~*Amy and Shawn’s PJ*~June 6th, 2011 - Our Hawaiian Honeymoon!

[*Pixiedust1438*]

I love the envelope seals! Very cool. Where did you get those cameras from?!?! I LOVE them!!!

I got both on ebay. The cameras were from a seller called the cameradepot (spelling?) They were VERY reasonable and they have a ton of different designs to choose from. I am very happy with them.

Ive had my eyes on those cameras for a while too! I will definitely be purchasing them for our tables, and Im thinking about putting one in the welcome bags so we can get pictures from more than the reception. Your dress is amazing and such a bargain! Way to go Keep the awesome updates coming, cant wait to read more!

That is a great idea to put them in the welcome bags! I never thought about that!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Two updates:

First, yesterday marked the 6 month countdown to our wedding!!! I can't believe how close it is getting.

Second, on Friday we decided to go back up to Niagara Falls and re-create the night we got engaged, one year ago. Actually, this Friday will be our one year engagement anniversary, but it is DF's nieces bday, so we celebrated one week early. We weren't able to stay overnight like we did last year as I had to work in the morning, but we had dinner then saw the fireworks again and looked at the lights again while having some champagne. We also went back to the casino and the same lounge where we had gone the year before the celebrate. It was a fun night, here are a few pic's:

\

Oh, and it has been snowing here non-stop, we have like 5 feet of snow. I am so glad we are leaving for Disney in 9 days. Here is what it looks like:

 

[BecBennett]

Holy Dooley! Look at that snow!!

Happy anniversary! (I'll probably forget on Friday )

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Just wanted to share a few more things I got in:

Flower girl baskets

Bride and Groom Baseball Caps: I plan on making DF the Mickey version that Carrie made for her wedding, since DF refuses to wear any of the other Mickey groom hats. I'm not sure if I will do anything with the bride hat, as I plan on getting the Minnie Bride hat, but maybe I will wear it around the parks on a sunny day.

Other than that I'm just trying to get everything together for our PS which is really tough and I feel like I'm going to run out of time! I also am having trouble packing because it could be 80 of 50 degrees and I don't have room to bring two outfits for everyday!

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

yeah...your snow pics look like our snow pics! At least we aren't the only ones.

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Leaving in a few hours for our PS! Super excited!

 

[irishwishes]

Have fun!!!!!

 

[Nichole33]

Good luck and have a blast!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Got in last night at about 1 am after being delayed! Our PS and trip went great! I feel like the wedding is real now lol, and coming quickly! I will do a mini TR and post lots of pictures as soon as I have a chance. I am busy unpacking and getting ready for Christmas which I can't believe is on Saturday!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

The last two weeks have been sooo crazy with the trip and the holiday's... as much fun as it was to be in Disney around Christmas time, I don't think I would do it again! It was just too crazy getting home on the 22nd and having so much to do! (And I thought I had a lot done before I left!) Now that Christmas is over, I finally have a minute to relax before my birthday on Wednesday and then New Years this weekend!

Our PS trip was great in terms of wedding planning. I feel like we got so much accomplished and we were more than thrilled with everything! Also, DF loved everything and seems very excited for the wedding now, since he hasn't really been that involved in the planning it was great to see how much he liked all my choices and to see him getting excited and actually asking questions!

We left on Thursday the 16th at around 2:30pm for the airport, made it through security pretty quickly, and then stopped at the anchor bar in the airport for some famous Buffalo wings and a drink before boarding the plane. For some reason, I was freaking out about flying this trip, when normally I am fine. I think it was a combination of the fact it was December in the North East, the fact that we were flying two Delta connection flights which my sister proceeded to tell me the week before we left that you should never fly those little planes because they pay their staff half of what the major airlines do so obviously they are not as good, and also because we haven't flown since the plane crash that happened minutes from DF's work two years ago on a bad weather night coming from NYC to Buffalo, just as we were. But, our flights on the way down were fine, although the flight from Buffalo to JFK was tiny! We arrived on time, got our luggage since it was after 10, and boarded the Magical Express to the POP. By the time we got there and checked in we were both exhausted and starving, and our room was super far from the main lobby, and we got lost on the way to our room.. not a good start! We got to the food court minutes before it closed to grab a pizza and then went to bed.

Friday started out much better! We woke up and it was beautiful out! Yay! We had ADR's at Kona Cafe at 9:30 and were meeting Randy at 10:30 for our e-shoot. Other than being a little late for our ADR's the morning went perfect. We both loved Randy. He did a great job making us feel comfortable and he took sooo many shots! I can't wait to see them! He sent us one preview picture which is my avatar. I'm so happy we (or should I say, I) picked the Poly for this! It was a perfect day and we got shots of the wedding pavilion, the castle, the boats, at sunset pointe, etc. The only downside was DF forgot his sunglasses in the room and it was so sunny out that he was having a really hard time keeping his eyes open. It was kind of funny but I hope the pictures turned out ok. During the shoot me and DF kept laughing about being in the 80 degree sunshine and hearing Christmas music playing! It was strange! After the shoot we jumped on the monorail to Epcot and went on a few rides before heading back to the hotel. We figured we should take advantage of the sunshine and warmth while it lasted, which turned out to be a great decision since this was by far the nicest day. We swan and hung out by the pool, got lunch and a few drinks. That night we headed to DHS, went on Tower of Terror, and then headed over to the Osbourne Spectacle of lights, which was AMAZING!!!! This was by the far the best thing we did the whole time we were there. It was seriously awesome! It "snowed", the lights danced, and it was just beautiful. When we finally tared ourselves away we had time for another few rides before heading over to FW for the Hoop-De-Doo. We decided to skip Fantasmic as we have seen it many times and the line was super long an hour before the show was set to start. Dinner was good but I was practically falling asleep towards the end (it was the 9:30 show).

Here are a few pictures from Friday, more to come on the trip soon!

The POP

DHS

Hoop-De-Doo Revue

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Continuing on with the TR...

On Saturday we woke up early and met with Luther Kistler at our hotel. He was AMAZING! I am so happy we chose him! He is so friendly and seems like such a great person! DF loved him as well! After meeting with him, we realized it was pouring rain so we went back to the room for a nap When we decided to finally get up around 1:00 it had just stopped raining! Yay! We headed to Animal Kingdom where we literally walked on everything as I think most people went to the park early and left midday because they were soaked. We saw the Jingle Jammin Jungle parade which was ok. It worked well as we got lunch from Flame Tree BBQ and while eating there realized we could see the parade perfect, so we had some great seats! That night we went to DTD and ate at T-REX which was soooo crowded. It was neat in there, the food was what you would expect. I wanted to do Characters in Flight but it was super fogy out that night so we decided to skip it. We did a little shopping where I got my bride ears and a few ornaments, and then headed over to the Boardwalk to check out ADH at night. It was awesome in there. I'm so glad we decided to go and see it during club hours because it allowed us to visualize what it would look like during the reception. After this we went back to the hotel to go to bed.
I won't post our pictures from AK and DTD as I'm sure all of you have the same shots lol. One thing we decided to do this trip was not take a million picture of the same shots we have 12 of at home. However, here is one of my bride ears and other wedding related souviners!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Sunday: We woke up and headed to Crystal Palace for breakfast, it was good but IMO very overpriced, and after this trip I think I have pretty much ruled out all buffets due to price and the small amount me and DF can eat in one sitting. We spent some time in MK and then headed back to the hotel in the afternoon for a break. We then went to Epcot and had dinner at Biergarten, again very good and the atmosphere was awesome, but it was really expensive. We had the dinner package for the candlelight processional which I really enjoyed but DF wasn't to thrilled with it. We then watched illuminations from UK lower where our rehearsal DP will be and I loved it there! This was the one day we spent a lot of time in the parks and didn't do too much wedding planning.

Crystal Palace

Magic Kingdom and the Toy Soldiers!

Biergarten

Candlelight Processional

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Happy New Year!!!!!

Monday: This was our planning session day. Sunday night DF started not feeling well and that night he had a really high temperature. Monday morning he was still not feeling well so I was just hoping he would make it through the day. We were a little late arriving for our planning session due to DF being sick and having to transfer at MK before getting to the GF. When we arrived we met with Amy and she is great! We walked over to the WP to see that right away as there was a 2:00 wedding that day. We loved it, as I knew we would. I couldn't believe how awesome you could see the castle through the window! Pictures deff. don't do it justice! I had a bunch of questions, but she started by going through the whole time line of the day, and by the end of it she had answered almost all my questions. We have a lot to think about now after meeting with her as we may be changing a few things as she suggested. After going through the time line for the day we did the cake tasting. Let me just say they seem so organized (or at least Amy does). It sounds like they have the timing for everything so perfectly lined out and I'm hoping it all goes as smooth as it sounds! We actually agreed on the cake flavors pretty easily, we will be doing: Red Velvet cake with cream cheese filling, and Almond cake with Amaretto frosting. They were so yummy! Next with met with our florist, Warren, who was so great! This is one area where we are really on a budget and he was so great to work with helping us figure out how to get what we wanted and still stick to our budget. After this we had a little break before the tasting, so we headed over to the GF to see some of the Christmas decorations, and then over to the Wilderness Lodge to go swimming.

Next up: The tasting session!

 

[DVC Bride 2011]

Loving your TR so far! Was the red velvet cake good? I forgot to request that at our tasting. Biergarten looks like it was a lot of fun! Time is flying by - June will be here before you know it!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Loving your TR so far! Was the red velvet cake good? I forgot to request that at our tasting. Biergarten looks like it was a lot of fun! Time is flying by - June will be here before you know it!

Thanks! The red velvet cake was really good, especially with the cream cheese filling! DF was actually the one who wanted to taste it, and the one who really liked it. Amy said that it is a common cake at weddings in the south. Time is deff. flying by!

So the menu tasting was probably the best thing we did while in Disney, (with the possible exception of the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights, which was amazing!) We arrived at the Boardwalk conference center a few minutes late, again! I seriously felt so bad, curse Disney transportation! Amy said not to worry, and we entered a portioned off section of one of the ballrooms. There was a table all set up with napkins in different folds, and we chose the pocket fold. On the table was also a mini version of the cheese and cracker display. Amy and the chef sat down with us, and we were offered a drink and introduced to all the staff. The chef explained the process of everything and how everything would be set up the day of the wedding while we munched on the cracker and cheese display, which was amazing! I am so happy we went with this, at first I was afraid it wouldn't be substantial enough, but it was awesome, way more than just some crackers and cheese!

After this we headed up to the "buffet." It was so great that they actually had a mini buffet set up just like it will be the day of the wedding. It allowed us to see how everything would actually be presented. They even had a man and woman dressed in the chef outfits (including the hats!) at our carving station. We started with the fajita station which will be at our rehearsal dinner/dessert party in Epcot. This was amazing, way better than what I was envisioning, and very substantial.

Next we tried the potato bar, the chicken with apple wood smoked bacon, the turkey with cranberry, and the carved beef with sweet onion sauce. I was extremely happy with the presentation of everything, especially the potatoes, which will be served in blue martini glasses the day of the wedding, and they were sooo yummy! The chicken was also amazing! The turkey was good, but since we had to eliminate one of the three meats, we decided this was the one to cut, mostly based on the fact that we are having a June wedding and I just don't think it would go that great with our seafood and other items! The beef was the only thing we tasted all day that I wasn't totally in love with. It wasn't bad, just not great. However I think many people will like it, and I deff. wanted to include one type of beef. I also like the fact that they will be actually carving it for the guests. I was also happy to hear that they have two made, one with seasoning, and one without, since the seasoning is a little spicy. They also informed us they will cook the beef medium rare, but be able to cook it a little more for anyone who wanted it more well done, awesome! Seems like they have thought of everything!

Potato Bar... my fav!

Chicken, very, very good!

Beef

Turkey

Lastly, we tried a couple desserts that will be served at the DP the night before the wedding. We tasted the pistachio cannoli and the warm chocolate banana torte with rum glaze. I thought these were both AMAZING! DF thought they were ok, but he doesn't like sweets.

Doing the menu tasting was such a great experience! It really gave us a feel for what the day will be like. We felt very pampered, although a little bad about all the food that was wasted! After the tasting me and DF both agreed that it was deff. a great decision to come down and do the Planning Session in person, not only because we got to meet Amy, the Chef, try every thing, and see our locations, but we also got to meet our photographer and become comfortable with him, as well as our officiant. I would highly recommend for future brides, if at all possible, to do their PS in person.

After we left the tasting, we decided to hang out around the boardwalk, which is quickly becoming my favorite area of WDW, I wish we could stay somewhere around here in June, but we are already set on GF and WL. We walked over to the Y&B club, and checked out the x-mas stuff, then relaxed on the beach. Next we headed over to the Swan and Dolphin and spent some time relaxing by the pool there and walking the grounds (my sister wants to stay here in June, so I got a bunch of pictures for her.) We had ADR's for Jiko, but realized that wasn't very good planning since we were so full from the tasting, so decided to skip them. We will deff. be doing Jiko in June, as this was the place I was most looking forward to eating at this trip. At night we headed back into MK to see the castle lit up and Holiday wishes. It was so crowded! We could see the Christmas week crowds were all arriving. We left right after wishes, even though there were EMH till 3am.

ADH from the Y&B club

Christmas at the Y&B club

Swan and Dolphin

Another ADH pic from the boat dock at Swan and Dolphin (I need to get the inside ADH pic's off DF's phone, as I didn't bring my camera that night.)

The beautiful castle!

 

[lzimm13]

OH! all your food looks so great!! I agree the tasting was such an awesome experience! I can definately vouch for the whole "feeling pampered" thing although we didn't have a whole buffet set up!

Is that your Banana rum torte on the right? We tasted that as well but it did not look like that at all! lol ours was like a bundt cake with the rum glaze poured over top the individual slices! I'm interested to try your chef's version! lol

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

OH! all your food looks so great!! I agree the tasting was such an awesome experience! I can definately vouch for the whole "feeling pampered" thing although we didn't have a whole buffet set up!


Is that your Banana rum torte on the right? We tasted that as well but it did not look like that at all! lol ours was like a bundt cake with the rum glaze poured over top the individual slices! I'm interested to try your chef's version! lol

Yes, that is the banana rum torte on the right, however, the chef did tell us that it might vary slightly because we tasted these at the Boardwalk and they will not be the one's catering our DP, it will be Epcot. Although they did mention they could make them and send them over to the Epcot catering company if we wanted. Was yours good? I don't think a banana rum torte could be bad no matter where it comes from!

 

[lzimm13]

It was delicious! I was a little disappointed when I saw it because I expecting something exactly like what you have but as soon as I tasted it I was sold! The glaze practically numbed the inside of my mouth! lol We added it as dessert for our welcome party

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

It was delicious! I was a little disappointed when I saw it because I expecting something exactly like what you have but as soon as I tasted it I was sold! The glaze practically numbed the inside of my mouth! lol We added it as dessert for our welcome party

Glad to hear! As long as it tasted good, that's all that matters to me lol!

I'm going to attempt to finish up my TR because I have actually been very productive lately and want to share what I have gotten done!

So Tuesday was the day we were leaving. We still had not been on our top three must see attractions, (Soarin, Rockin Roller Coaster, and Toy Story Mania) so we had a master plan devised. We decided to wake up super early, check out, print our boarding passes, and check our luggage at the POP. BTW I love this service! So we went to get in line for the bus for Epcot, which was soooo long, I think partly because there were EMH there, and the Christmas crowds. Our goal was to get there at 8 right when the park opened, but because we had to wait for like 3 buses to come, that didn't happen. As soon as we got there we ran to Soarin, fast passes were already gone for the first few hours of the day, and since we had to leave at 12:45, that wouldn't work. The wait time said 45 minutes, and we decided to take our chances! The line wasn't actually that bad and we got on in about 30. After Soarin, our plan was to get to DHS by 9:00 when it opened, so we could get a FP for Toy Story Mania, and then head to Rockin Roller Coaster. Well, since we had to wait in line for Soarin for so long, we didn't end up getting to DHS until about 9:45. We rant o Toy Story Mania, and the fast pass return was for 7:00-8:00 at night already! The park had only been open 45 min! Frustrated, we headed over to Rockin Roller Coaster and the wait was 120 minutes long, with a fast pass return in between 3:00-4:00! So we didn't get on either of those rides, which I was not too happy about, especially since we have never been on Toy Story Mania. I'm really glad we will be back in June. We ended up doing a few other rides at DHS before grabbing lunch and heading back to the hotel to catch the Magical Express. Security was a little long at the airport, but our flight into JFK went smooth. My uncle works in a food distribution to all the major airports, and especially JFK, so since we had a 3 hour layover he arranged for a manager to come and meet us at the gate and take us to one of the restaurants for dinner and some drinks on the house. It was very nice! They had I-pads at the tables, so we checked our flight status, and it was delayed. Great. DF had to work at 7am, and we already weren't supposed to land back in Buffalo until after 11:00pm. We head over to the gate and the flight at out gate isn't even the one to Buffalo, it is going t Chicago! Then they make an announcement that they are overbooked and need some people to stay back and fly out in the am. Well, at this point it is already like 11:30 at night, so me and DF offer to stay back. They were going to give us a free hotel for the night, a can to take us there and back to the airport in the morning, and an 8am flight out, plus $200 each toward airfare in the future, which we really could have used for our honeymoon. Suddenly then they don't need anyone to stay back anymore, so we ended up getting bumped up to first class, which was nice, but we still didn't end up getting home until after 1:00am. Oh and I forgot to mention, when we FINALLY boarded the plane, we sat at the gate for like 45min. because they had to switch crews since the current crew had been flying for like 24 hours straight, sounds safe right? I had been warned about JFK and now I know it's true, hopefully we don't have to fly through there again!

So overall the trip was great, we got so much done in terms of wedding planning, and I am so happy we decided to go down there rather than do the PS over the phone. However, we deff. had some bumps in the road, and I am glad we learned some things so I can plan better for our June trip. As much fun as it was going around Christmas time, I don't think I would do it again, at least not for a while. I was so nervous about flying due to weather, the crowds were bad (well, not really the first few days, but towards the end of the trip they were horrible!), and when we got home we were so tired but had so much to do with Christmas being in a few days.

Some things I will better plan for in June are;
No buffets! They were all way too expensive for what we ate!
Not so many ADR's... DF complained about spending too much time eating and I have to agree, for June I think we will mostly do only 1 ADR a day for dinner, and try to keep table service meals to a minimum.
More relaxing time.... DF also complained about too much going, going, going, although I think I was better trip than others past about keeping our time in the parks minimal. Keeping him happy keeps me happy though, so for June I am planning even less time in the parks and more time taking it easy.
And lastly, although this isn't an issue for June, in future trips I think it would be much more worth saving money eating at a lot of pricey restaurants, and use that money to stay in a nicer hotel. Neither of us were particularly thrilled with POP, and although we did love All Star Movies, and think from now on we will try to stay in at least a moderate.

Well that's my mini TR! I will update soon with some things I have been working on!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

So, as I mentioned, I have been busy since we have gotten back from Disney. I am ALMOST done with the invitations and hoping to mail them out on Monday. here is what they look like: (They were a lot of work!)

Also, I am making all of the personal floral for the wedding to cut costs. So far I have gotten my bouquet done. Here it is!