Erica and Richard's Happily Ever After Wedding WDW 5/7/2011

[ericapixiedust]

My fiance' and I have decided to have a Disney wedding!! We are both huge Disney fans, annual pass holders and love to hit "the parks" (as we locals call them) as often as we can. So we are planning an intimate Escape wedding for a few family and friends next May. Any and all advice is welcome. We are so far planning on using the the Wedding Gazebo at the Yacht Club and then having dinner there afterwards. I'm a huge fan of the Mad Hatter, so I'd like a Mad Hatter-styled cake. No princess stuff for me thanks. I'm thinking of wearing a retro 1950's looking dress and having my bridemaids, who range in age considerably, choose their own dresses in coordinating colors.

[sunset30]

YAY!!!!!!
Sounds awesome!
Lokoing forward to more planning details!
Lx

[helloirishkitty]

YAY for disney weddings! Can't wait to hear more :goodvibes

[weedee]

Welcome! Looking forward to reading more! :goodvibes

[Disney9.9.10]

Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding!! I look forward to reading along as you plan!

[ericapixiedust]

As I stated before-we have a very small party, and we were planning on just having dinner as a group at one of the restaurants in one of the nearby resorts (thus eliminating the need for extra transportation). However, the wedding pre-planner thinks this will be cumbersome for us (?) and we should consider a dinner in a private room in one of the resorts and sent me a proposal/menu. It was very expensive. Did I mention VERY?:scared1: She said an alternative would be to reschedule my wedding for 2:30 pm so we could have the first seating in one of the restaurants. I do not want to get married that early in the day. Anyone else run into this problem? How did you resolve it?popcorn::

Erica

[ericapixiedust]

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/B_W1014_1.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/B_W0007_1.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/vintage_wedding_dress_49.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/vintage_wedding_dress_29.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/Danika_250T.jpg

Erica:wizard:

[daisygirl902]

How many people are you looking to have join you? I can't understand the logic of them not recommending that you go with a seperate booking for dinner....Where were you thinking? I can't see it being that much of a hassle!

As for the dresses - they are all phenomenal! Wow - it's sure to be stunning! What colors are you looking to have as accents?

[ericapixiedust]

Well, a separate dinner in a restaurant is considerably less expensive than a catered dinner-my guess is they are trying to push their catered dinners. Wonderland or not, they are trying to keep tens of thousands of people gainfully employed in our state-I can respect that. If they think they can cater a dinner and keep it within my budget, I'll certainly go that route. She sent me another, much more reasonable:teacher:, menu. As for my colors, I was going for a basic ivory and black with red accents.

The dresses are mostly by a company called Whirling Turban. The least outrageous one is by a company called Little Flowers. I really want a retro dress but I can't afford a Stephanie James or Candy Anthony.

See you real soon!

Erica

[ericapixiedust]

Has anyone had a dinner reception at The Attic? How was it? It looks nice from the photos, but I can't get a feel for it. Also, all the other places I'm seeing look like generic hotel meeting rooms that will cost a fortune to "dress up". The Attic looks perfect the way it is, which is what I want-something that require a minimum of foofing. Your opinions and thoughts are so helpful to me.:love:

[girli565]

From what I've seen of the Attic you really wouldn't need a lot of decor to make it look nice. It has a lot of little touches already in place that would look lovely if they match your wedding colors.

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi Erica
Just wanted to say that your wedding is three days after our VR which is on the 4th!!! Since we will still be at WDW, I may have to stalk your wedding!!!
Your plans sound lovely!!! I was considering the Attic too until the $7500.00 minimum for an Escape event with a privately catered event attached to it, was introduced and I had to change my plans.
Have fun planning!!!

[ericapixiedust]

Stalk away! All are welcome.:banana: I can't wait to start planning "for real". The pre-planner with whom I have been e-mailing has been extremely helpful. I figure if we have to spend $7500 minimum anyway, I'd like to spend the bulk of that on FOOD. I am a girl with my priorities. My MOH is an EXTREME DIY crafty type and has this fantasy about doing the bulk of our bouts, extra bouquets, corsages, etc ourselves. I am leery of this plan but she knows someone who ordered $150 worth of roses from Sam's Club and made all her own arrangements.:eek: I am one of those people who will gladly pay someone else to paint my kitchen, remodel my bathroom, change my oil, etc.

So it looks like SBP/the Attic unless I have to wrestle anyone for them.

Erica

[ericapixiedust]

We are back from Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studios and I was hoping to sneak over to the resorts and get a quick peek at some of the actual Boardwalk, maybe the Attic, Sea Breeze Point, etc. I was outvoted by the boys with me (fair is fair) who wanted to get on with the Star Wars stuff, so my peek will have to wait until later. My birthday trip to WDW in October, which I take every year, is booked, along with a special romantic birthday dinner at the California Grill. Richard wants to take another trip to Epcot sometime in June, so maybe I can get my peek in then.

Until then, I have been sent some menus for buffets and they all look so delicious!

[ericapixiedust]

I'm going to ditch the DIY floral idea. Even though it will save many hundreds of dollars, I don't want my resort room (or anyone else's) crowded with coolers full of flowers, and I don't want to spend the day before my wedding stripping the thorns off roses and assembling all of the bouquets and bouts and corsages. It sounds stressful and exhausting. I want my wedding to be fun and have a minimum of stress, and the last thing I want to do the day before my wedding is spend a whole day making stuff. I want to relax, have a massage, get my nails done-that kind of stuff. My MOH will be disappointed, but she will understand.

[curiouser]

Oh my gosh, those dresses are ah-mazing! I can't wait to see which one you pick!!

[ericapixiedust]

I'm probably going to go with the "Danika" dress. It is made by a company called Little Flowers. I have e-mailed a few times with the principle designer, and she is able to make the changes to the dress I requested (adding short sleeves and a fuller, darted skirt). She was really sweet and liked the idea of making a retro wedding dress out of the design. I also talked to the Reverend Jack Day today and he is going to send me some information on ceremonies. He was lovely and I can see why he does so many weddings there! All in all, we're staying pretty organized.:cool1:

[ericapixiedust]

We had our first telephone meeting with Reverend Jack Day last week, and he is just as lovely as everyone says he is. We can't wait to work with him-he seems perfect!

[Bridie1996]

Hello, and welcome! Looking forward to following your plans, as we were married at SBP with a Luncheon at the Attic this past January.

We LOVED it btw. The attic was casual, with great views and very non-hotel conference room.

And those dresses are awesome! :)

[pink_tink8i8]

Congrats and welcome :goodvibes I LOVE your dress ideas. I know the website that the dresses are from. They do incredible work

[ericapixiedust]

Back from taking a Saturday trip down to WDW to see the new Main St. Electrical Parade at The MK. This time I was able to talk the guys into a quick side trip over to the Boardwalk Inn Resort area. Loved the BWI. It's very intimate-not at all like most of Disney's other Deluxe resorts, which tend to be huge. SBP itself was pretty and I can see it being nice with a little sprucing up-nothing outrageous. I've heard people complaining that the walk was far (I guess from the resort to SBP or from SBP to The Attic) but I didn't find it to be too bad-maybe because I am used to walking around huge medical centers. It didn't seem that far. Either way, I plan on changing my shoes after the ceremony/pictures. I hate walking around in heels! I found some cute leopard print flats to go with a short wedding dress. They will be awesome for the reception.

[daisygirl902]

I just came back from my PS - I got to go in and see The Attic - and I fell in love! It's so amazing in there....it needs virtually no decor...I even asked them to leave the linens off the tables. It's cozy yet airy and perfect for a small reception.

I am so jealous reading through your posts with your multiple trips to Disney btw - jeez I wish I could get down there more often! Once or twice a year just does NOT cut it for me!

Loving your plans so far.

[ericapixiedust]

Dress by Dolly Couture-same dress but with short sleeves.
Shoes by Pour La Victoire

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/file_17_9.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/merchel_album/1188493-p-DETAILED.jpg

And, OMG-these shoes make my legs look SOOOOO supermodel. Too bad I'll have to ditch them for the reception. They are pretty comfy for super-high heels but I will totally bust my butt after one glass of champagne.

Still trying to decide what to wear on my head. Maybe something really fabulous and over-the-top by Tarina Tarantino?