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

[Brit_Jude]

Nice pictures thanks for sharing, can't wait to see more!

 

[disneygal922]

Hi Everyone! I figured I should probably start my recaps here... lol. I'll start with some vendor reviews . I suppose that's the best way to start right?!?!? It's going to be hard to rate anyone poorly so bare with me!

DFTW ~ A+++ everything was absolutely amazing, on time and just perfect in every way.

Our Planner ~ A+ Diane was awesome. We loved working with her. She was very prompt with returning emails and phone calls. when there was a slight problem with the original cake design I had created, she called me right away to give some suggestions. I don't know that I ever talked about that here... hmmm

Disney Floral ~ A+ Laura was also fabulous. I went to our PS with no photos of bouquets b/c I had planned to do silk but shortly before the PS mike and i made a compromise that my bouquet and his bout would be real and everyone else's personal floral would be silk. When I received the description of the bouquet it sounded gorgeous but I really had no idea what to expect b/c I had never heard of some of these flowers. Well, the bouquet was perfect for me. It really was. Laura listened to what I didn't like and made notes. It was perfect. Mike was slightly disappointed with his bout only b/c it didn't have any orange in it. It was suppose to have an orange mokara orchid but didn't. oh well... it still looked fabulous.

Rev Day ~ A+ Seriously one of the nicest men I have ever met. When we relized he had another wedding at the time of our rehearsal he promptly called me and arranged a time for the three of us to meet. He was great, walked us through everything and had our ceremony practically memorized. Definitely would recommend.

Misty Miotto ~ A+++++++ BEST DECISION EVER!! She and Nelio were all around fabulous. Great to work with. Genuinely cares about her work and will definitely do anything for a great shot including crawling in mud and puddles. We received our proofs online and let me tell you it is going to be tough to choose our faves.

A moment to remember ~ A+ James was our videographer. He was very stealth like, didn't get in the way and half the time we barely saw him yet he got everything we wanted and more! Also, we got our finished dvd back within 2 weeks which amazed everyone. The video is perfect, just what we wanted!

Patricia LeJeune ~ A Unfortunately Patricia only gets an A. Not b/c her work was poor but b/c we ran about 25 minutes late. There was a miscommunication between her and her hubby,Randy, apparently about my ready time. It was originally 9am but when I was told the transportation was picking me up at 845 Randy and I changed it to 830. Patricia apparently didn't know that. I had several emails and everything that confirmed an 830 ready time. but other than that my hair and make up looked amazing and I would still recommend her to anyone. just make sure you confirm your ready time when you call with your room number!

California Grill ~ A + Food was amazing. View was unbeatable. Service was great and very nice however they were a tad slow getting our vendors their meals which I felt bad about. Once the vendors were fed I felt much better and everything was perfect.

 

[disneygal922]

Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for your kind words. It really means a lot to me. Hopefully I will be able to start my recaps this week in my spare time at work, as we have been quite busy moving into the condo. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some pics from Misty. She was absolutely amazing to work with and worth every penny and more!

 

[brer rabbit 28]

Such gorgeous pictures. Can't wait to see more

 

[disneygal922]

DAY 1 - Thursday April 15, 2010

Of course I didn't sleep much Wednesday night. I was so lucky my boss let me have wednesday off as I was running around all day. I went and got a manicure with my sister, did some last minute shopping, and finally started to pack. It's funny b/c I always said I'm not going to wait until the day before to pack and alas... i waited until the day before to pack. Anyway, back to Thursday.

My dad, sisters, bro-in-law and nephews were flying out of Chicago Midway at 745am so the limo was scheduled to pick my dad, sis2 and b-i-l up at 445am after picking up my other sis1 and nephews at 430am.

Dad and I were up at 4. I was pretty much wired.

I was waiting with my bride ears on for sis2 and b-i-l to arrive as they were leaving their car in dad's driveway. Limo came and I ran out to see my nephews who were in car seats in the limo.

They were so excited! After they all left I was left home all by myself. I think I posted that morning here while I was waiting for mike to pick me up. Once mike picked me up we were at the condo for about 5 minutes when the limo pulled up! And we were on our way! The flight was pretty uneventful, bumpy which stressed me out. We got to MCO and went right to the Magical Express. I was so exhausted and so excited all at the same time. Once we checked in at the Contemporary (Bay Lake Tower), we headed to Epcot where we got our APs. When we were finally in, I called my dad to find out where they were b/c we had dinner ressies at the Biergarten at 650pm and it was about 530pm. They were in Morocco getting ready to meet Aladdin and Jasmine... well, my nephews were in line, dad, sis2, and bil were sitting on a bench waiting. So we went on Spaceship Earth (mike's fave) then headed toward Germany as my dad said that's where they'd go after Morocco. Well... we got to Germany and couldn't find them. I called again and dad said they were still in Morocco b/c the boys just finished the meet/greet and needed to use the potty. So we headed over there and they were all done by the time we got there. Mike and I were walking REALLY fast by the way b/c I was so hungry I was about to start gnawing on my arm. lol. we meandered over toward Germany, we stopped in Japan to watch the drummers (i forgot what they are called, ya know, the big ones)

when we got there mike checked us in while i took pics with the fam.

a few minutes later we were being seated and having dinner. It was fabulous as always!

After that, we started to head back out and stopped in Mexico to ride the boat ride for my nephews.

After that we all went back to our respective hotels, dad, mike and i to the contemporary, sis1, nephews, sis2 and bil to ASmovies.

up next, Day 2 - Welcome bags and a melt down...

 

[disneygal922]

Such gorgeous pictures. Can't wait to see more

Thanks brer rabbit! I hope you enjoy!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Your pictures are beautiful! And your reviews were very helpful because you wrote comments to go with your 'grades'. Thanks for posting them! I can't wait to read more!

 

[puente0629]

Your wedding pics are so nice!!! Love the pink vintage car, do you mind telling me the cost?

I also read you left from Midway...I just moved to Chicago...can't wait to here more

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

OMG I love your Misty pics! They are so amazing!

I saw so many brides when I was in WDW, but as far as I know, none were DISers (I didn't recognize anyone from pics on here anyway). DH and I kept seeing another couple everywhere we went, the bride had a sling on, so she was recognizable!

PS. You were in Epcot the day we got married there

 

[disneygal922]

Your pictures are beautiful! And your reviews were very helpful because you wrote comments to go with your 'grades'. Thanks for posting them! I can't wait to read more!

I'm glad the reviews helped. Really, I wouldn't have done anything different vendor wise. It was perfect!

Your wedding pics are so nice!!! Love the pink vintage car, do you mind telling me the cost?

I also read you left from Midway...I just moved to Chicago...can't wait to here more

The pink rolls royce was $800. It picked me and my dad up from our hotel, took us to the GF for pics, then to the WP, then mike and I drove around the parking lot after our exit, came back to the WP for pics then it drove us to the reception. Totally worth it!!!

OMG I love your Misty pics! They are so amazing!

I saw so many brides when I was in WDW, but as far as I know, none were DISers (I didn't recognize anyone from pics on here anyway). DH and I kept seeing another couple everywhere we went, the bride had a sling on, so she was recognizable!

PS. You were in Epcot the day we got married there

I didn't see any brides when I was down there but we did see a lot of other just married folk. Nobody I recognized either! I did think of you when we were in Epcot that day! I told Mike.. 'Karen got married over in Canada today' I took a bunch of pics of the area when we went to LeCellier. that was a gorgeous location. I can't wait to see your pics!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Aww, that is so sweet! I saw so many brides and/or bridal parties and "just married" couples, I always was starring to see if I recognized anyone to be you or Cari All of the brides were either @ BC or GF. I actually saw one in the carriage going under the monorail when I was on it!

 

[padisneyfour]

yeah and congrats! you are back! loving the pictures and looking forward to hearing more...

 

[JanineBlum]

Lovely Lovely Pictures. I can't wait to wear my ears!! The day is almost here!!

 

[LLLBelle]

Your pictures are gorgeous! I can't wait to see more

 

[amyy]

I love your pictures. I can see Disney using the one where you are waving from the pink rolls. Beautiful!!

 

[irish dancer]

Congrats and welcome back! The pictures are just beautiful!! Can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[pink_tink8i8]

congrats on making the blog!!! that is so cool!

 

[disneygal922]

sooooooooooooooooooooo I am officially one of those brides who has fallen off the TR wagon and I appologize perfusely. The past few months have been very very busy with moving and weddings and all kinds of shananagins but I do recognize how much help I got from reading other wedding reports and am determined to finish it! I think I left off here at Day 2. I contemplated leaving my meltdown out but decided to leave it in b/c I feel it's important for other brides to realize it happens and to not feel alone when the smallest thing (like missing ribbon) sets you over the edge.

Day 2 Friday, April 16, 2010

So Friday was our 'work day'. We needed to pick up the boxes we shipped to the Contemporary so we could deliver the stuff to Franck's and put together our welcome bags and take those to ASmovies.

So the day started off fine. I met Mike outside at the pool bc i was staying with my dad at the Contemporary and mike was at Bay Lake Tower. He was on the phone with the rental car people.

Sorry I didn't take any pics of the car but it was a nice Nissan Maxima or something like that. We went over to a grocery store bought some bottled water and a few more snacks for the bags. We got back to the Contemporary and started putting the bags together and getting things ready for Franck's. Everything was going alright until I couldn't fit all the reception stuff in the rubbermaid box I brought with and then i couldn't find all the ribbon that I had brought to hold the tags on. I had it precut for the appropriate lengths... I was getting so frustrated, I knew I had put them in my suitcase. I vividly remember my dad helping me get things together and him asking what was in the bag and wear did I want it. I saw him put it in the suitcase. well, i went through my suitcase AND my dad's suitcase (he had extra room so he was putting some of my stuff in his luggage) and couldn't find it. I just melted down. There was a lot of emotions I was going through and I was crazy tired and hungry and I was really missing my mom and nothing mike could say helped. I just cried for about 45 minutes then I was fine. Mike and i finished the bags to the best of our ability. We then went back to the business center and bought a bigger cardboard box for the stuff for the reception. We loaded everything into the car, delivered the stuff to Franck's. After we left Franck's mike went back to the car and I walked over to the GF to find a 9" white vinylmation to use for our guest book (diane said we could bring that the day of the rehearsal) here are some pics from my adventure.

Mike and I then took the bags over to ASmovies. On our way there we definitely got lost. Mike's gps on his phone led us to some back maintenance road behind saratoga springs resort. We turned around and started on our way down buena vista blvd or whatever the name of the street that leads to all things disney... lol. anyway, we got those delivered and headed back to return the rental car. once that was done we decided to head to MK for a bit as we had 2 hours before we needed to leave for dinner. We got to MK and headed straight for the Sleepy hollow inn for a funnel cake! We hadn't eaten all day and I needed something to hold me over until dinner. So after that we headed to Pirates of the Carribbean which only had a 5 minute wait. It was fabulous! we then went back to the Contemporary to pick up my dad and then headed to the Polynesian for our ressie at Ohana. Unfortunately, a lot of my pics from ohana didn't turn out very good b/c of the lighting (and my unfortunate photography skills). Regardless, it was delicious and my b-i-l and dad LOVED it. b-i-l could not stop talking about how awesome it was.

so yeah, that was day 2. sorry it wasn't very exciting and i didn't take many photos I was just having a rough day!

up next day 3

 

[brer rabbit 28]

Yay an update! More please! I really do love reading trip reports.

 

[disneygal922]

Thank Brer Rabbit! I'm glad you are enjoying the report! I'm trying to keep up with it now!

So day 3 is going to be pretty short as I don't have a ton of pics from that day as I accidentally left my camera in my dad's room so these few pics are from my sister's facebook page. soooo here we go...

Day 3 - Saturday, April 17, 2010

I was up bright and early b/c Carolyn Allen's was supposed to be at my room at 9am to deliver and steam my dress. Well, I received a call from Mike who was in his room getting the tuxes delivered. I told him right away my dad was on his way and to make sure someone is downstairs at BLT to let him in... he said ok and then said "the lady with the tuxes said her daughter has your dress and is running late. she has been apologizing profusely." i said 'no biggie' and continued to just hang out in my dad's room staring at the wall... literally. i was too lazy to turn the tv on so i just sat there... lol. so the young lady from CA's shows up and is all flustered b/c she was late. Asked me if I had a veil. (i didn't send my veils with the dress b/c I knew they charged extra and i figured i could just use wrinkle release and the wind... i read about someone around here who did that.) Anyway, my sis and b-i-l showed up b/c we were going to go to mk that day. they convinced me to ask the girl how much the veil would cost b/c my cathedral length was more wrinkled than I had planned. she said not to worry about it and that she'd do it for free b/c she was late. she said they were really easy and didn't take long anyway. so cool... anywho, dad comes back and sees carolyn and bill (sis and bil) sans coffee... 'what???? no coffee??? i thought you were stopping on your way here??' so i told them to go ahead and go get coffee and i'll meet up with them at the mk. i know my way around pretty well... . so they left. the young lady finished up about 15 minutes later. i took my time and got a few snaps of the dress before heading out.

ok, so apparently that's the only pic I have in photobucket of my dress hangin' out after the steaming... i swear I thought I had more. Anywho, I realized mike had forgotten his sunscreen in my dad's room on friday and with his sun allergies i wanted him to have it. so i trucked on over to BLT to find an empty room!!!

He had already left with his family!!! oh man, I don't want him getting sick 2 days before the wedding. it's like 85 degrees out, sunny, and my wonderful fiance who has bad UV/sun allergies is out and about without sunscreen. i try calling him about 10 times and he finally calls me back frantic as to why i'm calling so many times. i tell him i brought the sunscreen over bc i didn't want him to be sick (or a tomato) on our wedding day. he then tells me he had a small travel size in his bag that he used for the day... ok... phew. now i can saunter over to MK. i decided that i would find the walkway to MK that I had heard so much about seeing as i wasn't in a terrible hurry or anything. It was a nice short walk, maybe 10 minutes and i was walking REALLY slow. Anywho, I got to MK and called my dad, no answer, i call my sis, no answer, i call bil, answer... they were still in the Contemporary waiting for the monorail. "really??? i took my jolly ole time getting over here too! well, call me when you get here, i'll be shopping on main street!" so i decided well, it is only 1015am i'll go to the Bakery and get one of those rolls every one talks about or something. well, the bakery was jammed packed, i mean shoulder to shoulder strangers breathing all over each other. i mean, i don't mind crowds when i'm with someone but tight spaces by myself make me very anxious. i decided i really didn't want a roll that bad so i move on and think, oh well, it is already 1015am i suppose that's late enough to try the ice cream at the Plaza i've heard so much about... again, jam packed. so then i think i'm striking out on all these things i've heard so much about, i'm going to the Confectionery. 'YAY, a decently short line' I get my strawberry cupcake and a much needed diet coke and find my way to center street to get a table. right as i sit down and open my cupcake container my sister calls and says they are at city hall. so i close up my cupcake container and head over to city hall and find, dad and bill sitting on a bench behind a giant bush and carolyn standing on the very top step on her tip toes trying to get my attention. 'way to go dad and bill, leave it to the short gal to try and find another even shorter gal'. . in my dad's defense though, he has bad arthritis in his hip and a bum disc in his back and the humidity was really bothering him. anyway, they let me eat my cupcake and then we were off down main street to adventureland. this was bill's first time in disney so i wanted to make sure we hit some staples (i.e. the jungle cruise, pirates, etc.)
Carolyn and I outside Haunted Mansion (this is where she put me in charge of the camera)

dad and i in line for HM

dad and i after HM

We had a great time and around 1pm as we were approaching fantasyland we decided we were going to park hop over to DHS so we could do a few things over there (i.e. Indiana Jones and Star Tours) Caro wanted to do ToT but the wait was 65 minutes and she didn't want to wait that long.
Carolyn and I waiting at Indiana Jones

so yeah... then we hopped back to MK for our dinner ressie at LTT. We got back there pretty quick and realized we still had about an hour before dinner. i noticed they were throwing empty logs down splash mountain so we meandered over there. when there was no wait time but i saw the cm letting people in i asked. she said they just re-opened the ride so it was probably only about 5-10 minutes... cool. so we got in line. it was about 10 but only b/c a ton of people with fastpasses came in. we were in the front 2 rows of our log and bill decided he was going to try to be super serious for the picture... it was AWESOME. i have to say, it's the only picture i have ever actually bought from a ride. i'll have to try and scan it or take a pic of the pic when i get home. carolyn and i were laughing so hard. so we got pretty wet and then headed over to LTT for dinner.
dad and I in Liberty Square

needless to say they had the air pumping and carolyn and i were freezing the entire time. after dinner we decided to head back to our respective resorts. dad and i walked to the contemporary. it was a lot of fun. i really enjoyed spending the day with my family in the happiest place on earth.