Our Disneymoon PTR + Wedding TR w/ pics - I'm back! (TR link and POP review 9/7)

[ronnmel]

I just received some more pictures from another of our guests, and it contained so many great shots from earlier in the week! I think I'm going to have to do an extra update or two at the end to include all those photos, as well as side trips taken by my guests.

Paradise does exist, I got married there!​

Wedding Day (part 6) - Disco Time! ​

Day 5 continued - Wednesday May 4th

Of course the night was not over! It was our wedding day after all. Feeling sick or not, I was going to go to the disco! But first, we went back to our room to drop off a few gifts. I know some of our guests also took that opportunity to get into more comfortable clothes, but not us.

We all regrouped in the lobby, waiting for the disco to open at 11pm. There we came across another couple getting married that day. The other bride and I had actually exchanged a few emails, so it was nice seeing them in person.

Finally it was time to head to the disco.

We had received two bottles of champagne from the hotel as wedding gifts, so Ron brought one with us. A lot of people drank from it, but Ron drank most of it.

I tried dancing as much as I could, but the queasyness wouldn't stay away so I spent most of the time sitting outside. A lot of our friends and family did the same, but I don't have any pictures of that. I do, however, have several pictures of the party going on inside the disco.

Having had most of that champagne to himself, Ron was quite into the dancing, both the fun kind of dancing, and the more sensual one.

I do feel a bit bad for our Best man and MOH because they hadn't come out on our big party night on Sunday, but had gotten the grandparents to babysit this time. Unfortunately, not only was I not feeling my best, but several others were tired too so the party was not *as* great and ended quite early (we were back to bed around 1am I think). We did, however, have a good time for the short time we were there.

Up Next : Sleeping in!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[janabananas]

Just found your tr and ptr after starting mine. Congrats!!! love the beautiful pictures

 

[ronnmel]

Just found your tr and ptr after starting mine. Congrats!!! love the beautiful pictures

janabanas! Thanks!

 

[ronnmel]

Paradise does exist, I got married there!​

A Real Relaxing Day​

Day 6 - Thursday May 5th

After way too many mornings of getting up early, we finally slept in! We got up around 10:30. Unfortunately, I was still feeling queasy so I read in bed then on the balcony. Ron read too and watched some tv. Around noon we finally stepped out of our room and joined several of our guests on the beach.

There Ron had what he claims to be the best grilled chicken ever.

We had some fun in the ocean.

Ron finally discovered the virtue of sunglasses (has has since bought not one, but 3 pairs!).

A few hours later we went back to our room and found this:

We quickly changed and made our way to the spa for...

Our couple's massage. It was awesome! They really go rough on the "deep tissue", but it was perfect for all my knots in my upper back.

The hour went by way too quickly, and soon we made our way to the pool where most of our guests had moved to. Can I just say, we LOVE our underwater camera!

We eventually made our way back to the room to get changed for our dinner with my family. But before we had something exciting to see. Our first beach sunset!

Cute puppy on the way there.

And finally, sunset:

Continued in Next Posthttp://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41619437&postcount=245

 

[ronnmel]

A Real Relaxing Day - continued​

Now, not only did we get to see this gorgeous sunset, but we were there at the same time as Ron's friend who has the very good camera, so he took pictures of us.

Once the sun had set...

We walked over to the Japanese restaurant to have dinner with all my family.
It was Teppanyaki style.

The Chef was Cuban, not Japanese (obviously), and he did mess up several of his tricks, but we all had a good time.

Several of the older men had been asking everyday when they were going to have another poker game again, so tonight was the night.

I went to bed pretty early, and Ron came back some time later. We had a VERY early wake up call the next day.


It's still dark outside! Why am I putting makeup on so early?

Normally I should end my update here, but I thought it'd be interesting to post a few pictures of my family's little excursion into the city of Varadero that afternoon.
A coco taxi (not what they took):

On the way there:

Walking around:

At the market:

A free roaming rooster:

Their taxi coming back, inside and out (they were 6 plus the driver in there!):

 

[ronnmel]

I revised our schedule. Twice. Again.
I just really wanted to find a way to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid (haven't seen it yet) and It's Tough to be a Bug (really enjoy it, it's cute and funny). I actually didn't have to sacrifice that much. The only park that has "suffered" is Epcot, but that is only according to Touring Plan. Easy WDW actually says it's a great choice. Plus, There is so much to do at Epcot besides rides, I'm sure we'll be fine.

Newly Revised Schedule

Day 0 - Land around noon. No park (no change)
Day 1 - AK (changed from MK)
Day 2 - HS (changed from Epcot)
Day 3 - Rest Day (no change)
Day 4 - MK with EMH evening. (no change)
Day 5 - Epcot. (no change)
Day 6 - HS (changed from AK)
Day 7 - Rest/water park day (changed from HS)
Day 8 - Epcot (changed from rest day)
Day 9 - AK. Best day.
Day 10 - MK. Best day.
Day 11 - Rest/water park day
Day 12 - Epcot with super low crowds. Best day.
Day 13 - A third day at either MK or HS (possible change from HS)
Last Day - Departure late morning.

I love that this lets us go to all four parks early on (as opposed to MK and Epcot twice before anything else).
Also, it balances our rest days a little better throughout our stay.
Finally, this way the last day is open as a third day to either HS or MK, depending on how we feel.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hey Mel! I'm all caught up with your updates! The after the wedding disco looks like fun! I love the picture of Ron and the champagne! The day after sounds great, too. I know after all of that fun you two were ready to relax! The pictures of the two of you on the beach are amazing!

The revised honeymoon plans sound great! I like the changes that you've made.

 

[ronnmel]

Hey Mel! I'm all caught up with your updates! The after the wedding disco looks like fun! I love the picture of Ron and the champagne! The day after sounds great, too. I know after all of that fun you two were ready to relax! The pictures of the two of you on the beach are amazing!

The revised honeymoon plans sound great! I like the changes that you've made.

I like those disco pictures too, they really show the atmosphere of the "club" and how much fun we had. I actually found a lot more picture of our first Disco night (the Sunday before) that show even more the FUN. I'll post them at the end, in a update with all those "pictures I found/got too late".

As for the pictures of us on the beach, you haven't seen the best ones yet. They are coming in my next update(s). You'll just have to wait a few more days.

I really like the changes I've made to our schedule too. I think it will be a great mix of fun, different parks, and rest.

 

[ronnmel]

Paradise does exist, I got married there!​

Last Full Day - Trash the Dress (Beach) ​

Day 7 - Friday May 6th

Friday was our last full day in Cuba and we had an EARLY wake-up call. Think 5:30am! It was for a good reason though, so it wasn't *too* hard for me to get out of bed.

I put some makeup on, then slipped back into my wedding dress. Why, you ask? Well, we were having a Trash the Dress photoshoot! For those who don't know what that is, it's basically taking pictures in your wedding clothes in a non-traditional place and doing something that *could* destroy your dress. I say *could*, because really it not only didn't destroy it at all, it even made it cleaner! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Ron called his cousin to make sure he was up, and then we headed for the beach. We met up with Ron's friend/photographer there around 6am and waited a little while for the cousin/assistant of the day to show up.

*Side note* We were very LUCKY in that we could see both the sunset AND sunrise over the ocean!

How was it? I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

*Funny note* I did not even know a boat had passed behind us until I saw the pictures! But I love it! Makes it more unique.

After we were done, we stopped by a little outside shower to wash the sand off my dress.

That was hard! I did the best I could, then we moved on to our next destination...


TTD Part 2 - Continued in Next Post

 

[ronnmel]

Last Full Day - Trash the Dress part 2 (Pool) ​

Day 7 continued

As I said in the last post, it took quite some time to rid my dress of sand.

As soon as that was done, we went to one of the "quiet pool", where we hung out a lot.

We jumped in for more romantic pictures.

We had some distractions from Ron's other best friend and her mom.

But mostly we just took pictures.

It was not all serious.

Here we are chatting with cousin/assistant to set up the next shot.

We also took a few pictures with our own underwater camera.

The photographer, the assistant, and the "distraction".

Then we moved to a different part of the pool. If you remember from our wedding day pool time, there is a part that is really shallow. We stood at the edge of that.

And we prepared to jump! First time was a fail...

But we got better.

Some final romantic photos.

A "making of" pic.

As we got out of the pool the gardener found us and gave me flowers to take pictures with. Too bad we were already done.

Up Next - How will we spend our last full day?

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Oh my gosh, Mel, I LOVE the TTD pics! The ones of you and Ron on the sand are amazing! Truly stunning! What beautiful (and fun!) pictures to have to remember your wedding!

 

[DisneyKira]

Ahh! How did I miss your latest updates? I love the disco pictures! It looks like you guys had a really good time. It is nice that you got along with the other bride. Some brides would have been really grouchy to see each other!

I love your trash the dress photos! Normally I don't like trash the dress photos (I mostly just hate the ones were the bride is covered in mud), but yours are so amazing! I especially like the pool ones

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

LOVE all the pictures from your "trash" the dress!! They are so cool! I really like the one with the boat in the background too. Beautiful!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Your TTD shots turned out gorgeous!! You must be so happy with them.

 

[ronnmel]

Oh my gosh, Mel, I LOVE the TTD pics! The ones of you and Ron on the sand are amazing! Truly stunning! What beautiful (and fun!) pictures to have to remember your wedding!

Thanks! I may not have a lot of pictures of just after the wedding, but it's really worth it because the trash the dress was just amazing in every way. Gorgeous pictures and overall just an amazing experience to jump in the water with my dress on. I loved seeing the look on other people when they saw me do it!

Ahh! How did I miss your latest updates? I love the disco pictures! It looks like you guys had a really good time. It is nice that you got along with the other bride. Some brides would have been really grouchy to see each other!

I love your trash the dress photos! Normally I don't like trash the dress photos (I mostly just hate the ones were the bride is covered in mud), but yours are so amazing! I especially like the pool ones

Thanks!

If a bride wants to be the only center of attention that day, then she needs to go to a different resort. I knew going in that there would be 3 wedding the same day (and about 10 total the whole week). I was actually looking forward to meeting the other bride. When do you ever get the chance to take a picture with another bride in both your wedding dress? The only thing is I thought we had posed for a picture where we are all facing the front, but I haven't seen it.

LOVE all the pictures from your "trash" the dress!! They are so cool! I really like the one with the boat in the background too. Beautiful!

Thank you! What's funny is that the photographer thought I wouldn't like the picture with the boat in it, but it's actually one of my favorites! I like that it's unexpected.

Your TTD shots turned out gorgeous!! You must be so happy with them.

I am ecstatic with my pictures! It was the best experience and something I would do again in a second.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I love love love the trash the dress pictures. I think I like them just as much as the ones of the actual wedding. They are so unique!

 

[ronnmel]

I love love love the trash the dress pictures. I think I like them just as much as the ones of the actual wedding. They are so unique!

Thank you! They are definitively unique. I too love them just as much, if not more, than the actual wedding pictures. I often hype things up so much that I end up disappointed, but the Trash the Dress session was everything I had hoped it would be, and more!

 

[Joyciemc]

I loved reading about your wedding! It looks like a fantastic week, and your guests must've had a blast!

Trash the Dress shoot was amazing! I am just in love with all the pictures!!

 

[ronnmel]

Last Full Day - Hanging Out ​

Day 7 continued

After we got done with the Trash the Dress pictures we went back to the room to change, then off to the buffet for breakfast. Ron really wanted to go to the pool, but I much prefer the beach. Luckily for me, most everyone was on the beach so we headed there.

I bought a hat for my mom (her one request).

Ron was really tired so he took a nap, using my new hat as a shield against the light.

I took pictures of the palapas.

And of the obligatory pictures of my feet in the sand.

Ron got us some delicious frozen lemonade, then took another nap (it's hard getting up before sunrise to take photos! )

DCous and I decided to take a pedal boat and go on the ocean.

We saw my uncle doing windsurfing.

He told us our little thingy in the back was out of the water, which explains why we were having such a hard time steering! We had no clue how to put it back in the water though, so we continued pedaling hard without much result for the duration of our little outing. Soon we came back to the shore.

We tried, unsuccessfully, to pull our pedal boat safely back onto the sand. Hopefully someone caught it before it went back into the ocean!

I took yet another picture of my feet.

It was now around lunch time, so we made our way to the quiet pool. I went to the snack bar and ate lunch with Ron's parents. I had some very yummy freshly made pizza (which I actually had to go get at the main buffet), and some delicious homemade chips.

During that time DH and DD had fun in the pool.

I lounged by the pool.

DH and DD eventually came out, and played a game of oversize chess.

While I took even more pictures.

More and more people joined us and we all went back in the pool. I know I have pictures of that, but I don't know where they are so I will stop here for now.


Up Next : More fun in the pool, for the last time

 

[ronnmel]

I loved reading about your wedding! It looks like a fantastic week, and your guests must've had a blast!

Trash the Dress shoot was amazing! I am just in love with all the pictures!!

Thanks! Our guests all said they loved absolutely everything of that week, the weather, the resort, the wedding. We all had so much fun together, and it wouldn't have been the same had we been just the two of us.

I'm in love with all the pictures too! It was so hard trying to narrow it down to just a few to post here, I have over a hundred photos of just that!