Lyndsay & Thomas - 11/17/2012 WDW *Updated 01/14 - first after wedding post!*

[mebbradley]

I'm still so excited with you and first kiss!! AHH

 

[LyndsayJ]

Finally...after 7 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day apart...my fiance is home from deployment!!! Over 500 people attended homecoming at the pier on Tuesday morning. I was up at 5:30 AM getting ready!

This is about 8:30 in the morning...as soon as I got to the pier.

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I contacted a photographer I went to high school with. She did some pictures of my brother and I for Mother's Day last year and I've wanted to have her take pictures of Thomas and I ever since!

I love this one of my friend, Lorna and I. We actually went to high school together...didn't really hang out all that much, but when she saw that I 'liked' the ship's Facebook page she messaged me because her husband (I graduated with him) is on the same ship. Small world!

Did I also mentioned that a few of us organized a flash mob?! It started out as just 5 of us...we've been practicing for weeks and had a group of about 10 - 15. Luckily, several family members agreed to join in the morning of...so we had a pretty large group doing it.
Here's a link to a video taken by the news...there's a very small clip of the flash mob. I know someone recorded it and it's on Facebook, but I can't get to Facebook at work.
Sailors return from 7-month deployment | News - Home

This is when we were doing the flash mob.

My new favorite picture.

Picked up the paper yesterday...this is the front of the second section.

The article: USS The Sullivans welcomed home to Mayport | jacksonville.com

...
And like Lyndsay Cole, waiting on Sonar Technician 2nd Class Thomas Morris, 27, whom she will marry at Disney World in November.

"I've got to be here for when my son gets back," said Ramona Morris, his mother. "My kids will always be my babies, no matter how old they get."
...

Thomas' family.

I really love how she did this one.

T-shirt his sister gave him.

Lorna and her husband, Tim.

Thomas' friend, Rusty and his fiance, Nadia.
A little side story...Rusty was originally planning to propose at homecoming, but couldn't wait and did so before they left at a concert. Since he didn't have the ring at that point, they have been wearing their Claddagh rings as engagement rings. He 're-proposed' with her actual engagement ring at the pier on Tuesday. There is a picture of it somewhere, but I can't find it.

I gave him his birthday present early.

 

[Shannon84]

What sweet pictures!! thank you so much for sharing, it brought tears to my eyes while reading...the pictures are beautiful!

 

[Bewitch324]

Oh I'm so happy for you that he's home and you can be together!!!!

What great pictures you got of that unforgettable moment!!

Very romantic!!! {{swoon}}

Brooke

 

[CinderALLIE]

So glad your fiance is home. What great pics, you had me tearing up a little LOL

 

[LyndsayJ]

I can't believe tomorrow marks two months until our wedding!!

...as usual, it's been quite a while since I updated...so I'll break this up into a few posts...first off, menu tasting / celebrating birthdays!

We went for our menu tasting the weekend before July 9th, my fiance's birthday. My dad's 50th birthday was June 29th, so we had two birthdays to celebrate! Since 50 is such a great milestone, all the family chipped in and got my dad a Richard Petty Driving experience.

Our weekend started out on Saturday with tasting and booking the Groom's cake with It's Tasty too...it'll be Darth Vader themed (obviously

). I wish I got a picture of the different tasting samples...but we were too busy eating them...so this is the only picture I snagged.

Then we headed over to Downtown Disney for some browsing...I'm SO HAPPY Thomas was on board with getting a birthday button!

...at Boardwalk

..in the big comfy chair...

Thomas had not seen Atlantic Dance Hall yet...so we stopped over there for a drink and some people watching.

...inside...

Next up...brunch with Mickey!

 

[LyndsayJ]

Sunday we got up really early to have breakfast with Mickey.

Special treat for his birthday.

My dad got on one knee for Minnie.

Then we headed over to the racetrack for my daddy to drive his car.

After that we hung out by the pool at Shades of Green for a bit...then went into MGM.

The benefit of the birthday button...EVERYONE recognizes it and wishes you a happy birthday...this guard even sang to Thomas!

My dad, Thomas, and I then went to Magic Kingdom because they were open until 2:00 AM Sunday! My dad is like a little kid...he NEVER runs out of energy! At one point he said, "What's next?" I said, "Sleep...please!"

We did make it until 1:00 AM though.

 

[LyndsayJ]

Monday...menu tasting!

This is what Magic Kingdom until 1:00 AM does to him.

 

[LyndsayJ]

So far we've got almost all RSVPs back...the deadline was August 19th...but we've extended for for a few. I have mixed feelings about that.

I'm actually really shocked at how many people are coming. Right now, our count is at 129!

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We've had a few wedding 'meetings' with my parents where we've discussed different details and everything seems to be coming together.

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As I mentioned in the Facebook group, we contracted Cole's Classic Cars which turned out to be MUCH cheaper than going through Disney...so my dad and I will be rolling up in this fancy little number...

..It will also be there to take my fiance and I to the reception.

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My dress is altered and ready to go. Good golly...the bustle cost half what the dress costs!!

We thought about purchasing a less expensive, short, rehearsal dress...but when I think about it...I really don't want another dress...I spend all this money on an elegant dress and that wear it for only a ceremony and pictures? So I know it will be worth it the day of.

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A little preview of what will be included in the welcome bags...I designed a cute little wrapper and wrapped 200 candies without eating a single one!!

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After a night of Googling...we FINALLY decided on our first dance song!

Plain White T's - 1, 2, 3, 4 - YouTube

We had been looking for quite a while...found many great songs, but I never got that 'aha' moment that I was looking for when I'd hear a song. I heard it immediately with this song!

We'll be taking dance lessons soon (I think we start next week)...so, although it is a little fast, I'm confident that the dance instructors will help us to make it look good.

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I got the man-band.

I was struggling with what style to go with...I kinda suck at decision making in general...but he wanted me to pick his out...so I was up to the challenge!

I'm actually pretty proud at how I did it. On my lunch break July 19th, I went to the mall knowing this is what I wanted...got it done, in and out within an hour (did someone say, "That's what she said" sorry, wouldn't help it)!

He had no idea I planned to get it when I did...but July 19th was the anniversary of our engagement...so I thought it was the best day of any to present it to him. A total bonus that he loves it!

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Our reception shoes have arrived!!

Matching 'rust' orange converse...and I snagged them during tax-free weekend...

 

[LyndsayJ]

...and now, I must gush about one of my bridesmaids.

Shannon, one of my bridesmaids got married September 1st in Indiana. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! The night before, after the rehearsal she presented me with my first wedding shower...she called it a shower in a box.

Not only am I so grateful for the shower gifts, but it means so much that she took a moment out of HER special weekend to do something for ME! It really was such a sweet thing to do.

The gift cards were also an AWESOME idea that will be extremely helpful since we're moving 10 hours away the week after our wedding!! Good thinking, Shannon!

 

[LyndsayJ]

Oops! I forgot to post our final invitations! I posted a draft a while back...not too much changed...but a little did.

Outside envelope is orange (matches the RSVP envelope).

 

[CinderALLIE]

Everything looks good. What a fun trip you had.

 

[LyndsayJ]

Everything looks good. What a fun trip you had.

Thanks! It was definitely a fun time.

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Lyndsay! Subbing to your thread

I just read the whole thing, but a lot of pics from the beginning are no longer working :-( I love love love everything I could see though!

I stole 2 things from you... I hope you don't mind.

1) The unity cross. That signifies everything I believe about marriage. Super cool.

2) The "we promise to dance if you play..." idea. What a super cool idea! I'm not good at coming up with music, so that will help big time.

... And I cried (ok sobbed) at your fiance's welcome home ceremony pictures. They are beautiful! What a special moment for you guys, and even more amazing that you have it capture in photographs. So beautiful.

 

[LyndsayJ]

Our RSVPs are now up to 131.

Lyndsay! Subbing to your thread

I just read the whole thing, but a lot of pics from the beginning are no longer working :-( I love love love everything I could see though!

I stole 2 things from you... I hope you don't mind.

1) The unity cross. That signifies everything I believe about marriage. Super cool.

2) The "we promise to dance if you play..." idea. What a super cool idea! I'm not good at coming up with music, so that will help big time.

... And I cried (ok sobbed) at your fiance's welcome home ceremony pictures. They are beautiful! What a special moment for you guys, and even more amazing that you have it capture in photographs. So beautiful.

I'm not sure which images aren't showing up...once I take a look, I'll try to fix them.

I certainly don't mind if you hijack the details I have...the Unity Cross I actually learned about from a military forum I'm part of...and actually much more active on than this one...but I'm trying to get more active on this one. I love our cross and I like how its different than what I've typically seen..I like to be different.

The RSVP song request idea I got from something I saw on Pinterest. One of my guests thought that it meant I would dance if they requested that song...almost put The Thong Song down because of it...but then realized it meant HE would be dancing and didn't put any request.

 

[LyndsayJ]

We just got home from our first dance lesson!

It was a lot of fun...since our first dance song is a little faster, it will mostly be swing...which I think will be really impressive to our guests...especially since neither of us are that great of dancers.

The instructor was really excited that we're wearing our converse...he was really disappointed because he forgot to wear his.

Did any of you guys take dance lessons? Are you glad you did?

 

[LyndsayJ]

Lyndsay! Subbing to your thread

I just read the whole thing, but a lot of pics from the beginning are no longer working :-( I love love love everything I could see though!

I stole 2 things from you... I hope you don't mind.

1) The unity cross. That signifies everything I believe about marriage. Super cool.

2) The "we promise to dance if you play..." idea. What a super cool idea! I'm not good at coming up with music, so that will help big time.

... And I cried (ok sobbed) at your fiance's welcome home ceremony pictures. They are beautiful! What a special moment for you guys, and even more amazing that you have it capture in photographs. So beautiful.

I went through each page...I think I fixed any pictures that weren't working.

Also, I realized I never posted pictures of our unity cross when it came in...so here's what it looks like! Kitty not included.

...and I got a little artsy.

 

[LyndsayJ]

Just a few small updates...

We got our marriage license on Wednesday! There was a couple at the clerk's office that came in for their ceremony while we were there and the bride didn't bring her photo ID! When the lady asked to see it she said, "Oh I have to have that this time too?" Uh...yea...that's a little important!

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My garter came in! It's also being used as my 'Something Blue' since it's a Georgia Southern garter. I've thought about getting two...a toss and a keep one...what did you all do?

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We enrolled in our wedding dance program! It's a little pricey...but I really think it will be worth it. We've done three private lessons so far and I can tell already that it's bringing us both out of our shells. We have two instructors...male and female...they're both really fun and really make the lessons fun and exciting! Here's a sign they made us last night when we enrolled in our program -

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I got my bridesmaids each a necklace as part of their gift (the majority of their gift will be hair and makeup. I also bought one for Thomas' older sister, mom, my sister-in-law, and my two hostesses (ladies that will be helping out with the guestbook, flowers, and anything else that may come up).

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Right now I'm working on putting the list together for our song requests based on the songs people put on the RSVP cards.

I don't know if I mentioned this before...one of my step-mom's friends hand delivered her RSVP to her office and attached FOUR typed pages of song requests!! She said, "Oh I'm not driving down to Disney to dance to one song!" Luckily, skimming over the list it seems like most of the songs are ones we wouldn't mind...so we should be fine.

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I'm still having a jewelry dilemna and could REALLY use some input. I want the jewelry to be pretty and bridal...but I also would prefer some sort of mickey 'touch'. I've searched all over the web and and having a hard time finding that balance. I've purchased a few options off ebay for earrings...but I still feel like I'm missing something.


These came already...I think they're really cute...but kinda small...I was picturing something a little more extravagant for my wedding.

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These ones I'm still waiting to come in. I'm hoping it's just a bad picture of them because besides the color, it looks like exactly what I'm looking for (the listing on e-bay says they are silver).

I still want to get some sort of necklace...but my I haven't found what I'm looking for yet...any input???

 

[LyndsayJ]

I finally found my earrings!! I had another thread about hunting for them for a while...one of the pairs that I bought off eBay turned out to be exactly what I was looking for!!! I was a little skeptical because the picture of them in the eBay listing made them look gold-toned...but the description said silver-toned so I assumed it was just a bad picture...and if not, they were only $5...so no huge loss.

Now I just have to find a necklace that will look nice with them.

 

[LyndsayJ]

I just saw our wedding fund be almost cut in half...but the good news is we have paid for our dessert party! I love crossing things off my list!