Lizzie&Mike'sP.J.+T.R.~YCG&Ariel's~07/15 update on life :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I'm finally starting one of these! I'll begin w/how we met. :) We met on myspace! :rotfl: :surfweb: <--That would be my DF Mike as he is ADDICTED to coffee, lol. I was probably drinking Coke (oops...just as bad).

Okay, now on to the engagement story! He knew I had been wanting to get engaged, but he was being what seems to be the typical man and wanting to be "financially secure". After talking about it a lot, he realized I didn't want to go right to getting married because I wanted to finish school first, so he ended up being cool with the idea since we figured we'd be pretty secure by the time we got married. :) So, yes, I knew he was going to propose before he proposed. When I started talking to my mom about it she reminded me I was getting my grandmother's engagement ring, so I told DF that. This is another reason I knew it was going to happen before it happened. I had to get the ring from my mom, bring it to Zales to get sized, and pass it over to DF. We were leaving for a camping trip once it was set. So things were really stressful and crazy before we left because I was just in crazy mode. So when we got to the camp site, I didn't think he would do it that night. The next day, we got up, had breakfast, and went on a nature walk. I thought he was going to propose then, but this trail ended up being RIDICULOUSLY short. We did get some funny pictures tho' which I'll have to get from him and add later. He said he was going to propose then too, after the fact, but how he didn't realize the trail was going to be so short too, lol. So then we got ready, went to a nearby supermarket (we've been easing our way into camping...haven't gotten to the cooler stage yet, lol), got our food to prepare dinner that night, and headed back to the camp site. He got the fire goin', I set up our picnic table and made salads, and we made dinner. It was so perfect that he was going to propose then because camping is such a bonding experience. Between setting up the tent and preparing meals, it's really about teamwork...such a perfect way to say yes to marriage. :) So after dinner, I went to change because it was getting cold, and I saw DF go into the tent and grab his camera bag. I thought, This is gonna be it! but by the time I got back I had forgotten, lol. I went over by the lake and he called me over. I thought he had seen this chipmunk (how Disney-appropriate) we kept seeing and trying to feed, so I ran over. That's when he did it. He brought me over to the fire, and got down on one knee. :) After we just hugged and hugged and hugged and then I started crying. I'm getting misty-eyed just thinkin' about it. :lovestruc It was actually kinda' funny, because right then it started misting a little, so DF now says I teared up, and then it started to rain. :)

After that, we obviously started talking about where to get married and when. I have wanted to get married at Disney since I was like 8yrs. old when I stayed at the YC and had a room looking at the gazebo and saw enough brides to reel me in, lol. DF somehow did not get that in proposing, we were getting married in Disney, lol. So when I brought that up again, he was kind of taken aback. He mentioned Boston (we live in the area) and the South Shore (of Massachusetts, where he lives and I am now), and I always knew Fenway or my beach down the Cape (Cape Cod) were an option. However, the more we talked about it, the more he realized I was the one who had been thinking about a place since I was 8, and he was the one who was just thinking of getting married. Then I told my mom how we needed to go to Disney enough time before April 2010 that we could plan a wedding, lol. So we went last X-mas. DF had never been to Disney before, and he LOVED IT! :woohoo: I showed him the YCG and Ariel's in person, and it was set. :)

Since then, we obviously called Disney, got that e-mail w/the planning guide attachment and those other attachments, and waited until we were penciled in. We reserved an officiant (Ron Rosenweig), and I talked to my mom about using my grandmother's dress. This caused a little bit of worry because my mom thought it was in the attic, and when I looked, it wasn't. Then she thought it was in the loft down the Cape, and I had to wait. Luckily it was, and when I tried it on, it fit pretty well (granted, I put it on BY MYSELF and therefore used my hairclip to hold where I couldn't button). Then we started working on the guest list. My mom had like a zillion copies, one for any time we were anywhere and started counting on our hands, lol. We didn't make a real one (still just pen and paper tho') 'til it was time to deal with the room block (such fun! NOT!). Then we were penciled in! I hated how I waited and waited for that, and then once it happened, as days passed, I was then waiting and waiting for us to get that contract back, lol.

ROOM BLOCK
Ah yes, the room block. My favorite part! (HA HA HA.) We were trying to be very exact w/this, so we got in contact w/everyone we couldn't guess for and asked them what they were planning on. This was very annoying because of course DF had to call his people. Well all-of-a-sudden, I was done w/my people, and DF hadn't even started. So it was annoying having to be on his case about it. We were good tho', cuz it would be like that, and then we would laugh. :) It was def. a relief when it was all done and sent in.

Before that, we registered I think ON the 9months 'til date at Williams-Sonoma, Macy*s, and Target. That was a lotta' fun, but it honestly got tiring once we were gettin' close to being done w/Macy*s. We were definitely getting loopy and being like, "Let's register for this!" and point to something we would NEVER WANT, lol. It was a good thing Target was a drive away! I still have to do the Disneymoon registry thing, but I'm waiting to make sure we got our free room night.

After that, my mom and I went to a place someone my brother knows recommended to get my grandmother's dress turned into MY dress. :) The woman only needs to take it in a little near my ribs, and she's going to make it so it can be bustled, fix a rip in a seam, and make sure the buttons are secure. She's also going to make my veil. I decided to get a mantilla because I'm Latina and wanted to bring that part of my background into the wedding. (We're also going to be playing some Shakira at the reception!)

Then I started looking for bridal sneakers. Yes, sneakers. I can't walk in heels well enough that I'm comfortable using them, and anything else would hurt my feet, so I liked the idea of bridal sneakers from Father of the Bride. :) It took a while to find some that were ivory (o yea, my dress is ivory :goodvibes), but they're on their way to my house right now! :goodvibes

We got our website taken care of before the room block too.

O yea, and our address list right after the room block! :thumbsup2

Then it was dress time for my girls! :) I went w/my friend Casey first (bride's lady). O yea, and they're all wearing apple red. :) I'd include a picture of what it'll look like (cartoon-wise), but I dunno how to add a photo that's not on a website (is that even possible?). So yea, I got Casey taken care of (dress, shoes, purse, earrings, necklace), and then my friend Meg (another bride's lady). My MoH lives in CA now, so hers was the hardest. Luckily, DBs are there too, AND she was really good about it! :) She went w/her BF and he took pictures of her in all the dresses I approved of, and then she sent them to me and we actually had the same one as our favorite. She did the same thing w/shoes and purses. :) Now I just have to wait 'til it's tux time! (DF has always assumed I'd go w/, lol).

After that was obviously contract time! I was soooooooo excited to get this, but then when I started reading it, OMG. I def. put it down before being down with the first page, lol. I think I picked it up the next day or the day after that tho', and we got it done as quickly as we could. We all (my mom&dad and DF&I) went down to the post office then and the first guy that helped us was so nice! He showed us the different wedding stamps they had (the cake one and the one of the rings), and our contract was sent out! Heidi (o yea, we had Heidi and she was great!) called to let me know we'd be hearing from our wedding planner soon, but she said wayy more business days than it actually took, so the next time a 407# showed up on my cell, I thought it was Heidi checking something! I was sooooooo happy when I found out it was our wedding planner, Meri! We booked our P.S. right then! My parents and my FFiL had already booked our hotel and flights (now that DF has been, we're showin' his family!), and luckily Meri had time available during the time we're gonna be there. :)

Then I tried on a corset-y thing that my mom had gotten for me from Lady Grace (I recommend the one I have from them over the one DB gives you when trying things on).

Next, I started bugging one of my cousins who actually works for Disney (and so lives in the Orlando area) if she had gotten a Save the Date, lol. She soon did, and then everyone else soon followed. The first one I saw in person was actually the one my FFiL got. :) Once we got the extras, we of course booked our honeymoon. We're getting married on April 19th because that's the first day of April vacation in Massachusetts (DF is a teacher :)), so we're going to be arriving in FL on the 16th and staying for 9nights at the YC. :)

Well, I guess that brings us to now. Now, I need to look for wedding socks tomorrow. I've also been starting to look at favors, but haven't really seen any that really catch my eye. I checked out Disney invitations a while ago, but the only Lady&The Tramp one (o yea...we're having a Lady&The Tramp theme...the tablecloths, the chairs w/fabric, the centerpieces) looks kind of plain (AND I've only seen it used for a bridal tea party in real life). So I'm starting to think we'll go non-Disney. My mom wants to take us to see the ones at The Paper Store, so hopefully they'll have something fun there. :)

What else, what else...man, there was something I had forgotten and now I forgot what it was! O well. It's not like you didn't read enough as is (SORRY! LOL). I'll write more when I can.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

My bridal sneakers have arrived at my house! :)

[Wish on a Star]

My bridal sneakers have arrived at my house! :)

WOW do you have a picture?

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I P.M.'d you the link to the picture. :) I'd post it on here but DF knows this link, lol.

BTW, WOW, 1 week and 5 days! I can't wait 'til I'm at that point! :)

[princess22]

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I hope you enjoy all the wedding planning! Can't wait to hear more!:goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Thanks! I have so far (minus that room block, haha)! Some of our guests are staying at Shades of Green, btw. One of them is in the military, so yea. :)

[princess22]

Thanks! I have so far (minus that room block, haha)! Some of our guests are staying at Shades of Green, btw. One of them is in the military, so yea. :)

That is awesome! They will love it! I think it is a wonderful hotel! :goodvibes:thumbsup2

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Yea, I think they have been there before, and I had heard of it but it took that for me to check it out, and it seems like such a great place! :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I was on the phone w/my dad today and he told me my wedding sneakers arrived. I was like, "Yea, I know, Mom told me", and here's how the conversation went from there:
my dad: Oh, is the red cuz of the vests?
me: Huh?
my dad: The red...is it cuz of the vests?
me: What...wait...are you messing w/me?

and then he couldn't keep it in anymore, lol

The thing is...the place has ones w/red detailing, so I thought that's what he meant, lol. I kept wondering why my mom didn't say anything because she saw the picture of them online and she was the one who opened the box! LOL.


In other news, I looked online for invitations last night and found two that I liked, but one is so customizeable(sp?) that each little thing had a total and there were at least twelve of these little things and I had no idea what the first two or three were, so I gave up, lol.
The other one is a possibility, I just want to see if I like any at The Paper Store and compare. Here's the link to this possibility: http://www.theamericanwedding.com/shopping/prod_detail/main.asp-pid-5753-utm_source-knot-utm_medium-knProds-utm_campaign-knProd5753

[disneygal922]

YAY! You started a PJ!:cool1: I can't wait to see a pic of your bridal sneakers! Your dad sounds just like mine. Always trying to get me confused or flustered! :laughing: Can't wait to hear more of your plans! :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

:goodvibes How was your P.S.? BTW, happy belated b-day! :cake:

[disneygal922]

It was great! I'm going to upload pics to my PJ hopefully sometime soon. They're on my computer but i was having issues with photobucket yesterday. hopefully tonight or tomorrow! :goodvibes Thanks for the bday wishes!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Yay! :woohoo: Ah. You're welcome! I'm sure you had a good one! I haven't had a Disney b-day since I was 8, hahaha. That def. needs to change after the wedding. ;)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well I ordered my wedding socks! :) LuluLovesDisney helped me find 'em, so if she sees this, THANK YOUUU! :worship: :thumbsup2 :thanks: If anyone wants a pic, I'll have to P.M. you cuz DF knows this link. ;)

In other news, I'm still searching for favors. We decided to do picture frames because I wanted something they could keep that they know would be from our wedding (like I was thinking about those customized M&Ms, but I know if I were a guest, I'd eat them all!). Someone else on the boards had decided on a picture frame, so I thought that was great because I figure we'll put a little note w/them saying they can stick a picture in from their trip! :) That way the frames won't need to be engraved or anything like that either. :) So now I'm just trying to find some fairly cheap frames. I tried to find Lady&The Tramp ones cuz that's our main theme which will be very apparent at the reception, but there was only one I liked on eBay, and there was only one of them, and it came w/2 other Disney ones I didn't like. If we couldn't get Lady&The Tramp, I'm thinkin' we could do one kind for my people, and one kind for DF's people. I know DF wants to bring in Marvel since Disney now owns Marvel, so I figure his could be some Marvel frame. I dunno what to do for me tho'. Maybe the Little Mermaid? So if anyone has any ideas and/or links, feel free to post 'em! :)

BTW, it's my&DF's 4yr., 4month anniversary! Yay! :jumping1:

[disneygal922]

Hey Lizzie! I'm so glad you found socks! :thumbsup2 I'm sure they are perfect. I understand about not posting the pics. My DF also checks out our planning journal so I had to take down pics of my dress and other things. :laughing: I'm so excited to hear more of your plans. It's so much fun to know that we are getting married on the SAME day! :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

:) Thanks! They really are. They're not too much, and they're ivory like my dress and sneaks. :) O yea, I meant to tell you my DF's name is Mike too! I know! I'll totally be thinking of you saying your I dos when I'm getting ready. :)

[Pirate's Princess]

Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of the planning done. That's great! Everything sounds really good. Love the invites btw. Too bad you can't post pics. I'd love to see some bridal sneakers and socks, hehe. And I love the idea of including marvel too!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So yea...I'm back w/another update, lol. I had asked Latinas on the boards who they went for for makeup, and the only recommendation I got was Patricia LeJeune, and she was the only one who appeared to have pics of Latinas up, so I think I'm gonna go w/her. :) Now I just have to figure out whether I want airbrush, traditional, mineral, or paramedical. The airbrush sounds great especially because I have allergies. Traditional is all I've done before I think (I know I haven't done airbrush or paramedical), granted I've only worn a full face...twice? Mineral sounds good for the same reason as airbrush, 'cept the word hypoallergenic isn't used. Finally, paramedical sounds good cuz I have stupid chicken pox scars (not horrible), although I've kind of learned to love them...at least on my right cheek. ;) So yea...obv. I'm gonna talk about it when I call to try and set up a trial. :) I'm hopin' they have time during my P.S. trip cuz that way I'll know who's doing it wayy before (well...3ish months before) the wedding=less stress! :cool1:

[disneygal922]

I'm using Patricia too!!! Though she'll be long done with me before you get ready. What time is your ceremony again? 2pm? I had my trial with her last wednesday and she was fabulous. She knew coming in that I don't normally wear makeup and that I was pretty nervous. She explained everything she was doing and made me feel very comfortable. I'm sure you will love her! If you want, I'll PM you some pics she took for me (I can't post b/c I don't want Mike to see). :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of the planning done. That's great! Everything sounds really good. Love the invites btw. Too bad you can't post pics. I'd love to see some bridal sneakers and socks, hehe. And I love the idea of including marvel too!

:) Thanks! I P.M.'d you the pics. ;) Haha, I'll let him know. That was totally his idea. He's so excited about Disney buying Marvel cuz he's like, "NOW WE CAN HAVE MARVEL STUFF AT OUR WEDDING!!!" :yay: He was also excited to find out the anniversary of the battle of Lexington and Concord is on our wedding date (he was a history major and teaches history).

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I'm using Patricia too!!! Though she'll be long done with me before you get ready. What time is your ceremony again? 2pm? I had my trial with her last wednesday and she was fabulous. She knew coming in that I don't normally wear makeup and that I was pretty nervous. She explained everything she was doing and made me feel very comfortable. I'm sure you will love her! If you want, I'll PM you some pics she took for me (I can't post b/c I don't want Mike to see). :goodvibes

Hahaha, that's so funny! Makeup twins! :rotfl: I wonder if that means I won't have to pay the travel fee, since she'll already be on Disney property! ;) In which case, I'd pay 1/2 of yours! ;) Mine's @ 2:30. :) O sweet! I'm glad everything went well! Yea, I'm a little nervous about it too. The last time I wore a full face was for PROM! Over 7YRS. ago! :scared1: Yay! Sure! :) P.M. away!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I called about setting up an appointment today and sent my info.! So excited. :goodvibes

In other news, I wanted to start looking into videography today, and I thought there was a link of them all under It's All in the Details, but I guess there isn't. :headache: I guess I just saw names in people's P.J.s. :headache: dunno what to do now 'cept check out some P.J.s or Google :badpc:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Less than 6 1/2months 'til Mike&I are husband&wife! (and 'til Theresa&Mike are husband&wife as well! Shoutout! :thumbsup2) :cheer2:

[disneygal922]

Less than 6 1/2months 'til Mike&I are husband&wife! (and 'til Theresa&Mike are husband&wife as well! Shoutout! :thumbsup2) :cheer2:

Thanks for the shoutout! :goodvibes I can't believe we are already 6 1/2 months away!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I know! 6 1/2 seems so little! and from here it only gets little-er, lol :woohoo:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Less than 6months 'til Mike&I are husband&wife (and 'til Theresa&Michael are too!) YAY! :yay:

In other news, we finally booked our flights! :woohoo: I was gettin' kinda' worried about that, but it was just in the back of my mind. We had already booked our hotel room, so I was just thinking, "Gotta' get down there, gotta' get down there" in the back of my head but would tell myself to shut up because we were still looking for good ones. Of course then mine was booked this morning, and then that voice started saying, a little farther from the back of my mind, "Gotta' book Mike's...he has to come back w/me!" :rotfl: Luckily, his was booked no problem around 5. :)

So since then of course I've been all sorts of excited and have REALLY started talking about what we're gonna do during our P.S. trip (because that comes before the wedding trip, afterall :rolleyes1). My mom made reservations in Morocco our 2nd night for her, my dad, Mike's dad and brother (they're coming down too so we can show 'em around before the wedding trip so they'll know it a little :)), and Mike&I and at Jiko our 4th night/Mike's fam's last night. :) So then of course at dinner tonight I was tellin' Mike again how I figure we'll do E.P.C.O.T. our 1st full day, then Animal Kingdom our 4th day and we were talkin' about what kinda' things we wanna show his fam'. :) So excited! :yay:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So we're gonna be eating at Fulton's Crab House our first night there, me, Mike, his dad and brother, and my parents. :) Then our (my parents and Mike&I's) last night we'll be eating at the Flying Fish. I'm really glad about this because the first time my mom tried to make it it said they were full. Good thing it was just a computer glich! :woohoo:

In other news, my date is reserved w/LeJeune and they've added Mike's hair service. Did I mention he has long hair and usually just puts it back in a ponytail wet? Yea, not good for a rented tux, lol. Luckily he decided he wanted someone to take care of it. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I got a lot done between yesterday and today. I completely updated my wedding organizer, which was awesome. I got to come home last night (Wed. night) because my Ballroom Dancing class ended on Tuesday and I don't have class on Friday, and I finally saw my wedding socks and sneakers. Let me just thank LuluLovesDisney because they are PERFECT! :worship: :thanks: They're ivory and they have lace around where they fold over. I didn't try them on because I want to wait 'til after I shower later, but they look perfect. :love: The wedding sneakers looked beautiful too! and best part...THEY FIT! AND I can walk in them easily! :yay: I even pretty much ran up the stairs normally to show my dad [who of course was like, "O, your red shoes!" (see one of my previous posts for this joke)], and then ran back down. I even asked my mom, "Is this how dad & I are gonna walk down the aisle?" and did the whole left together, right together thing, hahaha. :rotfl: I'm seriously soooooo happy they fit and look great and I can walk in them, because they said they ran small so I got an 8 when I'm actually a 7.5 so I was just SLIGHTLY worried, lol. :rolleyes1

Besides those things, I have the prelude/seating, my entrance, unity presentation, and recessional/exit music all set. :woohoo: I still have to check w/my mom about her entrance music, and with Mike about the officiant/men's entrance music, and I still dunno what to do for my girls' entrance (I didn't like any of the options on the CD), but I'd say that's a pretty good start! :)

O yea, and once I try the socks on tomorr...er...later today, we're gonna make an appointment for my FIRST dress fitting on Saturday. :love: The last time I tried it on was when it was my grandmother's dress. Ya' know, like nothing had been changed since she wore it. Saturday it will be fit to my size (I dunno if I wrote before, but it had to be taken in a little near my ribcage), the rip in the seam in the train will be fixed, all the missing and loose buttons (I think there were only a few) will be fixed and extra secured, and it will be bustled. My veil might even be done too! :love: We also need to see if she can let us take a mantilla that only goes a little longer than the length my hair will be because we just can't take the long mantilla to the makeup and hair trial. I might pick up the garter I liked at DB for my something blue later today too, except that my mom last night (Wed. night) was like, "You know what I thought of for something borrowed?" and said she thinks she still has her garter. Now that I think of it, I think she does too, and I think it does have blue in it. So that would be cool, cuz that's way more wedding appropriate than the only thing I could think of to borrow.

Okay, I guess that's it. :laughing: I can't update once I get up later until Friday because I have to go on a media fast for one of my classes (yea, no internet, tv, music, books, magazines, newspapers, films, and even billboards). I know you're probably thinking, "but that's impossible unless you stay in bed all day, Lizzie!", but if I can't control it, then I have to jot that down in my journal. Like I'm going to get my haircut, and I know they'll be playing music in there, so I have to jot that down. I also have to write down what I did instead of those things. I just realized this means I can't go to the movies w/my friend I'm supposed to hang-out w/. :guilty: I guess we'll go get food or go to the mall. I mean it's not like I'd go to the mall to listen to the mall music. :lmao: So yea, my next update will be on Saturday. :thumbsup2

[disneygal922]

Lizzie you have gotten so much done in the past few days. :thumbsup2 I'm so happy to hear that your socks and sneakers fit perfectly. It's so exciting. You'll definitely have to take some pics at your dress fitting.

Are the flights you booked for the PS or the actual wedding. We just booked ours for the wedding last week. I can't believe how time flies!

I'm glad you are also able to book with Patricia. She's wonderful and very friendly (which i love).

Hope you have a wonderful day! :goodvibes

ps. i know i need to update my pj... i have a lot of updates but have been waaaaay busy lately. :laughing:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

:goodvibes Thanks! I def. will! This time my mom will have her camera. Last time my dad had it cuz it was my brother's bachelor party. and guess what...he left it in the car! :sad2: LOL.

The flights were for the wedding trip. I can't believe we booked our flights at the same time too! This is gettin' creepy, haha. Where do you live again? I totally can't remember, and I.E. is being weird except for this tab so I can't check, lol. I know! 5ish months! :yay:

Me too. Sweet! Friendly is good. :)

You too!

Haha, I know. I kept checkin' to see if you had updated, and finally just made it so I now follow you and will get updates when you update, haha.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well I was gonna update about tuxes and invitations, but guess what...the wedding band (that would go on my finger) I liked costs $2,000. :sad1: I'm so...I don't even know...depressed. I hate not having enough money. I mean I know $2,000 is ridiculous for a ring, esp. considering that's the price to get married at the freakin' gazebo PERIOD, but still. I really liked it, and I didn't know the price at first because that link wouldn't work, and now I find out it's $2,000. I feel like now I'm not gonna find anything in DF's price range that'll live up to that. :sad1:

*Sigh*. In other news, I went to Men's Wearhouse last night (Thurs. night) and asked when the guys should get measured since the wedding's in April in FL and if the tuxes could be picked up down there like I thought. He asked if I had registered yet, which I hadn't (and I kinda' don't know why...maybe because this was like last winter? too early?), and said we should do it w/in the month, and asked if I wanted to make an appointment. I asked if a guy would need to be fitted then, and he said no, ::stops to sigh about the wedding band::, so I made an appointment for Saturday. Then I remembered DF's gonna be here, so he can totally get measured. AND my dad's going to too. :) So I guess that's good. :\ ::is kind of smiling:: Umm...and then I remembered I wanted to check out invitation possibilities from The Paper Store, so that's been added to the list too. Saturday's going to be a very busy wedding...checklist day, lol. Okay, I feel a little better. *Sigh.* Hopefull...whatever, I'm not even gonna say it...not that happy yet. Uhh...yea. I guess that's it. I'll prob' update more after all the Saturday stuff. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I forgot to mention I have my garter! It's also my something borrowed, and something blue. :) It has a wedding ring and band dangling from it too. :)

[Sarah <3 Disney]

Well I feel all sorts of bad because I posted the link! :sad1: Is it the one with small square engravings/diamonds? If so, it is a very pretty ring! :goodvibes

Perhaps there is another option, try taking the design to a local jeweler and see if they can create something similar for a bit cheaper. Heck, you would not even need diamonds for it! A colored stone in that ring would look awesome, yet it would be unique for you and only you! Or if you would like the diamonds, don't put in as many, perhaps only 3 or 5, dont wrap all the way around the ring. Cheer up! :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

LOL, it's okay! I would've found out about them anyway at some point, lol. It's this one: http://www.pascalmouawad.com/oscommerce/catalog/product_reviews.php?cPath=77_79&products_id=492

Yea, that's what DF suggested [I was kinda' playing up how bummed I was to see if maybe he'd say he'd try...which he probably knows, lol (love you, Mike), but that didn't get me anywhere, lol]. There was a guy we were going to anyway, so that's what I'll probably do. You know...unless we win some money or my grandmother finds out and slips me a check. :rotfl: and even if that happened, that would be put in the "get a place" fund, lol. I know, I don't even WANT diamonds, lol. My promise ring has my Dec. birthstone, and my engagement ring only has diamonds because it was my grandmother's. I've definitely cheered up since then. Who needs diamonds? LOL. Your idea of another stone is perfect...or even just the engraving of the diamond shape, lol. :thumbsup2 :thanks:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

See above for the garter update. In other news, I found the Muppets Take Manhattan Soundtrack on ebay and ordered it. :goodvibes After asking on here and finding a cd that had "He'll Make Me Happy" on it thanks to Sarah <3 Disney, I was going to get it except that that reminded me my hairdresser had suggested ebay. So I'm all set for music for the ceremony except for...my mom's entrance (have to play her options for her again), the officiant and men's entrance (DF has to figure that out, lol), and my bridesmaid's entrance. I have no idea what to do for my girls. I e-mailed Meri (my wedding planner) to see what else is in their "extensive music library", lol, but I'm still waiting to hear back. I'm sure I'll hear from her by the end of the day because I e-mailed her...Wed. and she got back to me Wed.! :thumbsup2 If you guys have any suggestions for my girls that aren't on the list Disney gives, feel free to lemme know. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

O crap, I forgot to mention I found cuff links. You didn't even know I was looking for them, but DF mentioned he wanted to buy Star Trek cuff links, so I was like, "Nonono, lemme look for them!" So when I went to Men's Wearhouse last night, I asked if they had any, which they didn't of course, but funnily enough the guy I was talking to said he was looking for 'em too. :rotfl: (He's trying to get married in April or May.) I Googled for 'em when I got home, and look: http://www.cufflinks.com/star-trek-cufflinks.html# Those are the official ones, but there are also these: http://www.cufflinks.com/communications.html (scroll down past the Ctrl). Now I know DF says he and his brother are Klingons, so he might just want those even tho' the others are official. I'm waitin' to hear. :) I actually found the others while looking for one's for his dad, which would be the microchip or integrated circuit ones on that last link (his dad's an engineer, but works at Bose instead of my engineer dad who works for Long Island Power Authority). I also found these for my dad: http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49993498&currentIdx=66&subCategory=-49998493%7c-49997961%7c-49993498&catentryId=6136185&sort=lh as his present, although I love these too: http://www.cufflinks.com/red-sox-cufflinks.html but then his gift would be more expensive than my mom's, and I'm trying to have them be evenly priced. Besides those, I found these for my brother: http://www.cufflinks.com/micu.html (he's a chemistry teacher). :) Cuff links are awesome. I kinda' wish I could wear some, hahaha. :rotfl:

[Sarah <3 Disney]

My birthstone is for December too! I loooove blue topaz! In fact, that is what I hope to get eventually for my wedding band, an eternity band of blue stones. A nice pop of color against a diamond! :goodvibes

And I love the first Star Trek cuff links. A perfect addition to any wedding! :rotfl:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Sweet! What day? Mine's the 1st. :) Me too. I used to be jealous of my friend because she was born in July and I love rubies, but once I found out what mine was it was pretty much like, "Nah, I like mine." :) Haha, that's funny. So our rings will be similar in that sense. :)

The funny thing is, he'll probably get them for his guys, and his will mysteriously appear for him at some point. ;)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So like I said, on Saturday Mike, my dad, my mom, and I went to Men's Wearhouse. I got all our info. entered into the system, and then DF got fitted. He looked good. :) Next up was my dad, who looks good in suits, but man, he looks snazzy in a tux. :) My dad's a businessman (and has that businessman look), so he looks good in dress clothes. :) I found out the dads wear black vests. The Best Man and groomsmen are wearin' apple red. :) Mike's wearin' champagne or whatever name the color vest is that matches ivory, and all are Herringbone. We're also doing the Calvin Klein 2 button ones, w/ivory microfiber shirts. Mike's wearing boots, my dad has his own fancy shoes that won't slip (he was afraid of the others), and the rest of the guys so far (we still have to fit Mark) are wearing the MW shoes. No1 got cufflinks or socks either cuz we're gettin' 'em special ones. :)

After that, we went to *bucks cuz my mom had a zillion gift cards from her students (she's a teacher too...I'm surrounded by teachers). Then we stopped at home before she and I headed to where my dress was. There was another Mother of the Bride there, but she let us go first. :) So I tried EVVVerything on: the corset-y thing (bodice? whatever), my socks, shoes, panties, garter, and then she buttoned me up. I was standing for a WHILE because she had to take it in a little more at my left upper arm, and a little more at the sides. After that, she realized I needed a petticoat, which I totally liked the idea of because otherwise my dress would've fallen between my legs when I walked. It looked good too, only bloused it out or w/e a little. So after that she pinned the bottom so I wouldn't step on it. Walking around in it after that felt good. :) Next, she took care of the bustling. It looked good with that too. :) I have another appointment in Dec. :)

Next up was invitations. Well actually we had lunch before in Wellesley at a Turkish place. THEN we went to check out invitations (we being DF&I). We went to The Paper Store first cuz my mom suggested that. We found SOME, but I mean, none jumped out at me, so that was kinda' disappointing. Then we went to the mall (excuse me, ColLECTion). We stopped by my friend's store to say to hi to her first, then headed to Macy*s to register some more stuff at sale price. We did a salad container, onion container, penguin sheets (I <3 penguins), another set of nice sheets (I have only 1 right now), uh...a foot spa, massager, um...drink mixer, popcorn popper, um...turkey oven...I think that was it. After that we started heading out, except that Mike was like, "Oo, Papyrus, what about there?", so we went in. After not finding anything really for a while, the lady helped us and got another book (they have books of invitations: X-mas, wedding, b-day, etc.). That one had one we liked a lot at the time. I wasn't sure how to figure out the price tho', so we asked for her help and guess how much they would've been? FIVE-HUNDRED SOMETHING DOLLARS!!!!! :eek: Yea, I don't think so...and I think she knew right then she didn't have a sale. As we left, I was like, "I told you it was expensive", although I didn't think it'd be THAT expensive. I was thinking more on the $200ish (like $250) side than $100ish (like $125). So yea, that was depressing/annoying. Mike showed me something at Williams-Sonoma after (he had gone earlier when I was at the dress fitting). It was a cookie press (o yea, we got a cookie batter baller at Macy*s too). You load the dough in one side, put on a design end, and then push out the dough, and it can come out as a clover, etc. He was so cute cuz he was like, "You could make these for your grandmother!", talking about the clovers, and trying to figure out how to make them green, and I was like, "I could use food coloring w/sugar cookies!" I just realized I could use green sprinkles too. She would seriously love those, AND it'd be right before the wedding (if we get a present ~month before the wedding.) :P

After that, we headed out, 'cept that DF noticed a "We print our own" w/e sign outside Hallmark, and thank gawd he did. We stopped in there real quick, and the lady helped us and we found a few great things. They seem to be the best too because you walk out w/a free mock-up, the print by the invitation at like $2 per at most (that's for large), and if you realize you need one more, they print one more. :) After getting home, we looked through the different possibilities between there and The Paper Store (I had taken pics on my dig. cam. and cell phone - dig. cam. at TPS, cell at Hallmark), and decided we liked the Hallmark ones better. They're ivoryish color too, very formal. We also found baby Mickey ones there that I'm thinkin' we could use for the rehearsal dinner (unless we looked for a restaurant-like one) or the bridal shower. :)

All in all, a successful Saturday. :) I feel like I'm getting so much done lately! :yay:

On Sunday, once we were packed-up and at Mike's house, we headed to MW w/his dad, brother, and our friend Chris. Mike's brother got fitted first, then Chris, then my FFiL. Chris is one of DF's GM. They looked good too. Here are pics of all the guys so far in tuxes: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104286&id=34507361&l=629b7607ec

So yup, that was it! O yea, and we've decided on videography too! :yay: I feel a lot better (not that I was that stressed, I was trying to keep it in the back of my mind) now that invites and video's taken care of. I think I was worried about that most because...well I dunno w/invites really. Maybe cuz I hadn't found much online? and then video cuz I'm a comm. major w/a concentration in media prod. so...yea.

dunno when the next update will be...prob' after another GM gets fit hopefully on Thurs. DF&I are also hopefully seeing one of his family friends I haven't met yet who're coming to the wedding. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I made the Disneymoon ADRs! If you don't know, today is the day you can start making them SIX months in advance and not 3, so get on it if you can! ;)

DF doesn't know this yet, but we're eating at 'Ohana the night after the wedding (I figure we'll chill by the pool and/or go to Blizzard Beach that day=relaxing, so a relaxing/casual dinner would be nice), Cali. Grill the next night (note: you have to give a credit card w/a res. here because they have a 24hr. cancellation policy...they don't charge unless you screw up tho' :thumbsup2), LeCellier the night after that (DF is 1/2 Canadian and a steak lover and I knew he wanted to eat there), the 'Ohana's Best Friend Breakfast the next morning (cuz I've heard that's a must!), and Chefs de France that night (cuz yum, and Mike wants to try there). :) I can't wait! You know...for the P.S., and then the day we get there in April! :yay::yay::yay:

[Sarah <3 Disney]

Sweet! What day? Mine's the 1st. :) Me too. I used to be jealous of my friend because she was born in July and I love rubies, but once I found out what mine was it was pretty much like, "Nah, I like mine." :) Haha, that's funny. So our rings will be similar in that sense. :)

The funny thing is, he'll probably get them for his guys, and his will mysteriously appear for him at some point. ;)

My birthday is the 12th, but my cousin's in the 1st! And my mom's is the 13th. Busy month for birthdays! ;)

[Sarah <3 Disney]

And just read your newest updates, everything sounds lovely! Glad you found some nice looking and affordable invites. And I love the photo of Mike's dad with one sneaker on and one dress shoe! :rotfl:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Haha, MINE is the 1st like I said! My brother's is the 30th, and one of my little cousin's is the 7th, and another two are the 23rd. My grandmother's was the 23rd too. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Haha, that was my dad. His dad actually put on both fancy shoes, lol. I love that picture too. :rotfl:

[Sarah <3 Disney]

Haha, that was my dad. His dad actually put on both fancy shoes, lol. I love that picture too. :rotfl:

Whoops! :rotfl: Too many men in a small space, gets confusing! ;)

And December is a busy month for you too! With Christmas in there, I am so poor by the end with all the presents I hafta buy! :rotfl:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

LOL, I KNOW! At least I get to buy Disney presents this year. :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I found a dress today to wear to the engagement shoot [did I mention we're doing one? Luckily our photographer mentioned the possibility of doing that the day of my makeup+hair trial so I don't waste the look (I was going to wash it off/wet my hair after originally), and my mom loved the idea :)] and rehearsal+dinner. :) Here's the link: http://www2.victoriassecret.com/commerce/onlineProductDisplay.vs?namespace=productDisplay&origin=onlineProductDisplay.jsp&event=display&prnbr=EF-218078&page=1&cgname=OSCLODRSVIL&rfnbr=2667 Click the one in white, and that's it. :) Still have to order it, but I'm gonna have to wait because someone stole my debit card information, so I can't use that card 'til I get a temporary. :\

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

LESS THAN 5MONTHS 'TIL MIKE&I (AND THERESA&MIKE) GET MARRIED! :yay: :yay: :yay:

In other news, we got our last guy fitted (besides our ringbearer, who we need to wait on since he is young=still growing) last night. :dance3: Here's the link to the updated album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2104286&id=34507361&l=629b7607ec Oh, and I don't think I put Mike in the first time I uploaded tux pics even tho' he was on that memory card. He wasn't in the album when I checked today, and those pics (and a couple more w/my dad) weren't in the same spot on the memory card. They're up now tho'! :)

Besides that, I am dying, I mean DYING to go to Disney. The semester is wrapping up, and luckily I have been able to concentrate on hmwk. (I still have the usual stuff due for one class at least for a little while), but other than that my mind is like Disney, Disney, DISNEY! I just can't wait to go. The thing is, this happened last yr. too around this time, except last year I wasn't waiting for our P.S. trip. This P.S. trip has like doubled the excitement for me. I think it's the cake...and the engagement shoot. Speaking of the engagement shoot, I ordered my rehearsal dinner dress (the one I put the link to in my last update). :) O yea, and our videographer got our deposit. :) We decided to go w/STVS, and we added on the webcast. :yay: O, and we took my mom to see the invitations, and she liked 'em, so we're gonna do those when we get back from Disney I think? :) O, and I made more ADR's for our P.S. trip. Our 2nd full day we're taking Mike's fam' to SciFi and my&Mike's 5th night we're meeting up w/one of his friends at Kouzzina. :lmao: I'm really excited about this, because I didn't even know Spoodles was gone until recently, and once I was over that (when I saw Kouzzina's menu), I wanted to go to Kouzzina so badly! So I'm really glad we have the time to go. :) It's kinda' funny we're meeting up w/Mike's friend that night too, because I've never met him before, and earlier that day is my hair+makeup trial, and then my engagement shoot, so I'll be all dolled up for our first meeting, lol. :flower3:

I think that's all the updates for now. I'll try to write again sooner rather than later. should have more to write after this weekend :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well I went home (to my parents' house) this past weekend because I wanted to "finally" get the Buffet Menu Tasting Checklist and P.S. documents completed (DF&I had gone over the P.S. documents back over the summer, and I had taken care of the Buffet Menu thing probably a month-ish ago, but I wanted to make sure I had everything right and answered questions I hadn't yet because I didn't know! LOL). It started out okay, I managed to go through all the paperwork w/them, and I was starting to copy over everything (I had questions and even a picture of a sunfish on the originals), but then my mom wanted to start dinner so I had to stop to "clean up" downstairs (move my stuff off a chair and table) and start serving. This was Saturday, as we had planned. I didn't even finish copying over everything until last night tho' because during dinner we watched a movie, and then after that I was tired, and THEN Sunday (yesterday) just got worse. The original plan had been to get up, get ready, pack, and head out. I had wanted to FINALLY go see the ring guy yesterday. Well, instead, when I wanted to get ready, I had to tell my mom some wedding things she had asked. That was fine, no problem...except that when I was up there (in the office), she started asking me things I HAD ALREADY TOLD HER! things SHE had called ME about ALREADY. So annoying. I mean I'm here (I left there last night) doing schoolwork, busy w/school, and she calls me to ask me things, fine...but then I come home and get re-asked because she never wrote them down?? ***? *** was the point of ever calling me to ask me if you weren't going to write them down??? ARRRGH! :scared: ::Breathes.:: Honestly, all of you who are paying for the wedding yourselves, yea, you have to pay for the wedding yourselves, but at least you don't have to answer money questions from anyone! So anytime you guys are stressed over having to pay for it yourselves, just think of that! LOL. I honestly can't remember (thank gawd) all the little things she got me stressed over. It was just every time I FINALLY went to go get ready, she had another question (and usually something I had already told her). Even after I finally started getting ready, second I came out of the shower I get talked to about the marriage license! Like come on! That's OUR thing! If she had asked about the PRICE, that would've been one thing, but she KNEW that. She was saying when we had to do it and it's like ***? You think I don't know? I had a timeline before she did! I'M VERY ON TOP OF THINGS! AGHHHH! :scared: ::Breathes.:: So I tell her I have a different date than that and go to try and finish getting ready, but of course she wants to know what that date is RIGHT THEN AND THERE. :mad: I told her, "I'M GETTING READY!", and then am "allowed" to finish, but I have to tell her once I'm done. The thing is, later when I was packing up my things downstairs and they were heading out to dinner, I was looking it up, and she hadn't even asked yet. She knew I was all showered and dressed and ready, and she had TOOOOTALLY forgotten! I told her then anyways, cuz honestly, I know either I would've gotten some annoying phone call later about it (and would she have written it down? WHO KNOWS!) or I could just get it out of the way w/since I had my organizer right there. A funny thing was when they asked when we were leaving when I was packing up, and I told her, SHE ASKED IF I WANTED TO GO TO DINNER W/THEM! HA! As if I wanted to deal w/any more possible questions. I had a MIGRAINE just from yesterday @ 2 on. I didn't even want to go to a restaurant w/DF cuz of the lights, let alone have that, plus questions. Even funnier, when DF&I were trying to figure out what to do for food, the only other option I could think of was using our free thing for a Papa Gino's pizza, but I was like, "Only if we can eat it in the car", because there was NO WAY I was going to chance bringing it back and having my parents walk in. *Sigh*. DF was so great tho'. He told me he loved me everytime I came back in my room, and tried to make me laugh in other ways at other times, and then when my parents finally left he just tried to de-stress me. I <3 him. :)

Did I mention I faxed the documents to Meri? just waiting for a confirmation from her that she got them :) DF was also nice enough to offer going to the ring guy today and then having a nice dinner. I'll probably take him up on that. ;)

[disneygal922]

Hey Lizzie!!! :wave2: I'm sorry your weekend was so stressful. I'll definitely have to check out your link to the pics. I can totally understand the frustration with having to answer the same question a bizillion times. :hug: Who are you using for a photographer? YAY for choosing STVS. Their videos are always fabulous. :thumbsup2 I can't believe we are under 5months. it's amazing how quickly time flies. :laughing:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Heyy! Thanks! :hug: Randy Chapman :) I know! 4ish month! :yay:

[disneygal922]

i'm sure you will LOVE Randy. I hear he's fabulous. I love his pics! Have you ever seen Lynn5700's pics? She got married in 2008 I believe, but she was the first Randy bride I saw and every one of her pics were amazing! There have been so many other amazing pics of his I've seen as well! :goodvibes i'm so excited for you!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I love him already! :rotfl: I had seen hers, but not on here 'til just now. Her pics were actually my favorite from (either) Randy's CD and/or website! I'm excited for me too! :rotfl2: and you! and everyone on here! :rotfl: I can't wait! :yay:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Meri got our Buffet Menu Tasting Checklist and P.S. documents! I can't wait to try the food and cake! popcorn::

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well, like the title says, DF&I picked out our wedding bands (like rings) and he put down a deposit on mine! :goodvibes We weren't even planning on spending any money, but o well! Another good thing is, I'm gonna be able to afford DF's ring. :woohoo: His is gonna be a titanium band, and mine is gonna be a white gold band w/5 Swiss blue topaz stones (my birth stone...I'm not a diamond girl...only reason my engagement ring has diamonds is cuz it was my grandmother's:love:), and the stones are gonna be covered (like not poking up so I can touch them like my promise and engagement rings and most rings w/stones). I'm so excited! :goodvibes Now I honestly don't know what we have left to do! (You know, besides finding favors and figuring out place cards. :))

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

O yea! In other news, my M.o.H. is coming home for the holidays! :goodvibes Of course she's planning on flying out here later on X-mas eve, arriving early X-mas day, and flying back Jan. 1st or 2nd (I'm flying out X-mas day for my P.S. and comin' home Jan. 1st), but we're gonna do everything we can to see each other! I'm pretty sure my flight doesn't leave for Disney 'til 8pm (or we arrive in Disney @ 8pm), so I should be able to see her before I leave, esp. considering I'll be all packed and ready to go since my semester will be over by the 17th @ noon. and if she doesn't leave for home 'til Jan. 2nd I'll DEF. be able to see her. :goodvibes O yea, did I mention I haven't seen her since last (like 2008) OcTOber??? :eek:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well, she's arriving X-mas morning, and departing Sunday, Jan. 3rd in the morning, so I will DEFINITELY get to see her! :goodvibes

[disneygal922]

YAY for wedding bands!!! :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

My rehearsal dinner/engagement shoot/possible mother-daughter b-day combo. dress came in the mail today! :woohoo: I can't wait to try it on! I may wear it to my mom and my combo. b-day dinner Sat. night (her b-day's tomorrow, mine is next Tues.). :) I'll be sure to put up pics after if I do!

In other news, less than a month 'til my M.o.H. comes home! :yay:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well, I'm back! I'm actually not having that Disney withdrawal I usually do because I know I'll be going back in less than 3 1/2months! :goodvibes

So first thing to report about our day heading down (X-mas day) is that when I went to show my id and boarding pass, the guy was like, "Do you have a temporary for this?" I was already ducked down zipping my backpack up again, so I was like, "Huh? No. Why would I" when he said, "You know your license's expired...", and I turned to my parents and was like, "but it can't be...Mike's doesn't...", when the guy showed me. I couldn't believe it because Mike's doesn't expire 'til his NEXT birthday and he's OLDER than me! I seriously think they screwed up on Mike's cuz he doesn't remember getting his license renewed at any ages that I didn't. LUCKILY, I had both my passport and school id w/me, so I was fine, but IMAGINE IF I DIDN'T! OMG...BRIDEZILLA RIGHT THERE, LOL. :rotfl:

Next problem was that when my parents and I got into Tampa, we found out that Mike and his family's flight from Baltimore to Orlando had been delayed. It still didn't seem like a problem because Mike made it seem like they would still land @ 7:40 I think and our reservation at Fulton's wasn't until 9:30. However, Mike and his family didn't end up getting to our hotel until like way close to 9...and that was w/o stopping at his family's hotel. They literally stopped at ours, him and his brother dragged their stuff up to my&Mike's room, and we all headed out. Then when we got out at Downtown, Mike&I sped-walked ahead. After that, everything was great. :) I of course felt horrible for showing up right before they stopped serving (like 10-15min. before), but they were great. It was as if we showed up on time. :) The king crab legs were DELICIOUS too. :) I think everyone had those except for Mike's brother, who had some form of meat (either steak or chicken, I can't remember).

DISNEY FULL DAY 1 (12/26)
So the first day we went to E.P.C.O.T. because my mom had made a reservation at Marrakesh(sp.?). Mike and his family and I attempted to get there for rope drop, but that didn't happen. We were really close tho' (like just after 8)! Mike&I traded in our A.P. vouchers for our A.P.s too. :) They gave Mike Mickey, and me Minnie, and the woman even gave us our Just Married pins for April! :) So we went in, and did Soarin' first. NO WAIT! After that, we went across and Mike and his brother did Mission: Space. I looked around the gift shop and hung out w/his dad. :) Next, we did Test Track. There was a little bit of a line for that, but not that bad, and Mike's dad liked it because of all the car stuff. After that...well I don't think I'd remember the order even if I looked at a map, but I know we did Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, cut through one side of Innoventions so we saw the "new" create-your-own-ride thing, went on The Land ride, had a bite to eat at Seasons (Mike&I shared the chicken, I can't remember what his fam' had), ummm...was that it? We did everything but Nemo and Imagination and Honey I Shrunk. :) O, and before Universe we stopped at the coffee stand and I got the BIGGEST CINNAMON BUN I HAVE EVER HAD. SO GOOD. :worship:

That's all I can write now, as I'm sick right now (yea...the Disney tours I give people wear me OUT! LOL), but I'll write more later. :) Next up: World Showcase!

[disneygal922]

YAY you're back! I can't wait to read all about your trip! Glad to hear you made it to Fulton's on time! I love King Crab but Mike hates seafood so we don't go to seafood places! maybe someday we'll go there.:laughing:

Oh and as for the expired license thing, I totally understand. This year my license expired on my bday and we were in disney for my bday. Luckily, IL has a renew by mail for drivers in good standing. I was able to get a sticker to renew my license for 4 years (you put it on the back of your license) ANYWAY, when we were on our way back to IL from FL the lady at the airport was like, 'um, hunny, your license expired 4 days ago!' i initially went WHAT?!?!?!!? then remembered oh yeah, check the back. it's renewed. she laughed, checked and let me through. I thought for a minute that I'd be stranded in Florida... not that that would be a problem for me!!! :laughing: So what i'm trying to say is... I completely understand!

Can't wait to hear more about you PS!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Hello again! So the World Showcase.... We started off in Canada because originally we were gonna go left to Mexico, but then I realized if we continued that way, we probably wouldn't make it to Canada (especially w/dinner in Morocco), and Mike's mom was Canadien, so we had to make it! :) So we did Canada first, where we met up w/my parents, then went to Mexico. :) I had a churro there, and got to speak to my churro lady in Spanish, and then we went to find the "new" tequila bar. Mike&I thought we were just gonna stop in for him to get a shot, but my parents ended up wanting to try the floats, and then Mike's brother and I wanted chips, so we ended up sitting down and getting all that plus Margaritas for Mike and his brother and taquitos for Mike. :) Towards the end of that, Mike's dad headed outside checkin' out ponchos, and then I did, and he ended up buying one for all of his family and soon-to-be-family. :) I've already worn mine twice here in MA. :) After that, we all went on the Mexico ride. definitely skipping that one next time
It was like *lalala* crazy action, *lalala* crazy action, w/like no real history like before. I admit it was kind of boring before, but they went a little overboard in appealing to little kids now. O yea, and before we even went into the building, we got to listen to the mariachi band. That was cool, because I had wanted to, but you know when you look at that times sheet when you enter the park @ 8am, you have no idea if you'll make it to Mexico when they come out, lol.
So after Mexico was...Norway! where I had the brilliant idea to get FastPasses. Of course my mom was like, "Noo, we'll never have time to get back", not looking at the FastPass END time, lol. So I was about to give up when she noticed and I grabbed everyone's park tickets and got them. :) After that, we went to see the China film. Of course there was a wait until the next showing, so we listened to the lady play the music, and I showed Mike and his fam' the warrior or w/e room, and then we headed in. :) Mike really liked that one, and it made me want to go to China w/my M.o.H. when she goes. Afterwards, we went to shop. I think that was our biggest shopping period. Then we headed back to go on the Norway ride! Mike was so funny about Norway because he was like, "It's scary!" cuz of how the ride is like, "Ahh! Trolls!, Ahh! Polar bears attacking!", lol, and then how the video is like, "Oh, look at the cute little kid...AHH SCARY VIKINGS!", lol. :rotfl: It was pretty funny w/him trying to explain to my parents (see: mom) about how he actually liked it despite him making fun of it.
Next was Germany, which we walked past [sorry, Mike! you will get your brotwurst(sp?), and stein(sp?) of beer in April!], and then Italy, which we also walked past (thank gawd), and then the American Adventure! There was a really cool guy in the rotunda who gave cool facts I had never known about the paintings in the rotunda. Like did you know that in the one in the upper left-hand corner from where you come in, there is a woman reading a book, and that book is also an attraction in Disney World? Mike loved the American Adventure too, except for the cheesy America song (which, of course, I love :lovestruc). Next was Japan, which we had to pass through because we had dinner at Marrakesh(sp?). After dinner, we watched Illuminations from Japan (thank gawd...my favorite place in the World Showcase to watch them from :)). From there, we went to the store at the International Gateway to pick up our packages, and then Mike's dad and brother went back towards Future World to their car, and the rest of us headed to the Boardwalk for ours. :)

Now I'm takin' another break, haha. Being sick wears me out easily. :sick: Next up: uh...Hollywood Studios/Magic Kindom park hopper day! :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So our 2nd full day we started off in Hollywood Studios. Once again, we tried for the rope drop, but were just a little late. No big deal tho', a Disney lady gave us FastPasses for the 11am car stunt show the second we walked in, so that was cool, and then we pretty much walked right on the Rockin' Rollercoaster, which was AWESOME since Mike&I will NEVER stand in that line again listening to that Aerosmith music, lol. I actually brought my i-Pod w/me that day just in case that happened, hahaha. :rotfl: After that, we did the Toy Story ride, which we also practically walked onto. The wait said 40 I believe, but we def. had just enough time to appreciate the line design before goin' up the stairs, down the stairs, and heading on. Mike&I actually grabbed the "PARTY OF 2?" call because I noticed how the seating was split up anyway, so I figured if we did that, and they did that, we'd all get on sooner...and it worked! :yay: After that we saw the car stunt show, which was AWESOME! It was all of our first times for that (did I mention Mike&I were w/his fam' again?), and I taped the whole thing. :) I loved all the fire toward the end. :) I honestly can't remember what we did next. Muppets? or did we do Muppets before the car show? lol
Well, I know we had lunch at Sci-Fi. We had a 2something reservation, but we were all hungry before then, and while we were gonna grab a snack, there was nothing good around snack-wise, so we just went to Sci-Fi early and were seated like less than 10minutes later. :) I had the BLT soup (of course), but w/pom. lemonade instead of the Oreo Cookie Blast alcoholic beverage I had in '08, lol. Mike's dad and brother liked it a lot, which was good. I think we met up w/my parents after that? I know we all did the Backlot Tour together. A Disney guy there was nice enough to give Mike's dad a towel to wipe his part of the seat, so if any of you sit over to the left and see that area's wet, be sure to ask! :) O yea, duh. When we were looking for our snack we were toward the Tower of Terror, and did that before lunch, lol. The wait for that wasn't that bad either. We got the picture for that one, and they zoomed in on just Mike, his brother, and I (Mike's dad didn't go on that one). I also showed them Prime Time before we met up w/my parents. O yea, and where we met up w/my parents was at the Great Movie Ride. We were gonna do The Little Mermaid all together as well, but everytime we all went to get in line, it was a 45min. wait, and Mike's fam' and I honestly couldn't wait that long when that day was a Hollywood Studios AND Magic Kingdom day...so off to the Magic Kingdom we went! :)

We actually got there pretty early considering we had basically just finished Hollywood. It was about 3 I think? definitely a good amount of time before sunset
The first thing we did was Pirates. Next we got FPs for Thunder. We passed Splash because we thought by the time we got through the line or FP time came up, it would be cold. Once again, I don't remember the order we did things, but I know we did the Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents. OMG, the Hall of Presidents is so much BETTER!...and I'm not just talking about the switch to Obama, hahaha :rotfl: The opening video is so nice and BEAUTIFUL! I really enjoyed it. :) What else did we do...hmmm...o! PhilharMagic, and It's a Small World, and the carousel. We also did Stitch's Great Escape before the fireworks, and then I rushed to Space Mountain the second they were done. O yea! and we had turkey legs right before Spectromagic started, which was nice, cuz I am all Spectromagiked out from last...er...2008, so this way Mike's dad could see but we were sitting inside at Peco's Pete or Bill or w/e, so I didn't have to stand and fully hear the music, lol.

FULL DAY 3: ANIMAL KINGDOM :)

So our next full day, we went to Animal Kingdom. You know the next part. We tried for rope drop, but were late, lol. This time we were about an hr. late because we ALL OVERSLEPT, lol. It was pretty funny, because my alarm had gone off, and I literally rolled over to hold Mike for a SECOND...and then fell back to sleep only to see the time as when we were supposed to BE at A.K. and sit straight up. Mike called his brother tho', and found out his dad was still sleeping. :rotfl: Thank gawd! So we all got ready as fast as we could, and were only about an hr. behind schedule. We did...Expedition Everest first I believe? I was really smart, and had them get in line while I checked the FP times. I think the wait was an hr. and FP was less, but there was a line for FPs up to the stairs going down to the shop. Luckily, they passed by me in their line, so I grabbed their park tickets and had them continue waiting in their line, just in case my line took a while. It didn't tho', and I actually gave my tip to someone else who used it, and I got our FPs and got them out of line and we headed to the safari line. Once I got them in line THERE, Mike's dad and I got out to get snacks. I got a cookies n cream Mickey ice-cream bar. The wait for that wasn't that bad, and we got the most AWESOME driver. He was so into it, it was hilarious! He was like, "AhHHHhHH! The POACHERS!" :rotfl: Mike&I were dying! After that...I got us FPs for Dinosaur while they went to get food at Restaurantosaurus. Then I joined them, we ate, and then headed to Everest. We did Dinosaur after that, and we also did the trail w/the tigers, and the other with the gorillas. Then we did the bug before our 1st time on Primeval Whirl. That was our easy A.K. day! We had dinner at Jiko that night. Before dinner, we (my parents, Mike&I) showed Mike's fam' around the lodge, and then my mom and I went to get Mike's fam' presents. We got Mike's dad a big hand-painted plate (I figured would be good for Thanksgiving, and really whenever Mike cooks dinner for them), and Mike's brother a cool 2010 A.K. mug w/the tree on the outside and all these animals, and the tree on the INSIDE on the bottom too. :) Dinner at Jiko was AWESOME of course. I had the shortribs, and stole some of my dad's mac+cheese (they really need to serve those together too :)). Beforehand, we shared the cheese plate, and I had the ostrich. :) Afterwards, we sat around one side of the fire inside. :)

FULL DAY 4: MAKEUP TRIAL, ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SHOOT, KOUZZINA

So our fourth full day, Mike's fam' left. We actually said goodbye to them the night before. Our fourth full day, Mike&I got to sleep late and go to the buffet breakfast before getting ready. :) so good
After that, we got ready for my makeup trial. I ironed both our things (my undershirt, dress, and Mike's shirt I had no idea I would have to iron, lol) with just enough time to get the board out of the way before Patricia showed up. We also had housekeeping take care of our room while I was in the shower. Well, Patricia was GREAT! There's only one picture up right now, but here it is: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110994&id=34507361&l=3f73e936e2
O yea, and here are pictures from the safari: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111709&id=34507361&l=9bd4489346
Mike was so funny. He couldn't take his eyes off of me for most of the rest of the day once the makeup was done. :) Once she was done, Mike&I cleaned up a little, and then headed to the YC to meet up w/Randy. We were a little early, but just hung around the lobby. O, and the captain guy was there when we came in, and said "Welcome home!" when we came in, which was so funny to me, because the YC really is my 3rd home. :) Randy was there right about @ 4 like we had planned, and we chatted and headed out. We took pictures ALL AROUND THE BOARDWALK! SO COOL! He started us near the lighthouse, and then took us toward the gazebo, then up over the bridge, some pics at a table, some at the photo booth, some at the tree on the green near the hotel (w/Mike picking me up "over the treshold" style), uh...some at SBP, some on the bridge, some under the bridge, some on the beach w/Mike getting WAY too close to the water (like he stepped in the water at one point), some w/me writing our names+wedding date in the sand in a heart, and then back toward the lighthouse. It was a lot of fun. :) Afterwards, Mike&I were hungry, so we tried to get in early at Kouzzina, but we would've had to wait 40min. I think, we so just got pizza at the Boardwalk walk-up which was SO GOOD! def. gettin' some there during our honeymoon! :lovestruc After that, it was time for dinner! Kouzzina was sooooooooooooooo good! and sooooo much fun! :) O! and for that res. I had put down that I had allergies (I'm allergic to melons, yogurt, lemons, etc.etc.), and the chef came over! She was so helpful because Mike&I ordered the grape leaves but it turns out there was lemon in that, so she saved me! :) I had the Greek lasagna for dinner (can't remember the Greek name, but SO GOOD!), and Mike had the flank steak I think...or strip steak...I can't remember, but he really liked it. :) My parents joined us during out dessert (baklava, of course), and they had coffee w/Mike. After that, we headed out.

Next up: Hollywood Studios turned free day! = M.K. and H.S. w/hotel hopping! :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So our 5th full day we were originally scheduled to have "dinner" at The Brown Derby at like 2 or 3ish cuz it was w/the Fantasmic package. Mike&I knew we had some time tho', so a couple days before I made a breakfast res. for us at Kona Cafe (yea, Tonga Toast, that's right!). :cool1: We had never had it before, and it was on my list of food to try, so yea. :) So our plan was to have breakfast, have some time in the MK, then meet up w/my parents for "dinner" at The Brown Derby. Mike had the Big Kahuna breakfast, and 100% Kona coffee, and I had Lilikoi juice which I was sooooooo excited to see on the menu cuz the last time I had had it was in Hawaii. :) Here are pics from breakfast: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111722&id=34507361&l=9fefa98981
The breakfast pics start w/the pic of the menu. :) Mike loved the Polynesian, which makes me want to stay there when we have the money. :) After breakfast we took a look in the shops, and then got on the monorail. Before the MK, we ended-up getting off at the GF cuz I wanted to check out Franck's before our P.S. the next day. Before we even checked that out we checked out the gingerbread house, and I bought some shingles and an dark chocolate covered Oreo pop for my dad (and since it was 2-for-1, got a white-chocolate covered one for myself!). We ended-up seeing the end of the tea too, so we heard this lady sing "When You Wish Upon a Star" I believe, really beautifully, as well as Sleeping Beauty and her prince. :) Pretty cool. After that, we headed to Franck's and I took some pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112258&id=34507361&l=945075fb01
After that, we got back on the monorail and went to the MK. We got a locker cuz it was actually hot out that day :goodvibes, and then got in line for Tom Sawyer Island. While waiting, the Princess Tiana Showboat jubilee(sp?) was going on: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112259&id=34507361&l=0e666cbc26 (3rd pic on) We did Tom Sawyer island, which was a lot of fun. It made me REALLY feel like a kid again, and it was kind of a nice get away from the usual Disney stuff (like the CROWDS!). :) On our way back, my dad called to see if we were set on The Brown Derby. All of us (including my parents) had had a big breakfast, and theirs was even later (close to an hr. later I think), and I guess w/the Fantasmic package, everyone HAS to pay $50, and that's not including alcohol, and Mike&I were already thinking of just having apps....so yea. We scratched that "dinner". It kinda' stunk because Mike&I would've gotten FPs for Splash that would've been before "too cold time", and by the time we got back on the mainland (haha) it would've been too cold time. O, and the Thunder FP guy wouldn't take our FPs from Sunday even tho' the ride had broken down Sunday. Booo! We had our Just Engaged pins on at this moment too (I crossed out the Just and put +getting married here! underneath, lol)! So yea, after T.S.I. we went on the railroad. We went alllllll around, and talked to the other people on the train, and then got off at Toontown Fair. We saw Mickey's house, and the make-your-own-Potato Head area I had NEVER known about, and then headed into Tomorrowland. We ended-up getting FPs for Buzz for later (like 9:30) cuz we figured we'd head out, then head back in, and while getting those, we got special FPs for the C.o.P. So we went on that, and then headed out. We were gonna go to Downtown Disney from there cuz I wanted to make a "I'm getting married this year" t-shirt, but found out that there aren't any buses directly there, so I figured, "Hey, let's go check out a hotel!" since we had to go to a hotel to switch anyway. I took us to All-Star Movies. I think Mike got a picture of me in the bridal ears at the gift shop there, and then we actually went to the arcade and played Guitar Hero (which I had actually never played before). I also did basketball where I got some tickets, and Mike played a flying game where the seat moved, and then Space Invaders. In the end we had 6 tickets which we traded in for 2 pieces of candy, lol. It was pretty cute. :hug: After that, we took some pics around the hotel before heading out. We ended up going to Hollywood Studios from there cuz we were getting hungry and had planned on trying to get in to Prime Time even tho' when I had called when we were in line for the train, everything was booked (everything like there, and EVERYWHERE in E.P.C.O.T.). However, when we got to Prime Time, even w/our buttons on, we were turned away. I guess they really do stick to their reservations! We checked Mama Melrose too, but same thing, so we ate at Pizza Planet. They have my salad there now tho' (caprese), so I was pretty happy. Plus, the food there isn't that bad! :) After, we went to see what we could do in the Studios. We checked the board, and I remembered about Fantasmic, and it said there was an 8 (I believe) show, and I said, "We could do Fantasmic" when the board guy was like, "If you hurry, you could still make it!"...so we hurried, lol. We not only hurried to the entrance, but we then ran past people all the way to our seats, haha. We ended up towards the left, which people seem to think is bad cuz it's the last seated, but it was great! We were RIGHT NEAR the fireworks! I think people think it's bad cuz it's the last to exit, but we ducked under ropes at one point and then got out pretty quickly. :) Mike really liked Fantasmic too. :) After that we headed out and back to the M.K. We ended up taking a bus to a hotel first again cuz the line to the M.K. was too long. This time I figured we'd check out the campgrounds cuz we plan on staying there next after our Disneymoon. :) It was funny once we got off and switched to the bus that takes people w/in the campgrounds, because the guy was like, "Where to?", and of course I had no idea about site #s, so I just said, "...the Hoop-de-Doo Revue area!", lol. :rotfl2: So we got off there, peeked into Hoop-de-Doo which was actually just starting, and then headed toward the water transportation. The water show I had TOTALLY forgotten about was just starting! O, and Mike was totally excited when he found out we'd get to drive golf carts if we stayed there, haha. I loved our boat ride to the M.K. too. We had no idea if we would make it there in time for our FPs while waiting because there was an extra wait for the boat to get there due to the fireworks, but we didn't care. It was just so nice and quiet and dark out there, and there were some fun kids we were talking to who were trying to guess our ages, lol. The boat ride was so nice because it's even darker and quieter once you get out in the water. :) When we got to the M.K. they had us go a "special" way...exiting the park through a gate to a parking lot I had never seen before! LOL. At that point we saw "celebrate" or something in lights on another gate/fence thing, and I was like, "Hmm". Then we heard people talking about special fireworks! I looked at the times guide I had gotten our first trip in, and found out the preview N.Y.E. fireworks were that night! So after Buzz, in which Mike beat me (so now we're tied ;)), we hung around for the fireworks. :) We ended-up heading toward the front of the castle, and stood by the popcorn stand diagonally across from the times board. It was so much fun! They had music, and Disney people dancing right until things started, and Mike&I were right along w/'em! The fireworks were AMAZING! At one point there were fireworks both in front and behind us, and then later there were fireworks ALL AROUND US! I tried to tape it, but my tape was full and my battery died, lol (figures). I got some on my dig. cam., but have yet to check that out since, lol.
and that was our day! :)

Next up: menu tasting and P.S. day! FInally! :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

The morning of New Year's Eve I woke up w/my throat not feeling that well. I got up anyway and got ready for our menu tasting. For some reason my mom thought it was @ 10 and woke me up before my alarm was set to go off, but it was @ 10:30. We went into the convention center at The Yacht Club and waited for Meri. While waiting, we noticed the electronic sign board thingy and I waited to see if we were up there, and we were! Right about then was when Meri came in. It was so nice to finally meet her! She took us down to a different room than was listed on the board because the carpets were being redone. It was so pretty in the entire convention center tho'! When we got into our room, I had NO IDEA it would be like that. High ceilings, table all done, servers and chefs...wow...so formal! Right away we picked our napkin fold which is called the Texas star I think (although I call it the Sydney opera house, lol). After that, we met our chefs and server. One of the chefs was actually from Dorchester (a part of MA if you don't know, lol), where my dad grew up! That was pretty cool, and he liked my BoSox cell phone charm. We're gonna have the other chef tho', who was really cool cuz he remembered my allergies. Everytime we talked to him, he was like, "No melons!", lol. For food, we started w/a red pepper tomato soup which was SO GOOD. Mike's actually gonna have his spicier, and they're gonna leave stuff to make it spicier next to it for other people. Here are some pics from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112261&id=34507361&l=5b7a0621f0 After the soup, we had a reg. salad, which was still so good (the dressings)! Next was a seafood salad, which was still so good despite the name. :) Then we had the lamb and mahi mahi w/veggies. Everything was SO GOOD! :)
After that, we had some time before our P.S. @ 1 (I believe). Although Meri said to take a cab, which I wanted to do because she said to take a car because taking Disney transportation might be close...we took Disney transportation. I think we took a bus to the M.K., then headed over to the monorail. Of course my mom was being ridiculous and thought she would need her pass for some reason to get on the monorail (I have no idea), but I guided them to where we needed to get on, and we had no problem. Then we got off at the G.F. and Mike&I headed ahead to Franck's, and right there was Meri. :) We headed in and looked around, and my mom actually said, "Do you really need a cake?" I couldn't believe it. Of all things, I think I want a cake the most. Luckily my dad and I quieted her. After that, we headed into the P.S. room I had no idea about. It was so nice! Then we started talking about all the wedding stuff: the ceremony, the reception, the music, etc.etc.etc. She got that I didn't want the private fireworks (which I found out cost $4,000), or major Domo, and that I wanted my i-Pod like EVERYwhere, lol. I honestly can't remember what non-flower stuff we got down, except that my parents talked to her about the alcohol stuff (DF&I honestly didn't care if there was no booze at all, except that I wanted something to toast w/, lol). I feel like that packet we had to fill out and send in before the P.S. really took care of all the non-floral stuff. I feel like we just went over and made sure that was all we wanted. :) Once floral came in, we decided on a lot of stuff that hadn't really been decided on. Everyone's having calla lillies except for the single red rose on a chair in memory of Mike's mom. My calla lillies will be red with a red wrap and a white Swarvarski(sp?) crystal hidden Mickey. All my girls will have ivory calla lillies w/an ivory wrap and red w/e (lol) crystal hidden Mickeys. The women (my mom and aunts and grandmother) will have similar ones, but corsages. Mike is gonna have a red buttonaire(sp?) I think, w/an ivory (I think) hidden Mickey. I think the dads are gonna have ivory buttonaires(sp?). For the gazebo, we're just having a flowy piece of material strewn across the top that falls at the sides. We nixed the unity candle because Disney can't guarantee they'll all stay lit (and no memory candle for the same reason), so right now it looks like we're going w/the sand ceremony (WHICH I STILL NEED TO TELL OUR OFFICIANT - caps and large so I remember). Ummm...yea, so if we stick w/the sand, we're using Disney's stuff cuz 1) why not, and 2) it'll stay sealed on the plane. O! and our bridal party is gonna be standing inside the gazebo, like around the inside. Umm...o yea! We got our favors/place cards taken care of too! We're goin' w/the Mickey head luggage tags (red w/black writing in the Disney font) w/our names, Disney Fairytale Weddings, and our wedding date on the front, and then the back we'll put the guest's name and table # (but they'll be able to put their name and address there later like a reg. luggage tag). :) For the table #s, we're just going w/the Disney stands and #s. O, and for the table "decor" we're not going as over-the-top w/the Lady&The Tramp thing as originally planned. All the tables are gonna have plain ivory tablecloths and we're going w/the reg. chairs. For the centerpieces we're doing the Lady&The Tramp pasta ones tho'. :) and for our sweetheart chairs, we're having red sashes :) We're also having our sweetheart table more in w/the guests' tables, opp. the dance floor. O, we also moved the start of our reception closer to the end of our ceremony since Meri didn't think we needed that much time in-between since the locations are as close to each other as I think they can be, lol. O! and we're having bubbles for our exit at the ceremony, and we're having Fluffetti or w/e (confetti shooters) at the end of our reception for our guests :) O gawd, and the cake! I honestly forgot about the cake, hahahahahaha. :rotfl: We're doing the chocolate strawberry swirl one we've wanted since I saw the cake pictures on here. :) It's not going to be as many tiers tho', and we're doing red velvet w/buttercream filling. :) There are pictures of the cake tasting tray on the last link I left on here too. :) I think that's it! I honestly feel like we have nothing left to do but programs (enlarged again so I remember, cuz I was honestly feeling like we were all set 'til I thought about typing that sentence, lol :rotfl2:).

So the rest of the day.... After the P.S., we headed to E.P.C.O.T. We made it through the crowds and went to Norway so I could buy my brother a birthday present (his birthday was the day before), and then we got a snack (which an actual Norweigan ordered for me!). After that we just headed out cuz it was really crowded and we had dinner reservations at The Flying Fish at like 7:50 I think (and by this time it was dark). Of course we ended up on the Boardwalk like 1/2 an hr. early, and by this time I think 2 surrey bikes had already passed us, so I asked Mike if he wanted to go on one w/me. My legs were blah from walking, and I felt like moving them in a different way would help, so off we went on our bike! The surrey guy was like, "You're gonna be the driver, is that okay w/you?" when I got in on the driver's side, and I honestly wasn't sure at first because the last time I was on one I just peddled, hahaha. :rotfl: I just went w/it tho', cuz I figured, what the hell, lol. I think we did pretty well too. Mike could've rung the bell more, but o well...we didn't run over anyone. ;) It was a lot of fun too. O yea! and before we went into E.P.C.O.T. we stopped at the Beach Club cuz that's where we had left our car, and DF&I went into the giftshop cuz I needed cough drops by then, and we ended-up talking to the cashier there. We were still wearing our pins, so she congratulated us and asked about our wedding, and we told her so much, lol. She was so nice and wished us the best wedding ever, and then when we were on our surrey bike later, we passed her (she was going to sell lighted things at a cart), and so Mike rang the bell and was like, "Hi again!" and she was like, "They're just the cutest couple ever!" to the other cart lady, lol. :hug: So yea...we rode our surrey, and ended-up seeing the early fireworks too! We caught them from both bridges. :) Once we returned, it was time to check-in for dinner. :) While waiting, we listened to the music that was going on at the lawn at the hotel. Then we saw my parents! They waited inside, so then we went inside, and ended-up at the bar opposite them. It was there where I remembered to try the Fairy Tale cuvee I thought I might want at the wedding. It was sooo good! Mike&I shared a glass. :) Once seated, we had the cheese plate and mussels (so good!). I also had my caprese salad. :) Mike&I left a lot to dance on the lawn too, hahaha. :dance3: After dinner, we decided not to go into E.P.C.O.T., and Mike&I headed over to ADH once the music was done on the lawn cuz that's where the DJ at the lawn said was best to see the fireworks. I got kind of bored tho', so we headed to the bridge next to ADH where there was a better view. Then I got bored again just before midnight, lol, and we tried to get into ADH. Turned out there was a $35 cover for a ticket. Um...no? Why would we pay $35 each JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT when @ midnight there would be music on the lawn again?? So we stood outside ADH by the tv showing the ball drop and the countdown, and waited 'til midnight. :) I actually liked our spot...even more than the yr. before (prob' cuz the yr. before we were w/my parents). We kissed at midnight, and then were immediately like, "We're getting married this year!" :goodvibes I love this yr. :) I honestly don't think I need to write about our last day. None of it was in Disney for me, lol. Mike left so he wouldn't have been able to make our Swan breakfast anyway, and I was sick, so I didn't make it, lol. So I'll write more later! :) Hopefully the next update will be programs!

[disneygal922]

Lizzie! :wave2: Your trip sounds like it was awesome! Sorry your throat wasn't feeling well on NYE. the pic you have of the castle fireworks is amazing. Your planning session seems like it was a lot of fun. Everything sounds great. Your cake will be awesome. how many tiers are you having?

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well, we sent the big check today!

Theresa- Our trip WAS awesome! :goodvibes Thanks. I'm actually still kinda' sick, and still on meds, lol. It was all worth it tho'! :goodvibes Mike took that picture! I was amazed when I saw it! It reminded me of the fireworks pics in one of my family's old Disney books. The P.S. was def. fun. Thanks! I think it's gonna end up being 2 tiers because we're not gonna take the top "home" since the thought of eating it for breakfast the next morning actually isn't that appealing to me (plus we're planning on doing a goodbye breakfast), and I don't think it would make it home home well.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well I haven't updated in like a month, but I am DYYYYYYYIN' for it to be the night of April 16th. That'll be our first night in Disney for our wedding trip. :) As much as I'm excited about our bachelorette/bachelor party the next day (we want to go to Islands of Adventure/Universal/CityWalk now and 2 of my girls know already), I'm excited for the night of the 16th cuz Mike gets in after me and after all the restaurants stop serving, so he gets to have a room service meal, and I think it'll just be cute/romantic w/us in our room havin' room service at the table, lol. :lovestruc We do still have a lot to do tho'. We still have to go over the B.E.O. We're going to do that today and/or tomorrow. The reason we haven't gotten to that yet is that my grandmother got worse since we got back from our P.S. trip. I don't think I ever mentioned it on here, but she had cancer. When we got back, I think starting in the middle or towards the end of Jan., she just started to get worse and worse. She passed away last Thursday. The wake was Monday (my dad's birthday), and the funeral was Tuesday, so now that that's all over, it's time to get back to wedding stuff. The thing that sucks is that we'll be going over the B.E.O. between services. My cousin's father's memorial service is Saturday. He passed away from cancer too...and on the same day as my grandmother. So yea, that's pretty much why I haven't updated lately. They're both not suffering now tho', and my grandmother gave me a necklace that my grandfather gave her to wear the day of, so I have that. :) Umm...we're also doing the invitations Friday. I know, we're so behind on those! We really aren't tho' cuz we weren't planning on sending them out 'til this week anyway...but I mean we haven't even gotten the free mock-up(sp?). I think we could still get 'em out Sat. tho' if we get the mock-up(sp?) Friday as well as go back and get them printed up. I mean it wouldn't be that bad to get 'em out Sat. when we originally planned on Tues. :) Besides those things, I still have to get the music set. We have all the songs set for the ceremony, so that's just a matter of getting them on my i-Pod, but I still need to go over the reception music. :) That's all I can think of/want to write for now. I'll hopefully update more after we go over the B.E.O. and/or take care of the invitations.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Let me just start off by writing, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED A MONTH FROM TODAY! :yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::goodvibes

Okay, now that I got that out of my system (:P), on to what's been accomplished since my last post.
The invitations got done and were sent out and we've gotten back a few response cards. :) Sadly, the first one we got back was a no because it was from one of my cousins and his family and they can't go because his wife is having a baby 11days before the wedding. The funny thing is, we already knew that, so I honestly don't even know why my mom sent a response card w/theirs. O well. I thought of a really good post-wedding project for those too. I'm gonna stick all of them (minus the no, the one of someone I don't want there, and the one of someone who's been driving me crazy) on a matte board or something and frame it to put up in my&DF's place. :)
So besides that, my girls finally booked their hotel and they all have their flights now. :) One of Mike's groomsmen booked his room before them, as did some of our guests, but we still have Mike's best man, other groomsman, and uncle who still need to book their room. Mike's best man is gonna book that later today. :)
Ummm...what else. My mom sent out our check yesterday for what we owe over the minimum. We did pretty well...only about $1,000 over. :)
One of my girls was talking about how she wanted to go into one of the parks before our rehearsal earlier, and then one of Mike's groomsmen was, so he, Mike&I, and Mike's brother are gonna go into E.P.C.O.T. beforehand, and hopefully my girl'll join me (I sent her a message on FB about it cuz she had already signed off AIM, lol). :)
O yea! I also have 2 bridal luncheon's scheduled! The first one's gonna be the 27th and it's for my guests. The second one's gonna be April 3rd (my brother's adoption day, but he's cool w/it, it wasn't my idea) for DF's guests. :) I'm wicked excited about those. :)
O yea, we met our minimum room night # too. :)
I think that's it for now. I'm just so excited now that we've met our minimum room night #. That was a big stressor for me, so now I'm just looking forward to everything. I know I still have to get the music together on my iPod, but I know I can do that in the time I have left. Besides that, I'm just so ready to get down there! :) O yea, I had my final fitting too! I FIInally got to see what I'll look like in my dress AND veil. :) Of course now I can't wait to see what I look like in all that w/my hair and makeup done. :) The 16th-18th have to happen first tho', and I'm looking forward to those days too. :)
Okay, so NOW I think that's it. :) So excited! :goodvibes

EDIT: OMG, I just posted this and looked at it and realized how many smileys I have! Can you tell I'm excited? LOL.

[disneygal922]

YAY FOR ONE MONTH!!!!! I can't believe how close we are!! Have you mailed away for your license yet? We just put our notarized application in the mail on Wednesday.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I know! :D Yup! That's one thing I forgot to write about. We put our notarized stuff in the mail Wednesday too! LMAO! right before the 8am pickup! :D We seriously are wedding date twins, lmao. In less than a month we will both be married to our Mikes, haha. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well the first post-engagement present has officially been purchased! Someone got us our luggage! :D Now I'm so excited to see who got it for us! Maybe we'll find out on Saturday! :)

In other news, I forgot to mention I had met Mike's mom's best friend, her husband, and his sister before the last post. For some reason I hadn't met them before, and Mike only started saying I needed to meet them when we knew we were going to invite them (when of course I wanted to meet them anyway, lol). So yea, I met them before the last post, and I met their daughter (well...DF's mom's best friend's and best friend's husband's daughter), and her daughters last night, along w/her husband who I had already met probably in 2006 or '07 by chance (DF&I were in the town center by my old college and he pulled up). I'm so glad I got to meet them before the wedding, and before the luncheons as well. They're all so excited to go to Disney, and DF's mom's best friend's daughter told me how excited her daughters are to go to a Disney wedding. That made me realize how cool that is. I was only lucky enough to see Disney weddings from my balcony at the YC when I was around their ages, and they get to BE at one! I remember when I saw the ones I saw how much I wished I could go to the receptions, and they GET to go to one! LOL.

O yea, and one more of our guests supposedly booked on Friday. I'll see that in the room block report tomorrow. :)

TTYL later!
~Lizzie :)

[amyy]

I would love to have the link to your wedding sneakers. What a great idea!!

Have a wonderful wedding.

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I just PMd it to you. :) (DF has our P.J. link so I don't post stuff like that on here, haha.) Thanks! I got it from Father of the Bride and then just had to do some online searching. :)

Thanks!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Okay, so besides the luggage, on that saame day, I saw we got a nonstick popover pan, calzone mold, Chef’n Salad Dressing Emulsifier, chocolate-chocolate chip pancake+waffle mix, Sprinkles red velvet mix, insulated cookie sheet, Persian lime candle, countertop spray, dish soap, hand lotion, and hand soap; wood servers, Ninja food processor, hand towels, and our microwave. Monday I found out one of my girls got us our present. She wasn't going to tell me, except that the one we had registered for was discontinued where she went, so she had to get another brand, so she wanted me to know so that I could take the one we had registered for off our registry. Soo...she got us our chocolate fountain! :) I told her we'd invite her over the first time we used it. :) Besides that, yesterday I noticed someone got us some of our bath towels! :)
Since the last post, we've gotten more response cards too. I dunno if I've said this, but I dunno what I'm gonna do once they all come in. Hearing the mail come every day has definitely been exciting, and that's gonna end once we get them all. I say disneygal922 and I become penpals after we get back from Disney, haha.
Other news: I got our 4week room block update. We're way over the minimum. :) Also, the person who said they booked did, it just didn't show up in the original 4week room block update we received because she didn't book through the room block (*sigh*). It still counted towards our minimum tho'. :) This just made me think of something to add to my list of things to do. That's at the bottom. Underneath that is a list of things I want to do during our Disneymoon.
I also got a dress for Cali. Grill. I'll post a picture of that later. I want to post a picture of our invitations too.
O yea, we got a call yesterday saying my dress is ready (dunno if I mentioned this, but we had gotten it pressed). We're (my mom and I) picking it up Thurs. Next step: bring it back to the woman who altered it to hold 'til we ship it.
In other news, wicked excited for my first bridal luncheon Sat. :) I feel like it's never gonna get here, although it's Wed. already (and only 23days until we leave).
That's it for now!

THINGS I STILL NEED TO DO:
-make sure all guests that need to have booked their Magical Express rides (see if you can find out who hasn't via Kristen)
-tell Ron we're eliminating the unity candle finally
-find out if Ron wants the marriage license at the rehearsal or wedding
-programs
-place cards
-music (start today?)
-buy lingerie
-buy 2more dresses for the bridal luncheons (1 before Sat....*sigh*)
-buy another dress for Bistro de Paris
-ask Mom where she put my Colombian anklet
-ask Mom how we're getting the dress BACK here (Yea...didn't think of that 'til last night. :sad2:)
-buy matte board [and pen(s)?]
-get a poncho for Mike at the camping area of Wal*Mart
-tell Mike to bring his camera to bridal luncheon Sat.
-buy disposable underwater cam. for Blizzard Beach (Do those even exist anymore?)
-buy present for Meri
-call MW about pick up dates and who's getting what
-look into presents for parents
-copy this list onto paper and stick on desk

THINGS I WANT TO DO DURING OUR DISNEYMOON:
-Fantasia Gardens
-hang at the pool
-breakfast at Kouzzina?
-pizza on the Boardwalk
-searaycers or w/e
-GET GRAND MARNIER DRINK IN FRANCE FINALLY
-DisneyQuest?
-copy this list into calendar

[disneygal922]

I say disneygal922 and I become penpals after we get back from Disney, haha.


I used to love having a penpal! Then that pesky thing called email came around and ruined the love of snail mail for everyone! :laughing:

In regards to the underwater disposable camera, they do still make them. I don't know if you have Walgreens in your area but they sell them. and i think CVS does too, not sure though.

Have fun at your bridal luncheon on Saturday! :wizard:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Me too! Becoming penpals is actually how my MoH and I remained friends (she moved away in the 4th or 5th grade, and that's how we kept in contact for the most part 'til she came back in the 7th).

O good. We have both actually! I'll check the CVS in the mall today (going lingerie shopping w/one of my bride's ladies for the wedding night :)).

Thanks!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well my first bridal luncheon was yesterday! It was a lot of fun. My mom did everything so nice. :) At one point my mom's friend Susan who was there asked if another toast should be made, so I told Mike he should make a toast to my mom to thank her for everything. I dunno if I mentioned it, but this first one was for my guests (next one's for Mike's guests). When I was sprinkling colored stars around the table (my mom got 'em cuz of "When You Wish Upon a Star", lol), I was thinking of how nice it would've been if my grandmother was coming. I knew she was there in spirit tho'. :)
Ummm...so we got a lotta' presents. Of course the first present was for Mike from one of my girls, and it was the chocolate body paint from Vicki's. I was trying to show it to him w/o anyone seeing it, but of course since he was supposed to read everything, he read it, lol. Everyone got a kick out of that, and I caught my older cousin Jen laughing, lol. Mike of course was like, "Body paint...for the body of food, of course", lol. We also got a toaster from my neighbors who couldn't make it, a bubble foot spa from my cousin Erin, luggage from my two aunts Betty-Ann and Terry, Jen, and my cousin-in-law Colleen who couldn't make it; graham cracker pankcake/waffle mix and a pan to make 'em in from my brother's g/f Ilana, uhh...a Macy*s gift card from one of my girls, a chocolate fountain from my other girl, a Target gift card from my great aunt, a check for $60 from one of my cousins who spent a lot of time w/my grandmother, a cheese set and a really nice glass plate for it from my mom's friend, sheets from another cousin, and my mom got me a really nice engraved jewelry box. That one meant a lot. :)
O yea, and I think since the last post we got our turkey roast from my M.o.H. :)
My girls (my M.o.H. obviously couldn't be there cuz she lives in CA) were so good at the luncheon too. Casey grabbed all the ribbons and bows from me, and got presents ready for Mike&I to open, and Meg grabbed all the cards from Mike to write them down. :)

So the annoying thing...after a lovely bridal luncheon, I came home to find the mail. We got our Magical Express stuff (YAY!), but before I saw that, I saw an envelope from the marriage license people. I was so excited, thinking our marriage license had arrived, but when I opened it, it was all the stuff we had sent them. I was really confused until I looked through it and saw something highlighted. The %)#(%()#* notary forgot to sign a spot. It's so dumb that the people didn't accept it too because she had signed not only another spot on that form, but on the other form. :mad: I was just so annoyed (and still am pretty annoyed) that we basically did all the work of getting driven to lawyer's office, starving on the way back, when now something's missing. We better get it back in time.

*Sigh*, in other news, I got some stuff done, so here are the updated lists:
THINGS I STILL NEED TO DO:
-make sure all guests that need to have booked their Magical Express rides (see if you can find out who hasn't via Kristen)
-programs
-FINISH music (make sure there's enough dinner music, reg. dance music, get record music on CD and then onto iPod)
-make sure Laura got last e-mail
-buy matte board [and pen(s)?]
-get a poncho for Mike at the camping area of Wal*Mart
-tell Mike to bring his camera again to the other bridal luncheon Sat.
-buy disposable underwater cam. for Blizzard Beach from Walgreens (Thanks, Theresa!)
-buy present for Meri
-call MW about pick up dates and who's getting what
-look into presents for parents
-copy this list onto paper and stick on desk

THINGS I WANT TO DO DURING OUR DISNEYMOON:
-Fantasia Gardens
-hang at the pool
-breakfast at Kouzzina?
-pizza on the Boardwalk
-searaycers or w/e
-GET GRAND MARNIER DRINK IN FRANCE FINALLY
-DisneyQuest?
-Beaches&Cream
-arcade
-copy this list into calendar

Did I mention DF&I are excited to hear non-X-mas Disney ONLY music? He's only heard the X-mas music, and I haven't heard non-X-mas Disney music I think since the LAST time I went in April!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Well, we arrived! :goodvibes We arrived on Friday actually! :) I guess I'll have to update what happened between my last post and our arriving when I get home, haha (::is a bad P.J.er :scared:). :lmao: Anyway, we arrived and uh...I dunno, I wanna talk about our first full day, haha! It was our bachelorette/bachelor party and we went to Universal! We ended up arriving a little later than planned (almost noon instead of 9 when they opened), and I.M.H.O. I think Universal Studios is kind of outdated, so we just got a 1 day, 1 park ticket for Islands of Adventure. :) It was mostly cuz it saved money, plus M.H.O. :) It was a good thing too, because when my M.o.H. and one of my girls arrived a little after we did (they're staying at P.O.F.Q. and we're at the Y.C.), my girl was like, "Lizzie, I dunno if I can spend [the $107 or w/e it was], I just spent [$100?] on my Disney ticket", and then she realized the 1 day, ONE park ticket was cheaper. :) They actually ended up finding someone w/discounted tickets who asked if they wanted them so they got I think 3 for the price of one! (Figures...this is the 2nd time friends of mine have gotten cheaper tickets than me cuz I got them a little ahead of time...last time was at Six Flags New England :headache:. O well tho'! It was worth the $77 or w/e! :)) Sooo...yea, they met us in line at Hulk. :) My M.o.H. didn't go on, but she did wait in line w/us. Hulk was even better than I remembered it. I knew I LIKED it, but I honestly didn't remember exactly how it was, haha. By the time we got on (which was only supposedly a 50min. wait, although I think it was shorter than that), I forgot that it launched you, so when it did, I was like, "WHOAAA!", lol. :rotfl: After that, we got a bite to eat at Comic Strip Cafe (where I went last time, haha). Then we backtracked and did Spider-Man. D.F. was like a little kid in the line and on the ride. It was so cute! :hug: When we were first in line Marvel characters came by on their little off-roading vehicles (can't remember what they're called right now), and when I pointed them out to D.F., he rushed to get his camera ready. They went a little past the line tho', so that their backs were turned to us, and my girl was like, "Go get it! Hurry!" to him, so he hurried over all cute like an excited little kid to get pictures of them. :lovestruc The ride was REALLY GOOD too. I can't remember the order of what we did next, but we also did Jurassic Park...love that ride. :) It was so fun to take D.F. on it too cuz he loves J.P. as well. :) and our picture was hilARRRious cuz I was the only one w/my arms up and everyone else looked pretty scared, lmao. :rotfl:

Well, I gtg cuz it's time to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, but I'll update more when I can!

[Pirate's Princess]

Wow you are so close!!!!! Have fun at the rehearsal dinner!! You are going to have a wonderful time tomorrow!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I know! just...9hrs. and 29minutes now! The rehearsal dinner was lots of fun! I'll def. update more later! :) Thank you! :goodvibes

[Sccrmnky2005]

HAPPY WEDDING DAY!!! Can't wait to hear all about it and see pictures!:banana:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Thank youu! :goodvibes

[girli565]

Happy Wedding Day!!!!!!!

[KR1343]

Happy Wedding Day!!!!

[Disney9.9.10]

Happy Wedding Day! I hope that it is everything that you wished for!

Hiijack - WDWBride and Disneygal - I also miss having a penpal!It is so much more fun than email!

[NYPrincess422]

happy wedding day! :wizard:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Thank you all so much! It was honestly PERFECT! The weather held out, so we didn't have to go inside for the ceremony, and everything else was perfect as well! I'll update more when I can! :goodvibes

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

http://www.stvsvideo.com/sneakpeeks.html

We're the one that says Elizabeth & Michael (Yacht Club) HD.

The picture shown at the beginning is of Mike's mom. :hug:

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So today is the last day of our Disneymoon, but yesterday we bought into the Disney Vacation Club! :) My parents really should've done it (like I had been saying since it started), because the cost of our stay almost equaled the cost of it, but o well! D.H.&I are members now! :cool1:

Also, here are some of our wedding pictures! :goodvibes http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Chapman-Photography/59588386276?ref=ts Enjoy! :thumbsup2

[Disney9.9.10]

Sneak Peak pictures look great! You both look so happy in the pictures, it is wonderful. Congratulations on being married!

[MiaBella05]

your pictures are beautiful!! :lovestruc

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Thanks! We are really happy! :)

[shippedtosea]

Little late in joining but your pictures look great!

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So the bill came in my e-mail today, and I was just gonna forward it to my parents, but I figured I'd look it over first, and guess what! We got a refund! We're getting $2,054.33 back, but still made it over our minimum! :) We only went $2,000something over our minimum too. Not too bad I.M.O. :)

In other news, I'm at our new apartment! We haven't gotten the furniture moved in yet (that's Sunday), but it's been great! :)

Now on to more of the Trip Report!
So I left off at some of the bachelorette. We also did Duelin Dragons! Walking to it we got a sneak peek of the Harry Potter land. We could see Hogwarts and Diagonalley or Hogsmeade. That was pretty cool, although of course I wish it had been OPEN! We also did the Cat in the Hat ride and I got Dippin Dots in that land. I feel like we did something else in that land, but I can't remember. I think that's all we did ride/attraction-wise. We left a little before I.o.A. closed and headed to CityWalk. We couldn't get in early for our reservation at Latin Quarter, and one of my girls had wanted to go to a New Orleans-style place to try their hurricanes, so we went there next. Then people who had arrived that day started arriving. Once we were all at CityWalk, we headed over for dinner. We got a really nice table to the left of the dance floor/D.J. area if you're facing that, and in front of a tv screen showing Latin music videos. That was pretty cool, but sadly no Shakira videos. O yea, and when one of my girls arrived she had all this bachelorette stuff from iParty I believe. She had shot glass necklaces she had put stickers on (like M.o.H. ones, Bride ones), got me a bachelorette sash, and got bachelorette sherrif (sp?) pins (which I mostly handed out to the guys since I didn't want them to feel left out, lol). I had a really good drink too. It was the Panama somethingorother. For dinner I had to appetizers. One I had AS an appetizer (queso fondido), and the other for my meal (coconut shrimp I believe). Both were SO GOOD! We all had a really good time too, and I think everyone loved their food because they talked about it at least until the wedding, haha. The D.J. started before we left too. Mike requested Shakira when he saw him setting up, so that was the first thing that got played. :) When we were finally done there, we grabbed some Mardi Gras beads the couple next to us had left on their table, and headed out. Then we went back to the Hurricane place. We ended up getting the pass that gets one anywhere in CityWalk. Once we had enough of the Hurricane place, I think our only other stop was the karaoke place. I may be wrong tho'. The karaoke place was a lotta' fun tho'. Best karaoke place I've been to in that their theme is that it's your big break...so there's a stage and band performing w/you. Pretty cool. The first guy that sang was hilarious too. He was so into it. Mike actually recorded him, so I'll be posting that later once he uploads it. :) We headed outta' there about 25min. before CityWalk was gonna close, and cabbed it home (P.O.F.Q. people in one cab, Mike&I and the A.S.Mu. people in the other :)).

The next day was the day of the wedding rehearsal and dinner. I'll write about that later. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I figured I should take a break from the T.R. and do reviews.

First up is our wedding planner, Meri L. Williamson. A+ She was awesome! She always responded to my e-mails really quickly, and even helped out when I needed our florist to respond during crunch time before we couldn't change our floral anymore. I actually miss Meri now she was so good. She totally made me feel at ease, even when I forgot to bring stuff to the rehearsal that would be needed for the wedding. She reassured me I could bring it the next day. :) She also got our "vision" and didn't try to push anything on us she knew wouldn't fit that. It was honestly sad to say goodbye to her when she was done w/our wedding.

I guess that brings me to our florist, Laura Kidd. A- She was really nice and I loved our floral, but when we got our first floral report or w/e, there was some stuff missing, and a couple of things were wrong. Other than that, she was good.

Ron Rosenzweig, officiant A+ He also got back to the e-mails I sent him right away. He put me at ease too in terms of getting checks to him because my parents' paid for the wedding, but I wasn't living w/them at the time, so the first one was a little late and I was hoping that wouldn't mean someone else would take our spot, lol. He was great when we finally met him, and had a diagram of the ceremony and went over it w/us before our wedding party was able to notice we were there so that he could actually make sure the bride&groom knew what to do! :) He was an active participant once we got to the rehearsal room as well, and had everyone that needed to gather around as he explained the diagram again (which of course D.H.&I watched again). :) When we got to talking about the last name part, he said he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to pronounce it (D.H.'s last name is 16letters long and Persian), and asked if it would be okay if he just said Mr.&Mrs. K to which we said of course if he didn't think he could do it (better to do that than trash the name, which happens enough that D.H. has a physical reaction, lol), but then when we went to turn at the end of the ceremony to be announced, he totally went for it and got it right! D.H.&I were just about as happy about that as we were that we were married. It was like, "Yay, we're married! YAYY, HE DID IT AND GOT THE NAME RIGHT!" Hahaha.

Patricia LeJeune, makeup A+ Patricia and her husband are awesome. Everytime I talked to her husband on the phone, he was so nice, and he was helpful when e-mailing, and Patricia was awesome. She did my hair and makeup trial as well, and from there I felt like D.H.&I could hang out w/her&her husband no problem, hahaha. We chatted and chatted at the trial, and then the day of the wedding, she also put me at ease. She was the first person I really saw after my parents (had to get the dress in my room, haha), and that's when I was getting all this nervous excitement, but she let me go get my mimosa when room service arrived, and it was just relaxing and fun. Anytime I needed to get up to get the door, it was no problem, and I think she even opened the door herself a few times. She was another person I was sad to say goodbye to, although if I'm ever in need of hair and makeup when I'm in Disney or the area, I'm def. gettin' in touch.

Kouzzina for rehearsal dinner A The only reason this isn't an A+ is because when we got there (we had the room all the way back), the tables were set up as 2 long tables. As people started sitting down, I was a little disappointed, because we basically had a kids' table and an adult table, and half of the adults' table obviously had their backs turned to me. Now this adults' table included my parents, aunts and uncle, D.H.'s family friends, etc., and I wanted to be able to share the moment w/them too. I went over to my mom and explained how I didn't really like it, and then didn't know why the tables couldn't be in a U, and once she saw how I felt, she nudged me to go over and talk to the main woman in charge. (O yea, the guy I called and e-mailed to set up the dinner was great too, Felipe Poma. He always got back to me right away as well.) So I talked to her, and she totally understood and said how they hadn't really known what to do when setting up, and had thought of that, but wasn't sure what we wanted. When she saw that's what I wanted, they started changing it immediately. The reason I'm giving an A and not an A+ is because the other woman in charge looked really annoyed, as if I was being a Bridezilla. Now I don't think I really was...I mean it wasn't like I was like, "WHAT IS THIS?!?!?" and stuff. I nicely explained how I felt, and understood why it had been set up like that, and kept saying to change it only if it wasn't a problem and kept thanking. So after it was done, I kept smiling at this woman to try and get her to see I wasn't a Bridezilla, lol. I think by the time she was done showing the appetizers I had proved my point tho', lol. So other than that, service was fantastic, drinks were good, food was delicious as always, and I had a great time. Just so you guys know, we had...I think 20 people there, so if you're gonna have yours in the back room there and want everyone to be able to see each other and share in the moment (this really helped when it came time to do toasts as well), I highly suggest telling them you want the tables in a U as one of your last e-mails or pieces of info. in your phone calls before you leave for Disney.

Ariel's servers A+ Ariel's is where we had our reception, and the servers were great. This includes the bartender, the two men who served D.H.&I (we had a buffet and they came over to us and said they would now take us to get our food, and then went down the buffet w/us and asked what we would like. I hadn't expected this, so this was an added nice thing), and the guy at the carving station (for lamb :)).

Heidi Picket, wedding consultant A+ Heidi was awesome as well. Before my 2nd conversation w/Meri, Heidi was our gal. She responded quickly to all my e-mails too, and really helped w/the beginning process. Even after the 2nd convo. w/Meri, I would miss Heidi sometimes and wonder what she was up to, hahaha.

Randy Chapman, photographer, A+ Randy is awesome. He did our engagement shoot too, and we were comfortable w/him before we even left the lobby of the Y.C. You can just see me getting comfortable in our engagement photos. He was having fun w/us and joking around, and we came to love his little sayings (like "grab your goodies" pretty much everytime we went to move to a new location because we had a bag of stuff w/us, and "AAND, we're moving!" for just about the same thing, but also during the day of the wedding whenever we would move, lol; one of my girls even started saying it that day). I was so comfortable w/him, I felt like I could be a model when I left Disney, hahaha. We've gotten so many compliments on our photos as well. A lot of other people have said I could be a model, hahaha, and so many people have told Mike how beautiful I am. :lovestruc I can't wait to see the rest of our wedding photos, which should've been sent out yesterday! :)

STVS, videography A+ Stan and Bonnie were awesome. They got back to my e-mails well too, and Bonnie put me at ease when it was just days before the wedding and I was worried about getting the music to her in time. She assured me I could worry about that when I got home. :) The day of the wedding, Stan was as awesome as Randy. They make a great pair. We got to do a shoutout after our ceremony to (we added the webcast option), so that was exciting. One of my&D.H.'s friends out of one group watching SCREAMED when she heard their names, hahaha. They def. loved that. STVS was great getting our sneak peek ready for the reception as well. I think I had actually forgotten about that when someone came over and said it was set up. It was so nice to see that, and everyone who's seen it has loved it. :)

reception food+cake A+ I'm not sure if the same people do this, but both were awesome. We're still hearing good things about both, and I crave our cake a lot, hahaha. It was all beautiful as well. :)

Periwig's A I can't remember the name of the woman who did my girls' hair (I'll update later w/it), but she was awesome. All of my girls looked beautiful. My M.o.H. was unsure of how to do her hair, and the woman did at least a couple of different hairstyles, and then assured her the final one looked good and sent her back up to my room when she had to. She looked beautiful. I had never seen her hair like that, and it was awesome. They all had their hair slightly differently too, but all beautiful. :)

Y.C. A They were awesome w/everything wedding related. From room service to the front desk to bell service (who stored our cake), they were great. I love the Y.C.

I think that's it. If you think I've forgotten anything, let me know. We didn't have any musicians, transportation, entertainment. HTH! :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

One thing I forgot to review was the Disneymoon registry. Yea, the reason I picked that nasty color for it is cuz u shouldn't use it. Really...don't bother unless they improve it. Multiple guests of mine tried to get us stuff off there and could never complete the process. Thank gawd we also registered at Williams-Sonoma, Macy*s, and Target, because otherwise we would've been screwed.

Anywayz, onto the rehearsal day. We got up and I think were just maybe in E.P.C.O.T. 1/2 an hr. after it opened. It was my 3girls, Mike's 3guys, and Mike&I. I think that was it. Mike's uncle I think was there too? Yea. I think we split up from the beginning. I know D.H. and some of them did Mission: Space while I went w/the tamer crowd for Nemo. I've done Mission: Space plenty of times, and didn't wanna leave about 1/2 the people who didn't wanna go on it. No big loss. :) My group ended up being finished 1st, so we also got to do Spaceship Earth. I was in the 2seater part w/my M.o.H., which was awesome cuz she lives in L.A., so we got to spend some quality time together...and of course the ride broke down for like a min., lol. After that we met up w/D.H.'s group. I feel like that's all we did cuz...o wait no, I know we ate at Seasons. I dunno if we did anything else in there tho'? I do know we headed back to the Y.C. at 2something because the rehearsal was @ 3:30 I believe. It was so nice to see Meri again then, and I spotted our officiant (Ron Rosenzweig) as well. He went over the diagram he had made for the wedding w/D.H.&I before anyone (the bridal party guests we hadn't seen yet, and my mom) noticed we were there, which was awesome because otherwise I dunno if he would've been able to go over it w/us alone (unless it was after the rehearsal, which would've ate up fun time, haha). We greeted the bridal party guests we hadn't seen yet after that, chatted a little, and then headed down to Cape Cod A or B (can't remember which). It was very surreal to enter our rehearsal room. It was like, "This is really it...I'm really getting married", and this wave of happinesss flew over me. :) I was so excited when we were practicing lining up and everything, and when my dad+I practiced walking down. :) Ron also went over the diagram he had made w/the rest of the party. That was pretty much that for the rehearsal. It was nice to finally see the guests we hadn't seen yet, and we chatted w/them for a little before we rounded up my girls and D.H.'s guys and headed out. The original plan was to go back into E.P.C.O.T. after the rehearsal, but it was pouring by this point, so instead all our people went back to their respective hotels to get ready for our rehearsal dinner which was at 8 at Kouzzina. I don't even remember what...o yea, Mike&I went into the gift shop and I bought presents for my girls. :) I got a Nemo purse (that had candy in it...it was a kiddie one) for my M.o.H. (she had loved Nemo), a herring gull shot glass from Nemo for my other girl (she was mimicking the gulls earlier, and collects shot glasses), and the Disney tea for my other girl (she had seen the tea place in England and asked if there was a special Disney tea earlier that day :)). After that, D.H. napped while I did stuff online, haha. Before I knew it, it was time to get my contacts back n and head to dinner! I think D.H.&I walked over cuz we're tough like that. I wore my bachelorette sash and shot glass necklace again (since I WAS still a bachelorette ;)), and it was so nice to enter Kouzzina and see all my relatives. :) While D.H. talked to my uncle (their both history buffs), I talked to my aunts. :) It was really nice...until we were only waiting for one person. We had been seated by then. O, the other thing that happened, which I think I mentioned in my reviews in the last update, was that Kouzzina had made 2long tables instead of a U of tables. They fixed it pretty easily for us once people had started to seat (w/the kids' table and adults table :\), and I let my mom know it bothered me. Only one of the 2women in charge seemed to think I was a Bridezilla, but I changed her mind by the time appetizers were goin'. The U shape was so much better. D.H.&I were at the head, my girls were to my left, D.H.'s guys mostly ahead of him and to his right, and then family split off on either end from there. :) The food was so good too! I had the Greek lasagna for my main meal of course, and picked the Greek salad for the first choice part. Everyone had a really good time. :) When it came time for toasts, Mike's dad I think went first? and then my dad, and then Mike, and then I just stood up and started...w/o thinking like I normall do. You see I had wanted to toast to my grandmother who just passed away in February because I found out I think shortly after she passed away that she was the reason I was really having my wedding in Disney World at all. She was the one who took my parents and aunts and uncle to WDW in the 1st place...so I wanted to have a toast to her to acknowledge and thank her for that...plus to remember her cuz she was such an awesome lady and we all miss her very much. Blah, I'm getting teary-eyed right now. So anyway, I stood up w/o thinking how sad I would get, and I made it to like after, "because she's the reason we're all here" when I started breaking down. It honestly wasn't that bad because, I mean, she was my grandmother, we had just lost her so recently, and I wasn't a COMPLETE blubbering mess, lol. Luckily I didn't have any makeup on either, lol. Mike was so nice and got up and held me for a sec., I gathered myself, and was able to continue w/in 30seconds. It was so nice, and I'm really glad I did it. Everyone, especially on my side of the family, and my girls, got teary-eyed, and I could see the appreciation in my aunts and uncle and parents' eyes. I think of any moment during the whole wedding trip, that is the one I'm most proud of. I really wanted to do it, wasn't sure if I would because that is SO not like me, and I did it. I know my grandmother would've been so touched to hear it, and even tho' I'm not religious at all, I know she was looking down at me saying, "That's my girl" like she always did when I did something she was pleased about. :) Okay...moving on to happier things that aren't sad at all...after the dinner D.H.&I and our girls and guys and my brother+his g/f went into the M.K. because there were E.M.H. We met one of my friends there too. We did Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, umm...It's a Small World, Space Mountain, and Splash. I think that was it. A lot tho' from like 11-2something in the morning (yes, we were in the M.K. until 2something in the morning the morning of the wedding!). It was so much fun going around w/everyone, switching from walking w/this person to that. We even all got our picture w/Goofy. He was near the carousel, and when we were going from It's a Small World to Space Mountain, we stopped. It was so funny because when he and the photographer noticed we were out the day of the wedding, she let us get a TON of pics. What was dumb was there was this lady next in line complaining to my friend about how there were other people in line as if I had acted like a Bridezilla and complained 'til I got a ton of pics. Honestly, I was happy w/the one of D.H.&I, moved away, my brother+his g/f went to go, and then the photographer wanted to get a billion, lol. I told my friend if that lady had complained to me I WOULD'VE gone Bridezilla on her butt, lol. So yea, at the end of the M.K. time, we all went our seperate ways pretty much, except one of Mike's guys came back to the Y.C. w/us so Mike could grab his overnight bag (which I had wisely already had him pack) and then head to his boy's room. Okay, so it was SO WEIRD to spend the night alone. I actually spent the night adding more reg. dance music to my iPod because I wanted to make sure there was enough (better safe than sorry, lol). It was so QUIET tho'. I def. got weirded out at points, and also talked to myself at points to keep me company, lmao. I was totally excited too. At 8ish I think I got in the shower...well after I got french toast room service...cuz Patricia was gonna be there at I think 10. Yea, I think it was actually closer to 9 when I started getting ready. O well, w/e. My parents got the dress over prob' 10min. before she got there, when I was trying to finish drying my hair, haha. I was done by the time she got there tho', and in only panties (not my bride panties yet) and a wrap around towel thingy. Patricia did a great job as I mentioned before, and told me bridal party horror stories she had witnessed which were horrifying, lol. If I thought we had a problem w/one member, it was really nothing compared to what she told me. That def. calmed me down even tho' I was pretty calm (AND had a mimosa in hand ;)), and I had a lot of fun chatting w/her as always. My mom got to finally meet her too. She bounced between my and my parents' room too, as D.H. was in there and he got his hair done (his hair is longer than mine by a little). Well I'm gonna stop there cuz this was just supposed to be about the 18th and I'm runnin' over cuz the days basically merged into one MEGA DAY, lol. I'll update again soon. D.H.&I have been busy unpacking the rest and enjoying married life. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I thought it was appropriate that I write about more of the wedding day on a monthiversary. :) D.H. is still in bed right now cuz we weren't supposed to be up 'til 7:59 or something, but I couldn't sleep, so here I am! :)

So I left off w/us getting our hair done. I dunno if I mentioned, but my girls arrived somewhere in there...when I was still in my wrap-around towel, before I was in the corset and dress and everything. It was lots of fun w/everyone getting ready in there and one of my girls' cell phones going off a lot w/"Need You Now" as the ring tone. I downloaded that song later cuz it now reminds me of her. :) I don't even remember if I was in my dress or not when the flowers arrived, and I dunno if I mentioned this (maybe in my reviews?), but when they DID arrive, I honestly didn't know who the hell it was, haha. I think I was still getting my hair done, so I mustn't have been in my dress. These women showed up, and I got that they were Disney people, but I honestly didn't know why they were there until I saw the boxes and then was like, Ohhh, the FLOWERS! in my head, lol. The flowers were beautiful too. Seeing them made the fact that it was the wedding day even more real. :) So after that, I got into my dress. Actually, Randy showed up when I was only in my corset, bride panties, wedding socks+sneakers, lol. I hid in the bathroom while he got shots of my dress, and he was jokingly having random conversations w/me while I was in there, lol. He was pretty quick, so I was soon able to come out and slip into my dress. My girls were so good in buttoning me up. If you've seen any of my pictures, my dress had buttons going all the way up the back, like TONS of buttons! It was like one after another after another, and the loops for them were all pretty taught. My girls did great tho' in lining them up w/the right loops from the bottom and not missing any. They were pretty quick in doing it too (the buttons went from like my lower back all the way up to the nape of my neck)! :) love my girls :) After that I sat around for a while while my girls finished getting ready (who looked so beautiful...I think I mentioned that I told them if they were in wedding dresses they would've looked like they were getting married...that's how good they looked! :)) cuz I think the boys were getting their pictures done.

Well, that's all I feel like writing for right now. I wanna go wake the hubby up, haha. It's only...29mins. early...not too bad, right? ;)

Maybe I'll update more later today, or if not, prob' next week. :)

Hope everyone's planning, weddings, Disneymoons, and marriages are going great!
~Lizzie :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So once my girls were ready, we all hung around for a little bit 'til we got the phone call (I think from Meri, I dunno, I didn't answer, haha) telling us to head down to the lobby for OUR pictures. I remember going past my parents' room (where the boys at least HAD been) all sneaky so Mike wouldn't see me, lol. I don't really remember anything else until we were literally walking into the lobby. There were many breaths taken in as people saw me, which I have to admit was pretty cool. :) Pictures started pretty much right away. While I was sitting on the couch thing with the two spiraled ends that faces the window by the stairs a little girl walked by and was like, "Ooo, pretty!", and when I looked, before I could say thank you she was like, "Your dress is beautiful!" Honestly, she made my day. I had read so many stories about comments little girls make to brides on here that I just wanted one, and she was it for me. :) She was dressed like Belle too, which made it even more cute. Once we made it outside for more pictures, and started heading past the pool, I just wanted to jump in, hahaha. It was pretty hot. They were also playing one of my&Mike's songs there, which I thought was pretty cool. After pictures, I think we made our way back to the lobby from the boardwalk, and then Meri took us past the gift shop and to the stairwell we would all be heading out. When we passed the hallway that led to the ATMs she peeked down, and I wondered if D.H. was there. I once again scooted past quickly just in case, lol. When we were at the door just before the stairwell it hit me...this is it. I wasn't nervous at all tho', just excited. Once my girls entered the stairwell it was just me and my dad. He was so cute, he was like, "I'm not even gonna ask if you're nervous because I know you've been waiting for this day for a long time, and I know you're ready." :) We had to wait a little bit before we could finally make our way into the stairwell, and then it was like, AHH! This is it! :D Before I knew it, Meri was opening the door, and I was heading down the steps so she could straighten my train before my dad&I headed down the aisle. For some reason I never thought it would be done that way, and I thought guests (or Mike) might see me, but I forgot that they have them all face the groom, and that Mike would be turned away, lol. My dad and I headed down the aisle, and I waved to my FL cousins as I passed (I hadn't seen one of them in a while! haha). I'm still kind of surprised I didn't cry, but I was honestly too happy...and not the happy crying happy, lol. When I got to Mike he told me how beautiful I looked (which you can hear on our video cuz he was micked(sp?), lol), and then the ceremony really started! I really took it all in, listening to everything Ron said, but afterwards, until we got the links to our video, I honestly couldn't remember most of what was said. I managed to not cry the entire time tho'! When I had to repeat the part about in sickness+health tho', my voice did shake, because all I could think of was my grandmother. I also kept going off the flat part of my sneakers to the outer part, and you can tell in the video, haha. At least I didn't faint tho' (I meant to only bend my knees since I read of stories on here where girls had fainted during dress fittings and how that was a way not to). Before I knew it, Ron was at the part that I knew was near "By the powers", and I was all ready to be like, Yayy! You can see that in the video. I totally move my hands up just waiting for it, hahaha. O, and he got the last name right too! (My new last name is 16 letters long and Persian, so yea...people have a hard time although it really is spelled like it's pronounced.) I don't remember whether we talked to the camera first (for the people watching online) or did the exit first (w/bubbles), but we did do both! For the camera, all I could remember was that our friends from England were watching, so they're basically the only people who got a shoutout, lol. The exit was just what I wanted too. :) Afterwards, we did more pictures (family, bridal party). After my family (or old family, should I say?) was got our picture taken, Randy asked if there was anyone else, so I was like, "Ilana" (my brother's g/f), and we added her to the mix. :) After we did the bridal party pictures by the gazebo, we started making our way to Ariel's. I think even before we made it to where you can head out to the ferries, he had our party continue on to Ariel's without us. We of course got more pictures taken as we got closer and closer. Luckily it started to rain, so we got a few more by the pillars outside the Beach Club by the entrance to the hall to Ariel's, and then headed in to eat! I was hungry by then. :) When we entered, Meri asked if we wanted to do the cake cutting then because our cake was becoming the Leaning Tower of Cake, lol. I think it was cuz of how many strawberries they added to the thing. It definitely had way more than the picture, lol. That was awesome tho', because my M.o.H. had already gotten a picture of it before it started leaning (which I found out either during our Disneymoon or when we got back), and we got to eat cake first! After that, I don't remember if we got apps. 1st or did the announcements, but both were done! The appetizers were soooo good. I loved my cheese puffs! I got a Shirley Temple (or should I say Minnie Mouse?) too, hahaha. I had my Minnie Mouse and my cuvee, lol. I think that's where I'm gonna stop it for now cuz Mike's on his way home.

In present life news, I got a new job for the fall (different nannying job), I'm hopefully getting another, and Mike just had a meeting finding out he can apply to suburban schools [he was in a grant program in which he could only apply to urban schools...meaning a pretty large percent (can't remember the exact #) had to be on a meal plan]. I don't think I mentioned it, but he got laid off at the end of this past school yr. along w/all the other M.T.A.s, but already had an offer on the table at his part-time job youth mentoring, so now he does that full time. :) He has the option to leave anytime tho' if he gets a regular teaching job. :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

So I was just on here checking stuff and I realized my sig. still had Mike driving because of his old job. Yes, I said OLD job! He got an offer for a teaching position so he's back to teaching now! :) It was also like an hr. and a 1/2 drive from where we were living, so we moved! We went from a 1bedroom apt. to our 2bedroom townhouse w/basement we're in now. :) We also went to Chicago and stayed at The Whitehall Hotel for our 1yr. wedding anniversary since my last update.