April & Bob's PJ: 2/3/2009 Lots of updates!

[nja33]

Hey all! DF's currently home sick so I thought I'd get started on my PJ. I've been lurking around here for a while and I've loved everyone's PJ's so I thought I'd do my own. I warn you, I have a tendancy to be long winded and ramble. I also use the word 'so' a lot. So I hope you don't mind.

The Bride: April, 21
The Groom: Bob, 27

How we met and got together: I'll try to give the short version. November of last year I got a job at the store where DF is an assistant manager. When I first started he was working nights while I was working days. I don't consider us having officially met until New Year's Day, 2007, as that's when we had our first conversation. So, I ended up being kept on as a regular employee instead of just seasonal and DF and I started a friendship. Slowly, I began to crush but I obviously didn't want to do anything as he was my boss. March 2, 2007, I was having a bad day and DF spent the day trying to cheer me up. As my shift was ending and I was on my way out, I gave DF one last hug and that's when it almost happened. We almost kissed. I immediately texted our mutual friend who was back at school and told her all about it. I honestly didn't expect anything to happen but he apparently got a drunken phone call that night from said friend demanding to know what was going on.

Fast forward to the next morning when DF and I are e-mailing each other and he asks if I'm working that night. I wasn't but I had to go in to see a friend whom I hadn't seen in a few days. He said he needed to ask me something when I got there. I was pretty certain I knew the question already so I made sure to look extra cute that night. Upon my arrivial at the store, I found him, and we talked for a while before he led me over to where the cameras couldn't catch us (smart man) and kissed me. Then he asked me to be his girlfriend. I've pretty much been in love since.

The Proposal: We've been discussing marriage for a while and honestly if I had my way we'd be married already. But DF wanted to do it the "right way" and wait until it was appropriate. We went and picked out my ring together as I'm extremely picky about everything and he proposed on Christmas Day. I knew the proposal was coming as he kinda freaked out the day before when I told him I would be driving to my aunt's. I forgot the ring was in his car.

Anyway, that afternoon he arrived at my house about an hour before we're supposed to go to my aunt's for dinner and we began exchanging gifts. He had wrapped mine all in one box and as I'm going through it he's getting impatient and wants nothing to do with his gifts. I finally find the jewelry box and pull it open. It was a sapphire and diamond necklace and I made the comment that it matched my ring. At which point he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out the ring and asks me to marry him. I cried and of course said yes.

This is the ring. It's not a traditional engagement ring but after I tried on a few different ones I realized I couldn't wear anything with any amount of height to it.

 

[Pomlover2586]

Great start! But i'd love to see pics of you and DF! BTW LOVE the ring!

 

[nja33]

So we've been engaged for a week and I'm already ready to rip my hair out. The same day DF and I got engaged DB and his GF got engaged and told our parents first. I kept my mouth shut and waited until we arrived home from dinner that night. At which point my mom immediately started looking at Disney weddings. I told her from the beginning I didn't even want a wedding to begin with but if she and my father wanted to pay for a Disney wedding, I was not going to stop them. Here's my problem, I hate being the center of attention so having a wedding is not at the top of my list. I'd be perfectly happy if DF and our 2 best friends flew to Vegas so we could elope. It would kill my mother though and I'm pretty sure my father knows I wouldn't hesitate to do it. Which is why when I told him how much a custom wedding for 50 people would cost (I used the wish book and it would cost approximately what a decent wedding in NJ for 100 people would be) , he volunteered to pay for an intimate wedding. Woo hoo

Picking a date was easy for me. At least at first. I wanted to get married on our anniversary and it seemed to be a good date for everyone. Until I realized that March 3 is peak season. So then I start searching for a new date. I knew I don't want to wait much longer than that as I'm not a patient person and it's hard enough being slightly more than a year out. So I started looking in early Feb/late Jan. Peak season starts right before Presidents' Weekend so I knew anything after that was out. DB's birthday is in late January, and DF has inventory in mid Jan so his vacation time can't start until after the 15th. Then I had to factor in the marathon and MLK Jr. Weekend.

After much stress (I stress very easily) I think I've settled on January 20, 2009. I asked my best friend if the date would work for her and she said it was fine so that's all that matters now. DF is taking that same week off this year so I know he won't have a problem getting it off next year. Obviously my ticker is wrong as I made it before the new date and I tried to make a new one but it wouldn't let me. (Apparently it fixed itself) So I'm 385 days out currently and suddenly realizing how much planning actually goes into a wedding. Even if it is one with only 18 people.

My current plans for the ceremony and dinner afterwards are the WP and Yachtsman Steakhouse. Preferably with a 5pm ceremony. I want to stay at the Poly for the 4 nights after the wedding and DF and I will probably drive down. I'm sure most of that will change as DF and I are going to fly down for a night (yes, one night) during his week off and take a look at the ceremony sites. I've seen pictures of all of them but unless I go down and see them I know I'm not going to be happy. Not to mention my mother doesn't love the fact that I'm not having a big wedding at home and is going to be inviting the entire family down for the dinner. We'll see how that goes.

Woo, I think I'm going to check up on DF and watch some TV. I'll try to find a picture of DF and I, if anyone's interested, for next time. As well as pictures of my dream dress.

 

[helloirishkitty]

honestly if I had my way we'd be married already.

This is exactly how it is with my DF and I!

I heart your ring, you're my age and my Df is your DF's age!
And your wedding is 23 days before mine! Yay for '09 brides!

 

[nja33]

Great start! But i'd love to see pics of you and DF! BTW LOVE the ring!

Thank you! I'll try to find some pics. We actually don't have any of us together. I don't think. Maybe one our friend took on my 21st birthday but I always think I look horrible in the them so they don't happen often. I jokingly gave DF a list of rules in the beginning of our relationship and one of them was 'There will never be pics of us together.'

This is exactly how it is with my DF and I!

I heart your ring, you're my age and my Df is your DF's age!
And your wedding is 23 days before mine! Yay for '09 brides!

Yay for '09! And yay, no more saying we're getting married in '09. We get to say NEXT YEAR! (Not that I've been saying '09 much, but you know what I mean. LOL) And that's too funny about the ages. When's your birthday? I'll be 22 in March.

 

[helloirishkitty]

We get to say NEXT YEAR!

I've been practicing that all day! lol. I went to a hockey game and ran into some people from high school and I was so excited to say "I'm getting married next year!"

I'll be 22 in May, DF will be 28 in March.

 

[nja33]

I've been practicing that all day! lol. I went to a hockey game and ran into some people from high school and I was so excited to say "I'm getting married next year!"

I'll be 22 in May, DF will be 28 in March.

That's too funny. DF's birthday is in May.

 

[nja33]

Picture time! I don't have any pictures of DF and I together but I do have individual ones of us.

So here's me:

The picture is from August of '05 but I haven't changed much. Just subtract the tan and about 10lbs, and add some reddish brown hair and that's me.

DF:

It's unfortunately the only one I have but you get the idea. I don't know why the heck this is so big. I've tried resizing it. Ugh. Oh well.

And now my dream dress. I found it months ago and have been dreaming of it ever since:

It's by Watters and I have no idea how much it costs but I've already told DF if I can't get it I'm going to cry. I love the whole look of it, veil and all.

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

CONGRATS!!!
& welcome to the boards!!!

your ring is SO pretty!!!

I had my "reception" dinner at Yachtmans Steakhouse!!! It was delcious!!!infact we just went back for our 10yr anniversary!!!!

cant wait to hear more!!!

 

[nja33]

So the date's already changed once. Let's see if we can make it a second time. DF has been desperately looking for a new job. He had an interview on Tuesday with the District Manager and I thought that he would hear something within the week. Apparently they don't technically have an opening yet but are opening new stores. The newest one will open in May about an hour south of where we live. So he won't know for another month if he even has the job. I was so disappointed because my mom has been getting on me about dress shopping and contacting Disney to get the ball rolling. I was hoping he'd get the job, we'd find out when they do inventory (his current store does it around the 15th or so of January), and be able to officially choose our date at that point.

He also found out today that the manager of another store quit. His current manager wants to be transferred there as it's closer to home. Which would leave a spot open for him here. This would mean a promotion and the potential for a VERY significant raise. Unfortunately, he was already passed over for the promotion in September and his current District Manager isn't his number 1 fan. So we don't have high hopes for him actually getting it. Not to mention we're not sure if it's going to be worth it in the long run. The money will be nice but his job has caused so much stress in our relationship.

I know I'm probably worrying for nothing as we both have the worst possible luck ever. However, if he gets the promotion we'd be able to move into our own place, move the date of the wedding up (probably to August since we have to work around my dad's already set vacations), and be able to possibly have a Wishes wedding. So there are so many things that we have to consider before we can even really set a date at this point. It's so frustrating! I just want to have everything set so I can relax a little.

Oh and to make my week even better, I found out the price of my dream dress and it's WAY over my budget. It costs more than the 4 nights at the Poly cost.

Oh and does anyone know if kids under the age of 3 count towards the guest count?

 

[lov2b@disney]

I think they do count to the number of people in your minimum! When I inquired about an escape wedding I have 4 under the age of 3- who dont even need their own seat- I was told they do count!

 

[nja33]

I think they do count to the number of people in your minimum! When I inquired about an escape wedding I have 4 under the age of 3- who dont even need their own seat- I was told they do count!

They don't count towards anything else in Disney but they count for my wedding? GRRR!!! Do they count for a DP? I wouldn't think so since they don't have to pay to get into the park, and he'll probably be asleep, but ya never know with Disney.

 

[pink_tink8i8]

Welcome and congratulations! LOVE your ring!

I'm a DB 2009 too! I've also changed my date several times so I know what that feels like. Disney is a little crazy with the escape wedding maximum guests. I've also heard that if you don't use one of their referred officiants they also count towards your guest maximum.

 

[nja33]

So I haven't updated in over a month and I figured it was about time. Today I called and made the reservations for our wedding week. Currently I have us booked at POFQ just to get something in. I'm hoping, once AP rates and the rates for next year come out, we can upgrade to either BCV or AKL. Speaking of which, I've officially set a date! There's no going back now. We are getting married on February 3, 2009. Well, provided there's availability but trying to be positive and say there is. I did contact DFTW this afternoon and gave them all my info and I'm just waiting to hear back.

I thought I had everything worked out as far as venue goes but I'm second (third, maybe even fourth) guessing myself. Originally I wanted the WP but the extra $1000 isn't worth it to me. Then I wanted Sunset Point. But the max is 8. So SBP it was. Until my mom gave up fighting me on the guest list and told me I could invite whomever I wanted. Woo hoo! This brought me back to the 8 so Sunset Point was back at the top. When I called today, however, I told them I wanted SBP but possibly Sunset. I figured with SBP if Mom and Dad forced me to invite my aunt and her family I'd be okay as far as guest count goes.

When Mom got home I told her she needed to make up her mind that second because I wanted to have a firm answer on venue if I get a call tomorrow. She told me to do whatever I wanted. Which leaves me here. The more I see pictures of SBP the more I like it but I'm having some issues with the fact that it's not very private. I know in the end it won't matter but I HATE being the center of attention. I asked DF his opinion but he, of course, doesn't have one. I can't even force him to sit with me and look at pictures tonight since he's working a 15 hour overnight shift. In the end I think we'll stick with SBP just because the guest list can get larger there. But with Sunset we'd have to change venues and possibly dates depending on when things happened.

So along with my 2 calls to Disney today I began to set up my Honeymoon registry. I wasn't even sure I was going to do one since I'm having an Escape (and no at home reception) but after many talks with my mom and numerous other family members they all decided we should register. So on Sunday DF and I sat on the computer and started our BB&B registry. I really only did the Disney one so I could get the free totebag and I honestly don't expect to get much from either registry so it's mostly just been for fun.

I'm also trying to decide on the colors for the wedding. DF wanted sapphire blue and silver originally. After checking my flower options I nixed that idea and wasn't even going to use blue at all. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it could work. So the plan right now is to have my MOH wear blue and for it to also be the color of the sash on my dress. As well as the main color for our invites. Originally I was going to use red as the accent color. The more I think about it, the more I don't like the idea. I've been thinking orange might be nice and I found a bunch of orange bouquets I like. I'm still not sold on it though. I do know one thing: I don't want any white in the wedding at all. I just feel like white is way too boring for me. Which is why my dress is going to have a sash and I'll probably be wearing a bright colored flat.

Speaking of dresses, I had my first wedding nightmare the other day. I was at a church with a bunch of girls I used to go to school with and I was supposed to be putting on my wedding dress. Except I hadn't bought one yet. All I kept saying was, 'But my wedding's not for a year. I have time'. So I'm taking that as my hint that I need to start getting serious about looking. I was going to go to David's on Monday since Mom had the day off but she ended up going to Atlantic City instead. Oh well. I have time, right? Right?