not_joanna_eggs' PJ - 1/24/2010 WP/CG: TR: MK/Epcot Photo shoot link posted

[not_Joanna_eggs]

okay, so I'm bored so I'm just doing some re-structuring to make it easier to navigate for when I show non-disers (hi grandma!) and keep my thoughts straight.

Index:

Details
About us & Engagement
Old, New Borrowed Blue
Dress
E-pics 1
E-pics 2
Shoes & Hair
Invitations
Bridesmaid dress
Vintage Car
Wedding crafts
Wedding Crafts part 2

Site Visit Trip Report
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8

Planning Session Trip Report
Day 1
Day 2
Day 2 cont..
Day 3
Day 4

Wedding Trip Report
Prelude
Day 1 part 1Travel
Day 1 part 2Errands and Fireworks


Day 2 Part 1AK!
Day 2 part 2.1Drinking Around the World
Day 2 part 2.2More Drinking Around the World


Day 3 part 1Moving Slow and Checking into the Poly
Day 3 part 2Rehearsal
Day 3 part 3Welcome Dinner & Dessert Party


Day 4 part 1Wedding Day - Getting Ready
Day 4 part 2Wedding Day - Getting Ready & Getting to the Poly
Day 4 part 2.2Wedding Day - WP Sneak Peak
Day 4 part 2.3Wedding Day - Bridal Portraits at the Poly Part 1
Day 4 part 2.4Wedding Day - Bridal Portraits at the Poly Part 2
Day 4 part 3Wedding Day - Ceremony Started
Day 4 part 3.1Wedding Day - More Ceremony
Day 4 part 3.2Wedding Day - More Ceremony
Day 4 part 3.3Wedding Day - More Pictures!
Day 4 part 3.4Wedding Day - Yep, even more pictures
Day 4 part 4Wedding Day - Reception
Day 4 part 4.1Wedding Day - Wishes
Day 4 part 4.2Wedding Day - Cake Cutting
Day 4 part 4.3Wedding Day - End of Reception

Day 5 part 1Monday Morning Quaterback Review
Day 5 part 2Epcot with DH's family

Day 6MK/Epcot Photo shoot

Want more? The Honeymoon TR can be found here

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Us. I’m Joanna and DF is Chris.
How we met: We were actually born 23 hrs apart at the same hospital! Somewhere my dad has a picture of me in the nursery, and you can see him in the background all wrapped in his blue blanket - we were 2 bassinets away from each other!! We grew up in the same town, but on opposite sides, and were in the same social circle (I even briefly dated his best friend)- but never really “knew” each other, until the end of our senior year in high school. We quickly became great friends, and started “friend-dating” being each other’s date to parties and dances and such, but since he was moving across state for college, and I was going to college in Milwaukee we never really took it anywhere… So he was away at college for about a week before he realized that he just couldn’t live without me … okay, so it might have been longer, and not really that dramatic, but I’m writing this story ! Anyway, 8 years later… we’re getting married!!


The Engagement There’s not really a story here, but I think it plays to who we are, You know how there are all these studies that show that girls mature about 1.5 years ahead of boys?? Well, Chris and I are living proof of that. Since we met so young, neither of us were ready right away, but after I graduated college in 2005, and got my first “real” job, I started to hint that it was getting to be time. But he would just grumble and tell me he wasn’t ready. So finally this summer, we were lying in bed and he looked over at me and said “let’s go ring shopping” I nearly had a heart attack - FINALLY. So we went, and had a horrible time! We were fine, but the stores we went to were miserable and trying to get us to buy a ring that minute - and bawking at our modest budget. At the end of the day I had been convinced that I wouldn’t be able to get anything bigger than a .4 ct diamond for our budget - and even that went a bit over. I was devastated. I’m a big girl, with a big personality, and the diamond just didn’t fell right on my hand. On top of that, Chris was so turned off by the whole experience because the people at the jewelry stores attacked him like ants at a picnic, and one woman even yelled - yes yelled - at him for waiting so long to get me a ring! My glimmer of hope was gone. I told him I didn’t need a ring, and I didn’t need a diamond - I even picked out some pretty Sapphires, but he insisted that he’d get me the diamond that I wanted (1 ct or larger radiant cut) - even if it took a few more years (a few years?!?!?)

So I was lamenting to a co-worker about this, and she told me to check out some of the diamond web boards - she had gotten some great recommendations. So from there, I discovered Excel Diamonds - a store in New York, that has a HUGE in-store stock of diamonds and they also sell online. I was a bit leery about ordering such an expensive and important thing online, but this company was like the equivalent of Randy Chapman on these boards, so I decided to take a look. Long story short, I ended up with a 1.58 ct radiant cut diamond in a palladium hand -etched band, for $800 less than the .4 ct we were looking at originally! Plus the sales person was very nice to me, and took all kinds of pictures of me, and never talked down to me when we had to downgrade the band so we could afford it. Unlike most places they stock lower than J color and I-1 and I-2 clarity diamonds, so for someone like me who was on a tight budget, I was able to get a lower quality diamond for less money - and no one can tell! I mean yes, if you stare at it, you can see an inclusion - but really only I ever stare at it for any length of time, and I’ve already told DF that I’m not opposed to upgrading So anyone looking for a smoking deal on a diamond or band - I highly recommend them!

Anyway, since I did all the legwork, the ring was sent to a UPS store in my name - so I had to go pick it up, and then I was so nervous about how it would look, or it being the wrong thing that I opened it up right there in the UPS store! So I never really did get my proposal… oh well.

 

[padisneyfour]

Great start to your PJ! looking forward to hearing more! welcome and congrats!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Telling the Parents Now, after 8 years together, one wouldn't think that telling our parents would be a big deal... We are very close with my parents, so this wasn't a huge issue for them. However, DF's parents are a different story. Upon announcing our engagement, and showing them my ring, her response we "Your ring is bigger than mine, the daughter-in law's ring isn't supposed to be bigger than the mother's." Seriously? When she asked our plans, we told her we were choosing between a location about 45 minutes from home and Disney. We had already settled on Disney, but knew there might be an issue (not Disney, travel in general - we live about 30 minutes away from her and she refuses to visit because we live so far away, she doesn't like to leave her house) so we wanted to broach it carefully. We explained that a destination wedding was the only way to have a small wedding (I have a large family, the last wedding in my family was ~450 people) and we chose Disney because of its wide appeal and the fact that you could drive too (she's allegedly afraid to fly). When she said she might come if we had the wedding 45 minutes from home (that was far too - and with it being January, it might snow) our decision was made...Disney it is. I'll spare you all the nitty gritty drama, but basically from what we can tell DF's dad is coming (thanks to some massive arm twisting from DF's grandma) but his mom is definitely not. I feel bad because I know it really hurts DF, especially since she's using the family dog as the excuse as to why she can't go. (Yes, that's right, she basically said the dog was more important than her son.)

Time will tell, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last drama we hear from her...

Picking a location Okay more than anything else, this is what’s been keeping me from posting a PJ, because it’s been changing every 10 minutes. But I know when I first started planning, the indecisive brides were the ones I found most helpful, so I'll share.

When we first started, we really just wanted a small Escape at Sunset Point, with just Parents and Siblings. But then we remembered Grandparents, and we would have been over our 10. So we started planning an Escape at Seabreeze Point, and then Chris’s brother announced he was getting married (they announced this in August and got married in October) - and didn’t invite one of his aunts - which caused a bunch of unnecessary drama, and really upset his grandma. Since she’s the one person that is actually supporting us in his family, we knew we had to invite aunts and uncles. On Chris’s side that’s no problem. 2 couples - no kids. But if we invite Chris’s aunts and uncles we have to invite mine, and my dad alone has 5 sisters, who each have a spouse and at least 2 (grown) children, and my mom only has one brother, but he owns a business with all of their cousins, whom I grew up with as aunts and uncles… Our invitee list just grew to 80 people. So long Escape! So, we decided to invite some of our friends now, and the invitee list is up to 120. We think we’ll get between 30-40 people max, but we definitely will be out of Escape range. I really wanted to get married in France in Epcot, because one of my earliest memories is of visiting in the perfume shop there, and I lived in France for a while, so it’s special to me. But 9 am is really early, and we are planning for January, and last time I was at Disney in January there was some freaky cold snap and it was below freezing!

No one really seemed happy with that choice, they (my parents and Chris) all really liked the Wedding Pavilion. I did not - at all. No matter what pictures I saw, it just didn’t feel like “us,” I just had it in my head that we’d do something outdoors and totally out of the ordinary. But, all the points they made for an indoor ceremony made perfect sense, and I really didn’t like any of the other indoor options that our small group could use - so, I gave in, and we’re planning on having our ceremony a the Wedding Pavilion. I must say I’m warming up to the idea, and really like it (at least for now.)

That’s really how most of this has gone - I do all the research, find something I like, but then no one else likes it, and then they make me change my mind. I’m worried that when it’s all done, there will be little of me represented - but I’m at least sticking to my guns on some things (no ball room, no dancing, dessert party-sort of)

Chris really liked the menu at the California Grill, and my mom really likes the location. I’m pretty indifferent. There’s a few things I don’t like (no menu flexibility, no separate pre-reception location, and the “standard” feel) and a few things I really like (VIEW – and we'll be able to see WISHES, which helps with the timing, loaction, and menu add-on choices) So (for now) I'm going along with this too. But lately a when a butterfly flies by, I'm ready to change my whole plan!

So as of now... the plan is (drum roll.....) Welcome Illuminations dessert party at the French Arm on Saturday (1/23/2008) and on Sunday (1/24/2008) we'll have a 5 pm ceremony at the WP and then the pre-reception/reception at the California Grill.

But don't get too attached, it's likely to change

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Other Stuff
I don't have much yet, but I'll tell you what I do know.

Officiant: I'm Catholic – Chris is no religion. (I'll spare you the anti-religion stories from his mom – I'm seriously amazed Chris turned out as normal as he did!) I'm not super religious. I'll go to Church on Sunday if I'm with my parents, but on my own I'll go maybe once a month. So I had no problem with the rule about a priest no being able to marry you not in a church and started researching the Disney recommended officiants. Until I was reminded by my parents about their friend Bob. I've known him my whole life, and he's one of my parent's closest friends, so I often forget that he's a priest. CRAP! Well obviously I want him to be the officiant now, so were back to that silly “in a church” rule. So we're stuck for now because we don't want to do an Orlando church wedding, and the other alternative is to get married here right before we leave and do a “vow renewal” in Disney, and he'd be able to officiate both. This seems like a simple no brainer, but as you've probally figured out, nothing in my life is! If we tell Chris's parents we're getting married here, there's NO way we'll get them to go to Disney. If we don't tell them, then we're starting out with a lie, and if it ever comes out we're so never going to live it down. Seriously, his mom will come back from the dead and haunt me for the rest of my life whining about how we made her travel so far and we were already married. So the answer was to just have one of my friends and her husband be the witnesses – no parents. Well then my parents threw a hissy since they're paying for it and they're Catholic, and Bob is their friend. Ugh... Vegas is looking kinda good We're meeting with Bob this weekend, so I'll keep you posted if we're able to work anything out. I know I'm not the first person to go through this, but I really feel like it shouldn't be this hard.

Dresses - Though the wedding is over a year a way, both my mom and my sister have their dresses already! I feel like a slacker. I’m going for a moss green / mauve / chocolate brown color scheme. So we happened to be at Boston Store during a Community Day sale, and we found a dress for my sister in the perfect color on clearance so we were able to use a 15% of coupon, plus the $10 Community Day coupon, and got her dress for $30. My mom picked hers up a few weeks later on Yellow Dot for $7. So they’re taken care of (again for now…) I heart Boston Store!

I’m a totally different story. I had a thread about this earlier, but I’ll put it in here too so everything is in the same place. I’ve been on a medication for the last 4 years that has made me gain well over 100 lbs. and I’m 5’1” so let’s just say I’m not at my cutest right now. I exercise and have a very restricted and rather health diet due to allergies, but nothing would help. One week I was super sick and didn’t eat anything for 3 days, and I gained weight!! Anyway, about 6 months ago, my doctor and I set out on a quest to find something else that was just as effective, but without the weight side effect. And we finally found a combination of things that we’re going to try and I started out this new regiment about a month ago, and I’ve already lost 25 lbs! And everything else seems to be staying the same. But, the big problem here is the dress. I don’t want to look for one now, because I will definitely be a different shape in 14 months. When I loose weight, by body shifts - it’s weird. But I don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute either. So with the help of some fellow DISbrides, I decided to fight my compulsion, and not even look (well, okay… not try on - I still look online ) at dresses until April. This still gives me 9 months until the wedding, and hopefully I’ll have a better idea of how the weight loss is going (though it would be awesome if I lost 25 lbs every month - I doubt that’ll happen) and how my body is shifting. I know that doesn’t give me a lot of time to hem and haw, so I hope that it will be okay. Oh well, it gives me something to worry about.

Invitations/Save the Date I’m planning on sending out a Save the date as soon as we get confirmation that we’re okay on the date, because there’s a lot of my family that we don’t really talk to, but have to invite because they’re family. So the Save the Date will be the engagement announcement, and then the Disney Save the Date will be “information” and then the formal invite.

So the save the date is the most pressing thing on my list at this point. I found some invitations that I LOVE from Rexcraft, but they would be over $800, which seems like a lot of money to spend on something that will eventually become garbage.

So I happened to be at “le boutique” (aka Target), and saw some invites on clearance for $3.48 for a box of 50 that had the mauve color of the dresses. So I picked up 2 boxes thinking that $7 isn’t that great of a loss if I don’t use them. They do look cheap, but I’m trying to find a velum wrap to put them in to fancify them a bit. But I’m having no luck. You’d think that this would be a common thing, but even the people at the stationary store are looking at me like I’m from Mars. Anyone have any suggestions?

I’ll probally make the STDs in Photo Shop and get magnet paper… but I really do like those invites from Rexcraft…

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Great start to your PJ! looking forward to hearing more! welcome and congrats!

Thanks for the welcome. I hope I don't bore you to death! I typed all this up in word first, and it came to like 5 pages!!

 

[padisneyfour]

Its nice to see another 2010 bride. we are planning for a vow renewal for our anniversary

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Its nice to see another 2010 bride. we are planning for a vow renewal for our anniversary

It's nice to know other people are planing as far ahead as I am!

20 years! That's awesome congrats on your vr

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Welcome to another 2010 Bride! It begins!!

Sorry to hear about the crazy FILs About the Officiant, could he marry you in Disney first and then back in your hometown? So in the eyes of the Church, the "vow renewal" would come first as such, and then just marry privately back at home, just the 2 of you so it would be recognised? I however also need to point out that I know absolutely nothing about this sort of thing, so more possible than not, I am totally wrong!

The WP is BEAUTIFUL! When you are stood inside, it is just wow. You won't regret your choice!

 

[IndyBride]

Sounds like it's going to be a long year of drama!!! Hopefully you'll be able to laugh about it one day!

At least you don't second guess every decision! I always think I know what I want then I make the decision and instantly I worry if it's the right one. I'm sure it will be though... Good luck in your planning and enjoy it... It goes so fast

 

[bridetobe789]

Wow.. love the background story!! Great ideas for locations (no matter if they change or not! lol) Can't wait to read as your plans unfold!

 

[PrincessShea]

Interesting read so far! Sorry to hear about the family drama. I wouldn't stress about the dress yet either. Your plan sounds good...9 months is plenty of time to find 'the one'!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

About the Officiant, could he marry you in Disney first and then back in your hometown? So in the eyes of the Church, the "vow renewal" would come first as such, and then just marry privately back at home, just the 2 of you so it would be recognised? I however also need to point out that I know absolutely nothing about this sort of thing, so more possible than not, I am totally wrong!

The WP is BEAUTIFUL! When you are stood inside, it is just wow. You won't regret your choice!

Thats a great idea, but I asked our officiant, and since to Catholics concider marriage to be a Sacrament, it has to be preformed in the Church first. Especially since we're in different states, with different marriage license requirements. Oh well... We'll figure something out.

Sounds like it's going to be a long year of drama!!! Hopefully you'll be able to laugh about it one day!

At least you don't second guess every decision! I always think I know what I want then I make the decision and instantly I worry if it's the right one. I'm sure it will be though... Good luck in your planning and enjoy it... It goes so fast

Fortunately, I'm already laughing. Her reasonings are so ridiculous ( according to her, she's too old to travel! And she's 8 years younger than my parents (not to mention 35 years younger than my grandma who is also joining us)) So when she's making me want to pull my hair out, I'm able to step back and just say - oh yeah, she's nuts

I'd rather be able to make a decision and then second guess it... I can't make a decision to save my life - I just over research everything until I drive everyone nuts

Wow.. love the background story!! Great ideas for locations (no matter if they change or not! lol) Can't wait to read as your plans unfold!

Thanks for reading along!!

Interesting read so far! Sorry to hear about the family drama. I wouldn't stress about the dress yet either. Your plan sounds good...9 months is plenty of time to find 'the one'!

Thanks for reading! I keep tellinng myself that at lest the drama will keep my pj interesting Thanks for the encouragment about the dress... I'm trying really hard not to obsess about the dress - but I keep going back to it. Like I'm not really a bride until I have a dress

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Okay.. so just a quick mini-update about the FMIL drama. We went out to dinner with them tonight (yes... we acctually forced her to leave her house so it can be done!!), and she actually started having a hissy in the resturant when we told them that we were 100% doing Disney.

On the plus side, Chris's dad started to open up to the idea, so there might be hope!! Though I'm not holding my breath.

Oh yeah... we also met with our officiant for our first meeting to discuss our options. Seriously, there were like 8 pages of options for us to look over, and from what I understand, the easiest thing for us to do is have Chris convert to Judaism

Well that was totally un-productive update.

Now... off to patch the wall I accidently punched a hole in...

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Okay... sorta wedding related, but I'm so excited I have to share anyway

We were planning on going to Disney for a long weekend in March over our birthdays, to take advantage of the free park admission, and scope some locations since we haven't been there in a whie...

Well, I was pricing out our trips and accidently clicked the wrong dates and realized that becasue of the 4 3 promotion, it was acctually $70 cheaper for us to go for a week instead of 4 days, plus we'd get a $200 gift card - in addition to the $75 gift cards we'll each get for having passes on our birthdays. So... Essentially it was almost $400 cheaper for a week - that's airfair!!!

I looked at my vacation time, and we crunched some numbers (even though I'll be on a girls cruise to the Caribbean 2 weeks before, and therefore use up almost all my vacation time for 2009 by March....) We're going for a week!

However this means I've got about 3 months to plan a vacation

 

[Mama of Indybride]

How exciting!

An excellent start to your PJ, and a week long Disney Trip to boot!

 

[polynesianbride]

Just found your PJ and look forward to reading along... even excited to hear some family drama! What's a good wedding without some drama! Congrats!

 

[Panic Attack]

Oh yes, this is the sister of the bride to be. Please, hold your applause ^_^ I'd like to start out by saying 'Yes, I think my sister is insane for planning planning planning 24/7 like she does' BUT if her wedding turns out anything like the vacations she's planned for the family, it's going to be MORE than perfect! She does a great job despite her supposed difficulty with making decisions ^_^'

I'm so excited for Jan 2010! They're FINALLY getting married and I get a free trip to Disney! How awesome is that?

Now, as I've been told many times, my job is to veto my mother on any decisions she 'decrees' that conflict with my sister's wants. This is an awesome job... but trying to veto my mother's decisions is like trying to throw a bee at a puppy: Very impractical and possibly dangerous for both parties involved. Though, when all of the conversations go:

Mom: You can't do that. It's an afternoon wedding.
Me: What does that mean?
Mom: It's an afternoon wedding.
Me: Well, yeah but how does that--
Mom: Afternoon wedding.

... sometimes, the comic value is worth it. (BTW... I still don't understand what the RULES are for an afternoon wedding but it seems like they must be very strict and if you break them, the wedding police come and beat you with baguettes while wearing the acceptable jewel tone cocktail / tea length dresses but certainly not tails).

Anyway... I DO have to clarify one or two things:
1. Yes. I did make fun of the fact that my sister's name was that of the lizard in The Rescuers Down Under. It was and STILL IS hysterical.

2. The Baby Mickey referred to is MINE! I had it. I still have it. And no... I have not washed it. ^_^' (and yes, it has traveled to Disney with me many a time)

3. And yes... the mother in law is crazy as beans.

4. And while I may have my dress for the wedding... it is fugly. Now, I understand that I, as the not so important person in the wedding, have to wear whatever I'm told to wear. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying... that it's fugly. It DOES fit the color scheme nicely. It's like a grayish pink (i believe they call it mauve) but I'm all polish and german so I'm kinda pink-ish myself and if we're in FL... let me put it this way, I see a picture of the sun and I turn into a tomato. Awesome. >_<

My final thought is that i hope my sister still lets me be in charge of the music for the wedding ceremony (any suggestions are more than welcome!!) and that I can help out with the disney wedding invitations. For whatever reason, graphic design is something I can spend hours doing and not getting bored with... much like how my current avi took me hours to color in pixel by pixel because there are NO screen caps of Panic on the internets ;_; and the only pic I could find was one that you can print out to color in with crayons or something. So yes, microsoft paint was my coloring agent.

So, thanks everyone for your nice comments to my older sis and I'll be hanging around here too ^_^ So if you have any suggestions for me for how to help her out, I would greatly appreciate it! ('cuz you know... I've never been in a wedding... and I have no idea what to do ^_^')

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Hi Sis Nice avatar (PS The wedding police work closely with the juice police, so you'd better watch out!)

I know I've been a bad disbride and not updating my journal, but between the holidays and going on vacation and planning for our vacation in March, and I have another vacation planned before then, and oh yeah - work...I've been quite busy. But I have a few updates

Since my DS thinks her dress is fugly, we'll put it up to a vote! What do you all think? Here's the supposedly fugly dress

and a close up of the detail...

I think it's a nice purple/pink color with cute detail, since my colors are going to be dark mauve and light green. But if you'll think that it'll look weird on her paleness - by all means let me know.

Here's my mom's outfit:

I'm still not sold on the CG - I really like the AAP, I've seen such pretty pictures of it. We've made arrangements with the WC to see a few places when we're down there in March.

I was able to find an old picture of DF and I... It's old - I'm much more "fluffy" now (though I am down 50 lbs and counting - yay new meds!) and it's like over exposed, but it'll have to hold you over until March.

Other than that, I'm going to my first bridal show on Saturday, so hopefully I'll have some ideas and stuff this weekend.

23 days until I'm 1 year out!

 

[Panic Attack]

Okay, so even if the dress isn't fugly in an of itself... the jacket definitely is >_<

And if you want a good laugh, check out my signature. Unfortunately it seems that the pic is too large for the forum to support.

EDIT: Now the pic referenced to is posted below in this thread. HOWEVER... my sig is still funny ^_~*