Arlise & John's Adventure Up! 06.09.12 NJ - Save the dates & new invitation design!

[DoomBuggy0922]

YAY!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

And, also, I realized I was a dummy and forgot you were having the reception in Epcot so you couldn't have an outside photographer. I'm sorry!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

YAY!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

And, also, I realized I was a dummy and forgot you were having the reception in Epcot so you couldn't have an outside photographer. I'm sorry!

Thanks!!!

No worries... My DF's favorite park is Epcot, and I do think it has the most sophistication combined with Disney which is I am looking for. When I saw the reception area at the LS i was in love! :0) I will write a post about my site visit etc.

 

[librarygeek]

Congrats on getting the times you wanted! They do sound like good times to have all of your events, so it should work out very nicely. The Living Seas looks like a gorgeous place to have a wedding, so I'm glad you picked it! I'm sure it will be lovely!

 

[kmg148]

Arlise you need to update!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Hello hello hello,

I am back! The past couple of months have been so difficult! first my gram, then so much drama caused by her passing. It was horrible, my family will never again be the same, but that is how life goes some times. Im okay with it but its just aggravating.

Then July 3rd my friend's family were the victims of a shooting in their house. Her mother is dead as is her cousin which was more like her brother. her father who she doesnt get a long with will survive. She was suppose to be there, but ended up not going!

Since then i have been fairly depressed. I haven't been able to be there for my friend because i have been depressed, and then i feel ashamed that i havent been there for her so i retreated more.

To add to that, John and I had our engagement party on the 16th of July it went awesome... but that was such a stressor on me! I will probably post about our engagement party and share some photos with you because that is a post all in to itself. Our landscaping is a whole blog all to itself as well. Has anyone else had bad experience with landscapers???

Also, I am planning on getting my masters in Occupational Therapy, I start my pre-reqs for it in the fall and i have been working on getting that set up.

Then most recently our plumbing went again... its been pretty bad for a while now. John already had one clean out replaced a couple years ago. But now the other one needed it. So that was a bunch of money out the door. But damn did it need it. I can not wait to show you pictures of what our pipe looked like. TREES ARE KILLERS OF METAL PIPES!

Well that is a recap of why i have been such a bad disney bride...

oh but wait here is the kicker of all of the news, the one most pertinent to this board... our wedding date is changing because of the possibility of me being in my masters program next fall! but i have to wait till i hear from my sister about if she is pregnant to finalize on the new date!

Boy oh boy do i need a group hug right about now. do you guys still love me? LOL

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Sorry to hear you have so much stress in your life! <3 I hope everything settles down soon.

I am, however, looking forward to hearing about your engagement party! I wish we had had one.

And good luck with graduate school applications! Those things are a pain in the buttttttttttttttttt.

 

[librarygeek]

Sorry to hear you and your family have been going through so much. That is truly awful about your friend's family, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.

However, I hope that your engagement party was a good time, even if it was a little stressful! Definitely looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing about it!

And good luck with your master's program. I'm in the middle of mine right now, so it is possible to plan a wedding and get your master's at the same time!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Well fellow Dis- brides and grooms... it has been MONTHS since I last posted! I have missed you all very much.

Here are 2 MAJOR changes to the wedding now:
Location: was to be at : Epcot ... now will be in : NJ
Date: was to be : 10.11.12 ... now will be : 06.09.12

So these are the reasons I didn't post. I was fairly embarrassed, that I changed my venue from WDW to NJ so close to when I was suppose to sign the contract. I am sure most if not all of you would have been supportive, but I was just so upset with myself I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it with my other lovely brides here.

Why the major changes?
Location:
honestly, everyone in my family kept telling me that I should do what I really wanted to do with my wedding. Have it where I want to have it. And of course I really wanted to have it at Disney World. So as you all saw we got really far with the planning of it. But as the time grew closer to us signing the contract, I literally could not sleep at night. I was so worried that come the 6month mark when we would go down and plan everything... that the costs would become more then initially anticipated and that either a) my parents would say... sorry we simply can't pay for this and we would not be able to invite people or have to change other things that I would have wanted... or b) that they would go into debt because of this.

I just couldn't have that on my head... it didn't make sense to me to put myself through that worry and put my parents through an expense they seemingly don't have.

Also, my sister has been trying to get pregnant, so there was that issue too. If she was pregnant or had just given birth when we were getting married down in WDW she wouldn't have been able to be there. And, I can not see myself getting married without my big sissy!

So, I called of the Big Disney Wedding and we booked the hall we had looked at here in NJ. which I love btw! its just not Disney...

Date:
well, the date change had to do with my school. I am applying for entrance to an Occupational Therapy Masters Program, for fall 2012. If (lets all hope) i get in, I wouldn't have been able to properly have my wedding and have a honeymoon. It wouldn't have worked real well! LOL

So that is pretty much why I disappeared for a couple months...

well that and I have been very busy with per-requisite courses that I am currently taking.

I can't wait to show you all pictures of our engagement party (though the ones of me and john are not flattering at all!

I also am excited to show you a picture of the dress i picked out, and the dress for the girls.

I'm wondering if anyone wants to give their opinion on invitations? If so I'll post the choices we have in mind but can't figure which one.

Im so happy to be back here ... hopefully my posts will be interesting enough for some of you to keep reading! LOL ;-)

 

[librarygeek]

So glad to see you back, I missed hearing about your plans!! I totally understand why you changed to an at-home wedding. Even though Disney would be unique and special, I felt the convenience of an at-home wedding outweighed the Disney factor. I knew more of my family and friends would be there in NY and that was more important to me than everything else. Especially with your sister's situation it sounds like you made the right choice.

Good luck on getting into your master's program!

I can't wait to see pictures of the dresses! And if you want opinions on the invites definitely post them, I'll be glad to share my thoughts

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Yay you're back!

It's nice to see you back here, you made a big choice in changing venue and I think you've made the right one. Your wedding will be special no matter where you have it and your sister will be there

Can't wait to see pics of your engagemtn party and your dresses. Whatever your future plans are I'll look forward to seeing them. xx

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Thanks ladies! I can always count on having support here. I am not use to that from my peers so its nice to have and thank you!

Well, at the moment I am in the midst of studying about bones, joints, muscles and the nervous system! Any one for some Lactic Acid Fermentation?! LOL....

I thought I would take a little break and post a quick note to my friends here...

So invitations: the ones I have found are not fancy or pocket folds or anything .. super cheap $1.00 for both the invite and matching response card! Which makes me love them a lot! We were originally going to do our own invitations but its just too much work for us. Between me and my ADD and John and desire to not do anything unless it will be perfect we would never get DIY invites done!

so here are the two invitations that we are choosing between. i think we are liking the second one better... and I think I will use the other one as menus for the reception.

Which one do you like?

 

[mebbradley]

Thanks ladies! I can always count on having support here. I am not use to that from my peers so its nice to have and thank you!

Well, at the moment I am in the midst of studying about bones, joints, muscles and the nervous system! Any one for some Lactic Acid Fermentation?! LOL....

I thought I would take a little break and post a quick note to my friends here...

So invitations: the ones I have found are not fancy or pocket folds or anything .. super cheap $1.00 for both the invite and matching response card! Which makes me love them a lot! We were originally going to do our own invitations but its just too much work for us. Between me and my ADD and John and desire to not do anything unless it will be perfect we would never get DIY invites done!

so here are the two invitations that we are choosing between. i think we are liking the second one better... and I think I will use the other one as menus for the reception.

Which one do you like?

Welcome back! Still look forward to following your plans!

I love the first one!

 

[librarygeek]

I like the second one better - it's stunning and the colors are fantastic! I agree that the first one would make a good menu option though.

 

[MrsDuck]

I just read through your PJ! You two are so sweet and I love how important UP is to you!

I like the second invite-- much more whimsical!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Responses:

I like the second one better - it's stunning and the colors are fantastic! I agree that the first one would make a good menu option though.

Becky, I am glad you agree. I have to see if I even need menus, I would like them though. Ever since I was a little girl I loved having a beautifully set dinner table! Oh and Becky, I have been catching up on your PJ ... just one thing I wanted to say real quick. LOVE your dress you looked amazing!

I just read through your PJ! You two are so sweet and I love how important UP is to you!

I like the second invite-- much more whimsical!

Welcome Faith, aka Mrs. Duck! Thanks for reading. I have started to read your PJ still need to finish it. I am so glad you went with the dress you did... it looks amazing on you. I liked that one the best out of all the ones you tried on too!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! Hope all of your thanksgivings were wonderful, filled with good food, good company and lots of love.

So our engagement party was in July of this year. It was really a joint Birthday, House warming and engagement party. John's Birthday is in July and mine is in August so we sort of split the different and had the big event in the middle of July.

It wasn't anything fancy, just a backyard BBQ with our friends and my family. John's family is really hard to get together in fact most of them wont be able to come to the wedding it looks like. (that is another story for another post)

We had so much food, i prepped all the food the morning and day before. We had chicken, shrimp, veggie burgers, turkey burgers, sirloin burgers, turkey and beef hot dogs... all different kinds of dips and chips etc etc etc. My cousin was nice enough to do all the BBQing which made it nice for John and I to enjoy the company.

John and I were still eating the food well into the fall. John is still eating the last of the sirloin burgers... which at this point I find to be kinda gross but John can eat pretty much anything and doesn't like to waste food. So I just say "good luck!" and let him do what he wants!


At that point we still were expecting to get married in WDW, so my mom and dad had made us a castle cake! It was so cute I loved it so much. They made a bunch of rings out of white chocolate and put it all around the front of the castle. John and I also got another cake from Costco. I wanted to have a vanilla cake since the one my parents were making was going to be chocolate. (John is vanilla and I am chocolate! )

The Drama of this Party (because what in life doesn't have drama! ) :
So we had hired a landscaper to try to get the outside of the house looking decent for the party. Well he came cheap, he did a bunch of stuff, but definitely didn't do what I thought we had agreed on, and took much longer. Our backyard was entirely weeds and so he sprayed it all down, and he was suppose to lay seed down a at least a week or so before the party so the seeds could take hold. Well in the end he didn't finish nearly in time to do any of that and said that to lay the seeds down it would cost more money! Then on top of that, he was trimming our trees etc. and would lay all the debree out in front of our house... I must have asked the dude 3 times if that was okay to do. He just kept saying "yea of course the town will take it, and if they don't no worries, I will take care of it!"... well after he had finally left, the town came by one day and said if we dont get rid of it soon, that we will get fined. So, when I called and told the landscaper about it, he started complaining about the town and then said he would take it but would have to charge me for renting a u-haul to take it away in and a day-labor's fees. What a douche!

but the house looked much better for the party and the little kids seemed to enjoy running around in the back yard so I was happy!

The best present was one of our friends playing the banjo for us. I love to hear him play and his voice is amazing! I especially enjoyed the crowd that stayed later into the night and we got to light up our tikki torches and party lights. My closest cousin and her family stayed along with some close friends. We had great conversations and lots of laughs.

Here are some photos of the day, hope you enjoy them. I think its time for me to get some sleep. We had one crazy Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Can't wait to tell you all about it! Till next time... keep smiling!

The Photos:

The house cleaned up outside for the party .... we got roses planted outside.

The backyard set up...

The Cakes:

Food out on the table, people began to show up and have a good time.

John and I cutting the cake, not one is a great shot but its all good because the cakes were great!

Me and my niece listening to some good banjo playing!

Shot of backyard at night with the lights:

And the aftermath of the party, the next day:

 

[librarygeek]

I love that castle cake you had at your engagement party, it is so cute!! Too bad about the landscaper being such a jerk though, I can't believe he wouldn't know of the proper way to dispose of that stuff and then tries to charge you extra for it! But at least you got it done. We also did a backyard BBQ for our engagement party - well, it was supposed to be in the backyard but it ended being over 100 degrees that day so we all stayed inside in the AC! I liked having a more relaxed sort of thing though. I also think that the lights in the backyard that you had on at night looked really cool

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

I love that castle cake you had at your engagement party, it is so cute!! Too bad about the landscaper being such a jerk though, I can't believe he wouldn't know of the proper way to dispose of that stuff and then tries to charge you extra for it! But at least you got it done. We also did a backyard BBQ for our engagement party - well, it was supposed to be in the backyard but it ended being over 100 degrees that day so we all stayed inside in the AC! I liked having a more relaxed sort of thing though. I also think that the lights in the backyard that you had on at night looked really cool

Yeah, the party was a lot of fun... and the landscaper was an ars but such is life i guess. We still got a good deal for what he did do. Yeah, if it was that hot I think we would have moved inside too! I'm looking forward to putting the lights up again this coming summer but I can wait because Christmas is nearly here!

**********

So on to the big news for today! I got accepted into the Disney College Internship Program for Spring 2012! I applied about 3 weeks ago on a bit of a whim not thinking i would necessarily get in. but I have! And I am thrilled that I did but now i have to figure out if I can go or not.

Things I need to think about:
* The wedding (obviously) :
- dress fittings, bridal shower, bachlorette party, sending out invitations all the small detail things
* School:
- I would have to come back up for interviews (pending I get any) for entrance into Occupational Therapy Masters Program, and i would need to complete my pre-req courses split online in spring and one or two during the summer
* leaving John for that long:
- We are okay to be separated for that long, his parents did it and continue to do so, I know that we can... but it will be difficult. Plus... honestly Im worried about our home! LOL.... will it be kept up! well i know it wont cause lets face it he is a bachelor at heart. But i just hope that when I get home (if I do accept it) that there are not a thousand dishes everywhere and that the house doesn't look like a garage sale! LOL

I think that is all for now, I know I was going to post about black Friday but I think this takes precedence!

I MEAN COMMON' I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE DISNEY COLLEGE INTERNSHIP!!!!

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

So I have a quick question to pose to all of you here at the boards ... that actually read my sillie journal....

I am planning on giving out ellie badges to all of my guests as a thank you gift.
But I cant decide if i want to give them out as pins or as a magnet for them to put on their fridge. I feel like they will get more use out of them if they are magnets, but will that take away from the "ellie badge"-ness of it?

I just thought as a magnet, I could attach them to a piece that said :

For always being there for us and for performing above and beyond the duty; we would like to award you the highest honor we can bestow .... “The Ellie Badge”
Arlise and John’s Wedding
06.09.12


Any thoughts? What would you prefer as a Disney person and then as someone who has never seen the movie (which will be a lot of our guests).

 

[Ellie_N_Carl]

Hi everyone!!

Well I thought i had finally decided on my invitations but then when i was looking for our signature book i stumbled upon this awesome save the date!

And once i stumbled upon them i took at look at the shop just for fun and found these beautiful invitations. I am going to work with the owner of the shop to alter the invitations to look just a little more vintage 40s art deco. and use our colors. But I LOVE THEM!

so... what do you think??? better then the previous choice or do you like the other one?