Laura and James' SEPT 2011 Planning journal!! Updates 15th Jan

[tinkandonaldfans]

Introduction

Well as some of you may already be aware me and James have decided on a Disney Wedding but before I tell you all what we have planned I think we should introduce ourselves.

As the title suggests my name is Laura (25) and I live in the UK with my fiance James (26). I work at one of the English theme parks, Thorpe Park. My job is to answer all complaint letters and emails. You cannot believe the type of complaints I receive! This job was a result of being made redundant two years ago before everyone else started to get the chop here! Its not my dream job but it helps to pay the bills until I can learn to be a teacher!

James is a web developer who works in central London and is very talented! He is very dyslexic but computers just make sense to him and is always the one on call when someone needs to fix their computer.

We met just under 7 years ago at University and have been living together for around the last 4 years. We recently bought a flat (aka an apartment) and couldn't be happier.

In September we enjoyed our third trip to the world together and ate until we burst( ahh the joys of free dining)! After dinner at MK it started to rain and so we took cover in the rose garden while we waited for spectromagic to begin. A disney photographer came down to get out the rain and James suggested we had our picture taken and then this happened.......

As soon as I saw that little blue box I cried like a baby! It was really wonderful and I love that we managed to get photos as well! After I eventually composed myself we watched spectro and Wishes which made me cry again. I now can't watch wishes without crying even if i hear the music or see a clip on youtube i start welling up! When we got back to the AKL these were waiting for me

James likes to remind me just how much these cost when he's in trouble!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

The Wedding

When we were trying to decide where to have our wedding the key things that were important to us were that it was a small wedding and something very different. I had it in my head that I didn't want to spend all this money on something that everyone has seen time and time again. I wanted a wedding that everyone talked about years later.

Unfortunately my dad has a very serious condition of long pockets and short arms so we will be paying for our wedding ourselves! Our budget is very important but I do want to embellish on a few things to make it the unforgettable wedding I had in mind!

So here is what I have in the running (James has been a typical man and has been very uninterested so had to make a few decisions myself- I did ask for his input but Call of Duty was seemingly more interesting)

We hope to have:

-An Escape Wedding
-Our Location will be Sea Breeze Point
-Our Ceremony time will be 2:30pm( how will i cope with waiting so long)
-After the ceremony we will all walk over to the Yacht Club and have a few drinks followed by an early diner seating at Yachtmans Steakhouse
- Hoping our guests don't eat themselves sick with steak we will then have a Dessert Party in Morroco
-There will be 13-16 guests including us (this depends on whether James' dad will come with James' younger half brother and sister)
-All the guests will be family and their partners. No young children but there is still 18 months before our wedding so you never know! That will bring a question mark to the plan!
- Oh and we will be having it in September (love going this time of year- always quiet and hot) and hopefully we will be able to get free dining for everyone!

I really like this plan as we will be able to go from one thing to the next and not have too much time hanging around. Plus I will be able to wear my dress the entire time! Very excited about that. Im not a attention kind of person but going into Epcot in my dress and everyone looking sounds like fun!


Now it may seem like I have already planned everything but I needed to work out how much this would cost so we could save accordingly! You might be able to tell that I'm the sensible one in the relationship. If James had it his way he would spend all our money on a Lego robot and an another apple laptop!

Hayley and Els pj has inspired me with her Save the Date plane ticket idea so I have showed James and asked him to come up with something similar! This is where he comes in handy!

 

[Sarah84]

Hello from another (hopefully) UK Disney bride

Congratulations on your engagement & upcoming Disney wedding, I also got engaged this september Like you i'm planning on an Escape wedding at Sea breeze point.

James does remind me of my finace Darren who has also shown no interest in thinking up plans or even helping with decisions, his normally too busy on the PS3 so it's all down to me but i'm not one to complain i do like doing the planning so it kind of suits me that way

Look foward to reading more...

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Hello from another (hopefully) UK Disney bride

Congratulations on your engagement & upcoming Disney wedding, I also got engaged this september Like you i'm planning on an Escape wedding at Sea breeze point.

James does remind me of my finace Darren who has also shown no interest in thinking up plans or even helping with decisions, his normally too busy on the PS3 so it's all down to me but i'm not one to complain i do like doing the planning so it kind of suits me that way

Look foward to reading more...

Congratulations! You are my first poster! Glad to hear about another UK bride

 

[gemmybear83]

Awwww lovely! Another uk bride here! Were planning an escape wedding for the 9th December 2010 and were also hoping to have a dessert party in Morroco too I'm looking forward to Reading more!

 

[malibustacey]

Hiya!

Fellow London Bride here! I love thorpe park! Not as good as Disney though hehe!!

Cnat wait to hear all your plans!

 

[BecBennett]

Another 2011 bride!

Congrats on your engagement, it sounded lovely. Did James organise for the photographer to "appear" or was that just lucky?

My DF is a call of duty fan too, he gave me a wii for my birthday, so I've bought him a heap of Call of Duty games to go with it for Christmas (It's so close now! Yay!) So I'm expecting to get a lot of planning done while he's shooting away!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Awwww lovely! Another uk bride here! Were planning an escape wedding for the 9th December 2010 and were also hoping to have a dessert party in Morroco too I'm looking forward to Reading more!

Thanks for joining. Was slightly concerned no one would read it!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Hiya!

Fellow London Bride here! I love thorpe park! Not as good as Disney though hehe!!

Cnat wait to hear all your plans!

It is definitely not as good as Disney! Thanks for joining

Another 2011 bride!

Congrats on your engagement, it sounded lovely. Did James organise for the photographer to "appear" or was that just lucky?

My DF is a call of duty fan too, he gave me a wii for my birthday, so I've bought him a heap of Call of Duty games to go with it for Christmas (It's so close now! Yay!) So I'm expecting to get a lot of planning done while he's shooting away!

James dragged me around all day to different spots in MK like the fountain etc as apparently he wanted to ask that day but hadn't decided when or where. He was taking me to all the places that he thought were romantic but said nothing felt right until he saw the photographer come down. He hadn't organised it, it just was luck! Who would have thought rain in Disney would be a good thing?

Once he has call of duty you will definitely not get any sense out of him.

 

[ChocoKat]

Congratulations and welcome!
I love your engagement story, you two are so cute together!
Your plans sound lovely, can't wait to hear more!

 

[Chilly]

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Congratulations! Sounds like you already have a lot planned! I am hoping for 2011 also. Everything sounds great, looking forward to hearing more!

 

[mcarthur205]

Your engagement story is lovely, rain can be good sometimes! We had an escape VR at SBP in April this year, dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse afterwards and a Wishes Cruise on the Grand 1. It was an amazing day!

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

 

[weedee]

Congrats on your engagement! Your plans sound awesome, can't wait to hear more!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Your plan sounds lovely! Another Boardwalk Area bride here as I have chosen the Wedding Gazebo at the Yacht Club for our Escape Wedding.

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Well we have been busy making our Save the dates and we are almost done. We decided on the 12th September as that was the same date James proposed which I think is really nice! James has used his magical IT skills and I think they look really good. We plan to make them up in a couple of weeks so will post a picture when they're done

But our save the dates may not be needed just yet as I have just learned about the Fantasyland expansion. As 90% of the guests I'm bringing haven't been to Disney before and probably won't ever go again I'm just not sure 2011 is best time to go. I want them to see a Magic Kingdom that isn't looking like a construction site. I know Disney are good at hiding stuff but just not sure its right! We are thinking of postponing it until September 2012 but would love to know what everyone else thinks?

PROS for Waiting = 1. More time to save up
2. The majority of MK work will be done

CONS for Waiting = 1. I have to wait another 12 months on top of the 18 months it is already
2. I have to wait 30 months to get married

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

I just spent an hour reading about the expansion and IMO I would keep it 2011. Here's why:

1. 2012 is so far away!
2. It does not seem like the expansion will be bad at all.... they are not demolishing anything that currently exits in Fantasy land... they are only moving Dumbo. Everything else will remain and be open during the expansion.
3. Toontown will be the only area affected, and IMO this is deff. the land we visit least... actually not at all.... when we go.
4. If your guests have never been they are sure to have so much fun I doubt the little bit of construction that might be visible will bother them... and it's only in the far back corner of the park that is kind of isolated anyway.
5. Things always take longer than they say, and the total project is not expected to be done until 2013... I know some of it is supposed to be done in 2012... but who knows when in 2012, might not be until December if they really stay on schedule... so you could end up pushing it back a year to have construction anyway.

*The info I posted I got from other members so can't say it's all 100% correct, but it sounds like the expansion will not have a big impact on guests.

*I just think there is sooo much at Disney to keep your guests entertained they won't mind. My wedding is going to be in May 2011 and i am not super thrilled either about it, but I am excited to see it when it's all done! Also, I am very happy to hear all of current fantasyland will not be affected, when I first heard about it I was nervous the whole thing would be torn apart!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

I just spent an hour reading about the expansion and IMO I would keep it 2011. Here's why:

1. 2012 is so far away!
2. It does not seem like the expansion will be bad at all.... they are not demolishing anything that currently exits in Fantasy land... they are only moving Dumbo. Everything else will remain and be open during the expansion.
3. Toontown will be the only area affected, and IMO this is deff. the land we visit least... actually not at all.... when we go.
4. If your guests have never been they are sure to have so much fun I doubt the little bit of construction that might be visible will bother them... and it's only in the far back corner of the park that is kind of isolated anyway.
5. Things always take longer than they say, and the total project is not expected to be done until 2013... I know some of it is supposed to be done in 2012... but who knows when in 2012, might not be until December if they really stay on schedule... so you could end up pushing it back a year to have construction anyway.

*The info I posted I got from other members so can't say it's all 100% correct, but it sounds like the expansion will not have a big impact on guests.

*I just think there is sooo much at Disney to keep your guests entertained they won't mind. My wedding is going to be in May 2011 and i am not super thrilled either about it, but I am excited to see it when it's all done! Also, I am very happy to hear all of current fantasyland will not be affected, when I first heard about it I was nervous the whole thing would be torn apart!

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it! I think we will keep it in 2011 as I think that putting it off will make it more stressful as you can't plan anything for a long time. Also I'm trying to keep our decision as to where we are getting married from our guests (so the save the dates are a complete surprise) that I'm not sure i can keep saying 'i don't know where or when yet'

At the end of the day our wedding isn't in Magic Kingdom nor are any of our celebrations so it won't spoil our wedding day in any way which is the most important thing! Like others have said the first timers will love it/hate it regardless of the construction going on!

I do hope they relocate Mickey and Minnie's house somewhere though! I love that bit and its always been one of the things I remembered since going as a child!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi
I am planning a VR in May 2011 at SBP. At the moment I am trying to decide whether to have drinks and dinner at Yachtsman's Steakhouse or go with a private reception at St James Room. We also want a DP at Morrocco!!! You are so good starting a PJ. I really must get mine started!!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Hi
I am planning a VR in May 2011 at SBP. At the moment I am trying to decide whether to have drinks and dinner at Yachtsman's Steakhouse or go with a private reception at St James Room. We also want a DP at Morrocco!!! You are so good starting a PJ. I really must get mine started!!

well i have had so much help and ideas from reading other planning journals that I felt i must try and start one. I started a trip report but no one read that so i didn't finish it.

Sept 2011 seems so far off but as soon as our Save the dates have been finished and delivered the secret will be out and hopefully i will be busy helping everyone plan their own trips!

we have very similar plans and would love to be able to see your pictures before we leave! where abouts is St James' room (could be fun as DF is a James) and how much does it cost?