Michael & Theresa ~ 4/19/2010~WP/CG/UK lower~holy moly an update! day 4 is up

[disneygal922]

I have one of those cowbells! Can't wait to hear more!

I thoroughly enjoyed the cowbells!

I love a journal with lots of pics...YAY!!!! The Biergarten looks like so much fun, but I can't convince myself to go, since I don't really eat red meat (aside from streak of course ) That is so cute you got to be a family of the day! What a great way to start your trip!

Boardwalk Bride, you should go! At least the last time I went (granted it was like 1994 or '95) they had some kind of pasta thing. I was a picky eater then, and while I didn't like the looks of most of the stuff, I was pleasantly surprised by that!

I agree Karen. You should try it some time. It is a buffet and there are a lot of options, including chicken and pork and a variety of side salads. It really is a ton of fun and delicious food.

Sounds like you have a really fun time on your PS. Biergarten never really interested me, but it sounds and looks like it's really fun! Can't wait to read more about the PS!

Thanks for reading Samantha! I'll be sure to post day 2 soon!

 

[disneygal922]

Day 2 ~ September 22, 2009 (my bday)

We woke up nice and early to make our 825am ADR at Chef Mickey's. We got out to the buses right as an MK bus was pulling away. Oh well, we had plenty of time as it was only 730am. We arrived at about 815am so figured we'd have to wait a little while, we went through the photo op line then sat down and no sooner do we find a spot on the couch but our buzzer went off. The wait was literally less than 5 minutes after arriving. I have a load of pics of us with Donald, Minnie, Pluto, and Mickey but to sum it up they all look like this pretty much, substituting mike for me in some of them.

Then our server brought me over a delicious cupcake with a candle and they played a celebration song and all the characters were dancing around. it was quite cute.

We then headed off to the MK. It was not very crowded at all. We were able to walk right on every ride minus Winnie the Pooh and Snow White but those were only 10minute waits so we were stoked at the crowd level.

We left MK around 230 to go back to ASmu and relax before MNSSHP. Good idea, I highly recommend it! Here we are waiting for the bus back to the party. I was able to get mike to wear black and orange so he was at least festive. me? i had brought a cat costume that i had planned on wearing. however, it was in the 90s and extremely humid. my costume had long sleeves and fake fur around the cuffs and color. i thought it wouls be a VERY bad idea to wear it. So i wore a shirt that said 'have broom, will travel' i got it at Walmart for $5.

HalloWishes was amazing. Nobody does a firework show like Disney. Hands down the greatest fireworks EVER.

So all in all Tuesday wasn't very exciting for a TR but it was an amazing birthday and everything i could have possibly wanted. next up Day 3

in other wedding news, we are down two groomsmen. both have very good, legitimate reasons but never the less we are disappointed and not sure what we are going to do yet. I'm confident though it will all work out!

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Love the cupcake!

Disney looks so cool that time of yr.!

That's too bad about the groomsmen. Who Mike wanted and who he has now changed from beginning to now, but we're pretty happy. One couldn't go, so while it sucks, and left him with one less to my girls, someone we also wanted was able to join in. Hope things work out well for you too!

 

[hollybearsmom]

I just finished reading all 23 pages, I love the pink and orange. I can't wait to follow along the rest of this ride!

 

[disneygal922]

ok, so i've officially fell off the TR wagon. I've been so busy and stressed the past few weeks but I promise I will finish it. Also, I don't have any pics now b/c I'm at work BUT we have been in full force wedding mode. First, we picked out the tuxes a couple weeks ago from MW. We will be picking them up from the Kissimmee location. The groomsmen and dads will have an orange vest with a bow tie. Mike will have a solid ivory vest with matching bow tie. the shirts are also ivory with no pleating. We finally went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to update our registry as we had only done it online. i'm glad we went in though b/c some of the stuff i registered for didn't nearly look as nice or the right size in person. And there was a much wider variety. So yeah, that brings me to... condo hunting! we went last saturday to look at some condos and by some i mean like 10!! we've narrowed it down to 2 and honestly, i have a favorite but we are going this sunday with my dad and mike's parents to get their opinions. next, i've been working my not-so-little booty off on our invitations. i'm quite proud of them, b/c i basically designed them myself. (i love photoshop and all the different types of brushes you can get for it!) mike showed some of the girls he works with and they were so surprised that we did them ourselves. that made me also, we got our BEOs and well, we are pretty darn near our budget. we've made some cuts and are very pleased! Next, we made our ADRs yesterday for our entire trip. There is only one restaurant that we want that we don't have and that's San Angel. The CMs I've talked to said to keep trying b/c the system is still being a little wonky after all the problems from yesterday. so this is what we have:
Thursday 4/15 dinner at the Biergarten with our families
Friday 4/16 dinner at O'hana with the fam
Sat, Sun, and Mon - nothing (with the rehearsal and wedding and other running around we figured these would be QS days)
Tuesday 4/20 Le Cellier
Wednesday 4/21 Jiko
Thursday 4/22 Whispering Canyon Cafe
Friday 4/23 California Grill
Saturday 4/24 Kouzzina
Sunday 4/25 Tony's Town Square
Monday 4/26 Cindy's Royal Table
Tuesday 4/27 Coral Reef (this is the day we want San Angel)

So yeah, what do you think? any opinions. I feel like i'm definitely missing some things we've done since my last post but I can always post again when I remember! Sorry to ramble on so long!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Yay your back!!! I was hoping we would have an ADR at the same time....we many of the same ones, but all on different days oh well! I decided to book Biergarten because of you as well, and if it is not fantastic, well I will crash your wedding!!

I think having a few days with just QS is a good idea!! It gives you more freedom, and, well, I honestly get sick of eating in restaurants after awhile!

Oh, and that is soooo exciting about the condos! Good luck with choosing one!!

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Aww, none of our ADRs are the same, but we have picked some of the same restaurants, like O'hana, Le Cellier, Jiko, and California Grill. What're you doing the day of the 20th? We're planning on pool/Blizzard Beach.

 

[disneygal922]

Yay your back!!! I was hoping we would have an ADR at the same time....we many of the same ones, but all on different days oh well! I decided to book Biergarten because of you as well, and if it is not fantastic, well I will crash your wedding!!

I think having a few days with just QS is a good idea!! It gives you more freedom, and, well, I honestly get sick of eating in restaurants after awhile!

Oh, and that is soooo exciting about the condos! Good luck with choosing one!!

Thanks Karen! I'm glad to hear you are trying the Biergarten. Hopefully you will enjoy it! Also, I agree with the QS days. We will be running around getting things done for the wedding and honestly, I'm looking forward to the 3 signature restaurants we were able to book by doing only QS on those days.

Aww, none of our ADRs are the same, but we have picked some of the same restaurants, like O'hana, Le Cellier, Jiko, and California Grill. What're you doing the day of the 20th? We're planning on pool/Blizzard Beach.

Hey Lizzie! Bummer we don't have any ADRs on the same day! We aren't sure of what we are going to do on the 20th. probably sleep in, relax, go to the pool, then to Epcot for dinner. Also, spend some time with our families that day. we haven't really gotten that far yet.

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

O yea, we're havin' a goodbye breakfast for some guests too. Well hopefully we can meet up at some point, even if it's for one ride, lol. I know DF wants to (he's so cute), lol.

 

[Bunchkin]

Hi disneygal!!!

I've been meaning to come here and read up on all your planning! I finally did but didn't have time to post!!
I love the orange dresses you picked out! They are wonderful!

Did you ever find the bracelets you lost?? I don't remember you mentioning it.
They were so cute!


Your pictures from your b-day trip are great!!!
And now that I know what you look like, I cannot believe it... it's so totally weird......you look just like one of the performers from the old American Girl Place theater!!! WOW!! My DD agrees with me too! (I just showed her your pic!) We've been to many of their plays and you really look like someone who performed there.

 

[disneygal922]

O yea, we're havin' a goodbye breakfast for some guests too. Well hopefully we can meet up at some point, even if it's for one ride, lol. I know DF wants to (he's so cute), lol.

Definitely! What day is your last day?

Hi disneygal!!!

I've been meaning to come here and read up on all your planning! I finally did but didn't have time to post!!
I love the orange dresses you picked out! They are wonderful!

Did you ever find the bracelets you lost?? I don't remember you mentioning it.
They were so cute!


Your pictures from your b-day trip are great!!!
And now that I know what you look like, I cannot believe it... it's so totally weird......you look just like one of the performers from the old American Girl Place theater!!! WOW!! My DD agrees with me too! (I just showed her your pic!) We've been to many of their plays and you really look like someone who performed there.

Hey Bunchkin!!! Thanks for stopping by my PJ! I still can't believe I am having orange dresses. I would have never thought in a million years but I love them and can't wait to see them in all my pics. I think they will look great in the Florida sun!
I DID find the bracelets! I don't remember if I ever posted that! one day about 3 months after I had given up looking for them. I went to get something off a chair in the dining room and poof they were there. We have no idea how they got there. Dad and I had both looked in there several times and have gotten things from the chair since they had disappeared.
As for the girl at the American Girl show, is it in Chicago? Apparently, there is an actress in Chicago, she did a play at Steppenwolf, I think, last year who everyone says looks like me. The lady who cuts my hair even brought her playbill in to show me! A couple other people in the area have told me this as well. I have no idea who she is but apparently I have a twin out there

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

We're headin' back the 24th. You can look at my P.J. for our ADRs. Other than that, you know our plans for our 1st day as husband&wife. dunno what we're doing besides that besides w/e we get off our Disneymoon Registry (did I mention I registered for like $4 or 5thousand-ish worth of stuff? lol )

BTW, what if this American Girl girl were your doppleganger! O no!

 

[Bunchkin]

It is at the Chicago AG Place, the old one that was on Chicago Ave that had the theater. They don't have a theater at their new location, even though it is a much bigger location.
I have a picture, many pictures actually, with many of the actresses and my daughter taken over the years. I should look for it to show you.
They had some wonderful performers there. It's such a shame they didn't put a theater in the new location. There is one adult performer in particular that would make you tear up every time she had a solo.
On a side note, I haven't been to Steppenwolf since I was in high school, 1988 to be exact.
Do you get your hair cut in the city?

 

[disneygal922]

Howdy everyone! not a long update at the moment but i just wanted to let all my loyal readers know I haven't fallen off the planet or anything. Mike and I have been very busy condo hunting the past few weeks. It's a slow day at work today so maybe I'll be able to finally get the PS day of our TR posted...

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Howdy everyone! not a long update at the moment but i just wanted to let all my loyal readers know I haven't fallen off the planet or anything. Mike and I have been very busy condo hunting the past few weeks. It's a slow day at work today so maybe I'll be able to finally get the PS day of our TR posted...

YAY, I hope you can post more from your PS!!!! I need something else to do besides school work today

 

[disneygal922]

ok... so where did I leave off. ah yes, Thursday, September 24, 2009 the Planning Session!!! Wednesday I had my hair and make up trial with Patricia LeJuene. She was fabulous. I'm not posting pics here b/c Mike reads this and I don't want him to see them. If you are interested please PM me and I'd be happy to share!
So moving on...

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early and ready to plan. We got on a bus to MK and took the monorail over to the GF.

the monorail stalled briefly and I was able to get this pic. I was so excited!

zoomed in..

finally we are at the GF!!! This was my first time at the GF and I was so excited to be there!

walking to Franck's. woohoo

omg omg omg... we are almost there!!!!

The standard Franck's pic that pretty much every bride who does a planning session takes!

Ok, so I kind of went crazy with pictures inside of Franck's so I'll post them all. We aren't using any of these pics as inspiration but perhaps somebody else might like them!
feeds a minimum of 800 or 850 people. I don't remember what the young lady said... but wow. it was beautiful in person!

ok... i think that's all from Franck's. While we were waiting for Laura from Floral to meet us. Our WP took us over to the Wedding Pavilion so we could listen to the organ. (we are both musicians, and hearing the organ was important to us) So we snuck in between the 10am wedding and the noon wedding. i think i took pictures from every angle in there.

 

[disneygal922]

Ok. so apparently I ran out of room in that last post and the pics are gigantic so I'll have to go back and fix those but moving on... here are pics of the wedding pavilion

I'm not sure who he was but the Rev. who was waiting for the next ceremony offered to take a picture of me! He was very nice and I know I've seen him in pics around here...

in this pic you can see Mike and our planner chatting with the organist and laughing at me. At the beginning of our PS I was still on the fence about what I wanted to walk into but was considering Trumpet Voluntary. The organist, I can't remember his name unfortunately, started playing it and i spun around with a big smile. I knew that was it...

previously mentioned Rev. also said that the farther back you go toward the brides vestibule the bigger the castle appears in the window. not sure how that works but we were shoo-ed out before I got to experiment with it b/c the groom for the noon wedding just arrived.

 

[disneygal922]

Next, we went back to Franck's for our floral meeting and cake tasting! mmmmmm....
So I went in to floral with a few pics of centerpieces and that was it. we talked about a bouquet for me and the bouts, etc. etc. Originally, I planned on bringing all my personal floral including a silk bouquet for me. Well, Mike really wanted my bouquet to be fresh so we decided that he and I will have fresh flowers and the bm's, gm's and parents will all have silk flowers I'm bringing from home. I have no idea what my bouquet is going to look like but the description in my beo says, "petite, round, french bouquet of dark pink/purple orchids, light green orchids, purple hyacinth, purple lisianthus, orange roses, yellow roses (full open bloom) Accent with white freesia throughout. 75% ribbon wrap the faux stems in antique white satin. Swarovski Pearl Mickey closure on the stems. It costs $275 which made me nearly fall off my chair. BUT when I read the description in the BEO I got all excited. I'm sure it will be 100x better than anything I can imagine. Mike will have a Purple lisianthus/buds, orange mokara orchids and greenery. his is only $15.
The rest of the floral will be used at the ceremony, reception, and dessert party.
The alter will have 5 cylindars with gel in pink, purple, orange, light green and yellow on each side (10 total). the tall cylindar will have a small bouquet of flowers on it. the 2 medium cylindars will have mickey confetti and the 2 smaller cylindars will have a single bloom on them.
Each table at the reception will have 5 cylindars as well as coordinating flower petals scattered on the table. Our sweetheart table will have one of each. then for the dp, they will be moved and have LED lights droped in them. I think they will look awesome! Oh and back to ceremony decor. We are having an aisle runner with coordinating petals down the sides. For the staged exit, we decided to do one big basket of flower petals for people to take from. Oh, and we are having orange satin napkins at the reception. I didn't think we could do this b/c the reception is at the cali grill but apparently we can!
I think that is all for floral...
now, onto the cake tasting. This was such a hard decision. Everything was so good.

We decided on...
Bottom layer: Chocolate cake with raspberry mousse and fresh raspberries. (hands down both of our favorites)
Middle layer: Almond cake with Ameretto mousse
Top layer: Marble cake with white chocolate mousse.
All three layers will be cut into and served. We requested the rest be boxed up and given to us for us to eat throughout the honeymoon

After we were done, we headed to Epcot. Dinner was at Rose & Crown. No pics but thoroughly delicious! We decided to scope out the lower UK. It was roped off for a corporate event but the lady guarding the rope let us sneak in and take some pics. She was very nice. Later that evening, there was a family who reserved the area kind of behind R&C but they allowed 13 people in to watch the fireworks. The lady who let us sneek into the lower UK was guarding that rope too and put us on her list. So we got some nice Pixie dust. We were standing right above/next to the far left of the lower UK. It was awesome.

So yeah, that was Thursday...

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

YAY for more pics!!! I get soooo excited seeing them, since it is the closest I can get to a planning session I always forget how gorgeous the WP is until I see pics of it again. And the GF...drool! I'm so happy I am having at least one event there!!

Those cake pics were so unfair to me!! I am sitting here eating carrots for lunch, and staring at yummy cake! Your flavours sound soooo good! DF and I might need to come crash your wedding.......

I think the gel cylinders will look really nice. When i first saw pics of them at dessert parties, I always wondered if people use them anywhere else. Now I know! If I can't use lanterns, I may have to steal your idea (maybe we can split the cost since we are only a few days apart )

 

[disneygal922]

YAY for more pics!!! I get soooo excited seeing them, since it is the closest I can get to a planning session I always forget how gorgeous the WP is until I see pics of it again. And the GF...drool! I'm so happy I am having at least one event there!!

Those cake pics were so unfair to me!! I am sitting here eating carrots for lunch, and staring at yummy cake! Your flavours sound soooo good! DF and I might need to come crash your wedding.......

I think the gel cylinders will look really nice. When i first saw pics of them at dessert parties, I always wondered if people use them anywhere else. Now I know! If I can't use lanterns, I may have to steal your idea (maybe we can split the cost since we are only a few days apart )

You know where to find us!!! I'm really excited we are using the GF for our Welcome Breakfast! It really is a beautiful resort! Hopefully, you'll be able to get your lanterns b/c I think they will look fabulous at your Canada location. But, if not, totally go for the cylindars if you want!