Lindsay and Chris PJ! WP/Italy Isola/AAR...Disneyland Paris Honeymoon added 7-19

[Tiggerific04]

Great start, Linds!

At least you got a little upgrade, right? You know, someone had to wait until she was 18 to stay at the Grand! Can you imagine??

[rupertbrooke]

Thanks girls!! Everything was just beautiful and I couldn't have been happier!!

Vendor reviews: Vendor reviews REALLY helped me a lot during my planning. I relied on them so I am going to be as detailed as possible and as honest as possible. Also, I won't be giving grades... they never helped me... (what's the difference between A+ and A+++???)

Joe- Sales Consultant:
Joe was great. Super friendly and understanding. Joe was great at helping us pick locations and times. When I flipped out over a rain location Joe was able to send us several different alternatives to our original choices. He always answered his emails in a timely manner. Yay Joe!

Diane-Wedding Planner:
I cannot say enough good things about Diane. She was incredibly helpful throughout our entire planning process. She was super easy to get in touch with and offered several different ideas to keep our costs down. (Such as having waiters pass beer and wine during cocktail hour so that we wouldn't have to pay for an extra bar hour) She helped stress the importance of sticking to the schedule on wedding day. When we had a mix up with the flowers, she was right there to fix it. I will say this: I loved Diane because she was 100% business. She wasn't there to be a cheerleader for my wedding, she was there to run the show and make sure it ran smoothly. She did just that. If you are expecting someone to gush over you, or your flowers, or whatever else, she won't do that. Diane was perfect and we have absolutely no complaints at all.

Laura Kidd-Disney Floral:
Laura was great! My bouquet was AMAZING. It was EXACTLY how I pictured it. Once I get my pictures back, I'll post my inspiration pic and then the actual bouquet. The girls flowers were amazing. She originally had flower balls with spray roses, hydrangeas and something else and they came out to like $150 each. I asked her what we could do to lower the price and she suggested carnations. I flipped out. (If you watch Sex and the City, you will know that they are filler flowers). She sent me pictures of carnations that were beautiful and you could not tell that they were carnations. She also added some pink gerbera daisies. The handles were these super fun black crystals. There were apparently some problems with the flower balls and they had to be fixed before the ceremony which caused us to start a little bit late. (I'm not really sure but I think the crystals fell out from some and some of the flowers popped out... but I wasn't actually told what the problem was, so I'm not 100% sure) Laura was not always super easy to get in touch with. I almost always had to follow up on my emails several times before I got a response. Also, changes to my BEO took a long time and I had to make sure to read them carefully because I did find a few mistakes. (Satin napkins instead of regular ones) This was frustrating, but her final product was simply amazing so I can't complain.

Randy Chapman- Photog:
We all know how great Randy's work is. He was excellent at making everyone feel at ease and he took TONS of pictures. He also worked with Diane to make sure that we could sneak out of our reception to take pictures in France (where we got engaged). The only negative thing I can say about Randy is that it's hard to get in touch with him. He and Linda really need a secretary. I'll be able to give further review once my pics are in.

Beaute Speciale- Hair and Makeup:
I have to say that I wasn't overjoyed by them. First, I wasn't told that Anna wouldn't be coming. It was fine that she sent someone else, but I would have liked if they said when we called to confirm "Lily and the other girl will be there at x time". There was one girl who didn't introduce herself. I don't know what her name was. She did a lovely job on everyone's hair. All of the girls looked great. Lily did my hair and makeup. My makeup was beautiful. I told her I wanted to look natural and I did. My hair however, was another story... I showed her a picture and then she did my hair and I had her make a few changes. My tiara was too far back on my head, the poof wasn't high enough and the front pieces were very flat. It looked like she put it up in a bun and then plopped my tiara on top, which was NOT the look I was going for. Caryn and Mary had to step in and help out with my hair because I was getting very upset and not expressing what I wanted. In the end, my hair was exactly what I wanted, I just wish I didn't have the stress of having to do it over twice.

Grand Floridian Cafe- Lunch for 15 and Breakfast for 30
My parents hosted the breakfast and we only popped in for a minute, so I can't really comment on that. We made lunch reservations for Sat afternoon. Everything was lovely. I was REALLY stressed out on Sat and I asked the waiter if someone could make me a grilled cheese and he very kindly let me have the kids grilled cheese. It was close to all of the wedding stuff which is why we chose it.

Grand Floridian Spa-
Chris and I both got mani/pedis there immediately following the rehearsal. They were lovely. 4 days later my manicure is still intact and my pedi looks great. We're both really pleased that we did this. We were really stressed out after the rehearsal and it was nice to be able to stop and take a few hourse for ourselves.

Tokyo Dining- Japan Rehearsal Dinner
This was another place that really went above and beyond. When we decided to book Japan for the rehearsal we went in and talked to the manager. This was during the time when no one was sure if ressies could be made 6 months out. She called us periodically to tell us that she still hadn't been able to make our ressie, but she'd let us know. When our three month mark hit, we made ressie's but accidentally did them for Teppan Edo. She called us up to let us know that she fixed them. The day of the rehersal dinner, she called us up to confirm how many people and just make sure we were all set to go. Everyone really enjoyed dinner there (I think, if they didn't no one told me) and it seemed very special.

Ohana Breakfast-
We had 20 people for breakfast. I love Ohana. I love their breakfast. There were a few things I didn't love. The waiter ignored me. He didn't ignore our table, but he ignored me. The picture that was taken of our group went to the opposite end of the table, I had to walk over there and get it. Now, we did have a family with two young kids sitting down there (they were part of our party) but we booked it as the Craig/Hrabar rehearsal and I was wearing my ears and a bride shirt. I had to call him over several times and I wasn't overjoyed by that.

Hi,

That is certainly true... Vendor reviews help a lot, in fact it is very important to look for reviews of a certain product or service before opting for it...! That is interesting concept over here, thanks a lot for sharing it!

[DisneyLaura]

Lindsay I first wanted to you wish you and your DH congratulations (my computer was down when you got married so I couldn't post that on your day).

Oh my that was a packed car. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip. Sorry some of the things were perfect but I'm sure everything was just beautiful.

[Lindsay22]

MOOOOOOOOOORE - please!

Yes I know I was there - but still, its just so exciting to read :yay: - especially the parts I wasn't there for!!!!!!
It's coming...

Yay! What a quick start to your TR!! I can't wait for more!
:wizard:

WOW your car!! I'm kind of glad now that i have to ship everything down instead of stuff it in the car!!

Can't wait for more!
I really thought that we would have more room. It was the pre-assembled welcome bags that caused the problem... They took up a ton of room.

Its prob best he read a magazine, boys just put things in the wrong place.
He's much better at things like unpacking than me....

Great start, Linds!

At least you got a little upgrade, right? You know, someone had to wait until she was 18 to stay at the Grand! Can you imagine??
I had to wait until I was 27. I feel deprived

Hi,

That is certainly true... Vendor reviews help a lot, in fact it is very important to look for reviews of a certain product or service before opting for it...!

Hi,
Vendor reviews were so helpful to me!

Lindsay I first wanted to you wish you and your DH congratulations (my computer was down when you got married so I couldn't post that on your day).

Oh my that was a packed car. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip. Sorry some of the things were perfect but I'm sure everything was just beautiful.
Thanks!! To be honest, looking back at it... I really don't have any complaints. Of course everyone wants the wedding to be "perfect" but my brain knew that it wouldn't be... We didn't have any really big problems (like missing linens or chair covers) so I don't really mind.

Friday coming up!

[Lindsay22]

Friday 4/24

Friday as a whole was a strange day. Not bad, just strange. I was really starting to have wedding stress and it affected my day.

We both woke up pretty early and were just laying in bed when suddenly we heard a ruckus outside our window. Lots of people talking and things. So I head out onto the balcony to see what's up. The pirate cruise was leaving! I immediately got Chris out of bed so that he could see how freaking funny this was. (Incidentally, we have decided that if we have a child it will be doing this) All of the kids were wearing pirate Mickey ears and yelling Arrgh! HYSTERICAL.

Here is a pic of the boat with the kids.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0340.jpg

After they left Chris decided to go to the gym and I stayed in the room to watch the news for a little bit. (Side note: I love watching the news. That Octomom lady was giving a tour of her nursey to GMA). I got bored and decided that I wanted to read my book. Unfortunately, when Chris finished packing the car, he took my book out, so I didn't have one. :scared:. I decided that I would take a walk around the resort and I walked over to the WP and saw Chris sitting there so I sat with him and we chatted. We walked back to our room so that Chris could shower because my parents and Dave were coming over. Mom was going to stay with me while the men went to get tuxes.

We get back to the room and there is a message on my cell phone, a message on Chris's cell phone and a message on our room phone. All were from Diane and all were urgent. So I immediately call Diane in a panic. Apparently the numbers (of people) I sent her were wrong and if I didn't correct them we would be moved out of AAR and into LIVING SEAS. :scared1: So I fixed them and all was well.

Mom, Dad and Dave showed up and Mom came up to my room and we proceeded to iron my veil. I don't have pictures of it... I'm not sure why. The veil (which Caryn made) was 12 feet of ivory glimmer tulle and it had never been ironed. Caryn tried to steam it but that didn't work. It took about an hour to iron the veil and it looked beautiful. After that we took a walk through the shops and around the lobby. At this point it was about noon and the men had been gone for two hours. So we called them to see where they were and to see if we should have lunch without them. Dad said that they had finished up at the tux place and they were stopping at Target to get some things and they would be on their way shortly and that we should wait for them for lunch.

Okay fine, so we walk back over to the room and watch tv. And watch TV and watch TV. We called Caryn to see where she was (they started their trip in Miami and were driving to Orlando that day.) She said that they were about two hours away and would call when they got here. So we waited and waited and waited some more and finally at about 1:30 Dad and Chris showed up.

Chris said that his groomsman, Ryan, was pulling into Disney (he drove from Atlanta) and he was going to meet him for lunch and then get his other GM, Doug, and go get tuxes. Mom was getting tired so Mom, Dad and I went to Gasparillas for some quick food and then they went back to Coronado. My roomates from CP were supposed to go to the MK at some point that day so I called them and they weren't there yet. I called Chris to see where he was and asked if I could join him at his lunch.

*This is weird, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who has felt this way a few days before the wedding so I'm going to post about it. Once my parents left I felt very alone. I didn't want to sit around the resort by myself and I didn't really want to go to a park by myself (because I can do that any weekend...) and none of my people had really arrived yet. I just felt weird. Really really strange. It wasn't something I expected to feel. I think that it goes along with the "bride pressure" that I felt during my shower. So... future brides, if you feel weird like this you are not alone*

Anyway, so I was waiting for the MK monorail when I called Chris to see where he was. He, Ryan and Ryan's friend Cam were at Boardwalk and were going to have lunch at Big River. So I told them to order and not wait for me (since I had eaten with my parents) and that I'd meet them for a drink. I thought that riding the monorail would put me a better mood so I hopped on the monorail and then transferred to the Epcot monorail and walked thru Epcot to get to Boardwalk. While walking thru Epcot I noticed that LOTS of people were wairing plaid shorts. I counted 47 pairs between the entrance of Epcot and Big River.

I exited Epcot at the Intl Gateway and started to walk towards Big River. I passed SBP and noticed a wedding there! It was beautiful.

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I finally got to Big River and met Chris, Ryan and Cam.

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We had a few drinks and then they were going to get Doug and then get tuxes. It was decided that I would direct them to All Star and then they would drop me off at MK so I could meet my friends. We get to All Star and hang around the gift shop for a little while. Chris and the guys decided it was time to try on hats.

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Then Doug got there.
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So we all piled in the car and they dropped me off at MK and they went to get tuxes. I get to MK and call Katie and she doesn't answer. So I called Ray and he said they were on Haunted Mansion. So I walked over there to meet them. I was SOOO excited to see them. We all did college program together and we're all still close but I hadn't seen any of them since July 07. So it had been a while. Katie was pregnant with her first child (Luke) the last time I saw her and now she has two kids!! We hung out for a little while and then my dad called to say that they had Caryn and Mark and that they were going to dinner with my mom's cousin. I told them I'd join them so I left MK, went back to the Grand and got my car. They went to the Olive Garden by the Sheraton. I had some breadsticks and some salad and wine.

It was getting late by the time we got out and Chris and I had planned to have drinks at the Poly. Caryn, Mark and I headed there and Chris, Ryan and Cam met up with us.

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After drinks we walked back over to the Grand to go to bed. We had a pretty busy day the next morning and I wanted to try to sleep. (Note to future brides: I did not sleep thru the night for the entire week before the wedding and for 3 days after the wedding) We got back to the room and this was waiting for me!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0369.jpg

It was a gift basket from Chris with the bride ears and chamapagne and chocolates. I was very happy because I really wanted the bride ears and Chris told me not to buy them. We talked a little bit about our day and got things organized for the next morning.

[BaBeeCee14]

Great update Linds! How sweet of chris to buy the bride ears for you!

[BaBeeCee14]

Great start, Linds!

At least you got a little upgrade, right? You know, someone had to wait until she was 18 to stay at the Grand! Can you imagine??

Wow - I'm 28 and still haven't stayed there yet. Maybe if I ask my parents to pay for my next trip, I will finally be able to stay there! :woohoo:

[mypotato]

I am so excited you have started your TR! That sure was a nice surprise from Chris (the bride and groom ears and the chocolates). :goodvibes I am not a fan of the new bride and groom ears I saw on my recent trip. They are not very pretty. The style that you had in your basket are very cute. I also had never heard of the little pirate ship for the kids. I would love to see that someday. pirate: I am loving your pictures and can't wait to hear more.

[pink_tink8i8]

Lindsay you started! can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

[Lindsay22]

Great update Linds! How sweet of chris to buy the bride ears for you!
I was very surprised by the bride ears, especially since I asked him if I could buy them on Friday because "all the other brides get to have them" and he told me no

I am so excited you have started your TR! That sure was a nice surprise from Chris (the bride and groom ears and the chocolates). :goodvibes I am not a fan of the new bride and groom ears I saw on my recent trip. They are not very pretty. The style that you had in your basket are very cute. I also had never heard of the little pirate ship for the kids. I would love to see that someday. pirate: I am loving your pictures and can't wait to hear more.
I hate the new bride and groom ears. Hate them.

Lindsay you started! can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

Thanks!!

Saturday is coming up

[irisbud]

What a nice surprise! I can relate to the strange feelings before the wedding, :)

[Lindsay22]

Saturday 4/25 Rehearsal Day

We woke up very early on Saturday morning because we had a rehearsal breakfast scheduled at Ohana. We love Ohana and we knew that a lot of our friends weren't going to go into the parks and this was a way for them to see some characters. Also, since our rehearsal was scheduled for 10 am I thought it was best to get everyone fed and caffeinated before we had to do actual stuff.

So, we woke up at about 6:30am and started to get everything packed up and together for breakfast. Chris got in the shower at about 7 and I sent a text message to everyone reminding them to wake up and that I would see them at 8. (Breakfast ressie was actually 8:20, I felt like a little padding would work out well). I called a bell hop to bring up a cart so that we could put all of the rehearsal gifts and one box for Diane on it. (We had originally left the box with the favors in the car, but then I realized that the plastic glass slippers would probably start to melt... so we brought it into our room) Chris got out of the shower and ran down to the lobby to get some cash and to buy park tickets for two of his groomsmen (their gift was a one day one park ticket).

(This is Chris right before he got in the shower)
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0372.jpg

The bell hop guy came and arranged for my car to be brought around and loaded everything up on his golf cart and he drove me out to the car and helped me load everything.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0374.jpg

The plan was the I would drive to the Poly with everything we needed for the rehearsal and Chris would walk over and meet me. I got there and went over to wait by the monorail entrance. I waited for a few minutes and my Disney CP roomates showed up!!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0375.jpg


I was so happy to see them. We try to keep in touch via email and we hadn't seen each other since July 2007. One of them had never met Chris before. We said our hellos and then Mike, Mary, Tom and Noelice showed up!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0378.jpg

The rest of our party showed up and we checked in and went to take the group picture. (In hindsight, I wish I had bought the picture. It was cute, but it was also $30 and that seemed a little expensive for a group picture. I was also really annoyed that it wasn't brought out to me first, but to someone at the other end of the table. I truly didn't understand why they wouldn't bring it to the bride.) Anyway, we're all seated and we have our great breakfast food.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0387.jpg

The characters started coming around and they were great!
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Then, we notice my sister Caryn walking by. I don't know if any of you realize, but Caryn is kind of a PITA. :3dglasses When we planned our rehearsal meals we decided we were going to do breakfast for our friends and then a nice dinner for our family. Since Caryn is family she wasn't invited to the breakfast.... So she decided that she would make her own reservation. We look over and see her strolling by trying to act casual. She's such a weirdo.

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As breakfast was winding down I went to chat with everyone. MY CP roomate Katie just had a baby and she asked if I wanted to hold her. WELL OF COURSE! I never get to hold babies! She was soooooooo good. I told Chris that I was going to walk to the WP and he should get the car and drive over there. So we all walked over from the Poly and found Diane. She looked a little perplexed that I was holding a baby so I told her that the baby was my practice bouquet!

Shortly after we got there Dad and Megan arrived
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We all walked in and then Rev Miller got there.
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We were missing a few people but Rev Miller had another appt and couldn't wait so we went thru the ceremony with some stand ins.
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We practiced lining up and walking down the aisle with Diane and then we were done! We walked outside and realized that our names were up on the board so we had to take a picture.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0423.jpg

We handed out our bridal party gifts (I think Caryn has a picture). The bridesmaids got a tote bag (black and pink) a coach wristlet, a necklace, a broach for their sash, and flip flops. Megan the maid of honor got the same only she got a coach purse, not a wristet. Caryn didn't get a purse, instead we signed her up for the Disney Marathon in Jan and got her a gift card. (We decided that since she did so much for the wedding she should get a nicer gift) The guys got flask sets, and then two gms got park tickets, his brother got a watch and some shot glasses (he's in college.... he'll use them) and then the best man got wine glasses and a gift card as well. We also made the Best Man and his wife a ressie at Brown Derby.

We hung out for a little while longer and Julian found Chris's hat.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0422.jpg
Apparently, Julian was a hit on the monorail later that day when he was wearing his Ring Bearer shirt with the hat. He told everyone that he was going to be in the wedding and be the "groom".

Everyone went their separate ways shortly after gifts were handed out. We dropped everything off to Diane. We reminded everyone what time they needed to be at the dinner (if they were coming) or in my room or the GF lobby if they weren't going to dinner.

Chris and I left to get our nails done after this.

Coming up: A review of our nail appt, lunch with Chris's dad, rehearsal dinner in Japan.

[irisbud]

I agree, they should have brought the picture to you. Sounds like the rehersal went pretty smoothly, which must have helped your nerves (if you had any!) LOVE the pictures of Julian. What a cutie!

[torsie24]

Awww, how cute is Julian!! :)

Love your photo with Stitch!! Eeeee, even the rehersal photos look beautiful! Can't wait to read more!!

[disneymeg]

More please!!!!!!!!!

[caryndisneydiva]

i guess i should start chiming in here...as soon as i get my laptop fixed i'll add my own pikz (which are infinitely more interesting that lindsay's)...

[Tiggerific04]

You voluntarily went to a character meal? And posed for pikz with the characters?

I love that Caryn nonchalantly happened to be at Ohana the same time as you and your friends. Also, Julian is an adorable groom.

[29apr00]

Aw how sweet that Chris got you the bride ears! :love: Can't wait to see the pics!!

[Lindsay22]

What a nice surprise! I can relate to the strange feelings before the wedding, :)
I was very happy to have some champagne in the room and my ears!! I thought I was the only one who felt strange. I'm glad it wasn't just me!

I agree, they should have brought the picture to you. Sounds like the rehersal went pretty smoothly, which must have helped your nerves (if you had any!) LOVE the pictures of Julian. What a cutie!
It was one of those strange things that annoyed me about our breakfast... Julian is a hoot!

Awww, how cute is Julian!! :)

Love your photo with Stitch!! Eeeee, even the rehersal photos look beautiful! Can't wait to read more!!
The Julian stories get better. I'm so happy we had the kids in the wedding

More please!!!!!!!!!
You can update too with your pictures and what you were doing that day

i guess i should start chiming in here...as soon as i get my laptop fixed i'll add my own pikz (which are infinitely more interesting that lindsay's)...
I'm sure that your pics are more interesting.

You voluntarily went to a character meal? And posed for pikz with the characters?

I love that Caryn nonchalantly happened to be at Ohana the same time as you and your friends. Also, Julian is an adorable groom.
Isn't Caryn just hilarious? She also told us that she would be making her own reservation when we told her that she wasn't invited on the honeymoon.

Aw how sweet that Chris got you the bride ears! :love: Can't wait to see the pics!!
Me too! It looks like Randy's pics are coming back within a month or so... It's soooooo hard to be patient!

[Lindsay22]

4/25 Continued

So when we last left off, we had just finished the rehearsal. Caryn, Mark, Megan and Ross were all heading out to DHS. I'm not sure what my parents were doing, but they ended up in Epcot that afternoon... Chris's family checked out the Polynesian.

Chris and I walked over to the spa for our nail appt. We were brought right in and taken to the different locker rooms. I didn't realize that there was a separate room for men and women. I was hoping that I didn't have to wait long so I sat in a chair with a glass of water and read a health magazine. (I wish they would have had a Cosmo or something in there) I got a lot of compliments on my bride ears and questions about the wedding. I was getting super stressed out so it was nice to have a little while to relax. Finally I was brought into the nail room and Chris was brought in right after me.

I picked out a fuscia for my toenails and asked for french on my hands. Chris got a bottle of polish that was called Man-E-Cure, which I thought was pretty funny. They did a mud thing on our arms and legs. It's now been 11 days and my manicure is done.... but a week and a half is a really long time for a manicure. My toes still look incredible. I do want to mention that our nails took a LONG time. Our appt was at 11:30, we got there at about 11 and we didn't leave until about 1. So remember to schedule in a two hour block for this.

I liked that Chris and I were able to talk to each other without our wedding guests around, and this was really the first time we were able to do that. We figured that the nail ladies didn't care about our rehearsal or our guests so we talked in front of them. It was important to me that we got some alone time to just talk (now, what the nail ladies must have thought of us was a completely different story).

We realized that we were getting pretty close on time for our lunch ressie with Chris's family so as soon as Chris was done he went out to pay and called his sister to have check us in. I didn't think that morning and put on my prima crocs (which I love). I didn't want to be late for lunch, and I didn't want to ruin my pedicure so I walked from the GF Spa to the GF Cafe with my pedicure flip flops and the toe divider still in. (Again, I'm sorry that I don't have a picture of this... I was in a rush. I was a little embarrassed but figured that I wasn't the first person to have done this.)

We arrived at lunch and I met Chris's godmother (Aunt Karen) and her husband (Uncle Jeff) for the first time. They were very nice and very excited about the wedding. We were all seated at a long table in the middle.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0424.jpg

The waiter was very nice (I think his name was Robert). He took everyone's drink orders and then came to take our orders. At this point I was stressed. I was super tired, we still had a zillion things to do, I was so nervous I couldn't eat anything... I was really not in good form. When I asked Robert if someone could "create" me a grilled cheese (because it wasn't on the menu) he didn't bat an eyelash and told me that he'd be happy to get me the kids grilled cheese. (Grilled Cheese is my comfort food).

I took this wonderful picture of Chris
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0425.jpg

Around this time we realized that we had welcome bags for Chris's grandparents, aunt, and Dad in the car. I switched back to my crocs (my toes were dry by now) and Claudia and I went down to the car to get them. We handed out the welcome bags and told everyone that we would see them at the wedding.

Now, originally, Chris and I were going to go straight from lunch to Epcot. You'll notice that we really didn't have any park time and I wanted some. Not a lot, we're in Disney all the time, but a little. Well that was just not going to happen on this trip. We were both exhausted and cranky so we went back to the room to take a nap. Chris put on ESPN (it was the first day of the NFL draft and he wanted to watch) I read a few chapters in my book and then tried to nap. I closed my eyes and laid down for a half hour and just couldn't fall asleep. I stayed like that for a little while longer and my phone rang. It was my father calling from Epcot. The conversation went like this:
Me: Hi Dad, what's the matter?

Dad: Hi Lin, I thought you might be trying to nap, but I just wanted to tell you that Mom and I are on the Italy Isola taking pictures and we're both REALLY excited. We went into the American Adventure and they let us upstairs and we took pictures of that too! We're like little kids! We can't wait!

Me: Dad. You are so strange. I was trying to nap. Glad you are having fun. We'll be heading out there in a little while and we'll call you when we get there.

It was really amusing to see my Dad so excited. We used to go to Disney a lot when we were kids and Epcot was (is) my parents favorite park. So it's not like he'd never been there before, he was just really really excited.

We waited for the first two picks of the draft (which was really exciting for me, let me tell you) and then we hopped in the car for Epcot. We wandered in and started heading for Japan. We stopped at Italy Isola in case my parents were still there (an hour later) and sent everyone a text to see where they were. We walked over to Japan and there were my parents, Caryn, Mark, Megan and Ross. Caryn and Megan were wearing the "I'm Celebrating" buttons and the castmember had written "Lindsay's Wedding." They were both still wearing their matching shirts from the rehearsal.

Shortly after that Dave, Renee, the kids and everyone else showed up and Chris took Julian to check in. The managers and wait staff in Japan was simply INCREDIBLE. I forgot to mention, but during lunch the manager called Chris to confirm that we were still on for that night and to confirm the number of people. I was really impressed. We had a bit of a wait for a table so I took some pictures.

AJ and Dave
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0427.jpg

Megan
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0428.jpg

Caryn and Mark
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0429.jpg

Finally our tables were ready and we all went in and sat down. I was a little worried that my family wouldn't like the food.... they had never eaten here. I think they liked it.... Dad's plate was completely clean by the end of the meal and he mentioned several times that meals like that were the reason that Japanese people are so thin.

Mom and Dad liked the warm towels
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0432.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0433.jpg

Chris and Julian figure out chopsticks
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0437.jpg

Zacky already had his chopsticks figured out
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0438.jpg

Chris and Claudia had some Saki
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0439.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0444.jpg

Some of you may remember that our wedding day was also Mark's birthday. We knew that we weren't going to be able to have a cake or anything the next day so we asked the manager if she could bring out a cupcake for Mark. They brought out his cake and everyone (including the chef) sang Happy Birthday to Mark in Japanese.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0452.jpg

Then they came out with a cupcake for us and sang If you're happy and you know it clap your hands. (Mom got a big kick out of that)
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0451.jpg

Dinner was over and we went outside and saw some VERY special DisBrides!! I was so excited to see them. They have been with me throughout this whole process and they knew about everything involved with the wedding...
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0453.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0456.jpg

Cat and Kristen read Caryn's MOH shirt
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0455.jpg

And then we took a DisHusbands Pic!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0458.jpg

Chris, AJ, Ross, Dave, Megan and Claudia all decided to walk over to ESPNZone to watch the draft and it was decided that I would walk with Cat, Kristen and Caryn to Intl Gateway. Caryn and Mark were parked at Boardwalk and they would drop me at my car in the Epcot parking lot (it seems more confusing than it actually was) We said our goodbyes to Cat and Kristen and then I hopped in my car and drove back to Boardwalk to pick up Chris at ESPN. I had a beer there and then decided that I was really tired and we needed to go back.

We got back to the room, again started to organize everything for the next day and tried to go to sleep.

Coming up: Wedding day and "OMG WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY NECK"

[BaBeeCee14]

Great update linds! That was so cute how your Dad called to tell you that he was excited about the wedding.

Kristen, Rob and I were stalking you guys in Japan for some time before you guys came out of the restaurant.

[disneymeg]

Ok so now that I have Lindsay's permission - I am going to post about ESPNZone as Lindsay wasn't there for the whole thing and I was. Sadly, I am at work and do not have pictures but just use your imaginations - you'll get it!

So as Lindsay said - Christopher (Groom), Ross (my DB), Dave (BM), AJ (Grooms Bro), Claudia (Grooms Sis), and myself all went to ESPNZone to watch the draft. It was SUPER crowded and we kept getting yelled at by servers coming through - ok no .. every other server in the place could get by all of us without trouble except for this ONE server girl that kept saying "YOU GUYS GOTTA GET OUT OF THE WAY - WE CAN'T GET THROUGH" - Of course Dave was a wee bit into his beer at this point and responded with "WHATS THIS WE STUFF? EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING JUST FINE - BE GONE WITH YOU" Thank goodness no one heard that. Although, I thought it was pretty funny.

Dave bought us all a round of drinks and we all drank happily and discussed who we were to eachother. You see, I have only really met Christopher's extended family once over the summer so I wanted to get to know them better and let me tell you - SUPER COOL FOLKS!!!!

Dave decided that he wanted to do "shots" of tequila! Of course we all objected and he pretended that he didn't hear us and ordered anyway. Chris, Claudia, and I were all saying "ok one shot isn't so hard - we'll take one for the team (team bride that was)" Well the guy comes back with TUMBLERS full of tequila. NO NO NO NO NO - Megan doesn't work well with Tequila and apparently neither did Christopher. So when we got our tumblers, we just happened to "spill" ours into Claudia's coke glass that needed refilling! Then we pretended to "shoot" the empty glasses. No one noticed (excpet Claudia) so it worked out well! Poor Claudia had to drink that coke laced with Tequila for the rest of the night!

We met some cool people in that were sitting in the bar with us - the offered us their left overs (we kindly declined) and congratulated Christopher on getting married. They had a few choice words to say about it but this is for public viewing and I can't post the things they were saying. We'll just say it was to do with the honeymoon and certain perticular activities not happening EVER AGAIN after!!!!

Well time came and went and it was time to go home - Dave was very into his liquor at this point as were AJ, Ross, and myself, so it became Claudia's job to get everyone in her party home. They did better than Ross and myself.

We got a taxi and said "All Star MUSIC" please - well in our state we didn't realize that the taxi driver dropped us off at MOVIES! Let me tell you how difficult it was trying to navigate our way back to our hotel. I'm not firmiliar with Disney the way others are, so we wound up at SPORTS - finally after about 45 minutes of walking - we found our hotel and got to our room where we had a congratulatory drink. The next day was wedding day so we were both SUPER excited!!!!!

All in all, it was a pretty cool night.

[KSchwagg86]

Great updates :thumbsup2

[disneediva]

Waiting anxiously for Caryn's input popcorn::

[KSchwagg86]

Waiting anxiously for Caryn's input popcorn::

Waiting anxiously for MORE PICTURES!!

[Tiggerific04]

Linds, how cute is your dad?! I love that he called you just to tell you how excited he was.

Dinner in Japan looked like fun! Especially the end of the meal where you met up with those super awesome Dis Brides! ;)

[Hillary12.8.07]

Linds I'm loving the TR so far!

How cute of your dad to be so excited about the wedding! That's so sweet. and I have to say my favorite part so far is also the very special disbride meeting-that first pickz is beyond awesome-Kristen's expression is priceless. Cant wait to read more, I hope you were able to relax some!

[Chilly]

Keep em coming!

[Lindsay22]

Great update linds! That was so cute how your Dad called to tell you that he was excited about the wedding.

Kristen, Rob and I were stalking you guys in Japan for some time before you guys came out of the restaurant.
That's hysterical! You should have just come on in. We would have loved to have you!

Ok so now that I have Lindsay's permission - I am going to post about ESPNZone as Lindsay wasn't there for the whole thing and I was. Sadly, I am at work and do not have pictures but just use your imaginations - you'll get it!
.
It was really crowded in there... You can edit your post with pics if you want...

Great updates :thumbsup2
:cheer2: Thanks!

Waiting anxiously for Caryn's input popcorn::
I think we all are!

Waiting anxiously for MORE PICTURES!!
I wish that I had Randy pics to add.

Linds, how cute is your dad?! I love that he called you just to tell you how excited he was.

Dinner in Japan looked like fun! Especially the end of the meal where you met up with those super awesome Dis Brides! ;)
Dad was hilarious. I heart mah disbrides

Linds I'm loving the TR so far!

How cute of your dad to be so excited about the wedding! That's so sweet. and I have to say my favorite part so far is also the very special disbride meeting-that first pickz is beyond awesome-Kristen's expression is priceless. Cant wait to read more, I hope you were able to relax some!
We did relax. Kristen, Cat and Rob seemed very excited that we finally walked outside.

Keep em coming!
Wedding morning coming up shortly

[Lindsay22]

Sunday 4/26 Wedding Day!
Morning!

I last left off picking up Chris at ESPNZone. We promptly went to bed in an effort to look well rested for our wedding day. Again, neither of us got the best sleep of our lives, but we slept... at least a little. I was really happy that we didn't spend the night in separate places. I would have been so nervous if he wasn't there and I would have spent all night making sure he was okay and that he would be where he needed to be on time... so it was good that we stayed together.

At about 7am Chris got up to go for a run. I figured that since he was up, I'd get up too and make some coffee and take a shower. He had just walked out the door when I walked into the little bathroom area to make coffee. I happened to glance in the mirror and this is what I saw.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0462.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0463.jpg

Yes, that's right, huge red blotchy splotches on my neck and chest. Yes. I had a strapless dress. My first thought was to run out the door in my nightgown and try to catch Chris would had just left. However, my brain got the better of me and I realized that a.) I probably wouldn't catch him and b.) Not everyone would be appreciative of a bride sprinting around in a nightgown nearly in tears....

Okay. What to do? I pressed on it like you would press on a sunburn and it turned white, just like a sunburn. I was so upset. I had been REALLY careful about sunscreen the whole time I was there and now on the most important day of my life I looked like half of a lobster!!! So I call my mother. I figured that my family would be up because they all had to get to the GF Cafe for their breakfast (at 9) and they needed to drop things off at my room first. Mom picks up the phone and promptly tells me that she is blow drying her hair and can't talk but that she's sure the makeup ladies would be able to cover it. That was not a good enough response for me so then I tried to call Caryn. She didn't answer (I think she was in the shower) So then I called Mary. Mary, Mike (her husband) and Tom and Noelice (our friends) were out fairly late at Downtown Disney the night before and I felt slightly bad for calling her this early in the morning, but then figured it was okay since it was my wedding day at all. (We haven't been friends for more than a decade for nothing).

So a very groggy Mary picks up the phone and I immediately apologize for waking her up and then in a very stressed out bride voice explain incoherently that I have a huge red splotchy sunburn and that I'm going to be a horrible looking bride. Mary calmy tells me to go put some lotion on it, have a cup of coffee and go out on the balcony and read for a little while. She reminds me that the makeup ladies will cover it and if they can't, we will photoshop my pictures. I apologize again to Mary for waking her up and go and start my coffee.

While I was there I did what any good disbride would do: I took the pictures shown above. See, I realized that though "I" was freaking out, everyone else would probably be really amused and this is definetly something that needed to be included in the TR.

I went out on the balcony with my book (Chris had purchased me a book when they went to get their tuxes. Something Borrowed is the title and I had read it before, however I was pretty amused that he chose to get me that book because in the first chapter the MOH in a wedding sleeps with the groom... ) I read a few chapters and had my coffee and basically tried to calm down. I called my parents to see where they were and they were on their way so I waited for them to get to my room before I took a shower. Chris finally came back and I explained the whole thing and he looked at my neck and said "What are you talking about? Your neck looks fine." So I went to check it out and the red splotchiness was gone! :woohoo::yay::banana:

I had no idea what happened, but let me tell you: I have NEVER been happier that I took pictures of my sunburn. This way no one could tell me that I was making it up because I had clear photographic evidence!! (yay me for thinking of this)

Caryn calls around this time to find out what's wrong so I told her the whole story. She was about 10 minutes behind my parents so I told her that we'd wait for her so that she could drop off her stuff in our room.

Chris hopped in the shower and my parents and Megan showed up and dropped off their stuff for wedding day. (I also showed my mother the neck monstrosity; lest she think I was exagerating). They left to go down to breakfast and I got in the shower. Shortly after, Caryn and Mark showed up with their stuff and they dropped everything off and we told them that we'd be down to make an appearance at breakfast in a little bit. We finished showering, got dressed (I wore Caryn's Bride shirt from her wedding day and my ears) and attempted to tidy up the room since we were all going to be getting ready there and didn't think room service would have time to come over. We got Chris's stuff organized and together and then we walked down to breakfast.

We walked down to breakfast. Now, a quick note about breakfast. The whole time my Dad was planning the breakfast I said that we WERE NOT going to be attending this event. We would stop in and say hi to everyone and thank everyone for coming, but we wouldn't stay and eat. I thought (correctly) that it would just be too much for me and that it would be better have breakfast alone than with 40 people. So that's what we did.

We walked into the GF cafe and saw this:
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0464.jpg

Everyone clapped and started taking pictures and boy was that overwhelming. We said Hi to everyone and walked around and took pictures with everyone.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0465.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0467.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0466.jpg

We walked over to my great-aunts and uncles and one of them had brought the Staten Island Advance. So we all took a picture with the paper (apparently if you take your picture with the paper somewhere around the world you get your picture in the paper)
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0468.jpg

After this, we said goodbye to my parents and went to find breakfast for ourselves. We decided that quick food at Gasparilla's was good enough. Chris had some granola and I had bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel. (Not a very bridal meal, but it was good. :bride:) Chris decided that he was going to go back to the room and I decided that I was going to go and check on the breakfast and make sure they didnt' give my Dad a problem when he tried to use my Table in Wonderland card.

They had already left so I called to see where they were and the whole group was walking over to see the WP, so I decided to tag along. While I was walking, Chris said that he was going to drive out to Coronado and get his sister. I thought that was a great idea.

I finally found my family as they were walking into the WP. (If they thought it looked nice that morning, I can just imagine what they thought that night. It looked great during our ceremony!!)

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0469.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0470.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0471.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0473.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0476.jpg

The next day was Aunt Grace and Uncle Lou's anniversay so they walked down the aisle!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0474.jpg

It was getting close to the time when we needed to be back at the room so we all started back to the GF. Dad and his friend (college roomates wife) Mel were going to stop at Publix to get us some lunch and a newspaper (I wanted one from our wedding day) and the girls were all going back to the room.

Coming up: We watch Twilight. What do you mean Chris forgot his tux?

[torsie24]

[B]What do you mean Chris forgot his tux?

:scared1:

Great update, I'm so glad your neck calmed down!!!! Maybe it was pre wedding nerve rash?

I really want to sleep together the night before our wedding as I know it'll make me a lot calmer, but my Jack wont have it at all! :sad2: A night of keeping my Mum and BMs awake then!

[princess_momma]

I am loving your TR so far!! Keep 'em coming!! Your family is so amusing!

[Chilly]

I'm glad the neck rash went away.

Looking forward to the next installment.

[KSchwagg86]

In your pictures, were there tables set up outside the WP? What were they for?

[malibustacey]

More more more!! :)

[disneymeg]

those tables were for some other really big corporate event that was going on that night. There were about 750 people there when we were walking to the wedding pavilion. We were all soooo hungry and man did their food smell good!!!!! They had music playing and we were singing (well I was singing) as we walked by. I think Lindsay really liked that they cheered for her and said congratulations.


I really wanted to post this picture that Lindsay and I took before I left to go down to the breakfast.
http://http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=666023013/PictureID=20304055013/a=116116875_116116875/t_=116116875

You can see Lindsay's pedi!!!!
It was very pink - like my shoes -

[KSchwagg86]

those tables were for some other really big corporate event that was going on that night. There were about 750 people there when we were walking to the wedding pavilion. We were all soooo hungry and man did their food smell good!!!!! They had music playing and we were singing (well I was singing) as we walked by. I think Lindsay really liked that they cheered for her and said congratulations.


I really wanted to post this picture that Lindsay and I took before I left to go down to the breakfast.
http://http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=666023013/PictureID=20304055013/a=116116875_116116875/t_=116116875

You can see Lindsay's pedi!!!!
It was very pink - like my shoes -

Thanks for the info--and I can't see the picture :confused3

[adisneygal]

those tables were for some other really big corporate event that was going on that night. There were about 750 people there when we were walking to the wedding pavilion. We were all soooo hungry and man did their food smell good!!!!! They had music playing and we were singing (well I was singing) as we walked by. I think Lindsay really liked that they cheered for her and said congratulations.


I really wanted to post this picture that Lindsay and I took before I left to go down to the breakfast.
http://http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=666023013/PictureID=20304055013/a=116116875_116116875/t_=116116875

You can see Lindsay's pedi!!!!
It was very pink - like my shoes -

I saw the set up for the big corporate thing on the beach that night too. I was getting my nails redone at the Grand Spa. It did smell sooooo good and I wanted to crash it. I had no clue I could have crashed the wedding as well. :rotfl:

[caryndisneydiva]

Caryn's Notes on Lindsay's TR...because really, some things are just better from the Matron of Honor's perspective...

After a brief altercation at MCO with some jerk that wouldn't let me get to my luggage, we headed down to Miami to see one of my girls from college and to hang out at the Loews....

Mark and I ventured over to WDW from Miami sometime on Friday morning. The whole way on the FL turnpike I was texting certain Disbrides to make sure they picked up some "special" decorations that I had planned for the weekend...

Mark driving...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0075.jpg
a side note...mark wouldn't let me drive that car ONCE on this trip which i thought was really mean and uncalled for.

After making tentative plans to meet up with my parents at CSR, we checked into SSR for our stay. I was underwhelmed with SSR, I love the BW and the Poly, but couldn't get reservations for wedding weekend...I couldn't help but think that SSR (formerly Disney University) was where I did my WDWCP lifeguard training and it was throwing me off the whole weekend. The very cool thing though, was seeing the treetop things that are opening soon. They look amazing and I want to stay there for marathon weekend 2010...but i digress...

We went over to CSR to see the 'rents and then because we were STARVING we went to Olive Garden for some snacks. All I have to say about that dinner was THANK GOD FOR THE IPHONE FAST FOOD APP. I know for a fact that it was responsible for preventing several cases of blocked arteries and unnecessary weight gain during that meal. phew...I myself ate fettucine alfredo with that toscana soup stuff and a boatload of breadsticks (marathon training is GREAT for overindulging...).

Lindsay was jealous of my vaseline so I said, "FINE! I will allow you to be photographed with it."
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0076.jpg

Apparently, the several glasses of wine she had with dinner (ok fine. ONE glass of wine) wasn't enough and she wanted to get lit, so we headed over to the Poly for drinks with Chris and his boys.

mark and I
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0082.jpg

self pics are super fab
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0083.jpg

I stalked Chris to make sure it was really him and NOT some impostor...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0084.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0085.jpg

OK, for real, Chris's friend Ryan's friend was hilarious. His drinking hat for the evening was mickey ears. PRICELESS!

the vaseline-out for a night on the town
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0091.jpg

the boys and their coconuts
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0090.jpg

the tux that chris happened to be carrying around with him in a bar...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0088.jpg

I had the blue drink which was "eh," so I donated it to Chris (along with my commemorative cup, which he stole for me later) and Mark and I left to hit the hot tub and get up for a super smashing day in the morning...

SATURDAY
Rehearsal Day, MGM, EPCOT and the SUPER POPULAR NFL Draft (what IS that thing anyway???)

Seeing as how Lindsay was completely RUDE and didn't include us in her breakfast plans, I went ahead and made my own reservation. I'll show her!

Mark and I decided to delight the young breakfast party with our presence so we calmly strolled into O'Hana and said "Hey" before we headed to Kona Cafe for our OWN meal (which lindsay was NOT invited to. SO THERE!).

The rehearsal was next, so we hopped in the rental and headed over to the WP...these pictures are boring and you've seen them all anyway, so I'll leave mine out. BTW-i do NOT have bridesmaid gift pictures, so anyone who does needs to send them to bridezilla-i mean lindsay...zilla asap.

I really wanted to go to MGM, the last time I was there I was in a pretty severe amount of pain after the 1/2, so we grabbed Megan and Ross and were on our way.

Megan and Ross
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0119.jpg

I was begging Mark to buy me some ice cream, which was really annoying him so he put his hand over my mouth which was REALLY RUDE!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0121.jpg
don't worry...i got my ice cream. a pretzel. cheese sauce. and a frozen lemonade later.

We went on all my faves, TSM, ToT, RRC...then we headed over to EPCOT/Japan for the RD...

the "happy" bride to be
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0132.jpg

the happier couple
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0133.jpg

my husband being serenaded Happy Birthday
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0136.jpg

his cake
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0137.jpg

the japanese rendition of "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" was GREAT!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0138.jpg

The RD was lovely! I think we all ate the same thing though...teriyaki chicken...The conversation was great (the NFL draft of course), but then it was time to go. There were a few other Disbrides in the vicinity and I heard a rumor that they were stalking us so we went outside to take a look

and a self pic
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0140.jpg

and another pic!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0141.jpg

then the husbands got jealous...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0144.jpg
so we took one of them too...

it was late and i was tired and i suspected a bit sunburned as well, so it was time to head in. we drove lindsay from the BW to the front of EPCOT and then headed back to SSR for hot tub time and to make sure I had all of my wedding gear packed for the next day.

a sad note...

when we got back, my mom called to tell us that Bea Arthur died! We are huge Golden Girls fans (there is even a pic of Bea hanging in our restaurant)! so we were sad...This is also weird, because the day before our wedding, Heath Ledger died...

a memorial to Bea.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/250px-Bea_Arthur.jpg

I awoke bright and early the next morning and hit the shower. It was 6:45 and i DID have a sunburn (from my time in Miami though) and it was killing me and I was in a bad mood. It was also my husbands 35th again birthday and I felt bad that I wasn't going to be able to spend it with him, but hey-those are the breaks!

I took a nice, long shower and got out at like 7:30...I looked at my phone to see that Lindsay had called me. Panic instantly arose and I was planning Chris's demise (WHY ELSE would she be calling me so early in the morning on her wedding day if he hadn't gotten cold feet and hopped a plane to cuba?????) but she didn't answer the phone and i was so frazzled that i burned a hole in my favorite dress by hair drying it dry (don't ask...) and i forgot to put on my eye cream so i was puff central in a dress that i had only brought as an emergency when she FINALLY picks up the phone as we're leaving SSR for the Grand. She had a rash. A bad rash. I panicked again, thinking of all the rash removing remedies that the Matron of Honor is supposed to know...but I came up blank and told her to have a drink. Phew. This day is starting off great.

We drive to the GF and i totally forget that you have to park in the middle of BFE if you don't want to valet. WHY do we not want to valet you might ask? BECAUSE MY HUSBAND SAID NO. So i have to lug a bridesmaid dress, 2 tote bags and a train case full of make up into the freaking grand floridian and i'm LATE and my sister and mother are yelling at me. Whatever. We drop the load of stuff off at Lindsay's room and head down to the GF Cafe to play nice with the family...

Now, I'll preface this next part by saying that we own a restaurant. And I completely understand that "things happen" BUT MY FATHER MADE THIS VERY LARGE RESERVATION MONTHS AGO AND THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED. so certain things are unacceptable. Let me take this opportunity to name them...
1. hair in food...
2. not bringing out the matron of honor's OJ...
3. having the same dish look three different ways and including three different side items-totally different from the "menu."
4. including toast on somethings that toast is supposed to come with and not including it in other things that toast is supposed to come with.
6. forgetting to bring out the matron of honor's biscuit.
5. trying to pull a fast one the day before by saying that they "lost" the reservation. please. only disney can get away with such bad service and still be in business.

but i digress...

pics from the "breakfast"

excuse the hair, i couldn't do anything with it in anticipation of beaute speciale making me look fabulous later on that day...(do notice the puffy eyes though, i blame that all on the rash)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0146.jpg

lindsay and chris, looking stunned and not so pleased that they were the center of attention...HA! just wait till later this day...
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0150.jpg

my 1/2 eaten mickey waffle that was RAW in the middle. how do you mess up a waffle?
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0155.jpg

for some reason everyone wanted to see the WP so we took a walk over there after we "ate."

they were setting up for some huge event near the beach, there were chairs and tables everywhere. later on that day i told some nosey woman in the hall that those chairs were for us. she gave me a nasty look. i guess that's because the corporate logo for "ISTOCK" was plainly visible...oops!

the sign at the WP
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0156.jpg


and now i shall leave you...another update coming soon (lindsay get on it...i have more to write!)

[Chilly]

Great update, made me chuckle:goodvibes

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

:rotfl: I wish my sister was 1/2 as fun as Caryn!

[Tiggerific04]

Great update, Caryn! This is fun to read about the wedding weekend from two different perspectives.

Those crazy Disney bride stalkers ;)

[KSchwagg86]

Great update!

[DisneyLaura]

What do you mean Chris forgot his tux?

Ok this scares me but then again Caryn just said that Chris was carrying it around the bar so I'm guessing that's where it will be, I hope.

Oh my that rash - good thing you took pictures for evidence;) Thank goodness it went away.

I just have to say that I love having Caryn's version too, Caryn you are too funny.

[Lindsay22]

:scared1:

Great update, I'm so glad your neck calmed down!!!! Maybe it was pre wedding nerve rash?

I really want to sleep together the night before our wedding as I know it'll make me a lot calmer, but my Jack wont have it at all! :sad2: A night of keeping my Mum and BMs awake then!

I think that you should explain to him that it's important to you that you stay overnight...
I have no idea where that rash came from. No idea. Needless to say I was not amused

I am loving your TR so far!! Keep 'em coming!! Your family is so amusing!
There's never a dull moment with us!

I'm glad the neck rash went away.

Looking forward to the next installment.
Me too! I would have been so stressed out if it didn't go away

In your pictures, were there tables set up outside the WP? What were they for?
There was this really cool corporate event happening at the same time as our ceremony. Diane told me about it at the rehearsal and mentioned that it wouldn't affect my event at all, but that they'd be out there. I didn't care, but I was thinking that some brides must really freak out about stuff like that

More more more!! :)
Coming

I really wanted to post this picture that Lindsay and I took before I left to go down to the breakfast.
http://http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=666023013/PictureID=20304055013/a=116116875_116116875/t_=116116875

You can see Lindsay's pedi!!!!
It was very pink - like my shoes -
Meg, email me that pic and i'llpost it


I saw the set up for the big corporate thing on the beach that night too. I was getting my nails redone at the Grand Spa. It did smell sooooo good and I wanted to crash it. I had no clue I could have crashed the wedding as well. :rotfl:
You totally could have crashed!

Great update, made me chuckle:goodvibes
Isn't caryn hilarious?

:rotfl: I wish my sister was 1/2 as fun as Caryn!
Never a dull moment with her

Great update, Caryn! This is fun to read about the wedding weekend from two different perspectives.

Those crazy Disney bride stalkers ;)
I don't think too many brides have their MOH posting...

Great update!
Thanks!

Ok this scares me but then again Caryn just said that Chris was carrying it around the bar so I'm guessing that's where it will be, I hope.

Oh my that rash - good thing you took pictures for evidence;) Thank goodness it went away.

I just have to say that I love having Caryn's version too, Caryn you are too funny.
The rash was not fun.

[disneymeg]

you know - everytime I re-read Caryn's post - my stomach hurts, more than when I work out with Obi (my personal trainer)- shes hilarious - very odd but hilarious! Her take on things is always just so ... different than everyone else's.

[Lindsay22]

you know - everytime I re-read Caryn's post - my stomach hurts, more than when I work out with Obi (my personal trainer)- shes hilarious - very odd but hilarious! Her take on things is always just so ... different than everyone else's.

I think that's code for: She's a weirdo.

[disneymeg]

I think that's code for: She's a weirdo.

excuse me ma'am .. where is the next installment of your trip report???? What else am I supposed to do while I'm at work?

[Lindsay22]

Wedding Day Continues

We all went over to my room and Chris showed up with Claudia. We straightened up for a little bit and waited for Beaute Speciale to show up. When we first walked into the room we noticed this from Laura Kidd at Disney Floral!!!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0478.jpg

Caryn got started on Megan's makeup and it required some input from me because Caryn has a tendency to go overboard on makeup.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0479.jpg

Mary also got started on her makeup
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0480.jpg

Dad showed up with some food and a newspaper (so that I could save the paper from the day of our wedding) and then he went back to his hotel to relax for a little while.

Beaute Speciale showed up
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0483.jpg

And they quickly did "boy makeup" on Chris. Then he proceeded to gather his things so that he could go. I was trying to get Caryn's iPhone to pull up my hair pictures, since I left them on the kitchen counter so I wasn't there to supervisor Chris leaving the room. I reminded him SEVERAL times to remember to take his tux. So Chris goes to leave and I kiss him goodbye knowing that the next time I see him, it will be at our staged first look.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0489.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0493.jpg

So we get started! Claudia started with her hair and makeup by the girl who didn't introduce herself
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0490.jpg

And Mom got started with Lily. Megan showed Lily Mom's dress so that they could match something...
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0492.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0484.jpg

Mary brought some pink champagne (my pictures of this are at home. I may update later to add them) and we all had some. I really needed some champagne. I was getting a little bit stressed.

Megan got her hair done after Claudia (this is obviously the back of her head)
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0496.jpg

And then Mary went

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0517.jpg

Right around this time I was in the bathroom doing something. (Putting in my contacts? When I hear a lot of laughter. Apparently Chris came back into the room (and tried not to let me know) because HE FORGOT HIS TUX. Not for nothing, but HOW many times did I have to remind him... Apparently he remembered on his way to the car so at least he wasn't that far away.

Shortly after Chris came and left, my Disbrides came in to visit and we chatted and had some champagne. Caryn had put on Grey's Anatomy and when that was over we watched Twilight on her computer.

And then Caryn and I started at the same time with our hair.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0495.jpg

I wish that Lily would have put me in front of a mirror to do my hair. It would have saved a lot of time. (Not like we were even close on time, but still... maybe I should re-phrase that and say it would have saved a lot of stress).

This is what my hair looked like the first time.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0499.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0500.jpg

At this point I went to the mirror and I was just not pleased with it. Don't get me wrong, it was fine.... it just wasn't what I wanted.

So she sat me in front of the mirror (I have pics of this at home too... I'll have to do another update later) and I explained that the tiara needed to be moved closer to the front of my head, and that the poof needed to be higher and the front pieces shouldn't be so flat. So she moves the tiara up, but the poof isn't high enough and the front pieces are still pretty flat. So then she fixes the poof and Caryn and Mary stepped in and helped arrange my hair the way I wanted it. (I was starting to feel bad at this point because I didn't want to be "that" bride who makes everything a problem... but I was just so unhappy with my hair that I couldn't leave it the way it was.) Also during this time Caryn decided to sing to me (to the tune of Copa Cabana) "Her name is Bridey. Bridey Bridezilla." I was less than amused

While all of this was happening: Mary made me a sandwich and proceeded to supervise me eating it. (I didn't want to be a fainting bride) and all of the girls were standing out on the balcony eating. (Side note: I HATE the sound of crunching or chewing. I mean can't stand it. So of course my father bought carrot sticks. Um. No. Me + a high stress day + carrot sticks = disaster. So the eaters were told to go on the balcony.) While everyone was on the balcony, Mary came running in to get her camera. Apparently, some guy was dangling his kid Michael Jackson style over his balcony. They tried to take a picture but he had stopped by the time they got the camera. :confused3

I was finally finished and my hair was finally okay and the girls and Mom started to get dressed.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0501.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0504.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0507.jpg

Something was wrong with Caryn's dress, so Mary helped her fix it.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0510.jpg

We were running about an hour ahead of schedule so I was ready, but I couldn't get dressed or in my veil because Randy hadn't gotten there yet. I was getting nervous so I announced to the room that I was going outside to pace (I pace when I'm nervous). I went outside and took about 8 steps and there was Randy!!!

Coming up next: Flowers arrive and we start pictures.

[irisbud]

DH can't stand the sound of chewing either, and it has rubbed off on me. Carrot sticks would have driven me over the edge as well.

I don't think asking to have your hair redone into a style you like is being a bridezilla. I mean, you will have the pictures forever.

As for the tux: Men.

[Chilly]

sorry you had a stressful morning, looking forward to more photos

[torsie24]

Oh, Lindsay!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one! If there is crunchy food anywhere near me I have to move!!!

My dad went through a phase of eating sticks of celery - WHOLE sticks! Can you imagine?

Sorry your hair wasn't perfect right away, but I'm glad you got it sorted.

Can't wait for more!!

[Lindsay22]

DH can't stand the sound of chewing either, and it has rubbed off on me. Carrot sticks would have driven me over the edge as well.

I don't think asking to have your hair redone into a style you like is being a bridezilla. I mean, you will have the pictures forever.

As for the tux: Men.
I got some great advice when I was going back and forth on having a hair trial or not... they said that if I don't like my hair I should not get out of the chair. But after I was sitting there and I wasn't able to express myself I started to feel bad... I'm glad it turned out okay in the end!

sorry you had a stressful morning, looking forward to more photos
I think all brides feel stress on their wedding morning. Once the flowers came and Randy started snapping away, it got much better. I can't wait for the Randy pictures to come in!

Oh, Lindsay!!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one! If there is crunchy food anywhere near me I have to move!!!

My dad went through a phase of eating sticks of celery - WHOLE sticks! Can you imagine?

Sorry your hair wasn't perfect right away, but I'm glad you got it sorted.

Can't wait for more!!
Dad bought celery too.... :confused: Sometimes I just don't get him... I'm glad that I'm not the only one with a problem with chewing. During lunchtime at work I usually have to wear my headphones to drown out the sound.

[Lindsay22]

More Wedding Day!

So when I went out to pace, I ran into Randy and greeted him happily! It was so nice to have Randy there as part of our day because both Chris and I felt really comfortable with him. He did Caryn's wedding and we did engagement pictures with him, so he felt like an old friend. Randy started snapping away (and I don't have his pictures yet, so I'll be sure to do a "Randy pictures" post as soon as I get them.)

Then, the flowers came!!!!!!! OMG I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT MY FLOWERS! :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2: This surprised me a little, because a.) I'm not really a "flower" person and b.) I had some nightmares that I would hate my bouquet. (I apologize that I don't have pictures of this... Randy has them) The flower man wraps my bouquet first and it was BEAUTIFUL. It was everything I pictured in my head and I LOVED it! (I'm so happy I had Keepsake Floral take it.) We had mailed Laura some lace from Mom's wedding dress and they wrapped the stems with that. It looked so beautiful. In my BEO, Laura noted that once my bouquet got there I would have a few things to attach to the handle. So I handed the man my grandfather's cameo (this is the one that broke at Caryn's wedding and resulted in Caryn's favorite picture of me that I'm sure she'll post) My great grandmother's wedding band (85 years old) My grandmother's blue ring, and of course, a framed picture of my cat Cordelia.

After that he brought in the BM flowers. They were phenomenal. I understand with flower balls, you either love them or you hate them. I love them!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0516.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0195.jpg

I believe that my response to them was "We are SO COOL!!!" I could not have been happier.

So Randy started getting pictures of my dress and then we put the dress on. After we got the dress on Lily put my veil in. I loved my veil. Loved it. Caryn did everything that I asked for with this veil. He took a few more pictures and then told us to hang tight and he'd let us know when we could come out. Claudia and Randy went downstairs to take pictures with Chris's family. In the meantime Mary took some pictures of our family.

Me and My parents
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0201.jpg

My sisters and I
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0204.jpg

The whole family
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0207.jpg

While we were taking pictures Dad started talking about his Dad who passed away a few years ago. It was the only time that day that I started to cry... well this was an issue because Lily didn't spray my face!! I made sure not to blink so that I didn't have a tear issue and Caryn literally pulled down my botton eyelid and stuck a tissue in there to absorb my tears. We (not so nicely) asked my father NOT to do that again. Caryn sprayed my face with Model in a Bottle after this.

Finally, Randy called Mary and told her that we should come down. He said to walk towards the lobby and he'd meet us on our way. Okay, so down we go. This poor man was stuck behind us and we were making quite the racket, so we apologized to him... I put on my sunglasses :3dglasses and we went outside. (I bought special sunglasses just for this. My eyes are pretty sensitive to light and contacts and since we were going outside I thought "bride" sunglasses were key). There were people all over saying congratulations and pointing and showing their kids. We walked over to the pink flowers near the entrance to GF Cafe and I could see Chris with his back towards me. Randy told me where to stand and then said "Chris, there's someone here to see you" and Chris turned around. He looked so nice!

Me walking up to him
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0520.jpg

Not sure we were supposed to kiss BEFORE the wedding
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0521.jpg

Showing him my flowers
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0522.jpg

It was a little windy
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0523.jpg

At this point, Julian walked over to me (he's 4 and he was HILARIOUS the whole day!!) and said "Lindsay you look GOOOOORGEOUS." I said thank you and then he looked at my flowers and I asked if he wanted to smell them. He smelled them and said "These smell just like petunias!" Hysterical!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0531.jpg

Then we started taking pictures.

I was whispering something to Mary here and my Dad got a picture of it. I love this picture and I may frame it
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0225.jpg

The guys
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0227.jpg

The girls
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0217.jpg

The girls trying to wrangle my veil
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0218.jpg

I think the veil might win
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0219.jpg
The bridal party
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0233.jpg

Us
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0238.jpg

Zacky was very excited!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0243.jpg

Around this point we started taking pictures on the beach and then we moved on to the fountain. The parents were dismissed at this point and they walked over to the WP. There was the cutest little girl watching us take pictures. She was jumping up and clapping and seemed just shocked that I waved to her and said hello. She was precious. After that we took a few more pictures with the guys and then they were sent out to the WP as well. Randy had all of us go inside and he took pictures of us thru the window and then he came in took a few pictures of us inside.

It was during this time that Diane realized that some of the flower balls were missing their flowers so she radioed ahead to have a flower person at the WP to fix them. I didn't know this was happening, but it did. I was sitting in the windowsill at this point and really enjoying sitting. My dress was heavy. I'm really happy that I started running before the wedding. It made it so much easier to hold up that dress. Finally it was time for us to walk over to the WP. Randy followed us and took pictures, including some of the monorail driving by. He also took pictures of me by the WP sign, because we were the only people having a wedding that day!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0246.jpg

I'm so happy that we didn't get a limo. It was nice to have a short walk with my girls to the WP and we got neat pictures from it.

Coming up: The Ceremony

[Chilly]

Loving the flower balls! More please!

[figmentfan814]

How frustrating with your hair, but at least you spoke up. I had to have my person redo part of mine too because I wasn't happy the first time around. Love the bead handles for the flower balls, they really are pretty. The pictures are beautiful! I have to ask is that the Swarovski Cinderella choker?

[irisbud]

The flowers are beautiful, and you look gorgeous! Love all of the pictures!

[KSchwagg86]

I normally don't love the flower balls, but yours look great!

[Pirate's Princess]

Those pictures are gorgeous!! I can't wait to read more!

[Lindsay22]

Loving the flower balls! More please!
Thanks!

How frustrating with your hair, but at least you spoke up. I had to have my person redo part of mine too because I wasn't happy the first time around. Love the bead handles for the flower balls, they really are pretty. The pictures are beautiful! I have to ask is that the Swarovski Cinderella choker?

The bead handles were really nice... except for one thing. The beads were held together by small metal hook things (grommets?) Laura originally said that the metal things wouldn't be able to hold the weight of the flower balls (they were HEAVY) so she would have a sheer black ribbon to help. She did have the ribbon, but the metal rings started to come apart and almost everyone got a few scratches. I think that was one of the things that they fixed right before the ceremony. Caryn is using her black handle to make a necklace and bracelet!

The flowers are beautiful, and you look gorgeous! Love all of the pictures!
Thanks! I can't wait for Randy's pictures

I normally don't love the flower balls, but yours look great!
Thanks! I thought they were so different and just really fit in my wedding so well.

Those pictures are gorgeous!! I can't wait to read more!
More coming up!

[pink_tink8i8]

oh I love your flowers too! beautiful!

[FIREFLY01]

hey, I am so glad we were able to catch up with you during your picts at GF, you were stunning, the flowers were awesome! everything looked perfect!! The picts don't do justice for the flower balls and your veil, they were even more beutiful in person, Caryn did a great job on your veil! Congrats again! Glad I was able to pop in for a minute to say hi!!

[caryndisneydiva]

Caryn’s Update…again!!!

When I last left you, we were at the wedding pavilion with the family. This as expected was uneventful and boring. As they left, Mark went back to SSR to go to the gym and take a nap. We had arranged for him to pick up Ross (Megan’s boy) at 4:30 at ASM (pictures were to start at 5 and I needed Ross to be there to take pictures with my camera and basically be my assistant for the rest of the night). It was Mark’s birthday and I felt bad that I wasn’t going to be with him, but figured he’d be fine. He said he was going to do laundry-HA yeah right!!!

Mom, Megan, Lindsay and I headed up to her room for the “getting ready party.” I was prepared. I had a train case full of make up in order to do my own and Megan’s make up and then I had my computer, emergency essentials and my outfit for the day. I’d forgotten food-which was not good. I’d also forgotten alcohol, which was even worse…

The dress bag
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0163.jpg
the monorail going by the room (I thought this was neato!)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0164.jpg

mary and I pre-make up
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0167.jpg



I started on Megan’s make up and finished it rather quickly. Personally, I thought it looked fabulous, but I might be biased…Then I did my own. Lindsay’s already told you most of this story, so I’ll fill in the gaps (don’t you just HATE when people say the same thing, post the same pictures in a TR about the same darned thing? I HATE THAT…).

Megan’s make up
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0174.jpg


Dad and our longtime family friend Mel brought in food. There was a STRICT no crunching rule in effect, so most of the eating took place on the balcony. Someone, Mary I think, had provided us with champagne. Thank god. There are few things in life I can get through without a cocktail and this getting ready party certainly wasn’t one of them…

At one point, Lindsay started to get really freaked out which is totally normal for a bride at this point in her day, the only difference is that Lindsay is high strung to begin with, so this was slightly worse than your normal bridezilla case. All during this time we tried to distract her with certain things, Twilight, our fellow disbride friends, Grey’s Anatomy, bread…The hair was really an issue…poor lily, she did such a good job for my wedding, I loved her, but Lindsay wasn’t so happy with her. On the THIRD time the hair came down, Mary and I stood over bridezilla (in front of the mirror) and helped Lily finish up (to her credit, Lily took it all in stride-I guess there really ARE bigger bridezilla’s than Lindsay…).

Because Lindsay didn’t have a pik of her own to post
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0172.jpg

The evolution of Lindsay’s Bridezilla hair
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0168.jpg
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and it comes down…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0189.jpg
the hair in it’s final stage…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0217.jpg

here she is saying something not very bridal to me…there was a gesture that goes along with her un-bridal language, but I’m pretty sure I’d get points for posting it…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0191.jpg

the brides make up (I think this was in between version 1 and 2 of the hair)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0193.jpg

TWILIGHT! (bad vamps)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0205.jpg

When the flowers arrived we were all in awe, they looked great! I loved our balls! At this point we were all dressed and it was time for Claudia to go take pictures with her brother and their family. Dad came in and Mom and I handed him a bunch of stuff to put in the car and he went to do that. I was pretending walking in my shoes in the hallway and some woman asked me if I was going to a ball. Only in Disney…

Lindsay’s Bouquet
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0208.jpg

The balls…
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When Dad came back, he did indeed say that he had seen something that reminded him of our grandfather and it was SAD. We all got a little teary, which for me was fine because I’d already sprayed myself with model in a bottle, but the others hadn’t…there was a pretty serious tear situation forming in Lindsay’s eye’s so I quickly took action and stuck a tissue in there, the whole time trying to console her while shooting my father nasty looks over her head…There is a time and place for everything and the lack of model in a bottle spray seriously made it NOT the time for sad remembrances.

The teary situation was under control, I sprayed everyone with MIB and we got the call to head on out…

Fierce sisters…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0225.jpg

I felt like the bridal police. Kids were EVERYWHERE and we had to walk by the pool. I must have said, “keep that kid away from her” 700 times…The veil was also very long and it took all three of us to worry about it dragging. I handmade that darned thing, if it ripped, I was going to rip someone a new one…

They did their first look and started posing for pictures when I noticed that Chris didn’t have his flowers…hmmm…so I needed to find Mark to drop our bags off with him, so I went into the GF lobby and found Mark and Ross (who I gave my camera to) and saw that the flowers were there, they just weren’t handed out. I was less than pleased and had some words with the flower man. He yelled at me for taking Chris’s bout and I was like, “uh, they’re in the middle of pictures and the groom doesn’t have his flowers. This is unacceptable.” I was in a mood. I informed Ross to coordinate the rest of the groomsmen’s flowers before I went out to resume picture taking.

Pictures were great, we saw Bobbi and her DH (another disbride!) and I was still stressed about the flower situation and about the fact that Diane was at the WP and there were no DFTW people there (Tanis WAS there, she was just inside dealing with a guest situation). Our balls were kind of falling apart…and they were cutting our hands, so Tanis radioed the mean flower man (who had escaped to the WP at this point) that we would need some repairs. I was set in charge of holding/managing the veil for Lindsay’s pictures. It was so long and it was flying EVERYWHERE. This is how I spent much of those long hours…

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0279.jpg

See me? Right there, the one bending over in order to make sure her sister has perfect wedding shots? The next time she complains about me or calls me weird, someone please reference this…


This hasn’t been posted yet (I hate when people double post pictures in tr’s, have I mentioned that yet?)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0281.jpg
Chris’s shoes were so cool!

We finally got to do some shots inside before heading to the WP…

Lindsay was in a window and the rest of us finally got a chance to sit down…

A singing parade of bridesmaids, taters in the aisle and WILL THE BRIDE BE THERE…coming up next…

[disneediva]

yeah for Caryn's version....

popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::

[LaurenLC]

I just had to post that your flowers were so beautiful and unique... I think you made wonderful choices!

[Lindsay22]

oh I love your flowers too! beautiful!
Thanks! I was super happy with them!

hey, I am so glad we were able to catch up with you during your picts at GF, you were stunning, the flowers were awesome! everything looked perfect!! The picts don't do justice for the flower balls and your veil, they were even more beutiful in person, Caryn did a great job on your veil! Congrats again! Glad I was able to pop in for a minute to say hi!!
Thank you! We were so happy to see you there. Randy was pretty amused that he saw several of his previous brides at the wedding.

Caryn’s Update…again!!!

here she is saying something not very bridal to me…there was a gesture that goes along with her un-bridal language, but I’m pretty sure I’d get points for posting it…
the brides make up (I think this was in between version 1 and 2 of the hair)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0193.jpg
They did their first look and started posing for pictures when I noticed that Chris didn’t have his flowers…hmmm…so I needed to find Mark to drop our bags off with him, so I went into the GF lobby and found Mark and Ross (who I gave my camera to) and saw that the flowers were there, they just weren’t handed out. I was less than pleased and had some words with the flower man. He yelled at me for taking Chris’s bout and I was like, “uh, they’re in the middle of pictures and the groom doesn’t have his flowers. This is unacceptable.” I was in a mood. I informed Ross to coordinate the rest of the groomsmen’s flowers before I went out to resume picture taking.
Chris’s shoes were so cool!

We finally got to do some shots inside before heading to the WP…

Lindsay was in a window and the rest of us finally got a chance to sit down…

A singing parade of bridesmaids, taters in the aisle and WILL THE BRIDE BE THERE…coming up next…
Let's not refer to me as Bridezilla...
You deserved the un bridal language and hand gesture.
That makeup picture was after the final hair.
I was a little annoyed that they didn't have their flowers. Thank you for handling that.

yeah for Caryn's version....

popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::
It's always more amusing when Caryn comes around

I just had to post that your flowers were so beautiful and unique... I think you made wonderful choices!
Thank you! I was super happy about the flowers!

Great update Lindsay!

Caryn, I'm glad you were able to tame bridezilla. And I'm glad you're not posting duplicate pictures. I hate that too!
I'm also not a fan of dupe pictures...

[figmentfan814]

That is really neat how Caryn is using her beads to make jewelry! Its great to hear her perspective on the morning too, I would hate to hear what my bridesmaids had to say about me :upsidedow How cool to have that many DisBrides there! So, I have to ask are those snapdragons in Lindsay's bouquet? Those are my favorite and Disney Floral wouldn't put them in mine :sad1:

[BaBeeCee14]

Great updates Lindsay and Caryn!

Linds - your bouquet and the flower balls were gorgeous! I'm glad you were happy with them.

Can't wait to read more!

[irisbud]

I also don't want to know what my BMs have to say about me...

Your boquet is fabulous! That veil is gorgeous, but I can see where trying to keep it in place and in tact might be a little stressful.

Can't wait to read more

[Lindsay22]

That is really neat how Caryn is using her beads to make jewelry! Its great to hear her perspective on the morning too, I would hate to hear what my bridesmaids had to say about me :upsidedow How cool to have that many DisBrides there! So, I have to ask are those snapdragons in Lindsay's bouquet? Those are my favorite and Disney Floral wouldn't put them in mine :sad1:
Yes, those are snapdragons. I wonder why they could put them in mine, but not yours... I wish that my snapdragons had been more open, but I think they really made a difference. (oh, and yes... that is the Cinderella Necklace)

Great updates Lindsay and Caryn!

Linds - your bouquet and the flower balls were gorgeous! I'm glad you were happy with them.

Can't wait to read more!
Thanks Cat!

I also don't want to know what my BMs have to say about me...

Your boquet is fabulous! That veil is gorgeous, but I can see where trying to keep it in place and in tact might be a little stressful.

Can't wait to read more
With Caryn, you never have to wonder what she thinks. My veil was beautiful and I couldn't have been happier. However, there was one point where a big gust of wind came and knocked my head back, which was less than enjoyable

[Chilly]

Its great getting 2 POV.

[Lindsay22]

B]Wedding Ceremony[/B]

We started our walk to the WP and lots of people (the people at the beach convention) were watching and saying congratulations. Caryn, Mary, Megan and Claudia decided that singing was in order. I gave them all a funny look. Dad met us outside the WP and we all walked into the brides room. Mom, Renee, Julian, Zack and Luke were in one room, so we all sat down in the other. (there are two rooms in the bride vestibule)

Shortly after we got settled, Katie and Luke walked over to say hi.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0534.jpg

Poor Luke was so tired!

Then Julian came in to visit.
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Julian proceeded to tell me that he was trying very hard to be good and I HAD to let him know if he was being bad. :rotfl: I told him that he was being very good but that we shouldn't plan on him being bad.

Around this time, the flower man came and helped fix the bm flowers. Also, Rev Miller walked in to say Hi and ask how I was doing. I think I freaked Rev Miller out when my response was "Rev. Miller. I'm ready to start. Are we ready to go?? Let's go. I'm ready." I'm not big on waiting and just wanted to get going already!!

In the meantime, this is what our guests saw when they were being seated.

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http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0257.jpg

***Now, at some point (and I have no idea when) apparently the aisle runner caught on fire. I have heard three different versions of this tale.

Version 1.) Someone opened the door to the WP and a gust of air blew one of the candle wicks onto the aisle runner and it caught.

Version 2.) Someone opened the door to the WP and a gust of air blew one of the clear candle vases over and the aisle runner caught fire.

Version 3.) Someone opened the door to the WP and a gust of air blew the aisle runner up and it landed in one of the candles and caught fire.

Whatever happened, Chris's father noticed that it was on fire and put the fire out with his hand so as to not make a big production. Mark and his parents saw this and my fathers uncle saw this too. Unfortunately, no one who would have had the foresight to take a picture for the TR saw this so I have no documentable proof of this occurance. Needless to say, it didn't affect my day in the least and I didn't hear about this until after the ceremony.

FINALLY it was time to line up. Thank God. The first group walked out to the Somewhere in Time music. One of my favorite movies.
Chris's Grandparents went first
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0263.jpg

Then Chris's Mom and his brother
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Then Mark and Mom
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0265.jpg

Then it was time for the guys to walk out. I was so happy that the music in the WP was pumped into the brides room, because it was very fun to hear the music that the guys walked out to. Apparently everyone seated in the WP got a big kick out of the fact that the guys walked out to the theme from James Bond... complete with helicopter noises.

First was Rev Miller
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0266.jpg

Then My Groom
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0267.jpg

I don't have pics of all the guys walking down, but you get the idea.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0270.jpg

Then it was time for the girls. They walked down to Canon D.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0272.jpg

I don't have pics of all of them walking down either.

Everyone was lined up
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0275.jpg


Then, Tanis and Diane said that everyone who wasn't the bride needd to go line up and I had to stay in the bride room. I thought that was stupid. AND they tried to tell me that I couldn't peek. Clearly that wasn't going to happen. I figured that out of every single person in that room, I was the one who wanted to see how everything turned out the most. So I peeked! And thank God I did, because the next thing I saw was hysterical. Absolutely hilarious.

They got the kids (and their mothers, in case something went awry) lined up and they waited until the very last minute to give Luke, the flower boy, his mickey ear hat with flower petals.
They open the door and Julian walks down (with his hat) just fine. Zacky starts to walk down and then Luke walks out. He dumps the hat with the flowers and starts to play with them!! Zacky thought that was much more enjoyable than walking with a pillow.... so he turns around to play with the flower petals too. I think they actually started to put the petals back in the hat. Their mothers swoop in and Renee gets Zacky to walk down the aisle (with a big handful of flower petals) to his Grandmother. Luke didn't make it down the aisle. I didn't care though. It was hysterical!! I am so happy we had the kids in the wedding. They really made our day!

This is the only picture I have of the flower fun
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0274.jpg

Finally, I was released from the Bride Room and I could line up with my Dad. Apparently this took a long time. So long in fact, that Chris asked Rev Miller if everything was okay and if I was coming...

The got me all fluffed up and I told Diane that I was nervous. It was the only time all day that I was nervous... I new, that in that room there were 100 people that were going to be looking at me and it freaked me out... Diane laughed, asked if I was ready and when I said... "Yeah. Can we go now?" Diane opened the door and Dad and I walked out to the music from Sleeping Beauty.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0276.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0277.jpg

We were about halfway down the aisle when I looked to my left and saw two of my aunts sitting in the pew and one of them was on her cell phone!!! I found this to be incredibly amusing and (correctly) assumed that she was on the phone with someone I knew. Chris was apparently very concerned that I was going to be upset and was trying to signal my aunt to get off the phone. :rotfl: I wasn't upset in the least.

Since this is getting long I'll stop for now.

Coming up next: How many tries will it take to give me away?

[irisbud]

That story about the kids is funny.

Your veil looks awesome in that last picture!

[figmentfan814]

Hmmm.. interesting about the flowers, Laura said that they didn't hold up well, so I had them in our table arrangements. Maybe she was referring to them not being open, not sure. I was curious about the necklace since I bought the same one (before my dress) and wasn't able to wear it because my neckline didn't end up going with a choker, so now I have it in a box never worn :rotfl:

What a story about the runner catching on fire, even though there aren't any photos, I wonder if there is video evidence :confused: Despite the fire, the runner looked stunning. We don't have individual shots of all our groomsmen either because they all practically ran in behind DH, maybe that's what happened with yours too.

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

I love what you did with the aisle. I might have to borrow that one! :goodvibes

[KSchwagg86]

Your report is making me laugh! And I can't believe about the aisle runner :eek: I'm glad you were such a laid back bride with the ring bearers and your aunt--that's awesome haha

[caryndisneydiva]

first of all. i HAVE to take this opportunity to say

I TOLD YOU SO...

i told you that fire on the floor was a bad idea. i'm just glad that it was the aisle runner and not your veil. oh, and this occurrence took place AFTER the ceremony when the guests were walking out...

I didn't believe it when my MIL and Mark told me at the CH. I thought they were trying to make me mad...then my FIL confirmed it and i almost fell over, but he said, "don't worry caryn, it wasn't on the part you decorated!" he's so cute.

all in all...i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so!

[Tiggerific04]

Love it! I was eager to get the show on the road, too. I hated waiting in that little room.

The kids with the flowers are just too cute. My flower girl also thought it was more fun to dump the petals on the floor and play with them.

I can't wait to hear about the rest and see the extra special guests at your reception! ;)

[Chilly]

You look so happy walking down the aisle.

[Lindsay22]

That story about the kids is funny.

Your veil looks awesome in that last picture!
The kids were hilarious. You can really see how long the veil in these pictures.

Hmmm.. interesting about the flowers, Laura said that they didn't hold up well, so I had them in our table arrangements. Maybe she was referring to them not being open, not sure. I was curious about the necklace since I bought the same one (before my dress) and wasn't able to wear it because my neckline didn't end up going with a choker, so now I have it in a box never worn :rotfl:

What a story about the runner catching on fire, even though there aren't any photos, I wonder if there is video evidence :confused: Despite the fire, the runner looked stunning. We don't have individual shots of all our groomsmen either because they all practically ran in behind DH, maybe that's what happened with yours too.
I went back and forth on the Cindy necklace... In the end, I decided that it just worked... We won't have any video evidence of the fire.... We didn't have a video!

I love what you did with the aisle. I might have to borrow that one! :goodvibes
Borrow away! Caryn made the aisle runner and it was really nice and special

Your report is making me laugh! And I can't believe about the aisle runner :eek: I'm glad you were such a laid back bride with the ring bearers and your aunt--that's awesome haha
When I asked the kids to be in the wedding, I assumed that they wouldn't get down the aisle. They were only there to look cute and that's what they did. I think Katie (Luke's mom) was a little weirded out when I told her that Luke did great!!

first of all. i HAVE to take this opportunity to say

I TOLD YOU SO...

i told you that fire on the floor was a bad idea. i'm just glad that it was the aisle runner and not your veil. oh, and this occurrence took place AFTER the ceremony when the guests were walking out...

I didn't believe it when my MIL and Mark told me at the CH. I thought they were trying to make me mad...then my FIL confirmed it and i almost fell over, but he said, "don't worry caryn, it wasn't on the part you decorated!" he's so cute.

all in all...i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so i told you so!
Yes Caryn. You did. But no one got hurt and the part that you decorated was fine and I didn't see it happen therefore I'm fine with it.

Love it! I was eager to get the show on the road, too. I hated waiting in that little room.

The kids with the flowers are just too cute. My flower girl also thought it was more fun to dump the petals on the floor and play with them.

I can't wait to hear about the rest and see the extra special guests at your reception! ;)
That room was too little for my dress.
If I was a flower kid I would totally dump the petals and play with them.

You look so happy walking down the aisle.
I was. I was mostly relieved and happy that it was FINALLY time. And that part (walking down) was the part I was most nervous about, so I was happy that it was almost done.

[BaBeeCee14]

The WP looked beautiful Lindsay! Caryn did a great job on the aisle runner. I'm sad that we didn't see the aisle runner catch on fire because I'm sure one of the taters ..errr girls would've taken a picture of it.

When I was in the Bride's room, I didn't hear the music that was playing while the BM's were walking in. Maybe it was pumped in and I just didn't notice.

[Lindsay22]

Ceremony Continued

Okay, so we walk down the aisle. And Rev Miller holds up his hand to tell us to stop. (It's a good thing he did that because I wasn't really paying attention and we could have had an incident.)

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0278.jpg

Rev Miller starts the ceremony (I have no idea what he said and I don't have a copy of the ceremony at work so I can't check it now...) He said something. Then it was time to present me to Chris. It went something like this:

Rev Miller: Who presents this woman (insert long space here) to
Dad: Her mother and I do.
Everyone laughs
Rev Miller: Let's try this again
Dad: Okay, you tell me when to talk
Rev Miller: Who presents this woman (insert long space here) to
Dad: Her mother and I do
Everyone laughs
Rev Miller: Okay! One more time! Who presents this woman (insert long space here) to this wonderful man Chris
Dad: Her mother and I do.

This was great and amusing and really started our ceremony off on the right foot. Neither of us wanted our ceremony to be too stuffy or serious. We're funny. We don't know how to behave. This back and forth just worked well.

Then Rev Miller told Dad to take as much time as he needed to present me to Chris. My response to my father was "let's not get too emotional here." Dad laughed, gave me a hug, and handed me to Chris and then Rev Miller told him to go sit down. I turned to him and said "Don't step on my dress." Which was a joke because the whole time Caryn walked down the aisle she was yelling "DAD! You're stepping on my dress!".

So Chris took my hand and we walked up the steps. Rev Miller told us to face each other and told us to hold hands for as long as we wanted.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0282.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0283.jpg

We're up here and we're really trying to behave. However, there was a bug flying all around us. In my ears, on Chris's glasses, everywhere. We were both trying to be incognito and get rid of it... I dont think that worked. Several guests told me how funny they thought it was that I was picking the lint off of Chris's jacket and asked what we were doing with our hands. Yeah. The bug.... That was another thing that was just "whatever, it's a bug".

Rev Miller starts talking again... something about our future happieness when I hear a ruckus behind me. Now, I can't turn around to see what trouble my bridesmaids are getting into, that wouldn't be very bridelike. Between my parents, Chris and Caryn I think I have figured out what went on.

When Rev Miller said something about our future happiness apparently all of the bridesmaids started to cry.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0284.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0285.jpg

I guess Caryn wasn't too pleased about the crying thing because she then asked Megan and Mary to blow in her eyes. (Weirdo)
They laughed at her.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0291.jpg

Then it was time for us to say our vows. (When Rev Miller sent us our ceremony a few days before the wedding the vows weren't your standard vows, so I asked him to change them) We both said our vows loud and clear

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0296.jpg

Then it was time for the rings. Dave gives Rev Miller the rings and he remarked at how cool they were (they are pretty cool) and then asked who picked them out. To which Chris replied "I did." Everyone got a big kick out of that too.

This is Chris taking my ring
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0294.jpg

Now it was time to give each other our rings. During my ring vows (I give you this ring, blah blah blah) I started to think about what my Dad said about my grandfather and got a little choked up. I decided mid way thru those vows that I was not going to cry and needed to think about something else.

After we were done with our rings Rev Miller said some other stuff and then told us to kiss, which we did, but I don't have a picture of it yet. (Can't wait for Randy pics) Then Rev Miller said "I know pronounce you Chris and Lindsay, husband and wife as of" and he looked at Dave who looked at his watch and said "7:59 PM!!" The Ever Ever After song from Enchanted started to play and we were done!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0300.jpg

As we were walking down the aisle I asked my aunt who was on the phone who she was on the phone with. She told me she was on the phone with my other aunt, so I said (loud enough for her to hear me) "HI AUNT JEANNE!" (Aunt Jeanne couldn't attend the wedding so I thought it was REALLY cool that she got to hear the ceremony... the picture above is right after I said hi)

We walked out and were quickly whisked away to picture point where took a few quick pictures. We took some pictures at picture point and then some pictures in the WP. I was really happy that we did all of our bridal party pictures beforehand. In the meantime, everyone else was lining up for our staged exit.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0303.jpg

Again, no Randy pics lead to no real pictures of our staged exit but we had pink rose petals and it was lots of fun
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0304.jpg

Everyone got on the busses to go to cocktail hour and Diane bustled my dress. Caryn saved us the two front seats on the bus and we got on. I switched from my pretty shoes to my ballet flats and Caryn took my veil out. Caryn had made a DVD of pictures to play on the bus. Unfortunately, it wouldn't play. It plays in every DVD player we've tried EXCEPT for the one on the bus. That was kind of annoying, but not a big deal. We were supposed to give the DVD to Diane a month in advance and Caryn gave it to her at the rehearsal so there wasn't time to test it on a bus... The bus ride was fun and I think everyone got a kick out of being backstage at Epcot. The security lady who checked our bus was a little bit rude and said something to one of our guests about bringing in a wrapped gift. But that was it... (you'd think that it was the first time someone tried to bring a wrapped gift to a wedding)

The bus
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0305.jpg

Anyway, we parked right behind AAR and we were escorted into Epcot by our very own light saber ladies. HOW COOL!! Randy was there to take pictures of us walking in all of the guests in the park shouted congratulations. It was very cool. We were the first ones in (I think) and we had just enough time to say hello to a few people and have two quick bites of Mickey Roni and Cheese (which was phenomenal! and apparently everyone had some) before Randy brought us onto the bridge for pictures.

Everyone walking in to cocktail hour
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0308.jpg

We stood on the bridge for Illuminations and followed the tried and true method of: look at each other, look at the fireworks, kiss, look at the camera, repeat.

As soon as fireworks were over we rushed to get one of our special guests and quickly disapeared into AAR.

Coming up next: We rock the reception

[Chilly]

Have you got a photo of your wedding rings?

Did you veil come out ok or did it mess your hair up?

[Lindsay22]

The WP looked beautiful Lindsay! Caryn did a great job on the aisle runner. I'm sad that we didn't see the aisle runner catch on fire because I'm sure one of the taters ..errr girls would've taken a picture of it.

When I was in the Bride's room, I didn't hear the music that was playing while the BM's were walking in. Maybe it was pumped in and I just didn't notice.
I only really remember hearing the groom's music, but that might be because I was listening for it....
I wish that someone would have taken a picture of the fire... It's pretty amsuing.

Have you got a photo of your wedding rings?

Did you veil come out ok or did it mess your hair up?
Randy should have a picture of the rings. We took some while we were at picture point.
I don't think that the veil removal messed up my hair. I think Caryn just smoothed it out and everything was fine.

[figmentfan814]

That's so nice that your aunt was able to hear the ceremony, you look so happy in the shot where you said hello :) That sucks about the DVD, but that is a great idea. Did your guests get to see it some other time? I can't wait to see the shots from the AAR!

[Lindsay22]

That sucks about the DVD, but that is a great idea. Did your guests get to see it some other time? I can't wait to see the shots from the AAR!

I know that my parents watched it the next day and we watched it a few days later with Caryn and Mark. We're going to have both families get together and watch it the next time we're home... It stunk that it didn't work, so advice to future brides... GET THE VIDEO THERE EARLY SO THAT THEY CAN TEST IT.


*********Now, this is the part where I get to our big guest surprise. I'm going to write up until the part where we have the surprise and then I'm going to do some background information***************

We quickly grabbed Leonard, his guest and Randy and made our way over to AAR. The room was sooo beautiful. Just lovely. The chair covers really made a difference in the room. It brought everything together.

The cake was setup on a little table and I noticed that they didn't put the pink ribbon behind the crystals, like the cake I saw in Franck's at the PS. The cake was beautiful without the ribbon and I loved it :love: so I didn't even bother to mention that to Diane. (I think Caryn did...)

We moved a chair onto the dance floor and Leonard helped us run through our choreographed first dance. We ran through it twice and then told Diane that we were ready for our guests to come in. We stood in the little lobby area of AAR so that we could greet everyone who was coming in. Everyone walked in and started to find their seats. We were walking around and greeting everyone when my Aunt Judi asked where the bathroom was. Now, none of our guests knew about our dance. So I calmy, but firmly, told her that we were about to do our first dance and she couldn't miss it. I must have seemed very strange to her telling her that she couldn't go to the bathroom!! But she sat down and it was time to start.

Leonard had the microphone and welcomed everyone and said that he was pleased to announce our first dance. :woohoo:

*****And now, for some background information.
When we first got engaged Chris said that if we were going to do a first dance, we were going to do it right. And to him, that meant a choreographed routine just like Dancing with the stars. So, his first official wedding job was to find us a dance instructor.

I didn't want to post about our dance on the DisBoards because a lot of our guests read the PJs and TRs and I wanted it to be a surprise. The only people who knew were: Leonard (our dance instructor), my parents and select DisBrides (Caryn included). Here are some posts I wrote out and saved from our dance lessons:

July 28, 2008 Okay... so Saturday we had our first ballroom dancing class. The school is thinking about doing a ballroom class, so they had a free one to see how much interest. We started off with the fox trot. Chris and I did okay. Certainly not great, but okay. (It probably didn't help that he started speaking with a latin accent and twirling me around ) Anyway. We did fox trot for about 45 mins. Then the lady tried to make us swing dance. That did not go over well at all. It was horrible. We literally tripped over each other.
So the guy (Leonard) asked what we liked more for our dance. We both told him that the fox trot would be great, and it will be. So now we have 1 hour lessons twice a week. He said that we are starting with ballet so that we stand correctly and then we'll go to our actual dance.

PS we aren't telling anyone about our dance. We want it to be a surprise.
Our song is "I've got the world on a string" by Frank Sinatra
_________________


July 30, 2008
So Chris and I had our first dance lesson yesterday. Leonard said that for the first two months we are gonig to do mostly ballet so that our bodies learn how to stand correctly... so that's what we did.
We started out on the bar and did the 5 feet positions. Then we did plies and grand plies. I thought they were boring. Then he had us put our feet up on the bar and lean over our leg. Not okay. Really. Then we had to swing our legs out and hold onto the bar, stand on one leg (the other leg was sticking straight out to our sides) and we had to bend at the knee. That HURT! Even Chris was whining that this was harder than he thought!
After that torture, he told us that we needed to walk across the room together. (Keep in mind that I am 5 inches taller than chris and my legs are a lot longer...) SO that wasn't too pleasant either. Then we had to walk 4 steps, turn around, walk 4 and turn around again. It took about 20 minutes to get this right. Then, he had us "glide" across the floor instead of turn. That took another 20 minutes. Then he had us spin (he called them Sashays or Shanaes or Cheyennes... something like that) yeah. Chris almost fell flat on his face. (This is also when I kicked myself for not bringing the camera) He also made us spin our heads around and look at a blue mat.

Overall I think itw as fine. I hurt all over, so I guess that means its working. Our first dance should be really nice though.... we have a lot of time to practice.

August 13, 2008
Some pictures from dance class

Chris and Leonard.... stretching, it hurt

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Engagementpictures442.jpg

Me chatting with Leonard

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Engagementpictures443.jpg

Modeling with the crinnie (I am wearing the hoop skirt under the crinnie)

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Engagementpictures444.jpg

You can see the pink from the crinnie here

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Engagementpictures445.jpg

You get the idea.... I'm VERY happy that we did lessons so far in advance. It was a great thing for us to do together. It was hard. And there were days that we both wanted to quit and there was even a time when Leonard had us take lessons separately because we just couldn't dance together. I'm also very happy that we kept it a secret from (most) of our guests. I call my parents every night and it's hard to keep a secret like that so we told them, which turned out to be a great thing because we had Dad take the video that you will see shortly. The reaction from our guests was worth all of the time and work we put into this.
ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES: If you are going to do a dance like this, GO EARLY. We had 8 months of dance lessons and you can tell. Instead of being like the people on Dancing with the Stars the first week, we were more like week 6. The extra time and lessons are worth it. Leonard has had two other couples sign up for dance lessons in the time that we were working with him. One couple signed up in August and their wedding was 4 weeks away. The other couple signed up in Dec and their wedding was Valentine's Day. He said that there was a noticeable difference between our dance and their dances because we had the extra time to learn the technique.

Coming up: The video of our first dance!!

[beatlesblonde]

Great update Lindsay! I can't wait to see the video!!!

[disneymeg]

I know that my parents watched it the next day and we watched it a few days later with Caryn and Mark. We're going to have both families get together and watch it the next time we're home... It stunk that it didn't work, so advice to future brides... GET THE VIDEO THERE EARLY SO THAT THEY CAN TEST IT.


*********Now, this is the part where I get to our big guest surprise. I'm going to write up until the part where we have the surprise and then I'm going to do some background information***************

We quickly grabbed Leonard, his guest and Randy and made our way over to AAR. The room was sooo beautiful. Just lovely. The chair covers really made a difference in the room. It brought everything together.

The cake was setup on a little table and I noticed that they didn't put the pink ribbon behind the crystals, like the cake I saw in Franck's at the PS. The cake was beautiful without the ribbon and I loved it :love: so I didn't even bother to mention that to Diane. (I think Caryn did...)

We moved a chair onto the dance floor and Leonard helped us run through our choreographed first dance. We ran through it twice and then told Diane that we were ready for our guests to come in. We stood in the little lobby area of AAR so that we could greet everyone who was coming in. Everyone walked in and started to find their seats. We were walking around and greeting everyone when my Aunt Judi asked where the bathroom was. Now, none of our guests knew about our dance. So I calmy, but firmly, told her that we were about to do our first dance and she couldn't miss it. I must have seemed very strange to her telling her that she couldn't go to the bathroom!! But she sat down and it was time to start.

Leonard had the microphone and welcomed everyone and said that he was pleased to announce our first dance. :woohoo:

*****And now, for some background information.
When we first got engaged Chris said that if we were going to do a first dance, we were going to do it right. And to him, that meant a choreographed routine just like Dancing with the stars. So, his first official wedding job was to find us a dance instructor.

I didn't want to post about our dance on the DisBoards because a lot of our guests read the PJs and TRs and I wanted it to be a surprise. The only people who knew were: Leonard (our dance instructor), my parents and select DisBrides (Caryn included). Here are some posts I wrote out and saved from our dance lessons:








You get the idea.... I'm VERY happy that we did lessons so far in advance. It was a great thing for us to do together. It was hard. And there were days that we both wanted to quit and there was even a time when Leonard had us take lessons separately because we just couldn't dance together. I'm also very happy that we kept it a secret from (most) of our guests. I call my parents every night and it's hard to keep a secret like that so we told them, which turned out to be a great thing because we had Dad take the video that you will see shortly. The reaction from our guests was worth all of the time and work we put into this.
ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES: If you are going to do a dance like this, GO EARLY. We had 8 months of dance lessons and you can tell. Instead of being like the people on Dancing with the Stars the first week, we were more like week 6. The extra time and lessons are worth it. Leonard has had two other couples sign up for dance lessons in the time that we were working with him. One couple signed up in August and their wedding was 4 weeks away. The other couple signed up in Dec and their wedding was Valentine's Day. He said that there was a noticeable difference between our dance and their dances because we had the extra time to learn the technique.

Coming up: The video of our first dance!!

I LOVE the pic of chris with his leg up in the air.

NOw for those of you who don't know - my sister Caryn and I have been dancers our whole lives and then we were both cheerleaders. We understand just how hard Lin and Chris worked and man did it pay off. Their dance was AWESOME!!!!!

[DisneyLaura]

Oh I can't wait to see all the pictures from Randi and of course the dance.

[figmentfan814]

How exciting about the first dance. Kris and I took dance lessons too, but definitely not as intense as yours so far in advance. We started about 4 months early, but it was hard because we could only do lessons when DH was up from Ohio for the weekend (he was working down there and I was still in Michigan at the time). Anyway, I'm so exciting to see the video, in ours you can see how hard DH was concentrating remembering the counts and all the steps in it. How nice that your instructor was able to be there to run through it with you one last time. I'm so excited to see how the AAR looked for your reception; it is definitely my favorite location ;)

[KSchwagg86]

All I want for my birthday is a trip report update! Haha--my birthday is over in 20 minutes though...but I'm bored and I LOVE this trip report--I'm especially excited about AAR pictures! :lovestruc

[Chilly]

I don't think that the veil removal messed up my hair. I think Caryn just smoothed it out and everything was fine.

That's good to know as I want to remove my veil.

Can't wait to see the dance.

[Lindsay22]

Great update Lindsay! I can't wait to see the video!!!
Coming up!

I LOVE the pic of chris with his leg up in the air.


I like that picture too. Leonard did that a lot to the both of us

Oh I can't wait to see all the pictures from Randi and of course the dance.
I wish Randy would hurry up and post them!

How exciting about the first dance. Kris and I took dance lessons too, but definitely not as intense as yours so far in advance. We started about 4 months early, but it was hard because we could only do lessons when DH was up from Ohio for the weekend (he was working down there and I was still in Michigan at the time). Anyway, I'm so exciting to see the video, in ours you can see how hard DH was concentrating remembering the counts and all the steps in it. How nice that your instructor was able to be there to run through it with you one last time. I'm so excited to see how the AAR looked for your reception; it is definitely my favorite location ;)
We were so excited that Leonard could be there!

All I want for my birthday is a trip report update! Haha--my birthday is over in 20 minutes though...but I'm bored and I LOVE this trip report--I'm especially excited about AAR pictures! :lovestruc
Sorry I'm a little late! Happy Birthday
That's good to know as I want to remove my veil.

Can't wait to see the dance.
I really don't remember any sort of problem with my hair after the veil removal. It was so long that there was no way I could wear it all night

[Lindsay22]

And now that I've kept you all waiting.

Here is a link to the video of our dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGJu9D9HuXE

(hopefully this works)

[Chilly]

And now that I've kept you all waiting.

Here is a link to the video of our dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGJu9D9HuXE

(hopefully this works)

That is so wonderful!!!

[irisbud]

Very cool! You guys did a great job!

[BaBeeCee14]

Linds - your first dance was awesome! You and Chris did a great job and it shows that you guys worked really hard. Leonard and his date were really nice, we had a great time chatting with them!

[mla1977]

It looks great. I had to watch it on my phone, but I'll check it out again when I get home.

[Nicsnick]

You can really tell all the hard work that went into the dance!! I loved it!

[Starr W.]

Great job Lindsay and Chris!

Loved your bustle, you couldn't even tell the dress was up in back. You must have had a great seamstress!

[Lindsay22]

That is so wonderful!!!

Very cool! You guys did a great job!

Linds - your first dance was awesome! You and Chris did a great job and it shows that you guys worked really hard. Leonard and his date were really nice, we had a great time chatting with them!

It looks great. I had to watch it on my phone, but I'll check it out again when I get home.

You can really tell all the hard work that went into the dance!! I loved it!

Great job Lindsay and Chris!

Loved your bustle, you couldn't even tell the dress was up in back. You must have had a great seamstress!

Thanks girls! We worked so hard on the dance and it was great to hear our crowd's reaction. They all seemed genuinely shocked. My dress alterations were done by David's bridal. I told the lady that I didn't want my bustle to look like a bustle... so she continued the pickups. It was a 9 point under bustle. They were supposed to do ties, but instead they used buttons.

There are a few things I wish I would have done with the dance lessons: I wish I would have practiced a few times weights on. See, at dance class I wore workout clothes and the hoop/crinnie. I never once practiced that dance with the weight of dress. I could really tell the difference with the added weight. After the first run thru I was winded! Chris also said that he noticed the weight of the dress when he had to pick me up. It was hard!!

Also, I wish that we had been able to practice more in the dress. The dress was longer than I realized and we both stepped on it several times. I realize that unless Chris saw me in my dress days before the wedding, there was no way for this to happen... but it would have been nice to have a true dress rehearsal

[Tiggerific04]

Linds, your dance was great! I love the little kick-jump Chris did in the beginning.

[beatlesblonde]

Great job Lindsay!

[Flurbee]

Lindsay,

Just finally got caught up again on your PJ. I love everything about your wedding!! I love the flower balls, your bouquet was gorgeous!! Your first dance was awesome!!! Your hard work really paid off!!

[Lindsay22]

Linds, your dance was great! I love the little kick-jump Chris did in the beginning.
That was his favorite part too!

Great job Lindsay!
Thanks!

Lindsay,

Just finally got caught up again on your PJ. I love everything about your wedding!! I love the flower balls, your bouquet was gorgeous!! Your first dance was awesome!!! Your hard work really paid off!!

Thanks! I was so super impressed with the flower balls.

Reception will be continuing soon.

[Lindsay22]

More Reception
After we finished ou dance it was time for the best man toast. Dave gave a great toast! We have it on video, but I don't have that uploaded... but he talked about Rutgers (almost all of us went to Rutgers) the Yankees (we're big fans) and the fact that Dave and I were both history majors. Then he mentioned that Chris told him that I wouldn't go out with him because he didn't have a job (he didn't) and that Dave thought it was great that I helped him find a career. A very good Best Man toast, I though.

Then, Dad said a few things and said that we have a strong family with strong women and that it was a good thing that Chris had a lot of patience because I'm "a little high strung". Thanks Dad.

Finally, it was time to eat!!! Our waiter, Craig took us through the buffet line. (PS, I love people named Craig because that's my last name) and we got our food and he refilled our glasses with champagne! (Again, I don't have our Randy pictures back yet so I don't have any pictures of this...) Randy said that he was going to eat and then he'd get us so that we could sneak out and take pictures in France.

We finished eating and we were able to stop by several tables and say hi to everyone. We got a lot of compliments on our dance, which was very cool because we honestly didn't think that people would be that excited about it.

Randy came to get us and we walked over to France. I really can't wait to see these pictures!! We took pics by the resturant, by the lamp posts and by the fountain. Then he asked where our actual engagement spot was and he took pictures there. Chris got down on one knee for one of the pictures in our actual engagement spot. :love: Randy said that it was the first time that he's taken a picture of a bride and groom on their wedding day in the actual spot that they got engaged. I thought that was cool. We started heading back and saw a bunch of our guests milling outside so we stopped to talk to them. Caryn saw a mark on my dress and fluffed my dress and a HUGE bug crawled off of it. It was gross! :eek:

We went back inside and it was time for our dance with our parents. We decided to do them at the same time. I'd dance with my Dad while Chris danced with his Mom and then I'd dance with my Grandfather while Chris danced with his grandmother.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0318.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0319.jpg

(I guess I don't have any pictures yet of me and my dad.... )

We were able to walk around for a little while and say hi to the rest of our guests and then they served dessert!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0316.jpg

Chocolate cannolis were included in our menu, so I had them remove that teardrop chocolate mousse thing and put the cannoli on the plates. I think it worked out better that way.

Then, it was time for cake
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0309.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0310.jpg

(I didn't realize when Caryn and I picked out the cake toppers that both Aurora and Phillip wouldn't fit on top! I told Diane to just make it work, so she put the Aurora on top of the cake and Phillip on the table)

They walked us through the instructions on how to cut the cake.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0321.jpg

And then we asked for forks so that we could feed each other.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0323.jpg

And then our guests asked us to do it again so that they could have a picture too!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0325.jpg

Around this time, Diane came and asked me if the lace from my mother's bouquet was going to go to Keepsake Floral with the bouquet. I said yes and I hope that they saved it because I'd like to include that with my keepsake. I said goodbye to my bouquet and she packaged it up.

We took a few more pictures and then it was time to go. :sad1: I wish now that I had thought to check the tables for leftover favors. I have 3, but if there were extra I guess they'd be nice to have... We said goodbye and thank you to Diane and Randy and then got loaded onto the bus. We all chatted about the wedding on the way home and then we were unloaded at the valet stop.

A nice valet man helped us unload all of our boxes (cake, gifts, etc). Chris was waiting for something... I don't remember what it was, so I hopped on the golf cart and went back to the room with all of our stuff. (I really had to pee and I wanted to get out of my dress). A few minutes later Chris showed up. We looked through our stuff. Realized that Mary had my camera and I sent her a text so that I could arrange to get it before she left the next day. I thought about getting everything organized because we would be switching to our free room for our last night but the decided (at 2am) that it was time for bed.

The end of our wedding.

Coming up: "Honeymoon" day 1

[Chilly]

Love your cake, i think having the prince on the table worked really well.

[irisbud]

I think the cake looked beautiful! Love the slipper with the cannolis: it was a nice presentation.

[PixyDusted]

I think the cake topper looks awesome like that! Very unique! Looks better than if they were side-to-side, imo. Definitely more uncommon, in a good way!

[DisneyLaura]

And now that I've kept you all waiting.

Here is a link to the video of our dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGJu9D9HuXE

(hopefully this works)

Lindsay that dance was awesome. I wish I would have thought to take dance classes with my DH. Maybe for our 25th vow renewal at WDW in 13 years. :lmao: I have been reading so many weddings on the DIS I have a lot of ideas in my head. Now I have another, take dance classes.

I think the cake with Prince Philip on the bottom was cool. The cake looked great. The chocolate Cinderella shoe is awesome as well.

[Luvmyfam3]

Lindsay,

I'm a late-comer to your PJ and WR, but I just wanted to let you know that everything looks just amazing. Great job on the dance! My DF and I started dance classes...we didn't make it past 4. So, we're just doing the slow-dance shuffle. Not near as cool as yours! :thumbsup2

Kim

[pink_tink8i8]

you looked so beautiful!

[PrincessShea]

Everything looked so great Lindsay. I loved the dance :cool1: Can't wait to see Randy's pics.

[29apr00]

the dance was awesome! You did a great job!

[caryndisneydiva]

It was kind of fun walking to the WP with the parade of bridesmaids…I think Tanis was with us, maybe not though…we sang, “Goin To the Chapel” and REALLY annoyed Lindsay. When we passed by the big corporate event, we smelled the food and asked if we could have some but they said no…we thought the big white dress might give us a free pass to cut in front of the line but they were super mean and obviously wanted us to go hungry…

Dad met us halfway and we made our way to the bridge. This is the best part…Diane was on the bridge ahead of us, talking into her walkie-talkie saying, “the bride is here…WHY ARE THOSE DOORS OPEN????” Military precision. I LOVE IT!

In the brides vestibule, we handed our balls over to the mean flower man and sat in the rooms with Julian, Zack and Luke. Julian was VERY concerned that he was going to be bad, so he told us several times that if he was bad we HAD to let him know. I high 5’d him and said he was doing great…

It seemed to take forever to get everything going. Finally, the boys lined up and I popped my head out of the BV to remind them to smile. There is NOTHING worse than having your bridal party look bored during your wedding ceremony…trust me. I KNOW…

The boys were off and then we had to line up. I happily reminded Lindsay that if this wasn’t the decision for her, then she needed to take this opportunity to let us know…I think I told her we’d steal a boat from the GF marina and be on our merry way, but I’m not sure if that’s what I said. I do however remember that my father said the same thing to her, to which I reminded him of his response to me during MY last moments as a free girl, (I told him that was the moment where he was supposed to tell me that if this wasn’t the decision for me that we could just take the Rolls to Miami and everyone else could just get over it, to which he said, “No. I’m not saying that to you.”) Thanks Dad. Lindsay said she was good, so I took a last look at single Lindsay and went to line up, happily saying, “UPLIFTED EXPRESSIONS” to the bridal party as I went along. When we were lined up, Julian was again expressing his need to act correctly, all the while slamming his ring bearer pillow into the wall.

Off we went…being MOH, I was last…on the way down the aisle (expression UPlifted) I gave a big shout out to mah taters and almost tripped on the aisle runner as I ascended the stairs. I had provided really thick double-sided tape in order to prevent this…but the DFTW staff thought they knew more than me and decided to use stick pins. Let me just say, that had my original instructions been followed, the darned thing probably would NOT have ended up in flames at the end of the night…

Standing on the altar, I noticed my aunt on the phone, I figured she was talking to our Aunt who was unable to make it and I thought it was so cool!!! Gotta love modern technology…All the while I was thinking…this is taking forever, WHERE IS SHE???? In the interest of distracting Chris, I asked him to fix the aisle runner. I mean, I slaved over that stupid thing and I did NOT want it looking messed up in pictures. So he fixed it. She STILL wasn’t there. So there I am thinking that I’m going to have to pull a Meredith Grey at Christina and Burke’s wedding when she appears. Phew. Crisis averted.

The whole way down the aisle, Lindsay carried her bouquet at her side…NOT at her belly button. I’d forgotten to instruct her…I’m a bad MOH…

Blah Blah Blah ceremony. At one point I got slightly teary and asked Megan to blow on my eyes and then I was making funny faces so that I didn’t tear all over my make up and my mother was yelling at me silently from her seat in the front row. Oops…

We lined up for the staged flower toss on the bridge and I helped Randy by telling people to get out of the way…I mean, seriously, HE was the professional photographer. Everyone else was just amateurs…so annoying.

When that was all said and done we made our way to the buses. I was going to bus 1 to save front seats for Lindsay and Chris when the bus driver came to me panicky that the DVD’s wouldn’t play. I WAS MAD. It literally took Mark and I 10 hours to do those and they were FUNNY. Since I’d been bumped from making a speech at the reception (THANKS DAD) I really wanted the DVD to be part of the night. DRAT! Oh well. It couldn’t be helped. I still had to play linebacker and kick people out of seats on the bus. Now, normally, this would not be an issue…nor did I think it WOULD be one. I get on the bus and notice that there were no seats in the front (I don’t even remember who was sitting in the first ones) so I informed them that they needed to move. Someone questioned me on that and I was like, “UH, YOU THINK LINDSAY CAN GET THROUGH THAT AISLE IN THAT BIG DRESS?????? NO. MOVE.” Lindsay doesn’t know this. I was already mad about the DVD, so I got off the bus, giving a meaningful glance to Mary (fellow BM, who I KNEW would fix this problem in my absence) and ran to find the bride to tell her about the movie…Diane was bustling her and when she was done she asked me to get her veil out. I told her that I had saved her seats in the front on the bus and that we would take it out once we sat down. I did take the veil out and we were on our way…

Backstage in EPCOT we were stopped by security and the mean lady yelled at my grandmother for having a wrapped gift…DUH! The mean security lady said that we WERE informed, to which I said, “uh, NO, we were NOT.” (Seriously, this is our 2nd DFTW event in less than 2 years and I have NOT heard this. Mean security lady can stuff it.). They finally let us through with the contraband gift and we followed the light saber lady to the Isola. I changed my shoes because I thought I was going to die and then as soon as I got to the Isola I took my contacts out and immediately ate two whole martini glasses full of Mickey Roni n Cheese. It was around this time that the BM Dave and I signed the Marriage license (Randy got pics of this which is so cool) and then I found out about the aisle runner. Bless my FIL, he said, “oh don’t worry, it wasn’t on the part that you decorated.” So cute. I almost hyperventilated.

I was very concerned that Lindsay and Chris hadn’t eaten, so I went to find them on the bridge with Randy. That man was just snap snap snappin away. He knows that fireworks show better than it’s creator, I swear. I asked them if they needed anything and they said no, but THEN the dance instructor appeared and they whisked off to go practice.

There they are, sneaking away!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0298.jpg

The room/tables were beautiful
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0306.jpg

Lindsay covered most of the reception, except she FORGOT to include 3 key guests…Drag Queen Ken was THRILLED to be included in this day…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0307.jpg

as were 2 dressed up taters…here’s Lindsay’s reaction upon seeing all of them…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0309.jpg


Taters kept appearing EVERYWHERE. SOMEONE must have been putting them all over the room…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0310.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0312.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0327.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0337.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0338.jpg

Ken felt upset that no one was dancing with him…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0336.jpg

Rob was SO hungry at the reception…
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0342.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/caryncraig/IMG_0325.jpg

when the night ended, we were all exhausted...

[Tiggerific04]

Caryn. Didn't you know that it is "weird and creepy" to dress up potatoes? Come on now.

I absolutely love that DQK made an appearance and even dressed appropriately for the occasion. Where was his boyfriend? Rico, is it?

[caryndisneydiva]

Rico couldn't make it, unfortunately...DQK dressed to impress and even tried to match the wedding colors!!!

Regarding the taters, personally, I think that stalking someone's Bridal Shower PJ and talking about it to others is even more "creepy and weird." ESPECIALLY when that person hasn't done one darned thing to you or anyone and she is simply guilty by association. THAT'S "creepy and weird." I could be wrong though...:charac2:

[caryndisneydiva]

I really wanted to make a speech at the reception. I'd been planning it for almost a year...well, during Thanksgiving, I was informed by my father that I was bumped. So mean. I made the keynote speech at my college graduation...I think I can handle an MOH speech...

It was a really good speech and I even had a joke planned...

Here's how it was supposed to go (minus joke. i am NOT wasting a perfectly good joke on a message board. i'm saving it for megan's wedding.)...

Last year, Lindsay called me and said she wanted to run a 1/2 Marathon. I was totally down and so we first called Megan, who said we were crazy and then we called our Dad who said, "YEAH RIGHT!" He totally doubted that we could do it. Personally, I thought that he doubted that LINDSAY could do it...Lindsay, the girl who did cartwheels on the soccer field, the girl who covered her eyes before catching the softball...There was no way, ANY of us thought that SHE could run mile, much less a 1/2 marathon.

As the year went on, we both trained, and in January, we crossed the finish line in the EPCOT parking lot, got our Donald medals and said, "YEAH RIGHT DAD!" She did it. Amazing.

Finishing a race of that caliber takes planning, dedication and PATIENCE (something that until recently, we all thought Lindsay lacked). She persevered and she did great.

I was slightly mean to Chris when I first met him. I decided that he needed "the test" and he passed, with flying colors.

Chris has the patience of a saint. A patron saint. Patience is a virtue. A virtue particularly important when living with Lindsay...trust me. I know. When she crossed the finish line in January, Chris was there, ready to help and support her. They help and support each other.

So now, here we are. At their wedding. INSERT JOKE HERE

So now, take a moment and raise your glass for my sister AND my new brother. To a lifetime of happiness together! CHEERS!

[Chilly]

Great update and photos.

[DisneyLaura]

Caryn I love when you post things from your view, you are really funny. Your speech was great. I guess I'll have to wait until Megan's wedding for the joke. Megan any plans yet? LOL

[shaylih]

I love the updates. I wish we could have made it down. At least corn row tater got to go in my place. Was she carrying a specialty cake and orange soda? Wow you girls are creative.

[Lindsay22]

Love your cake, i think having the prince on the table worked really well.
Thanks! I loved my cake

I think the cake looked beautiful! Love the slipper with the cannolis: it was a nice presentation.
I was really impressed with how they did the cannoli... you couldn't tell that there was supposed to be something else there.

I think the cake topper looks awesome like that! Very unique! Looks better than if they were side-to-side, imo. Definitely more uncommon, in a good way!
Thanks!!

Lindsay that dance was awesome. I wish I would have thought to take dance classes with my DH. Maybe for our 25th vow renewal at WDW in 13 years. :lmao: I have been reading so many weddings on the DIS I have a lot of ideas in my head. Now I have another, take dance classes.

I think the cake with Prince Philip on the bottom was cool. The cake looked great. The chocolate Cinderella shoe is awesome as well.
I'm sure your DH will be thrilled to take dance class

Lindsay,

I'm a late-comer to your PJ and WR, but I just wanted to let you know that everything looks just amazing. Great job on the dance! My DF and I started dance classes...we didn't make it past 4. So, we're just doing the slow-dance shuffle. Not near as cool as yours! :thumbsup2

Kim
We nearly quit several times... I understand

you looked so beautiful!
Thanks!

Everything looked so great Lindsay. I loved the dance :cool1: Can't wait to see Randy's pics.
Me too. I'm not so patiently waiting

the dance was awesome! You did a great job!
Thanks!

There they are, sneaking away!
[.
I didn't know you took a picture of that... That's funny

Caryn. Didn't you know that it is "weird and creepy" to dress up potatoes? Come on now.

I absolutely love that DQK made an appearance and even dressed appropriately for the occasion. Where was his boyfriend? Rico, is it?
As long as DQK was there everything was great. :confused3

I really wanted to make a speech at the reception. I'd been planning it for almost a year...well, during Thanksgiving, I was informed by my father that I was bumped. So mean. I made the keynote speech at my college graduation...I think I can handle an MOH speech...

It was a really good speech and I even had a joke planned...

Here's how it was supposed to go (minus joke. i am NOT wasting a perfectly good joke on a message board. i'm saving it for megan's wedding.)...
Great toast Caryn

Great update and photos.
Thanks!

Caryn I love when you post things from your view, you are really funny. Your speech was great. I guess I'll have to wait until Megan's wedding for the joke. Megan any plans yet? LOL
Isn't she just hilarious?

I love the updates. I wish we could have made it down. At least corn row tater got to go in my place. Was she carrying a specialty cake and orange soda? Wow you girls are creative.
We wish you could have been there too!

[figmentfan814]

Lindsay, the dance was fantastic, it looked like you both had a great time while you were doing it too. I think having the statues set up on the cake table that way turned out really great and your linens and table arrangements were beautiful. I can't wait to see Randy's shots from the AAR.

Caryn~ I can only imagine how frustrating the DVD malfunction must have been. How irritating! We had someone harassed about a wrapped gift too, I wonder why they are so inconsistent, I guess that's typical of Disney (although I told people not to wrap anything on my cousin's suggestion- he's a musician for corporate events at Disney and said security is sometimes a pain.)

[XmasPixie]

Oh my goodness, I have so much catching up to do! I have been MIA from here for months. I've had way too much going on. I've read a few of your updates (and caryn's, too) LOVING THEM!

Congratulations, Lindsay! :banana: Can't wait to get all caught up.

[LeesyUD]

Everything looks beautiful! I like the black and pink - very different! Glad to hear everything went well!!

[mermaidbride1108]

Lindsay - did you post your BEo and if so what page? I've been searching and couldn't find it. I was wondering how much your centerpieces & floral balls cost.

[Lindsay22]

Lindsay, the dance was fantastic, it looked like you both had a great time while you were doing it too. I think having the statues set up on the cake table that way turned out really great and your linens and table arrangements were beautiful. I can't wait to see Randy's shots from the AAR.

Caryn~ I can only imagine how frustrating the DVD malfunction must have been. How irritating! We had someone harassed about a wrapped gift too, I wonder why they are so inconsistent, I guess that's typical of Disney (although I told people not to wrap anything on my cousin's suggestion- he's a musician for corporate events at Disney and said security is sometimes a pain.)
Thanks! Randy told me that I should have pics by the end of this week... I was a little surprised that the security lady was so nasty about the wrapped gift... whatever though.

Oh my goodness, I have so much catching up to do! I have been MIA from here for months. I've had way too much going on. I've read a few of your updates (and caryn's, too) LOVING THEM!

Congratulations, Lindsay! :banana: Can't wait to get all caught up.
Thanks! Welcome back!

Everything looks beautiful! I like the black and pink - very different! Glad to hear everything went well!!
Thanks! I loved the way the pink popped against the black

Lindsay - did you post your BEo and if so what page? I've been searching and couldn't find it. I was wondering how much your centerpieces & floral balls cost.
I didn't post my BEO, but I will PM you with the info.

[Lindsay22]

Honeymoon Day 1

We had gone to bed at about 2:30am the night of our wedding. Neither of us slept really well, I think at that point we were over tired... We both got up at about 8 and started to pack up our room because we would be switching to our comp night. I called Bell Services to have them bring up a cart for us. We filled up the cart and kept it with bell services and then checked out of our room. They told us it would be a little while before we got our new room so we started our drive around to the resorts to pick up everyone's tuxes.

We went to All Star to get some GM tuxes and I stopped by Mary's room because she had my camera and I needed it. I was walking with them to breakfast at the food court when I saw my parents, grandmother and aunts.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0538.jpg

My aunts were getting ready to go to Epcot and my parents were going to go back to their room and get their stuff organized. We picked up the remaning tuxes from ASMu and then went over to Coronado to get the rest of the tuxes. We told Mom and Dad that we'd meet them in Epcot after we dropped everything off.

Let me tell you... We were TIRED. Both of us. It was the first time that I thought I could really take a nap, but we didn't have a room yet!! We got to the mall and dropped all of the tuxes off. The lady at Men's Warehouse was wonderful and very friendly. She mentioned that the Orlando Store does pick up and drop off to Disney hotels. I wish I had known that because it would have literally saved us a day. (It took a half day to get the tuxes and then a half day to drop them off...) She said that none of the other Men's Warehouse locations understand that they drop off because they are the only location that does that. Anyway, we dropped them off and then got a blueberry smoothie from some place in the mall which really helped our moods. We didn't want to get a meal because we were having lunch in Canada with my parents later that day.

We went straight from the mall to Epcot and called to see where everyone was. They were just getting off Living with the Land so we went in to wait for them. We found them and then started to walk towards the world showcase.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0539.jpg

On our way there Caryn insisted that she come to lunch with us. I told her that she wasn't invited because we were taking my parents to lunch as a thank you and that I didnt make the reservation to include 5. She went to lunch with my aunts in Mexico and I'm sure they had a lovely time. They walked off with Caryn saying to my aunts "Thank you for INVITING me... At least someone wants to INVITE me." Again, what a weirdo...

The reason we chose Canada for lunch with my parents is because when we were little, we went to Disney a lot. My parents LOVED the Canada circlevision. I mean loved it. Two or three times a trip we'd have to go see the Canada video. We, did not love it. When we got older and started going to Disney without our parents, we'd call home and say "Hi! We're walking past Canada! We're not going in!" Neither of my parents had ever eaten there, so we decided that would be a lot of fun.

We sat down and started to look at all of the pictures that were taken with my parents camera at the wedding. Our poor waitress, I wasn't paying attention at all. So I told her that we had gotten married in AAR the night before and showed her some pictures. She seemed moderately excited. We all had a lovely lunch and then we got a surprise! Champagne and maple creme brulee.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0542.jpg

We met up with my aunts, Caryn and Mark after lunch and started to walk around the world.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0543.jpg

We got to America and went in to see and told all of the workers there that we had our reception there the night before. Caryn and Dad did their version of our dance. It was not as good as ours.

We continued walking and showed everyone our actual engagement spot.

Mom sitting in the spot.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0544.jpg

Mark and Chris
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0545.jpg

Aunt Janet and Aunt Judi
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0546.jpg

We continued on and got some free coke and I realized that my Prima Crocs were starting to melt to my feet. It was hot. We were tired. We decided to ride Spaceship Earth and then we were going to go to our new room.

Some pics from Spaceship Earth
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0548.jpg

Our future
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0555.jpg

Aunt Janet and Aunt Judi's future
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0551.jpg

We said goodbye to everyone and we decided that we would come to Coronado that evening and eat the top layer of our wedding cake with everyone and watch the video that Caryn made for the bus.

We checked into our room and we were brought up the super secret elevator to our special one night only room. This was our view.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0556.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0557.jpg

It was at this point that we realized that we didn't want to waste our cool room with our neat view. We were never going to stay conceirge level again and we wanted to experience it. We knew that we were being a little bit selfish, but we also knew that it was our first married day together and we should get to enjoy this nice room that Disney gave us. So we called my parents and told them that we weren't going there. We invited Caryn and Mark to watch Wishes from our balcony.

We went to the conceirge floor to have some dinner. I could get used to that!! Free champagne! Yum! We loved that we were able to sit there and listen to the live music and relax. The view is beautiful. We were so happy. We went back to our room and napped for a little while. Caryn and Mark called and said they were picking up the cake from our parents room and the DVD and then they'd be on their way. Great!

We went back to conceirge for some dessert. Yummo again! I had a rasberry tart thing, some choc covered strawberries and some dessert wine.

We went back to the room again and set up some champagne for us to drink with Caryn and Mark while we watched Wishes. We decided not to eat the top of our cake.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/wedding/IMG_0565.jpg

Caryn, Mark, Chris and I all went to have some more desserts and then we came back up to the room to have champagne and watch our video. We loved it! It was hilarious!

They left and we went to bed. We knew that this was going to be our last night in Disney.

[Chilly]

I totally understand about not wanting to waste the room, I am really excited about our COMP night at the GF.

[figmentfan814]

I'm definitely with you about enjoying the room. I loved the GF concierge when we had our free stay there. We invited some family over too because we figure its probably an experience that we won't be able to afford for a very long tme :laughing:

[Pirate's Princess]

Wow, your wedding sounds so beautiful and wonderful! The dance was awesome! And I don't think you were too big of a bridezilla. :rotfl:

And I totally get you on the crunchy food thing, and I'm a fellow Rutgers alumni myself!

It sounds like you had an amazing wedding and honeymoon! And it's definitely fun to read things from Caryn's perspective! :surfweb:

[Goldeelox9]

You looked so pretty! I totally loved every part of your wedding from the flowers to the dresses!

[irisbud]

I wouldn't have wanted to waste the room either. Especially if I was that tired!

[Lindsay22]

I totally understand about not wanting to waste the room, I am really excited about our COMP night at the GF.
The comp night was the best part of our stay at GF

I'm definitely with you about enjoying the room. I loved the GF concierge when we had our free stay there. We invited some family over too because we figure its probably an experience that we won't be able to afford for a very long tme :laughing:
That's what we thought too!

Wow, your wedding sounds so beautiful and wonderful! The dance was awesome! And I don't think you were too big of a bridezilla. :rotfl:

And I totally get you on the crunchy food thing, and I'm a fellow Rutgers alumni myself!

It sounds like you had an amazing wedding and honeymoon! And it's definitely fun to read things from Caryn's perspective! :surfweb:
Both Chris and I graduated from Rutgers, but we didn't meet there. Dave graduated. Mom got her masters and PHD there. Aunt Janet works there... Chris's brother goes there. We're a Rutgers family

You looked so pretty! I totally loved every part of your wedding from the flowers to the dresses!
Thanks!!!

I wouldn't have wanted to waste the room either. Especially if I was that tired!
I really should have scheduled in more naptime.

Now for some big news! We got two proof albums and FIVE cds from Randy the other day. He isn't done with our photoshopped pics yet so he'll be sending them separately.

Here are some highlights from disc one

Dress Detail
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC000164-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC000464-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC002024-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC002824-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC003424-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC003334-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC005124-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC005884-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC006384-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC008254-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC008604-26-09.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC009734-26-09.jpg

[tiggerrifficheidi]

Gorgeous!!

[keenercam]

Lindsay -- You are just an absolutely STUNNING bride. SO gorgeous!! Your pictures are so beautiful. I am happy that everything came together so perfectly for you. :)

[torsie24]

Gorgeous photos!! :)

[Chilly]

I'm loving the shades :cool2:

[thatdisneygirl]

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/Prof%20Wedding/LC009734-26-09.jpg

I love this one!

[DisneyLaura]

Lindsay - great pictures from Randi so far. I have to agree about the room as well.

[figmentfan814]

Beautiful pictures so far, I can't wait to see more especially of the AAR :bride:

[pink_tink8i8]

gorgeous!

[The Charmed One]

Everything is beautiful, I love everything, you look like a lovely couple.

[Lindsay22]

Wow. I haven't updated this in a while... Sorry about that.

Our pictures are up on Randy's site (finally... it took a REALLY long time) and I love them! We've already been in touch with Linda to make the parent albums and I've made a blurb book for Chris's mom.

I went to Keepsake Floral a few weeks ago for my consult (if anyone is planning on physically GOING there, please PM me... you'll need different directions than the ones they give you) I ordered a 5x7 oval frame and two christmas ornaments.

I also realized that I never updated the final day of our trip. I'll attempt to do that today.

We are dancing our wedding dance in the recital for our dance instructor. The recital is Sat so I'll be sure to post pics!

[polynesianbride]

WOW! I don't know how I missed your entire PJ until now! Everything looks gorgeous! I'm off to work my way back through your PJ and find out all the details... can't wait for more! Congrats:goodvibes

[Chilly]

I looked through your photos on Randys's website yesterday, some great shots, have you got any fav's?

[Lindsay22]

Well, we just got back from our honeymoon. I'm not going to do a full TR for our trip, but I thought you all would be interested in our Disneyland Paris day. For those of you that are curious, we went to London and Paris (it was supposed to be 3 nights in London and 4 nights in Paris, but we had a little snafu with the travel agent and ended up spending 5 nights in Paris.) We didn't a tour group or anything, just went around by ourselves. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

On what was supposed to be our last full day in Paris DH and I hopped on the train to Disneyland. We left out of the Gare de Lyon train station and took the RER train to Disneyland. Everything was very well labeled and there were Mickey heads to identify which stop. Two roundtrip train tickets were 26 euros. The train took about 40 minutes and it was very similar to NJ Transit.

Chris on the train... he wasn't overjoyed that we were "wasting" a day going to Disney when we have Disney only an hour away from our house.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0979.jpg

We went right in
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0981.jpg

This was the entrance to the ticket place and I think that this building is also a hotel... it looks exactly like the Grand Floridian
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0985.jpg

The ticket signs were in French and English
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0986.jpg

We opted to get the one park one day ticket. We only had one day to spend and I didn't want to have to rush to get thru both parks... Our tickets were 51 euros each.

We went in and got a map
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0988.jpg

It was really weird for me to actually need a map in a disney park. I got used to it. We walked up Mainstreet and took a zillion pictures. At this point I was practically jumping up and down because I was soooo excited to be there!!

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0990.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0991.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0992.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0994.jpg

They have character greetings by the castle (and I'm a little disapointed that we didn't go to one because I'm curious to know if the characters speak French or English...) Ariel waved to us
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0995.jpg

Then we walked into the castle. I thought it was just going to be a walkway like we have in Florida. Boy was I wrong.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0996.jpg

Just inside
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0997.jpg

They have stained glass windows that show scenes from the movie. They are WONDERFUL. You start out by going up the stairs and you see the book.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0998.jpg

Then they start with the windows.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_0999.jpg

Next to each window was the book (I assume that it was the part of the story shown in the window, but it was written in French)

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1000.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1001.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1002.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1003.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1004.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1005.jpg

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1007.jpg

Chris said that this looked just like the top of our cake except that he wasn't on the top....
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1009.jpg

Then you got to go outside and stand on the balcony (similar to where you get your pic taken at the MK photo shoot)
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1010.jpg

[Lindsay22]

Part 2

We continued on and our first ride was Pirates!!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1012.jpg

Pirates was much better than the Pirates we have. It was very similar to California's Pirates. I was very interested to note that Jack Sparrow and crew were not included in this ride... After Pirates we went to the Indiana Jones ride and got a fast pass

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1016.jpg
We thought it was funny that the fastpasses were also written in French and English and that they only gave you a half hour.

We headed over to the Haunted Mansion.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1018.jpg

In Paris it is not called the Haunted Mansion....
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1020.jpg

Phantom Manor was MUCH scarier here than in Florida. Like a lot scarier. I probably wouldn't take my child on this ride... After Phantom Manor we headed over to Indiana Jones and la Temple du Peril

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1022.jpg

We wandered around a little more and caught some of the parade
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1025.jpg

Then we had lunch... the food options were okay. Not a lot of American food which surprised me a little but I was generally okay with. I had a really good sandwich that I didn't take a picture of. However, I did like the napkin
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1026.jpg

Then we went over to Tomorrowland
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1027.jpg

Space Mountain was closed so we decided to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience in French. We came out and saw the creepiest show ever. These weird people were dancing and screaming out colors... it was weird. I think it was similar to the game that we used to play when we were little... Simon, I think.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1028.jpg

I was pretty amused that you could get a waffle at a quick food cart.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1032.jpg

We decided to head out towards Downtown Disney. On our way out we passed Cinderella's Coach!!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1036.jpg

The back of the castle
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1038.jpg

Then I noticed a ruckus of castmembers
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1039-1.jpg

There was a broken window on Mainstreet... and all of those castmembers were investigating it. It's not everyday you see a broken window on Mainstreet.. So I took a picture
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1040-1.jpg

Chris took this picture of me in the shop
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1042-1.jpg

We went to Downtown Disney and saw this!
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1044-1.jpg

(Now, when will our Downtown Disney take the hint...)

Recognize this attraction?
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1045-1.jpg

We walked down to the hotels
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s131/lindsayacraig/disneyland%20paris/IMG_1046-1.jpg

And then we were ready to head back. Overall, I loved our trip to Disneyland Paris. It was wonderful. It felt a little less like Disney and a little more like a themepark, but not in a bad way. We both had a great time. Everyone was very friendly and most people spoke enough English that we were able to get around and ask questions with no problem at all.

[torsie24]

Awww, glad you enjoyed 'our' Disney! :P

You basically saw the best bit of Europe! :lmao:

The big pink building is a hotel. :) It's wonderful and THE best location ever getting to teh parks wise! I think I'm really going to miss it when I'm stood in the Grand Floridian (the lobbys are very similar), lol.

Did you see the dragon under the castle? She really makes it a wonderful castle! How intersting to hear you loved our POTC, and found PM so much scarier than HM, I wonder what I'll think of HM!

Ooooh, I love hearing about DLRP from non-addicts like me! :)

[Donald'sGirl]

Lindsay I am glad you had a great time in Disneyland Paris! I hope to one day get there myself. I hope you and Chris had a wonderful rest of the honeymoon as well!

Thanks for all the pics!

[Chilly]

Glad you had a great honeymoon, where did you visit in London?

The last photo in you first post is where DF proposed to me.

[figmentfan814]

Thanks for sharing the picture from Paris. I've always wanted to hit some of the Disney parks in other parts of the world. I love the inside of the castle, how beautiful!

[The Charmed One]

Thank you for sharing, everything looks beautiful. Congratulations to you both and I wish you both a long and happy life together.