Tamu Tamu Breakfast & Discovery Cove Wedding ~ 12/10/12 ~ Start of Day 2

[NeverlandClub23]

First things first, I hope all the DFTW and S&D brides don't mind me posting my PJ of our Discovery Cove wedding here. You all have been so helpful over the years with any ideas that pop up in my mind (which happens constantly) and I have so enjoyed reading all of your PJ's and TR's!

Table of Contents

• Why Discovery Cove?
• The Dress
• Our "Honeymoon" and Wedding Week
• Wedding Colors and Bouquet Ideas
• Welcome Newsletter
• Tamu Tamu Welcome Party Breakfast Details
• Wedding Earrings
• Hair & Make-Up: Beaute Speciale
• Invitations
• Wedding Dinner Dress
• Wedding Shoes
• Groom's Outfit
• Transportation
• Welcome Party ~ Kiliminjaro Safari Ride Mix-In
• Videographer
• Our Sign Carrying "Flower" Girl
• Flower Girl Gift and Bridal Shower Hostess Gift
• Just Married Shirts
• Our Sort-of DIY Wedding Cake
• Planning Phone Call & Final Newsletter
• Ceremony & Welcome Breakfast Cost Breakdown
  
• Vendor Reviews
• Start of Day 1 ~ Arrival
• End of Day 1 ~ Downtown Disney
• Start of Day 2 ~ Welcome Party Breakfast and Safari Ride

My name is Kim and I live in Hampton, VA (and work in Virginia Beach). I am 30 and a full-time Estate Planning paralegal and part-time legal transcriptionist. I love Disney and anything a 30 year old is not "supposed" to like (Spongebob Squarepants, I'm looking at you). I love running and have done two half marathons and will attempt my first full marathon this November!

My fiance's name is Matt and he's a real estate agent and a part-time DJ for his family's DJ'ing business. He's 35 and loves anything I love . We went on a 2 week trip to WDW last year and I don't think he was completely sold as we were camping (first time ever camping at Disney and as nice as Ft. Wilderness was and as nice as my parent's motorhome is, it's not for us) and we had my dog, which meant we had to come back to the camper regularly (not so great when the parks close at 7-9 p.m.).

A picture of us at Discovery Cove

How we met:

I dated Matt's brother when I was 18. We had a very tumultuous teenage-type relationship and ended things after about 6 months. I remained friends with Matt and after a year or so, we tried to go out on a few dates. It was weird and we both felt guilty, so we decided to remain friends. Over the years we've talked, texted, emailed, had no contact at all, etc. December 2010, Matt messaged me on Facebook and since we both happened to be single at the time, he asked me out on a date (after clearing it with his now married brother). We went to Chili's and were there for over 5 hours (our poor server, we did tip accordingly though! ). The next night we were at Olive Garden for almost 6 hours (seriously, I think we were on the verge of getting banned from chain restaurants). We became inseparable.

Propose already!

Last summer, Matt had talked about wanting to marry me, but I think the fear of asking my Dad was setting in (which my Dad had always been pretty vocal about wanting). He kept mentioning things about it being before the end of the year. As our trip to WDW got closer, I became more and more anxious.

On the way to WDW, Matt casually mentioned something to the effect of it being a new chapter or beginning. My heart started to race. Well, every day of that two week trip, I was waiting for it. It all culminated on the next to the last day, we went to Discovery Cove for the day. We were doing the dolphin swim and I remembered showing him the dolphin proposals on YouTube before we had gone . The trainer asked the other people to back away from the group and my heart and mind were racing! I couldn't believe he was going to do it in front of all these people and how was he going to get on one knee in 4 ft. of water and I kept wondering if I looked decent . Anyways, they were all backing away so we could have our picture taken! I felt so silly and then actually felt angry at him for leading me on (because in my mind that seemed logical ). After the dolphin swim was over, we got some ice cream and sat on one of the beach chairs.

I could feel the tears welling up, so I blurted out "Have you even asked my Dad yet?!?" He looked at me like I'd grown another head, and said "Um, about what?" The tears started streaming and I could barely get out "I thought you wanted to marry me". Oh my goodness, not my finest moment. Let's guilt him into asking! Anyways, he felt terrible and then I felt terrible for making him feel terrible. He went into all these grand plans that were in the works (one of which included a hockey game, which made me laugh. We've never even seen a hockey game or have even a remote interest in hockey).

A few weeks later (in fact, the day after Christmas), we went to the mall to go see a movie. He asked if I wanted to grab something to eat in the food court first, which, of course, I was all for. ESPECIALLY after he said, there may even be some Coldstone Creamery in it for me . I buy Coldstone Creamery cakes all the time (the people working there must think I have a lot of celebrations). They have the best cakes!

After lunch, we walk over to Coldstone and he said I could get a cake. I was like, what? Why on Earth would I want a cake? We're getting ready to go to a movie. You really think I can wolf down a whole cake? Ok, I'll try...

I was looking through the case when I saw a cake that said "Will You" and I said out loud "Oh look, I think someone is proposing with an ice cream caaa........" and turned to see him on one knee. I can't remember anything that was said. I'm not usually a crier (let us forget the Discovery Cove incident), so I didn't cry, and all I can remember is the girl working at Coldstone kept taking pictures with her smartphone and I wondered if I would end up on someone's Facebook or Twitter. You know, the important things to think about . Anyways, I said yes. Not a terribly romantic story, but if there's one thing I know about Matt is that he does things his own way with only the best intentions .


Plans and more coming up next! Thanks for reading along!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Congratulations.

I can't wait to read about your plans for a Discovery Cove wedding.

 

[Bewitch324]

Kimberly :

I LOVE your story!!! I am really excited to read about your plans, I've never heard about a Discovery Cove wedding before I think this will be lots of fun!

I am totally with you on the meltdown when you let hope build up in your head and your heart and then there was a disappointment....I've had a few disappointments in the last year with my boyfriend...and each time I had a meltdown...fortunately, he's missed most of them so far...but I have a feeling that if he doesn't step up soon, he will end up seeing one...which will make him feel terrible...and like you, that is NOT what I want!!! (Although after 7 years I may KILL him soon...just kidding...mostly )

I think the Cold Stone Creamery idea was so perfect and I love that he caught you completely off guard!!

Love the picture from your Dolphin Swim and can't wait to hear about your plans.

Congratulations!
Brooke

 

[fireofmarajade]

Very excited that you posted here! I just booked our first visit to Discovery Cove for our honeymoon and can't wait!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Congratulations.

I can't wait to read about your plans for a Discovery Cove wedding.

Thank you! I can't wait to share!

Kimberly :

I LOVE your story!!! I am really excited to read about your plans, I've never heard about a Discovery Cove wedding before I think this will be lots of fun!

I am totally with you on the meltdown when you let hope build up in your head and your heart and then there was a disappointment....I've had a few disappointments in the last year with my boyfriend...and each time I had a meltdown...fortunately, he's missed most of them so far...but I have a feeling that if he doesn't step up soon, he will end up seeing one...which will make him feel terrible...and like you, that is NOT what I want!!! (Although after 7 years I may KILL him soon...just kidding...mostly )

I think the Cold Stone Creamery idea was so perfect and I love that he caught you completely off guard!!

Love the picture from your Dolphin Swim and can't wait to hear about your plans.

Congratulations!
Brooke

Thank you! I'd never heard of one either and have only found one on all my Google searches (although I'm sure there's been many more).

It's such a terrible thing wanting something so badly, but not wanting the other person to know you want it so much. After it happens, it feels like such a relief! I hope he proposes soon so you don't have to end up in the slammer for murder .

It was such a weird feeling at Coldstone. Such an out of body experience. I've been engaged before (didn't get married), but this one felt surreal.

Very excited that you posted here! I just booked our first visit to Discovery Cove for our honeymoon and can't wait!

You'll love it! I didn't really know what to expect with Discovery Cove. Matt REALLY wanted to do it and I'm pretty much not a water park type of person. The morning we went it was 60 degrees and raining and I thought "What a fun day this is going to be...", but after we got there the day was so wonderful!! Your wedding is right around the corner!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

So, most of the time when I tell my family where I'm getting married, they don't really get it. Especially my Mom who hates anything water related (I think she wouldn't take a shower if it wasn't the only way to get clean).

It really came about in just a random way. I had kind of thought I wanted to get married at WDW all along. While we were at WDW last year, I kept asking Matt every time we were at what I knew to be a DFTW wedding location if he wanted to get married there, to which I was always presented with a questionable "Mmmmmmm.....I don't know" and a "How much does that cost?".

My biggest problem with a DFTW is that it doesn't really fit what I want. I want a pretty location and a nice meal, with no restrictions, and without the huge wedding markup . I know, who doesn't, right? I'm not opposed to spending a lot of money on a wedding (ok, maybe I kind of am for me personally, but I certainly don't mind attending those weddings ), but I want to get a lot of bang for each wedding buck. Plus, Matt has 7 brothers and both of my parents have 8 brothers/sisters each and I wanted to at least be able to invite everyone, even if they don't come.

So, that ruled out Memories and Escape weddings. I thought I could talk Matt into a Wishes wedding, but even if I stayed close to the minimum, there's still a lot of wedding related expenses on top of that to consider. I wanted to keep the whole wedding cost under $10,000.

I next thought about a S&D wedding. Although I LOVE the flexibility and prices, I just wasn't sold on any of the locations. I kept showing them to Matt to get him to make me fall in love with them, but he kept saying, "If we're going to do it right next to WDW, then we might as well do a DFTW". Which just frustrated me because hello? Did you not just listen to my 45 minute monologue on the pro's and con's to a DFTW?

THEN I thought about a random place in Orlando, followed by a meal at a WDW restaurant and a dessert party. The more I thought about the logistics (...and then you have to go here at this time...and then you have to go here at this time...but not before waiting for...) and costs (hello, transportation!), it wasn't sounding like a great plan. Plus, I wanted to arrange a private meal and it seems like you have to be kind of hush-hush when planning said meal that it's for a wedding party dinner or they'd shoot you to DFTW. Although, I do have to say I'm still in love with the Mayan Chapel at the Maitland Art Center (my #1 a-random-place-in-Orlando-to-get-married choice).

SO, (are you still awake?) when Matt and I were at Discovery Cove and probably to squelch my YOU-MUST-MARRY-ME tears, he asked if we could get married at Discovery Cove. I told him probably not. It was probably outrageously priced, but that I would look into it. As the day wore on, I kept thinking it would be pretty cool. When we got home from our trip, I went on the Discovery Cove website and inquired with their special events dept. and Googled "Discovery Cove Weddings". I found one and thought the video was really cute and Randy Chapman had photographed it and I liked his pictures.

Discover Cove wedding photo's
Oh, and this wedding was in, I believe, April, so I'm hoping the sun is a little lower in December so we don't have to do the squinty-burning-your-retinas pictures or that our photo's are more in shaded areas. And much prettier areas at DC than the wall separating where they were building Freshwater Oasis at DC and the mosaic shower things.

Within a few days, someone at Discovery Cove had emailed me back and they actually had affordable wedding packages! I was so excited and Matt was even more excited.

Basically, you have two options. The Grande Package which allows more than 10 guests and up to 30 (although they allow more during certain times of the year) and the Intimate Wedding Package (up to 10 guests in addition to the bride and groom.

Here's the details (but prices are subject to change):

Grande Wedding Package $1,259.95 plus tax
(Up to 30 guests in addition to the Bride and Groom)


• The guest must provide the Officiate - If he/she does not have a paid reservation, he/she must provide one of the following documents to enter the park to perform your ceremony: Worker’s Compensation waiver of subrogation language on Insurance Certificate or Proof of Valid Health Insurance Policy.

• Private Cabana

• Reserved Lockers

• DVD and all-image CD
(Dolphin Interaction and Park photos only)

• May bring a photographer of choice for Wedding Photos or we can provide a photographer at an additional cost for your wedding ceremony photos. If you choose to bring your own photographer, and they do not have a paid reservation, they must provide one of the following documents to enter the park: Worker’s Compensation waiver of subrogation language on Insurance Certificate or Proof of Valid Health Insurance Policy.

• Bride’s choice of 6X8 photo

• Champagne Toast
Souvenir Toasting Flutes and photo frame for Bride and Groom

• Rose Wedding Bouquet/Groom Boutonniere

• Complimentary group photo for each family

• Reserved Seating for lunch at Laguna Grill



Intimate Wedding Package $859.95 plus tax
(up to 10 guests in addition to the Bride and Groom)

• The guest must provide the Officiate - If he/she does not have a paid reservation, he/she must provide one of the following documents to enter the park to perform your ceremony: Worker’s Compensation waiver of subrogation language on Insurance Certificate or Proof of Valid Health Insurance Policy.

• Private Cabana

• DVD and all-image CD
(Dolphin Interaction and park photos only)

• May bring a photographer of choice for Wedding Photos or we can provide a photographer at an additional cost for your wedding ceremony photos. If you choose to provide your own photographer, and they do not have a paid reservation, they must provide one of the following documents to enter the park: Worker’s Compensation waiver of subrogation language on Insurance Certificate or Proof of Valid Health Insurance Policy.

• Bride’s choice of 6X8 photo

• Champagne Toast
Souvenir Toasting Flutes and photo frame for Bride and Groom

• Rose Wedding Bouquet/Groom Boutonniere

• Complimentary group photo for each family

• Reserved Seating for lunch at Laguna Grill


These prices are in addition to the price of admission into Discovery Cove. I started looking into it and if you have a Sea World annual pass, you can get discounts on admission into Discovery Cove! I didn't know when it was going to expire, so I purchased 14 non-dolphin swim admissions at $69 a piece (you can get up to 7 admissions with each pass). We don't have Sea World annual passes yet, but we will get them before we go to the wedding (you have to show them when you check into Discovery Cove). I purchased the non-dolphin swim admissions because we'd done the dolphin swim and felt like it was a one time thing for us. Our wedding is also on a Monday, so I don't reckon it will be too busy and if any of our guests want to book the dolphin swim they can pay the almost $100 additional cost the morning of.

Is this information overload yet? I was wondering if I should split this into multiple posts, but I'll keep going. Please ask if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

Anyways, once you have the admissions paid for, you call to reserve the date and pay whichever cost posted above.

We chose December because I wanted a year to plan (i.e. save) and Matt wanted to get married in 2012 (I don't know why, tax purposes maybe? How romantic ). Everyone thinks I'm crazy because of the unpredictable weather, but at least the lazy river and Serenity Bay are VERY warm during the Winter (where I spent a lot of time last December) . I don't know what the rain back up plan is...

With a Discovery Cove wedding, everyone has to check in by 7:30 and the wedding is at 8:30 a.m. With Discovery Cove all food, snacks, drinks (even alcoholic ones) are included with admission. I plan on getting chartered vans for our guests. During our lunch last year, a steel drum band was playing and singing and I hope they're there again this year.

I've booked Randy Chapman for the photography and am leaning strongly on getting video with Stan (you have got to check out the video below, the dolphin in the background is just so cute! Like, "Hello?!? I'm over here!! People come here for me!!!"). I've also booked Rev. Kevin Knox. More details to come! I've got to get back to getting some more work done .

Discovery Cove Wedding Video

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Wow! I've never heard of a DC wedding. Welcome! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

The Dress

I wasn't really sure what I wanted in a wedding dress (other than cheap ). I sent Matt constant emails with dozens of pictures of dresses to which I would get a generic reply of "You would look beautiful in all of them". I didn't want him to pick the dress, I just wanted to get a general idea of what he wanted to see me in. The one thing I did find out is that he's not crazy about one shoulder dresses (while I still think they're fabulous) and the most excited response I got was from a practically see through wedding dress (planted amongst them to see if he was paying attention), so I stopped with the emails .

I started looking through Ebay and other places, but wasn't really sure about any of it. I started heavily looking through the dresses on Aliexpress.com (an Asian website, kind of similar to Ebay). I found a dress I loved and it was around $100 with free shipping. I took my measurements, paid my money, and sat back and waited...

A month or so later, the dress arrives. I was SO excited to try it on. I sprinted to the bathroom and put it on. It. Was. Hideous. It looked nothing like the picture, had weird pieces of red string sewn into some of the stitching, and had so much extra fabric, I looked like I was about 7 months along. Plus, the straps weren't sewn in symmetrically, one was much higher than the other. I was kicking myself because I *knew* it was going to be like this. It was so bad I let Matt look at me in it and he made the most awful face and I just started laughing. I'm so sorry I didn't take any pictures! I took pictures of the red stitching and the terribly asymmetrical straps and sent them to the...seamstress? I don't know, I guess that is what the person that makes the dress would be called. Of course, they didn't want to refund the money and I felt bad (I don't know why), so I told them I would accept getting everything back except the $25-30 shipping charge (kind of like a punishment to myself for knowing better).

A few months later, I had the dress hanging in a closet and a nosy family member came by and asked if that was my dress and wanted to see it. I said yes it was and pretended to love it. Terrible, I know.

A couple weeks later I donated the dress (It could always be a great Halloween costume!) and was back at square one. I really didn't want to spend very much money, but now I was even more wary of online wedding dress shopping.

On a random search on Ebay, I found a new with tags David's Bridal dress that I was in love with. By this point in time I had figured out that I liked strapless dresses with a silky, simple appearance to them. I looked the dress up on David's Bridal website and it was highly reviewed and sold out in every size except, I believe, a size 12 at the time. It was also $400. This dress on Ebay was less than $100 including shipping. The only problem, it's a size 2. I wore a size 4 David's Bridal bridesmaid's dress and figured, no matter what, I'm getting into that dress.

I purchased the dress (in ivory). I was on pins and needles until it finally came. It was so gorgeous just pulling it out of the box. I love everything about the dress. I go to put it on and it's a little snug around my hips, but it fits perfect everywhere else. Between training for the marathon and my determination to get into the dress comfortably, I know it will fit perfectly in a few months .

I was so relieved to find a reasonably priced dress that I loved. The funny thing is that the same day I ordered the second dress I was watching a David Tutera special and he said the biggest mistake brides make is ordering their dresses online . Whoops! Thank goodness it worked out for me (so far... I still gotta get into it and be able to walk ).

Here's a picture of the dress (not my actual dress, though). It has a fake button back (like it zips, you don't have to button it) and is in ivory and has like a satiny look to it (apparently David's Bridal doesn't make them anymore):

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Wow! I've never heard of a DC wedding. Welcome! Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you and thanks for reading along!

 

[Bewitch324]

I LOVE your dress! It is going to be SO pretty on you! I am so glad it (almost completely) fits! Like you said, with everything you have going, it won't take much for you to make sure it fits perfectly... That is so awesome that you got that great deal AND a dress you love...

Thanks for sharing your adventure with the Chinese dress...how funny. I loved that you had a good attitude about it and didn't let it upset you too much. I REALLY love that you let a relative think it was THE dress in all its horror

I finally had a chance to watch the video you posted so we could see the location...so beautiful!! Even prettier than I'd expected...I think you will be so happy getting married there. I really enjoyed the footage with the dolphin...that is DEFINITELY not something you see in every wedding video!!!

Thanks for sharing your plans with us!

Brooke

 

[NeverlandClub23]

As I’m currently working on the newsletter (no save-the-dates were sent because, honestly, I don’t think they’re worth the money spent. While my Mom, my future Mother-in-Law, and maybe an aunt or two would actually appreciate the time and cost involved, most people would still completely forget the date until the invitation came out…), I thought I would update everyone on the details planned for our week!

I haven’t purchased our flights yet as I’m going back and forth on arriving on Friday night (the 7th) or Saturday morning (the 8th ). A lot of this decision is mainly based around what we’re going to do with the dogs and how much that costs. Matt has two dogs and we haven’t decided whether we’re going to board them or get someone to house sit. Also, I’m currently working on that Friday and I don’t want to be a basket case trying to rush home, make sure everything’s together, and rush out the door.

Saturday is remaining largely unplanned. As much as I don’t want to be one of “those” brides, I know I’ll be running a million boring errands this day. Otherwise, we’ll just hang out at the pool and relax. Oh wait! We do have to go to Sea World this day to get our annual passes, but I don’t know if we’re going to actually stay and do park things.

We’ve rented points to stay in a one bedroom unit at Old Key West Sunday through Sunday. It didn’t occur to me until recently that means we: a) Have no home for Saturday night and b) Have no room to separate to the night before our wedding (so our livin’ in sin selves can pretend to have morals for one night ). I currently have a two night reservation at the Polynesian for a standard garden view room, but this may change…

On Sunday, I will be hanging out with my parents (who are only in town for a long weekend) at Magic Kingdom and having lunch at the Plaza. Matt, on the other hand, is having a semi-bachelor party lunch/afternoon at the ESPN club with my brother and any other males who can wrestle away from their female counterparts. Sunday night we have a reservation for 14 at Ohana. I have no idea who is actually coming to this dinner. I know about 8 people so far are interested. I made it for 14 as that’s the largest number you can make online. I’m afraid to put it on the newsletter and then 30 people want to come. I may just be verbally inviting only immediate family members. I haven’t quite figured this out yet…

After dinner, I would like to go to DHS for EMH and see the Osborne lights as it’ll be our only opportunity this trip (and they’re my Dad’s favorite thing in the World). However, I do realize I have to be up at, like, 3 a.m. the next day, so I’d only be able to get a couple hours of sleep.

Monday, I will be up before the crack of dawn for hair and make-up with Patricia Lejeune (hopefully…I just sent the registration form today!). We don’t have any wedding party other than the two of us because our wedding isn’t really a traditional wedding and I wanted people to just come and enjoy themselves, not worry about buying a $200 bridesmaid’s dress or coming to a rehearsal. I’m planning on renting chartered vans and limos for Matt and I when I know where people are staying. The ceremony starts at 8:30 a.m. and then everyone is free to do whatever they want until out private lunch. We’re not doing cake or anything until later that night with just the two of us because I’m a cake hoarder! Actually, I just think it would be easier not to have it until then. It seems kind of awkward how they did it in the video I posted before ‘cause it seemed like it was right after the ceremony (and who doesn’t love cake at 9 a.m.? Well, besides me.) and desserts are included all day.

I think we’re going to have a town car pick us up and take us back to the resort when Discovery Cove closes (5:30 p.m.). Right now, I have an ADR for Matt and I at Jiko at 8:50 (but still trying every day to get it down to 8:30…) and I’m thinking of buying a nice white dress to wear to this dinner (not super formal, though). We’ll have our wedding cake here (of which I have no idea what type of design I want). After a full day of talking and being surrounded by people, I think a nice quiet dinner with just the two of us will be so nice. We’ll have a town car take us to dinner and back to OKW.

Tuesday. Oh, Tuesday. This is probably the day I’m most conflicted about. We’re kind of inviting everyone to join us on different parts of our honeymoon, but I’m still thinking of making this day just for us (at least for just the morning/afternoon). We currently have another ADR for 14 people at Biergarten in Epcot (Matt’s favorite place) and maybe we’ll just meet up with people for dinner that night. Sitting around the pool, drinking margaritas, just the two of us, sounds like a great way to start off our marriage to me.

We’re going to Universal Wednesday and have invited anybody who would like to come. We’re having a town car take us to and from Universal (ok, what’s with all the town car rentals?!? Matt’s one and only request about this trip is that he didn’t want us driving anywhere and I’m not crazy about taxis so town cars it is). I had originally thought about doing chartered vans for this day, but thinking of all the logistics was stressing me out and Matt told me that if anyone wants to come, they can figure out a way to get there, this is our honeymoon. We’re also having dinner at Margaritaville that night, but it won’t really be a planned thing. If it just ends up being the two of us or just a few other people, we may go somewhere else.

Thursday is also up in the air (well, the morning/afternoon). We may go to Sea World depending on if we did everything there Saturday that we wanted to do or if we feel like going. Otherwise, we may go to Blizzard Beach (since Typhoon Lagoon isn’t open) or just hang out at the resort. That night we’re going to MVMCP and have an ADR for dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I haven’t eaten in the castle since it was named King Stefan’s Banquet Hall, but Matt was really excited when I told him there is a restaurant inside the castle and said we must do it this trip. I just won’t tell him the cost!

Friday is pure Epcot day! I love Epcot and it has always been my favorite park (even when there was nothing to do there when I was a kid). We’re having lunch at Coral Reef. It’s funny because my family and I have a few places we don’t care to eat when we go to WDW, so it’s like I’m trying to let Matt experience them for himself since they won’t be around for this trip! I’ve eaten at Coral Reef a few times, but I’m hoping to really like it this time. I just love the atmosphere! We have dinner ADR’s at Rose & Crown (another disliked restaurant in our group) and I’m hoping for a seat on the patio to view Illuminations. Fingers crossed! This is an EMH night, but we’re usually in bed asleep by 9 p.m. at home, so we'll see how this goes.

Although it will be sad that Saturday is our last full day, it’s also one of the days I’m looking most forward to. Matt and I are going back to Discovery Cove, just the two of us! I think it will be nice to just relax and reminisce about our wedding and the past week. That night, we have a dinner ADR at California Grill and I’m hoping to be able to watch Wishes from our table, but if not, the Observation Deck will still be a great way to end the week!

We’re referring to this as our “semi-honeymoon” as we really want to do an Alaskan cruise, but they don’t sail in December so we’re hoping to do this in 2013. I say “hoping” because I only have so much vacation time and we’re going to WDW in September 2013 and Matt just got a free trip to Cancun for two next year from his work (probably because free trips to Cancun are easy to come by with all the unrest in Mexico), so that may suck up all my vacation. Anyways, we will eventually get a “real” honeymoon!

Stay tuned for more fun stuff and I'll post some photos from last year's trip and Discovery Cove trip. I’ll post the newsletters as soon as they come in too!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I LOVE your dress! It is going to be SO pretty on you! I am so glad it (almost completely) fits! Like you said, with everything you have going, it won't take much for you to make sure it fits perfectly... That is so awesome that you got that great deal AND a dress you love...

Thanks for sharing your adventure with the Chinese dress...how funny. I loved that you had a good attitude about it and didn't let it upset you too much. I REALLY love that you let a relative think it was THE dress in all its horror

I finally had a chance to watch the video you posted so we could see the location...so beautiful!! Even prettier than I'd expected...I think you will be so happy getting married there. I really enjoyed the footage with the dolphin...that is DEFINITELY not something you see in every wedding video!!!

Thanks for sharing your plans with us!

Brooke

Thank you so much for the nice comments! I'm so excited about the dress! The problem with wedding planning is that you feel like you have all this time and then it seems like everything hits you and now I'm starting to stress about things (like fitting into the dress).

 

[NeverlandClub23]

First, I think I should mention the wedding colors we decided on. I say we because it really was we. I was all over the place when it came to choosing colors. I kept throwing out ideas to Matt and he would give his opinions. I LOVE charcoal gray and chocolate brown so choosing between those two was probably the hardest. When Matt said he wanted to wear a charcoal gray suit, I was sold on charcoal gray.

Then I started thinking of colors that would look great with charcoal gray. I like bright fun colors. I really like bright royal blue or lime green, but when I started thinking about my floral, I wasn’t crazy about blue or lime green choices. I narrowed it down to a bright pink/magenta or yellow. Matt wasn’t crazy about yellow, so pink it was! Can you tell I’m extremely indecisive? Matt can be at times too, especially when we’re trying to pick someplace to go eat (which is why I love having ADR’s at Disney).

So I present to you our colors:

Since we don’t have much floral going on (what with not having a traditional reception or a wedding party and all), I get to devote all my attention to just a few pieces. After seeing a few PJ’s with people who use pomanders or “kissing balls” for their bridesmaids, I thought I would love to incorporate something like that for my bouquet. A rose bouquet comes with the wedding package, but the pomander would solve two problems for me: I can wear the pomander on my wrist while I hold Matt’s hands at the altar since I don’t have anyone to hold my bouquet and I don’t have to run the risk of holding my bouquet like I’m toasting someone.

What I’m thinking of creating is something like this:

(just the crystals hanging from the bottom on this one, done in gray crystals)

(this type of color, not sure on the flowers yet…)

And instead of a ribbon or pearls, the handle of the pomander will be done in gray Swarovski crystals threaded through a ribbon.

With my amateur crafting skills, we’ll see if I can pull this off. I’ve also thought about some way of getting the pomander to store my written vows, but then I’ll end up trying to turn it into a pomander purse. I haven’t put much thought into the boutonniere. Who cares about that?!?

We’re also going to do a sand ceremony, but I want to pour it into an hourglass, which come in kits for this purpose. Matt says he draws the line at pink sand, so it will probably be charcoal gray and white sand.

I like this hourglass, but I also like several others on this website.

Also, I thought it would be neat, since we don’t have a ring bearer, to have nautilus shells turned upside down, filled with pink sand, with our rings in them at a table close to the ceremony. I think I read about it being done in a TR of someone who got married at Sunset Pointe?

Something like this, but with sand instead of the petals.

Ok, I think that’s all I have for now! More to come!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I made our newsletters last week and ordered them. I received them less than 4 days later! They're all addressed and waiting for the stamps I ordered on Monday to get here (hopefully today as I'd like to get these out ASAP since my bridal shower invitations will be going out soon from my cousin).

This is the outside of the brochure/newsletter:

This is the inside:

I also included contact information on the inside but removed it before I posted it here.

I also "made" envelopes (as much as one can "make" an envelope. I just put our names on it printed in a magenta/fuschia color and the address in black).

Front:

Back:

And last but not least, I made monogram small stickers to seal the envelopes. They don't really go with the theme set of the previous two, but I think it still works. I plan on using these for the invitations and thank you cards as well:

The brochures come pre-folded, which was not what I was expecting . For some reason I was thinking we were going to have to fold them. They were super simple to design too!

Total cost for 50 newsletters, 100 envelopes (smallest quantity, I think our mortgage companies are going to be receiving very pretty envelopes for awhile...), and 120 stickers, with free shipping, was $70.94 through Vistaprint. Everything came out great and very crisp. I do wish I had picked a different font for the pink on the front of the brochure as it's kind of hard to read in natural light (I first opened the box on my parent's screen porch). When I went inside, it looked a lot better. Matt said I should put a notice on the back of the envelope that says "Must be opened inside" .

I addressed them with a Sharpie fine point marker. I think I may print labels for the invitations, though. I just think it looks nicer.

I will post a picture of the "real" product this weekend!

In bad other news, I received an email back from Patricia Lejeune that she's unavailable on my date . I've thought about Beaute Speciale, but they're almost $40 more because they charge an early morning travel fee (on top of the travel fee). I really didn't want to spend that much for something I'm just going to get in the water and ruin an hour later.

Matt is convinced I can do something wonderful myself, but I don't know if I want that kind of pressure the morning of my wedding. I do have time to practice and it would be nice to spend that $200+ on some more make-up and hair stuff . And I would enjoy the extra alone time that morning. We'll see. I need to put some more thought into that.

Oh, and the wedding diet starts next Tuesday. Boo .

Until next time!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

• Went wedding register...ing this past weekend with my Mom. Matt was unsure on whether he wanted to go, but I was sure I didn't want him there. Oh my goodness, he gets cranky if he's in a store for more than 20 minutes and I know the novelty of the scanning gun would wear off fast. Plus, I think my Mom wants to feel more involved with everything and she said she really enjoyed going. As much as anyone enjoys saying "Will you just register for that?!? It doesn't matter that it costs way more than you would ever spend on it" and me not scanning anything for a long time until I came to a cute collection of paring knives with cute smiling fruits and veggies on them and getting really excited about it. And five hours later, I was REALLY glad that Matt didn't come. I can't even imagine the trauma that would've come from that.
• Wedding diets suck.
• I'm currently working on the actual invitation on Vistaprint, but I did order some gray pocketfolds, gray envelopes, and "watermelon" reply card envelopes from www.envelopemall.com. I only needed less than 30 of each so instead of getting the packs of 50, I ordered 28 "samples" and got it all for $1 in shipping! I was a little afraid of receiving everything and the word "SAMPLE" being stamped on everything, but that didn't happen. Whew!
• I think we're going to try and do a little meet 'n' greet before our wedding. People will be coming from out of town (obviously) so I don't want the only time they get to see us (because we're practically celebrities to them, I'm sure) is the day of the wedding. We're going back and forth on the budget for this one, depending on how many people come, but it runs the gamut of either an ice cream sundae fest at Ghirardelli on Saturday night, a Mini-Golf Extravaganza Saturday night at Winter Summerland, or a dessert party at the GF. Just depends. I know we want to do something.
• I'm about 90% sure I'm going to get my hair and make-up done through Beaute Speciale. They're available and I got a phone call from my FSIL that her daughter (our supposed "flower" girl) really wants to go to a salon like her sister did for Matt's brother's wedding and wanted to know if there were any salons open that early in the a.m. I'm a sucker and said that she could come to my room and get her hair done and I'm thinking of getting her like a little gift basket or something to make it special for her. I feel bad because she's at the age (6, I believe?) where she's getting too old to be a flower girl (with no other weddings in sight) and her older sister was a couple years ago and it's all she ever talks about. Even though we're not really having a "flower girl" (I'm not sure how DC handles flower tosses or anything like that with the dolphins being so close), we figure she could give flowers to our Mom's and then sit down. I'm adamant about her not standing up there with us because she looks like a dead ringer for the-child-we'll-never-have and I don't want strangers to look at our pictures and say "How nice! You included your daughter!" .

I think that's it for now! I'll post pics of the pieces of the invitations and the assembled invitation soon!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

While I'm finishing up on assembling my invitations (which I love!), I thought I would add the status of what was supposed to be a simple meet 'n' greet...

Originally, Matt wasn't keen on the idea of having a meet 'n' greet. I wasn't either as the two days before our wedding I already had a general idea of what I wanted to do on those two days (plus leaving available time for the things I don't plan to happen). I started playing around with the idea of everyone meeting at Ghirardelli in DTD on Saturday night (since we have an ADR at 'Ohana's on Sunday night), but I know from experience that Saturday nights in DTD are crazy packed in December. Plus, we would want to pay for everything and I don't want to spend the entire time of our meet 'n' greet at the Ghirardelli register...

One idea I had from reading other's trip reports, was to get some trays of food and meet at a resort empty common space room or by the pool area. Since we will be at the Polynesian that day, that rules out the empty common space room idea and, since we'll be at Discovery Cove for our wedding, I didn't want our guests to feel like they had to be in a bathing suit for our entire wedding week (especially if the weather is bad).

Since I don't really know how many people will be coming to our wedding (let alone our meet 'n' greet, I wanted it to be a casual-come-if-you-want type of thing with no set times). I read that the Belle Vue Lounge at the Boardwalk Inn offers a continental breakfast. I thought that it would be great if we could pre-order a couple trays of food and take over a few tables inside or outside on the patio (and switching our Polynesian 2 night reservation to the Boardwalk). Also, that would be perfect as Matt wants to go to the ESPN Zone after with a bunch of guys and those of us that want to can just take a bus to Magic Kingdom.

When I inquired about this option on the Wedding boards, lurkyloo reminded me that the Attic could be had for around $1,000 (our budget for this event). I thought this was an even better idea and would surely impress our guests and give us some privacy. That started the wheels in motion! I contacted Disney's Catered Events and a day or so later was contacted by a wonderful CM, Rickey.

Rickey went over all the different options for a brunch at the Attic. He said he would contact the chefs at the Boardwalk to see what my options were for getting the per person charge below $40 (what they were on the sheet he emailed me). I was/am pretty stubborn about wanting Mickey waffles though .

He called back the next day with some unfortunate news . Apparently during that time of year the Boardwalk doesn't have as much staff as other times of the year and something about the labor costing more, so my per person if I wanted Mickey waffles would be approx. $50 per person. That really wasn't in our budget (as we're expecting about 35 people), so he suggested an alternative.

He raved about the Tamu Tamu Courtyard at Animal Kingdom. He said it's his favorite space to do events in WDW (of course, that may be just because I was disappointed about not going with the Attic ) and I could get Mickey waffles (which may be with an action station, I'm not sure. I get the actual print out of everything this week) for about $44 per person inclusive. This is still over our budget (almost double our intended budget), but I guess I need to stop being so frugal. We've done really well with the cost of everything else that a little splurging on this event feels okay. Of course, I'll just keep repeating that for the next few months...

Matt's really excited about it, but then I realized that this means there's no walking over to the ESPN Zone. He said he's fine with just riding a bus back to the Boardwalk afterwards.

So, what started as a little get together has exploded into a full-blown welcome party. Now, I've got to actually get an R.S.V.P. and head count to this and not the simple casual little meet 'n' greet I had originally intended. Oh well, I am really looking forward to it!

Oh, and he said you can hear the background music inside the Tamu Tamu courtyard. I need to go do a little digging around at D-Cot.com to see if I can hear it (I LOVE background music at the parks, in fact, the song I'm going to walk down the aisle to (hopefully-we haven't discussed music stuff with Discovery Cove yet) is Behind the Waterfall which I remember falling in love with when it was played around Tomorrowland).

That's all I think I have for now! I'll post a picture of all my invitation goodies soon (but probably not until after Labor Day as we're going to Upstate New York for a week).

Thanks for reading!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I received my BEO today and everything looks great!

We're having the Aurora breakfast. The selections I made were: scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, assorted pastries, roasted potatoes and onions, fresh fruit platter, juices and coffee, and a Mickey waffle action station.

The breakfast is $28.10 per person with an $8 per person "operations fee" and $9.75 per person for the Mickey waffle station (which my fiance would probably have a stroke about and would command everyone to eat their $10 worth of waffles ). One thing I do like about this structure is that I don't have to pay the service charge and tax on the $8 per person fee, so I'm only paying the service charge and tax on $37.85 per person.

The event total will go down if I have less than 35 people R.S.V.P. (or it may go up, but I really don't think more than 35 will be coming).

This event begins with meeting the escort by 8:15 a.m. and concludes by 9:30 a.m. I hope my guests love it! We're not going to have photography so I hope I take enough pics on my own (or can beg enough of my guests to send me their's).

Here's some pics I found throughout the Internets of the Tamu Tamu Courtyard:

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Wow, I just caught up on all of your plans.

I had no idea Discovery Cove did weddings, or even existed before reading your plans. It looks incredible!

I love your plans for brunch. Can't wait to read more.

 

[lurkyloo]

Yay! Tamu Tamu brunch sounds like SO much fun! I can't wait to see all of your plans come together.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Wow! I'm really excited about your plans. Especially the welcome party!