Our Fairy Tale Wedding Trip Report

[hmgolden]

June 22nd – The day got off to a bad start when Walter slept through his alarm going off, and got up an hour later then he planned. So getting out of the house became a bit more frantic then we had planned, but we managed to leave our apartment only 15 minutes late. Getting all of our luggage, my dress, and us into my little Nissan Sentra proved to be one of the comical moments of the day. Who knew my car was that small?

We dropped my car off at my parents house, and transferred the luggage to my Mom’s car, (it fit much easier in her Mercedes) and my dad drove us to JFK. We waited in the REALLY long check in line, and by the time we had gotten our boarding passes we had just enough time to grab a bagel with my dad before waiting in the very long line for security. We managed to time it out just right that we got to the gate just in time to start boarding. Once on the plane, the fight attendant made us show her the plane ticket for the dress, and the proceeded to make sure that it was buckled in (Ann, I thought of you). She actually came by twice during the flight to make sure I hadn’t unbuckled it. I was confused by that but whatever. We landed at MCO, were greeted by Sam from Tiffany Town Car, and headed off to the Boardwalk. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our luggage with bell services, and headed for the parks. Originally we were going to spend the afternoon/evening in MK, but Walter really wanted to go see the British Invasion and American Vybe in EPCOT, so we cancelled our PS at Tony’s and went to Epcot. We watched the British Invasion, and walked over to the US, only to find that American Vybe wasn’t performing on Tuesdays. Ooops! So we headed over to Spaceship Earth. As we were exiting the ride, Randy Chapman called me, so I chatted with him about the final details for the wedding.

By the time I had gotten off the phone with Randy, Walter had found out our room at the Boardwalk was ready, so we went to get settled in (I love being able to walk between EPCOT and the Boardwalk). When Walter opened his suitcase he found that his cologne had broken during the trip. Thankfully the 1 bedroom villas have washer and dryers, otherwise he would have stunk our whole trip! Once we were settled in (I was very excited that we had a Boardwalk/water view room. It was to be look left while out on the balcony and see Atlantic Dance Hall), we headed back to EPCOT for Illuminations and dinner. We ate dinner at the quick service place in Japan, I can’t think of the name of it off the top of my head. It was very yummy. On our way, we spied on dessert parties that were set up on the Lower UK, and on French Arm. It made me even more excited for our dessert party on Friday. After Illuminations (which we watched from Japan) we walked back to the Boardwalk stopping before the International Gateway to spy on the dessert parties some more. Once we made it back to the Boardwalk, we collapsed into bed. Getting up at 4 AM had finally taken its toll on us.

June 23rd – Walter got up early (and on time ) and went down to the Boardwalk Bakery to get us breakfast. We ate while sitting out on the balcony of our room watching all the families rush off to the parks. I was trying to prepare myself for the day ahead. We had a meeting with our EM, Tracy, at 10, and then my MOH (Amy) and my parents were due to arrive at the Boardwalk around noon.

Our meeting with Tracy was when the first hiccup happened with the wedding. It seems that the seating in ADH had changed since Tracy had sent me the table layout so that I could do my seating. After much deliberation, Walter and I had decided to add 2 banquet rounds of 8 so that we could seat everyone on the dance floor. With the new seating that we had to work with, 6 of our tables had to be on the upper part of the first floor. Not a huge deal, but I wouldn’t have added the banquet rounds had I know people would end up on that level anyway. Unfortunately, because our place cards were already done and I had no way of redoing them, I had no choice but to go with the new seating arrangement. We put the people who would most appreciate the shorter walk to the bar on the first floor and everyone else stayed on the dance floor. Since my friends and family, for the most part, are pretty cool people, no one cared that they were on a separate level. In fact, I think some of them rather enjoyed it (especially the ones that ended up closer to the bar!). Other then the issue with the seating, everything was set for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. So we said good bye to Tracy, and waited for my parents and Amy and her husband to arrive.

While we waited I took the time to put together the gift bags for the girls (I had sent most of their stuff down to Tracy beforehand so that I wouldn’t have to pack it). I was so excited to give the girls their gifts, I knew they would love them

Amy called around 11:30 and said that she and Brian were taking the boat from MGM to the Boardwalk, and would be there shortly. Walter and I told them we would meet them in the lobby, and went downstairs and waited for them on the porch behind the lobby overlooking the lake. It was one last wonderful relaxing moment, for just the two of us, before the craziness began. Amy and Brian arrived, we chatted for a bit, and then next thing I knew my parents were calling telling me they had arrived. We told them where we were, and they came out to join us. They, and my brother and his girlfriend were eager to get to the parks, so we took them up to the room Walter and I had stayed in the night before so they could keep their stuff there until their room was ready. My parents headed immediately to the park, and us ‘kids’ made PS for lunch on Teppanyaki, and headed over right before we were due to eat. As we were leaving lunch, my cell phone rang. I normally don’t pick up my cell phone when I don’t recognize the caller id number, but since I had given my cell phone number out to a number of wedding guests I answered it. On the other end was a friend of Walter’s mom (June) who was coming to the wedding. Now, please keep in mind that we had invited this woman and her husband to the wedding, and she brought her 2 teenage daughters instead of her husband. This wasn’t a huge deal because so few of Walter’s mother’s guests were coming so we let that slide. Well, the reason she was calling was because her mother had decided to fly down and join them for their week in Disney World, and would it be ok if her mother came to the wedding too? Keep in mind, this is almost exactly 48 hours before the wedding. I was so amazed at this woman’s gall; I didn’t know what to do. I stammered something about being in a park, and not having any wedding stuff with me, and I could I answer her tomorrow. When I hung up, I immediately made Walter call his parents, but they were unreachable, so we figured they must be on a plane. When we did get a hold of them, Walter’s mom said she didn’t know anything about this and it would be ok with her if we told June that she could not bring her mother. After discussing the situation with my parents, they said that it was fine for this extra woman to come since so few of our guests were from Walter’s parents list, and I think that made them feel bad. Since I was too busy being appalled at this woman, I made Walter’s mother call her and tell her the news. Apparently she was ecstatic. Whatever!

That night, I headed out with Amy and Jen (my brother’s girlfriend) for a girl’s night out at Downtown Disney. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. While we were waiting my friend Michael and his girlfriend (now fiancé, they got engaged during their trip for the wedding) whom I had never met, surprised me by stopping by. They had known we were eating dinner there that night, and were planning on joining us originally, but had bailed when they realized how beat they were from traveling that day. Michael spotted me and stood directly next to Amy and Jen, which sketched them out (they had no idea why this strange boy with a pony tail was standing next to them), until I turned around and FLEW to the boy to give him a hug. I was so excited to see him, since I don’t think we had seen each other since he graduated from NYU 3 years ago. They didn’t stay long, but seeing them really helped make the wedding real in my head. They were the first guests that I ran into that I wouldn’t normally see, and it was quite a realization in my head that all these people were descending upon Disney for MY wedding. That was when I really started to get excited. After we bid Mike and Kate goodbye, we enjoyed a very yummy dinner, and then went club hopping at Pleasure Island. During dinner I realized I had forgotten my ID back at the Boardwalk. Oops! Thankfully, Walter was headed over the PI with the boys, so he was kind enough to bring it with him. Us girls found our favorite club was 8Trax, and we ended up staying there until they closed the club. When we finally got back to the Boardwalk around 3 am, we ended up collapsing into bed (which would be a trend of the first half of our trip) with hopes of sleeping late the next morning.

[hmgolden]

June 24th – Apparently, the excitement and my nerves were starting to get to me because even with the late night I had, I was wide awake at 7:30 AM. I tried to fight it for a while, but by 8:15 I accepted the fact that I was awake and got out of bed. I didn’t want to wake Amy who was still sound asleep in the other bed, so I grabbed my book and headed out into the living room area of the villa to go read on the balcony out there.

About 10 minutes into my ‘Helen time’ the balcony door opens, and my father walks out onto the balcony with his NY Times in hand. The two of us never got to reading, we ended up spending the next hour or so just chatting and having father-daughter time. It was really nice. Around 9:30, I stared to get hungry, and when I realized what time it was I called Walter. He and Brian (Amy’s husband) had told us that they would come over with breakfast between 9 and 9:30. When I saw the time, I figured Walter was probably still asleep, and I was right. So he got up, showered, woke Brian up, and came over to find out what we all wanted for breakfast (he’s so sweet ) before heading down to the bakery to get it. By the time he got back, Brian had come down to the room, and Amy had woken up, so we moved inside to eat breakfast as it became quite comical trying to fit us all out on the balcony. My dad stayed and chatted with the four of us, and we heard about the boys escapades from the night before. They too had started the night at Pleasure Island, but were sorely disappointed by the Jazz club, and the wait for the House of Blues was just too long for them, so they came back to the Boardwalk and play Frisbee on the grass behind the lobby, until 4:00 AM! No wonder they were a bit tired. While we finished breakfast my mom came back from the Grand Floridian where she had gone for a massage (the women she works with all chipped in and got her a ‘mother of the bride massage’), which she adored. With her back, my parents headed off to the park, leaving us ‘kids’ to our own devices. Amy and I sent Brian and Walter off to check Amy and Brian in to the All Star Music. Walter had to go with Brian since they were using our AP discount. It was a good thing he went too, since they did ask to see the pass when they checked in. While they did that, Amy and I set up shop on the balcony to do our nails. While we sat out there and did our nails, we people watched below. And before long, I started to recognize some of the people below as guests for the wedding. Some of them we would yell down too, and some of them I would hope they wouldn’t look up and spot us

Around 2, I called Walter to see where the heck he and Brian were. Apparently, the line to check it was 45 minutes, and then they decided to grab lunch, and then on the way back, they grabbed a bus to Epcot, forgetting that there is no bus service to the Boardwalk from Epcot. So they had to take a bus from Epcot to MGM, and then walk back to the Boardwalk. I was a little less then thrilled when I heard all this, especially the part about lunch since Amy and I had been waiting on them to eat ourselves. As we were finishing doing our nails, my parents came back from MGM, with friends of theirs in tow. So, Amy and I went into the living room area to be social. My dad gave his tour of the villa (something he LOVES doing) and we all sat around and chatted. Then there was a knock on the door. My dad answered it, and was greeted by a woman from the Boardwalk management team (I so wish I knew her name!) asking if she could give a new staff member a tour of the villa. My dad said sure come on in. They came in, and she started chatting with my parents, and immediately the wedding came up. She got so excited about the wedding, and wanted to hear more about it, so my dad ended up giving the new guy the tour of the place, which amused the woman even more. When my dad finished the tour and it was time for them to go, the woman took down mine and Walter’s names and wished us luck.

Brian and Walter got back around 3:30 (finally!). Walter came back with a fruit cup in hand for me since he knew I was a bit unhappy that he had eaten without me, and because of the late time, knew he wasn’t going to have time to eat with me. He and Brian hung around for a bit, and then headed back to their room for the tux fitting which was scheduled for 4:00. It was at this point that I figured I should start getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. I hadn’t showered or even changed out of my PJ’s yet. So I snuck into the bathroom and started getting ready. When I got out and while I was drying my hair, my other BM Jen came to the room, so I told my mom to send her in so I could chat with her while I finished drying my hair. I was so excited to see her! Unfortunately, Amy and Jen never really meshed which was a bit of a problem over the next day and a half but nothing huge. They had some issues going back to my bridal shower that they never got over (Jen lives in Cleveland, Amy and I live in NY, and Amy was mad that Jen didn’t come out for the shower, and Jen was annoyed that Amy refused to have the shower memorial day weekend so that Jen could drive out rather than fly, which she couldn’t afford to do, and since she had started a new job she couldn’t take more vacation time then she already had for the wedding). So I did my best to ignore the fact that they hardly said two words to each other and just pretended that everyone was a big happy family!

At 5:30 my cell phone rang, it was my friend Kate saying she had landed and she was on her way to the Boardwalk on the Mears bus. I told her to call Brian’s cell when she knew the Boardwalk was the next stop, as by the time she got here we would all be at the rehearsal. (one of the groomsmen was not bringing a date to the rehearsal dinner, so Kate was coming in her place so she wouldn’t be stuck in a hotel room by herself all night, she was staying in Amy and Brian’s room that night and they were still staying with us) By the time I got off the phone with her, Walter had come back to my room with the bridal party gifts, and every thing else we needed for the rehearsal and the dinner. So, Walter and I headed down to the Boardwalk Convention Center with Jen and Alan in tow. I knew the nerves were starting to get to me, because I was really starting to loose patience with everyone, and I just needed the time with a smaller group of people to relax a bit. Everyone else stayed behind and would catch up with us closer to 6 when the rehearsal was scheduled to start.

When we got down to the convention center, we found that Walter’s name was spelled wrong on the room assignments. Ooops. Not a big deal. We found Tracy and Rev. Tim. We talked to Rev. Tim for a bit, and then since he had to leave to do a vow renewal by 6:15 we opted to start without the rest of the bridal party. Luckily, by that point we had Amy (my MOH), Carl (the Best Man), Jen (BM), and Alan (GM). While Rev. Tim was having us practice the ring exchange my parents arrived with my brother Chris (GM), and Walter’s parents came with his sister (Jr. BM) and brother (who would be lighting the unity candle). So we had a good portion of the crew in place, but were still missing a few. The funniest part of the rehearsal was that I could not practice the kiss without laughing. Walter and I hardly ever kiss in front of other people, and especially not in front of my parents. And, last year, at Amy’s wedding all of her friends (including me) swore up and down that the wedding was the first time we EVER saw her and Brian kiss, and we all joked about how weird that was. So every time Walter and I would practice the kiss, that’s all I could think about, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I think Walter was starting to think he had a problem. Anyway…..

Rev. Tim left just as Matt (GM), and Kelly (GM) arrived. I was so excited to see Matt who was a friend of mine from college that when I ran to hug him, I busted the strap on my dress! Thankfully the dress is one of those that can be worn with straps or strapless so I just took off the other one. The plan was for Tracy to run through the rest of the ceremony with us. But we had a bit of a problem. It was about 10 after 6, and we had all the groomsmen, but were missing 2 Jr. BM, and a flower girl as my aunt had not yet arrived. My parents tried to call her on her cell phone several times to no avail. I was not a happy camper. Tracy kept trying to tell me that it was ok, but by 6:30, I was livid. They didn’t show up until 6:45, and they didn’t so much as apologize for being late. And to boot, they showed up in the clothes they had been wearing to the park that day. Everyone else was dress appropriately for the occasion (summer dresses, khaki’s and button down shirts stuff like that), but I think showing up in their park clothes was my aunt’s way of sticking it to me that she was annoyed about the rehearsal dinner menu. Anyway, once they showed up, we practiced the processional and recessional a couple times, and by then everyone was starving so we just crossed our fingers that Jenna (FG) would somehow make it down the aisle the next day, even if she didn’t drop the petals. (During the rehearsal, she kept turning her basket upside down at the start of the aisle and then RUNNING to my aunt, it was funny).

So, on we moved to the St. James Ballroom for dinner. We had hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixings, corn on the cob, a selection of salads, grilled vegetables, and a few other things on the menu. For dessert we had apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and build your own cup cakes. The rehearsal dinner I think was the most stressful event for me of the wedding. I barely ate a thing although everyone else said the food was great. I was so on edge from my aunt being late to the rehearsal, and from all the grief I had gotten in the last week about the rehearsal dinner not being fancy enough, and the wedding being the next day that I just couldn’t relax. Add all that on top of that my parents and Walter’s parent’s being in the same room together, and I needed a really stiff drink. Luckily, at the very least all of our friends had a great time. I was worried since most of them didn’t know each other, but they all became instant friends. It was fun to watch, and helped me relax some. Amy made a point to talk about how great she thought the food was around my aunt, and my parents. Luckily Walter’s parents knew nothing of the grief, so they just thought everyone had a great time. Walter gave a great short little speech thanking everyone for coming, and we handed out the gifts which seemed to go over very well. At the very least the little girls were thrilled with their earrings, cameras and their little bags to carry them in. (Especially my cousin Dani who got a pink bag which is her favorite color. Her twin, Gabi’s favorite color is purple, and I really thought that Dani was going to drop out of the bridal party when she found out the dresses would be purple). By 10:00 we were all pretty tired, so we all headed back to our respective rooms/hotels. The boys would be meeting at 10:30 to start getting ready, and the Jr. Bridesmaids were all due in my room by 11:30 AM to get dressed and start pictures.

Walter came back up with me to the grand villa so I could give him the tip envelopes to fill for the next day. When we opened the door, I was greeted by a bouquet of silver and white balloons tied to a card. The card was inscribed “To Helen and Walter, Congratulations from Cinderella and Prince Charming”. It was too cute! That woke me up for a bit, but then I was back to being exhausted. I practically threw Walter out of the suite I was so eager to go to bed! I kissed him good night, and he, my brother and Brian headed back to their room. Shortly after that, Amy and I kicked Kate out and sent her off to the All Star Music Resort, and finally I got to bed.

[hmgolden]

June 25th – I woke up several times during the course of the night, because Amy was snoring! I was surprised how easily I fell back asleep the first few times I woke up, but as the hours crept towards morning, the nerves started to help keep me awake. I remember seeing the alarm clock at 7:00 AM, and thinking that I still had an hour to sleep, and probably fell back asleep around 7:15. At 7:45 Amy bounced on my bed, “like Tigger” to wake me up yelling about it being my wedding day. It was very funny. About 5 minutes later, my father comes in, digital camera in hand, to take ‘waking up the bride pictures’. Apparently this was my mother’s idea, but she thought if she did it I would have killed her (she was right). My dad was sorely disappointed that I was awake, and yelled to my mom that she missed her chance. My father decided that I needed to humor my mother, so we staged some waking up pictures.

Once I was up, I really wasn’t sure what to do, I felt sort of paralyzed. I knew I needed to shower and dry my hair before 9:30 when Disney Cosmo was scheduled to arrive and I needed to finish packing, but I couldn’t make myself get going. Thankfully Amy kind of took charge of me, and told me the first thing I needed to do was eat. My dad had bought a bunch of things from the Boardwalk Bakery that morning, so I took a croissant and some OJ, and sat at the kitchen table. The nerves were in full force by that point, but I was doing my best not to let it show (and apparently I did a really good job, because everyone is still amazed at how calm I was the entire day). At some point while I was eating, Amy’s husband came by to get her luggage to get it transferred to the All – Star Music. Amy got the reconnaissance report that Walter was up, packed, and was on his way to the Yacht Club to get his hair cut (definitely NOT my idea, but he decided that it HAD to be cut that day because it was just too long. He explained to the girl who cut his hair what the deal was, that he didn’t want it too look like it had just been cut, and it actually came out very nice. But I was not exactly thrilled with his timing!), had checked us into our room (we were upgraded to a Garden Suite for the entire time, yay!) and had booked us a parasailing time! I was impressed. Brian was told to tell Walter that I was up, I hadn’t run yet, and that I was surprisingly calm. By the time Brian left I was finished forcing breakfast down my throat so I went to take a shower. In the shower I sliced my leg with my razor (ouch! It left a scar!). It hurt soooo much! But really it was best thing that happened that morning, because after that I got my nerves pretty well under control for most of the rest of the morning. I don’t know what it was, but once I was out of the shower, and the bleeding had stopped a bit, I was much calmer. I sat down in front of the counter, and started to dry my hair as Amy got in the shower. I finished drying my hair around 9:15ish, so I started to get some packing done. By the time I finished up one bag, there was a knock on the door, and I hear my dad saying something to the affect of ‘Oh! You must be one of the wedding people’. Serena had arrived to my hair. As she got herself situated, she told us that she would be doing my hair, and my mom’s. Rex was coming to do our make up, and Lisa was coming to do Amy’s hair.

Serena started in on my hair, and I got the first taste of what it was going to feel like being a tourist attraction for the day. My father would not put down the stupid digital camera! He took so many pictures that my mom made him delete some of them because she was afraid there wouldn’t be enough room on her memory card for pictures later in the day. Serena got my hair up in curlers, and then let me loose so she could start my mom’s hair. I went back into my bedroom, and found Amy finishing my packing. She was too good that day! By the time we got the rest of the stuff in my bags, and I was wheeling them out into the living room, Rex and Lisa were knocking on the door. Thankfully, this time I answered it and saved them from my father’s humor. They came in and Lisa got right to work on Amy’s hair, which came out FABULOUS. I loved it. Rex started in on my make up, and my brother’s girl friend Jen, watched him in amazement, especially when he was mixing the foundation. She was in awe of his cosmetics case. It really was funny! While Rex was putting finishing touches on my make-up Serena was starting to take the curlers out of my hair. By the time Rex proclaimed me done, I thought I already looked like a princess, and Serena hadn’t even really started on my hair!

I moved back to the other side of the table so that Rex could start with my mother’s make up, and Serena started attempting to do my hair. My hair just would not cooperate with her. She must have spent almost an hour trying to get my hair right. She would start it, and then something would fall, or she wouldn’t like the way it was coming out, and she would start all over again. In the middle of all this, Randy showed up, about an hour earlier then I was expecting him. I knew he came in, because when he knocked on the door, my dad opened it, and said “Oh! You must be the photo guy” (my father was in rare form that day). Randy came in and started flittering around asking some questions, and taking tons of pictures. He took pictures of Serena doing my hair, of my dress, of Amy’s dress, my veil, pretty much everything! Serena put the finishing touches on my hair just as Walter’s mom was dropping of his little sister, and Jen, my other BM arrived after having her hair done at Coronado Springs.

Walter’s mom and Serena left, so I decided that since it was 11:30 (the appointed meeting and dressing time for the little girls), I would get Leanna dressed myself. Randy took some pictures of that, and then asked what time I was going to get into my dress. I told him probably in 20 minutes or so, he said ok, and left.

Once Randy left, the room was a bit more settled, and I had a moment to realize my AUNT WAS LATE AGAIN! This became a very easy thing for me to stress over, especially since I really didn’t have anything else to do other then obsess over the missing members of the bridal party. While we were waiting for her to show up, I went and put on my crinoline, so that when Randy came back, I would be ready to put me dress on. About 5 minutes later, (and what seemed like 3 hours) my Aunt finally showed up with all her kids in tow. But, of course, she hadn’t ironed any of the girls’ dresses! So, my mom took charge and got right on the case and ironed the dresses while my Aunt finished the girls’ hair. And right around here is when everything started to happen so fast I’m not really sure what happened when. I know that Randy came back while my mom was ironing the last of the dresses. Just as I had gotten her, Amy, and Jen (my brother’s girlfriend) all in the room to put my dress on me, the flowers were delivered. Being the spaz that I was that day, I had to see them right away, so I RAN out to see them. They looked to beautiful, I was so happy. My bouquet came out better then I could have ever expected (I was really worried about it) and the girls bouquets were all the perfect sizes. After I showed the little girls the 3 hidden Mickey’s on my bouquet (I was so excited about them), I finally went back into the bedroom to put my dress on. I am sure Randy got some great shots of this comical event. But the dress made it on, zipped up perfectly.

So now with me dressed, the process of putting my necklace on began. My mom tried to do it, but the combination of her nails and her eyesight conspired to make it very difficult. Amy tried, but she was having issues too, so eventually without thinking, they called my dad in to do it. Of course this meant that my dad’s first time seeing me was not the dramatic moment we had envisioned, but I think it was much more fun this way. By now he was all dressed up in his tux, and looked so handsome! My dad, after recovering from the shock of seeing his little girl all dressed up as a bride, finally got the necklace on, and we went back out into the living room for pictures. I’m glad that Randy was there, because it helped make the next 20 minutes go by quick! He took pictures of me with my parents, with the little girls, and by myself. Before I knew it, he told me he would see me downstairs. After that there was nothing for me to do but wait. I sat myself down on the couch with Amy, and just tried to take everything in.

There were so many people in the room, my parents, Amy’s husband, the bridesmaids, my aunt and uncle, their son, and Walter’s mom who had returned after getting dressed herself. Everyone was buzzing around putting the finishing touches on, and just waiting for the call from Tracy that would say it was time to go downstairs. I was starting to get a little anxious as 12:30 (appointed time for me to be downstairs) became 12:31 (can you tell I was a bit on edge?). FINALLY the phone rang, my dad answered it. It was Tracy. My dad made some smart *** remark about us not being ready, we thought the wedding wasn’t until 4. He saw that I was not exactly amused by that, so quickly told Tracy (before he had a second to think about if my dad was kidding or not), that we were in fact ready, and were just waiting for the all clear to come to the lobby. Tracy gave him the green light, and off we went!

The walk to the elevator was tons of the fun. The little girls were so excited, and completely enjoying being a part of the wedding. I got a lot of flack from various people about having my cousins in the wedding, but having them was one of the best decisions ever. They were just too excited; it was nice to be surrounded by that. We passed several guests on our way who all offered me congratulations, and a couple who told me I still had time to back out! We all crammed into the elevator (the family that had been waiting was nice enough to let us go ahead of them. I really hope I thanked them, but I can’t remember!) and took it down to the second floor of the Boardwalk. We walked out into the lobby where we saw Walter’s father and brother, and Tracy (who was talking into his little headset thing, it was so cool!) He gave me a hug told me I looked beautiful, and asked if I was ready. I told him I was. He went and told Randy that the bride had arrived. Randy got Walter in position (he would have his back turned until I was in position) and they sent me out. I remember walking out onto the balcony with Tracy, and seeing all the groomsmen lined up against the glass lobby doors. They all had such smiles on their faces, and I could tell that it was killing Walter that he wasn’t allowed to turn around yet. After what felt like an eternity, everyone was finally set for the big bride reveal. Randy gave Walter the cue, and Walter turned.........

[hmgolden]

...And all Walter could say once he saw me was ‘Wow!’ I had been telling him for months that he would never ever guess what my dress looked like, but he kept trying, which I had found funny. But now that he finally saw me in the dress he was completely thrown. He walked the few steps that were seperating us and gave me huge hug. He was getting tears in his eyes, so I asked him how my make up was. (When we went to the senior prom together in high school, the first thing he said when he saw me in my prom dress was ‘I don’t like your eye shadow’. I could have decked him!). That got him laughing.

As this was going on, all the bridesmaids, and our parents started to filter out onto the balcony. So, Randy got right to work, and started with the pictures. He took pictures of me and my family, Walter and his family, and of us together with each others families. Then he started with the bridal party pictures. While this was going on, one of the groomsmen opened the door to the lobby for some reason. We discovered that this created a really nice breeze on the balcony. And as we had been out there for 25 minutes to half an hour, I was starting to melt, so the guys very graciously held the doors open for me. That helped a lot for the next 20 minutes while we finished pictures there. It also gave all the little girls who were gathered in the lobby a much better view of me. It cracked me up that there were complete strangers taking my picture!

We took pictures out on the balcony until 1:15. Around that time, Tracy came out and told us that the vintage car was there for me and Walter, the limo was there for our parents, and the bus had arrived for the bridal party. We sent off the parents and the bridal party, and Randy took a couple pictures of us with the vintage car. I LOVED the car. We used the Rolls Royce. Andrew had told us that the Rolls had A/C. And it did, but it took a LONG time for it to get anywhere close to cool!

When we arrived at the Grand Floridian, Tracy met us in front of the lobby, and took my train and walked us over to the staircase. The walk there was filled with many congratulations, and a few curious stares (some people acted like they had never seen a bride before!). We took more pictures with the bridal party on the staircase, and it was here that my mother started enjoying her mother of the bride status. Many people (especially moms with young girls) kept stopping and watching us. So my mom would tell them all about the wedding, like it was all her idea and that she had thought a Disney wedding was the best idea ever! This kept cracking up Amy and Jen, who both knew way better. But hey, at least my mom finally came around, even if it took until an hour before the ceremony. Eventually people from our entourage started to disappear. First the groomsmen, then our parents, and then the bridesmaids. Before I knew it, Randy was left with just Walter and me. We went outside to take some pictures on the patio, and on the grass. I love these pictures, and had a blast taking them. But again, the heat was getting to me. Walter kept asking if I wanted to know how hot it was, and I kept telling him he could tell me tomorrow. Randy was pretty good about sensing when I had had enough of the sun, and he would move us into the shade for some pictures there. The pictures we took outside at the GF are some of my favorites.

Eventually, we went back inside, took a few final pictures just the two of us, and then Tracy came over, and told us that there was a whole bunch of people sitting around waiting for us. He took us back out to the vintage car, and we were on our way to the Wedding Pavilion. We pulled through the car port and got stuck behind one of the hummer limos, and a minivan that followed us into the car port parked behind us. Both seemed to have an unending supply of luggage that needed to be unloaded. I started to get really anxious, and our driver kept reminding me that ‘they can’t start without you Princess’. I could tell though that after a couple minutes, even he was getting rather annoyed with the bell hops who didn’t seem to notice that there was a bride with places to be in the car. Finally the limo was done being unloaded, and the driver finally got paid, and we were FINALLY on our way. It all it probably took 3 or 4 minutes for the whole thing to happen, but it seemed like forever.

When we got to the Wedding Pavilion, we were greeted by Serena. Which confused me very much, as I had never heard of Disney Cosmo meeting a bride at the Wedding Pavilion. She told me she had heard that my hair was falling, which made me even more confused, since I didn’t know my hair was falling, so how the hell did Serena know? I found out later that Amy and my mom had noticed that one of my curls was falling and rather then telling me, they told Tracy about. Amy was so impressed that he got right on his headset and got it taken care of. Karen, one of the Disney secret service people, told Serena to meet me in the Bride’s vestibule. So Serena walked up ahead of us, and Randy took some pictures of Walter and I walking over the bridge to the WP.
The next thing I knew without even the chance to say good bye, Walter was going off to the groom’s room, and I was in the bride’s vestibule with Serena poking me with more bobby pins. She finished up quick, and left. I had a glass of water, and looked around, and had a ‘how on earth did I get here already’ moment. For months, the wedding was so far away, it was just a date that was taking forever to arrive, and now, before I even realized what had happened, I was sitting in the bride’s vestibule. It was crazy! My mom said good bye to me, and headed out to be escorted in. Next thing I knew, I could hear the music for the mother’s seating playing. This is when I almost started to cry, but Jenna decided that this would be the best moment ever to see what was under my dress, so instead of crying I was doubling over in laughter. Her timing was perfect. Amy spied on the guys as they lined up, and told me “it looks like this thing is actually going to happen. Walter’s still here!” Once the guys were in Tracy came and collected the girls. Once I was left alone with just my dad, I just got so excited, and I wanted to see what was going on inside! I tried to watch the girls do their walk from inside the vestibule, but my dad kept telling me to move, because people were going to see me! Finally, Jenna entered the Wedding Pavilion, and the doors closed behind her. Karen came and got me and my dad. Tracy was peaking through the spy holes on the doors, and told me that Jenna was doing a great job, and to hurry up and get over there so I could see! So I walked as quickly as my heels would allow. Tracy put his foot on the door just to be sure I didn’t somehow open it, and I watched Jenna make the second half of her VERY slow walk down the aisle. She was so deliberate with the petals. She put down 1 at a time. It was too cute. Once Jenna had made it to my aunt, Tracy said alright, it’s your turn. He gave the signal to the organist, and the chimes and bells started. They sounded so cool, and made me feel important. Tracy got my father and I in position, and the Trumpet Voluntary started. It sounded amazing on the organ, and it felt like forever before the doors opened at the crescendo.

When the doors finally opened, I was just filled with joy. I couldn’t believe that the moment had finally arrived, and I was walking down the aisle to marry my prince! I’m laughing in almost all of the pictures that we have of me making that walk, because half way down the aisle my dad whispered to me “do you think your mother would kill me if I shook your hand, and kissed Walter?”

Finally we made it to the Alter, and Rev. Tim started the ceremony. My dad decided it wasn’t worth the risk of my mother’s wrath, and he gave me the kiss, and shook Walter’s hand, and took his seat. The ceremony flew by! I was really worried about being in front of 75 people, but as far as I could tell there were only 3 people in that room - me, Walter and Rev. Tim. We exchanged vows and rings, lit the unity candle, and the next thing I knew, Walter was being told to kiss his wife, and that meant me! We gave our moms the presentation roses, and then we walked back up the aisle as husband and wife! After knowing each other for 10 years, and dating for 5, in just 20 minutes we were man and wife. We ended up locked in the Bride’s vestibule. I have no idea who closed the door on us. We gave each other a quick kiss, and I asked Walter if he felt any different. He told me he didn’t, other then his left hand feeling heavier. I laughed at him. As I was laughing, I glanced out the window, and noticed all the guests leaving to line up for our staged exit. The spying opportunity was too great for me to pass up. So I stood by the window watching everyone, and Walter laughed at me. We figured that when both Tracy and Rev. Tim knocked on the door before coming in, that we were probably supposed to be doing some cuddling or something, but spying was much more fun. We figured out which was the woman that had invited herself to the wedding, we laughed at some of our relatives outfits, and we stared in amazement (well Walter’s stare was a bit more appreciative then mine!) at a couple of the dresses that our friend’s girlfriends were wearing.

After everyone was all lined up, Tracy came and got us. He draped my train over my arm, and gave us final instructions, and then Walter and I started our walk. We stopped halfway on the bridge for a kiss, and then proceeded up through all the petals that were tossed at us. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad we did this. The car, which was now decked out a ‘Just Married’ sticker on the back window, was waiting for us at the end of the walk way. We got in, our guests waved good-bye, and we did our little drive around the parking lot.

We came back to a few of our guests still straggling their way to the busses. We made our way back inside the pavilion and chilled with the bridal party for a bit. Randy set up for more group pictures, and we started with the pictures with our parents. We did those quick, so they could get on their way to the cocktail hour with the rest of the guests. Then we goofed off with the bridal party some. My favorite pictures of the bridal party are from the WP. Eventually the troops got restless, there was a party to get too after all, so we sent the bridal party on their way, and that left me and Walter. We took a couple more pictures in the WP, and then headed out to picture point. We took lots of pictures out there. Randy had us practice for our first dance, and had Walter practice carrying me across the threshold. He almost dropped me when we tried that!

After picture point, we took a couple pictures on the bridge, and then headed to the beach for a couple quick shots. Randy got the shots he wanted on the beach, and then we headed back to the car. The driver greeted us with bottles of water, which made my day On the way over to the Boardwalk we got many congratulatory honks from passing drivers. Once we got to the Boardwalk, we took the back way around and our driver let us out right in front of Atlantic Dance Hall. As we were getting out of the car, we met up with some of our straggling friends who were just getting to the cocktail hour. Tracy greeted us at the door with our drinks, and asked if we wanted to hang out for a while or head up to the cocktail hour. We told him we wanted to go up to the cocktail hour, and he led us into the Dance Hall.

[hmgolden]

We walked into the Dance Hall and I just tried to take it all in. The first thing I noticed was the cake table. It looked beautiful! I was so happy with how the cake came out, and I was thrilled to see the castle cake topped sitting next to the cake surrounded by my girl’s bouquets and rose petals. The next thing I noticed were the tables. One the first level, we had 3 votives on each of the tables that people would be seated at, and at the extra tables Disney had placed 1 votive, and all the candles were surrounded by pink and lavender rose petals. The candlelight from the candles on either side of the bar was definitely lost because of the sunlight coming through the windows, but I am glad we votives were there. It helped to create the ‘wedding’ look that I had been envisioning, and I don’t think the room would have looked complete had we skipped the votives on the tables.

After I took in the room for a minute, and our latecomer friends picked up their place cards, we all piled into the elevator and headed upstairs. When the doors opened on the 2nd floor we were greeted with the party already in full swing. This put an instant smile on my face, and for the first time I noticed the music. Walter and I were very anti having any piano music (something my mom pushed hard for) at our wedding because we didn’t feel it would help establish the feeling we were looking for. So for the cocktail hour we requested that our DJ play upbeat 50’s and 60’s music and it worked beautifully. It kept all of our guests in a happy upbeat mode that got them talking and chatting with each other. Walter and I made the rounds during the cocktail hour because there was no way I was going to spend our reception going table to table to talk to people. I had said from the beginning of the planning that I wanted to attend to cocktail hour to do all the meeting and greeting then, because I wanted to enjoy my reception. So I introduced Walter to the few of my aunt’s that he hadn’t met, and we went around the room having a great time. Randy appeared at some point and started following me around taking pictures. My mom also got him to take family pictures of her and my dad’s brother’s and sisters. Walter and I grabbed some food, and took some pictures with various family members. At one point, Jenna came up to us with the camera we had given to her at the rehearsal dinner, and told us she wanted to take a picture of us. If you ever want to know what a 3 year old sees give them a camera. Jenna’s pictures from the wedding crack me up! I’ve put copies of them all in a nice album for her that I have stored away and plan on giving to her when she gets married Jenna also started to give the petals she had left over from the ceremony out to people. It was very cute. Anyway, enough about the flower girl, for now anyway!

Before I knew it, Tracy was collecting the bridal party to bring them downstairs for the entrances. I couldn’t believe the cocktail hour was over already! I had decided that I didn’t want to make the treck down the big staircase in ADH in my dress, in heels with everyone starting at me. So, we opted to have our guests stay upstairs and do the introductions with them looking down on the dance floor. Tracy brought Walter and I downstairs first, and while we waited for the rest of the bridal party, we met with the DJ – Sean McCabe. I will say that the DJ was one area of the whole wedding process that I was disappointed in Disney. A week and a half before the wedding when I hadn’t heard anything from our DJ, I emailed Tracy and asked if I should have been worried. Tracy said no, told us who our DJ was, and said Sean usually contacts his brides a week before. Thankfully Tracy also included Sean’s email when he responded. Because on Monday (the day before we left), I realized I hadn’t heard from him yet. So I sent him an email (and copied Tracy) with the important songs we had picked out, and told him that I was leaving for Disney early the next morning, and if he needed me he should call me on my cell phone, and I gave him my number. Well, I found out when we met up with Tracy when we got to FL, Sean had emailed(!) me back and said he had tried to get in touch with me prior to then, but had the wrong email and phone number, (as did Andrew Lammes) and he had sent me a link to his website so I could fill out a form. I still to this day, do not understand why either Andrew or Sean didn’t ask Tracy for my contact info if they knew what they had was wrong! Anyway – we met with Sean, and went over our music selections. He assured me there wouldn’t be a problem, and I had no choice but to trust him. And really, I was too happy about being married that I didn’t have time to give my issue with him a second thought at the time. Tracy returned with the rest of the bridal party in tow - including Jenna, which he wasn’t happy about. He was pretty adamant about not having her introduced, but I know my Jenna, and I knew it was better to let her go out there with everyone else than try to explain why her sisters got to go and she didn’t. Tracy asked me a million times if I was sure, and I told him it would be fine. So with that, he lined everyone up, and gave the cue to the DJ. We used ‘A Beautiful Day’ by U2 for the introductions. The music started, and out walked the first group. It was really exciting to hear everyone clapping, and some people in the bridal party definitely hammed it up for their audience and for Randy’s camera. My brother especially enjoyed escorting our three younger cousins. Finally, Walter and I were introduced as Helen and Walter Soyka, and we made our entrance. It was so fun to look up from the dance floor as we walked in and see all the people who mattered to us in our lives (and a few random additions...) looking down on us with such happiness on their faces. Walter and I felt really loved at that moment. The bridal party lined up, and we did our first dance.

For that we chose Billy Joel’s ‘You are my Home’. We felt that with all the crap we went through with my family in the months leading up to the wedding, and the issues that he has with his family that it was a very fitting song for us. Walter and I hate being the center of attention so after about 1 minute of the song we were ready for it to be over with. The song didn’t seem so long when we had danced to it at home! In the middle of it, Jenna spotted her mom, and started waving and yelled ‘HI MOM!’ at the top of her lungs. I could feel Tracy cringing when that happened, but it was fine and I just laughed. Norma waved back, and then Jenna just stood there reveling in how important she was as a ‘wedding person’. Walter and I thought it was really cute how much Jenna was enjoying herself, and it was appropriate how much a part of the wedding she really was. Once the song ended, Sean told our guests to make their way down the stairs to get a glass of champagne (Fairy Tale Cuvee for those who were of age, and sparkling cider for the ones who weren’t) and take their seats for the toast. Walter and I sat at our sweetheart table, and the first thing I noticed was that the butter pats on our table we the Cinderella’s Coach ones. I was thrilled. I had said sadly at our planning session that I was bummed about the buffet because I liked the butter pats that the table for the tasting was set with, and Pete, who was our chef that day, must have written it down. I was tickled pink. After I stopped giggling over the butter, I took the opportunity to kick of my heels while my feet were under the table and my mom couldn’t see what I was doing. That was a welcome feeling for my toes Once everyone was settled on the first level and in their seats (which I thought took forever to do, but everyone swears to me they didn’t think it took that long at all) Carl and Amy gave their toasts, and then thankfully it was time to eat. The yummy smells from the buffet were filling the Dance Hall and making everyone hungry!

The music we requested to be played during dinner was ‘standards’ from the 40’s and 50’s. Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, stuff like that. It worked out beautifully, from my point of view anyway. (Although, this is where my issues with the DJ started, as Sean played some instrumental Disney songs, which I had specifically requested not be played – but no one noticed that other than Walter and I, but it did get my nerves going) While people were waiting for their turn to get served some of the couples got up and started dancing. It was so cute and romantic!

Our server Robert took Walter and I through the buffet line.

There was more food then I ever would have expected. All I had was some Caesar salad, the beef, and pasta from the pasta station. Everything that I had was delicious, and Walter loved everything he had too. The food is still the first thing people rave about when our wedding comes up! The best part of the buffet (other then the food being oh so yummy), in my opinion was that Walter and I actually got to eat our dinner. We got to eat while everyone else was getting themselves food. It was fabulous. The kids were all served a plated dinner of chicken fingers, fries, and corn which was served to them while their parents were getting their own dinners. During our planning session, the topic of me being a VERY picky eater came up, and I commented that I would rather have the kids meal then the adult dinner. I thought Pete was kidding when he jokingly wrote down ‘bride gets kid meal’ on the notes from the tasting. But nope, I got my very own kids meal! I didn’t eat most of it, because I was so full from my yummy adult dinner but I thought it was cute that I got one, and I have to give credit to Chef Pete for helping to make our day that much more magical! And Jenna, never one to miss out on food spotted my kids meal (I was served first) and made a bee line for our sweetheart table. She informed me that she liked corn and French Fries. So I handed her an extra fork, and she went to town. Another Aunt who was dancing with her husband while this happened almost fell over she was laughing so hard.

The downside of the buffet and getting my dinner first was that I was done eating and wanted to get the party started before everyone else was ready too. After Walter and I were done with our dinners, we ended up making our way to a couple tables of people that we hadn’t made it to during the cocktail hour. Everyone was talking about our cake and the castle topper we had sitting next to it – no one believed that it was made of chocolate. Finally, it was time for the parent dances.

Because my father didn’t care if we combined the parent dances, Walter and I opted to do them at the same time to cut down on time. We used ‘I Hope You Dance’ by Leanne Womack. During this dance, Walter’s mom became the talk of all the guests because she was wearing knee highs...with a dress that had slits way above her knees. *sigh*

The best part of dancing with my father was hearing his take on all my mom’s brother’s and sister’s at the wedding. Like I said before he was in rare form. He also swore me to secrecy about what he asked me as we walked down the aisle. My mother was dying to know, and he kept telling her she wasn’t allowed to (I would find out when my dad picked us up after our honeymoon that he didn’t even remember what it was that he had said. And to be honest, it took until 3 or 4 days after the wedding for me to remember too). After the parent dances, we played ‘American Pie’ by Don Mclean. 3 of my best girl friends from high school were at the wedding, and American Pie is our song.

We know all the words to all 8 minutes of it, and it is a requirement to be played at any function that finds 2 or more of us together at. So we did our thing, my relatives all got a huge kick out of it, and then the party started. It took Sean McCabe a lot longer time to read our crowd then I thought it should have. I was very disappointed in that. But by the end of the night, with a lot of help from Amy, and my friend Erin, he did have everyone up on the dance floor. I just wish it hadn’t gotten off to the awkward start that it did.

At 6:30ish we cut our cake. This was another strike against Sean McCabe. I had requested that ‘I Don’t Want to Wait’ by Paula Cole (the Dawson’s Creek theme song) be played for the cake cutting. It’s a very important song to Walter and I since Dawson’s Creek was very closely reflective of our relationship when we were in high school – the first season anyway. So when Sean started to play ‘It had to be you’ I was a little surprised. I had requested that song be played during the cocktail hour (it was Amy’s wedding song, and 3 days after my wedding was her first anniversary) but it wasn’t. Then when Sean cut in on the song, and said that we had requested a special song for the cake cutting, I cringed because to me it just seemed super unprofessional, as we had already started the cake cutting.

The good news is that when I watched the video my cousin took it didn’t look/sound nearly as awkward as I thought it did, but still, it was a mistake that should have not been made. Walter and I managed to feed each other cake with out any smashing, and we went back to partying. It was after the cake cutting that the party really picked up, and I was a happy bride.

Around 7, Walter came and found me, and said, Tracy needs to talk to you. I was so confused, but Walter led me off to where Tracy was standing in the Dance Hall watching over everything. I knew from the look on his face that he did not have good news. I was racking by brain, trying to figure out what the heck could have happened when he said ‘every great party has to have its rocky moments. There are thunderstorms moving into the area, and EPCOT events can’t set up your dessert party on the Isola’. Total bridezilla moment here, I’ll admit. The tears started welling in my eyes, and all I could think was ‘It’s my wedding day! It’s not supposed to rain!’. Tracy went over the options of where we could have the party. We were given the choice of Norway (blech) or the Wonders of Life Pavilion which is way cooler, but then the fireworks would be out. I was so set on the fireworks that after asking Tracy like 100 times if the AA Rotunda was available (which it wasn’t) I said fine, we’ll go to Norway. I left Walter with Tracy, and went to tell my parents.

I was really worried about what my dad was going to say, because the dessert party on the Italy Isola was the thing that sold him on the Disney Wedding. So I figured he and my mom weren’t going to take the news of the rain well. Neither of them cared. Which for a moment got me more upset (I know, that’s weird, but like I said, I was having a total bridezilla for about 5 minutes while all this was happening). When my parents weren’t phased, I told them, ‘well what about all the other guests - (I think I was trying to get them as stressed out about the rain as I was) they all know about Illuminations and now it might not happen at all’. My parents kept telling me that it didn’t matter, no one would care, things happen, and go enjoy the last hour of the party. When they finally convinced me that no one was going to hate me if the night wasn’t capped off with the promised fireworks, I went out and danced the last hour of my reception away.

The last hour of the reception was so much fun. I danced with everyone, and all the women (much to my mother’s embarrassment) followed my lead and kicked off their heels. We all just had a complete blast. Everyone was up and having a good time. At one point my dad requested ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ I have no idea why, but he did. But he and his friend Anthony, (who was the director of the drama club when I was in high school) danced to the whole thing. Of course in the middle of it, my dad stepped on my dress and took down what was left of my bustle so I had to carry my dress the rest of the evening. My bustle had not been holding up very well (Amy had actually ended up safety pinning it), and my dad stepping on it was just the last straw for a very battered dress. By the end of the night I was convinced the dress was ruined, but I would find out later that the damage was far less severe then I first thought.

We all were doing a kick line in a HUGE circle to Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ (perfect for all the Yankee fans in attendance) when Sean said the next song was our last dance. I was like um, no, hello, it’s only been 5 minutes since 7:00.

But sadly, he was right, and Walter and I started to dance to Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’ surrounded by the circle of our family and friends. About 45 seconds into the dance, Walter and I are chatting about how much fun we had, when my dad taps me on the shoulder and cuts in on Walter! It was too funny, and everyone on the dance floor went ‘awwww’ all at the same time. So I danced with my dad for a little while, he told me how much fun he had, that everyone loved the party, and that I had done a great job (Go me!), and even if it rained we were going to watch Illuminations. Then he passed me off to my brother, so I danced with him for a bit. Eventually Walter decided it was time to come ‘claim what is rightfully mine’ and he cut in on my brother and we danced the rest of the song together as husband and wife.

When ‘Wonderful Tonight’ ended, Sean McCabe asked everyone to start making their way to the buses that were at the lobby of the Boardwalk to take everyone over to Illuminations. I went to our sweetheart table to collect all our stuff, and sat down to attempt to put my Keds on that I was intending to wear over to EPCOT only to find that with all the layers of dress, I couldn’t really reach to put them on, so Walter had to do it for me. He was highly amused by his first real ‘duty’ as a married man. Once my shoes were on, we headed out to the Boardwalk. Randy took a few pictures of us on the Boardwalk and in front of Atlantic Dance Hall, and then headed for his car, and told his he would meet us over at EPCOT.

As Walter and I walked along the Boardwalk to get to the lobby in front of us there was a big crowd of people watching the banjo player. As we got closer everyone started clapping for us, and even though it took me a minute to hear it with the clapping and the congratulations that we were getting, I realized the banjo player was playing ‘Here comes the Bride’! It was too cute, and a moment that could only happen in Disney. When we were on the stairs on our way up to the Boardwalk lobby, I turned to Walter and said ‘see, its stuff like that that makes a Disney wedding even more magical!’ He laughed at me and noted that I was really enjoying being a princess for the day

We finally made our way through the lobby, and got onto one of the buses that were waiting – which is easier said then done in a wedding dress. Tracy told the bus drivers that we were going to Norway not to Italy, and off we went. Going into the park through the back entrance was really neat, but also a little odd. From the backs of the buildings you would never know what the fronts look like. When we got off the bus at Norway, we were met with a security guard who was checking everyone’s bags. As we walked into the park to get to Norway Pavilion (the entrance to the room in Norway is to the left of the entrance to Malstrom) everyone was clapping for us. My younger cousins got a huge kick out of this, and it made me feel even more like a princess.

We went up stairs and got settled. The desserts looked wonderful. Everything was so yummy, that thankfully most people were focusing on the food, and not on how ugly the Norway room is. It truly is just ‘blah’. Around 10 to 9 Tracy came up the stairs and conferenced with our 2 EPCOT guides. He then came and found me, and said Illuminations is still going to happen, do you want to go? I was like, of course I want to go! So we rounded everyone up, and headed back down the narrow staircase and back into the park. It’s not a short walk from Norway to Italy on tired feet, but it was one of the magical moments of the day. Everyone was lined up for Illuminations, and as we walked past, we were greeting with a lot of clapping and congratulations. The cast members in the different country’s we passed shouted their congratulations in their native languages. We were surrounded by clapping and well wishes the entire walk. All of our guests, especially the ones that were walking with me and Walter felt so important. My aunt Grace who was walking toward the head of the line with Walter and I says the walk through EPCOT was her favorite moment of her entire trip to WDW, and it definitely ranks up there on my list!

When we finally made it to the Isola, the wind from the storm was starting to kick up, but it wasn’t raining yet. Everyone got settled and picked out a spot on the Isola. Walter and I went up on the bridge with Randy, and my little girl cousins came up to join me. While we were all sitting on the bridge waiting for the fireworks to start, there was this HUGE clap of thunder and lighting that I swear was right over our heads. I screamed it startled me that much. Of course the little girls I was sitting with thought that was just too funny. It still hadn’t started to rain, but there was lighting everywhere, lots of thunder and enough wind that I almost lost my veil at one point. My Aunt Mary who lived in Florida, started freaking out on Tracy that we shouldn’t be out on the Isola, there are little kids with us, and one of them could get hurt. Tracy didn’t know who the hell this woman was, and didn’t quite know what to make of her. Thankfully, I overheard this, and turned around and went over to them. So Aunt Mary started in on my rather then Tracy. I turned to Tracy and asked if they were still doing the show. Tracy said yes. I turned to my aunt, told her that if Disney thinks that its ok for us to be here, I’m going to trust them. They have a hell of a lot more to loose then I do. Figuring that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with me or Tracy, Aunt Mary went and tried to persuade my parents. Both of them said, um, no, we are going to stay here. After another really large clap of thunder, one of the EPCOT guides appeared with poncho’s for everyone. There was an announcement that Illuminations was going to be delayed by 5 minutes due to the weather. 30 seconds later, it started.

Just as the first fireworks were up in the air, the rain started. It only drizzled at first, so it wasn’t a big deal.

I was disappointed that they weren’t doing the propane in the show, which they never do when it rains. I was so worried that my guests were going to be disappointed that it took me a while to actually enjoy the show. It was really neat to see the thunder and lighting ‘competing’ with the fireworks. In true Disney fashion, the storm only seemed to add to the show, and not detract from it. When the globe came out was when it really started to rain. It was POURING. I hiked my dress up as high as I could manage (my mind was on our MK photo shoot that was in 2 days) and cuddled up to Walter under the umbrella and watched the end of the show. It was such a romantic moment, and really was a perfect way to end our wedding day. With the rain being as heavy as it was, it was really easy to forget about everyone else, and think that it only the two of us watching the fireworks. (it helped that there were very few other people as crazy as me and most of the other park guests had given up and had headed for shelter, if they hadn’t just headed home).

As soon as the last fireworks had faded, Tracy grabbed us and ran us to the FTW Cadillac that he had waiting in between AA and the Italy Pavilion. We sat in the car as we waited for our guests to make their way to the waiting buses. The original plan was go to back to Norway for a bit, but given how hard it rained, everyone was just heading home. Tracy asked us if we thought people were going to be upset that they were drenched. We figured that since none of our guests were making getting on the busses quickly a priority that none of them really cared (besides there comes a point when you are just so wet, there is nothing you can do about other than get wetter!). Once everyone was to the buses, Tracy drove us out of EPCOT. He gave us the run down as to where everything from the wedding was, and tried to gauge how upset I was over the fireworks. I told him I was fine. It was definitely not the ending that I had envisioned, but it was wonderful none the less. And, it makes a great story!

When we got to the Boardwalk, it was still pouring. Tracy passed off to us the things he had in the trunk of the car, and bid us adieu. He gave me a hug and said he would call us on Sunday to make sure everything with the photo shoot went ok. Walter and I walked into the Boardwalk lobby and looked at each other. It was at this moment, that it occurred to me that I given my dad my bag to hold during Illuminations so it wouldn’t be in the pictures. My dad still had my bag. And in that bag was the key to the Villa where all our luggage was, and in that luggage was the key to our garden suite. So, we had to sit and wait for my parents to arrive on the bus. In the mean time, as we were standing right at the entrance to the lobby, (there was no where else to go as one of the Boardwalk performers was performing in the lobby in front of the check in desk) we got quite a few odd looks from other resort guests (again, some people acted like they had never seen a bride before), but we also got quite a few congratulations, and since we didn’t have anywhere to go a lot of people stopped to ask us about the wedding. After a while I was really ready to get out of my wet dress and sneakers. Walter had his cell phone in his pocket so I used that to call my dad. He said that they were just pulling up to the Boardwalk and he would be there in a minute.

A couple minutes later some of our very wet guests started to make their way into the lobby. At this point, I was very glad that I given my dad my bag and we had to wait for them. It gave me a chance to say good-bye at least to the guests who were staying at the Boardwalk (and to find out if anyone cared that they were soaked). We were making quite a ruckus in the lobby with my friend Pete, and my boss (the boys were starting to trash talk already for our Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin Challenge ’04 that was being held the next day) when my parents finally came in with the rest of the guests. We said hurried good-bye to everyone, although we did know we would see most of these people again before they would leave us alone for our honeymoon. My parents helped us gather all the stuff we had gotten from Tracy, and we headed back up to the Villa with my dad’s brother, 2 sisters and their spouses, as well as some other friends of mine and Walter’s.

Let me say here, that my dad was SOAKED. My family has this thing against wearing the poncho’s in WDW. My mom bought some like 8 years ago, and she brings them on every trip we go on, and none of us other then her ever wear them (even if the alternative is getting soaked). So, my dad refused to wear the one that the Disney people handed him. He figured he was in a rented tux, he hasn’t worn one of those ‘stupid ponchos’ in over 10 years, he wasn’t about to start now. The water was literally dripping off of him as we walked through the hall.

When we got to the villa, it became clear that Walter and I were not going to be able to make the quick escape that we had hoped for, so we gave in, and he went and got changed, and my mom helped me out of my dress (as I took off the dress I couldn’t count how many petals from the staged exit were either sticking to me or to the inside of my dress). Getting changed up in the villa actually worked well, because we used the laundry room and the ironing board to hang up my dress and let it dry, the bottom of it was so wet. But surprisingly not that dirty.

We had a great time hearing about the bus ride back to the Boardwalk as well as hearing everyone’s take on the fireworks. My mom was not happy that my Aunt Mary had freaked out on me, but she was glad that we had stood our ground and told her to shove it. Everyone was just so wet. But it was a great little impromptu party. I felt much better hearing from my relatives direct that they hadn’t cared about the rain, and I think a lot of them actually thought the rain made it more fun! Who knew. And since most of my relatives don’t know what Illuminations is supposed to look like, they didn’t notice that the propane was missing from the show. So, in the end everyone was happy

Finally around 11 PM, everyone started to trickle back to their own rooms. Walter and I recruited my dad and my brother to help us with our bags and we headed down to our garden suite. Thankfully Walter and gone and found where it was earlier in the day, otherwise I’m sure we would have gotten lost, as we had never been to the Inn side of the Boardwalk before. When we got to our room we saw that the light had been left on for us. That made me go awwwww! When Walter opened the door, we found that the reason for the light was there was a small vase of red roses on the table. Another awww from me, and I ran over to see who they were from. They were from Laura Kidd, with a nice little note. I was really touched, and it added one last little bit of Disney magic to the day. After my dad and my brother left (after some more trash talking between by brother and Walter – this Buzz Lightyear thing was out of control, I tell ya) Walter and I made our way up the stairs. Walter took all the bobby pins out of my hair, and I went to take a shower. When I got out of the shower (which took longer then I thought it would, there was a lot of hairspray in my hair) I found Walter sound asleep on the bed. I got myself ready for bed (including scrubbing off some of the more stubborn make up – that stuff was not going anywhere) and finally a little after midnight a very content, happy, and exhausted Helen found her way into bed and finally fell asleep next to her new husband

[disneymcgraw]

Congratulations to you and Walter. Today is mine and hubby's 11th wedding anniversary and reading your report has brought back so many wonderful memories. I wish you and your new husband a lifetime of happiness.

[helenk]

Wow, I really enjoyed reading your report, what a great day.
Contgratulations to you both

[PaulaW]

Thank you for sharing your wedding with us, I've really enjoyed reading your report.

:D

[melanieewr]

Congratulations! Sometimes the "little" things that go wrong just make wedding memories that much more interesting. I know you will print your report and save it...you put so much of yourself into it and it is definitely not a "cookie cutter" report. I have so enjoyed it. I had wanted my daughter to have a Disney wedding, but she chose to have an Alaskan cruise wedding followed by a Luau at our home (which was lovely). Your wonderful report has helped ease the slight regret of her not choosing WDW. I know you life with Walter will be enchanted and filled with many returns to the magical place where it all began!

Please post a few photos when you get the chance. The photo with the umbrella is one of those unique and unusual moments that you don't expect to be a part of your wedding album, but probably one of your favorites...I love it!

[DisneyDreamer2]

Thanks for posting such a wonderful report- I had quite a bridezilla moment myself- but have been happily married for 10 years regardless of the our reception snaufau. I think a great marriage is a lot like planning the perfect wedding day- you expect it always to be perfect, but you learn to roll with changes you cant control, and grow to love it even more because of it. Congratulations and yes, I too would love to see more pictures!

[LuvindisCruiser]

WOW!! A Disney Wedding! That would be the coolest place in the world to have a wedding. You are the luckiest. I really enjoyed reading about such an amazing wedding, thank you for sharing such a "magical" time with us. So, where was your honeymoon? And, I wish you and your husband a "fantasmic" life together !!

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks so much for writing such a detailed and beautiful wedding report. What a wonderful place to get married in WDW. Congradulations on your wedding.

[KayleeUK]

Wonderful I would love to see some pictures.

[jennymouse]

I enjoyed reading your reports. For some reason I usually skip the wedding/honeymoon ones, but clicked on yours and am so glad I did. Wedding sounds so magical, your flower girl so adorable and your father seems like a fun guy to be around. Congratulations you lucky girl!

[Minniespal]

Congrats to you both.

Thank-you for such a detailed report and for sharing it with us.