A New Escape Bride who needs Advice

[marnietch]

Hello Everyone!
I am newly engaged (July 28th in front of Cinderella's Castle) and the proposal was a surprise! When we got home from our WDW vacation we started talking about weddings. We love Disney more than anything so it was an easy decision to decide to get married there.

Yesterday we sent off the signed contracts so we are definitely getting married on Aug 4th 2009 at Sea Breeze Point. Everything is happening so fast and I feel like I am behind everyone else's planning. I have been reading the DISboard wedding section only recently and I am so overwhelmed.

I have a couple questions that hopefully you can help with:
1. I need an officiant. Recommendations? I want someone who I can speak to before hand and who is just a nice person.
2. Hair and make-up? I won't be able to go down to Disney before the wedding so I need some good advice.
3. What else should I definitely have booked at 11 months out?

Thank you all for the great information that I have already read and for any help you give me!

Marnie

 

[lurkyloo]

Congratulations!

No need to feel overwhelmed - you have a whole year ahead of you to plan! The only other thing you might want to book in the next few months is photography, if you will be using an outside vendor. Some of the more popular photographers book up fast.

For hair and makeup, this thread has info about most of the makeup artists who are popular on this board, including pictures of everyone's makeup:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1882064

 

[keenercam]

Marnie -- Congratulations and welcome! You have plenty of time to do everything that needs to be done in the next 11 months, so don't worry! There are so many great ideas in this forum, and if you read the completed trip reports you will find all sorts of reviews of the various officiants, hair & makeup vendors, photographers & menus. I think totally immersing yourself in reading the planning journals and completed trip reports will give you a starting point to a great to-do list. Have fun planning! We can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[padisneyfour]

congrats and welcome... looking forward to hearing all of your plans. There are alot of wonderful ideas/info here. goodluck with all your plans!

 

[magickingdom]

Congratulations!! Try not to feel too overwhelmed you have a lot of time. I did mine in 8 months, it felt a little stressful at the time, but now that i look back I had a lot of fun and disney did such a good job communicating with me through email and phone calls they took care of it all. you just have to go, sit back and enjoy!!

I had Reverend Jack Day (yikes I believe thats the name??). He was very kind and will talk to you prior to the wedding. He even sent us sample wedding programs in the mail so we could pick out what we liked and customize it to us.

As for hair and makeup. I had lisa pena, she did me along with my 2 sisters, friend, and both mothers. I really liked her. The only thing I would say (i wasnt able to do any pre stuff either just met her the morn of my wedd) is either have good pics of what you are wanting done (magazines, online...)or be able to give really good detail, my sister's hair didnt turn out exactly what she was imagining but overall really good!!

good luck

 

[EpcotSweetHrts0512]

Hi and Congrats!! I had an Escape wedding at SBP too! We used Ron Rosenzweig as our officiant and loved him! He had a lot of lovely options for the ceremony. For my hair and makeup, I used About Face and had Naomi. She is very very sweet! We didn't have a hair and makeup trial either... I just brought her pictures of the hairstyle I wanted and told her how I wanted my makeup... it turned out perfect! We used Disney photographers and had an Epcot photoshoot... let me know if you want to see my pics! Have fun planning!

 

[dawrobin]

Officiant- I reccomend Joann Pessagno. She is one of the Disney recc ones so she won't go against your count. We met with her in May and are workign with her to customize the ceremony. She is so mkind and motherly she is perfect for what we need

Hair- Beaute Speciale. Others like Patricia Lejeune. Can't go wrong with either.

Photography- I love Misty Miotto. A lot of people use her, Randy Chapman, or the Roots. You will want to book this ASAP of you want outside photography.

Good luck!!

 

[marnietch]

Hi and Congrats!! I had an Escape wedding at SBP too! We used Ron Rosenzweig as our officiant and loved him! He had a lot of lovely options for the ceremony. For my hair and makeup, I used About Face and had Naomi. She is very very sweet! We didn't have a hair and makeup trial either... I just brought her pictures of the hairstyle I wanted and told her how I wanted my makeup... it turned out perfect! We used Disney photographers and had an Epcot photoshoot... let me know if you want to see my pics! Have fun planning!

I would love to see your pictures especially since you had them done by Disney. I think we're going to try to save money and do that. Were you happy with your photos? Yeah... SBP!


Everyone, thanks for your kind, calming words. I think I'll feel better when I pick an officiant.

Okay, this may be a really dumb question, but how do I reply to more than one quote in a post?

 

[keenercam]

click on the middle button at the bottom right of each post you want to put in your reply and then click "post reply" in the bottom left under the last post. The posts you clicked on will appear in the order in which you click them, rather than the order in which they are posted.
HTH!

 

[marnietch]

click on the middle button at the bottom right of each post you want to put in your reply and then click "post reply" in the bottom left under the last post. The posts you clicked on will appear in the order in which you click them, rather than the order in which they are posted.
HTH!

Thank you so much!! I kept trying to get more than one quote but I was clicking the wrong place!

Officiant- I reccomend Joann Pessagno. She is one of the Disney recc ones so she won't go against your count. We met with her in May and are workign with her to customize the ceremony. She is so mkind and motherly she is perfect for what we need

Hair- Beaute Speciale. Others like Patricia Lejeune. Can't go wrong with either.

Photography- I love Misty Miotto. A lot of people use her, Randy Chapman, or the Roots. You will want to book this ASAP of you want outside photography.

Good luck!!

Thanks so much! The list I found of officiants I found on the disney wedding site didn't have her name. I'll call and ask! I might not have the complete list since I just signed the contracts?!

Congratulations!! Try not to feel too overwhelmed you have a lot of time. I did mine in 8 months, it felt a little stressful at the time, but now that i look back I had a lot of fun and disney did such a good job communicating with me through email and phone calls they took care of it all. you just have to go, sit back and enjoy!!

I had Reverend Jack Day (yikes I believe thats the name??). He was very kind and will talk to you prior to the wedding. He even sent us sample wedding programs in the mail so we could pick out what we liked and customize it to us.

As for hair and makeup. I had lisa pena, she did me along with my 2 sisters, friend, and both mothers. I really liked her. The only thing I would say (i wasnt able to do any pre stuff either just met her the morn of my wedd) is either have good pics of what you are wanting done (magazines, online...)or be able to give really good detail, my sister's hair didnt turn out exactly what she was imagining but overall really good!!

good luck

Thank you so much! Do you think I should book hair/make-up this early (or is it never too early?)

 

[DecemberBride]

I"m doing SBP as well, this december...

I'm using Tim Herring as an officiant and have heard great things about him. He responds to emails and is super kind!

I'm using Beaute Speciale for hair and makeup

I'm using Disney photography as well, with a couple upgrades, so when the time comes I will share the pics with you, so you can get a good idea of how they are and if it's something you want!

Happy Planning!

 

[marnietch]

I"m doing SBP as well, this december...

I'm using Tim Herring as an officiant and have heard great things about him. He responds to emails and is super kind!

I'm using Beaute Speciale for hair and makeup

I'm using Disney photography as well, with a couple upgrades, so when the time comes I will share the pics with you, so you can get a good idea of how they are and if it's something you want!

Happy Planning!

Decemberbride, thank you so much for this information. I have been agonizing over what to do about the officiant and the photography. I've seen the pictures by Randy and they look wonderful but I don't know if that is really in my budget. I have been looking at the disney photos and they look really nice too.

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

I really loved Rev. Jack Day. The ceremony he did was beautiful, and without knowing him before hand, he was immediately special to us.

 

[Beep]

Hey congratulations!

We're not getting married until next December but I can give a big thumbs-up to Rev Kevin Knox. We have him booked because he was very warm and friendly, talked to us in April this year to answer a few questions even though it was more than 18 months to our wedding and had a great sense of humour.

Same goes for Randy Chapman.

Keep us updated with your plans - we LUURVE PJ's!!

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

We had an Escape wedding earlier this month.

We used Rev. Kevin Knox...and were not pleased. While he was great leading up to the wedding, when I arrived at the Yacht Club the morning of the ceremony, he tried to tell me he had not received our ceremony...which he had since he even responded to that particular email and made comments regarding a couple of minor changes. We even talked with him the week before and the day before the wedding to confirm everything! Anyway, we never got the ceremony we had spent an hour planning and re-working!!!! Grrrrrrrr....

I know he has done many nice, successful ceremonies though.

We used Beaute Speciale for hair and we had Lily. We loved her and were very pleased with the results.

We used Randy Chapman for photography and also LOVED him, as well as Stan from STVS video!

Good Luck, it is overwhelming all of the choices and decisions. Book soon for outside vendors!!

 

[marnietch]

Hey congratulations!

We're not getting married until next December but I can give a big thumbs-up to Rev Kevin Knox. We have him booked because he was very warm and friendly, talked to us in April this year to answer a few questions even though it was more than 18 months to our wedding and had a great sense of humour.

Same goes for Randy Chapman.

Keep us updated with your plans - we LUURVE PJ's!!

Thank you for this help! I am trying to pick an officiant right now! When I get myself together I'll start a pj!

We had an Escape wedding earlier this month.

We used Rev. Kevin Knox...and were not pleased. While he was great leading up to the wedding, when I arrived at the Yacht Club the morning of the ceremony, he tried to tell me he had not received our ceremony...which he had since he even responded to that particular email and made comments regarding a couple of minor changes. We even talked with him the week before and the day before the wedding to confirm everything! Anyway, we never got the ceremony we had spent an hour planning and re-working!!!! Grrrrrrrr....

I know he has done many nice, successful ceremonies though.

We used Beaute Speciale for hair and we had Lily. We loved her and were very pleased with the results.

We used Randy Chapman for photography and also LOVED him, as well as Stan from STVS video!

Good Luck, it is overwhelming all of the choices and decisions. Book soon for outside vendors!!

OMG... I can't believe that mix up! Right before you are getting married! I just cringed for you! Have you heard anything about Dr. Tino Ballesteros and his ceremonies? I emailed him because he's Presbyterian (the only connection I have with him) and he got right back to me. But I haven't heard anything through the Disboard about him? I'm going to try to book Beaute Speciales for hair/make up. thanks for the help!

Marnie

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

Marnie...

I haven't heard anything about Rev. Ballesteros either! Not sure why, just not a popular choice maybe?

I know Rev. Knox has not messed up any other ceremonies that I'm aware of, and he is a nice guy...he just screwed up with us royally! I think he is sooo busy. He had at least 3 weddings on my wedding day. So, maybe he is taking on a little more than he can handle lately?

You're in good hands with Beaute Speciale. Find pictures of styles you like, and work with them as they're doing your hair, etc. They will re-work any style. I did my own makeup and my MOH's, so I can't speak for makeup, but I know they are great according to other brides in that area!!

 

[marnietch]

That's incredible that he had 3 weddings on the same day. I hope I can still book the vendors that I want. I thought a year was plenty of time but with the popularity of Disney you have to jump on it really quick. Thanks again!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Have you heard anything about Dr. Tino Ballesteros and his ceremonies? I emailed him because he's Presbyterian (the only connection I have with him) and he got right back to me. But I haven't heard anything through the Disboard about him?

Don't worry - the pool of vendors (in all categories) who are popular on the DIS Boards is very small. Just because you haven't heard about him here doesn't mean he isn't a good choice. Go with your gut!

 

[marnietch]

Thanks Lurkyloo!
I have noticed that the same names come up all the time (which is very helpful) but it does limit your choices. I am going to go with Dr. Tino. He is reasonable ($200.00) and he has emailed me twice since yesterday. thanks!