Jane's DFTW TR: Wedding Day Video Link added 11/13

[B2B-2008]

Now that I have got my date confirmed I thought I would start a planning journal to keep you all updated.

About Us
We met on an internet dating site Christmas Eve 2005 and had set our British wedding date on the 1st March 2006. To say our relationship moved quickly was an understatement. And if any of my friends had done the same thing I would have tried to put them off and told them they were mad. Lets just say I never believed the saying that when you found mister right you will know, well I do now!

Why Disney
I have always wanted a Disney wedding since I first visited WDW in 1996 but I had a problem my mum and step dad said they would never fly that far and as I am very close to my mum a wedding day without her was unthinkable. So knowing this when we discussed getting married I know that I would have to marry in England. So we booked a gulf club and set a date of the 25th April 2008. Whilst planning this wedding day I never felt the day was ours it was about our parents and we just wanted to get it over and done with.

Now I'm a strongly believe that everything happens for a reason. At the beginning of this year I started to get ill, nothing major but I had off days, and we put it down to money worries as our British wedding was getting more and more expensive. It was looking like it was going to hit over £25000 for one day. Our families were making lots of demands on us, both of our partners are separated and have new partners. It even got to the point that we had a huge fight with Darren's dad about him not wanting to be involved in the day at all because he didn't want to sit on the top table (We still aren't talking). To say we wasn't enjoying the whole experience was an understatement.

The straw that broke the camels back was the fact that my step dad lost his job and was finding it hard to get another one. So he decided to retire but to do this they had to sell their home and downsize. My mum and step dad were putting a lot of money towards the british wedding and I didn't think it was fair to put that pressure on them for a day we wasn't happy with.

So we decided that we would go to florida alone and have the wedding of my dreams. This was the hardest decision I ever had to make, my mum and step dad not being there, and spent most of the day in tears. The next day I phoned them to tell them we were putting a stop to the wedding. When I called my mum she wouldn't talk to me and passed the phone to my step dad. He said the following magical words to me

We will go to Florida

well they were the best words in the world. They knew how upset everything was making us and they knew what we were going to do so they are facing their fears and going on the nine hour flight just for us.

 

[mla1977]

You have a wonderful step dad. I believe my SD would do the same thing for me. I look forward to reading you Planning Journal

 

[majenco]

Congratulations! It sounds like you will get your dream wedding after all. Keep us posted.

 

[mcarthur205]

Great news! Looking forward to hearing all about your plans.

CarolAnn

 

[B2B-2008]

You have a wonderful step dad.

Thank you he is a great guy, one in a million.

Our Wedding Plans So Far

So far I have been in contact with our disney wedding consultant for about three months now. We have so far had our dates and locations held in the diary, we won't contract until November.

Our Wedding Ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday the 30th of July at 2.30pm at Disney's Wedding Pavilion.

We are having our reception in the White Hall room in the Grand Floridian Hotel.

And our Dessert Party will be held in Morocco. We originally wanted to book the lower UK but a convention is being held there on our wedding day. They did suggest UK upper but we didn't really want to share our wedding day with a convention.

We originally wanted to book an Escape wedding but whist looking into it and talking about all the options we wanted it was starting to get costly. So we booked a custom so that we could play with all the options, make the day personal to us and hopefully stick to the minimum spends.

At the moment we only have eight confirmed people making the trip over to Florida with us. But I have sent some information out over the past week to close family and friends letting them know our plans and that they are welcome to join us. We are quite happy with just the eight guests we have at the moment and if anyone else does join us it will be a bonus.

Things We Have Booked So Far
We have penciled in our Magic Kingdom photo shoot for the Friday after our wedding.
We have booked our photographer Misty Miotto.
I thought we had chosen our officiant but as my other posts state I am now thinking about booking someone else.
And today I ordered my dress.

My Dress
I have had my heart set on this dress since April 06 but it was very expensive and so I tried to find something similar and cheaper. This task I found impossible. I then went to a wedding fair last September and was able to order this dress with 15% off and free fittings and alterations. Today I went to get measured and place the order for them to make the dress. The dress I originally tried on was pink and I did find it in another shop in white. So today I was going to order it in white.

When I got to the shop they had just received an ivory sample. So I tired it on. So today it is all change I have ordered it in ivory and am having a lace up back instead of buttons so that if my weight goes up in the Florida heat I will still fit into my dress.

Here are some photos let me know what you think. The dress didn't fit correctly at the top.

 

[orangetiggs]

Everything sounds great, we have misty hopefully as well. Cant wait for more pics

 

[helloirishkitty]

Your dress is absolutely beautiful!! You look gorgeous in it

 

[B2B-2008]

Your dress is absolutely beautiful!! You look gorgeous in it

Thank you.

I did have a bit of a panic yesterday about the colour. I ordered the colour that I tried on but then I thought should I have gone for the white. Mum told me to stop worrying! I know I have ordered the right colour for me and it is just me being silly.

 

[BrcsDisneyPrncs]

That dress is beautiful on you! Congratulations on the wedding, can't wait to hear more!

 

[B2B-2008]

Hi Girls,

I haven't been on this site much recently as I have reached my peak time at work so we are working roughly 13 hour days and most weekends. I'm very tired at the moment but the overtime is coming in handy for the wedding.

As you can imagine the wedding has been on the back burner for a bit.

I have set out our save the dates for our guests but we haven't had much of a response. We only have eight booked guests to go over to Orlando and we are happy with that but I thought Darren's friends might reply or even make us aware in some way that they received the wedding information. It makes me sad that we are having to tell my family that it is a small wedding with limited numbers as so many are interested in going and the people that Darren wants there aren't even bothered. The problem is that you mention Disney wedding and people think its not real and just a joke wedding.

We have booked our Grand Floridan rooms for the night before our wedding and two nights after so we get some time on our own. We have booked a lodge tower room, I'm so excited.

We have also now booked Kevin Knox to conduct our ceremony and when work calms down we are going to go through the information he sent us and talk about the options for our service.

I thought I found the perfect bridesmaid dresses for the girls in Monsoon and it was meant to be new in stock but now I can't find it in the shops and it has been taken off the website. So I will have to put my thinking cap on again.

The next thing on our list is to get our wedding rings made. We have a week off in october and we are going to visit the man who made my engagement ring. I will let you all know how we get on.

 

[hmgolden]

I love the STD card. Its adorable!

 

[B2B-2008]

Hi Girls,

Not much has happened wedding wise at the moment. I have contacted Disney as we should be contracting in soon to find out what information, if any, they will need from us at this time. I also told them that we won't be able to make it on site for a planning session as we just can't afford it.

I sent out newsletters to everyone that is going to tell them about what we are planning to do on our holiday and if they would like to join us. I have got to ring my brother today and see if he wants to book discovery cove as I really want to book it this weekend.

We went window shopping last weekend looking out for suits, bridesmaid dresses, and a camera as we don't have one at the moment. I'm thinking of buying one in the January sales to hopefully get a good deal. We are thinking of buying Darren a suit and taking it with us so it is one less thing to worry about.

We visited the Swarovski shop and they have a new Tinker Bell line. I thought I could get my nieces the necklaces to wear on our wedding day and they could double up as their thank you presents. I don't know if they sell this items in Florida if any one knows please let me know which shop.

I will hopefully have some more images in my next post.

Happy planning everyone.

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

I love your necklaces - I am going to go and have a look in the Swarovski shop in Southampton on Saturday now!

 

[B2B-2008]

Thank you. I really want to get them for the girls and I keep going to look at them in the shop. They look better every-time I see them. They said they will be in the shop until Christmas and they will only continue to see them if they are popular. I'm aiming to have got them by then but it all depends on how much our wedding bands cost. We are going to visit the ring man next week

 

[caryndisneydiva]

just reading about your plans! i'm so glad everything worked out for you and your step dad sounds great! congrats! can't wait to read more!

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

Thank you. I really want to get them for the girls and I keep going to look at them in the shop. They look better every-time I see them. They said they will be in the shop until Christmas and they will only continue to see them if they are popular. I'm aiming to have got them by then but it all depends on how much our wedding bands cost. We are going to visit the ring man next week

Rings - how exciting! Have you any ideas what style you're after? I do but DF has no idea yet, he's so laid back! We're getting married on August 5th so we have a little more time than you to go yet

Do you know how much the tinkerbell necklaces are? I don't want to shock DF when we arrive at the store, ha ha....!

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

*embarrassed" I just read your wedding date - we have less than a week more than you to go - I have better start panicking about those rings!!!!!!!

 

[B2B-2008]

Raspberry Bubbles - I wouldn't start panicking about your rings yet as we don't get much holiday time off together and we have to fit our planning round the days that we have booked off.

I want my ring to match the engagement ring that he made me but it all depends on how much it will cost. I will post a pic of my engagement ring next week when I have my mums camera. Darren doesn't really like the idea of a ring so I doubt has put that much thought into it but he wants one with a matt finish at the moment.

We are still in Disney on your wedding day

caryndisneydiva - I know I still can't believe my Step dad said yes. He has even started to get excited. I just hope he will enjoy Disney as much as I do.

 

[B2B-2008]

Do you know how much the tinkerbell necklaces are? I don't want to shock DF when we arrive at the store, ha ha....!

I forgot to say they are about £60-70. They do have them on the website too so you can have a look on there to confirm.

 

[shasess]

Your dress is beautiful!!! Can't wait to see more!