**Ashley & Brian's 10/26/13 Swan Wedding**

[redlight]

You have such pretty (and long!) hair that you should have at least some down.

 

[xAshleyx]

You have such pretty (and long!) hair that you should have at least some down.

Thanks for the compliment. I would like it all down I just hope the humidity doesn't make it frizz. I'll post some of the inspiration pics I found so far in a bit

 

[MickeysStarTrader]

Love the jewelry suggestion for the girls. Disney store.com had a cute pink glass slipper necklace. Or rhinestone glass slipper earrings that may be a good idea ?
I can't post the links since I'm on my DIS app, but trust me they were cute !
Either way I'm still getting my glass slipper
Thanks for the compliments on the dress. Can't wait to show you guys picture with the mermaid slip on

I definitely see a Cinderella theme emerging here! Any jewelry that's Disney gets my vote I think it's subtle and a great way for them to remember when they got it

I originally wanted a low loose bun with a few curls down in front.
Now I'm thinking half up half down ?
Or possibly all down to one side ?!
Ahh to many decisions, I just don't want to feel naked with the strapless dress if my hair is all up ....

If it helps... I have a strapless dress and I will have my hair half up/half down

 

[xAshleyx]

I definitely see a Cinderella theme emerging here! Any jewelry that's Disney gets my vote I think it's subtle and a great way for them to remember when they got it

If it helps... I have a strapless dress and I will have my hair half up/half down

Yes. A mini Cinderella theme. Lol. I can't resist - it is disney world

Hmmm.. There are a few nice options half up and half down. I'm really liking something maybe to one side ?

I have to get my inspiration pictures started. Did you do a trial yet ?

 

[redlight]

Thanks for the compliment. I would like it all down I just hope the humidity doesn't make it frizz. I'll post some of the inspiration pics I found so far in a bit

I have similar length (maybe a little longer - was down past my waist before I cut off 5 inches the other day) and color hair. Mine doesn't usually fizz much except when it's really humid.

 

[tinydancr06]

You're getting so much done! I love all the bridesmaid gifts, especially the flip flop bag. SO cute.

What an awesome idea to have your own just married buttons made! For some reason I totally never thought of that. So cool that you can have Rapunzel on them! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

And...YOUR DRESS! So beautiful. I'm so happy you got to have "that moment." Doesn't it feel great? The beading is amazing and the pictures in magazines definitely don't do the dress complete justice. So happy you found THE ONE!

 

[xAshleyx]

New Engagement Album

After the drama with our date change I decided I should order a new engagement album with our correct date. After fooling around on shutterfly I came up with this :

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AasWjhi0cNmT-4

I like this a little bit better than the first one, it kind of matches our guest book. And we ordered this one in the lay flat pages from Shutterfly.

It just came in yesterday. Couldn't be happier with it. I have ordered many photo books off shutterfly. And always have such nice books. They usually have a ton of coupons and free shipping. Love them !!

More BM dress shopping ..

I decided to take my girls back to the place where I bought my dress, that way they could try on some more dresses and some Disney Maidens lol

We decided to bring my two flower girls too and have them try on some dresses. It worked out perfectly since Brian's mom and my junior bridesmaid were down from NY.

About 9 of us went. Talk about hectic .. I was so overwhelmed with everyone and everything going on, that I forgot to have my girls try on long dresses ! Which is what I'm starting to lean back to them wearing. Ugh ! So frustrating. We will be going back to try some long ones on ..
In the mean time, we narrowed the short dresses down to these two options.

The first one (don't mind the red) is sweetheart cut- with optional spaghetti straps. My girls are big in their chests and they all felt nicely supported in this dress. Envision it in the eggplant. It was lightweight and has pockets !!

The second one looked really flattering on my junior bridesmaid. I liked it too ! Since it was the same fabric and length. I have decided I would be okay with the girls wearing either one of these as long as they are all wearing the eggplant color.

I think this leaves them with some nice options : strapless, thin straps, or one shoulder.

Like I said, I want to keep some long dresses in the running. So no commitment yet with the short ones ! I have a BM down in Florida too who cannot come up for dress shopping. She has to head over and try on the dresses we have picked out to make sure they fit her well and she also likes them.

Onto the flower girls !

I loved every single dress they tried on- LOL

I don't even think I could narrow it down to a specific favorite.

However, Alfred Angelo makes an Ariel flower girl dress ...

That the store didn't have in. So I am making an appointment to go to a signature AA store and have the girls try that one on before making any final decisions.

Up next : the shoes and save the dates

 

[xAshleyx]

I have similar length (maybe a little longer - was down past my waist before I cut off 5 inches the other day) and color hair. Mine doesn't usually fizz much except when it's really humid.

Well we know how humid Florida is lol
I'm leaning more towards half up half down. I haven't decided if I'm wearing a veil yet or not. I didn't want to put a flower or something maybe ? Or a tiara ?

 

[xAshleyx]

You're getting so much done! I love all the bridesmaid gifts, especially the flip flop bag. SO cute.

What an awesome idea to have your own just married buttons made! For some reason I totally never thought of that. So cool that you can have Rapunzel on them! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

And...YOUR DRESS! So beautiful. I'm so happy you got to have "that moment." Doesn't it feel great? The beading is amazing and the pictures in magazines definitely don't do the dress complete justice. So happy you found THE ONE!

Thanks ! I'm glad you like the bags, I hope the girls do too. I contacted disney park merchandise about the glass slippers for the girls. They told me I needed to contact Aribbas customer service direct so I'm waiting to hear back from them :fingers crossed:

I cannot wait to share my just married buttons that I made. I'm seriously so excited !!!

Yay ! Yes the moment was amazing. I love the dress much. Thanks for the kind words. I seriously want to put it on everyday when it comes in just to stare at it. Lol

 

[MickeysStarTrader]

Yes. A mini Cinderella theme. Lol. I can't resist - it is disney world

Hmmm.. There are a few nice options half up and half down. I'm really liking something maybe to one side ?

I have to get my inspiration pictures started. Did you do a trial yet ?

If that's what you wanna do, go for it! yeah, start experimenting with your hair to see what you like the best. No I haven't had a trial, I should get on that although I'm pretty sure I know what I want, I just need to know if my hair will co-operate

I have decided I would be okay with the girls wearing either one of these as long as they are all wearing the eggplant color.

I think this is a good plan, different dresses in the same color really works and it's a great way to keep everyone happy and find the right dresses for each girl's shape. Good luck with the rest of your BM dress shopping! It really frustrated me for a while but I got there eventually!

 

[redlight]

Well we know how humid Florida is lol
I'm leaning more towards half up half down. I haven't decided if I'm wearing a veil yet or not. I didn't want to put a flower or something maybe ? Or a tiara ?

Oh, the humidity wouldn't be at its worst in October. I like half and half. How thick is your hair?

 

[ShanaMouse]

Hi Ashley,
I found your PJ!

I love all of your plans so far and it seems like everything is coming together!!
I love love the engagement book you did on shutterfly. I made our guest book with pics from our e-shoot there!

The e-pics look amazing! Randy did a really good job!

Can't wait to read more!!
Happy planning!

 

[xAshleyx]

If that's what you wanna do, go for it! yeah, start experimenting with your hair to see what you like the best. No I haven't had a trial, I should get on that although I'm pretty sure I know what I want, I just need to know if my hair will co-operate

I think this is a good plan, different dresses in the same color really works and it's a great way to keep everyone happy and find the right dresses for each girl's shape. Good luck with the rest of your BM dress shopping! It really frustrated me for a while but I got there eventually!

I like the idea of different dresses but same color for the girls too
We need to go back ASAP and try on long dresses !! I'm getting nervous that they are not ordered yet

 

[xAshleyx]

Oh, the humidity wouldn't be at its worst in October. I like half and half. How thick is your hair?

I pray its not super humid
My hair is V E R Y thick.
But I think with enough product ill be okay

 

[xAshleyx]

Hi Ashley,
I found your PJ!

I love all of your plans so far and it seems like everything is coming together!!
I love love the engagement book you did on shutterfly. I made our guest book with pics from our e-shoot there!

The e-pics look amazing! Randy did a really good job!

Can't wait to read more!!
Happy planning!

Yay !! Shana
Thanks for following along. I want to see your guest book too. Can you share the link ?

I loved Randy. A ton of fun to work with !
We are very pleased with the pics

 

[xAshleyx]

Lets start with the shoes...

So excited about them and seriously had a mini freak out (of excitement) when they arrived. They are the Disney Glass Slipper Collection from DSW. The princess sandal. . . very fitting for a princess like myself - LOL

Anyway, I first saw them online and they were beautiful. I loved everything about them. They had the perfect amount of bling and bridal. The cobalt color looked more of a purple color online, which I thought may be cool to match my BM colors. But the actual reviews said they were more of a cobalt blue, so I went with the ivory. They were on sale online for $29.00 !!! I went to my local DSW because I wanted to try them on. 1. to see what size I needed to order and 2. to make sure they were comfy.
My local DSW had them in black. I wear heels occasionally for work, but usually keep it a smaller heel to be more comfy. Not to mention the fact that shoeless, Brian is only about 2-3 inches taller than me. So I do not want to be towering over him. THEY WERE PERFECT! So comfy, which was hard to believe since the heel is 4 1/4 inches. But I was seriously like running around the store in them and wasnt at all slightly uncomfortable. People in the store probably thought I was nuts. In store they were only on sale for $43, so im glad I actually had to order them online.

Here they are . . . .

I also love that when you put your feet together, they make a heart.

My something blue . . .

And they came with this cute little note

Onto the Save the Dates. . .

Since we could not decide whether or not to use our AoA photos or our Boardwalk photos. We decided to order half and half. We originally wanted to do a magnet save the date. But when I saw this design I fell in love with it. It was nice to incorporate a bunch of our favorite photos.

The first one is our AoA photos-mostly from the Lion King section. The front is the top photo and the back is the bottom photo. We put our wedding website on here as well. .

The second one is with our Boardwalk photos. Front and back. .

Which do you guys like better? I cant decide which is my favorite. Im glad we did decide to get both. We will just randomly send them out and I will keep one of each to put into a shadowbox with our wedding stuff.

I also decided to send a “pre RSVP” card with the save the dates. That way we can get a better idea of how many of our guests are actually coming to the wedding.

We are also having an “at home celebration/ joint wedding shower” in July. Since we had already put a $1,000.00 deposit down on a venue up home that was non refundable, we were able to apply it towards having our shower here. The golf club is very nice and I came up with the idea to incorporate an at home celebration at the same time, that way our family and friends that cannot come to Disney can still be apart of our wedding.

At first, some people thought it was tacky for me to invite people to our shower that were not coming to Disney. But after talking with a few of my friends (who know that they cannot afford to go or miss work) they were pretty bummed about me NOT inviting them to the shower. Even though they could not make it to Disney they wanted to still celebrate with us. So I think the fact that we are having it as an at home celebration/wedding shower, makes it more socially acceptable.

As a side note, we really aren’t expecting gifts at the shower, or the wedding for that matter. Its more of an excuse to get together and celebrate and get more excited about the wedding ! I know some people will be bringing gifts so we decided to register at Macys, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and the Disney Honeymoon registry. That way our guests do have some options if they want to give a gift.

Since I want to incorporate more of a celebration aspect vs. a shower. I decided to copy an idea that alot of women are using for baby showers. And thats having my guests bring the gifts unwrapped or in clear wrapping. That way we can just display the items around the room or on a gift table and Brian and I can spend time mingling with our guests. We will probably have an ipod set up with music and I might splurge for a photobooth that way I can have some photos with guests that cannot make it to Disney for my scrapbook.

My BMs are getting a little frustrated that I am pretty much planning my own shower, lol but I just can’t help it-- I LOVE planning. I decided that since I already booked the venue, chosen the menu, and set the rules of having the gifts not be wrapped, i’d let my girls take over the rest.. I should also mention that our shower/home celebration is in July and the wedding is in October. I know most people have the at home celebration after the actual wedding, but I like my alternative idea. I plan on sending “Just Married” announcements to our guests that couldn’t make it to Disney after we get our wedding photos back that way they can see how we looked on our wedding day.

Back to the pre RSVP cards. . .

I decided to not include a “decline” options on my pre RSVPs. Instead I put two options; 1. See you in Disney and 2. Will celebrate at home. That way I also have a guest count for how many people will be joining us at home to help my BMs budget for the total cost of the shower/home reception. I figured if people cannot make it to either, they will decline when the actual shower invite or wedding RSVP is sent out.

Here is a photo of my pre- rsvp cards . . .

I made the pre RSVP cards my self and decided to include an option for my guests that are traveling to WDW to include their email address so I can email them more planning information. I do plan on sending out newsletters in the mail, simply because I cannot wait to make them -- but I thought having the option to email would alleviate excess postage costs and allow me to have more interactions with my guests. I also plan on sending them a “Specials” email when Disney announces new booking specials; 30% off room bookings, Free Dining, etc.

I have already gotten a few texts from family members asking for help with booking so i’m hoping everyone likes the email option I want to incorporate.

Up Next: The out of control guest list and reception options

 

[chris&wendy]

I love the first one!

 

[chris&wendy]

I SUPER love your dress! It's absolutely gorgeous on you!

 

[tashka87]

I love your shoes! And such a deal... I Am glad that they are comfy too

 

[xAshleyx]

I SUPER love your dress! It's absolutely gorgeous on you!

Yay ! Thanks Wendy