Mark and Sarah Wishes Wedding 11.8.13 SBP/ADH *updated Save/Dates & beauty options!*

[SarahFarra]

I realize I’ve gone a long time without an update and holy bees I have a lot to say!!

First of all, as of yesterday it IS OFFICAL, we are booked, locked in and there’s no turning back for us now!!! We got our first choice date, time, and both locations! We could NOT be happier!!!

Second, I have also booked our first choice photographer!!! Just as happy about this as I was really worried someone would out-book us! We are going with Jason Angelini www.jasonangeliniphotography.com who’s work I am just absolutely in love with! I mentioned earlier that I am into photography and it has become a nice little side business for me as I’ve done a couple weddings, and lots of families and kids and event photography! I absolutely love being creative with a camera and seeing what I’m capable of! So, that being said, photography has been a HUGE priority for me all along this planning process so far. There are a lot of photographers out there and some of which I just really don’t love purely based on the work I’ve seen them produce. It was important to me to find someone who has the same vision as I have which is focusing on details, finding perfect lighting conditions, not over-editing with blurry cheap effects, keeping nice clean and crisp imagines that will stand the test of time. Jason has all of these qualities! And after speaking with him on the phone, I knew he was our photographer! He has great energy, is extremely confident in his abilities, and best of all has some great ideas which I’m REALLY excited to see come to life in our wedding! P.S. he uses Nikon cameras which makes Mark and I very happy as we are also a Nikon household. I realize that sounded totally geeky but I’m ok with that! Hahaha

Now on to the stress of the moment. My dress has been quite an issue recently. As in, I don’t have one!! I’m a pretty easy girl to fit, not saying I’m skinny, but I’m pretty much average as far as sample sizes go and I really didn’t expect to have a hard time in this department. The problem, I’m realizing, is that I’m EXTREMELY picky! I’ve tried on at least 60 gowns at this point and I could literally find something wrong with each of them! I was so stressed out about this after a whirlwind excursion with my future step-mother-in-law and future sister-in-law (who is also 31 weeks pregnant but was a trouper) on a busy Saturday at a local bridal shop and then (gasp!) David’s Bridal this last weekend. I gasp because no one should EVER go to David’s Bridal on a Saturday afternoon especially during prom season!!! Ohhh my goodness that was HORRIBLE. Anyway, I finally forced myself to sleep late Saturday after mindlessly searching online for HOURS trying to find other options, dress styles I might like etc. and woke up Sunday still worried about it! I was borderline depressed on Super bowl Sunday, no less. My poor Fiancé, who I’ve mentioned lives and breathes for sports and was SO excited and I was just a stick in the mud most of the day. Anyway, to make this story a little happier, I ended up contacting the Store Manager at the local shop (Madeline’s Daughter in Portsmouth, NH-LOVE this shop!) who offered to help me in any way she could! She asked me to send her a list of styles I love and she would see if they have them and if not, she would find something similar. She pulled through and has also set me up with a different Stylist as she feels maybe that was part of why I didn’t find my dress the first time. I have another appointment next week! Yay wish me luck!! I will report back after my appointment!

 

[HisJasmine]

Hello! Congrats on your engagement!!! He did great on the ring...I love rings that have diamonds down the side. I'll be following along, and I can't wait to hear how your appointment goes. Sending some pixie dist your way .

 

[rrali33tt]

Second, I have also booked our first choice photographer!!! Just as happy about this as I was really worried someone would out-book us! We are going with Jason Angelini www.jasonangeliniphotography.com who’s work I am just absolutely in love with! !

I just took a look at his website ...and I loved his style! I am going to put him on my list of potential photographers

 

[SarahFarra]

I just took a look at his website ...and I loved his style! I am going to put him on my list of potential photographers

Awesome!! I'm sure he doesn't disappoint!

 

[SarahFarra]

Hello! Congrats on your engagement!!! He did great on the ring...I love rings that have diamonds down the side. I'll be following along, and I can't wait to hear how your appointment goes. Sending some pixie dist your way .

Thank you so much!! Happy to have you following along!

 

[SarahFarra]

I wanted to share our excitement that we've been assigned a Planner and she seems fabulous so far! We have Amy Riendeau with her assistant, Jessica Rawlings. I just "met" them on Thursday, so 2 days ago, but Amy especially so far has been very quick to respond and even after my first email I got an out of office reply since she's attending the Bridal Showcase but she's still been emailing me FROM the showcase. THAT to me is some great service!! Love that!

On a related note, she wanted us to think about whether or not we could attend a planning session and of course we said, ummmm...yeah!!! We have a tentative date set for our planning session on Friday, June 14th! Amy is checking with the kitchen to make sure they're available for a food tasting but if that works out, we'll be there for a long weekend in June! YAY!!!

Oh, and good news! Yesterday was exactly 9 months from our wedding day!!!! I bet this time will go by sooo fast! We are going to try to relish in the excitement though.

Annnnddd...drum roll please!! (ok, that was ridiculous) WE HAVE A WEBSITE!!! Mark kinda does this stuff for a living so we're really lucky that he was able to do this for us! So, purely designed and created especially for us, our website is a work in progress, but feel free to check it out!

www.markandsaraheverafter.com

I am very proud of my future hubby for his abilities and am super happy with our lovely and, in my opinion, unique and creative site! It fits us, our wedding, and our overall vision for our theming and "brand" for our special day. Our save the dates and invites will follow along these similar lines. Exciting stuff!!

 

[pommiepup]

Hi, I am following along, great so far and I can't wait to read more.
I am also going to be a SBP bride, 08/03/2013...I love the Boardwalk AND I have Amy R and Jessica....they are so great you will love them.
Well good luck and happy planning

 

[emc1123]

Your website if fantastic!
I agree, these next 9 months are going to fly.
I don't have a dress yet either, wanted to lose a few more lbs before I got one, but we will see on that

 

[SarahFarra]

Hi, I am following along, great so far and I can't wait to read more.
I am also going to be a SBP bride, 08/03/2013...I love the Boardwalk AND I have Amy R and Jessica....they are so great you will love them.
Well good luck and happy planning

That is GREAT to hear!! I haven't had much interaction with them yet, but what I have had has been wonderful!

Your website if fantastic!
I agree, these next 9 months are going to fly.
I don't have a dress yet either, wanted to lose a few more lbs before I got one, but we will see on that

Thank you! I think he's doing a great job on it!

See next post regarding the dress! Keep in mind most places take 6 months to order it so gives you plenty of time to lose weight while you're waiting if you want to. I ordered a size that will fit me now and am doing really well with my workout routine and pretty well with my eating so hopefully I'll need to have it taken in a little once it gets here!

 

[SarahFarra]

Well, I've ORDERED a dress...I won't have it probably until August but I found one! I have SUCH a feeling of relief. Unfortunately my DF is very savvy and would easily see pictures if I posted them here so I won't. But I can tell you that it is amazing and literally everything I wanted and hoped for! AND it was within budget! Actually about half of what I had originally budgetted for it! Total win!!!

Now that that's done, we will need to pick an officiant. If any of you have preferences on the officiants Disney gives you, it would be much appreciated as I really don't know where to start. Please tell me the good, bad, and the ugly! I would rather know beforehand than be surprised on our wedding day!

Another exciting tidbit! We got our date for our Planning Session!!! So June 14th is the day. It will sort of be a whirlwind trip. We'll go down for a few days, basically a long weekend, and the 14th will mostly be consumed by the PS as we were able to get a food tasting too! REALLY excited for this mini-trip and getting to plan all the details!!!!

 

[emc1123]

Hey Sarah:
Was wondering if I could pick your brain (or anyone else's for that matter)- have you decided on what you want to do about transporation?

I know we can walk from SBP to ADH and I think you can also walk to Epcot (is that too far?).

I know we need transporation from the hotels to SBP and from Epcot back to hotels for the guests?

What are your thoughts??

Thanks

 

[SarahFarra]

Hey Sarah:
Was wondering if I could pick your brain (or anyone else's for that matter)- have you decided on what you want to do about transporation?

I know we can walk from SBP to ADH and I think you can also walk to Epcot (is that too far?).

I know we need transporation from the hotels to SBP and from Epcot back to hotels for the guests?

What are your thoughts??

Thanks

Great question! We are not planning on providing transportation at all since we haven’t chosen any venues that require it. If I remember correctly, are you having a Dessert Party? I'm guessing that would be why you’re concerned about transportation to/from Epcot? In that case, you would only need to provide transportation to and from Epcot which in most cases is a charter bus. You may already know this but the reason for it is b/c they take you to a "behind the scenes" location for your party. You'll have access to the bus for 5 hours and I believe it's $500?? I don't remember for sure off the top of my head though. And it holds up to 50 people. You can schedule the bus to leave at certain times to take people back to their hotels if you want or just have everyone leave at once, I believe that's up to you. Obviously your planner will have more concrete info on this but as far as I know this is the only option for transportation if you're having a Dessert Party. Which I wish we could have!!

Also, you can easily walk between our two venues and can easily walk across the bridge to Epcot! That’s why I love the BoardWalk area so much because of its vicinity to Epcot!

Just keep in mind (as we are as well and letting our guests know) that there is no direct resort to resort transportation so if they’re not staying at the BoardWalk and won’t have a car, they will need to allow extra time to take a bus to say, Epcot and walk over or then change busses and take one to BoardWalk. The walking over would obviously only apply to an afternoon ceremony since World Showcase (I believe the only exit that dumps you out by Beach Club/BoardWalk) wouldn't be open yet for a morning ceremony. All things to consider! I’d love to hear your or anyone else’s thoughts on this too!

 

[emc1123]

Thanks Sarah

We may be nixing the dessert party (budget issues).
So are you having your guests take the regular Disney transportation from their hotels to SBP and back at the end of the night?

 

[SarahFarra]

Thanks Sarah

We may be nixing the dessert party (budget issues).
So are you having your guests take the regular Disney transportation from their hotels to SBP and back at the end of the night?

Yes, BUT we're having a 10am ceremony so our reception will be over by 3pm and they are free to do whatever they want. It's definitely cheaper that way if you don't provide transportation. For us, having the busses would really add up quick since our guest count will be probably close to 80 guests so we'd have to have 2 busses and that is just pushing our budget too far. We will give our guests as much information about how to get around and just cross our fingers that they get where they need to be on time!

 

[emc1123]

I like the idea of letting them wing it. We are having such frustration with people deciding where they way to stay. Everyone is going to be scattered it appears.

 

[asunnysideup]

I love your wedding website! It looks great!

 

[SarahFarra]

I love your wedding website! It looks great!

Thank you so much! He put so much work into it so he appreciates hearing that people like it! I need to upload our save the dates! They follow the same theme and are SO cute!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Just caught up on your PJ. Your ring is so gorgeous! You have such a clever fiancé! I love your wedding theme, although I suppose I am a little biased since I'm doing a similarly vintage inspired theme. Hmm, what else? I love your website and your colours. I don't think I've ever seen orange and plum together, but I am very intrigued, it sounds like it will make for some really fun decor!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Tink2182014]

Congrats on the planning. I'm not a big flower girl so i love your ideas for centerpieces. Also love your ring! You're website inspired us to create a new more simple one. Thanks!

 

[kkbutterfly]

Great question! We are not planning on providing transportation at all since we havent chosen any venues that require it. If I remember correctly, are you having a Dessert Party? I'm guessing that would be why youre concerned about transportation to/from Epcot? In that case, you would only need to provide transportation to and from Epcot which in most cases is a charter bus. You may already know this but the reason for it is b/c they take you to a "behind the scenes" location for your party. You'll have access to the bus for 5 hours and I believe it's $500?? I don't remember for sure off the top of my head though. And it holds up to 50 people. You can schedule the bus to leave at certain times to take people back to their hotels if you want or just have everyone leave at once, I believe that's up to you. Obviously your planner will have more concrete info on this but as far as I know this is the only option for transportation if you're having a Dessert Party. Which I wish we could have!!

Also, you can easily walk between our two venues and can easily walk across the bridge to Epcot! Thats why I love the BoardWalk area so much because of its vicinity to Epcot!

Just keep in mind (as we are as well and letting our guests know) that there is no direct resort to resort transportation so if theyre not staying at the BoardWalk and wont have a car, they will need to allow extra time to take a bus to say, Epcot and walk over or then change busses and take one to BoardWalk. The walking over would obviously only apply to an afternoon ceremony since World Showcase (I believe the only exit that dumps you out by Beach Club/BoardWalk) wouldn't be open yet for a morning ceremony. All things to consider! Id love to hear your or anyone elses thoughts on this too!

Hi! Catching up on your PJ - I was married at the Boardwalk and my husbands immediate family had a huge issue with transportation. I woudl tell them to TAKE A CAB to the ceremony! It's like 10 bucks from the all stars and art of animation/pop (i can verify, I took the cabs and paid) and SO MUCH EASIER. His mother showed up 30 minutes late and missed pictures because she went from Pop to MGM to BW. If she would have paid 7 bucks, she would have been early. Also, its much quicker to go to MGM than DTD (as evidenced by his sister who *CLAIMS* it took her over 2 hours - no - I don't believe her because we tried it and did it in 45 minutes....). Just a mini rant/tips. His cousins also took the buses and had enough sense to not complain to me the day of the wedding (a courtsey his mother and sister couldn't be bothered to extend).