A magical RCG and SBP Disneyland wedding: Wedding Day posts: Castle Shoot and Video!!

[LadyD]

Hello all!! Renee and Diana here! We just officially booked our Disneyland wedding for this December. While we have wanted to get married for a while now, we have dubbed this our nightmare before Christmas wedding, due to the little time we have to plan it . A little background on us first.

Diana and I met in college as lab partners. Lab partners quickly turned into a wonderful friendship that became something more. I knew pretty quickly that Diana was the one I wanted to spend my happily ever after with, though it took a little while longer to convince Diana. Eventually, on the eve of our first trip to Disney World, Diana agreed that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me as well . Though we could legally get married in the state we were living at the time, we both wanted to wait until there was greater federal recognition since we were not sure where we were going to end up and didn’t want to deal with any legal headaches.

A lot has happened since last summer. This past September, we made the cross-country trip with 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 fish to move to California (my home state). With the toppling of part of DOMA this past summer, getting married became an option for us. We have been riding the should we or shouldn’t we have a Disney wedding roller coaster for many years. Living much closer to the resort has made it a highly appealing option, but with family drama and the cost, we weren’t sure if we wanted to go through the hassle of a big wedding. Ultimately, we realized the only way we wanted to start our marriage was with a little help from the Mouse and some pixie dust at the happiest place on earth with our friends and family .

Now that the contract is official, we are starting our whirlwind planning adventure! Neither of us is exactly sure what we want the day to be like yet (we better figure that out fast!!), but we do know we want to plan an awesome celebration filled with wonderful memories. Any experienced brides (or grooms) are more than welcome to chime in with their experiences, things they’d wished someone had told them, or any tips to help with the planning process. Any suggestions or friendly advice is much appreciated .

Ceremony and Reception Details

Thoughts on Décor

The Wedding Dresses

The Wedding Dresses: Part Two

The Planning Session

Odds and Ends Planning

The Menu Tasting

Final Stretch Changes!

Last of the Prep Before The Big Day

We're getting married!! Day 1: Part 1

We're getting married!! Day 1: Part 2

We're getting married!! Day 2: Day Before the Wedding

We're getting married!! Day 3: Wedding Day!! Part 1

We're getting married!! Day 3: Wedding Day!! Part 2

We're getting married!! Day 3: Wedding Day!! Part 3

We're getting married!! Day 3: Wedding Day!! Part 4/Castle Shoot Part 1

We're getting married!! Day 4: Castle Shoot Part 2 and Videos

 

[Serendipityblah]

Oh wow that date is coming up fast! I'm sure the experts at Disney will be helping you every step of the way.

Whats your theme? I look forward to seeing your planning process! I've got a little less than a year until my big day. Will be fun to see how quickly yours comes together

 

[NeeNeeBell25]

Super excited for a Nightmare before Christmas wedding!! So glad about the new laws too, my grandmas just got married and I couldn't stop crying from happiness. Can't wait to read more about your planning!

 

[andeesings]

I loved reading your story and I'm so happy for you guys! I can't wait to follow along with your Disneyland wedding!!!

 

[elphie101]

Lovely story!! Here's hoping the wedding boards will increase now that DOMA is gone Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[LadyD]

Thank you for all the positive responses! Both Diana and I look forward to reading over your planning journals to see your wonderful ideas and plans that you have in store . We are quite excited and feel so fortunate that we can legally be married now! Diana and I are both still in a bit of shock we are actually going to have our Disney wedding since for so long it seemed like it just wasn’t going to happen.

On with the details (that I realized we completely left out in our previous post )! We are having a wishes wedding and our wedding ceremony will take place in the Rose Court Garden, followed by a pre-reception on the Adventure Lawn, and a reception at the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. Initially we had thought about doing a reception in the Brisa Courtyard, but we found out that they can’t really do music very loud or put a dance floor down, and that was a bit of a deal breaker for us. Diana’s family members are HUGE dancers at weddings. However, the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion is beautiful, so we are very thankful that it was still available for our date.

We’ve been debating a theme and tossing around décor ideas for a while now, and while we strongly considered a Nightmare Before Christmas themed wedding, we eventually decided against it. At this point, we’re leaning toward having a Beauty and the Beast inspired wedding. With the Rose Court Garden not being in bloom in December, we’re thinking that decorating with red and white roses would really help make the ceremony pop and match the inside of the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion well. Beauty and the Beast just so happens to be one of our favorite Disney movies from both of our childhoods .

We’ve also been looking over the food menus and discussing them. Neither of us eat meat, so we’re not quite sure how we’re going to pick a meal option. After looking over the menu options and thinking about our reception venue and our guests, we’re thinking about doing a plated service rather than a buffet. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge with the menu options and opinions on the meat dishes they would like to share with us? Our general experience with Disney food is everything is essentially super delicious, but neither of us has had their meat dishes since we were children.

 

[elphie101]

Ohhhhhhhhh the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. I swear, if I could have gotten my family and friends to fly to California for us I would have pushed for a DL wedding JUST for that venue. It's gorgeous! And the Rose Court is also stunning - probably what I would have picked for my fantasy DL-ceremony venue

I'm not sure how things work over on the other coast, but do you get to do a menu tasting? Maybe you can bring along a carnivore friend/family member who's opinions you trust to help you pick meat dishes?

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Congratulations! Your wedding sounds fabulous so far! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[Mindyjoy]

Does anyone have any experience/knowledge with the menu options and opinions on the meat dishes they would like to share with us? Our general experience with Disney food is everything is essentially super delicious, but neither of us has had their meat dishes since we were children.

Congrats on your Disneyland wedding! Disney offers a lot of vegetarian and vegan options. Personally I have tried the Ratatouille (vegetarian), and the Lemon Meyer Tofu (vegan). There are several other options. Disney will bend over backwards to make sure you have the best day (and the best meal!)

Check your PMs because I sent you a message.

 

[LadyD]

Those vegetarian and vegan dishes sound amazing, especially the tofu! Thank you for the information. We were thinking about bringing a carnivore to try the meat dishes for us, but the most recent information I received said the tasting was for the couple only. I'll have to double check with them to see if it would be possible to have someone come in and try the meat for us. It would be great if we could do that and make us feel much more confident in our menu selections

 

[Mindyjoy]

Those vegetarian and vegan dishes sound amazing, especially the tofu! Thank you for the information. We were thinking about bringing a carnivore to try the meat dishes for us, but the most recent information I received said the tasting was for the couple only. I'll have to double check with them to see if it would be possible to have someone come in and try the meat for us. It would be great if we could do that and make us feel much more confident in our menu selections

Our tasting was over two years ago, but we had the option to pay to bring extra people. We brought both sets of parents and our outside wedding planner. So we just paid for them to join us. Not sure if that's still an option. The cost would depend on what type of food you're trying (filet and lobster is more expensive than lemon tofu, I imagine!).

 

[LadyD]

This past weekend was a fun filled weekend of wedding planning and ideas for Diana and me! Armed with our planning pages, we've been hastily trying to get a better idea of what kind of day we want.

Since our wedding is in December, sunset is right around our ceremony time. We're trying to keep that in mind for our ceremony decor ideas. We really like the idea of lining the aisle with some kind of light element and draping the front of the gazebo. They also have an option to have a chandelier hanging from the gazebo and we are definitely considering that. Here is a picture I found giving a little bit of an idea of what we would like.

Since it is December and not exactly the best season for floral selections (at least in terms of price), we would really like to stick with red and white roses for floral decoration.

Our reception is at the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion and they have an option to drape the room with chiffon and lights. We really like how that looks

This weekend we plan on continuing to get a better idea of how we want the day to look. It is also a big weekend because we're going wedding dress shopping ! Both Diana and I are going to wear dresses for the wedding. Ideally, we would like one of us in a black dress and the other in a white dress. It will be challenging to accomplish, but I have high hopes!

Neither of us is going to have any kind of wedding party. We're already planning this wedding so fast and don't want to put any extra stress/pressure on anyone else (many of the people we're close to are already in a few weddings this year and/or are attending destination weddings). We're going to be over the moon if most of our guest list is able to make it as is.

 

[elphie101]

Ooooo the sunset ceremony lighting is just going to be gorgeous. I'm sure it'll make for great pictures. And that lighted draping in the pavilion? Be still my heart.

Yay for dress shopping!!! Depending on the style you're looking for maybe one of you could find a black dress you like in a designer's bridesmaid dress line - though if years of TLC have taught me anything it's that there are plenty of wedding gowns with black in them in the wedding world

 

[Mindyjoy]

The nice thing about the RCG and SBP is they are so organically pretty that you don't really need to do much extra with them!

We also did not have bridal attendants we constantly say it's the best decision we ever made. I am proof you can manage without them and still have a lovely and stress-free wedding.

I'm sure you will have no problem finding dresses for both of you. Both Davids Bridal and Alfred Angelo have lots of gowns in different colors, including black. Bridesmaids gowns (even in Ivory) are a good and affordable solution. Good luck with the shopping!

 

[LadyD]

The nice thing about the RCG and SBP is they are so organically pretty that you don't really need to do much extra with them!

We also did not have bridal attendants we constantly say it's the best decision we ever made. I am proof you can manage without them and still have a lovely and stress-free wedding.

I'm sure you will have no problem finding dresses for both of you. Both Davids Bridal and Alfred Angelo have lots of gowns in different colors, including black. Bridesmaids gowns (even in Ivory) are a good and affordable solution. Good luck with the shopping!

All of the grounds at the Disneyland hotel are just so gorgeous! So rich and green! That is great to know about David's Bridal and Alfred Angelo. This is going to be our first time looking. We're actually going to a charity event that sells gently used second hand gowns and donated gowns from boutiques/designers for the purpose of donating the proceeds to supporting and educating families dealing with breast cancer. If we come up empty handed, we'll definitely have to check out the other stores! Thanks for the info .

 

[Mindyjoy]

All of the grounds at the Disneyland hotel are just so gorgeous! So rich and green! That is great to know about David's Bridal and Alfred Angelo. This is going to be our first time looking. We're actually going to a charity event that sells gently used second hand gowns and donated gowns from boutiques/designers for the purpose of donating the proceeds to supporting and educating families dealing with breast cancer. If we come up empty handed, we'll definitely have to check out the other stores! Thanks for the info .

That's a great cause! I also wore a secondhand dress, but I prefer to call it "vintage"

 

[Aschenputtel]

Joining!
You're story is so beautiful and the venues are really fairy tale ones! I love the Beauty and the Beast! Are you going to do more Belle type ball gowns? I really like the idea of different colors for both dresses - to match two with the exact same white or ivory and still get both a dress that you like/ that fits you seems to be really hard - also I'm a total fan of colored wedding dresses!

I'm sure you can plan the wedding of your dreams in just a few months - and we're all more than happy to help!

 

[LadyD]

Joining!
You're story is so beautiful and the venues are really fairy tale ones! I love the Beauty and the Beast! Are you going to do more Belle type ball gowns? I really like the idea of different colors for both dresses - to match two with the exact same white or ivory and still get both a dress that you like/ that fits you seems to be really hard - also I'm a total fan of colored wedding dresses!

I'm sure you can plan the wedding of your dreams in just a few months - and we're all more than happy to help!

Thank you Diana really likes the mermaid style gowns (and she really has the curves for it) and is looking for one in that style if they look good on her. I prefer a dress with a little more volume, but not too much. We are concerned about ending up looking like two people perched on top of cupcakes standing next to each other . We also need to see how the dresses look when they're really close to each other (i.e. when we're dancing or taking pictures or something) to make sure the shape and line of the dress is not totally ruined haha. We have never done an event in formal wear together, so it is bound to be an interesting (and somewhat hilarious) experience for sure.

 

[Aschenputtel]

Thank you Diana really likes the mermaid style gowns (and she really has the curves for it) and is looking for one in that style if they look good on her. I prefer a dress with a little more volume, but not too much. We are concerned about ending up looking like two people perched on top of cupcakes standing next to each other . We also need to see how the dresses look when they're really close to each other (i.e. when we're dancing or taking pictures or something) to make sure the shape and line of the dress is not totally ruined haha. We have never done an event in formal wear together, so it is bound to be an interesting (and somewhat hilarious) experience for sure.

I think it's really smart to see the dresses together. also it's very smart to "practice" dancing or even standing near to each other - I was an assistant to my former ballroom dancing teacher and it happens very often that although the couples practice their dance in class, they don't know how to do it with a big skirt between them or a mermaid one in which brides can't do big steps etc. (so my advice for future brides: practice your dance with a similar skirt like a pencil skirt or just a petticoat). I'm eager to see what you two choose!!!

 

[LadyD]

Today was a big day for us. We went wedding dress shopping for the very first time!

To properly start the story, I should take you back to Friday morning (48 hours before dress shopping). Initially, the plan was for Diana, my mom, and me to go wedding dress shopping together. Diana did not want to bring any friends and her parents live back in New Jersey. She didn't think her mom wanted to come since her mom hadn't said anything about wanting to go. On Friday morning, Diana and I were getting ready for work when she casually tells me that her mom said the night before she was sad she could not go wedding dress shopping with us. At that point, I put Diana on the spot and made her answer me honestly whether or not she wanted her mom there with her. Of course, she said yes. Cue me looking up plane fares to see if there was any possible way to get her mother out here for dress shopping on Sunday. We got incredibly lucky and found a one way flight for her mom that arrived Saturday evening for only $273. Not bad for 24 hours before the flight. Thinking there was no way we could find another flight that cheap to get her back home, I started searching. Again, we got very lucky and found a flight back home to New Jersey for $211 leaving a week later. We snapped those tickets up and told her mom the plan. Diana was able to share the experience of wedding dress shopping with her mom after all.

The event we attended was about a three hour drive from either my mom's house or our house (and we live an hour from my mom), so the plan was to stay at my mom's house Saturday night so we could all drive up together Sunday and talk wedding. Add in picking up Diana's mom from the airport on Saturday evening and that all went smooth. Everything was off to a great start. Diana had her mom, I had my mom, we had each other, and we had a plan to get us some dresses!

Well, this morning did not go quite as planned. Even though my mom and I woke up with plenty of time to get out the door, Diana and her mom were a little more slow to get out the door. The plan was to get out the door by 6:30 AM (the event started at 11 AM) so we could get up to Bakersfield early enough to have a little brunch together and have a buffer for any traffic that may happen since we had to drive through LA. We didn't get out the door until just about 7:15 AM . Luckily, we did not hit any traffic and managed to get to Bakersfield a little over an hour before the start of the event. Plenty of time for a quick brunch .

The event we attended is called Brides Against Breast Cancer. Both of our families have been impacted by breast cancer (Diana has lost two aunts to the disease and every woman on my paternal grandmother's side has had either breast cancer or breast and ovarian cancer) and this organization strives to support and educate families dealing with breast cancer. All of the wedding dresses at this event are donated (either by a designer/manufacturer/store or is a gently used dress) and 80% of the proceeds go toward helping these families. Since both of us have a really hard time spending such large chunks of money on something we will wear once (especially since it is times two for two brides), we thought this would be a great way for us to get the dresses we needed while supporting an organization that helps families dealing with such an awful life event. We had no idea what to expect in terms of selection, but we were both hoping for the best.

We arrived at the venue hosting the event a few minutes before 11 and got all squared away with check-in. At this point, I was starting to get really nervous. Since Diana and I were there together, I'm always nervous about how others will behave and react to a same-sex couple planning a wedding. Ultimately, while no one was overtly judgmental directly to us, we did have to deal with the "yes we're both brides, no we're not sisters, we are marrying each other" spiel with every single person we encountered (yet another reason why I love Disney since we have never once had to explain ourselves to any employees there in the course of our wedding planning or interacting with them at Disney properties).

After check-in, we made our way into the ballroom type area where the event was set up. They had a few local vendors for the area, so we spent some time checking them out until the "unveiling" of the dresses. Just as I walked up to a vendor to check out their wares, the DJ they had playing announced a dance contest for free rings. My mom shoved Diana up to the front and volunteered her (and Diana being the amazing sport she is went with it) to dance against about 3 other brides. Diana tried her best, but alas, was out voted by a bride who brought a very LOUD bridal party. Once this little amusing interlude concluded, they announced the dresses were unveiled and we could begin browsing!

There weren't too many brides at this event, but there were enough that combined with the onslaught of vendor information and the stampede to the dresses, Diana and I were both a little overwhelmed. We just kind of staggered to the racks of dresses, found a section with numbers that looked familiar from our regular clothing, and started browsing. Our mothers were a little less daunted by the situation and quickly started pulling dresses they thought we may like. I think Diana was handling the situation a little better than I was because some woman volunteering at the event came over to me (I'm sure after she noticed me kind of walking in a dazed circle between racks of dresses) and offered assistance. With her help and my mother's help, I quickly had 3 dresses to try on. Somewhere in this chaos I lost Diana and her mom, so it was off to the dressing rooms sans partner.

Before today, I didn't really have any expectations for a wedding dress. I thought my dress shopping experience would be somewhat similar to my regular shopping experience (try on 10 items, maybe 1 looks good). I'm also not someone who has built up this dress to epic proportions in my mind. So I tried on my first dress, and I was pleasantly surprised by how it looked. I wasn't in love with the dress, but I was shocked that it actually fit and didn't look half bad.

I tried on the other two, and actually did like the third one I tried on quite a bit, but I refused to commit until Diana was able to see me in it. Since I lost her, I decided to hold onto that third dress and look at others while trying to find Diana. This went on for a little while with her and I just passing each other in and out of the dressing room without her able to see the dress. Finally, we were both heading into the dressing room at the same time and she was able to see that third dress I had been holding onto. While she was a fan of the dress on me, she was having a really hard time trying to not get discouraged since she was having no luck finding anything that fit or that she liked on her. At this point, we decided to head out to the racks together and pick stuff together.

Once we were out looking together, it became a little easier for us to find things we liked and felt confident about pulling. Once we each had 3 dresses, it was back to the fitting rooms. We both put on one of the new dresses we pulled and we both liked the dresses on ourselves as well as each other. We thought victory at last! Two wedding dresses! And then we saw us in the dresses in the mirror together. These dresses just did not go together at all. Rather than complimenting each other and creating a cohesive look, they were competing with each other which is exactly what we did not want. Disheartened, we started the "who has to say no to the dress they like" discussion. Since I was having more luck finding dresses that I liked on me, I decided I would try on the last new dress I had to try on and let Diana get the dress she had on.

This last dress I picked was on a whim. It was a mermaid cut, which I am not fond of on me because I have a wide stride when walking and I feel they make my already not-so-small butt look even larger. However, it had the illusion style neckline I love (I loathe wearing strapless dresses) and some bling on it, so I said why not and put it on. I'm so glad I did. This dress gave me a shape! I don't have much of a waist and I am much more top heavy, but it balanced me out AND made me look thin. Score!

Now came the true test. Diana was still walking around in her dress, so I walked up to her, held my breath, and we looked in the mirror together AND THE DRESSES LOOK GREAT TOGETHER!!!!! We managed to find two dresses with similar colored fabric that complimented each other and made for two lovely brides rather than the discordant dueling weddings. VICTORY!!!

Overall, the dress buying experience wasn't too bad. We were in and out within two and a half hours with two wedding dresses. Now we just have to get them altered before the wedding sometime. They both need to be hemmed, and the top of Diana's dress needs to be taken in. I'm broad shouldered and the back of my dress is tight, so I need to speak with an alterations person about how that could potentially be reworked a little so I can breathe while I wear the dress. Also, the bottom portion of the zipper on my dress had separated from the seam, so that needs to be repaired. Nothing too major for either dress.

It was a great day with our mothers and I was very glad it went as well as it did. I will be posting pictures later of the dresses when I have a chance. Yipee!