Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After - A Fairytale Wishes Wedding *Updated 14/3/18 + Wedding Video!

[Libby_Darling]

Planning our planning trip!

I thought it might be nice to include some details of our Christmas trip within my planning journal

The Backstory

Yes, as always with us, there is a back story! So, remember we're from the UK. So 'popping over' for our PS wasn't going to happen, or so we thought. When we really started planning in earnest, we both talked at length about going over for our PS, and how feasible it might be. Now, you can do it over the phone. And plenty of brides do, and it all goes swimmingly and I’ve never heard anything bad about it. But we’re only going to get married once. Something that was also really important to Ben was that if we don’t fly out for our PS, we wouldn’t actually get to see the places we’re getting married at until, well, we get married! Which is kinda mad when you think about it. We have been to the Wedding Pavilion and lurked around outside like two creepy wedding obsessives, but we haven’t been inside. And we’ve never seen the place we’d like to have our reception, or the place we’d like to have our dessert party. Obviously we’ve looked at a million photos online, but it will be so good to see them in person

Saying that, I think we all know that the main reason for going is, of course, CAKE TASTING!

For us, travelling out for the PS is a really important part of planning our wedding, and we decided to factor the cost of the trip into the wedding budget as a whole. So for us it isn’t really an extra trip, it’s part of the wedding! If that makes sense.

NOW. All that being said. Obviously, we aren’t millionaires. Not even close. We work very hard for our money and we save very hard to be able to afford nice holidays.

We also don’t have them every year, as we can’t afford them! So this Planning Trip needed to be on a budget. Like, the smallest budget it’s possible to have a Florida holiday. Think about the cheapest you’ve ever heard of people going to Florida on. Subtract about 90%, and you have our budget Every penny spent on this trip is money coming out of our wedding fund and although we’ve made that decision ourselves, it’s important we spend the absolute minimum!

Obviously, one of the main reasons we can afford this trip (just...) is the AP's.

So, no expensive theme park tickets to shell out for, and we could use them for our wedding trip too and get maximum value. We’re planning a West Coast 1st anniversary trip in 2017 so wouldn’t use the WDW tickets then anyway

Time of Year

So Disney recommend you do the Planning Session approximately 6 months before the wedding.

6 months!? Two trips to Florida within 6 months!? Eeek! Ka-CHING! I asked my faithful UK Disney Brides on the FB group I’m on, and they assured me it could be done up to a year out, we’d just have to be speedy with getting the contract back, and the prices wouldn’t be finalised for 6 months (which is why Disney recommend you do it 6 months out or less.) Phew! Crisis averted.

Ben’s job means he can only have school holidays off. This greatly limited our opportunities to fly out for the planning session. We had 3 options:

1. Fly out October half term 2015 for 1 week.

Pros: F&W, weather, crowds, Halloween etc.

Cons: Probably wouldn’t be able to sign the contract and get it back in time for us to sort out the logistics of the PS, get annual passes etc. Trip would only be 1 week. Still a year til the wedding.

2. Fly out for Christmas 2015 for 10 days or 2 weeks.

Pros: TWO WEEKS. Christmas. New Years! Both off work already for 2 weeks (although this has now changed haha but it was valid at the time!)

Cons: It’s the busiest time at WDW. Chilly. Expensive for hotels and flights.

3. Fly out for February half term 2016 for 1 week.

Pros: Close to wedding. Low crowds.

Cons: Scarily close to wedding! Only 1 week. All my annual leave would be gone (3 weeks for wedding/honeymoon, 1 week for this trip, so no days off left for hen do etc if needed)

After lots and LOTS of umming and ahhing, we decided Christmas made the most sense, all things considered. Christmas 2015 here we come!!!

Accommodation

So our two previous trips have been split stays; half I-Drive, half on-site. This has worked well for us in the past, but after less than ideal experiences with I-Drive in 2013, I think we’d lean towards staying on-site for future trips (Disney and Universal.) However, we all know that staying on-site comes at a cost. I realised pretty early on that this cost was a LOT more than off-site, and thus not in our budget for this trip. Sob!

For our dates, even All-Star resorts (which we would totally stay at, and probably love!) were £100ish a night.

We also know how much it costs to eat at Disney. With no DDP this time we’ll be buying a Tables in Wonderland card with our AP’s. However, it’s still like $15 each for a CS meal. So even if Disney were affordable, we knew the spending money we’d need for food would still massively bump up the price.

So, we began searching off-site hotels. One night, I stumbled upon a little gem called Lake Buena Vista… I didn’t even know this was a thing! I threw myself into researching and after a few hours, I had a complete list and per-night breakdown of the entire Crossroads/LBV area. I was so excited, it really seemed like it could be the perfect option for us! I-Drive is sooooo far away from Disney and we don’t want to drive on our holidays (hello, day-drinking) so to be able to stay in an affordable hotel close to DTD and be able to walk there and get Disney busses…it was like a dream come true <3

…I’m exaggerating, but it really was exciting. We then spent a few happy Sunday afternoons watching YouTube videos of all the hotels in our price range. I tried to ignore how much more expensive hotels were over the Christmas period and instead focused on finding the cheapest hotel that wasn’t totally vomit-inducing to stay in.

And, ladies and gentlemen, I found it in…..THE CLARION INN LAKE BUENA VISTA!

This little beauty was showing an astonishingly affordable £42 a night for our dates. It was walkable to DTD (20-25 minutes according to various trusted sources) had a super regular free shuttle service (no-one likes a hotel shuttle service that rocks up to the parks at 11am) good reviews, in-room fridge, close proximity to a Lynx bus stop…the list went on. We considered looking at hotels that were slightly more expensive but they were either further away which defeated the point, or they didn’t have as good reviews. Clarion seems to be a good, solid all-rounder. We’re both weirdly excited to stay here We’re fully prepared for it to be not great, but it does have really good reviews and I figure if our expectations are low, we’ll be impressed! We know it isn’t going to be like staying at Disney but this is a budget trip, and this is a budget hotel. We keep walking around the area via Google Streetview and I get little excitement spasms when I see all the spiky Floridian grass and the big signs advertising all you can eat buffets and 7-11’s and the like I know, I need to get out more.


Flights

We booked our flights aaagggess ago after I saw a crazy affordable (for Christmas!!) price for the exact dates we wanted. Due to school holidays we were tied to dates, and the optimum ('dream dates!') were Sat 19th December – Sat 2nd January. I booked them straightaway and after a stressful 2 days where they got cancelled due to US airways and AA merging that exact day...we had our flights. Yay!! 2 weeks in Orlando over Christmas baby!!

Once we'd booked our flights (and paid them off!) and booked the deposit for our accomodation....we didn't do anythin for like 6 months. Haha. I think we just couldn't believe it was happening!! And more importantly, we had to save some actual money in order to be able to go!! Which we have been doing, very slowly but surely, and I think we're getting there My next update will be about our plans for the trip! Hit me up if you're gonna be out there for that time too! Or if you've stayed at the Clarion Inn and have words of reassurance!! xxxxxxxx

 

[RobynPrincess]

We have totally stayed in the clarion, it's owned by the Rosen family so you know what you're getting. I'd say ask for a car park view as it's less noisy from the i4. The only downside we had was the buses liked to honk their horns at like 8am, it happened a few times in our 2 week stay, usually going outside and giving the death glare works a treat though hehehe. Other than that the hotel is pretty damn perfect! Loads of places to eat right nearby. It's not really Robyn walking distance haha but the shuttles always seemed really regular. Tables in wonderland is the way forward, check out the blackout dates over Christmas and new year though and plan accordingly.

 

[Disdreamprincess]

Over here, doing Christmas vacay!
PS will be a blast, a fairy-merry-bridy Disney holiday
You'll be totally amazing in that dress
Eeeeeeek!

 

[Disdreamprincess]

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I'm just being nosey cause I loved you guys from your last dining report but we'll be in Disney December 18 - January 1...

Your dress is beautiful!

Skyler (my 11 year old daughter) will most certainly be looking out for "Ariel" (you) when we are roaming around with the million other people...and she is wavering back and forth between never getting married and getting married in Disney World so she's watching you planning. LOL

Congrats again on the wedding planning!

 

[twinkybel81]

We will miss you by a week, bummer! Have a fantastic trip!

 

[rachel09985]

Hi! I love your dress! Our dresses are similar in color -- mine is champagne! And I actually tried on the first dress you have shown. I didn't like it on me either.

Looking forward to the rest of your planning journal. Mine is coming up in 39 days!!

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

We will be there for the 2nd disney part of your disneymoon for our disneymoon though ours will have kids involved haha! Followed over from your first dining review! It was amazing btw. Now to go read about the 2013 trip!

 

[rachel09985]

I didn't even read you booked Ashley Jane until I saw on her facebook post something about it. That is our photographer too! Are you doing engagement photos with her? We did photos with her in June. You can see some on my planning journal.

 

[Sarah28]

You're so close to your planning trip now, how exciting! Part of me still wishes we could have afforded a planning trip as it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I will be living vicariously through you! Cant wait to read all about it / see pics x

 

[Libby_Darling]

Over here, doing Christmas vacay!
PS will be a blast, a fairy-merry-bridy Disney holiday
You'll be totally amazing in that dress
Eeeeeeek!

Yay! Thank you so much!! Christmas at Disney is going to be uhh-maayyy-ziiinnggg!! xxxxx

I'm just being nosey cause I loved you guys from your last dining report but we'll be in Disney December 18 - January 1...

Your dress is beautiful!

Skyler (my 11 year old daughter) will most certainly be looking out for "Ariel" (you) when we are roaming around with the million other people...and she is wavering back and forth between never getting married and getting married in Disney World so she's watching you planning. LOL

Congrats again on the wedding planning!

Oh wow I totally read your dining reports back in the day!! How exciting that you're going for Christmas too, I'm gonna go read your pre-trippie right this second!! Thank you so much, I'm glad you like my dress

Getting married in WDW is much better than never getting married!! Tell her that haha! I'm just an old romantic though!

Def come and say hi if you see us, and I'll keep an eye out for you guys too! happy planning xxxxxxx

We will miss you by a week, bummer! Have a fantastic trip!

Awwww no that sucks! Hope you have an amazing time anyway!! xxxxxx

Hi! I love your dress! Our dresses are similar in color -- mine is champagne! And I actually tried on the first dress you have shown. I didn't like it on me either.

Looking forward to the rest of your planning journal. Mine is coming up in 39 days!!

Thank you sweetie! Oh thats so funny you tried it on too! I loved it, but just felt I could do better hope your planning is coming along really well!! xxxx

We will be there for the 2nd disney part of your disneymoon for our disneymoon though ours will have kids involved haha! Followed over from your first dining review! It was amazing btw. Now to go read about the 2013 trip!

Aww I'm so glad you liked my dining review! I really need to finish the 2nd one, eeek!! It's been over 2 years woops!! Happy planning for your own Disneymoon! xxxx

I didn't even read you booked Ashley Jane until I saw on her facebook post something about it. That is our photographer too! Are you doing engagement photos with her? We did photos with her in June. You can see some on my planning journal.

hahah I just letft you a super long reply on your PJ, we're nearly wedding twins! Kinda! We aren't doing Engagement photos as it's been too long since we got engaged hahahah, plus we're using the credit for extra hours Your photos are so beautiful!! Love love love them! xxxx

You're so close to your planning trip now, how exciting! Part of me still wishes we could have afforded a planning trip as it is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I will be living vicariously through you! Cant wait to read all about it / see pics x

Aww bless you! Live vicariously through me all you like!! I can't wait for it, and I can't wait to share every moment on here with you guys, and so I'll always remember it Such an exciting time in our lives, I kind of need to stop wishing the days away as I just want to enjoy all the planning and the build-up! xxx

 

[Libby_Darling]

We got our date!!! And other fun happenings

OMG I have so much to update on!! This has been the most eventful wedding month since....we decided to have a wedding!! It's been so exciting though and we can now actually say...

WE ARE GETTING MARRIED IN WALT DISNEY WORLD!!

How incredible is that, I still can't believe it's actually happening Lets rewind back to October 19th, 12 months to the day we wanted to get married, and the day we were expecting to hear back from the fabulous Kristi, our wedding consultant.

I was super duper nervous and 100% certain we'd be put into a lottery, so it was a tense day! I had actually spoken to Kristi the previous week and she'd said it would probably be the Tuesday or ,maybe even the Wednesday she'd let us know due to the time it takes (the 19th was the Monday.) So, I tried not to think about it Monday as I knew we wouldn't find out! So come Monday night, me and Benj were sleeping in separate beds hahahha because he was really ill and didn't want to give it to me <3 I was really having trouble sleeping because I was nervous about Tuesday, so I kept waking up and naturally, checking my phone. It was 2.30am when I was browsing some posts on one of the Facebook groups I'm on, and a fellow bride mentioned in a post that she'd heard about her date about 7pm on the actual date! And she was in American! So I thought oooooooh maybe?? So I checked my email and THERE IT WAS!! An email from Kristi, and I knew it was GOOD NEWS because the title was something about our room block ! So before I'd even opened it I knew we'd got our date because I didn't think she'd send an email about our room block if we were in a lottery!! I opened the email and sure enough, we got our date!! YAY!!! 19th October 2016 at 2.30pm, 3 years to the day Benj proposed AND we got Wedding Pavilion, Whitehall Room, and after a frantic email to confirm, we also got Sago Cay for our DP

I was so over the moon I honestly felt like a massive weight had been lifted because I'd just been so nervous! I remember going to the loo and contemplating whether to wake Benj up – we both had work in a few hours and he was ill, but I knew he'd want to know! In the end I didn't, but I woke him up the next by saying “Do you want to marry me on the 19th October 2016” He was like “OMG DID WE GET IT!!!???” hahah, so cute! He was just as excited as me

So it's been a really busy few weeks ever since then, and we've got soooo much done!! Firstly, we got sent over our contract from Disney but we had to change a couple things so that took slightly longer. We then had to figure out how to fax the credit card info back as no-one we know has a fax machine! So vintage!! Eventually I thought to Google it, and you can send faxes online! So top tip there if any other brides are not retro enough to use a fax machine! So we signed the contract, scanned it in and emailed it back, and we online-faxed the credit card info over We've had confirmation that they've received it, and I had the most amazing conversation with Kristi who called last Monday to catch up and discuss next steps. It was so amazing talking to her, I literally was so excited to be talking to an actual American in Florida!! Hahaha!! We chatted for like 40 minutes cause I kept asking her questions about Florida and heard all about where she grew up and lived now, it was awesome! She asked us a few Q's about our guest count, whether we want the carriage (no) or the MK portrait shoot (also no) which she was pleased about as she said it's super hard to get them in October! So that's good! She said we'll get our planner assigned this week, as all the planners sit together on the Wednesday and go through the newest brides and grooms. And, she also told us about our AP's YAY!! So now we're waiting to be assigned our planner, get the date of our PS, and get the codes to activate our AP's. I'm getting ever so slightly tense about that because our 30 day FP+ day is like Thursday and ideally I'd like to have our AP's activated and be all logged in ready by like Wednesday! If we don't get an email tomorrow I'm going to email and ask if we could maybe get the codes for our AP's so we can start making FP's. We gave them 6 dates for our PS as it's obviously a super busy time of year for them, and we will 100% work around their availability. We're hoping to get one of our first 3 choices, which was the 28th/29th or 30th December Our back-up dates were 21st/22nd/23rd. We're easy really, would just prefer the last 3 as it's after Christmas so we'll have had time in the parks before it gets crazy busy. Well it'll still be crazy busy, but you know what I mean! So hopefully we'll find out tomorrow or Tuesday

Photography

In other news! We've booked and paid the deposit on our fabulous photographer Ashley Jane. We're hoping to meet her while we're out there in December and she's waiting on us to get our planning session date before we schedule a meeting with her She has been so so so awesome so far with all her correspondance and she's helped me with the million questions I've asked haha! She also sent us the most adorable gift in the post which nearly made me cry it was so cute, and we're just over the moon to be working with her!!

Videography

We've also booked and paid a deposit for Trinity video! Yay! Again, fabulous correspondence with David! We got a great deal with him as he was offering a free sneak peak film for a limited time only. This was something we really wanted as it'll be lovely to have something to show at our UK reception, so we managed to get in there quick with him, even though it was before our date was confirmed, we went for it as he said he'd change the date once free of charge So we're really pleased with this, and really excited to work with him! Unfortunately we can't meet him in December as he's got a few weddings on and is then going out of time with his family which is absolutely fine, we'll just Skype him before the wedding to go through any bits and bobs

Hair and Make-Up

Hair and make-up! I originally tried to book LeJeune but unfortunately they were unable to accommodate me for a trial over Christmas I was gutted about this and a bit torn – I've never had my hair and makeup done by anyone but me and I'm kinda fussy about it so a trial is essential! I'm quite into makeup and doing my hair and I've ummed and ahhed about even having it done professionally, but I figured it's my wedding day and I want to look my absolute best which I'm sure they'll be able to do, plus I don't want to be stressing and I think I would if I did my own. So I'm gonna go for it. But I spoke to Benj and he told me to try someone else, as not having a trial wasn't really an option as I'd be nervous/worrying about it all the way up to the wedding, even if I had a trial like 2 days before the actual day! So, I reignited the search, checked availability with Beaute Speciale, and they are available both for my date, and to do a trial date in December. Yay!! I also had amazing email correspondence with Veronica at BS, who reassured me about my extensions and the fact I wear a lot of makeup daily, she seemed very knowledgeable. So again, just waiting to get the date for the planning session from Disney and then I'll be able to pay the deposit for BS and secure a trial session

Officiant

Most recently, we've chosen our officiant! We've gone from Rev Tim after extensive research. I was going to go with Rev Kev, but Benj said he'd always imagined us having Rev Tim <3 how cute is that?? I think it's because I've shown him a LOT of Disney wedding videos over the past year and he's in a lot of them! In particular the one that pops up when you type in 'disney wedding' on YouTube – it's got like 25,000 views and it's an amazing video with a very photogenic couple!! Rev Tim is the officiant and his booming, amazing voice is just really memorable. We joke because the first line of their vows that the groom has to repeat after Rev Tim is 'Jennifer I love you with my entire being...” and he just says it in his awesome Southern accent and we love it. Ben joked the other day we say it so often that he might accidentlly say 'take thee Jennifer' a la Ross Geller Ha!!

UK party venue

We have also booked the venue for our UK reception!! Wow, we've done so much these past 2 weeks I literally can't believe it! Okay, so this has taken a lot of research. The budget for the UK reception is approx £0 haha, so finding somewhere within this non existent budget that met all our requirements and was actually NICE was proving to be tricky. I looked at lots of websites for suitable places, lots of village halls, sports clubs, pubs etc in the local area, and nothing was ticking the boxes. They were all either too expensive, or they just looked like the kind of place....how to put it...you wouldn't want to visit!! That makes me sound super snobby but honestly, some of them were horrible After having such a perfect, magical wedding, I at least wanted to throw a nice-ish party back home for everyone who couldn't have! I began to feel a bit disheartned and was questioning whether we should even have one And then! One Sunday a few weeks ago I stumbled on a little village hall about 15 minutes drive from us, in a really gorgeous little village. It looked so cute! And it was really cheap!! I did a bit of Googling and managed to find a wedding blog with a couple who had their actual wedding reception there, an all day affair! It looked so perfect!! It was cute and quaint looking outside, with a massive hall, proper lighting, a kitchen, bar area, stage, chairs and tables...everything!! Almost not daring to believe it could actually work for us, I gave the bookings coordinator a ring on the Monday. After the most adorable conversation with this little old lady, she confirmed all my questions and it was a goer! We were allowed alcohol, we could have up to 120 people, we could book it for 24 hours and start on the Saturday morning, we could music playing late...it seemed perfect! She gave me the code for the door and we told her we'd go and visit it the following Sunday to check it out.

And...it was perfect! Here are some photos

And the loos....just because I thought they were adorable!!

And a couple of the wedding that was held there! Obviously not my photos, found on a wedding blog

The outside!

Our only concern was parking, or lack of, but we got talking to a lovely lady who owns a cake shop next door (dream) and she said that for events they'll re-direct guests up to the nearby school carpark for parking So it's perfect!! We've booked it for Saturday November 26th, 3 weeks after we return from our honeymoon to give us enough time to get over jetlag, and get everything organised for the party.

So it'll be bring your own alcohol which we think is pretty much the best thing ever and we know our friends will love it – we went to a wedding in June which was BYOB and it was awesome! No expensive bar costs, no long lines to get a drink...it was perfect! So we'll put that on the invite and get some big bowls for ice etc In terms of food, I was thinking of hiring a cool food truck like mac n cheese or pizza but unfortunately it's just too expensive What I really wanted to avoid was having a lame-o finger buffet of cheap sausage rolls and sandwiches with curled edges, and I also didn't want my Mum or anyone to have to worry about food and getting everything out. The solution? Cheese and charcuterie!! We're going to get a boat load of different cheeses, some cured meats like chorizo and salami, maybe some olives, artichokes etc, and lots of biscuits and crisps. I think it'll still be very classy, it's super low maintenance, we can get it all out for about 8pm and won't have to worry, and people can just pick at what they want.

Something like this...

We'll put on the invites it's a cheese and wine party, and those that want to have a full meal will know to maybe grab something before they come Knowing most of our friends though, eating's cheating! Hahha!! I'm not an alcoholic, I promise, I just know lots of our friends will be there to drink and dance Benj is going to sort us out a band by talking nice to some of his musical friends, so that'll be awesome. In terms of decorations, me and Mum are going to scour 2nd hand wedding websites and boot sales over the next year to secure bits and bobs. All I want is white bunting and fairylights strung from the ceiling haha, I'll be happy with anything else as a bonus! I did really want the lit up LOVE letters that you can rent but unfortunately it's quite expensive However, Ben's Dad is a carpenter and he said he might be able to knock something similar up!! Yay!! So I might get my lit up LOVE letters after all!

Wowzer, this was a long update!! But also long overdue haha so I hope no-one minds I've waffled on so much!! I'll do another update at the weekend by which time we'll hopefully have been assigned our planner, got our planning session date, and also made all other appointments based around that! And made our FastPass plus haha!! It's shaping up to be a big week!!

Happy wedding planning everyone!! xxxxxx

 

[dvc at last !]

Loving your report .......more !

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Your wedding is going to be so beautiful!! I just read this whole thread and can't wait to hear more. Your dress is so gorgeous!

 

[TXMNie]

Love the update! Congrats on getting your wedding date! Everything is coming along swimmingly!

 

[Libby_Darling]

B]The Details[/B]

Hi guys! Ok so, I thought it might be nice to share my ideas for all the smaller details of our wedding I've got a Pinterest too but it'll be nice to talk about some stuff and go through my pinned photos.

Let's start with general décor. Our colour scheme is blush pink, gold, and cream.

Here's one of my inspiration boards...

When I say gold I mean a mix of gold and sparkly gold! I'm so so so in love with our colour scheme, it was one of the first things I picked and I'm so glad I still love it as I'm normally so indecisive! But every time I see a blush and gold wedding I just freak out haha! I'm much more a muted colours girl rather than bright colours, and luckily this theme fits our venues so well

I'll be showing all of these photos at our planning session and seeing what they can come up with as I'm not sure what Disney will provide, and what we need to.

Let's start with the wedding pavilion! Such a beautiful building already we don't think it needs much décor! However I would love some blush rose petals down the aisle, so depending on how much they are and if we think it's worth it, we'll have them I've decided against an aisle runner due to the price and I actually think I prefer it without now!

Something like this, but blush coloured petals and without the draping

I'd like some floral at the top of the aisle which we'll ask them to move to our reception venue after to keep within budget.

We'll probably do a sand ceremony as we love the idea behind them, so that will add a bit of decoration there just on it's own haha! That's it for the WP though we think, unless we drastically change our minds!

Okay, centrepieces/table décor at the reception! I've been really into this and because we want to keep to our enhancement minimum as much as possible, we'd like to create a beautiful room, but without going overboard on the décor as it will all start to add up. My vision for the WH room and patio is lots of twinkly lights (I'd LOVE the tulle canopy but it's just crazy money! ) using the votives they have, and fingers crossed the sparkly trees! Need to request these! For tables I'd love something like this:

I did love the tall centrepieces but I know they are a lot of money and I think they may look a bit OTT for our small group. Small vases of roses and lovely contrasting blush/gold napkins/tablecloths will look lovely I think.

We also really want gold chiavari chairs! Not budging on this, we're not fans of the standard GF chairs haha and we also don't like chair covers with bows!

We'll be making our own menus and place names, not sure what we're gonna do yet so I'll need to look for inspiration online We'll be making our own table names too, we're umming and ahhing about what to call our tables but we've got lots of cute ideas! Whatever we make/buy we can either bring over with us and give to our planner, or perhaps ship it to someone and use a holding service. I need to remember that I'm the only one who'll probably notice stuff like this, but it's important to me as I'm quite a visual person so I'd like to look back and think, yeah it looked beautiful

In terms of dessert party decoration, we love the floating flowers in the tall vases on each table just to add a bit of décor, but we probably won't do a huge amount more than that!

Okay, onto...bridesmaid dresses! I only have one bridesmaid, my lovely maid of honour and best friend Victoria She's an awesomly laid back girl, and having been bridesmaid at her wedding and seeing how amazingly laid back she was with regards to our bridemaid 'looks' I'm trying to do the same for my wedding! This is the kind of dress I'd like her in, and luckily she loves it!

She's naturally GORGEOUS with a love for make-up and beautiful long hair, so I'm letting her have free rein and do whatever she wants with her hair and make-up!

Our bouquets! I'd like something like this:

And I imagine Victoria will have a smaller version, or perhaps one with more cream roses to compliment her blush dress. I'm obsessed with roses, and I like it when they are quite open (not sure if there's an official term for that haha! )

Okay, onto my look! So I have my dress YAY! I haven't bought anything else yet but I have a pretty good idea of what I'd like.

First of all, shoes. I'm really not a shoe girl – I never wear heels as I'm so tall anyway and my wedding day will be no different! I just want a nice pair of flats – maybe sparkly I've just spent an incredibly long time looking at shoes... and I just don't know if what I want exists! I've literally looked at so many sites and wedding blogs and all the links have expired cause the shoes aren't available anymore haha!

I love these

And these

And these!

And unfortunately, some £400 Louboutins keep popping up that are my favourite! Oh well, not gonna stress about it at the moment I'm sure I'll find some!

I'll probably be getting a veil and some kind of hairpiece too. I'd like a shoulder length veil as I think my dress is dramatic enough on its own and doesn't need any extra detail haha!

I like the side hairpieces I'll have to find one that goes with my champagney dress though! They all seem to be silvery but I'd need one more gold based!

I'd also like some gorgeous chandelier earrings too and I probably won't wear a necklace, so it'll be blingy earrings and headband/side comb...maybe something like this:

Ooh, which brings me onto hair! I've recently gone back to my natural colour (specially for the wedding!) and I'm loving life, so I'll be getting new extensions just before we go. Now I'm very fussy about my hair... I've literally never had anyone else do it haha. But every other bride I've ever seen looks amazing on their wedding day with their hair done by someone else, so I would really like to do this. Plus it'll be way more relaxing to have someone else to do my hair and make-up on the day rather than stressing about doing it myself

As I said before I'll be having a trial while we're out there over Christmas, and I'd like something along the lines of these:

In terms of make-up, I wear a fair amount of make-up every day anyway so I want to look different haha! No 'natural' bridal look for me as I just wouldn't feel like myself! Definitely smokey eyes, definitely false lashes

Go hard or go home!

Wow that was a lot of details and photos haha! I hope its helped to give you an idea of the 'vision' we have for our wedding Hope everyones having a good week!! Happy planning xxxxxxxx

 

[TXMNie]

Love everything! I especially love the color palette - so romantic and classy!

 

[elphie101]

Ok Libby, I'm all caught up now!! I'm so glad you got your date and venues, especially with your gorgeous color palette and inspiration - so perfect for a WP/Grand Floridian wedding!!

I can't believe your PS is next month!!! Do you have your planner yet? What a wonderful way to spend the holidays, even if it is crowded. A crowded day at WDW is better than no day at WDW!!

 

[Doodlebug25413]

I have Beaute Speciale & Rev Tim too. I'll let you know in April how well they both do! LOL (I think we will be fine though LOL)

Gold seems to be the "in" thing now. It's very elegant. And go for the glittery sparkly shoes! Can't have enough glittery bling! LOL

 

[Lauren1027]

Yay fellow 2016 Disney bride too! Following along. We're getting married at the Wedding Pavilion in December 2016 and I plan to start my Planning Journal in the next couple of weeks when I'm off work! I love your story and your style of writing. I hope you have an amazing Christmas trip and I can't wait to hear about your Planning Session!