scottish/canadian
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
Less than three months to go until the big day and I think its high time I started a PJ! Im pretty much freaking out that well never get everything done, so itll be good for me to see all I have accomplished layed out in front of me! 
Ill start with the basics us!
Bride: Shannon, 28, from Ontario, Canada
Groom: Craig, 27 (28 soon, Im only the older woman by exactly 4 months!!) from Scotland
How did we meet?
Thats a fun story.
I have been to Disney more times than I can count over the years. My parents would rip me out of school for three weeks every April and wed drive in our Motorhome down to Fort Wilderness. I have been a Disney nut my whole life and always knew my dream job would be to work there. I was lucky enough to live my dream in 2003-2004, when I was a participant in the WDW International Program. I worked as a Merchandise and Attractions Hostess at EPCOT in the Canadian Pavilion. Yep, dressed as a lumberjack selling maple syrup, hockey books and introducing our 360 movie. My dream. Moms last words dont run off and meet some guy from halfway around the world!! My response dont worry mom, I have no intention!! Ha. I really didnt.
Craig a Disney nut? Not so much. He was raised in hotels his whole life and heard of the International Program while he was in Hospitality School. He applied and was accepted to work F&B in the United Kingdom Pavilion, sometimes serving but mainly on the bar in the Rose and Crown. I arrived in Orlando in August of 2003 and Craig arrived just six weeks after me in September. Odd twist of fate Craig and I had actually chatted on a message board for IP participants as we both originally had the same August arrival date. With the war, his date ended up being delayed by six weeks and that was that.
One day I went to the cafeteria for lunch and was standing in line for my usual (and super healthy) grilled cheese and spicy fries, when this really cute, and super tall, guy in a UK F&B costume joined the line behind me. I played it all cool (ummm yeah right) and said something super stellar to him along the lines of I think its going to rain. Orlando at 3pm in October?? Never! He just smiled and took his lunch and went away. I thought I was just about the biggest idiot ever!! I did take two seconds to notice his nametag however. It said Chris but I knew that wasnt his real name because it had no hometown on it. I went home that night and grilled my new UK roommate on who he could be. Id never seen him before so I knew that he must have arrived recently, just like her. She couldnt figure it out.
A couple of days later, I happened to be walking through our apartment complex with my Canadian friend and was like, thats him! She was confused, but then came around and was like, oh, thats Craig. He had arrived on the same day as some Canadians we knew. Another couple days later, October 17th to be exact, some UKers were having a limo party for someones birthday and my UK roomie invited me along, promising me that Craig would be there. I decided to go along and she promised to introduce us. We showed up at the limos and he was definitely there. Hard to miss a tall, dark and handsome guy in a kilt! It was a great night, but we didnt end up meeting until the after party back at the complex. My roomie, Sarah, and I devised a really creative plan, where she would go over and talk to him, and I would walk (okay, by this point, stumble) over and she would casually do the Hey, have you met my roommate? Well, our slick maneuver worked as we ended up chatting until the wee hours. We made plans to meet up with some others at the pool the next day. We ended up spending seven hours laying by the pool and chatting. Finally, cold and starving, decided to get a group to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Apparently, nobody else could make it, so it was just us. I remember being in my apartment and freaking out to my friends on the phone. We had a great time at dinner and that was it.
We spent as much time as possible together during our year, but there was always that thought that the bubble would have to burst and wed both go back to our respective hemispheres. We have spent a lot of time apart since leaving Disney in the fall of 2004, but actually managed to spend a lot of time together too. We made concentrated efforts to take long vacations of 3-6 weeks to visit whenever possible. He moved here on a work visa for a year, but once that was finished we were left to play the what if game again. It was super stressful, but we kind of knew that if we wanted to continue our relationship, the only option was to get married.
The Proposal
After Craig completed his work visa in May of 2006, we were kind of at a loss of what to do next. We spent the summer exploring options and not really coming up with much. Needing a face to face visit, Craig brought his mom over in September 2006. I was working at the airport hotel and my shift ended just minutes after his plane arrived. Perfect. I spent the whole morning checking the arrival times and his plane was early. Ugh. I begged my way out of work 15 minutes early as I figured by the time he cleared customs, etc., etc., Id be there just in time. Nope. As always, my super prompted self figured wrong and they got through really quick. When I got there, they were standing waiting for me. Oh well. We jumped in the car and went home. We took his luggage to my room and he started to unpack and give me all the things I had requested that he bring. I kept telling him to stop and not to unpack right now, just to chill out. But he insisted. Okay fine. Finally he handed me this little plush purse in the shape of a Highland Cow my favourite. He told me to open it and I did and he had the ring box inside. He got down on his knee in my bedroom and asked me to marry him. I didnt answer right away, just kept telling him he was nuts!!! I wanted to run out and tell my mom, but as it turns out, his mom was already telling her!!! His plan had been to do it after he walked out the door at the airport, but since I wasnt there, I screwed it up! Oh well. I was still amazing. We had a surprise party for my Dads 60th a few days later so I got to tell all my family then.
We knew that this wedding was going to be a logistical nightmare with all my family in Canada and his spread across Scotland and England. Either they would have to travel or mine would have to travel. I was shocked when my non-Disney loving fiancé suggested a Disney Wedding. I jumped all over it. Perfect make everyone have to travel! Only seemed fair!!!
Bridal Party
Maid of Honour My younger sister, Jamie
Best Man Nando (Craigs BF from home)
Bridesmaids Kiley (childhood BF from home), Brandy & Kathy (two of my BFs from Disney), Beth (Craigs 12-year old cousin)
Ushers Ali, Willy, Donald (all Craigs friends from home) he was also supposed to have one more, John, however, Johns wife is pregnant and due right around the wedding date
Ring Bearers Kenny (7), David (5) both are friends of my family
Flower Child (Well, not really sure what to call him) Mason (3 months, son of my BM Brandy) She will actually carry him rather than a bouquet for the ceremony.
I was really obsessed with having equal numbers on each side, so I had to come up with a new plan when we lost John. I decided that I could deal with Beth on her own, or with the two boys at least the grown-ups matched.
I will be walking down the aisle with both of my parents, as I didnt understand why my mom got left out. I only have one grandparent left, my paternal grandma, and she will be walked down the aisle by my closest uncle. Craigs parents are divorced, so his dad will walk down with his stepmom, and Craigs mom will be walking down with either her brother or the Best Man.
Wedding Specifics
Consultant: Kristi Davis
Planner: Ken Weaver (had another planner, but we werent happy so we changed and are now very happy!)
Floral Designer: Laura Kidd
Date: Monday, May 5, 2008 exactly 6 months from my birthday! My immediate family all celebrate their birthdays within a month and then you have the holidays. The rest of the year was always kind of boring. Now I get presents every six months! Craig and I were both born on the 5th of the month, so it fit. Since picking our date, everything seems to keep coming up 5s!
Ceremony: Wedding Pavilion Beach at 5pm
Reception: Atlantic Dance Hall at 6pm (extended til 1am)
I am not a morning person, so didnt want to have to get up super early to get my hair done. We also didnt want the whole day to be over really early! We are really crossing our fingers that it doesnt rain. Our back up is inside the Pavilion and neither one of us really like the location too churchy for us, but decided that it at least had some character rather than a blank ballroom somewhere.
Vendors
Officiant: Reverend Randal Miller Neither of us are religious, so we figured if hes good enough for Johnny Damon, hes good enough for us!
Photography: Gary Fox we met with him in November and he started straight up with his prices and packages, then showed us pics. All the others tried to wow us with the pics first and then went into prices. We preferred the straight up approach. He even offers a discount for weekday weddings!
Video: STVS
Hair/Makeup: Beaute Speciale
I can't really think of anything else for now. Tomorrow I will try and post some pics of attire, invitations, etc. Now, I must sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Ill start with the basics us!
Bride: Shannon, 28, from Ontario, Canada
Groom: Craig, 27 (28 soon, Im only the older woman by exactly 4 months!!) from Scotland
How did we meet?
Thats a fun story.
I have been to Disney more times than I can count over the years. My parents would rip me out of school for three weeks every April and wed drive in our Motorhome down to Fort Wilderness. I have been a Disney nut my whole life and always knew my dream job would be to work there. I was lucky enough to live my dream in 2003-2004, when I was a participant in the WDW International Program. I worked as a Merchandise and Attractions Hostess at EPCOT in the Canadian Pavilion. Yep, dressed as a lumberjack selling maple syrup, hockey books and introducing our 360 movie. My dream. Moms last words dont run off and meet some guy from halfway around the world!! My response dont worry mom, I have no intention!! Ha. I really didnt.
Craig a Disney nut? Not so much. He was raised in hotels his whole life and heard of the International Program while he was in Hospitality School. He applied and was accepted to work F&B in the United Kingdom Pavilion, sometimes serving but mainly on the bar in the Rose and Crown. I arrived in Orlando in August of 2003 and Craig arrived just six weeks after me in September. Odd twist of fate Craig and I had actually chatted on a message board for IP participants as we both originally had the same August arrival date. With the war, his date ended up being delayed by six weeks and that was that.
One day I went to the cafeteria for lunch and was standing in line for my usual (and super healthy) grilled cheese and spicy fries, when this really cute, and super tall, guy in a UK F&B costume joined the line behind me. I played it all cool (ummm yeah right) and said something super stellar to him along the lines of I think its going to rain. Orlando at 3pm in October?? Never! He just smiled and took his lunch and went away. I thought I was just about the biggest idiot ever!! I did take two seconds to notice his nametag however. It said Chris but I knew that wasnt his real name because it had no hometown on it. I went home that night and grilled my new UK roommate on who he could be. Id never seen him before so I knew that he must have arrived recently, just like her. She couldnt figure it out.
A couple of days later, I happened to be walking through our apartment complex with my Canadian friend and was like, thats him! She was confused, but then came around and was like, oh, thats Craig. He had arrived on the same day as some Canadians we knew. Another couple days later, October 17th to be exact, some UKers were having a limo party for someones birthday and my UK roomie invited me along, promising me that Craig would be there. I decided to go along and she promised to introduce us. We showed up at the limos and he was definitely there. Hard to miss a tall, dark and handsome guy in a kilt! It was a great night, but we didnt end up meeting until the after party back at the complex. My roomie, Sarah, and I devised a really creative plan, where she would go over and talk to him, and I would walk (okay, by this point, stumble) over and she would casually do the Hey, have you met my roommate? Well, our slick maneuver worked as we ended up chatting until the wee hours. We made plans to meet up with some others at the pool the next day. We ended up spending seven hours laying by the pool and chatting. Finally, cold and starving, decided to get a group to go to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Apparently, nobody else could make it, so it was just us. I remember being in my apartment and freaking out to my friends on the phone. We had a great time at dinner and that was it.
We spent as much time as possible together during our year, but there was always that thought that the bubble would have to burst and wed both go back to our respective hemispheres. We have spent a lot of time apart since leaving Disney in the fall of 2004, but actually managed to spend a lot of time together too. We made concentrated efforts to take long vacations of 3-6 weeks to visit whenever possible. He moved here on a work visa for a year, but once that was finished we were left to play the what if game again. It was super stressful, but we kind of knew that if we wanted to continue our relationship, the only option was to get married.
The Proposal
After Craig completed his work visa in May of 2006, we were kind of at a loss of what to do next. We spent the summer exploring options and not really coming up with much. Needing a face to face visit, Craig brought his mom over in September 2006. I was working at the airport hotel and my shift ended just minutes after his plane arrived. Perfect. I spent the whole morning checking the arrival times and his plane was early. Ugh. I begged my way out of work 15 minutes early as I figured by the time he cleared customs, etc., etc., Id be there just in time. Nope. As always, my super prompted self figured wrong and they got through really quick. When I got there, they were standing waiting for me. Oh well. We jumped in the car and went home. We took his luggage to my room and he started to unpack and give me all the things I had requested that he bring. I kept telling him to stop and not to unpack right now, just to chill out. But he insisted. Okay fine. Finally he handed me this little plush purse in the shape of a Highland Cow my favourite. He told me to open it and I did and he had the ring box inside. He got down on his knee in my bedroom and asked me to marry him. I didnt answer right away, just kept telling him he was nuts!!! I wanted to run out and tell my mom, but as it turns out, his mom was already telling her!!! His plan had been to do it after he walked out the door at the airport, but since I wasnt there, I screwed it up! Oh well. I was still amazing. We had a surprise party for my Dads 60th a few days later so I got to tell all my family then.
We knew that this wedding was going to be a logistical nightmare with all my family in Canada and his spread across Scotland and England. Either they would have to travel or mine would have to travel. I was shocked when my non-Disney loving fiancé suggested a Disney Wedding. I jumped all over it. Perfect make everyone have to travel! Only seemed fair!!!
Bridal Party
Maid of Honour My younger sister, Jamie
Best Man Nando (Craigs BF from home)
Bridesmaids Kiley (childhood BF from home), Brandy & Kathy (two of my BFs from Disney), Beth (Craigs 12-year old cousin)
Ushers Ali, Willy, Donald (all Craigs friends from home) he was also supposed to have one more, John, however, Johns wife is pregnant and due right around the wedding date
Ring Bearers Kenny (7), David (5) both are friends of my family
Flower Child (Well, not really sure what to call him) Mason (3 months, son of my BM Brandy) She will actually carry him rather than a bouquet for the ceremony.
I was really obsessed with having equal numbers on each side, so I had to come up with a new plan when we lost John. I decided that I could deal with Beth on her own, or with the two boys at least the grown-ups matched.
I will be walking down the aisle with both of my parents, as I didnt understand why my mom got left out. I only have one grandparent left, my paternal grandma, and she will be walked down the aisle by my closest uncle. Craigs parents are divorced, so his dad will walk down with his stepmom, and Craigs mom will be walking down with either her brother or the Best Man.
Wedding Specifics
Consultant: Kristi Davis
Planner: Ken Weaver (had another planner, but we werent happy so we changed and are now very happy!)
Floral Designer: Laura Kidd
Date: Monday, May 5, 2008 exactly 6 months from my birthday! My immediate family all celebrate their birthdays within a month and then you have the holidays. The rest of the year was always kind of boring. Now I get presents every six months! Craig and I were both born on the 5th of the month, so it fit. Since picking our date, everything seems to keep coming up 5s!
Ceremony: Wedding Pavilion Beach at 5pm
Reception: Atlantic Dance Hall at 6pm (extended til 1am)
I am not a morning person, so didnt want to have to get up super early to get my hair done. We also didnt want the whole day to be over really early! We are really crossing our fingers that it doesnt rain. Our back up is inside the Pavilion and neither one of us really like the location too churchy for us, but decided that it at least had some character rather than a blank ballroom somewhere.
Vendors
Officiant: Reverend Randal Miller Neither of us are religious, so we figured if hes good enough for Johnny Damon, hes good enough for us!
Photography: Gary Fox we met with him in November and he started straight up with his prices and packages, then showed us pics. All the others tried to wow us with the pics first and then went into prices. We preferred the straight up approach. He even offers a discount for weekday weddings!
Video: STVS
Hair/Makeup: Beaute Speciale
I can't really think of anything else for now. Tomorrow I will try and post some pics of attire, invitations, etc. Now, I must sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
can't wait to hear more!
I can't wait to read more; I LOVE that you are having a beach wedding!
)
