver). Hope you don't mind my stealing your idea :rolleyes1 !

Thanks again...we're down to 30 days on our countdown! Can't wait! It's going to be DS first trip, and my first week long trip since I was 9, so I'm SUPER EXCITED!

[Emwit27]

I'm with everyone else. I admire your creativity. It's an inspiration! I went out and bought the Mickey punch at Michael's after I saw your favors. Also, I think your bridal shower is going to put my wedding to shame! :rotfl:

[cryssi]

love the bubbles! we put mickey heads on our bubbles too! :) great idea with the stickers, though...that would have been much easier! :) those bubble wands are awesome...

your shower looks like it was so much fun! :goodvibes I love the cake your grandma made you! :goodvibes :goodvibes

[DisneyFairy19]

Wow Everything LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[KellyJo18]

Thanks for the information about the bags. You've gotten my creative wheels spinning...more like knocking off the cobwebs!:rotfl:

:lmao: That's too funny.

We've been trying to figure out what to do for invitations to our At Home Reception, since we're having an intimate with just immediate family, which is 20 people. We looked at Disney invitations, but I think the price is outrageous. So I was thinking we could make our own somehow out of pretty card stock, and then use the idea from your favor boxes to make cool personalized thank you cards - obviously in our wedding colors (Navy, Red, and Silver). Hope you don't mind my stealing your idea :rolleyes1 !

Thanks again...we're down to 30 days on our countdown! Can't wait! It's going to be DS first trip, and my first week long trip since I was 9, so I'm SUPER EXCITED!

I agree that the price of a lot of items is ridiculous - even when they are small things that are easy to make! Although, I have to admit that a lot of the "little projects" I started are turning out to be more expensive (plus the fact that they are time consuming) then I originally thought. I don't mind if you use any of my ideas... steal away! I know I've gotten a lot of ideas from other people on the DIS too :)

I'm excited about your trip for you from just hearing about it... I'm sure you'll have a blast! :yay:

I'm with everyone else. I admire your creativity. It's an inspiration! I went out and bought the Mickey punch at Michael's after I saw your favors. Also, I think your bridal shower is going to put my wedding to shame! :rotfl:

Aww thanks! I'm glad you all are able to use some of my ideas and I'm not boring you all with too much information. I've used the Mickey punch for a lot of things, it was definitely worth the cost.

My sister did go all out on the shower which was nice since a lot of my friends and family that came aren't able to come to the wedding. When my sister got married I had her shower around a pool with floating candles. Everyone left asking if that was the wedding instead of the shower. I guess that is a sign that we probably put too much time into these types of events :rotfl:. I've always told my mom that she should start a business - she's the real artist of the family.

love the bubbles! we put mickey heads on our bubbles too! :) great idea with the stickers, though...that would have been much easier! :) those bubble wands are awesome...

your shower looks like it was so much fun! :goodvibes I love the cake your grandma made you! :goodvibes :goodvibes

Well... the stickers were a good idea at the time but since we put two of them back to back they are now pulling apart :eek:. I looked at them a couple days ago and realized I'm going to have to buy some sort of glue to fix them :confused3. Somehow I just can't seem to finish any of these projects.

Wow Everything LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Thanks :goodvibes.

[Tink143]

:banana: So RAN into Michael's Today between school and my #2 Job, which means I have about 20-25 minutes. :scared1: Go immediately to the Wedding Aisle - Can't find the little Thank You medal deals :eek: So I'm like OK, maybe when I have more time (which by the way, NOT sure when that might be ANYways)

My ideas - thank you very much to Kelly! :rolleyes1

Wedding Colors: Deep Red (Claret from Alfred Angelo), Navy Blue and Silver.

For our At Home Reception - Navy Blue Cardstock, Red Ribbon at the top with a Navy Blue Mickey that I'm either going to write very small or hope to find a "You're Invited" medal deal and then handwrite the invitation part(in Calligraphy - there's some more cobwebs that need kicking off) using a silver Calligraphy Paint Pen.
THEN for all our Thank You Cards I'm gonna use Red Cardstock, Navy Blue Ribbon, Red Mickey and PRAY I find the silver Thank You deals.

So today I got the cardstock (only 5 in each color for experiment purposes), the Mickey Punch - $15 OUCH, but it'll get tons of post wedding use in my house, Calligraphy Pens, Ribbon - Navy and Red kind of Ribbed. I really wish they had those colors separately with Silver on the back, with the stitched look like Kelly has, but oh well! :sad2: They did have (For anyone interested) Green with Silver - very pretty!

So I'm going to work on that experiment and I'll post pics for y'alls opinions ASAP. Speaking of which, how come I can't post pics on Dis? Tried a few times, it doesn't work. Is there a magic number of posts or something before it'll let you, or am I just a dufus? :rolleyes1

Have a fabulous day ladies!

[MickeyAnne]

Looks like we missed eachother planning journals because I somehow missed this one too!
I LOVE the pics of your bridal shower. The colors are so fune and right up my alley. The towel cake was adorable!
I also love your favors! You made the boxes!!!! What a great idea! I wish I had thought to do it - but that must have taken forever! The colors, again, are great and so perfect for your location!

[KellyJo18]

:banana: So RAN into Michael's Today between school and my #2 Job, which means I have about 20-25 minutes. :scared1: Go immediately to the Wedding Aisle - Can't find the little Thank You medal deals :eek: So I'm like OK, maybe when I have more time (which by the way, NOT sure when that might be ANYways)

My ideas - thank you very much to Kelly! :rolleyes1

Wedding Colors: Deep Red (Claret from Alfred Angelo), Navy Blue and Silver.

For our At Home Reception - Navy Blue Cardstock, Red Ribbon at the top with a Navy Blue Mickey that I'm either going to write very small or hope to find a "You're Invited" medal deal and then handwrite the invitation part(in Calligraphy - there's some more cobwebs that need kicking off) using a silver Calligraphy Paint Pen.
THEN for all our Thank You Cards I'm gonna use Red Cardstock, Navy Blue Ribbon, Red Mickey and PRAY I find the silver Thank You deals.

So today I got the cardstock (only 5 in each color for experiment purposes), the Mickey Punch - $15 OUCH, but it'll get tons of post wedding use in my house, Calligraphy Pens, Ribbon - Navy and Red kind of Ribbed. I really wish they had those colors separately with Silver on the back, with the stitched look like Kelly has, but oh well! :sad2: They did have (For anyone interested) Green with Silver - very pretty!

So I'm going to work on that experiment and I'll post pics for y'alls opinions ASAP. Speaking of which, how come I can't post pics on Dis? Tried a few times, it doesn't work. Is there a magic number of posts or something before it'll let you, or am I just a dufus? :rolleyes1

Have a fabulous day ladies!

Hey! I haven't really been online the past few days so sorry I didn't get to respond right away. You might have already found the thank you charms but I did a quick search on the Michaels website so you could see what they look like in their packaging. Sometimes it's easier if you know exactly what you are looking for.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/thankyoucharms.jpg

Your ideas sound so great! I can't wait to see them :). Good luck finding all of your supplies. I know what a headache that can be. I have spent way too much time digging through bins of ribbon at Michaels hoping what I need just accidentally got put back in the wrong spot :rotfl2:.

You do have to have a certain number of posts to be able to link pictures but I don't think the number is very high before it lets you start doing it :confused3. I can't remember exactly. Hopefully it starts letting you soon :). What program are you using to upload your photos? I've never had much trouble with Photobucket but I know there are a lot of different websites people use.

Good luck! I can't wait to hear how everything turns out!!

Looks like we missed eachother planning journals because I somehow missed this one too!
I LOVE the pics of your bridal shower. The colors are so fune and right up my alley. The towel cake was adorable!
I also love your favors! You made the boxes!!!! What a great idea! I wish I had thought to do it - but that must have taken forever! The colors, again, are great and so perfect for your location!

Well... I would say the boxes took forever but we still haven't made more than five :rolleyes1. Once we started making them we thought "where are we going to store these??" and decided to wait until our date got a little closer. I really need to start finishing some of these project instead of just starting more :rolleyes:. Thank you for the compliments :goodvibes.

[M&M126]

Hi there! I just noticed that the dress you ordered is a Jasmine. Thats funny b/c I was choosing between the one I got and one similar to the one you ordered. Ha. So we both liked the same dresses (almost) and each of us ordered a different one. Just a random comment :)

I love your planning journal. I wish I was as creative as you!

[KellyJo18]

Hi there! I just noticed that the dress you ordered is a Jasmine. Thats funny b/c I was choosing between the one I got and one similar to the one you ordered. Ha. So we both liked the same dresses (almost) and each of us ordered a different one. Just a random comment :)

I love your planning journal. I wish I was as creative as you!

That is pretty funny. Your planning journal has me wanting to go back and retry on your dress. My dress just came in though so I don't want to start second guessing myself, although, every time I get to put my dress on I remember why I love it so maybe it wouldn't be a problem.

[M&M126]

That is pretty funny. Your planning journal has me wanting to go back and retry on your dress. My dress just came in though so I don't want to start second guessing myself, although, every time I get to put my dress on I remember why I love it so maybe it wouldn't be a problem.

That is too funny b/c I was thinking the same thing about your dress just today! Haha. I was like hmmm maybe I should go try that one on! I love your dress :) But I feel like I have to stop looking at dresses or else I will drive myself crazy.

[myprincessgirlisa]

Your shower was SO bright & colorful....i loved it, great colors

your PJ is incredibly detailed!!! Great job!!!
I love everything so far. I cant wait to see the final outcome
You have alot of great ideas & the fish items are very pretty
Those bags are a great idea!!
Keep up the great work:thumbsup2

[LeesyUD]

Everything looks so great! It's almost bad for me to look at all this stuff bc I am going to want to steal all your neat ideas! :rolleyes1
I can't wait to hear how everything goes from here!

[KellyJo18]

That is too funny b/c I was thinking the same thing about your dress just today! Haha. I was like hmmm maybe I should go try that one on! I love your dress :) But I feel like I have to stop looking at dresses or else I will drive myself crazy.

My thoughts exactly :rotfl:.

Your shower was SO bright & colorful....i loved it, great colors

your PJ is incredibly detailed!!! Great job!!!
I love everything so far. I cant wait to see the final outcome
You have alot of great ideas & the fish items are very pretty
Those bags are a great idea!!
Keep up the great work:thumbsup2

Thanks for all the compliments :). Hopefully it will all come together well on our wedding day. I started having a panic attack last night while I was trying to go to sleep... all I could think about was everything I still need to do and how I better get busy or it's not going to get done.

Everything looks so great! It's almost bad for me to look at all this stuff bc I am going to want to steal all your neat ideas! :rolleyes1
I can't wait to hear how everything goes from here!

That's always such a nice compliment that someone would even consider using any of my ideas. Thanks!

[KellyJo18]

I can't believe I haven't posted anything here in over a month... the time is flying by, our wedding is going to be here before I know it. Only 19 more days! :scared1: DF and I are moving from Michigan to Florida on Tuesday and it is crunch time with us trying to get things done for the wedding since we are planning on taking most of it with us instead of sending it on the plane with our relatives. Between packing and making things for the wedding (not to mention work) I've pretty much been stressing out frequently.

Awhile back I bought DF tickets to go see Alton Brown (from Food Network) and the show was tonight. I couldn't have worse timing! It was a lot of fun but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about all of the things I should have been doing instead. When I got home I started working on our invitations for the welcome dinner but just finished off my last glue stick. I figured that meant I could spend a couple minutes updating all of our plans.

So a couple months ago I rented the new Disney Cricut cartridges from a local scrapbook store and made a bunch of Mickey cut outs for our welcome bags. I finally finished gluing all of the layers together and made our tags.

This is the information tag for the outside of the bags so the resorts know which bag goes to who and when. Hopefully I didn't forget to include any information on it.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1008online.jpg

Here is the other tag I made for the bags
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1016.jpg

This is the front cover of the 'Ohana invites I am working on. Sorry this is not a very good picture and I apparently did not cut the eyes out as well as I should have because you can still see black edges around the white. Oh well... once you get down to having a few days to finish something you don't really care about it being perfect (which is so hard for me because I am such a perfectionist).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1012.jpg

I finally figured out a menu design that I liked. It is a long vertical one (4.25 x 11). The only thing I left off of it was the fact that the sorbet will come out in the ice slippers (I was wanting it to be a surprise).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1011.jpg

I am still working on the kids menu. Right now the design I have is similar but instead of having "Mike & Kelly" it will say "Carter's Menu" (name of the child). Also, instead of having the initial of our last name faded behind our first names I have a light blue faded Mickey head. I will post it once I finish it up :).

My mom and I finally finished all of the favor boxes!!! :yay: You probably can't tell the difference in this picture but this box is much larger than our other ones because it is for the kids.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1006.jpg

Instead of giving them the mints we bought fishing games for them. I figure it will keep them entertained and went well with the Living Seas.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1007.jpg

Our table numbers
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0999.jpg

I finally figured out how I wanted our wedding programs but still have to finish printing them off and putting them together. The outside layer is a green velum. There is printing underneath it that is much easier to see in person - it didn't show up so well on my camera.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1021.jpg

Under the velum cover.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/programcoveronline.jpg

The inside.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/weddingprograminsideonlineversion.jpg

On the back I have our thank yous to everyone for traveling so far, our parents for helping make it possible, etc.

Some random things... my mom bought the kids coming to the wedding bubble guns for our staged exit. She thought that they would be easier and more fun for them.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1017.jpg

I bought these to give to the kids at our rehearsal dinner. I thought they were adorable and fit the 'Ohana theme :) I figure the kids can pour their drinks into them if they want to use them right away.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1025.jpg

We also got Nemo light thingys (do they have a name?) for the dessert party. Again just for the kids. I originally was going to buy everyone glow in the dark necklaces but am thinking it isn't in the budget anymore.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1015.jpg

I started to put together gift bags for my bridesmaids. All of their accessories for the wedding are in it (purse, dress shoes, sandals, nail polish, earrings... I also am paying for their hair on the day of the wedding). It drives me nuts that all of the wedding things are black and I bought brown bags! I thought the bags were so cute though and were marked down to $10 at Ann Taylor - I couldn't pass them up.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1020.jpg

Well, I think that is it for now. Posting all of that made me feel like I've been more productive lately than I really have been. Maybe that will make it easier to fall asleep tonight... the past few nights I just lay there thinking about all I still have to get done :sad2:. I can't wait until all our projects are finished and we are ready to just enjoy our time at Disney instead of worry about silly detals.

Hopefully I'll have more things finished in the next couple days. After that all I will have to post are pictures of our new apartment... hopefully I can finish it all up before our move so I don't have to worry about the wedding and unpacking :eek:.

[princessdisneybelle]

I can't believe I haven't posted anything here in over a month... the time is flying by, our wedding is going to be here before I know it. Only 19 more days! :scared1: DF and I are moving from Michigan to Florida on Tuesday and it is crunch time with us trying to get things done for the wedding since we are planning on taking most of it with us instead of sending it on the plane with our relatives. Between packing and making things for the wedding (not to mention work) I've pretty much been stressing out frequently.

Awhile back I bought DF tickets to go see Alton Brown (from Food Network) and the show was tonight. I couldn't have worse timing! It was a lot of fun but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about all of the things I should have been doing instead. When I got home I started working on our invitations for the welcome dinner but just finished off my last glue stick. I figured that meant I could spend a couple minutes updating all of our plans.

So a couple months ago I rented the new Disney Cricut cartridges from a local scrapbook store and made a bunch of Mickey cut outs for our welcome bags. I finally finished gluing all of the layers together and made our tags.

This is the information tag for the outside of the bags so the resorts know which bag goes to who and when. Hopefully I didn't forget to include any information on it.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1008online.jpg

Here is the other tag I made for the bags
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1016.jpg

This is the front cover of the 'Ohana invites I am working on. Sorry this is not a very good picture and I apparently did not cut the eyes out as well as I should have because you can still see black edges around the white. Oh well... once you get down to having a few days to finish something you don't really care about it being perfect (which is so hard for me because I am such a perfectionist).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1012.jpg

I finally figured out a menu design that I liked. It is a long vertical one (4.25 x 11). The only thing I left off of it was the fact that the sorbet will come out in the ice slippers (I was wanting it to be a surprise).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1011.jpg

I am still working on the kids menu. Right now the design I have is similar but instead of having "Mike & Kelly" it will say "Carter's Menu" (name of the child). Also, instead of having the initial of our last name faded behind our first names I have a light blue faded Mickey head. I will post it once I finish it up :).

My mom and I finally finished all of the favor boxes!!! :yay: You probably can't tell the difference in this picture but this box is much larger than our other ones because it is for the kids.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1006.jpg

Instead of giving them the mints we bought fishing games for them. I figure it will keep them entertained and went well with the Living Seas.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1007.jpg

Our table numbers
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0999.jpg

I finally figured out how I wanted our wedding programs but still have to finish printing them off and putting them together. The outside layer is a green velum. There is printing underneath it that is much easier to see in person - it didn't show up so well on my camera.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1021.jpg

Under the velum cover.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/programcoveronline.jpg

The inside.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/weddingprograminsideonlineversion.jpg

On the back I have our thank yous to everyone for traveling so far, our parents for helping make it possible, etc.

Some random things... my mom bought the kids coming to the wedding bubble guns for our staged exit. She thought that they would be easier and more fun for them.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1017.jpg

I bought these to give to the kids at our rehearsal dinner. I thought they were adorable and fit the 'Ohana theme :) I figure the kids can pour their drinks into them if they want to use them right away.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1025.jpg

We also got Nemo light thingys (do they have a name?) for the dessert party. Again just for the kids. I originally was going to buy everyone glow in the dark necklaces but am thinking it isn't in the budget anymore.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1015.jpg

I started to put together gift bags for my bridesmaids. All of their accessories for the wedding are in it (purse, dress shoes, sandals, nail polish, earrings... I also am paying for their hair on the day of the wedding). It drives me nuts that all of the wedding things are black and I bought brown bags! I thought the bags were so cute though and were marked down to $10 at Ann Taylor - I couldn't pass them up.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1020.jpg

Well, I think that is it for now. Posting all of that made me feel like I've been more productive lately than I really have been. Maybe that will make it easier to fall asleep tonight... the past few nights I just lay there thinking about all I still have to get done :sad2:. I can't wait until all our projects are finished and we are ready to just enjoy our time at Disney instead of worry about silly detals.

Hopefully I'll have more things finished in the next couple days. After that all I will have to post are pictures of our new apartment... hopefully I can finish it all up before our move so I don't have to worry about the wedding and unpacking :eek:.

Kelly everything looks amazing! I love your tags and the cups for Ohana's. Where did you get those?

[DVCGirl49]

It definitely shows that you put a lot of time and creativity into these projects. The items for the Bridesmaids bags are really nice. Thanks for sharing your great ideas!

[orangetiggs]

i too would love to know how you did the welcome tag? where are the die cuts from?

[DVCGirl49]

Orangetiggs, I was wondering the same thing. :goodvibes I've never seen large size Disney die cuts.

[KellyJo18]

Kelly everything looks amazing! I love your tags and the cups for Ohana's. Where did you get those?

Thanks Laura! I got the cups from the Disney Store about two weeks ago (so they should still have them). When I went to the mall last weekend I noticed they were 25% off.

It definitely shows that you put a lot of time and creativity into these projects. The items for the Bridesmaids bags are really nice. Thanks for sharing your great ideas!

Thanks :) I was wondering if I didn't get the bridesmaids enough. I didn't really get anything personal that they can keep, just all stuff for the wedding. I figured that all of the expenses for being in a wedding can add up fast (especially with traveling so far) and that this would help them out some.

i too would love to know how you did the welcome tag? where are the die cuts from?

Orangetiggs, I was wondering the same thing. :goodvibes I've never seen large size Disney die cuts.

I used a Cricut machine to make them. They just came out with two Disney cartridges. Ones is call Mickey and Friends - it has a bunch of different characters, and the other is called Mickey Font - obviously has Disney font but also that is where I was able to cut out the big Mickey hands and head outline.

This is the machine I used
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/cricut.jpg

The Mickey and Friends cartridge
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/disneymickeyandfriends.jpg

Here is some of what you can make
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/disneymickeyandfriends2.gif
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/disneymickeyandfriends3.gif

The Mickey Font cartridge - sorry I couldn't find very many pictures of the different fonts you can do with this one. Not only fonts though but it has a bunch of different sayings that the Disney characters are known for (they are really cute).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/disneymickeyfont.jpg
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/disneymickeyfont2.gif

What you do to make them is send a different piece of paper threw the machine for every shape you see. To make my 'Ohana Mickey I had to send through white paper to make the entire thing, then I had to do the same thing with black. You have to cut out the eyes on the black layer (so the white shows through in the layering) and you also have to cut out the hands in the black layer so they appear white (and the buttons). Next I would send the yellow paper in the machine and tell it to make his shoes. Pink for his tongue. Finally, the flower paper I used for his shorts. Then you glue all of the layers together and you're done :)

[princessdisneybelle]

Oh that machine is too cool. I would love that.

[KellyJo18]

Oh that machine is too cool. I would love that.

I love it! But unfortunately it's not mine... I think my mom would notice if it all of a sudden ended up in one of my moving boxes :rolleyes1 It's definitely on my Christmas list so I can use it for scrapbooking wedding pictures.

[orangetiggs]

my mum has the craft robo but it does not have the cartridges so its a shame as the cricut is around $400 here in the uk

[orangetiggs]

you should sell them on ebay I would buy some off you!

[KellyJo18]

you should sell them on ebay I would buy some off you!

I would love to make you some but I won't have access to the machine anymore. I'll let you know if I end up buying one :goodvibes. Maybe I'll suggest people get us Michael's gift cards for the wedding so DF can't argue about me spending money on it :rotfl:.

[stitchlet]

You've made some incredible projects - subscribing! :surfweb:

Good luck with all of your moving / wedding palns - that's a lot to deal with all at once! :eek:

[KellyJo18]

You've made some incredible projects - subscribing! :surfweb:

Good luck with all of your moving / wedding palns - that's a lot to deal with all at once! :eek:

THANK YOU!!!! :)

[BaBeeCee14]

Kelly Jo,
Your tags and invites are sooo cute!! You did a great job.How long did they take?

I was online looking at the Cricut machine and that thing is not cheap. Even the Disney cartridges alone cost $100 each :scared1:
If I do end up getting it, I know I better be making all my own invites too.

[iggbees]

oh my gosh. all of your stuff is tooo cute! i love it all. this is totally what i aspire to do when i have a wedding (someday... but with how my boyfriend is it'll probably be in like 10 years :rolleyes: )

[KellyJo18]

Kelly Jo,
Your tags and invites are sooo cute!! You did a great job.How long did they take?

I was online looking at the Cricut machine and that thing is not cheap. Even the Disney cartridges alone cost $100 each :scared1:
If I do end up getting it, I know I better be making all my own invites too.

Thanks! It is really hard to say how long they all took me to make. I really broke up the time. It took me two days (probably 7 hours each day :confused3 ) just to get the shapes cut out on the Cricut. Another couple days to hand cut out the eyes, hands, buttons, etc. After all of that the layers had to be glued together and finally put on the tags/rehearsal invites. I would guess I put way too much time into them and that's why I'm working on them still as we speak :rotfl:.

The Cricut is really expensive. The cheapest I've ever seen it is at Walmart. I've had my eye on buying one but can't bring myself to do it (I was determined to keep our sorbet ice sculptures in our wedding budget and have been saving my money). They have so many cartridges and with them all being around $100/each it could easily become a hobby that gets out of hand! :eek: Luckily we have a local scrapbook store that rents out their cartridges (unfortunately it's only local for me for a couple more days). I was able to rent the Disney ones for $7/each and you get them for three days (which is why i spent 7 hours on them two days in a row - I was determined to get everything cut out and not have to rent it again).

oh my gosh. all of your stuff is tooo cute! i love it all. this is totally what i aspire to do when i have a wedding (someday... but with how my boyfriend is it'll probably be in like 10 years :rolleyes: )

Thank you! All of these compliments really are making me feel pretty good about it all, I've been so worried lately. At least your boyfriend is giving you plenty of time to get ideas! I always thought it would take my DF that long to finally propose too but they surprise you sometimes :goodvibes.

[KellyJo18]

I have to share my stupidity with you all... so I've been spending my evening finishing the covers of our 'Ohana invites. I had about five left to do when I decide to reread the inside and realize that transportation is not spelled TRASPORTATION :scared1:. I guess that's what happens when you rush :sad2:. I just carefully pealed all of the layers off and only ripped one which isn't too bad. I was worried I was going to have to start from scratch (including the Cricut dies). Well... back to work...

[seaprincess]

Good Luck Kelly I know that they will be perfect when you get done!! We are also eating at O'Hanas for our Welcome Dinner.

Love the Minnie/Mickey tiki torch cups you bought from the Disney Store. They are too cute. I don't think we have a Disney Store in NC anymore. I am going to see if they have them at the Disney Outlet Store at the Beach. I think my two flowergirls would love them!!

Lisa

[KellyJo18]

Good Luck Kelly I know that they will be perfect when you get done!! We are also eating at O'Hanas for our Welcome Dinner.

Love the Minnie/Mickey tiki torch cups you bought from the Disney Store. They are too cute. I don't think we have a Disney Store in NC anymore. I am going to see if they have them at the Disney Outlet Store at the Beach. I think my two flowergirls would love them!!

Lisa

Thanks! I took a break after my screw up to watch the end of the Piston's game which turned out as good as my 'Ohana invites :rotfl: :sad2:. Have you ever been to 'Ohana? I was so impressed during my last trip I have been craving their potatoes since!

I wish I wasn't moving so soon or I would offer to get you the tiki cups and send them your way. I don't think our new town has a Disney Store either. I'll let you know if I find one!

[seaprincess]

Hi Kelly,

I am glad you took a well deserved break! It sounds like you have your hands full between projects and moving. I hope that the Outlet store will have the tiki cups. If you happen to come across two more, please let me know. I can reimburse you! If not please don't worry...your wedding date is so close I know you have alot on your plate!!

Have a relaxing night!!
Lisa

[BaBeeCee14]

Kelly,

Are you having an intimate/escape or a custom/wishes wedding? Sorry if you've already posted this, I wasn't able to find it.

[mystiichell]

I just wanted to say that everything looks GREAT

[KellyJo18]

Hi Kelly,

I am glad you took a well deserved break! It sounds like you have your hands full between projects and moving. I hope that the Outlet store will have the tiki cups. If you happen to come across two more, please let me know. I can reimburse you! If not please don't worry...your wedding date is so close I know you have alot on your plate!!

Have a relaxing night!!
Lisa

Would you want two Minnie's since they are for your flower girls? Let me know. I'll PM you if I find them :)

Kelly,

Are you having an intimate/escape or a custom/wishes wedding? Sorry if you've already posted this, I wasn't able to find it.

Sorry, I don't know if I have ever posted that... opps! We are having a custom wedding around 75 people attending.

[KellyJo18]

I just wanted to say that everything looks GREAT

THANK YOU! That means a lot. :goodvibes

[marywdw]

I can't believe I haven't posted anything here in over a month... the time is flying by, our wedding is going to be here before I know it. Only 19 more days! :scared1: DF and I are moving from Michigan to Florida on Tuesday and it is crunch time with us trying to get things done for the wedding since we are planning on taking most of it with us instead of sending it on the plane with our relatives. Between packing and making things for the wedding (not to mention work) I've pretty much been stressing out frequently.

Awhile back I bought DF tickets to go see Alton Brown (from Food Network) and the show was tonight. I couldn't have worse timing! It was a lot of fun but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking about all of the things I should have been doing instead. When I got home I started working on our invitations for the welcome dinner but just finished off my last glue stick. I figured that meant I could spend a couple minutes updating all of our plans.

So a couple months ago I rented the new Disney Cricut cartridges from a local scrapbook store and made a bunch of Mickey cut outs for our welcome bags. I finally finished gluing all of the layers together and made our tags.

This is the information tag for the outside of the bags so the resorts know which bag goes to who and when. Hopefully I didn't forget to include any information on it.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1008online.jpg

Here is the other tag I made for the bags
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1016.jpg

This is the front cover of the 'Ohana invites I am working on. Sorry this is not a very good picture and I apparently did not cut the eyes out as well as I should have because you can still see black edges around the white. Oh well... once you get down to having a few days to finish something you don't really care about it being perfect (which is so hard for me because I am such a perfectionist).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1012.jpg

I finally figured out a menu design that I liked. It is a long vertical one (4.25 x 11). The only thing I left off of it was the fact that the sorbet will come out in the ice slippers (I was wanting it to be a surprise).
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1011.jpg

I am still working on the kids menu. Right now the design I have is similar but instead of having "Mike & Kelly" it will say "Carter's Menu" (name of the child). Also, instead of having the initial of our last name faded behind our first names I have a light blue faded Mickey head. I will post it once I finish it up :).

My mom and I finally finished all of the favor boxes!!! :yay: You probably can't tell the difference in this picture but this box is much larger than our other ones because it is for the kids.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1006.jpg

Instead of giving them the mints we bought fishing games for them. I figure it will keep them entertained and went well with the Living Seas.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1007.jpg

Our table numbers
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN0999.jpg

I finally figured out how I wanted our wedding programs but still have to finish printing them off and putting them together. The outside layer is a green velum. There is printing underneath it that is much easier to see in person - it didn't show up so well on my camera.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1021.jpg

Under the velum cover.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/programcoveronline.jpg

The inside.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/weddingprograminsideonlineversion.jpg

On the back I have our thank yous to everyone for traveling so far, our parents for helping make it possible, etc.

Some random things... my mom bought the kids coming to the wedding bubble guns for our staged exit. She thought that they would be easier and more fun for them.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1017.jpg

I bought these to give to the kids at our rehearsal dinner. I thought they were adorable and fit the 'Ohana theme :) I figure the kids can pour their drinks into them if they want to use them right away.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1025.jpg

We also got Nemo light thingys (do they have a name?) for the dessert party. Again just for the kids. I originally was going to buy everyone glow in the dark necklaces but am thinking it isn't in the budget anymore.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1015.jpg

I started to put together gift bags for my bridesmaids. All of their accessories for the wedding are in it (purse, dress shoes, sandals, nail polish, earrings... I also am paying for their hair on the day of the wedding). It drives me nuts that all of the wedding things are black and I bought brown bags! I thought the bags were so cute though and were marked down to $10 at Ann Taylor - I couldn't pass them up.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/FTW%20Planning/DSCN1020.jpg

Well, I think that is it for now. Posting all of that made me feel like I've been more productive lately than I really have been. Maybe that will make it easier to fall asleep tonight... the past few nights I just lay there thinking about all I still have to get done :sad2:. I can't wait until all our projects are finished and we are ready to just enjoy our time at Disney instead of worry about silly detals.

Hopefully I'll have more things finished in the next couple days. After that all I will have to post are pictures of our new apartment... hopefully I can finish it all up before our move so I don't have to worry about the wedding and unpacking :eek:.


Everything looks so great! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Where did you find those tiki drink things for the kids????

[seaprincess]

Hi Kelly,

If you come across two Minnie ones that would be great!! I know they would love them!! You are so very sweet!!

Lisa:love:

[Maddiesmum03]

Kellyjo - all your stuff is WONDERFUL. And I am now longing for that machine too!

[Lynn5700]

I love everything!!! The tiki cups are at the disney store. They are all on sale now.

[KellyJo18]

Everything looks so great! :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2
Where did you find those tiki drink things for the kids????

I love everything!!! The tiki cups are at the disney store. They are all on sale now.

Yup, they are at the Disney Store. When I saw them last they were 25% off of $7.50.

Hi Kelly,

If you come across two Minnie ones that would be great!! I know they would love them!! You are so very sweet!!

Lisa:love:

No problem :) Hopefully I will be able to help you out!

Kellyjo - all your stuff is WONDERFUL. And I am now longing for that machine too!

Thanks :) I really am so tempted to go buy it too. I'm going to miss having it around once I move.

[KellyJo18]

As I've been packing everything up I decided I should take new pictures.

This is an updated photo of what our welcome bags look like
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1043.jpg

They include:
Water bottle
Magic Kingdom Water Bottle Lanyard
Mickey Photo Album
Disney Sunscreen
First Aid Kits
Wet Wipes
Tissue Packs
Playing Cards
Park Brochures
Snacks (Fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars, etc.)
WDW Buttons (to those having birthday's, anniversaries, or are on their first WDW visit)
Contact List with all of our cell phone numbers (it's attached to that blue mickey sticker you see in the picture)

Here are bags we are giving to the kids before they leave (so they can take some of it on the plane). The elephant is a back pack for the boys that we stuffed with mostly coloring supplies and other Disney things.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1040.jpg

There is only one girl coming and here is her backpack. We put in a CD player, CD, color supplies, note pads, etc.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1042.jpg

Then we also have buckets for the kids in the hotel rooms. They are stuffed with hooded animal towels, a Disney tshirt, a Disney hat, sunglasses, hand fan, fake Disney cell phone, etc. I have a lot more to put in it, swimming googles, different toys... can't remember exactly what because I can't find them! Hopefully we track them down before the wedding :rolleyes1.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1038.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1039.jpg

That's all for now... 18 days left to make children's menus and place cards

[princessdisneybelle]

As I've been packing everything up I decided I should take new pictures.

This is an updated photo of what our welcome bags look like
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1043.jpg

They include:
Water bottle
Magic Kingdom Water Bottle Lanyard
Mickey Photo Album
Disney Sunscreen
First Aid Kits
Wet Wipes
Tissue Packs
Playing Cards
Park Brochures
Snacks (Fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars, etc.)
WDW Buttons (to those having birthday's, anniversaries, or are on their first WDW visit)
Contact List with all of our cell phone numbers (it's attached to that blue mickey sticker you see in the picture)

Here are bags we are giving to the kids before they leave (so they can take some of it on the plane). The elephant is a back pack for the boys that we stuffed with mostly coloring supplies and other Disney things.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1040.jpg

There is only one girl coming and here is her backpack. We put in a CD player, CD, color supplies, note pads, etc.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1042.jpg

Then we also have buckets for the kids in the hotel rooms. They are stuffed with hooded animal towels, a Disney tshirt, a Disney hat, sunglasses, hand fan, fake Disney cell phone, etc. I have a lot more to put in it, swimming googles, different toys... can't remember exactly what because I can't find them! Hopefully we track them down before the wedding :rolleyes1.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1038.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DSCN1039.jpg

That's all for now... 18 days left to make children's menus and place cards

Wow I love your bags and gifts. So cute!

[AuroraBorealis]

Wow! Everything looks great! Your welcome bags are so fun!

[jackdis]

Your bags are great! Can I come??? :)

[pixie08]

I just wanted to "pop" in and say hi! All of your projects look amazing! I am leaving in fives days (man we are getting sooo close!!) so hopefully we will run into each other down in Disney! Have an awesome wedding and good luck!

[livinthedisneydream]

Wow! I love everything you have done!! Where did you find the sparkly paper for your projects? Thanks! Lisa

[KellyJo18]

Wow I love your bags and gifts. So cute!

Thanks! I hope I come across the other things I bought to include in them. Luckily our movers came a day later than they had originally told us so I can still search the house for them tomorrow... wow my projects really went down to the last minute :rotfl:.

Wow! Everything looks great! Your welcome bags are so fun!

Your bags are great! Can I come??? :)

Thanks! They are all almost done... I keep hoping my mom (she's making them) has enough time to make me one. I think I'm on the "doesn't need one" list if she runs out of time.

There are a few people we invited that aren't able to come but have seen the bags and asked if they could still get one which means people like them so far :) :goodvibes . We've been trying to keep them put away so they are a surprise but we've been working on them too often to keep them completely hidden.

I just wanted to "pop" in and say hi! All of your projects look amazing! I am leaving in fives days (man we are getting sooo close!!) so hopefully we will run into each other down in Disney! Have an awesome wedding and good luck!

WOW, FIVE DAYS!?! We really are getting close!! :scared1: Are you ready? I feel like I need another month or two to get everything ready. I leave Wednesday morning but we are moving into our new place and then driving down to Disney on the 18th. I'm sure we'll run into each other at some point, I mean, we are DP neighbors so we for sure know we'll kind of see each other that night. It's going to be so much fun. Are you still doing the no rain dance? It sounds like Florida is getting hit with a lot of rain right now :guilty:. Hopefully it will get it out of its system! Good luck to you too and have a GREAT trip! I can't wait to hear all about it when we get back :goodvibes.

Wow! I love everything you have done!! Where did you find the sparkly paper for your projects? Thanks! Lisa

Thanks :) I'm going to guess you are talking about the paper I used on our welcome tags and 'Ohana invites? I bought them from a local store here in Michigan and have never found them anywhere else. I will look tomorrow and see if I have any sheets left with a company name on them so maybe we can track them down online.

[figmentfan814]

Your bags are great! I had written down some stuff from older posts to help with my bags and I must have stolen several of your ideas. ;) I am having the family names embroidered on the front and picked up a bunch of the first visit and birthday pins when I was down for my planning session.

[KellyJo18]

Your bags are great! I had written down some stuff from older posts to help with my bags and I must have stolen several of your ideas. ;) I am having the family names embroidered on the front and picked up a bunch of the first visit and birthday pins when I was down for my planning session.

:yay: I'm glad you were able to get some ideas! I love how the embroidered names give that extra personal touch. I think the pins are something cute to add that most guests won't know about - I hadn't thought of it until I was in line for the Great Movie Ride and saw a person wearing a birthday button, right after we finished the ride I dragged my entire group over to guests services to get some. I think the woman thought I was nuts for wanting so many but she didn't hesitate too long before giving me a bag full (and then we went and hit up guest services at MK :rotfl:).

[KellyJo18]

Wow! I love everything you have done!! Where did you find the sparkly paper for your projects? Thanks! Lisa

I don't have any sheets left to find out the company's name. When I get a chance I will call the store I bought it at and ask. Sorry!

[livinthedisneydream]

Thanks Kelly. If you get to it great, if not that's ok. I'm sure I can find something to use. Lisa

[zetalove08]

I just found this thread and all I can say is WOW! Your bags are amazing (as well as everything else)!!! Your guests are going to love them! :)

[KellyJo18]

I just found this thread and all I can say is WOW! Your bags are amazing (as well as everything else)!!! Your guests are going to love them! :)

Thanks! I hope they love them :)

[KellyJo18]

This is my first day back online since last Thursday. I am never going to have enough time to catch up on all of the posts! I was definitely going nuts without having access to the internet but it gave us lots of time to work on unpacking our new place here in Florida. I can't believe I now live less than two hours away from Disney and that we have annual passes :yay:.

Anway, this is probably my last post before we leave for our wedding. I can't believe we are less than a week away from getting married and we leave in three days! For all of you brides still counting down the months, it flys by!

So when we left for our move I had three projects left to do: programs, seating tags (not sure what they are called), and a print out with information about our wedding day bus transportation. I currently have completed none of them :scared1:. Well... that's not entirely true. I finished the wedding programs but had a snag with them. On the back side where I thanked our guests for traveling and our parents for helping us, etc. I also wrote something about "we'd like to remember those who are no longer with us...". I had originally asked DF if it was okay and he said sure but when I showed the program to his mom she started to cry when she read that part :confused:. She later asked DF if we could take it off. Her father passed away a little under a year ago so I understand completely that she doesn't want to upset people - she didn't know why we would want to bring up something sad during a happy occasion and was worried about it upsetting her mother. I know exactly what she means but at the same time it upsets me because they are all done and we have less than a week left :eek: plus now that we are no longer in our hometown I don't have access to the stores I originally bought the materials at. Sorry that's my little vent :rolleyes1

I'm sure I will be able to get it done if I resist the urge to go furniture shopping and decorate. Right now I'm a little stressed about it all. I even keep having dreams that Randy doesn't show up to take pictures :scared1: but for some reason in a lot of the dreams I don't even realize he's not there until the dessert party and by then it is too late to get any pictures. At this point I am ready for it to get here and be able to stop worrying about it all but I know once it is over I will be sad not to have projects/planning.

Anyway... I will try to update before we leave but if not I will be back soon with lots of pictures and hopefully a great wedding to report! :cool1:

[disneygal922]

Kelly Jo ~ I know it has been a approx. a year since your wedding but let me tell you, you have been such an inspiration with all your projects. i still have well over a year until mine and have been trying to come up with projects to make myself feel like i'm still planning a wedding :laughing: we are planning on doing the WP, LS and Lower UK DP in spring 2010. So all your pics and projects have been so useful to me. Thank you so much! Did you do a TR for your wedding? i am sure it was beautiful! :goodvibes

[KellyJo18]

Kelly Jo ~ I know it has been a approx. a year since your wedding but let me tell you, you have been such an inspiration with all your projects. i still have well over a year until mine and have been trying to come up with projects to make myself feel like i'm still planning a wedding :laughing: we are planning on doing the WP, LS and Lower UK DP in spring 2010. So all your pics and projects have been so useful to me. Thank you so much! Did you do a TR for your wedding? i am sure it was beautiful! :goodvibes

I was so surprised to see a new post here! Thank you so much for your sweet comments. Even though it has been awhile since I was in the planning stages, it still feels like yesterday I was racing to get all my projects done. I'm so glad that my ideas have been useful for other brides. I know the DIS was so helpful when I was planning. I can't imagine having gone through the process without the support on this website.

I did have a trip report up but removed most of the posts after some unfortunate incidents here last fall. The skeleton of it is still around somewhere. You have picked amazing locations (although where at Disney isn't amazing, right?) and if you have any questions for me, don't hesitate to ask. Since all of my pictures are gone from this site here are a couple that show how our event turned out:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM14546-21-07.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM14596-21-07.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM14776-21-07-1.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/Wedding-MayaandCarterlookingoverwal.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM04706-21-07.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/Wedding-CarterMayaandDominicbubbles.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM17166-21-07.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/Wedding-LivingSeas.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/Wedding-CakeTable1.jpg

Every other table at the LS had flowers, the rest had the LS's standard candle.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/WeddingReception-tablepic.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Randy%20Chapman/KM07356-21-07.jpg

I'm made my own wedding album, this page shows most of the reception's accents.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/Wedding%20Album/livingseaslayout-1.jpg

Our dessert party was in UK upper and lower.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/dessertparty1-1.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/dessertparty3-1.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/KellyJoG/DFTW%20Trip%20Photos/Wedding%20Day/dessertparty5.jpg

[disneygal922]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful pictures! :goodvibes They are gorgeous! I really love the one from about half way back of you guys at the alter, it is beautiful! I may be asking more questions as all my projects get started and what not so thanks again for all the inspiration! :thumbsup2

[dizneyfreak]

Hello there! I followed your journal from start to finish and was wondering if I did something wrong to get locked out of it. If you don't mind me asking what happened to your beautiful posts?

Anna Marie