Emma & Scott's Wishes Wedding-10/16/12-WP/GF-*UPDATE-Planning Trip TR*

[CinderALLIE]

Love the Discovery Cove pics, can't wait to go back.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip

 

[Boston Disney Bride]

Loved seeing all of your pictures! Looked like you had lots of fun!! Look forward to reading about the rest of your trip

 

[ladyemz]

Hey Emma and Scott...

What a good post! I love posts with loads of pics... However all the food pics were making me hungry! hehe I hope you don't mind but I showed greg your pics to get us both excited for our trip! hehe it worked! Were flying from Manchester THIS FRIDAY!!!!! I cant believe its come round so quickly!

It looked like you had an amazing time! Discovery cove is amazing isn't it! How sweet of you to get your parents the 15th anniversary float!

Happy Planning Chick!

Faye xxx

Hi Faye, you are so close now!!!!!

We took over 500 photos in our 8 day trip in March so I thought it was only right to share some with you!!!! No of course I don't mind you showing Greg, hope you are both mega excited now

Yes Discovery Cove is amazing, it was a perfect day for us even though we didn't do the dolphin swim.

If I don't speak to you before, have a safe flight and I look forward to hearing all about your magical day!!! xxx

great updates....okay uber creepy time now....not only will we have the same anniversary albeit 13 yrs apart, but my vow renewal dress from last yr is very very similar to yours! the back corset part identical and the front almost the same....mine didnt have the bling like yours but the cut and fabric it very similar! by any chance is yours from the venus collection? i cant remember who made it tho!

i loved ssr last yr! i went with the kids and a friend last yr in may- today was actually our last day there- as a last minute trip to use up our points. it was very quiet and peaceful....aside from dd's er visit, but disney took great care of us.

Hello, that is creepy!!!! My dress is Maggie Sottero

Glad to hear good reports of SSR. Hope your DD was ok, I imagine DIsney done everything they could for you though. We would love to buy DVC one day!

I love it when people over load with pics! It really tells the story for you.. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet & the food at discovery cove, OMG! I am drooling I love discovery, it is an awesome experience i think.. how sweet of the "15th anniversary" float.. I had a great time at saratoga also... im glad u liked it.. I noticed u like taking pics of the food, ME 2!! I thought i was nuts that tattoo looks like it hurted but cute Awesome report so far

Hehe I love photos too and always have too many! And yes we are the weird people that take food photos, love reading food reports though!

Yep the tattoo did hurt but I am so pleased with it Thank you for reading along and for helping me out with the menus xxx

Love the Discovery Cove pics, can't wait to go back.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip

Thanks for reading along ccc

Loved seeing all of your pictures! Looked like you had lots of fun!! Look forward to reading about the rest of your trip

Thank you We had loads of fun, we just love being in Florida, even without the Disney parks we had such an amazing time, but we cannot wait to go back in October now!!!! xxx

 

[CourtenayB]

Yay! You're back. Totally understand being busy...there is so much going on isn't there? Adding the wedding to it all makes things crazy. Love your pics! Discovery Cove must have been amazing, I have always wanted to go. How sweet of you guys to give the anniversayr buoy And swimming with dolphins!!!!!! How fun!!!!!

How did you like SSR? I went one year with my parents and it was so nice. Of all the resorts we have stayed at it is one of the nicest. I think the rooms are a little bigger too. Well I am going to eat something b/c your food pics are making me drool. Starving now.

So glad you are back. We are getting so close now! 5 months!

 

[CourtenayB]

Oh and a few more things....your dress is amazing, you look stunning. I love it! And congrats on your weight loss! That's such a great accomplishment and a lot of hard work.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

Hello, that is creepy!!!! My dress is Maggie Sottero

Glad to hear good reports of SSR. Hope your DD was ok, I imagine DIsney done everything they could for you though. We would love to buy DVC one day!

sadly mine was not a maggie....dh sprang the vr on me while i was at disney last may for that july. so i had to buy off the rack....im hardly picky when it comes to that, but it would of been nice to have more dress choices.

thankfully shewas fine, it was a double ear infection. shes only had 2 in her life now, but it was most certainly go big or go home! lol she wasnt saying what was wrong and had no temp but just kept moaning. after running back from our room to the front desk repeatedly at one am and trying to figure out the whole in room doc thing(waste of $$ according to cm's), how we'd pay for it- 500$ btw, and the walk ins being closed as it was now after midnight i was exhausted and alittle frazzled. thankfully the desk cm said lets just call the paramedics, its free! bless her! lol by the time i hiked back to the room they were there....and all four of those firemen/paramedics were very yummy! lol

we were in an ambulance and at the hospital quite quickly. worst part was it was then my crohns caught up with me. before we left in the ambulance a disney manager was there to tell us get a cab back and we'll pay for it and we'll take care of any meds needed by her. they stayed true to their words! ive never been so scared in my life however. were from canada so health care is free for us. oy it was such an ordeal....i will never travel with the kids w/o dh again!

but yes ssr was very nice, im still stunned by how large it is and yet how quiet our section was...grandstand? i think, first one the bus arrived at each day and first one to be dropped off, it was great! and we had a pool virtually to ourselves the few times we did swim.

 

[ladyemz]

Yay! You're back. Totally understand being busy...there is so much going on isn't there? Adding the wedding to it all makes things crazy. Love your pics! Discovery Cove must have been amazing, I have always wanted to go. How sweet of you guys to give the anniversayr buoy And swimming with dolphins!!!!!! How fun!!!!!

How did you like SSR? I went one year with my parents and it was so nice. Of all the resorts we have stayed at it is one of the nicest. I think the rooms are a little bigger too. Well I am going to eat something b/c your food pics are making me drool. Starving now.

So glad you are back. We are getting so close now! 5 months!

Oh and a few more things....your dress is amazing, you look stunning. I love it! And congrats on your weight loss! That's such a great accomplishment and a lot of hard work.

Hi Courtenay, yes I am finally back =o) Must catch up with your plans too.

Discovery Cove was a fab day, you should go on a future trip if you can

Yes we loved the look of SSR, can't wait to stay there, we love staying onsite so much, so glad we have 18 nights to look forward to!

Hehe sorry I love food pics so I thought I would take as many as I can. Glad you are enjoying them.

We are now under the 5 month mark, how fast is time flying?!

Thank you for your lovely comments, I am so glad I have done so well with my weight loss, just need to keep it off now! I even took back the 2 dresses I posted on here back to the shop to try on smaller sizes and they fit! Very pelased with that I think I just need to register in my brain I need the size smaller but I have gone from buying a UK 16 to a UK 12, crazy!!!

xxx

sadly mine was not a maggie....dh sprang the vr on me while i was at disney last may for that july. so i had to buy off the rack....im hardly picky when it comes to that, but it would of been nice to have more dress choices.

thankfully shewas fine, it was a double ear infection. shes only had 2 in her life now, but it was most certainly go big or go home! lol she wasnt saying what was wrong and had no temp but just kept moaning. after running back from our room to the front desk repeatedly at one am and trying to figure out the whole in room doc thing(waste of $$ according to cm's), how we'd pay for it- 500$ btw, and the walk ins being closed as it was now after midnight i was exhausted and alittle frazzled. thankfully the desk cm said lets just call the paramedics, its free! bless her! lol by the time i hiked back to the room they were there....and all four of those firemen/paramedics were very yummy! lol

we were in an ambulance and at the hospital quite quickly. worst part was it was then my crohns caught up with me. before we left in the ambulance a disney manager was there to tell us get a cab back and we'll pay for it and we'll take care of any meds needed by her. they stayed true to their words! ive never been so scared in my life however. were from canada so health care is free for us. oy it was such an ordeal....i will never travel with the kids w/o dh again!

but yes ssr was very nice, im still stunned by how large it is and yet how quiet our section was...grandstand? i think, first one the bus arrived at each day and first one to be dropped off, it was great! and we had a pool virtually to ourselves the few times we did swim.

Ahhhh how sweet of your DH, did you do a trip report?

So glad Disney took such great care of you, I can't even imagine how you must have felt, very scary!

I think I may request Grandstand area then as first bus stop is always good, thank you

 

[ladyemz]

Safely back to DTD after a nice wander along the river, and taking much less time that the bus (!) we left Mum and Brian enjoying a coffee in the sun and Scott and I went off shopping. I had a list from my fellow Disney bride dieters in the UK along with a cake toper for a colleague at work (Spreading the Disney magic wherever I go!) and we wanted toasting flutes from Arribas, and bridal ears headband for me to wear on Honeymoon! Plus Nan had kindly given us some money each for a wedding present so we could choose something to keep. We knew what we would like after spending hours in the Art of Disney shop last year...so that was our first stop!

We love watching the Artists in here, and listening to their stories, amazing. We brought 2 sketches last year and plan to get one done on our honeymoon too but this time we could look at the amazing canvases, and here is our chosen one which we fell in love with last year! (We took with us instead of shipping as "I am sure our suitcase is big enough, we have loads of room... " TBC!!!)

Can't wait to put it up when our lounge is all finally fixed and damp free.

So as you can imagine, this is in a big old box...drop that off with Mum and Brian so we can continue hehe.

Next stop was Arribas Bros where we got 2 sets of Mickey head cufflinks for NatsyNoo and Tabz, and then went on to order our toasting flutes with the rest of Nan's money, we want the castle ones and "Happily Ever After", the wedding date and Mr and Mrs engraved on them...only 1 in stock! So he confirmed they can engrave them on the day if we come back in October, or we can also order online so all is not lost.

We saw this beauty...nice price tag!

Next stop, World of Disney where we completed the compulsory hat shots!

(Matched our wedding colours perfectly hehe)

No bridal headbands, only that hat which I am not too keen on. I asked a CM and he told us to try the Christmas shop for the headbands though.

We did get a cake topper for my colleague, some more magnets, and a golf ball for my Dad though...tempted with more Traditions but we resisted...we have to fit that canvas in the case now remember

Quick pose...

Or 2...

Maybe 3...

Went to the Christmas shop...only those hats, oh dear...

Time to cheer ourselves up with a Ghiradellis, peanut butter milkshake for me and a coke float for Scotty, Mum and Brian wanted Mint chocolate chip but they had run out so nothing, saving room for Ohana tonight instead, us fatties couldn't resist!

Here is Scott carrying our canvas with a cleverly made handle!

Mum and Brian were happy to see Nessie (remember there many trips to Scotland)

Then we drove home, where there was time for a quick round of showers, then we got ready for our favourite WDW restaurant for tonight's dinner ADR...Ohana! And then reliving the moment when Scotty proposed, watchign Wishes from the Poly beach

 

[ladyemz]

I offered to drive tonight, I was getting the hang of it now and wanted as much practice as possible with Brian in the car (Scott can't drive) so that I know if we are to ever hire a car on our own I will be ok, mission accomplished

Wishes was on tonight at 10pm so our ADR was 8pm, we arrived just before, checked in and were given a buzzer but only had to wait 5 minutes for our table.

Did I mention we love this place Scott was so excited to be back!

Our server brought over our salad with honey lime dressing, even this is amazing! And Ohana welcome bread which we all enjoyed, but lesson shared don't eat too much of that as you need to save room, the best is yet to come

Cheers!

Next up, appetizers, pork dumplings with sweet and sour sauce and honey coriander chicken wings.

And them comes the meat, served fresh from the servers' skewers onto your plate, they were very generous this year giving us a few chunks of each

All the meat and fish is prepared over an oak fire in the middle of the restaurant, you can choose from (Or if you are like us try all 4!) pork loin, steak, chicken and prawns. Pork was the favourite between us.

These are served with dipping sauces: peanut, spicy mustard and sweet and sour.

Along with stir fried vegetables and noodles tossed in teriyaki sauce

Finally, make sure you save room !!!! Dessert...Ohana Bread Pudding made with bananas and caramel sauce served with ice cream....Amazing, my favourite part!

We also wore our Just Engaged pins today as we only got a couple of days out of them last year, so we were also given a celebratory cupcake

We were entertanied...

And left with very full bellies but very happy!

We then walked down through the marina, and made ourselves comfortable on sunloungers, ready to watch Wishes over the lake...back to where Scotty proposed almost a year ago, magic!!!

It was a bit chilly out here and we didn't bring any cardies, but used our leis to keep warm!


A beautiful view over the lake of the castle

Sadly no electrical water pageant tonight, but we could faintly hear the magical Wishes soundtrack when the fireworks began, I love this show so much!!!!

Cannot wait to view these across the lake on our wedding night!!!!

Another perfect evening at Disney, we drove back to the villa, luckily didn't get stuck in any traffic leaving the parks, still with very full bellies, but ready for bed as tomorrow is Seaworld.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

Ahhhh how sweet of your DH, did you do a trip report?

So glad Disney took such great care of you, I can't even imagine how you must have felt, very scary!

I think I may request Grandstand area then as first bus stop is always good, thank you

wow, i really thought i had replied! eep! no i didnt. im not that organized to do tr's! lol i should be cus theyre always great, but i dont.

ive never been so scared in all my life! i felt so awful for her, esp since she wasnt sayinganything was hurting and then with my crohns flaring it was a bad night. add in the nurse and i practically holding her down to get the antibiotics in her which she then threw up and oh boy. she slept most of the following day away, but by supper at wcc she was fine.

and your welcome for the suggestion! dh did the request for me online and we just asked for near transportation and boom we got the first building. the only bad part was trying to find it after we checked in. the cm didnt give us directions and when we finally found the right building we rounded the corner to find a three foot snake in front of our path. eep!!! the three girls screached, and ds in the front of the stroller fell out of it as i yanked it back. oh boy. lol

ohana pics look great!

 

[ladyemz]

Today we were up early again ready to get to Seaworld for opening, just time for a quick breakfast of fruit and cereal and then I drove again, getting good now

We used our free tickets from Discovery Cove which you can print off so straight through into the park with no problems. First stop was Guest Relations to check in for our Behind the Scenes Tour this afternoon. (We had originally booked the Penguin Encounter but as this is not available for now they changed it to this tour and as Mum would still get to pet a penguin we decided to keep it, we were offered the chance to cancel though). Tickets in had for the tour we set off...

Scott and I didn't get chance to ride Manta last year so this was our first stop, only a 10 minute wait! Mum and Brian weren't up to this haha so we arranged to meet them at the Shamu Stadium later and they went off to walk around the park and look for a coffee (Starbucks right by the entrance in case any one is interested, mum wanted a real latte!).

We loved this ride, what a way to start the day! The queuing area is great with the walk through aquariums, we wouldn't have minded waiting for a bit longer.

We then walked around to Shamu Stadium, which wasn't yet open for the first show of the day but luckily we found Mum and Brian waiting. Not long after we arrived we were let in and we sat in the front row of the top tier, slightly to the side, perfect view! We bougt a refillable mug each, Scott was really pleased with his flashing lights hehe.

And 2 pretzels to share...

It always gets me in this show when they ask the military guests to stand up, they should all be very proud of themselves and the amazing jobs they do. Then Believe started...

Those whales really are amazing, the trainers all look so happy in their jobs. Still makes you think about poor Dawn though...

Next up we went to the Wild Arctic and took the helicopter route. We saw a Beluga whale experience as we landed hehe that looks great fun.

The polar bear was up and walking around!

And Garfield the Walrus was very active (we learnt his name on the BTS tour) before walking back to the Sea Lion Stadium...don't want to be late for that show with the mime!!! Who does an amazing job entertaining the audience I will add. We all enjoyed the antics in this show and the big guy at the end...

Scott's star of the show is the little otter!

Mum wanted to watch the Dolphin show Blue Horizons too and this was the last show if the day we could make as we were on the tour this afternoon so next up was a quick dash over to the Whale and Dolphin stadium where we just made it and sat towards the back.

I have to say this is not my favourite show we spent some time walking around looking at the various animals...Flamingos, turtles, alligators...before meeting for our Behind the Scenes Tour at 3. We were joined by only 3 other families and headed off into the backstage area where we were first shown the rescue vehicles, and some rescued animals not ready for the park or release into the wild yet. We saw a whale, a few blind turtles, manatees and dolphins.

Next up was the tools used to rescue the animalsbefore we boarded a bus and drove across to another building where we were able to pet a Baby shark.

We then boarded the bus again and drove past the quarantine area to the wild arctic building for our penguin interaction...Brian got a little present!

This room we were in backed on to the polar bears enclosure in the wild arctic but sadly we didn't see him. We did get told about them though and how they had the chance to raise one of them from a cub (We looked this up on youtube and it was so cute, they were tiny!) but now it is against their code of employment for any human interaction, they are fed using forks as they do not want the bears to track the human scent.

And that was the end of our tour, we all really enjoyed it and it is amazing to hear the real life rescue stories. The bus dropped us back in the park behind the Shamu Stadium, and we were very hungry having not had time for lunch with all of our shows! So we walked back to try out a famous turkey leg and chilli cheese fries

This filled us all up, so we wanderd around stopping to look at the dophins but we had missed the last feeding of the day, then saw the alligators and the new turtle enclosure, but next stop was journey to Atlantis, which only had a 5 minute wait too. We all got a bit wet but it was still nice and warm today. We enjoyed the ride, but as we got off there was an announcement that it had been closed due to a technical fault....bit worrying as we were the last boat allowed round!

Last up for today was Shamu Rocks! I was really looking forward to this as it wasn't on in May last year so was new to us all, and did not disappoint!

Loved the Let's Get Loud track the best!

It was then time to leave the park, we had a lovely day here! Scott is still pleased with his flashing mug

We were all still full up from our late lunch so decided to go straight home, as tomorrow is the main reason we are all here...our planning session! We decided it was probably a good idea to skip dinner as our tasting session was up first at 9.30am...

 

[ladyemz]

Today was the day we had been looking forward to since booking our DFTW...our tasting and planning session!

We were ready to leave the villa by 8.30 and I drove again, and got very excited when we arrived here...

We had our planning session confirmation so didn't have to pay the parking charge, and headed off past the Polynesian, and Wedding Pavilion and parked in the Grand Floridian Convention Centre carpark.

A nice little CM took us up towards the kitchen and told our planner we had arrived. It was good to finally meet Carol after lots of email exchanges. First of all she wanted to take us to the Whitehall Room and Patio to have a look around as we hadn't actually seen it before booking, we just knew we wanted a castle view and prefer it to the Napa Room at the California Grill as you have the outside space to use too.

I just wish they would change the carpet, but never mind, hopefully we won't be in here for very long

We then went through to the patio, which I love! So pretty out here and of course you can see the magical castle!

The view of the castle

So very happy with our location, we went back and through into the kitchen, where we were greeted by our server Leroy, Chef Corey and this!

Leroy was great keeping our drinks all topped up throughout our session, and modelling the white servers tux!

Here we are ready for our breakfast, lucky we didn't have any dinner last night

First question, napkin folds? We have chosen the flat menu fold.

And then it began, first up was pan seared crab cakes with lemon dill cream

These were really tasty, not too strong of a fish flavour and perfectly complimented with the cream.

We will be serving these at our pre reception along with pigs in blankets with a mustard dip, I hope there is some left when we arrive!!!

Next up was potatoes...

We chose to try the mashed potato with toppings, and then chef's choice, Corey made potato wedges perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper, but we chose the mashed potato bar.

This will be served as a live action martini station, and guests will have mashed potatoes in a Martini glass and then their choice of toppings from aged cheddar, chive sour cream, and crisp prosciutto ... all 3 for me please!!!!

We think this will be a really fun part of the day, and having the chefs there will be a nice touch too.

Next course was meat...

We tried three peppercorn and wholegrain mustard rubbed beef strip loin with caramelised red onion compote and gorgonzola cheese fondue.

WOW I loved this and ate it all, it was amazing, YUMMY!

It will be carved to order by another chef, which means our guests can decide how they want it cooked to an extent, well done on the ends and medium in the middle, We tried it medium and it was delicious, definately staying on the menu!

We also tried roasted chicken breast with apple wood bacon, caramelized shallots and an apple cabernet reduction.

This was tasty too, but the beef was my favourite! They will cut the chicken breasts in half so that guest will be able to have both meats if they like.

We also added an assorted vegetable medley, assorted rolls and butter and a build your own salad station:

medley of greens, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, roasted peppers, celery, carrots, olives, cheddar cheese, bacon, roasted garlic croutons and balsamic, low-fat italian, ranch and caesar dressings.

We hope the buffet will create a relaxed atmosphere for our guests and everyone will enjoy a tasty dinner.

So I had been clever in saving room for the dessert which I had been looking forward to the most I think

Cinderella's White Chocolate slipper on a castle silk screen plate

For a chocolate lover like me this was amazing! Dark chocolate case around milk chocolate mousse, and a raspberry sauce which was just perfect accompaniment, then fresh whipped cream and raspberries in the slipper. WOW! I think this is so perfect, I love the castle and there it is on my plate made out of chocolate, one problem, a bit messy to eat so easier picked up with fingers!

This will be served plated and I hope our guests like it as much as we do!

We also tried Mr and Mrs strawberries which I think look great

STUFFED!!!!!

We had no criticism or changes for Chef Corey, we love it all and can't wait for the steak on the day!

Carol told us we will be taken to the buffet first to make sure we eat ... perfect!!!!haha.

We had a couple of hours before we needed to be back at Franks for our planning session, so we drove back to the Premium Outlets to collect our resized wedding and engagement rings, here they are:

I also found my wedding day necklace, I wanted something sparkly as my dress is quite plain so this was perfect, can't wait to try it on with my dress

We also picked up a few more bargains, mostly gym clothes, and then drove back to meet Carol at Franks...beware I think I took photos of everything in Franks, but hopefully they will help some of you other lovely brides to be with planning ... To be continued

 

[CinderALLIE]

Looks great, damn you are making me hungry LOL.

 

[iixheartxyouxox]

Yumm! All the food from the tasting session looks amazing! I can't wait to hear about the planning session!

 

[CourtenayB]

Hey!! Long time no talk. Ok really, that food looks SO good I am starving now. I would eat the heck out of those mashed potatoes. Looking at those makes me want to change our action station and add mashed potatoes...maybe I'll just hang around after our wedding on the 14th and sneak into your reception and eat some lol...

Love your necklace, so pretty. I have been looking forever for something and just can't seem to find what I want. You really picked a great piece. I am so glad you got to have you planning session! It's a great experience. Glad you had a wonderful time. 4 months love!

 

[dsnygrl21]

WOW! Looks like you are having a blast!

Congratulations!

Can't wait to see and hear more about the wedding.

The desserts look delicious! Such a foodie.

 

[ladyemz]

Looks great, damn you are making me hungry LOL.

It was yummy

 

[ladyemz]

Yumm! All the food from the tasting session looks amazing! I can't wait to hear about the planning session!

Thank you for reading along, I must get back to my report now we are so close and I have lots to tell you all, stupid work getting in the way and monitoring our Internet usage!

 

[ladyemz]

Hey!! Long time no talk. Ok really, that food looks SO good I am starving now. I would eat the heck out of those mashed potatoes. Looking at those makes me want to change our action station and add mashed potatoes...maybe I'll just hang around after our wedding on the 14th and sneak into your reception and eat some lol...

Love your necklace, so pretty. I have been looking forever for something and just can't seem to find what I want. You really picked a great piece. I am so glad you got to have you planning session! It's a great experience. Glad you had a wonderful time. 4 months love!

Hi court! I can't believe how close we are now?! How are you feeling and how are your plans?

That mashed potato was so good, can't wait to try it again on our wedding day?

Thank you, I'm going for my final dress fitting today so I'm taking my jewellery to try on with my dress, I hope it all looks good together ... So excited!!! Have you found yours now?

Planning session was a fab experience, so glad we made it over! Xxx

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in