We have a little over six months until the wedding, and I'm already paranoid about forgetting something. As a result, the other night, I pulled up a bunch of different wedding timelines and made one master list, breaking every task down by month.
For example, here are some of the big things on the list:
May: Complete planning and menu tasting kit
June: Go to menu tasting and planning session, book rehearsal dinner (we want to do Hoop Dee Doo the night before the wedding)
July: Write ceremony, get suit for Jeff, order groomsmen ties (and maybe vests)
August: Make final honeymoon cruise payment (we need to do it before the booking window opens for gold
Castaway Club members), purchase wedding rings, figure out shoes/jewelry, figure out wedding party gifts
September: Make favors (I'm going to try to DIY ornaments as favors, but I'm leaving a lot of time in case I fail and we need to buy something haha), send out invitations
October: Ceremony programs, figure out toasting flutes, etc (we think want to get engraved flutes from the Crystal Arts store in Magic Kingdom)
November: Gown alterations, seating chart, write vows
December: Finalize everything, get marriage license, GET MARRIED
So most recently, we've been working on the planning and menu tasting kits. We've got most of the planning kit done, other than the menu parts. I definitely understand why they offer the pre-planned menus because figuring out your own menu is daunting. Right now the only things I know for sure that we are going to be tasting are the macaroni and cheese and mashed potato bars. We also are interested in doing the french onion soup shooters that they had at the DFTW showcase in February, but I don't think we're going to add that to our tasting. As far as the cake tasting, the only thing I know for sure I want to taste is the chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse. I think Jeff will probably also want to see if we could taste the Grey Stuff (from Be Our Guest Restaurant) filling also.
For the bar, we are looking into doing a package bar instead of BOC, against pretty much every Disney bride's recommendations. My parents think people are going to drink a lot, especially since a bunch of her friends are staying in the Beach Club/Boardwalk area specifically so they don't have to drive. So package bar it is. I'd love to do a bar for the dessert party also, even if it's just BOC Rosa Regale or one BOC cocktail or something. But I just don't think it'll fit into the budget, unfortunately. I might ask to add just BOC coffee and hot chocolate to the dessert party, since I'm paranoid it will be cold. Although now that I say that, I'd love to add stuff like Bailey's and Kahlua for people to spike their hot drinks with...
For the dessert party menu, we haven't talked a ton about it yet, but I have a feeling that we're going to end up with the milk and cookies bar (our planner said we could use the selections they had at the DFTW showcase or we could choose our own milk and cookie combos), chocolate fondue, and cronuts. I've seen a lot of brides have nacho bars at their dessert parties, which I LOVE, but we'll have to see what the menu price comes out to be before we consider adding things. I also like the idea of adding Mickey ice cream bars to the dessert party, but I'm afraid people won't eat them if it's cold out.
Doing the planning kit also made us focus on the processional details of the ceremony. Originally, Jeff wanted him and his groomsmen to walk in to Come and Get Your Love, then my bridesmaids would walk in to a different song, and then I would walk in to the instrumental version of Spectromagic. But once we laid it all out, we realized that with only seven total groups walking down the aisle (our officiant, Jeff's groomsman, his best man, him with his parents, my bridesmaid, my maid of honor, and me), we probably wouldn't have enough time for three songs in that short amount of time. So now we're not sure what to do. Jeff isn't sure if he wants to stick with Come and Get Your Love, or if we should choose another song for everyone to walk down to. The planning kit has space for a song for each different group of people, but I just don't think we would have enough time.
The other big thing that has happened is that we booked professional videography! If you've read my whole planning journal, you might remember that we had decided to do our own videography to save money. Well, a week or two ago, I had a small breakdown and realized that I really, really wanted professional videography. I know it can be expensive, but I wanted every single memory possible captured on video! Since we're already trying to stay as close to minimums as possible, it had to be very affordable. But at the same time, I didn't want to compromise on style, since I don't want to spend money on something that I don't want to watch because I don't love the style. I contacted many videographers, including Beyond Videography (very affordable and I like his style) and Trinity (who we contacted before we were even officially booked with Disney, but then we decided we couldn't afford it).
In the end, Beyond Videography was booked, but we were able to work with Trinity to get a six hour package, which was more affordable than their eight hour package. We also added the documentary reception edit, since I want as much footage as possible. David and Kristina assured me that I could add additional hours later, if we are able to fit it into the budget. I want to add more hours with the Roots too, if we can, since we only have six hours booked with them right now as well.
So hooray! We now have photo, video, and hair and makeup booked! Hopefully that's all the outside vendor's we'll need. When I'm doing the contracts with all these different vendors, it really makes me glad that I know Disney will take care of everything else!