Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust! Jenn & Kevin 10/12/14 Italy/ADH/France - The End (7/2016 New TR Link!)

elphie101 · Mar 5, 2015

lthiesfeld07 said:
Your updates are phenomenal!! I am having my ceremony in Italy in July and I totally used some of your ceremony photos at my Planning Session as references!

Yay! That makes me so happy to know that even a little part of my day helped someone else - that's the whole reason for doing this in the first place

Disney_Alli said:
Jenn... I could have sworn I'd started reading your PJ but when I went to read about your ceremony yesterday I realized I hadn't and read the entire thing last night and today. Your ceremony made me bawl it was so exactly what I would want (maybe part of it was knowing that that's probably not what I'm going to have) and so touching. Also I wanted to say how much I've appreciated your thoughts reading through my PJ too! I loved your colours together - Im a huge fan of bold colours myself so it was awesome to see! I can't wait to read about your honeymoon!

You are seriously the sweetest, thank you for taking the time to read about our day, it means so much! I've always been big on color - go big or go home

LittleKittyMarie said:
Your wedding report was absolutely magical. I love the, well, love and humor you and your DH so obviously share. I laughed and cried and laughed reading your report, everything was just so beautiful. I could really relate to a lot of things your brought up: those moments of clarity you'll never forget, those unexpected ways that DFTW seem to go above and beyond what you could have ever imagined like you being able to get on the balcony, and even those moments you think are going to ruin something (the Brazilian tour group) that just don't because everything is too special. And of course your photos are just gorgeous, the Roots are so amazing. I think I'm feeling really sentimental after reading your recap, it's really helped me recapture some of the magic I felt on my own day even as it becomes further and further away. I really enjoyed it and I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner!

Thank you!! Your wedding recap and your PJ was one of my favorite in the lurking months leading up to my engagement, and definitely one I tried to model mine after in terms of attention to detail. I still re-read the wedding day every now and then to relive it a bit, I wonder if that will ever get old?

Aschenputtel said:
I'm so sorry, that I didn't respond any sooner, but I'm in the middle of exams and then my iPhone app didn't work.
But I'm still here and have to say your wedding sounds amazing although there were little hiccups, but that's what makes the day memorable, right?
I really can't wait to have our shoot with the Roots now (which will be the day after your first anniversary ;-)).
Thank you so much for sharing!!!!

I wondered where you went! Glad to hear everything's going well. BTW, if you haven't been on the tech support side of the DIS, the DIS app is useless now that the boards have changed (took me awhile to get used to myself).

I wish we were able to take an anniversary trip to WDW, I'd love to meet you!! I know you'll enjoy the Roots all the same

******

Ok seriously guys, I've had an update or two ready to go but I don't think I've ever been this busy before, work is crazy and I don't think I've mentioned it but I've finally, officially, gone back to school part time. Not to mention we're starting the house hunting process up here! I will come back though, because in my mind the journey isn't over until I've finished the honeymoon, and hey - I didn't take 1400 pictures for nothing!

Oh and if you didn't notice my ticker - we're going back!!! Can't come soon enough.

See ya all real soon!

Aschenputtel · Mar 6, 2015

Thank you - I figured that somehow the app must have gone down!
I'd love to meet you too - maybe we will manage to meet up sometime! *fingers crossed*

elphie101 · Mar 11, 2015

Total Wedding Cost

Ok......here's the scary post. Some of you who have been here since the beginning might remember awhile back that I said I was keeping a running total of all wedding expenses, everything we spent that we bought specifically for the wedding, all our BEOs and everything, just to see how much this bad boy cost. I was inspired by Carly Morgan's final budget summary of her wedding (which you can read here if you're so inclined - and I recommend you do!) over on Magical Day Weddings. While posting this kind of goes against all socially correct instincts (aka the 'Don't Talk About Money In Public' instinct), I do believe it's important to show just how much the little things can add up, and that your wedding budget is and should be so much more than what Disney gives you on your BEO.

Oh and before I get too far, I do want to talk about our refund from BOC: we got back a grand total of.......$1.91. Yup.

How this happened: our actual refund in terms of what got written back was quite a bit more than this. Part of it was the $1,000 of our deposit which they hold for overage, so I don't count that. THEN we accidentally overpaid when our final BEO was due, so I don't count that as well, since that was just sitting waiting to be refunded to us. And what's left is $1.91!! I still don't regret going BOC, because hey, we did get some money back

We ended up paying for 10 more Illuminations fees then we had budgeted for, and we also added a lot of things past the 30 day mark (like media guides, favors, and transportation for my grandmother) which ate up any additional money we would have gotten back.

Now, the final spreadsheet. Some things I want to address before I post:

We were very, very fortunate in that we did not have to pay for the bulk of the costs ourselves. I know this is not the case for many people frequenting these boards, though it was for us and I do think if we were responsible for our own wedding in full it 100% wouldn't have looked like this
I also included the cost of our planning session and honeymoon, which is a little unfair in that not everyone has a planning session or takes their honeymoon around the same time as their wedding
We were under the old Wishes pricing structure, however I've used the figures & prices we had to see if we would have met the new set of minimum expenditures. By my calculations, we would have met the Brunch Food & Beverage minimum (thanks to our hard-alcohol drinking guests!) but would have been short on meeting the Enhancement minimum of having a Sunday wedding - which might have been even higher due to our date being over a holiday weekend, for all I know (our overall minimum under the old structure was, thanks to Columbus Day). We would have cleared the Enhancement minimum for a Monday-Wednesday event however, so keep that in mind Monday-Wednesday brides!
You'll see three columns on the spreadsheet - Paid by Parents (obvious), Paid by Others (meaning paid by gift cards we didn't purchase, items that were gifted to us, or our Honeymoon Registry), and Paid by Us (also obvious )
Some things this does not include: Our at-home reception (hosted by Kevin's parents, so over their dead body will I final out that cost), the exact cost of the Welcome Party (I got sent the Final Estimate at 30 days, which is where this figure comes from, but again Kevin's parents got the final bill post-event. Because the bar was BOC and only for 2 hours, I highly suspect the actual cost of the event was less), exact honeymoon misc expenditures (I tried my best to catalog all the money we spent, but I'm sure I'm off by a couple hundred). The welcome bag stuff is also an estimate, as MIL put those together. Finally, I don't include our Universal 1-day hoppers, since those were purchased for a previous trip years ago when we never made it over there (yay savings!)

Now, without further ado, here she is!

So.......that's a lot. If we say we didn't do a planning session ($1420.63 here - I removed the Everest Challenge race registration, though it is worth mentioning our hotel that trip was booked on the race rate) and we didn't count our honeymoon costs ($5311.30, assuming we only stayed 4 nights at WDW total and one of those was our comp room from DFTW) that brings the grand wedding total to $50,753.46. Which is still a real freaking lot. Some fun things of note:

We spent $2,908.74 on gifts, which is more than we spent on our own wedding attire (excluding rings). Almost half of that was Kevin's gift, which is disheartening to see, but not something I regret in the least
The total cost of my brooch bouquet came out to around $170, making it a heck of a lot cheaper than a bridal bouquet and definitely worth considering if you feel like DIY-ing one for yourself. Also remember if you pay online for it to be done, you're paying for the cost of labor

So that's our wedding everyone, in a nutshell! Like I said, I hope this helps even some of you, although some of the information is a teensy bit outdated thanks to Wishes being revamped weeks after we were penciled in.

Coming up next: Our At-Home Reception!

edeneye · Mar 11, 2015

Oh wow, its incredible seeing everything itemised like that and how it adds up. We were lucky enough to have been pencilled in before the wishes changes too and I'm so glad our timing was as it was. I love the $1.91 BOC refund - $1.91 saved is $1.91 earned! I think we actually went over on ours, we're not brave enough to total it all up like this and see where everything went at the moment. I know we ended up going through a lot more cocktails than we had anticipated!

I have a lot of catching up to do and to begin with that I just went back to the first couple of posts. Now that you've totally wrapped up the wedding itself it was fun to go right back and see where it began now knowing how it all worked out.

Disneyducks12 · Mar 12, 2015

OMG your spreadsheet makes me feel better about spending so much on my wedding favors and my groomsmen gift! But all in all it seems like you really cut cost where you could, and i think this is so helpful to future brides who want to do a wedding at WDW and can really see what the cost can be!

Can't wait to see the at home reception!

Doodlebug25413 · Mar 12, 2015

My husband would have had a heart attack if that was us. LOL But your wedding was beautiful & everything you wanted.
And yes, I agree, it's nice to see all the expenses broken down like that.

Amanda132 · Mar 13, 2015

elphie101 said:
Kristie Pederson, Wishes DFTW Planner - 5/5: Kristie is probably the best planner in DFTW, in my totally biased and no-experience-with-any-other-planner opinion. She is practical without being cold or withholding, and mindful of your budget and priority list at all times. She was always available for us by e-mail, and while I did communicate with her assistant often (never, ever e-mail just your planner guys - ALWAYS CC the assistant. Trust me on this.) I definitely heard from Kristie more, which I wasn't expecting going in. I never felt like she was trying to push us in a direction that might have worked better for Disney at the expense of our budget, and she truly had our best interests at heart from day one. On the day of she kept everything running like clockwork, seemed to anticipate our needs and problems before we even realized them ourselves and was ready with the solution before we could blink. At the time we were assigned her, she had just returned to DFTW after several years in other departments at Disney, and there were no reviews of her and I panicked a bit, so let me tell any of you in the same situation who have been assigned Kristie P. - you're in good hands.

Root Photography - 10/5: I've saved the best for last. I've said in multiple occasions that using Nate & Jensey was the only thing I was unwilling to compromise on - I would have given up a DFTW if it had come down to it. Those are lofty words but trust me when I say they earned them. Our guests can't stop talking about them, not only their work but their personalities and demeanor on the day of. They ran our day whenever Kristie was occupied and I could not, would not imagine the day without them. Our photos are stunning (if you can't tell by the fact that I posted most of them) and I have a hard time imagining getting photos taken by anyone else. They are professional, they are kind, they are truly there to make sure you have the best lasting memories of your wedding day. in short: they are worth it. They are so so worth it.

A little bit belated, but I am so happy to see these two reviews! I haven't done too much communicating with Kristie yet, but I already have so much faith in her. And I already LOVE Nate and Jensey and already know that choosing them is probably the best wedding decision I'll make (besides choosing to marry my fiance, of course), but it's still nice to see the positive review!

Seia · Mar 13, 2015

Thanks for posting your itemized final cost. We've been keeping track of absolutely everything as we spend, but we haven't had the guts to actually add a total yet...

And hey, $1.91 back is still something! ;-)

elphie101 · Mar 19, 2015

I love you all for your patience, seriously - I was reminiscing about our Disney cruise and realizing how many little details were slipping away, and that made me realized I need to get this full recap DONE asap! I just got a new job at work (whoo!) which is where I did most of my updates before, so the frequency will definitely slow down (as if it hasn't already) but I am determined, utterly determined to finish this beast.

edeneye said:
Oh wow, its incredible seeing everything itemised like that and how it adds up. We were lucky enough to have been pencilled in before the wishes changes too and I'm so glad our timing was as it was. I love the $1.91 BOC refund - $1.91 saved is $1.91 earned! I think we actually went over on ours, we're not brave enough to total it all up like this and see where everything went at the moment. I know we ended up going through a lot more cocktails than we had anticipated!

I have a lot of catching up to do and to begin with that I just went back to the first couple of posts. Now that you've totally wrapped up the wedding itself it was fun to go right back and see where it began now knowing how it all worked out.

That $1.91 went to a well deserved churro!! Though of course, being Disney, it didn't entirely cover the cost

We were very surprised how many liquor drinks we sold (it was our #2 most purchased drink, after sangria) considering the time of day. I saw a LOT of our guests drinking mimosas though, which we didn't specifically offer on the bar, so I'm thinking those were charged as either sangria or as a mixed drink. (To this day I regret not having a mimosa, that would have been perfect!)

Every now and then I re-read my posts and it's crazy how it instantly takes me back to where I was at the time. And there's still nearly 2 weeks of honeymoon to recap!!

Disneyducks12 said:
OMG your spreadsheet makes me feel better about spending so much on my wedding favors and my groomsmen gift! But all in all it seems like you really cut cost where you could, and i think this is so helpful to future brides who want to do a wedding at WDW and can really see what the cost can be!

Can't wait to see the at home reception!

I'll have that up next (maybe today?! No promises

) We did skimp where we could (like floral and going outside for floral) and every penny saved matters if you ask me.

Doodlebug25413 said:
My husband would have had a heart attack if that was us. LOL But your wedding was beautiful & everything you wanted.
And yes, I agree, it's nice to see all the expenses broken down like that.

I think a lot of people would! It was still totally worth it to me and like I said, I think all of this would have been waaaaaaaaay different if we were financially responsible for the event.

Amanda132 said:
A little bit belated, but I am so happy to see these two reviews! I haven't done too much communicating with Kristie yet, but I already have so much faith in her. And I already LOVE Nate and Jensey and already know that choosing them is probably the best wedding decision I'll make (besides choosing to marry my fiance, of course), but it's still nice to see the positive review!

I'm glad you feel so good about them both, they really were the best parts of the day (by both I mean Kristie & The Roots of course). Between the two of them our day ran practically perfect in every way!

Seia said:
Thanks for posting your itemized final cost. We've been keeping track of absolutely everything as we spend, but we haven't had the guts to actually add a total yet...

And hey, $1.91 back is still something! ;-)

Yeah, it took me a little while to compile the full honeymoon damages (have I mentioned we drank a LOT of the cruise? :scared1:

) mostly out of fear of that final total! Eeeesh. I guess you only have one honeymoon, right? We were just talking the other day though about how it was (rightly so) the best vacation we've ever had. I wish we could do it again!

elphie101 · Mar 19, 2015

At Home Reception

Way back when, we planned to host our at-home reception on Saturday, November 15th. Actually, I should say the ILs planned to host, as they were the hosts of the reception and the driving force behind having an at-home reception in the first place. The main reason we had an at-home reception (and in fact never really considered not having one) was the fact that early on nearly all of Kevin's family made it known they had no interest in coming to Florida. The ILs wanted to celebrate with their family as close to the actual wedding date as possible (understandably so), and December was not an option with the holiday season. My opinion was that this was their event, for them, and whatever they wanted was what we'd do, and so the date in November was scheduled.

The negative side of scheduling the reception so close to the actual wedding was that the decision-making crunch time for both events overlapped. September hit and we were weeks away from our DFTW and dealing with last minute changes on that end, and meanwhile we had MIL on the other end pressing invitation selection, menu selection, and other decisions for the at-home reception, which needed to be handled in that time largely thanks to the length of our honeymoon. And so with all the pressure, I will freely admit I snapped, and we postponed the reception. Again, because of December being so holiday-focused, we pushed it back to January, specifically January 17th as that was the first weekend the venue had open post-Christmas. Funnily enough, this was the exact weekend last year when we had our engagement party, which was a nice way to come full circle on the wedding events.

We held the reception at a local country club with an afternoon brunch for about 80-something people (I'll admit I was a little annoyed more people came to this then they actual wedding). Funnily enough, almost none of our friends who couldn't make it to Florida were able to make this reception (aka half the reason we were holding it), though we did get a chance to celebrate with Kevin's family, which makes it worth something.

A large part of the reason we picked this place was because it reminded all of us of Wilderness Lodge!

The ILs brought the centerpieces themselves, but the club provided the linens and CHIAVARI CHAIRS!!! I felt so elegant

My outfit for the day - I rented my dress from Rent the Runway and it was amazing! It was a high of about 14 degrees that day so the cardigan was necessary, and of course the fact that I could wear my wedding heels again was nothing short of amazing (I did have one older relative who complained to my face that I hadn't worn my wedding dress, but given that she was in Florida I didn't really care!) I also brought my bouquet and wine box for the cake/cake table, though I didn't get a photo of them.

We also had brought my computer so that we could display a slideshow of our wedding pictures as well as our sneak peek video (another reason to push the date back - we wouldn't have had the pictures on the original date). This ended up being a total bust though, as the room had high windows and the sunlight made it nearly impossible to see the images, even after we moved the projector/screen to a different location. I kept the slideshow running on my laptop anyway since we had gone to all the effort, but no one seemed to pay much attention (maybe because I had uploaded most of them onto Facebook and the albums we had made our parents for Christmas has already been shared to all family) and we never did end up playing our sneak peek.

The first location of the video screen - you can see all the windows in the area, it was just too dang bright in the room for this to have ever worked.

Happy couple selfie!

The day ended up being exactly what I hoped it would - just casual mingling amongst friends and family with food and booze. Things did segregate between my family in one corner, Kevin's in another, and then the friend tables, but we did expect that to happen.

I didn't get a picture of the buffet, but we had the following:

Mixed Garden Salad
Sirloin Tips with Peppers, Onions & Mushrooms
Chicken, Broccoli & Penne
Mashed Potato
'Vegetable Medley' (think zucchini, carrots, etc)
Apple Crisp with Whipped Cream
Cake! (gotta have cake)

The food was outstanding! The cake came from a local bakery while everything else was provided by the country club, and we heard nothing but rave reviews about the food. We also were able to host a bar, and I made sure to make up for all the mimosas I didn't have on the actual wedding day

I didn't take too many other photos of the day, but the few I do have:

My girls got in the habit of taking selfies during the wedding events (and my bachelorette party) without me, which I got such a huge kick out of. We took one to send off to the two missing bridesmaids (Sinclaire of course lives in FL and Amanda had a conflict that afternoon and wasn't able to make it)

I didn't manage to get a picture, but all of the groomsmen & my officiant-brother ended up wearing blue by accident! I thought it was very appropriate that they color-coordinated with our wedding. You can see behind my brother where we moved the projection screen to, but it still didn't help. Ah well.

We said our goodbyes when the event was over and immediately the staff began turning the room over for a wedding reception that evening. It was clear they were using the chiavari chairs for that evening, and given everything I know about the cost of chiavari through DFTW I wonder if we were given another bride's chairs? That, or the venue just has them....who knows!

After the reception my family, Kevin's parents and my aunt & uncle all went back to my parents house to show off my dad's "documentary" (you remember, his camcorder video of the whole weekend) which he was especially eager to show to Kevin's parents as well as my brother's girlfriend, who came into town just for the reception. This ended up being my favorite part of the evening! My aunt and uncle brought over their martini shaker and made drinks for everyone, and we laughed and reminisced about the trip and the great times we had.

And.........that's about it! The last wedding related update I have. It's so surreal that this part of the story is over and, in truth, I think it's a tiny part of the reason the updates slowed so much on my end once the day itself was done being recapped. It's bittersweet!

Thankfully though, the fun is just beginning - we still have 13 days of Disney fun ahead of us before this story is truly over. Here's hoping I get this done before our next trip!

Ariel484 · Mar 23, 2015

Jenn, I just read the wedding portion of your report! Loved it! What an amazing day. At some point I WILL go back and read from the beginning!! ::yes::

If only I could go back in time and have The Roots shoot my wedding... :sad:

elphie101 · Mar 24, 2015

Ariel484 said:
Jenn, I just read the wedding portion of your report! Loved it! What an amazing day. At some point I WILL go back and read from the beginning!!

If only I could go back in time and have The Roots shoot my wedding...

Awww I can't believe you read this!! Thanks for reading my (long-winded) tale

You know, the Roots DO shoot portrait sessions around the resorts...........or there's always a vow renewal!

elphie101 · Mar 25, 2015

Final Video & MDW Spotlight

Welp, now the wedding-portion of the PJ is REALLY over, as this is my super final, definitely last wedding-related post. A few days ago we got our full edited video from Trinity, and let me just say I am in LOVE! They really blew me away in capturing the spirit of the day and the memories we have of our wedding, as well as capturing little moments I didn't see in photos (like my dad helping everyone with their boutonnieres, or moments of the pre-reception). I can now confidently say that Trinity Wedding Cinema is definitely worth it and highly recommend them!

Some of you have already seen this if you know me on Facebook or various groups, but for they that don't, you can watch our fully edited video (and our unedited ceremony cut, if you really want to

) here: https://mediazilla.com/Cnlo8xyh8

As if that wasn't enough wedding joy to last me awhile, the very next day our wedding was featured on Carly's Magical Day Weddings blog! I basically lost it as reading her wedding recaps and budgeting tips were such an enormous resource and huge help to me during those pre-engaged days of DFTW research, and now to see myself up there is more surreal then I could have ever predicted. It's all the same photos I've already shared here, but in case you want to check it out (and because I simply have to promote us!) you can see the post here: http://magicaldayweddings.com/walt-disney-world-wedding-at-epcot-jenn-kevin/

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that's it now, for real. :sad1:

At least there's still the honeymoon, eventually (I'll be getting to that soon, I have the first part almost finished!) See you all real soon!

<3 <3 <3

Disneyducks12 · Mar 27, 2015

elphie101 said:
Final Video & MDW Spotlight

Welp, now the wedding-portion of the PJ is REALLY over, as this is my super final, definitely last wedding-related post. A few days ago we got our full edited video from Trinity, and let me just say I am in LOVE! They really blew me away in capturing the spirit of the day and the memories we have of our wedding, as well as capturing little moments I didn't see in photos (like my dad helping everyone with their boutonnieres, or moments of the pre-reception). I can now confidently say that Trinity Wedding Cinema is definitely worth it and highly recommend them!

Some of you have already seen this if you know me on Facebook or various groups, but for they that don't, you can watch our fully edited video (and our unedited ceremony cut, if you really want to ) here: https://mediazilla.com/Cnlo8xyh8

As if that wasn't enough wedding joy to last me awhile, the very next day our wedding was featured on Carly's Magical Day Weddings blog! I basically lost it as reading her wedding recaps and budgeting tips were such an enormous resource and huge help to me during those pre-engaged days of DFTW research, and now to see myself up there is more surreal then I could have ever predicted. It's all the same photos I've already shared here, but in case you want to check it out (and because I simply have to promote us!) you can see the post here: http://magicaldayweddings.com/walt-disney-world-wedding-at-epcot-jenn-kevin/

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that's it now, for real. At least there's still the honeymoon, eventually (I'll be getting to that soon, I have the first part almost finished!) See you all real soon!

<3 <3 <3

Your wedding video is just so AMAZING really! I can't believe all the little extra magical moments you were able to capture and I know I have said before but your guys vows were just so amazing and you can really see the love! Congrats again on such an amazing wedding and such a beautiful day it really seemed perfect I have really enjoyed following along and sad that your wedding tr portion is over but very excited to hear about the honeymoon!

Melissa :goodvibes

Seia · Mar 27, 2015

Your wedding video is beautiful!! I love the audio of your first look. :-D I'm also excited to see your honeymoon TR and what will hopefully include some food spam. Haha.

DisneyNutMary · Mar 27, 2015

Your wedding video is beautiful. I look forward to reading your honeymoon report, I'm just not ready to say goodbye to the story of Jenn and Kevin yet.

elphie101 · Mar 30, 2015

Disneyducks12 said:
Your wedding video is just so AMAZING really! I can't believe all the little extra magical moments you were able to capture and I know I have said before but your guys vows were just so amazing and you can really see the love! Congrats again on such an amazing wedding and such a beautiful day it really seemed perfect I have really enjoyed following along and sad that your wedding tr portion is over but very excited to hear about the honeymoon!

Melissa

Thank you!!! I'm much sadder than I thought I would be that the wedding part of the TR is over (I think it's like residual wedding saddness or something!) but the fact that I have 13 days of honeymoon left to write about is comforting to say the least.

Seia said:
Your wedding video is beautiful!! I love the audio of your first look. :-D I'm also excited to see your honeymoon TR and what will hopefully include some food spam. Haha.

The first look audio is my FAVORITE part. I actually screamed out loud when I heard it! I just noticed yesterday it doesn't quite match up with our lips in the moment, but I kind of expected that since Kevin's actual first words was to curse after all! That moment alone seriously made video worth it for me.

And of course there will be food spam! Sooooooo much food spam (well, more on the cruise then in WDW. But then SOOOOO much food spam!)

DisneyNutMary said:
Your wedding video is beautiful. I look forward to reading your honeymoon report, I'm just not ready to say goodbye to the story of Jenn and Kevin yet.

You are too kind!! I'm looking forward to writing the honeymoon, so I'm glad to hear you'll be along to read it :goodvibes

elphie101 · Mar 30, 2015

Monday, October 13th

After the whirlwind wedding day before, we set no alarms and slept as late as we wanted. Let me tell you, it felt FANTASTIC. We slept at least 10 hours and while I was once again feeling under the weather (remember that pesky cold that took mercy on me and hid most symptoms during the wedding day?) we were mostly well rested from the previous day. Kevin offered to run down to the Beach Club Marketplace for breakfast, but I put my foot down. It was the first day of our honeymoon, the first day of married life, and dang it I wanted a room service breakfast. If you're not going to do it then, when are you?! We called in 2 orders of Mickey waffles, with a juice for me and milk for Kevin.

30 minutes later there was a knock on the door and our breakfast was delivered. The cast member walked in with our food and began to make quite a production: he laid a tablecloth over the coffee table in our studio and set up our meals there, but then proceeded to line up every single one of Kevin's Marvel Vinylmation he had bought the night before the wedding around the breakfast to "decorate" - all 24 of them. Needless to say that took a couple of minutes, and the second he left Kevin immediately put them all back on the end table where they belonged! Kevin, ever the collector at heart was less than thrilled

Yummy yummy Mickey Waffles in bed. Sadly the bacon was not nearly as good as it was before.

Here's the kicker: our meal cost a whopping $45!! For that price we could have gone back to Crystal Palace! I don't see us doing room service again (because, well, HOLY CRAP) but like I said, if you're not going to do room service on Day 1 of married life, then when are you going to do it?
While we were eating I got a text from my parents, who had our bins and top cake layer and wanted to come by to drop it off, since they were switching from Beach Club to Saratoga Springs. We gave them the ok to drop by, and spent a few minutes chatting with them in the room before they went downstairs to find a taxi over to their new resort. We didn't have any solid plans for the day, other then getting to use Stormalong Bay and going to the Halloween Party that night with my family, my MOH Vanessa & her boyfriend Brian and our friends Chris & Amanda (you may remember them as the ones we flew to Florida with), so we took our time and looked through the guest book and our other wedding items now that we were reunited with them.

At some point in the early afternoon, we got all bathing suited and sunscreened up and headed to the pool to meet Chris & Amanda, who were our only non-relatives staying at Beach Club and one of the few folks who hadn't checked out that morning. We relaxed with them, enjoyed some beer and fried foods from Hurricane Hanna's (no more wedding dress = eat ALL the things!) and enjoyed the pool and water slide. Let me tell you guys, as a total pool junkie, Stormalong Bay is AWESOME! It was so awesome it convinced Chris to stay one extra night at Beach Club, just so they could use the pool some more before they went home (and of course, come to Animal Kingdom with us the next day, which was really our secret master plan).

At one point Kevin's parents walked through the resort noticed us in the pool, and we hollered hellos at them. They paused on their resort exploration to grab a picture of us from afar, which is my only record of pool time:

We floated along for a little while longer, and then I vividly remember turning to Amanda and saying "Ok, if I don't go take a nap now I'm not going to make it". I was exhausted, both from sickness and from the wedding, and my cold was setting into my chest giving me a low voice and a really scary sounding cough. Kevin and I headed back to the room and I took a 3 HOUR nap - I guess I needed the sleep! I hoped out of bed and started getting ready for the Halloween Party - we had hoped to arrive around 4:00pm and there was no time to waste. I texted Vanessa about when she was to meet us at MK (we had her ticket since the party was her birthday present from us) and Brian was having issues locating his party ticket, so she said they were running late. No problem, as we were too! We pushed our rendez-vous time up to 4:30pm, and Kevin and I finished getting ready and headed off to the bus stop. According to my texts with Vanessa, it only took 15 minutes to travel from Beach Club to MK (god I could get used to staying at an Epcot resort) and so we arrived right on time at 4:30pm - unfortunately, Vanessa was still at Pop Century working out Brian's ticket issues and getting into costume. No matter - we were here to play!

I had grabbed a series of Fast Passes for Kevin and I before our 5:40pm reservation at the lovely, the elusive BE OUR GUEST (eeee!) and thanks to my nap we had to hustle right to the first one, which was....

Space Mountain!! Never enough rides there. Also, note the debut of our costumes - Mr Incredible and Elastigirl!

Thanks again to our lateness, once we got off Space Mountain our next FP was already valid, so we headed on over to..............

We were finally getting on Mine Train! Oh boy, was I excited. Nothing like bypassing a 60 minute line to make you feel special during your honeymoon (even though it's Fast Pass and of course available to everyone else)

Our dinner spot from the ride!

The first time through I focused more on just enjoying the ride itself instead of photographing it; I agree with a lot of people that if I had to wait 60+ minutes for Mine Train I would have been severely disappointed, but it was pretty cute (the animatronics were OUTSTANDING) and definitely worth the FP to try.

Vanessa was on her way to the park at that point, but we had our dinner reservation in 20 minutes and since we still had her party ticket, found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. I decided the best course of action would be to meet up with my family (who had been enjoying their own set of FPs) and leave Vanessa's ticket with them. They agreed to go meet her at the park gates when she arrived, so we dashed over to Frontierland to meet up with them and pass the ticket off before we went back to Fantasyland for a very important dinner date!

We checked in right on time and were given a pager, but allowed to wait on the castle bridge. We waited maybe 10 minutes or so before our pager buzzed and we headed to the front gates, where we traded the pager in for a little Lumiere (so cute! But kind of pointless) and were led into the castle. The CM spiel as they lead you to your table is kind of like Cogsworth giving Belle a tour of the castle in the movie, as they give you a tour of the restaurant, and as we walked in the CM leading us mentioned "Tonight you will be dining in the Master's Rose Gallery". I was a tiny bit disappointed we didn't get one of the better themed rooms, but having been a hostess before in another professional life I know how difficult it can be when a party doesn't want the table assigned to them.

The Rose Gallery ended up being a blessing in disguise, as it was peaceful, quiet, and uncrowded, and since I had virtually no voice at the time we could actually hear ourselves talk!

The tapestry above us........I wish they sold this as a blanket!

Wannnnnnt!

The menu, which has since changed! Apparently Disney has a habit of updating their menus in the fall......go figure!

Our server came over to take our drink orders and, being that we were at Be Our Guest, we turned our backs on the legacy of Walt's dream of a family theme park and ordered some booze. Oh the sacrilege!

My Michael Redde Sancerre (which I only chose because it was paired with the entree I planned to order). Yummy!

Kevin's Chimay Red, which he only chose because he'd had it before. He also enjoyed!

As I mentioned, we really enjoyed eating in the Rose Gallery, just because it was clearly the least used dining room. We were behind the Bell & Beast music box, so anyone coming in to take photos didn't venture too far into the room, and we were maybe one of 10-12 tables in the area (as opposed to the packed West Wing and Ballroom areas) and the only real "interruption" would be every 20 minutes or so, when a fanfare would announce the 'Master of the castle' and the Beast would walk through the room.

Kevin ordered the Chicken Provencal, which is no longer on the menu. He was pleased to hear this, as he didn't like his dish at all - while the flavor was good, he won't eat the skin of a chicken, and by peeling the skin off he removed all the seasoning and left a bland chicken breast underneath. The fact that this entree is gone is pretty much the only reason he's agreed to try BoG again someday!

As for me, I had the Sauteed Shrimp & Scallops, which I had been planning to order pretty much since we decided to eat here this trip. It was just ok, but I believe that had more to do with me being under the weather (everything tasted funny to me that day) then the actual dish. I definitely want to revisit Be Our Guest if only to get a more accurate read on the shrimp & scallops!

We declined dessert (I'm not paying a dinner markup for the exact same cupcakes that are cheaper at lunch!) but our waitress brought us some Grey Stuff as a way of celebrating our wedding. First free dessert!

Kevin didn't try any (because it is cookies and cream based and we didn't want to tempt fate with his chocolate allergy) but I decided to sample a bit - and it was delicious! It didn't taste chocolately at all to me so I loved it. Shame they serve it on something chocolate in the real dessert - I'll have to try to get just a dash of the Stuff itself on our next visit.

Once we paid up (saving $15 thanks to Tables in Wonderland - whoooo!) our waitress encouraged us to explore the castle before we left, so we poked around the other rooms and took some photos before strolling out to enjoy the party.

That ballroom is so poorly lit!

We headed outside and collected Vanessa & Brian before heading off to the Haunted Mansion with Chris & Amanda - if there's one thing you have to do at the Halloween Party, it's the Haunted Mansion! (Well really, there's too many "one thing"s you should do at MNSSHP, the mansion amongst them!)

We scurried over to Big Thunder next - hurray low waits! Most people were congregating for the first Boo to You parade so we were taking advantage of the total crowd suck away from the lines. We actually rode it twice, because the waits were so low and of course Big Thunder at night is amazing!

Brian and Vanessa were some characters from Adventure Time....hopefully some of you have a better idea!

Chris and Amanda were low-key Beast & Belle

After Big Thunder, the group agreed to conquer Splash Mountain as well, though not everyone was as excited as I was - guess being the bride still paid off!

We had about 45 minutes till Celebrate the Magic followed by Hallowishes, so we did a little bit of shopping (Kevin bought the special MNSSHP Magic Band) before making our way up to the Hub with the rest of mankind. It was PACKED, but somehow we managed to grab a curb spot and the edge of the inner circle near the reserved seating, and I was able to track down my family so we could watch the show with them. It was a little closer for the fireworks than I would have liked, but it did the job.

Everybody SCREAM!!! I love when the fireworks literally light up the park

After the fireworks we headed into Tomorrowland with my brothers to hit up some of our favorites there - namely Buzz (my old stomping grounds!) and Space Mountain.

Kevin on the left, myself on the right.........so tragic. I used to be able to max out in the first half of the ride!

By the time we off Space the late Boo to You had started in Frontierland, so we hustled down to Main Street where my parents can managed to grab a bit of curb.

I just love these so much!

Our full costumes - if I could do it again I would get a headband to match Elastigirl's, and have styled my hair like hers, but I was sick and tired and didn't feel like it. Another time!

The parade was fantastic, as always (even though I'm not a fan of Disney booting Goofy from his end-of-parade spot - but that's just me!). I did take plenty of pictures but none of them came out very good. After the parade was over, we said goodbye to my brothers (who were flying home in the morning) and Chris & Amanda and we set off for Liberty Square. There was only an hour left in the party, and I realized I hadn't had my favorite Halloween Party treat - the spiced pumpkin waffle sundae from Sleepy Hollow! Vanessa and I decided to split one for the sake of our stomachs, so we got in the enormous line while the boys went poking around the shops......or the bathroom. Or god knows where.

While we were waiting in the non-moving line, I started to have a little Magic Band envy over Kevin's cool MNSSHP Magic Band, and figured what the heck, I might as well purchase a little beauty I had my eye on: the Creepy Wallpaper MB. I told Vanessa I'd be right back and ran up to the new Haunted Mansion shop to grab one. Little did I know this would take FOREVER. Because it was a limited edition MB, they couldn't let me leave the shop until it was connected to my AP - but the WiFi in the shop had a horrible signal. It took two CMs plus their manager literally holding an iPad in the air out the door to get it to connect to My Disney Experience and link correctly, and it took a legitimate 10 minutes. Finally I was able to leave, and by the time I got back to Sleepy Hollow our glorious waffle sundae was a soupy, gloopy mess and there was only a few bites left. Delicious bites, but unphotographic for sure.

After that little adventure we decided it was time to leave the park via the slow browse through the gift shop, since we had big plans for the next day - it was Vanessa's birthday and we were planning to rope drop Animal Kingdom, since she had never been there and was a huuuuuge animal lover. Eventually we dragged ourselves out of the Emporium and to the buses and made our way back to Beach Club and after a small detour where neither of our new Magic Bands would open our room door (thankfully our old ones still did) we passed out immediately.

Disneyducks12 · Mar 30, 2015

Great start to your Honeymoon report! I have sadly never tried the spiced pumpkin waffle sundae I have heard it was amazing and always wanted to one time I will make it to WDW in October and be able to!!! Looking forwards to the rest of your report! It all sounds so great its getting me ready for my upcoming trip!

Melissa :goodvibes

Seia · Mar 30, 2015

Great start to your honeymoon TR. I nearly died at the price of your room service!! But it's a nice honeymoon splurge. Reading this also makes me sad that I didn't try the pumpkin waffle sundae at the Halloween party...

Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust! Jenn & Kevin 10/12/14 Italy/ADH/France - The End (7/2016 New TR Link!)

Left my heart in Tomorrowland

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Left my heart in Tomorrowland

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Left my heart in Tomorrowland

Left my heart in Tomorrowland

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Left my heart in Tomorrowland

Left my heart in Tomorrowland

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DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Left my heart in Tomorrowland

Left my heart in Tomorrowland

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