Amanda & Robby PJ . 10/25/2011 SBP, LSS,UK DP *Invitations*

[irishwishes]

Love the invites and all your plans!!

 

[DisneyBride1207]

thanks all for joining in!

so, any advice on wording for the invites? I feel like I keep filling it up with text... Did you just let your wedding website have all the info? Just the basics about accomodations, wedding day itinerary, etc.?

If you can copy and paste your wedding invite text, that would even be awesome!

So far for the ACCOMODATIONS page I made (and remember it is a draft, so it may sounds sloppy and silly lol):


Disney’s fort wilderness cabins - 286/night - sleeps 6
$48/PER PERSON
includes a kitchen, private outdoor seating area, etc.
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge - 238/night - sleeps 4
$59/PER PERSON
Disney’s Port Orleans, Riverside - 139/night - sleeps 4
$35/PER PERSON
As a Disney Wedding Guest, you can take advantage of these discounted rates for these three hotels we have selected. If Disney happens to be offering a discount or promotion that is greater than the price listed, please take advantage and book that rate via regular disney hotline. A limited number of each of these have been blocked for our guests, they will be no longer held after August 31st. Robby and Amanda will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge Resort (which is also walking distance to the Fort Wilderness Cabins). Port Orleans is a 5 minute drive from Wilderness Resorts. If you would like to be in closest proximity to Wilderness Lodge and most wedding guests, but would like to stay at another Disney resort, simply call the number below.
To Book Your Resort Stay
please call the disney wedding group booking hotline
407-827-6799, option 1
you may also purchase discounted theme parks
through this number
Airport Transportation
For your convenience, Walt Disney World offers a complimentary shuttle and luggage delivery service to and from the Orlando International Airport resort guests. You can book Disney’s Magical Express reservations by visiting www.********.com or call (407) ***-**** with flight information after your hotel reservation has been entered into the system.

Does this seem okay? too much, too little? I feel like my guests all keep telling me (before having sent out invites) " Ohh, we're just staying at Holiday Inn (for example) -- it's way cheaper" .... well, I don't know about y'all, but I'm an ON PROPERTY kinda gal...I feel there's no other way! hahaha - how do I word it to talk them into staying on property? Not only do I want to help fill my room block, but I want my guests to experience why I love Disney so much -- the whole Disney experience 24/7!!! (glad I found a place to use 3D glasses icon! haha)

how did you other DisBrides word your invites/accomodations to tempt your guests to stay on property? perks about being a resort guest?? list them?

 

[irishwishes]

There is a invitation thread on here somewhere that everyone has posted pics off all their invites so that may be helpful to you.

I think all that text may be a bit too much for the invites. I have all of the lodging, transportation and ticket info on my website. We also sent out newsletters explaining all the details and pros of staying on property. For the invites we included a brief itinerary of the wedding day events, including ceremony, reception, transportation and drinking around the world that night. We only included that wedding day event on the actual invite.

 

[DisneyBride1207]

that's helpful, thank you Did you use a Disney wedding website/Facebook app? or did you create one through another site? I don't particularly like the Disney Facebook one, but it seems like it may be easier to setup/for people to use since it has all the appropriate info already in it...

I will try to find a thread dedicated to both topics, thanks!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

I just saw in your siggie that you will be in Disney the same week! how cool! you meeting with planners at all?

Well we've been in talks with our coordinator since Spring of 2010, but some mishaps prevented us from having our sitevisit until November 2010. At that point we were set on the Wedding Pavilion and the Napa Room so that's all we went to. Now I'm having major 2nd thoughts about the Napa Room so I have a call with my coordinator on Wednesday and with any luck I'll be able to visit a few new options when I'm down there... even if it's on my own. July is my 16 month window so I'm desperate to lock a decision down. I'm going crazy!!

We get to Saratoga Springs the night of the 5th, then move over to Kidani Village on the 7th thru the 14th. I can't wait!! I'm so ready!! Maybe we'll see you around

 

[irishwishes]

Im using the Disney Facebook app. It was an easy setup and feel like it's more catered to having a Disney wedding. I've gotten good feedback from my guests about it and haven't gotten a lot of questions from them.

 

[Fay]

Hey Amanda, (Congratulations to you both)

I know im late joining in... But I am now up to date! 1st of all your engagement sounded beautiful.... I think its very brave for your DF to propose infront of family! Well done him! And Disney... he gets brownie points!

Your dress is FANTASTIC! I absolutly love it... Very modern and looks beautiful on you!

Loving your invites and the coral idea... look brilliant!

Hmm... what else... Oh yeah! Have a quick look through our PJ as I have posted our invites on there too. and our wedding website might give you some Ideas also. (Although we are from the UK and do things slightly different - but kind of the same)

Any way... Cant wait to see more stuff!

Faye xx

 

[donald&daisy]

Love the new look of the invites! Its really funny to read about your color choices because mine are really similar--blue and green because of how the LSS is done and then I'm going for a whole tropical vibe so I threw in some purple, red, and orange, lol. It seems like most of the tropical flowers I like come in those colors (birds of paradise, ginger flower, etc). My mom keeps teasing me that it looks like a Mardi Gras party threw up on everything (thanks Mom!). It will all come together though...

I haven't gotten around to doing my invites yet since we are still a bit over a year out, but I'm focusing a lot of the info on the website, which I made through weddingwire.com. I felt like trying to include all of the info in the invite would just be overwhelming and costly. We are sending out STDs probably mid to late May so I plan on having the website totally done so they can see most of the booking info, etc then.

Making the website was beyond easy...like fill in the blank easy. I was turned off of the facebook app because of all the negative feedback here on the boards. But maybe they've fixed that stuff by now? Plus it seems like brides always say their guests do their own thing when it comes to booking no matter how much effort they put into making it easy for them00not that it will stop me from trying

Can't wait to see more!

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Well we've been in talks with our coordinator since Spring of 2010, but some mishaps prevented us from having our sitevisit until November 2010. At that point we were set on the Wedding Pavilion and the Napa Room so that's all we went to. Now I'm having major 2nd thoughts about the Napa Room so I have a call with my coordinator on Wednesday and with any luck I'll be able to visit a few new options when I'm down there... even if it's on my own. July is my 16 month window so I'm desperate to lock a decision down. I'm going crazy!!

We get to Saratoga Springs the night of the 5th, then move over to Kidani Village on the 7th thru the 14th. I can't wait!! I'm so ready!! Maybe we'll see you around

I have changed so many times, don't feel bad about it -- you have plenty of time! We will be in AKL the 8th-11th! Maybe we might run into each other one of those days!!

Im using the Disney Facebook app. It was an easy setup and feel like it's more catered to having a Disney wedding. I've gotten good feedback from my guests about it and haven't gotten a lot of questions from them.

agreed! Thank you for your feedback After much deliberation the other day I went ahead and started a free website with theknot.com (I was sorta throwing in the towel really because I was afraid the Facebook thing would be a hassle).... I kinda did a hybrid of the two by just taking the same info and links and putting it on my wedding website -- that way I don't have to worry about people not 'being on facebook'.

Hey Amanda, (Congratulations to you both)

I know im late joining in... But I am now up to date! 1st of all your engagement sounded beautiful.... I think its very brave for your DF to propose infront of family! Well done him! And Disney... he gets brownie points!

Your dress is FANTASTIC! I absolutly love it... Very modern and looks beautiful on you!

Loving your invites and the coral idea... look brilliant!

Hmm... what else... Oh yeah! Have a quick look through our PJ as I have posted our invites on there too. and our wedding website might give you some Ideas also. (Although we are from the UK and do things slightly different - but kind of the same)

Any way... Cant wait to see more stuff!

Faye xx

I will definitely check it out! thanks for joining in!!!!

Love the new look of the invites! Its really funny to read about your color choices because mine are really similar--blue and green because of how the LSS is done and then I'm going for a whole tropical vibe so I threw in some purple, red, and orange, lol. It seems like most of the tropical flowers I like come in those colors (birds of paradise, ginger flower, etc). My mom keeps teasing me that it looks like a Mardi Gras party threw up on everything (thanks Mom!). It will all come together though...

I haven't gotten around to doing my invites yet since we are still a bit over a year out, but I'm focusing a lot of the info on the website, which I made through weddingwire.com. I felt like trying to include all of the info in the invite would just be overwhelming and costly. We are sending out STDs probably mid to late May so I plan on having the website totally done so they can see most of the booking info, etc then.

Making the website was beyond easy...like fill in the blank easy. I was turned off of the facebook app because of all the negative feedback here on the boards. But maybe they've fixed that stuff by now? Plus it seems like brides always say their guests do their own thing when it comes to booking no matter how much effort they put into making it easy for them00not that it will stop me from trying

Can't wait to see more!

Yea, it's interesting that those tropical-style brides use LSS and have trouble deciding on colors! Orchids are my favorite -- so they are along the same lines!!

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Unfortunately our Planner, Pamela Mattack, will be on maternity leave starting this weekend and not returning until August. So, we will be meeting with her 'sub' planner

I am so excited for the tasting as well, we have asked for the chefs to create something that will blow our mind with a few bits of info like: We LOVE a good steak -- I told them we prefer a teenie AMAZING steak to a big 'slab' of an average wedding steak. I also told them to have free artistic license to just make something that tastes amazing. Pamela said the chefs would be excited to hear this since that is what the Epcot chefs enjoy doing -- being cutting edge and creative. So, we will see how our artistic license pays off! I know I love it when brides tell me I have free expression with their basic set of likes/dislikes. We want to have food that will be unlike any other wedding they have ever been to. When in Rome, right?! In my opinion, your wedding should be a way to introduce your guests to YOUR world of things you enjoy. I want our guests to see why we love Disney so much....from the unusual/amazing/experimental food, the entertainment, and the scenery! (the magic too... HAH! So, I will post reviews of the sampled food and hopefully photos too for you all to see!!!

Wish me luck at my Planning Session next Monday May 9th!

 

[FlamingoAllie]

Hi Amanda!
Just joining in, and I have to say I love everything so far. The new invites are amazing. I love living vicariously through other people's DIY projects (since mine usually look like an elementary school art project! ) and I have a feeling I will enjoy reading all your updates!

I know that I'm joining in a little late, and so I'm not sure if you've resolved all of your problems with getting all of your info to your guests, but here is what we did.

First off, so glad you found a different website than the FB one that Disney provides. It never works for us and we gave up!
We had a website on the knot, but DF found another free hosting site that we like better. weddingwire.com Might be worth checking out.

We also included a little info card in the invite to direct our guests to the wedding website and let them know that they would be receiving a newsletter as well. We designed an awesome newsletter, and originally were going to mail them to all the guests. But after we got our quote from the printer (and picked our jaws up off the floor ) we decided to send them via email. Hope this helps!

Can't wait to see how your planning session went!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Your dress is beautiful, and I love the story about your engagement!
I am planning our wedding from October of 2012, and I am just trying to reach out to other Disney Brides to get a sense of things.
You must be up to the planning session at this point... have you done it yet? If so, how was it?!!

 

[donald&daisy]

Yes, we want to know how the PS went!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Awesome! How did it go?

 

[Tanners]

Congratulations on your engagement, it sounds like its going to be a beautiful wedding. I am also getting married in october!! october 4th!! best of luck with all your planning!

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Thank you all for following along - I apologize for the delay in the update! I have pictures from the Planning Session which I will have to upload at a later time when I have a moment to do so:

Here goes:

Planning Session 5/9/11

Met with Pamela Mattack and her temporary replacement/planner that would be helping us over the next few months with anything we need. Pamela was cool and so was Jamie, it was nice to be able to 'hang out' with them for nearly 7 hours and also hear about their own weddings and husbands and get to know them a little better!

Cake:
We tasted cake, I never thought I would LOVE the almond cake! YUMMY! We chose almond w/buttercream and marble/chocolate mousse (I think) and something else like chocolate cake with buttercream I think They were all pretty good.

Food:
We told Pamela that we wanted the chefs to create a custom menu based on our love of southern/comfort foods and the whole under the sea vibe of the Living Seas. When we arrived we had no idea what we would be tasting! We got to meet with Epcot/Disney Head Chefs - which supposedly on that particular day, Pamela said it just so happened that the Disney Catering 'Dream Team' was there and we got to meet them! Which was fun! They were all so cool! The kitchen staff will treat you like GOLD! They always asked if we needed anything - even if I needed a jacket (since I was dressed for the 90' heat and we were in the a/c!) take a little sweater to your PS. We had the lobster tail on a macaroni and cheese truffle that was TO DIE FOR! Also, the beef short ribs were wonderful. Pineapple bread like at Ohana YUM! We asked them for a duo plate so our guests have two choices on their plate. I don't like the idea of them having to choose before hand (since they might change their mind on the day-of) and food was important to us. I told my planner I would rather have a tiny AMAZING meal than a large run-of-the-mill wedding food. But, even with that direction the portions were plenty! We chose plated because we wanted to help our wedding feel formal since it's already pretty casual. But, mainly because I think it's tacky to get in line and wait for food at a wedding like you are at a cheap buffet restaurant...sorry, don't mean to offend anyone, it's just my opinion! I wanted our guests to experience the feel WE enjoy about Disney World where you feel like you are pampered...so this helped with that!) I will have to post a link to the video later, but they had this floating magnetic THING-a-ma-bob that was levatating (sp?) our salad plate like 12" off the table! Then, they had some things made with liquid nitrogen! Our lemoncillo sorbet with (get this) raspberry caviar (fake caviar of course since it's raspberry) in a hollow bowl that was 'smoking' SO COOL! Then, for our dessert foods we had cheesecakes in little bowls that they lit on fire to be as an action station for the DP that will add some ambience with the fire! So fun! It was great how all we told them was that we wanted our guests to have a very magical Disney experience (minus all the mickey/minnie stuff). We wanted our guests to be entertained with every aspect of the wedding and I think they hit the nail on the head!

Living Seas Site Visit:
Pictures just don't do it justice. When you stand in the room and see the tanks it really takes your breath away is so awesome -- the stingrays, the fishies! The lighting is dark but I was told you can make is brighter or darker. We want it very dim with candlelight. Another rule about candles with Disney is you can't have more than 4 open flames per table...BOO! I was hoping for like 5 or 6! hehe!

Entertainment/Music:
At the PS we gave them our ideas about what vibe we wanted, but since then I had an epiphone...Originally we wanted the 'Uninvited Guests'...along with dueling pianos with a fun piano bar vibe. But, this didn't feel personalized enough...and ever since the new Pirates movie came out, I've been in Pirate mode.... it just clicked that I should ask them to be pirates characters! I am borderline freakishly-obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. I just love it! So, I told her last time we talked that we wanted Adventurer's Club type obnoxious/adult humor mixed with pirates and the piano (just one, not to). I figure one was plenty for 40 guests (and MUCH cheaper!). So, Jamie talked to the Disney Entertainment team and she said they were so excited to come up with some characters/a story for the pirates. So I HIGHLY recommend if you want actors, to give them a theme or idea and they will run with it. We originally thought maybe we would have them be british women (my mom is from England), that were very obnoxious/silly, but then the whole pirates idea popped into my head. They also said the pianist could even dress up as a pirate and play in to the whole gig! I requested Sheila (but of course, there's no guarantee of that!), she has done the Adventurer's Club and she's a hoot! So, we will see. I don't want to give them any other direction, I believe in letting the artist do their thing. I just gave them some ideas I had like maybe they are lost pirates that stumble upon the wedding or something --


Bringing Decorations/Floral:
So, I bugged them pretty well to let me bring in my own things since I have a flower shop and can get flowers at wholesale cost, but that of course is a non-negotiable topic! LOL! (Which I figured, but I had to ask)

Getting to the WP: We had to take the bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge to the Epcot, then the monorail to GF, THEN walk all the way over which was annoying. I wish as a DFTW Bride they would have given us a lift! But, maybe that's asking a bit much?! I donno...well, we wouldn't have been late if they did!

Overall, I was glad we went. Before the PS my fiance (Robby) wasn't too involved in the planning. But after the PS he is all up-in-my-biness' about the wedding. He has his opinions now!!!

If you have any questions, let me know! I will try to get some pics up soon!!!

 

[Fay]

Hey,

Sorry its been a while on me looking in... Your PS sounded so cool! You cake sounds beautiful, what will it be decorated like?

The food will be amazing! Its all sounds gorgeous... and I agree with you on the less is more senario, definatley a sit down meal girl. All the added magical stuff for the desserts are you having? hehe I especially like the sound of the smoke and fire!!!

Cant wait to see photos! And i think its really lovely that your DF is more involved now... bless them! My DF at the moment thinks its too early to plan things... So I am arranging meetings for our trip in october, and dropping them into convo! lol

Any way, get the pics!

Faye xx

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Here are some pictures to help give a visual about the vibe of the wedding!

My veil I purchased with my dress (just for a visual) hahah!

some floral decor inspirations, the vibe I want with floating blooms, candles, orchids only

cake inspirations -- we want the textured buttercream look with a few pops of color with green cymbidiums, fuschia phalaenopsis orchids

My bouquet inspiration, fuschias, eggplant, some black ti leaves to darken the bouquet, a tiny bit of purple and lavender to add some depth of color

Bridesmaid inspirations, one yellow, one magenta one cobalt-ish. I want them to pick dresses that are fashionable, beautiful and that they would wear again. They are my three sisters, so I trust their judgement in picking a dress.

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Did anyone else laugh when they got their BEO?

I saw the total for EVERYTHING and was like 'uh, yea, THATs not happening!' I set up an appointment to go over everything with her. I have made notes on everything to go over with her item by item to ask about cheaper alternatives, etc. and cut a lot of things that we just don't care too much about to blow our budget.

It all boils down to what is most important to you and your hubby/wife. For us, the fact that we are having a Disney wedding is the cool part - so it's just a matter of figuring out what is most important to us.

 

[DisneyBride1207]

So, I've never even once thought about having a second dress for my wedding. I think you should buy THE ONE and unless it's too big to dance in, you should only have the one. Well, I needed to buy a dress to wear for some promotional images for my flower shop (a 'Styleshoot'). I went to David's Bridal to see if there was something cheap just to use for photos and I ended up trying on this dress that looked like a poofy cupcake.... and I LOVED IT. So, we bought it for the shoot and I decided I would try to wear it for the dessert party if possible. I love it and wanted to share! David's Bridal has some cute dresses at affordable prices!