Christine & Jeff's Planning Journal- 5/01/08- bridesmaid dresses

alauniira

A faerie's heart beats fierce and free!
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Hi all. Let me start by telling you a bit about myself. I live in Hazleton, PA, near the poconos. I have been with DF for 10 years. We have 2 little girls: Kieryn, 3, and Elora, 5 months. We are having a wedding in Florida on May 13th, 2008. We are going to stay onsite at Disney, I think at Pop Century, and it will be my first time there. I can't afford a custom wedding and our guest count will be around 25-30. So we are planning an offsite wedding at the Hyatt Grand Cypress Resort near Downtown Disney. There are not too many posts about people planning a wedding not through Disney so I figured I would start one now.

Here is where I am at. I have booked tenatively our ceremony site (they won't book officially until one year out) for 1:00 in the afternoon and also Randy Chapman as our photographer. We are working through the Hyatt directly and also justmarry.com. I just finished an informal save the date/RSVP if you are coming to Florida and am sending them today. I am also working on a reception here at home the first weekend of June 08.

Here are a few pics of where we will be having our ceremony:

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That place is BEAUTIFUL. Congrats on getting everything planned out and also way to go on booking Randy:woohoo: . You will love him!!
 
Thanks. I really fell in love with it. I wanted to have an intimate wedding at the wedding pavillion, but we are getting a great package and I wouldn't want to have to leave out any of our guests.

I am still working on a place for dinner afterwards. I think I want to do it at one of the resorts. We have maybe 8 kids, so I have to think of them too and not pick a place that will be too stuffy for them. Since I've never been to Disney its hard and I am relying alot on other DISers and travel books.
 
Wow, that's gorgeous!! Best wishes in all your planning and keep us posted!
 


How pretty! There are so many choices for dinner. All really depends the mood you want. Maybe look at the Dis restaraunt board. See if they have pics? I'm sure your wedding will be beautiful.
 
Thanks. I really fell in love with it. I wanted to have an intimate wedding at the wedding pavillion, but we are getting a great package and I wouldn't want to have to leave out any of our guests.

I am still working on a place for dinner afterwards. I think I want to do it at one of the resorts. We have maybe 8 kids, so I have to think of them too and not pick a place that will be too stuffy for them. Since I've never been to Disney its hard and I am relying alot on other DISers and travel books.

I recommend O'hanas at the Polynesian. It is a lot of fun with a buffet style menu brought straight to your table. Kids have a lot of fun singing, dancing and whatnot-- while it is still a very classy place. You can see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom from this restaurant as well...
Many people eat here after there wedding. :goodvibes Good Luck:thumbsup2
 
I love your ceremony location! It really is beautiful :flower3:

I agree w/ Maggie... 'Ohana would be a great place for your reception dinner! The food is delicious! There are lots of little games for the kids to play. They have coconut races, they teach them how to hula, etc. all while you enjoy your dinner. Being able to see Wishes from the MK while dining there just adds to the great experience :goodvibes
 


Here is a pic of the informal save the date invite I am sending. I am also sending a postcard with RSVP info on it.
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So, I've run into a bit of a problem with my date. The Sunday we would be leaving to go to Disney is Mother's day. The problem is that my sister, 3 of my best friends, and I all work in a restaurant and that is the busiest day of the year. I can't believe I didn't look into it, but I was just worried about Easter, which is in March. My printer was giving me trouble this morning and I didn't print out my save the date letters, so I am considering calling and seeing if it is okay to switch the date to April 29. I would need to go two weeks earlier because May 5th is the anniversary of the hit and run accident that killed DF's nephew and we are planning to take a cruise for the second week as our honeymoon without the kids and the one I want is every other Saturday. So, although I'm sure we could work it out, since I didn't print yet, I think I am changing my date. DF doesn't care and it will probably be easier. I just needed to vent/ramble a bit to you girls who understand.
 
Also, thanks for the dinner suggestions, I was looking at Ohana but we would miss the fireworks cuz we won't be there that late if the wedding is at 1:00. I was also thinking of Park Fare, but don't really like the idea of a buffet in my dress.
 
I thought it was nice enough without sounding cheap. I want to get magnets and send them with my travel arrangement newsletter this May.

I really like how they came out. My DF is a graphics major so we just stole the pic from off our vacation planning CD and he retouched it. I will post my RSVP postcard when I finish it.
 
We ordered our bridesmaid dresses this week and I am very excited. Originally we were looking at one from Jasmine B2, priced around $160. But, thanks to the Off topic board and Maggie (thank you so so much), we ordered a similar dress for only $50!!! I also had 15% off and a free shipping coupon. We ordered one first to see if we like it and it is beautiful! It is a perfect shade of coral, slightly brighter than the picture and is made really well. The rest won't come in until August because they are on backorder but thats fine. Anyway I wanted to share them with you because they are such a great deal.

The original Jasmine dress:
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The dress we ordered:
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These are some codes that are working right now. i'm not sure when they will expire: Differed billing til Aug 07 code 714, 15 % off code 502, free shipping code L30, $10 off $50 or more code 4001215. You can use several codes at the same time on this site !
 
Im so glad you ordered that. I may go back and order it now as well. How much did it turn out being when you used the codes? Im wondering how the sizes run-- ive ordered from them before but cant say ive ever bought a dress from them.

I love them-- and i cant believe how similar they are to the one you picked out origionally!
 
I ordered 4 and each dress came to around $40 each. The sizes run a bit small so I would suggest one size larger than your average. Thanks again, I wouldn't have found them if not for you. We weren't originally going with coral, but I am so happy about the price, and so are my girls of course. It makes up for the money they have to spend to fly there.
 
I love the dress you all ordered. I actually like that one better:) Can't beat that price.

The location is beautiful where you are having the wedding,I love it!

Your little girls are adorable,they look so sweet!
 
The site looks beautiful!! I also wouldn't have been able to afford the wedding i wanted at Disney, so we're planning one at home and Disneymooning instead! It's nice to see another offsite wedding (not that i don't LOVE reading about the DFTW's :goodvibes ) The bridesmaid dresses are adorable! I like the ones you ordered better than the original!! Good luck planning and i can't wait to hear more details. Congratulations!!
 
The location you chose is unbelievable!! In my opinion, it's more beautiful than any place Disney offers. Your save the dates are great too and the bridesmaids dresses are gorgeous (and what a great deal!)...I can't wait to read more!!
 

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