Gina & Carl's Wedding - 6/22/12 - Swan/Ohana ~ TR Day 4 Wedding Ceremony 8/9

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi Gina sweetie
My favourite is the one with the castle but that is probably because I like simple things (like my DH - not really!!!). The rest are very pretty too, and whichever design you choose, the invites will look great!!!

 

[2dogmom]

I agree with the girls above! the luau ones i think i goes pefectly with your theme..

I like the blue luau flowers, very pretty. The purple is gorgeous too. Great job!

Oh these are great! You can't go wrong with any of these

My first pick would be the purple flowers on the bottom right. If you wanted to go with one of the more "Disney" ones, I like the castle one on the upper right best.

Great job with these!

Hi Gina sweetie
My favourite is the one with the castle but that is probably because I like simple things (like my DH - not really!!!). The rest are very pretty too, and whichever design you choose, the invites will look great!!!

Thanks you everyone for checking them out. I think I am going to lean with flowers/luau-ish to go with Ohana. Carl said it is whatever I want. lol Good boy!

 

[2dogmom]

122 days until the wedding. Time to make some decisions

We decided today to go with a harp for music. Carl didn't want flute because my oldest daughter is in her first year of flute in band and we hear enough flute at home. lol We are going to go with Christine http://www.orlandoharpist.com/ Thanks to those of you that had fabulous reviews of her. I plan on booking her on my own since it is cheaper than going through JM. This morning I pulled up her site on my phone and I had my girls guessing the songs since her site has a lot of current music in addition to disney music.

I also have a call in with Randy Chapman trying to figure out the plan for pictures. Right now I have him booked for 3 hours. The ceremony is at 4 and dinner at the Poly is at 7:45. I would love to see if he can monorail over there with us and take pictures over there as well. I would definitely add on some time if he is available and can do it.

Next up I am going to put together an itinerary newsletter to send out with the Florida invites. Did you find there was any information that would be really helpful that you didn't think of giving your guests? Does anyone know if they charge for parking at the Swan for a wedding? Also, next up is planning the luau and getting prices for rentals like tents, tables, chairs, and margarita machines.

 

[2dogmom]

I just talked to Randy and we came up with the plan below. I can't wait to get all of these pictures

I will be staying at the Beach Club. I will give Randy my room number when I am down there and he will meet me at my room at 2:30 to begin photos.
We will head over to the Swan via boat around 3:15, arriving at the Swan around 3:30.
(Note: If I have a hospitality room available to me at the Swan, I may finish getting ready over there. Unless Randy thinks the beach club location would be better.)

Ceremony at 4pm, followed by the cake cutting. Pictures to follow around the Swan.

My party will take the boat to Epcot, then the monorail over to the Polynesian where Randy will meet us (either at the beach or in the lobby). We will take pictures on the monorail resort loop and pictures around the Polynesian until approximately 7:30.

Approximately 90 minutes more at $150/hr

How does that sound? Is there a boat from the Swan to the front of Epcot to catch the monorail or do I need to come up with a different plan?

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Gina sweetie
Your plans sound lovely and it is good to see things coming together so well!!
Just one thing springs to mind. You are not planning on walking through Epcot to the monorail in your dress are you? I have probably got the wrong end of the stick, and you and hubby no doubt have alternative transport, but I would hate to have you turned away at the gate on your special day!!

 

[2dogmom]

Gina sweetie
Your plans sound lovely and it is good to see things coming together so well!!
Just one thing springs to mind. You are not planning on walking through Epcot to the monorail in your dress are you? I have probably got the wrong end of the stick, and you and hubby no doubt have alternative transport, but I would hate to have you turned away at the gate on your special day!!

Jo, I know I can't go through Epcot, plus most guests aren't getting tickets so that is definitely not an option. What I need to find out is if the Swan boat takes you to the front of Epcot. If it does, then I was thinking we would just monorail ride over to TTC. Other options is a Mears luxury van (like Jilian is doing) or our own vehicles since most guests will have cars. We will have 20 people max for the wedding so any of these options are doable as far as the bride is concerned

 

[Jilian]

Your plans sound great. The Swan does charge for parking, $12 per vehicle and they also offer valet. I'm not sure how that works when you are only having a swan ceremony. We're doing dinner @ Il Mulino after and Il Mulino will be validating parking for us. Maybe the wedding planner can validate parking too?

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think the boats from the Swan only go to DHS and AK. I know there are only 2 and one is defintely DHS.

For our FL guests we sent out info about the FL resident discount, some didn't know about it. We also set up a grand gathering and gave them the phone number and file # to book under it so we'd all be in the same location. We are saving all of the inside tips for theme parks for our welcome letter, it will go in the welcome bag. I can dig up my planning guide and post it for you if you'd like.

 

[2dogmom]

Your plans sound great. The Swan does charge for parking, $12 per vehicle and they also offer valet. I'm not sure how that works when you are only having a swan ceremony. We're doing dinner @ Il Mulino after and Il Mulino will be validating parking for us. Maybe the wedding planner can validate parking too?

I'm not 100% sure on this but I think the boats from the Swan only go to DHS and AK. I know there are only 2 and one is defintely DHS.

For our FL guests we sent out info about the FL resident discount, some didn't know about it. We also set up a grand gathering and gave them the phone number and file # to book under it so we'd all be in the same location. We are saving all of the inside tips for theme parks for our welcome letter, it will go in the welcome bag. I can dig up my planning guide and post it for you if you'd like.

I called the Swan yesterday and they told me self part was $15 and valet was $20, but parking at the BC would be free, so I think I will have everyone with cars drive to BC (which is all but one family staying onsite) and we can go as a group to the Swan (boat pictures ) If we head back to BC after and drive to Poly (taking the one family with us of course), that would solve my dilemma on how to get everyone back to where they need to go "home".

Please send any and all things you have I plan on putting together another newsletter to go with the actual Florida invite and I haven't even started that yet. I also need to start planning some busy stuff for the kids, like crossword puzzles, word searches, and maybe have those for small prizes.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

This sounds a better plan!!
The boats from the Swan go to both Epcot and DHS. I am pretty sure that there are no boats at all (from anywhere) which go to AK. The boats dock at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot and so, in order to get to the monorail, which leaves from the main entrance, one would have to walk through the park. This was my concern for you, as I assume you would still be in your dress, and they would not allow you to walk through in it. Your new plan is much better, and I must say that I think getting the boat pictures is an excellent idea!! They will be lovely!!

 

[2dogmom]

This sounds a better plan!!
The boats from the Swan go to both Epcot and DHS. I am pretty sure that there are no boats at all (from anywhere) which go to AK. The boats dock at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot and so, in order to get to the monorail, which leaves from the main entrance, one would have to walk through the park. This was my concern for you, as I assume you would still be in your dress, and they would not allow you to walk through in it. Your new plan is much better, and I must say that I think getting the boat pictures is an excellent idea!! They will be lovely!!

Thanks, I can't to get all of these different pictures.

 

[2dogmom]

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I wrote here. I was supposed to have a friend over a couple weeks ago so we could make mickey flower balls but she was sick. She was willing to come over, but I didn't want to risk getting sick so we postponed until this weekend. Wish us luck.

I have my newsletter that is going in with the Disney invite completed and printed. I just need to print the invites and get those out this week. I am only sending them to those that I know are coming or are on the fence about coming. So that's about 8. Easy peasy. I also decided to redesign my luau invites. I decided to only print out text, no picks, then add some little pics of hawaiian minnie, donald, daisy, and mickey and attach maybe 2 to each and 2 sparkly mickeys punches to add a little bling. I still have a little time to get those out.

While I was at Michael's today, I hit the 45cent rack. I picked up a couple of things for the welcome bags -- some shell shaped bath fizzes, little notebooks with a pen and glow bracelets (15 for $1). I also found some bamboo placemats for 45cents each too and figured they would be good for the luau.

So at least a little progress.

 

[2dogmom]

I finally took my first attempt at a mickey flower ball and I think it came out great. What do you think?

I plan on having the girls each carry one so I have to make 2 more. I need to get more flowers. I think I used about 7 stems on that one and it probably came out to about $15 for one. My 8yo was all about helping too Now they are all "suggesting" what color flowers I need to make for the next two. I'm hearing a lot of picks and purples. lol

 

[DisneyBrideCKB]

I just found your PJ! Congrats!
Your dress is gorgeous! Its perfect for your theme!
All your plans look fantastic and I love those Mickey flower balls. What a neat idea! A little less than 3 months left! I bet you are getting super excited!
I'm now officially following along! Can't wait to read more!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Loving the flower balls Gina sweetie - very pretty!!!

 

[2dogmom]

I just found your PJ! Congrats!
Your dress is gorgeous! Its perfect for your theme!
All your plans look fantastic and I love those Mickey flower balls. What a neat idea! A little less than 3 months left! I bet you are getting super excited!
I'm now officially following along! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for following along. I am excited but so much to do, but I will get it done.

Loving the flower balls Gina sweetie - very pretty!!!

Thanks so much. Only 2 more to make.

 

[2dogmom]

I had to change my disney invites. I had settled on the ones with the simple purple border, but when I went to print it, the flower and border looked a bit blurry. So quickly back to the drawing board. I settled on the one below and decided to add a sparkly mickey to it to add a touch of Disney.

Yeah, another thing off of my checklist!!!

 

[MrsDuck]

Love the invites and the flowers!! They look great!!!

 

[Sizzle]

saw your flowerballs on FB too, and they really are SUPER cute!! They look so full and vibrant. Love the bright colors you picked.

The invitations are wonderful! I love the little Mickey Touch. Great work checking things off the list, it always feels so good

 

[2dogmom]

Love the invites and the flowers!! They look great!!!

Thanks Faith!

saw your flowerballs on FB too, and they really are SUPER cute!! They look so full and vibrant. Love the bright colors you picked.

The invitations are wonderful! I love the little Mickey Touch. Great work checking things off the list, it always feels so good

Thanks so much. I just wish the two remaining ones would magically be done

 

[2dogmom]

Time for some random updates.

Dresses - I bought a dress from Target for Peyton, my 8yo, for summer and she really likes it. It is a little fancier than a basic sundress so I thought why not. told her she can wear it for the wedding if she wanted. She was all for that idea. I told her we will take a picture of her in the dress holding a flower ball to see how it looks. Morgan, my 10yo, seemed to like it too so I will try to pick one up for her as well. I'm guessing my only option is blue since they have a pink but Mo doesn't like pink. They will just have to be matching. I will still need to find something for Maryssa, Carl's 15yo. Here is a pic of the dress.

Flowers - I talked to Karen last week about a bridal bouquet. I got sticker shock when she came back with a price of $225-250 + delivery. I have started looking on etsy (I really don't need real flowers and the girls all have silk) and I stopped into Michael's last week and found out they can make bridal bouquets. The person that does that wasn't in but they were able to give me a ballpark price of around $60. I think one of these ways will be the way to go. I picked up some more flowers for my flower balls so I should be good to go now, at least for one more. Hopefully I can catch the woman this weekend.

Luau related - I create invites and now I need to print and assemble them. Carl wants to cook food ourselves instead of hiring caterers. Yep, he is crazy!!!! On Easter his family started offering to help with cooking. I really hate to have anyone do anything, but they all seemed to be anxious to help and were trying to come up with a menu for me. Carl knows that I will be re-wearing my wedding dress so I have no plans on grilling or cooking during the party. I did tell him that if I go for the idea, I will probably used the saved money for a photo booth. I think he is getting on board with that idea now. I just need to come around on the cooking.

To do this weekend (forecast is rain!):
- make 2 flower balls (if I have enough flowers)
- make ribbon wands
- make photo albums for guests to disney
- print invites

- and of course some rainy soccer games.

I'm hoping if I put it in writing for you all to see I will be accountable. 72 days until the wedding, 69 days until we leave.