Skyetk
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2010
Here is the first, and longest, post about our road to our Disneyland wedding.
Summer and Dave May 19th 2011
Who IS that? *2006* The first time I saw Dave I was standing outside with a friend of mine and saw him walking out of our squadron, both military. I nudged my friend and said, Who is that? Over the next few weeks I made sure he noticed me too.
So this is love - After 6 months of dating, nothing too serious, he got orders that would move him to Germany for two years. He said that he wanted me to come with him, if you are unfamiliar with military orders the only way to make something like that happen would be if we were married (and even then its not a guarantee), this is when I realized how serious he was about us.
Trials and complications - For those who have not had a long distance relationship Ill give you this bit of advice; Always plan your next reunion. Once he was settled in Germany I applied for a passport, paid the extra cash to get it rushed. Two weeks after I received my passport I was on a plane to Germany. 18 months, three pond hops, and 4 countries later we were still together and going strong.
The beginning of my Happily Ever After*2008* For Christmas we decided to go to St. Martin with my parents. The other intent was to look for the ring and for Dave to officially propose, I say officially because these days most couples have the talk where they pretty much determine the intent to get married but there really isnt a proposal. Well we found the diamond had it set and before we left the store he took my hands looked into my eyes and asked, Will you marry me? Two weeks later I started emailing with a Disneyland wedding planner.
Again with the Trials - 3 months later I received orders to go to Germany, I know sounds great, but Dave was returning stateside in 18 months, Id be leaving in 6 and staying for 4 years. Meaning more long distance. I had a decision to make. 8 years and the military had been very good to me, I liked my job and I was great at it. But I decided I was ready for my new life.
Being a normal couple again *2009* We bought a house and I had my first meeting with the Disneyland wedding coordinators. It was late November and I, flew in from Oklahoma, met up with my aunt (mom #2, drove in from Arizona) at Disneyland to meet with Traci, the Disneyland wedding coordinator I had been emailing with for the last year. We arrive at 11:45 and receptionist A does the how can I help you bit, we tell her we have a 12:00 with Traci and she asks us to have a seat and tells us that Traci stepped out for a moment but will be back in a few minutes. We sit down, and at about 11:55 receptionist B asks us if we have been helped. I tell her that we spoke with the other receptionist and that we had a 12:00 with Traci. She gets this look on her face and says, Traci is on maternity leave. At this point I start to panic, because if a receptionist doesnt even know that someone who they work with wasnt on a 20 min break, did anyone know I was coming?! Did I just fly halfway across the country for nothing? By now my aunt has me turned around so Im face to face with her and shes saying its ok, calm down, itll be ok. This is not working.
I meet Cynthia Then a woman comes out greets me and says hi, I have all your emails with Traci and Ill be working with you today. Im going to bet that through this meeting I was not the most pleasant person to be around. Cynthia was upbeat and a true wedding professional the entire time. P.S. Ive been corresponding with Cynthia ever since and even through my continuous emails of oh I had another question she has continued to be great.
And the Trials continue *2010* April my mother is diagnosed with cancer and the doctors declare her one year terminal. My aunt and I spend a month in Washington helping out with my younger brother and 2 younger sisters while following my mom around 3 different hospitals. After 2 weeks the doctors say yes to a surgery, a week and a half later she has the surgery. Three days later shes awake and off the ventilator. Shes doing well, weve been REALLY lucky so far with her recovery.
Wedding planning week #2 Dave couldnt attend again because of military work stuff, so I invited my mother. Mom has a bit of difficulty walking but she loves showing off her surgical scar (ITS HUGE) and telling people how shes no longer terminal. So the plan was Monday morning meet the photographer and the afternoon we were meeting with Cynthia, Tuesday was the Disneyland Halloween Party, and Wednesday was a hair and make-up trial THEN blue bayou for lunch in the park! Monday morning we got stood up at the photographers office, during lunch he called me apologized and said, There is no excuse its my fault, what are your plans for the rest of the day. My meeting with Cynthia went great, of course, I did see the photographer he and his wife were very personable and my mother loves them. Tuesday was very cool, see
Wednesday, my hair and makeup trial started an hour and a half late, thank you CA traffic, and we missed our Blue Bayou reservation. But we still went to the park and ended up getting a walk in at about 3pm at the Blue Bayou.
A final thought: For some reason when messed up things happen with me, they are all things that are beyond human control and things you cant get mad at. Ive been late to a meeting, Ive gotten stuck in traffic, and Ive been left out of the loop of why someone wasnt there. Its frustrating knowing I cant actually be mad about these things; all I can do is have faith that the week of my wedding planets align and everything goes right.
Summer and Dave May 19th 2011
Who IS that? *2006* The first time I saw Dave I was standing outside with a friend of mine and saw him walking out of our squadron, both military. I nudged my friend and said, Who is that? Over the next few weeks I made sure he noticed me too.
So this is love - After 6 months of dating, nothing too serious, he got orders that would move him to Germany for two years. He said that he wanted me to come with him, if you are unfamiliar with military orders the only way to make something like that happen would be if we were married (and even then its not a guarantee), this is when I realized how serious he was about us.
Trials and complications - For those who have not had a long distance relationship Ill give you this bit of advice; Always plan your next reunion. Once he was settled in Germany I applied for a passport, paid the extra cash to get it rushed. Two weeks after I received my passport I was on a plane to Germany. 18 months, three pond hops, and 4 countries later we were still together and going strong.
The beginning of my Happily Ever After*2008* For Christmas we decided to go to St. Martin with my parents. The other intent was to look for the ring and for Dave to officially propose, I say officially because these days most couples have the talk where they pretty much determine the intent to get married but there really isnt a proposal. Well we found the diamond had it set and before we left the store he took my hands looked into my eyes and asked, Will you marry me? Two weeks later I started emailing with a Disneyland wedding planner.
Again with the Trials - 3 months later I received orders to go to Germany, I know sounds great, but Dave was returning stateside in 18 months, Id be leaving in 6 and staying for 4 years. Meaning more long distance. I had a decision to make. 8 years and the military had been very good to me, I liked my job and I was great at it. But I decided I was ready for my new life.
Being a normal couple again *2009* We bought a house and I had my first meeting with the Disneyland wedding coordinators. It was late November and I, flew in from Oklahoma, met up with my aunt (mom #2, drove in from Arizona) at Disneyland to meet with Traci, the Disneyland wedding coordinator I had been emailing with for the last year. We arrive at 11:45 and receptionist A does the how can I help you bit, we tell her we have a 12:00 with Traci and she asks us to have a seat and tells us that Traci stepped out for a moment but will be back in a few minutes. We sit down, and at about 11:55 receptionist B asks us if we have been helped. I tell her that we spoke with the other receptionist and that we had a 12:00 with Traci. She gets this look on her face and says, Traci is on maternity leave. At this point I start to panic, because if a receptionist doesnt even know that someone who they work with wasnt on a 20 min break, did anyone know I was coming?! Did I just fly halfway across the country for nothing? By now my aunt has me turned around so Im face to face with her and shes saying its ok, calm down, itll be ok. This is not working.
I meet Cynthia Then a woman comes out greets me and says hi, I have all your emails with Traci and Ill be working with you today. Im going to bet that through this meeting I was not the most pleasant person to be around. Cynthia was upbeat and a true wedding professional the entire time. P.S. Ive been corresponding with Cynthia ever since and even through my continuous emails of oh I had another question she has continued to be great.
And the Trials continue *2010* April my mother is diagnosed with cancer and the doctors declare her one year terminal. My aunt and I spend a month in Washington helping out with my younger brother and 2 younger sisters while following my mom around 3 different hospitals. After 2 weeks the doctors say yes to a surgery, a week and a half later she has the surgery. Three days later shes awake and off the ventilator. Shes doing well, weve been REALLY lucky so far with her recovery.
Wedding planning week #2 Dave couldnt attend again because of military work stuff, so I invited my mother. Mom has a bit of difficulty walking but she loves showing off her surgical scar (ITS HUGE) and telling people how shes no longer terminal. So the plan was Monday morning meet the photographer and the afternoon we were meeting with Cynthia, Tuesday was the Disneyland Halloween Party, and Wednesday was a hair and make-up trial THEN blue bayou for lunch in the park! Monday morning we got stood up at the photographers office, during lunch he called me apologized and said, There is no excuse its my fault, what are your plans for the rest of the day. My meeting with Cynthia went great, of course, I did see the photographer he and his wife were very personable and my mother loves them. Tuesday was very cool, see
Wednesday, my hair and makeup trial started an hour and a half late, thank you CA traffic, and we missed our Blue Bayou reservation. But we still went to the park and ended up getting a walk in at about 3pm at the Blue Bayou.
A final thought: For some reason when messed up things happen with me, they are all things that are beyond human control and things you cant get mad at. Ive been late to a meeting, Ive gotten stuck in traffic, and Ive been left out of the loop of why someone wasnt there. Its frustrating knowing I cant actually be mad about these things; all I can do is have faith that the week of my wedding planets align and everything goes right.
your PJ! Your ring is absolutely gorgeous!! First I have to say that your Mom is definitely a strong lady and I am so happy that she is recovering well. Also, I am so sorry for some of your earlier frustration with DFTW. I had initially been speaking with Traci as well and then learned that she was on maternity when I went for the initial meeting. Everyone had recommended her and I had two friends who had her and I was hopeful, then sad and worried. I ended up with Kelly and she is amazing! I really like her.
It is amazing to me how much things change during the planning process. For example, all the construction at the Hotel that was unexpected!
