Shana & Sean's PJ - 7/5/13 Swan/Fultons *Wedding TR - Updated 9/1*

[ShanaMouse]

So I wanted to post a quick update.. our engagement pics came in the mail today. Regina sent us a disc of the slideshow and another disc of all of the pictures she took (141 pics in total).

I wanted to post some of my favorites for anyone who is interested:

 

[MrsDuck]

AHH! Shana!! Your e-pics are just GORGEOUS!! I love love love them!

 

[charliegirl76]

Aww, I love your e-pics! Looks like you had fun! And I love the dress you picked....you look fabulous!

 

[celerystalker]

They look great!

 

[Summer Daydream]

Love, love, love the engagement pictures! Regina did a fabulous job! I really like the one in front of the Yacht Club Gazebo. Yes, I did get the pins! They were my first official wedding item!

 

[ShanaMouse]

Okay so I don't have any big updates at this time but I did have one major problem that needed to be addressed asap.

Okay so DF and I wanted a "small" wedding, roughly 30 people or so when we were going to go with a DFTW (due to cost). When we moved over to the Swan, we had an unlimited guest count so we decided to invite some more of our co-workers and other friends. At this time we were thinking about 60 people to invite and about 45 would show.

When I was speaking to my parents, my dad suddenly told me I needed to invite all of these other family members (mostly from his side). I didn't invite them before because we don't really see them often or talk to them often, but when we do see them it's like we see each other every weekend. So then I agreed to invite all of them as well, then DF invited some other friends of his as well.
Over the next couple of weeks my dad, in particular, kept naming people I still needed to invite. I told him no multiple times, but to keep the peace I did agree to it.

Problem was: our guest list had now exploded to 88 people (50 of which are definite yes's)... the bigger problem was that Fulton's only holds a max of 80 people in the private room. Of those 88 people I know that 4 will not show, for a fact. They are my grandparents and friends from Germany and they have stated that they are not coming and to not count them. Well, that still leaves 4 people that we are over. On our guest list, I was still missing 2 addresses to send our save the dates to, equaling 4 people. i called my dad, explained the situation, and told him I can't invite them. I was expecting him to be upset and what not, but he was kind of quiet and just said ok. I didn't push it any further so now we are at 80 people even, including us. We still have plenty of MAYBE's but I didn't want to leave all 88 people on the guest list anticipating that some of the maybe's won't show but then they do. That's a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders!


Other than that, we really haven't done that much wedding related stuff. I am working on a guest book using our engagement pics on shutterfly (currently on sale).

Right now we are in the process of packing, as we are moving in 2 weeks, another 2 weeks later is Thanksgiving, then DF's birthday, Xmas, and then new years. I think we aren't really going to be having much going on until after the holidays, which is also when my dress will come in!

Thanks everyone for still reading along!

 

[Summer Daydream]

Ugh...I'm glad you finally got the guest list to stop growing! Hopefully, I won't have that issue...I can just wave the contract that says 18 guests plus bride and groom since we're going the escape route. Where did you get your STDs from?

 

[ShanaMouse]

Ugh...I'm glad you finally got the guest list to stop growing! Hopefully, I won't have that issue...I can just wave the contract that says 18 guests plus bride and groom since we're going the escape route. Where did you get your STDs from?

Oh my gosh this guest list thing was a disaster lol! I am so glad we now have it under control. I told my dad that i don't care who he thinks of now, they are not invited lol.

When we first started planning we wanted to do the wishes but then added everything up and it was a little too pricey. so then we were thinking of the escape package but there was no way, even with immediate family, that we were able to get the guest list down to 18, which is when i found the swan.

i had wendy from ever after printables design them. I remember seeing a similar design a long time ago that she had made, but she moved away from etsy so I contacted her directly to see if she can make those for us with the colors i wanted. she was awesome and extremely quick.

 

[celerystalker]

My thoughts - if it's taken your dad this long to think of them, they aren't that close and don't need to be invited!

 

[ShanaMouse]

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

So DF and I had been wrestling with the idea of going more of the traditional route with a normal wedding registry or doing a honeymoon registry, which seems to be all the rage nowadays.
We decided that we would go more of the traditional route, as we are not planning on going on a real honeymoon until xmas next year (about 5 months after our wedding) due to our schedules. We are staying at Disney for 5 or so days during our wedding but because I am going back to school, I only have certain weeks off and DF works for the university here and whenever I have time off, he has to be at work. This way we decided to go on our late honeymoon in December, so we don't have to stress over anything. Where we are going is still a mystery. We want to go somewhere where there is a Disneyland Resort.
If we can save enough, it will be Tokyo. If we cannot save that much, it is looking more like Disneyland Paris. If we come up with something else between now and next year then we will do that lol.

Anyway, back to my registry story. Coincidentally, Crate & Barrel was having a Wedding Registry Party from 9 - 11am today, so we decided to go and register there (we are also going to register at Target and maybe Bed Bath & Beyond).

What's interesting about the Registry party, for those of you who have not gone or don't know what it is, it is a time when the store is only open for couples who are registering. They equip you with a scanner, do a short walkthrough of where items are located in the store and then send you on your way.
It was awesome to have the store to ourselves... well... almost. I think there were only a total of 5 couples or so at the store. We could walk around and scan whatever we wanted to put on our registry and if we needed help there was a sales associate right around the corner. I guess what I loved the most here was that there was not someone following us around, waiting to pounce to tell us to register for a certain item. They really left us alone and only came over when we looked like or asked for help. They also had a few vendors there to explain and sample their products. The store also had a table set up with water, coffee, orange juice and pastries to eat as you registered.

DF let me use the scanner, which I was super excited about. He lifted the item, I scanned.
We were there for about 90 minutes. They then had us register in the system and sent us off with a gift bag. This had a copy of our registry, a couple of booklets for products and a gift from Crate and Barrel, which was a vase.

Overall, it was nice to not have to wrestle with everyone else and trying to register, but rather grab a glass of OJ, walk around, and scan in peace. It was a lot of fun and DF even asked when we can register at the next store lol.

Other than that we have just been packing up our entire place, as we are moving soon. I have also had to put in overtime when it comes to homework, as it is getting towards the end of the semester meaning research papers and exams are on the list of things to do lol.
Oh, and next weekend we are headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Fantasyland preview!!!! YAY

That's all I have for tonight everyone!
Thanks for still following along!

 

[Summer Daydream]

Registering looked so much fun! I'm glad you got to use the gun, since usually the guys hog it! I facebook stalked your engagment pictures by Regina and they were all amazing! I love how they were casual but still looked very classic and beautiful. DF's sister-in-law is an amateur photographer, but she takes some really great shots. She offered to do our engagement pictures whenever we want to, and the best part is she is free!

 

[ShanaMouse]

okay so i have been away for a while, partially because I dont have any big updates and also because I have been super busy with school.

In regards to the wedding, it has sort of been on hold for the past several weeks because we have most of the major things booked and almost paid for with the exception of an officiant. so it's really just the little DIY projects I need to get started on, but I feel like it's not something I need to rush to do just yet. we also just moved last week and now we have thanksgiving coming up soon, so I'm not really focusing on wedding stuff until afterwards, which is also when I will have a break from school for about a month.

I can't believe that we are just under 8 months away from the wedding. I remember when I first started speaking with Erin at Just Marry about reserving our date and now it has already been almost 5 months since we paid our deposit!

What has everyone else been up to?

 

[ShanaMouse]

Registering looked so much fun! I'm glad you got to use the gun, since usually the guys hog it! I facebook stalked your engagment pictures by Regina and they were all amazing! I love how they were casual but still looked very classic and beautiful. DF's sister-in-law is an amateur photographer, but she takes some really great shots. She offered to do our engagement pictures whenever we want to, and the best part is she is free!

DF didn't actually want to use the gun, so I snatched it and started scanning everything that looked cool lol
I am obsessed with the engagement pics! I can't wait to see what the pics from our wedding will look like!
That's awesome that she will do your engagement pictures and do them free of charge! One less thing to fit into the budget! Will you also use her for your wedding pics?

 

[charliegirl76]

My, you have been busy! School, registering, the issue with your dad, moving and you're 8 months out. Time is going to go fast, but it seems like you have a lot done already.

 

[ShanaMouse]

Hey everyone!
I am sorry I have been away for quite some time but I really didnt have any wedding updates because the wedding had been on the backburner these last 6 or so weeks, because grad school is kicking my behind!!
Luckily, today was the last official day of school for the semester so I am starting to get into the groove of wedding planning again since school doesnt resume until January. (so glad to already be half way done )

Anyway, I also decided that I needed to post a few updates that have, literally, happened within the last 48 hours.

1. I have been on the search for an officiant as well as for floral for quite some time. After reading many reviews and asking on the disbride FB group and just by reading through some planning journals, I decided to contact Rev. Kevin Knox and officially booked his services today!! Also, we received a discount because our wedding is not on a Saturday or Sunday and it's in the morning!

2. As DF and I are postponing the honeymoon until December, we just booked a studio at Old Key West from Thursday (7/4) to Monday (7/8), as our Wedding is that Friday and I didn't want to take too much time off and rather wanted to save it for later on in the year when we actually go travel. Well, today our booking window opened for non-home resorts (for those of you familiar with DVC) for that time period and I saw that deluxe accomodations at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary were available. Since I was at work, I quickly texted DF to see if he wanted to switch our reservation and he was all for it. As it wasn't available for our entire stay, I split our stay between two resorts and added two extra days.
So now we are staying at Saratoga Springs From Thursday to Sunday and we are staying at Bay Lake from Sunday to Wednesday!!!
Neither of us have ever stayed at the Contemporary so I am super excited that we were able to get a room, as they are usually already booked when we have time off.

3. About 10 days ago or so I was on Shutterfly and saw that you can make photobooks and I wanted to make one of our engagement pictures anyway. When I went to make our photobook, I noticed that you can actually make a photo guest book... so i did! It took me about 1.5 hours to make but they let you customize the whole thing and it came in the mail on Wednesday. It was 50% off and I got free shipping so I think It came out to be about $30 or so, but it is 12x12 and really good quality.

4. So I have been stressing out for quite some time because I want to make sure I have enough time off for the wedding because we only get a certain number of days off per year and when those run out then you are pretty much screwed and mine don't renew again until September of next year, which means that any time off I have available to me now, I have been trying to not use because I want to save it for our wedding. Long story short, I had to use some of my time off for things that I really didnt plan for so, right now, I dont have as much time off left as I would have liked to have. I work for a really small company (15 employees total including the owners) so we all pretty much know each other on a personal level and when i went into the company owner's office to talk to her about something completely unrelated she told me that she wanted to give me an early wedding present. I just looked at her and she said that, on behalf of the company, they wanted to give me an extra 7 days of paid vacation to use for our wedding because she doenst want me to stress out about not having enough time or not being paid etc. I. Was. Shocked. I did ask her if she was joking and she said no so I guess it was a pretty good Friday for me today

My bridesmaid, Sarah, and I will be going to check out bridesmaids dresses over the next few weeks since I really havent seen anything i LOVED online.

I also emailed my sister (who lives in Germany) to ask her if she has figured out if she and the rest of the family are coming and if not, to let me know when she will know. The reason being that I just need to make some decisions as far as floral for the bridal party is concerned, dresses, guest count, etc and she has really been kinda MIA. Well, we'll see what happens, I guess.

Other than that, next up on my list of wedding things to do are picking someone for flowers (if at all) and then I have been going back and forth on a DJ for our reception. DF's family isnt really the dancing type but my entire side is.
Also, after reading another brides PJ, we really want to host a mini-event at Animal Kingdom where we have breakfast at Tamu Tamu Courtyard and then have all of our guests ride the Safari ride there because it's one of our favorite rides and most of our guests have never been on it. We were thinking of doing this for the entire wedding party so that we can cut cost a little bit and also just do something special for them to share in the Disney magic. I emailed Disney Catered events but havent heard back yet. If nothing by next week then I will give them a call.

Well, that's all I have for tonight!
Thanks for still reading along!!!

 

[Summer Daydream]

Yay, you updated!! I have read so many good reviews of Kevin Knox and his wife. I have cruelly places him at the top of my list. It spuds like he does an amazing job and does the best he can to make your day special.
Your bosses sound so cool! I can't believe they would give you additional time. I would be giving them a big gift lol.
I agree when I read about Tamu Tamu I was intrigued. If I have extra money I was going to do a DP, but it seems like money would be better placed for something like that.
Hope your sister can come. Can't wait to see the BM dresses. I hope you're loving your new apartment.

 

[Summer Daydream]

**Seriously placed him and **sounds like. I have to stop updating on my iPhone. Damn autocorrect!

 

[ShanaMouse]

Ok so, as posted before, I really wasnt sure if my sister is coming or not. Well, she's not.
I am actually not as sad about it as I thought I would be because I feel like I already saw this coming so I have had time to process it before she confirmed it
Well anyway, although I am not sad about that part, I am pretty irritated at her in general. Reason being, I sent her an email (our usual form of communication, since she lives oversees) last week just asking her how she and the kids are doing, if anything new happened and then i asked her if she knew if she or all of them (she has 3 kids and a hubby) could make it and, if she doesn't know yet, when she could let me know. I was not confronting her in any way to make her feel like she is being put under pressure, but I did say that I needed to know soon because I, otherwise, don't know how to proceed as far as bridesmaid dresses, flowers, line-up of bridal party on wedding day, etc. is concerned, since she is to be my maid of honor.
Well, I got nothing! What did happen is that my mom and her talked over the phone and my mom asked her if she was coming and she just said no. My mom told me she was very short with her, which doesnt surprise me because any time my wedding is brought up she just shuts down. Well anyhow, this was 2 days ago. I assumed my sister would have emailed me back after telling my mom she isnt coming, but I have yet to get a response. I just feel like its sorta crappy to tell my mom, but you dont actually tell the person who initially asked you.
My mom said that she is probably assuming that she would tell me, but I told my mom I am going to pretend like I don't know and see what happens. I need to call my sister tomorrow anyway (my little nephews birthday), so we will see if she brings it up. If she doesn't, I won't either since I don't think its great timing to discuss it. I will then probably give her another couple of days before I confront her about why she hasn't replied and see what happens.

She just really irritates me! (sorry, had to get that out).
Another reason why DF and I are both sorta mad about this also is because our wedding date was picked for 7.5.13, partially, because of her. I had been going back and forth with her for months in regards to a wedding date because I really wanted her there and she said that she can't come when the kids are in school so it needs to be during some sort of holiday or break because if they are going to come all the way over here, they want to stay a couple of weeks, which I completely understood. Finally, 7.5.13 came up and she said this would work because the kids are on summer break and its just a great time to come to Florida for vacay, etc.
Well, and now she isn't coming at all. My mom asked her why but she just said that "sometimes things don't happen the way you want them to". Not sure what that means or if I really wanna know lol.

In good news, however, I finished all of my xmas cards and will be sending them out tomorrow!

I also picked a bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets and boutonnieres for the guys.

That will be my bouquet and the one's for the bridesmaids will be the same, just smaller and the boutonnieres will be either ivory or a violet colored rose.

 

[celerystalker]

Love the guestbook! I think I'm going to make one too, if we ever get to go to Disney for our engagement shoot! I also have been toying with the idea of tamu tamu + safari mix in. Disbrides are so bad about feeding off of each other! I'm sorry about your sister, but hang in there!

 

[Summer Daydream]

I'm sorry that your sister can't make it! I understand how you feel about not hearing it from her. I hate when people tell you bad news via other people! Maybe she is trying to find a way to break it to you?
I love love love the flowers. I really like all of the greenery in them. The purples are really nice too.