Ashley and Jeff's Wishes Wedding WP & ADH~12-2-2011~TR Day 6 Reception/Photo gallery

[Ash8716]

We had practically no decor at our DP in Epcot. We had Cindy's coach confetti and that was it and to be honest I don't think anyone noticed! I don't think it's needed as much as in a reception hall because you've got so much going on around you - guests are awed that they are VIPs in the park, plus you've got the scenery, the noise of the park, and then the fireworks show. Also, for our DP, the tables that were set up were smaller than regular tables, and our guests had brought more "stuff" with them - purses, bags, etc (I think because they are in the park they think they need to carry stuff with them!) and all that stuff ended up on the tables. I was really glad in the end that we didn't go crazy on centerpieces or decor because unless you spend a LOT of money and really dress the place up, most of it will be lost on your guests. I think you have a really easy way to cut $$ here without anyone noticing. I hope that makes sense!

Thanks so much for the help! That is so true with the excitement of the park that people aren't going to miss stuff being on tables. I never thought about this. It is great to get perspectives from people who have actually done this stuff. I am going to discuss this with my parents and DF tonight. I think we will probably cut this after hearing your opinions.

 

[Ash8716]

I just wanted to say that we used that table setting for our reception and it was gorgeous! I fell in love with it at Franck's. It will look awesome in ADH. I really thought the crushed linen added a nice touch - it was softer than the usual satin or cotton table coverings.

Great to hear! Makes me feel even better about our decision I too fell in love with it at Francks. I was surprised to see that it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be. I was afraid when we got our BEO it would be crazy expensive. I am so glad we are able to use these, I can't wait to see everything all set up!

 

[Ash8716]

We finally got our invitations from Impressions on Friday! I have been designing these since March with Shelley. I was all over the place with designs trying to get it exactly as I imagine. They came out amazing, I couldn't be happier about them. They are everything I've pictured and Shelley and Amanda were awesome to work with. They did so much for us and I would recommend them to anyone. My parents and I spent Saturday addressing and stuffing the invites this past weekend and we had them in the mail Monday morning! I got a few phone calls and texts from people today letting me know how beautiful they are. I am so excited, things are getting there!

They came packaged so pretty

Me working on the invites!

Bigger picture of the invite


My aunt is also working on my card box for reception. I sent her a picture of one I found on Etsy and asked her if we could do Cinderella's carriage and change the colors. Here is what she came up with, it's just mock up, we have to buy a new box....

 

[Ash8716]

We still haven't made a final decision on our ceremony location. We have always wanted the pavilion but didn't want to deal with the construction. We have gone back and fourth with our planner about this situation Disney has put us in and we are trying to work everything out to make this as magical as we had planned. It does sound like construction has been delayed a bit so now we are back to thinking about the pavilion and canning the marina but what if they pick up the pace up with construction. DFTW has brought on a construction consultant to handle all of the construction questions as it seems the planners are getting a little irritated dealing with all of this, which I can't blame them. It is such a tough decision, one we wish we didn't have to deal with but I would never choose any other place to get married. Hopefully over the next few days we make a final decision so we can move forward planning our wedding. I can't sleep at night thinking about all of this and am I making the right choice. Between my parents and Jeff and I we all seem to have different views on the situation which makes things even harder.

 

[PixieDust1969]

Your invitations and the card box are absolutely beautiful. I love EVERYTHING you have done so far! I definitely feel for you and the decision to make about the WP. If I were to get married at WDW and not on a cruise, I would be having the same dilemma that you are. Wherever you decide to do the wedding I am sure it will be beautiful! I hope they soon let you know what is going on with the WP...you shouldn't have to worry! My fingers are crossed that it works out soon for you!!

 

[belle2211]

We finally got our invitations from Impressions on Friday! I have been designing these since March with Shelley. I was all over the place with designs trying to get it exactly as I imagine. They came out amazing, I couldn't be happier about them. They are everything I've pictured and Shelley and Amanda were awesome to work with. They did so much for us and I would recommend them to anyone. My parents and I spent Saturday addressing and stuffing the invites this past weekend and we had them in the mail Monday morning! I got a few phone calls and texts from people today letting me know how beautiful they are. I am so excited, things are getting there!

They came packaged so pretty

Me working on the invites!

Bigger picture of the invite


My aunt is also working on my card box for reception. I sent her a picture of one I found on Etsy and asked her if we could do Cinderella's carriage and change the colors. Here is what she came up with, it's just mock up, we have to buy a new box....

I LOVE your invites! (probabaly because that's the exact invitation I designed, except mine had fireworks!!). Did Shelley show one like that to you as an example? We loved her, except it was like pulling teeth to get her to let us use that carriage at the bottom!

 

[DVC Bride 2011]

I love your invitations! I wanted to use Shelley so badly, but we only needed a few invites and I couldn't justify spending the money on so few. So glad you are happy with them! I love the card box too.

I really feel for everyone dealing with the construction mess. I can't imagine not knowing what's going to happen, or what it will be like on any given day. I don't know how to help you make a decision...have you always pictured getting married at the pavilion? If so, then I'd say to stick with it. I mean, at least the construction isn't going on IN the pavilion. If you're going to feel like you settled by having the ceremony at the marina, I'd say to stay away from it. Chances are there won't be much noise during your ceremony, and if there is, maybe it will be something to laugh about down the road? I know some people get crazy paranoid about the ceremony wanting everything to be perfect, but there will always be something that doesn't go according to plan. And to be honest, on my wedding day, I was so oblivious to things going on around me and hardly noticed the things that "went wrong." Just some food for thought!

 

[Ash8716]

Your invitations and the card box are absolutely beautiful. I love EVERYTHING you have done so far! I definitely feel for you and the decision to make about the WP. If I were to get married at WDW and not on a cruise, I would be having the same dilemma that you are. Wherever you decide to do the wedding I am sure it will be beautiful! I hope they soon let you know what is going on with the WP...you shouldn't have to worry! My fingers are crossed that it works out soon for you!!

Thank you!! I know everything will turn out in the end, its just hard when you want everything to be perfect and then this gets thrown in there. We are trying to get past this though

I LOVE your invites! (probabaly because that's the exact invitation I designed, except mine had fireworks!!). Did Shelley show one like that to you as an example? We loved her, except it was like pulling teeth to get her to let us use that carriage at the bottom!

Haha I told her what I wanted to do because I really like the long invites but I wanted the tinkerbell castle. Originally I wasn't planning on having the coach at the bottom though. She didn't think that castle was going to look right, I guess we had the same struggle as you had with that carriage! I saw your invite on her facebook page and I told her thats what I was looking for but with a different castle. Shelley was really happy with the way they turned out because she was so unsure when we first started. We played with so many designs before getting this. I guess I can thank you for it

I love your invitations! I wanted to use Shelley so badly, but we only needed a few invites and I couldn't justify spending the money on so few. So glad you are happy with them! I love the card box too.

I really feel for everyone dealing with the construction mess. I can't imagine not knowing what's going to happen, or what it will be like on any given day. I don't know how to help you make a decision...have you always pictured getting married at the pavilion? If so, then I'd say to stick with it. I mean, at least the construction isn't going on IN the pavilion. If you're going to feel like you settled by having the ceremony at the marina, I'd say to stay away from it. Chances are there won't be much noise during your ceremony, and if there is, maybe it will be something to laugh about down the road? I know some people get crazy paranoid about the ceremony wanting everything to be perfect, but there will always be something that doesn't go according to plan. And to be honest, on my wedding day, I was so oblivious to things going on around me and hardly noticed the things that "went wrong." Just some food for thought!

Yes Shelley is expensive but for us it was well worth it. I love what she did and we cut the costs where we could.

Funny thing is I never thought I would get married at the pavilion, I wanted something outside. My mom and dad tried convincing me of the pavilion because the weather can be hit or miss in December. When we went down to look at locations I ended up falling in love with it. So part of me wishes I never even looked at this location but I can't take that back. We have told everyone about how amazing this location is. So now that most of what we described to people is gone, its made things really upsetting. You are so right about the settling part, that is exactly what I would be doing at the marina. I have tried to make everything perfect and I guess at some point I need to stop and realize it is what it is. I am marrying the man of my dreams and that is what really matters. Thanks for the opinions it really helps hearing what other people have to say!

 

[Ash8716]

We finally came to a decision on our ceremony location! We spoke to Shannon who is now in charge of all the construction with dftw. I got the impressions planners don't want to keep answering these questions and deal with the angry brides as they would like to be able to move forward with planning the details of our weddings. I was told anything regarding construction has to go through her now. So anyways I spoke with at the beginning of the week. They have stopped construction until January!!!!! We were still all a bit skeptical but felt much better after going through the details with her. She told us that there will be no cranes, construction building or noise for our wedding. The only thing that will be going on is prep work for the extension of the beach. This is not going to happen until sometime in December. She did not have the date yet but told me it was minor and not worry about it. She also said the wall will stop just before the bridge to the pavilion as it is in the pictures we have all seen. Again sometime in December they will be putting a scrim along the Grand Floridian side of the bridge. This will have a landscaped picture on it too block the construction when it begins. She is working on dates and pictures of this still. I felt much better after hearing this. Df and I have decided we will stick with the pavilion our original plan! From this point on if anything changes we are going to deal with it and let things be. We are only two months away and aren't going to change again if for some reason they end up doing something at the beach. It was a tough decision because we were so unhappy with the way Disney treated the situation but this is where I really want our ceremony to be The marina just doesn't do justice.


On a side note, my shower is tomorrow! I am getting a little nervous I don't like being center of attention. We only have about 40 people which isn't too bad. Most of those people are close family and friends so hopefully I relax once I get there. We registered at Bed and Bath and Crate and Barrel, I can't wait to get see everything we got! Df and I desparetly need new kitchen stuff as we took old stuff from our parents when we got our apartment.

 

[Ash8716]

2 months from today and I will be a married lady!! Kind of scary we still have so much left to do. There are so many little things I didn't think about. I also kept thinking no problem we have plenty of time, well I'm not thinking that now. Time is flying by, its crazy, it will be here before we know it.

I didn't sleep great last night. I'm nervous/anxious about the shower today. It starts at 12 and one of my bridesmaids is picking me up at 10:30 so not much longer!

 

[PixieDust1969]

2 months from today and I will be a married lady!! Kind of scary we still have so much left to do. There are so many little things I didn't think about. I also kept thinking no problem we have plenty of time, well I'm not thinking that now. Time is flying by, its crazy, it will be here before we know it.

I didn't sleep great last night. I'm nervous/anxious about the shower today. It starts at 12 and one of my bridesmaids is picking me up at 10:30 so not much longer!

2 Months! It will fly by! You will have a great time at your shower. I know I was nervous/anxious/excited too and it was fun! Just relax and enjoy your day! Post some pictures so we can see!!

 

[DVC Bride 2011]

We finally came to a decision on our ceremony location! We spoke to Shannon who is now in charge of all the construction with dftw. I got the impressions planners don't want to keep answering these questions and deal with the angry brides as they would like to be able to move forward with planning the details of our weddings. I was told anything regarding construction has to go through her now. So anyways I spoke with at the beginning of the week. They have stopped construction until January!!!!! We were still all a bit skeptical but felt much better after going through the details with her. She told us that there will be no cranes, construction building or noise for our wedding. The only thing that will be going on is prep work for the extension of the beach. This is not going to happen until sometime in December. She did not have the date yet but told me it was minor and not worry about it. She also said the wall will stop just before the bridge to the pavilion as it is in the pictures we have all seen. Again sometime in December they will be putting a scrim along the Grand Floridian side of the bridge. This will have a landscaped picture on it too block the construction when it begins. She is working on dates and pictures of this still. I felt much better after hearing this. Df and I have decided we will stick with the pavilion our original plan! From this point on if anything changes we are going to deal with it and let things be. We are only two months away and aren't going to change again if for some reason they end up doing something at the beach. It was a tough decision because we were so unhappy with the way Disney treated the situation but this is where I really want our ceremony to be The marina just doesn't do justice.

SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! I'm so glad you are comfortable staying at the Pavilion. I kind of sensed from your posts that you weren't really happy with the Marina, so I'm thrilled that you get to stay at the Pavilion. Yay!!

 

[Chilly]

I'm glad you've got it all sorted now. Sounds like they might be getting theri act together now if they've got someone you can talk to. Love the invites and box. Hope you had a fun shower.

 

[Ash8716]

I'm glad you've got it all sorted now. Sounds like they might be getting theri act together now if they've got someone you can talk to. Love the invites and box. Hope you had a fun shower.

Yes it sounds that way. I guess we were just put in the middle of it at the wrong time. If our wedding had been a few months out they probably would have worked all the kinks out and have been ready for the questions!

 

[Ash8716]

I had my shower on Sunday which was great. It wasn't a surprise because I hate surprises. I get nervous being center of attention so I showed up around 11:30 and the guests were going to be there at 12:00. My mom, aunt and bridesmaids had already gotten everything set up. It looked amazing. It was a Cinderella theme to match the wedding. My aunt made the centerpieces and the favors which were beautiful!! I was shocked when I saw it all set up.

These were the centerpieces. Obviously suppose to be the pumpkin that turned into Cinderella's Coach.

This was the favor box that also let people know where to sit.

This was inside the box as the favor They were delicious!!

And this was how she sealed the bag closed.

The cake


We had about 40 people there mostly family and some close friends. Once everyone got there my nerves went down a lot. At first I felt like I was going to be sick so my wonderful sister-in-law got me a much needed drink. It helped! Once we all chatted for a bit the bridesmaids took over and had everyone sit down for lunch and a game. While the food was being brought around the girls passed out a sheet that several questions for each table to answer about me. Each table was suppose to come up with answers and try and make it funny. I got to read each answer and decide on the winning table. The questions were....
1.How did Jeff and I meet ( the winning table put together this awesome fairytale story of the prince coming upon his maiden at the tavern where where we met. It was so funny. It was a paragraph long)
2.If we had seven children what would we name them (every table put the 7 dwarfs)
3.If I ordered a drink at the bar what would it be (minnie mouse martini)
4.What country song best describes our relationship (stealing cinderella)
This table was my cousins and the moms I grew up with in my neighborhood. They had some creative answers!!

The wedding party

My mom, me and my mother-in-law

We grew all grew up together in the same neighborhood. We have been friends for 22 years!

I didn't eat anything because I was so nervous for the gift part of the shower but the food looked good! Once everyone finished their lunch the girls decided it was time to start opening gifts. I just don't understand why it is necessary to open all these gifts in front of everyone lol.

Anyway my mom had talked to all the girls ahead of time to let them know what they had to do as they all had never been in a wedding. Well sure enough the damn maid of honor couldn't do her job. All she had to do was read each card and tell me whose gift I was opening. Instead I had to ask each time who it was from. I felt so stupid up there we started off to slow and then I think it went to fast. My wonderful junior bridesmaid helped me out a lot. She was sitting right next to me opening the gifts and then moving anything that was in my way because nobody else wanted to do that. None the less I was a bit embarrassed and upset by the whole thing. I'm trying not to let it get to me but I have had some other issues with the maid of honor so I wasn't happy. Come to find out all the girls felt so bad but nobody wanted to step on her toes to try and fix things. Everyone said the gifts were great and nobody noticed that it seemed to be a mess up there. Everyone loved the shower and was amazed by everything so that was good. I couldn't believe how many gifts we had to bring home. We filled two suv's. We got some great things, dfs favorite was the keurig maker! OH yea my mom made bingo cards for everyone to play while we opened gifts. The winners got little things we had picked up in Disney when we were at our planning session.

Minnie Mouse apron

Everything is sitting in a pile at home right now I am trying to clean out our cabinets and pack away all the old stuff we have. I think we may keep some of the new stuff at my parents though until we get a house.

 

[elleinad16]

Your shower looked like so much fun! I love the Cinderella centerpieces they made for you. You're getting closer!!!

 

[Racey]

I love your shower pics.

I was wondering though, if you nervous with 40 ladies what are you going to be like on your wedding day????

A friend of mine used to have terrible nervous system for alot of stuff. He would be vomitting all night and all morning if we just went to a car show!!! And he wasnt even the centre of attention, however, on his wedding day apart from a few visits to the toilet bowl he was fine.... so I realy hope for your sake that you are calm and enjoy the whole thing rather than dealing with the negative feelings

I cant wait to read and see the pictures of your day

 

[PixieDust1969]

Your shower looked great and I know exactly what you mean about being the center of attention. At the wedding I will be fine since I will have my dad to walk me up the beach and Geoff to stand with me to get married. It is very different than sitting in front and having people watch you open a present, looking for a reaction.

The Keurig coffee maker is my DF's favorite too! He has made all kinds of iced coffees, cafe mochas...I love it too!!

I loved the favors and the centerpieces! I am sorry your maid of honor caused you some stress! Tell the other girls they can step on toes...

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Ashley sweetie - Your Cinderella shower was absolutely gorgeous!!! You know, I'd be willing to bet that your guests didn't even notice the things that you thought went wrong. Remember, this was a gathering of friends and people who love you (as your wedding day will be!!), and they were there for you and to wish you well, not to judge how organized things were or to criticize your reaction to their gifts. I am sure that your MOH was just as nervous as you were, and feels bad for getting it wrong for you. Relax sweetie, it is you that your guests want to see, not a plastic doll who never gets anything wrong!!
I was going to ask what a keurig maker was (I am an ignorant Brit after all!!), but I see from the above post that it is some kind of coffee maker!!

 

[Chilly]

Those Pumpkins are brilliant.