Audrey's PJ Wishes Wedding ~ 2/16/2014 ~ WP/ADH ~ Be Our Guest!

[charliegirl76]

Congratulations! Can't wait to see more!

 

[WittyAmb]

Loving your thread so far!

For you and the bride who is having her wedding on the same day as yours (sorry I forgot the Username)... maybe there's a way you can split costs on decor at least for the Pavillion? Idk if that's possible of if you'd even want to (OR if Disney would allow it) but might be worth a shot.

 

[Jazzygirl72]

Thanks, everyone! I've been a bit busy this week I haven't had time to update this.
I do have a major update though. My wedding planner and her assistant have already organized my planning session! It's on August 19th, all day. I requested both cake and menu tastings. We love the Happily Ever After buffet so I'm hoping that that means we don't have to stress too much about what to choose. In the new menus I got at my site visit, this particular buffet was discontinued but there it was again on the link my planner sent me! So I'm rollin' with it! I forsee my biggest angst being the cocktail hour. With the buffet having such "rich" food, I don't see a need to serve passed apps. Now, John and I are totally app people. We love snacking when we go around Epcot, for instance. But, if I'm paying all this money for a kick-*** buffet, I want them to eat it! Not fill up on hot apps. I'm fine with a crudite and cheese and stuff. I don't know, we'll see what happens at the PS.

WittyAmb, that's an interesting idea! I have no idea if they allow that?? I could ask lurkyloo (Carrie Hayward). She might know. I wasn't planning on going crazy with decorations and I have no "visions" yet so I'm totally open. Of course, museofire would have to agree too. LOL!

 

[ncp17]

How exciting!! The PS just seems like such an awesome day of fun stuff! But I totally understand About the conundrum between the buffet and passed apps. I wouldn't want to fill up on pass arounds with such a great Buffet to follow! Hopefully the PS will help ease your mind!

 

[Jazzygirl72]

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Things have been so busy! And, I've done a LOT with the wedding so I wanted to give you an update
First off, yesterday I sent out my very first newsletter! It was a labor of love, that's for sure. I put SO much work into it. I am so grateful to the help I got with template examples, especially SarahK!
I sent it out via email as a .pdf file. Tonight I printed out some to mail for people that either don't have email, or did not send me their emails like I asked them to with the Save the Dates!

The only way I can post it was to save each page as .jpg file. So I will attempt to post just the first three pages. If anyone would like the file, I'll be happy to pass the whole thing along.

I used weddingwire for my site...BUT I did not use them for my Pre-RSVP because they did not have a "Maybe" option. So I made a link to a second website called anrsvp.com, which is fully customizable. The link was pretty seamless and I've already had people reply with their Pre-RSVP!

The rest of it has details about each resort and some initial info about park tickets and dining. I plan on expanding on more details for people, including our favorites from each park. I also plan on having some friends contribute who have kids at different ages to give their perspective.

The other thing I did was book our wedding photographers. I decided to go with an outside vendor: David & Vicki Arndt. A friend of mine who works at Disney, and who got married at Disney and used to be a planner, had them do her wedding when they worked for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings. They are now on their own and I really liked what I saw on their website. They also gave me a great package which was more for my money than Disney. I realize that I have to wait now to book my MK Bridal Portrait session but I am hopeful that it won't be an issue since it will be February.

Next week I am going to look at bridesmaid dresses again. Wish me luck that I find the dress finally!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

The newsletter looks fantastic! Great job! Congrats on booking the Arndts, their work is always beautiful!

Good luck with the dress shopping!

 

[mariapicardikenyon]

Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Things have been so busy! And, I've done a LOT with the wedding so I wanted to give you an update
First off, yesterday I sent out my very first newsletter! It was a labor of love, that's for sure. I put SO much work into it. I am so grateful to the help I got with template examples, especially SarahK!
I sent it out via email as a .pdf file. Tonight I printed out some to mail for people that either don't have email, or did not send me their emails like I asked them to with the Save the Dates!

The only way I can post it was to save each page as .jpg file. So I will attempt to post just the first three pages. If anyone would like the file, I'll be happy to pass the whole thing along.

I used weddingwire for my site...BUT I did not use them for my Pre-RSVP because they did not have a "Maybe" option. So I made a link to a second website called anrsvp.com, which is fully customizable. The link was pretty seamless and I've already had people reply with their Pre-RSVP!

The rest of it has details about each resort and some initial info about park tickets and dining. I plan on expanding on more details for people, including our favorites from each park. I also plan on having some friends contribute who have kids at different ages to give their perspective.

The other thing I did was book our wedding photographers. I decided to go with an outside vendor: David & Vicki Arndt. A friend of mine who works at Disney, and who got married at Disney and used to be a planner, had them do her wedding when they worked for Disney Fairy Tale Weddings. They are now on their own and I really liked what I saw on their website. They also gave me a great package which was more for my money than Disney. I realize that I have to wait now to book my MK Bridal Portrait session but I am hopeful that it won't be an issue since it will be February.

Next week I am going to look at bridesmaid dresses again. Wish me luck that I find the dress finally!

Great newsletter!

 

[Jazzygirl72]

I haven't been good at posting on here this month. Nothing major going on since the newsletter but I do have a few updates.
I found out today that DJ Miles WILL be available for my wedding! I am SO excited! I had accepted that he was not available and I was fine with Steve W. but when my planner's assistant emailed me today to tell me DJ Miles was now available, I was like I kind of feel bad dumping Steve but oh well. It's not like he knows, right? LOL
Been getting a few Pre-RSVP's, which is good. I've been gently nudging people who I know are going to do it, including the bridal party. Ah hem. I know I said June 1st, but really. I have a feeling this will be the trend. Ugh.
I also booked my rooms in my room block. We're doing a split stay: BW then Coronado.
I also contacted Beaute Speciale and they are available for my wedding day. So I just need to get the paperwork to them tomorrow. My sister is a makeup artist and she is going to drive down so she's going to do my makeup. I was on the fence about having her "work" the day of the wedding, but she wants to. She's also going to touch up the girls' makeup.
On another fun note, I got a wonderful woman in the Creative Dis thread, Marion, to make me a couple of logos:

Aren't they awesome? I'm SO happy! I plan on using them in my upcoming newsletters and possibly even on an aisle runner and on welcome bag stuff. Not sure about table number stuff at the wedding. We'll see. I haven't gotten that far in the planning.

Tomorrow, I am going to bridesmaid dress shopping with three of the girls. (The other three are in other states) I am going back to a place I went before because they had a lot of selection. I went there today on my own to narrow down brands and dresses for them to try on. Since the samples are all size 10, only one of them can actually try them on, but at least we'll all be there. Since I am adamant about a hunter green (cool, not warm), my choices are narrow. But I'm confident that we'll find something. I'm also going for tea length now, instead of floor length..unless we just can't find a tea length one. They are less common but I did pull a few today for them to look at tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

 

[mariapicardikenyon]

I haven't been good at posting on here this month. Nothing major going on since the newsletter but I do have a few updates.
I found out today that DJ Miles WILL be available for my wedding! I am SO excited! I had accepted that he was not available and I was fine with Steve W. but when my planner's assistant emailed me today to tell me DJ Miles was now available, I was like I kind of feel bad dumping Steve but oh well. It's not like he knows, right? LOL
Been getting a few Pre-RSVP's, which is good. I've been gently nudging people who I know are going to do it, including the bridal party. Ah hem. I know I said June 1st, but really. I have a feeling this will be the trend. Ugh.
I also booked my rooms in my room block. We're doing a split stay: BW then Coronado.
I also contacted Beaute Speciale and they are available for my wedding day. So I just need to get the paperwork to them tomorrow. My sister is a makeup artist and she is going to drive down so she's going to do my makeup. I was on the fence about having her "work" the day of the wedding, but she wants to. She's also going to touch up the girls' makeup.
On another fun note, I got a wonderful woman in the Creative Dis thread, Marion, to make me a couple of logos:

Aren't they awesome? I'm SO happy! I plan on using them in my upcoming newsletters and possibly even on an aisle runner and on welcome bag stuff. Not sure about table number stuff at the wedding. We'll see. I haven't gotten that far in the planning.

Tomorrow, I am going to bridesmaid dress shopping with three of the girls. (The other three are in other states) I am going back to a place I went before because they had a lot of selection. I went there today on my own to narrow down brands and dresses for them to try on. Since the samples are all size 10, only one of them can actually try them on, but at least we'll all be there. Since I am adamant about a hunter green (cool, not warm), my choices are narrow. But I'm confident that we'll find something. I'm also going for tea length now, instead of floor length..unless we just can't find a tea length one. They are less common but I did pull a few today for them to look at tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

I just read on wedding wire.com (I think) that the "in" color this year is going to be hunter green for bridesmaids!

 

[Jazzygirl72]

Haha! Well I know emerald is the color of 2013. I was excited when I heard that in Jan ,but all the emerald I've seen is too bright. That's why I'm going with a richer green. Then I can make it pop with lighter colors against it. We'll see. I'm going to rely heavily on Pinterest and the florists at Disney for help. Lol

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Those logos are awesome! Love them!

Good luck with the dress shopping!

 

[Jazzygirl72]

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I've updated this.
I haven't really done a lot with the wedding...at least it doesn't feel like it.
Going off my previous post, we did go dress shopping that day. It was a difficult day to go out because the whole Boston area was on lock down due to one of the marathon bombers being on the run. Since I wasn't "that" close to where he was, I decided to not become paralyzed by it and go out to the store. I'm glad I did because I said yes to the dress!
It looks like this will be my bridesmaids' dress:
http://www.saisonblanche.com/SB-Boutique-Bridesmaids_p_265.html
It will be in hunter green. I think it's flattering for all and very clean and classy.
I'll probably order them this summer. Yay!

Other news: I got my date for my Epcot portrait session two days after the wedding. Now, when I hit 45 days before the wedding, I can add on MK to the photo shoot (assuming availability).

Also, today I splurged and ordered $300 shoes from Zappos for the wedding. They are by Stuart Weitzman, 2 3/4 inch heel and they seem to match my dress. I will need a LOT of pixie dust and wishes that they fit and are comfy. For the price, they better be! I am cursed when it comes to shoes so I hope this works out.

My Pre-RSVP date is June 1st and I'm getting annoyed that so many people haven't responded. I am going to have to put my teacher hat on I think and send a "friendly" reminder email out at the end of this month. People need to understand that while I get it's hard to plan this far out (to an extent), it's even HARDER to plan a destination wedding. It's really not THAT hard to figure out if you're going or not. At least give me a maybe. I'm a little freaked out because, including children, I am over what I believe the Atlantic Dance Hall holds. I'm sure it will be fine and the numbers will fall, but I'm a little worried. I won't compromise on the ADH so I don't think I'm going to go to my short B-list. I know things tend to fall into place, but I'm a wee bit worried.

 

[charliegirl76]

Love the logos! The bridesmaids dresses are beautiful and I totally agree with you on people responding, or not responding, to the RSVP.

I have a similar situation. I sent an email to everyone about a month ago and asked that they reply to the email and let me know if they are still planning to attend so I can get a rough head count for the planning session. I got a total of 3 emails. What's sad is, one didn't indicate whether they would be coming or not, and of the other two (both of which were yeses), I really only expect one of them to show. Frustrating. So, like you, I will be sending out another email requesting the same information. I need numbers people! I can't feed you unless you let me know if you'll be there. I just hate that I may be going to the planning session with no clearer numbers than I had at the beginning of the entire process.

 

[Jazzygirl72]

I know, it sucks. But I'm getting to the point where I don't give a crap about etiquette or being "proper". Respect goes both ways. Like I said, I'm going to lay it down at the end of the month. And honestly, I'm going to say that anyone who does not reply will be counted as a "no". Let's see if THAT works!
On another note, I got the Stuart Weitzman shoes in today (that was fast!). Annnddddd....they were a bust. They were too tight across the top where the ball of the feet are. Sigh. Why am I not surprised. Shoes are my curse. Funny enough, I went into my closet and spied a pair of shoes at the bottom that I totally forgot I owned. They were my sister's shoes. She is a shoe fanatic and often purges...and I go through what she's getting rid of and keep anything I like. They are a pair of $17 ivory pumps with a long rounded closed toe, open back sling back but also a piece that goes around the front of the ankle. Wide heel. I put them on, and they're pretty comfy. They're a tad bit higher than others I have...and let's be clear...I wear heels probably once a year. LOL So, they will be my Plan B shoes if I can't find any.

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Ugh, RSVPS. Mine were due March 1st and I still haven't received some back. At this point, forget it, they're aren't coming. Haha!

Sorry to hear about the shoes. I'm always very freaked out about buying shoes online, because I always have issues too. But yay for finding back-up shoes anyway. They sound lovely!

I love the bridesmaid dress, and YAY for saying Yes to the dress!!

 

[Jazzygirl72]

So I've been experiencing the not-so fun part of wedding planning...dealing with other people. LOL
My pre-RSVP date is June 1st. I have hardly had any replies. Needless to say this is how I looked over the past few days:
I think my anger is compounded for a few reasons. First off, I'm a high school teacher. So I spend my life instilling a sense of responsibility and accountability in my students. So to see that adults are no better, or worse, makes me just feel like, why bother. Perhaps it's because it's the end of the school year too and everyone's feeling it. (But even though my seniors last week is next week, school is still in session until June 28th due to snow days.)
The other reason that it's compounded is because I had to adjust my room block this past week. I got my room block coordinator already...thank God! She's been beyond amazing. And when I got my reports, my Deluxe and Mod were booked over my block numbers already. Given that my wedding is during school vacation week, my coordinator recommended that I make changes now while there's still availability. I agreed. But seeing the low numbers of responses to the pre-RSVP's, it was so incredibly hard to do the room block. But, I did my best. I know I can make changes again, but really? This is the least fun thing to do.
On top of this, DF's father had made a call to the Canadian family members to probe for me and see where they're at in terms of coming. I have heard from only two out of a LOT. There's a few who I know are "maybe's" because they have major things going on. No problem. But the rest? Well, the vibe he got was that they were waiting on ME as the next step. There seemed to be confusion about RSVP'ing. REALLY?!?!?! How friggin' clear could I have been? I put it on the StD letters AND I put it on the front page of the first newsletter, which by the way, I spent HOURS on. Are you kidding me? Hence, yesterday, my attitude about life was "people suck". LOL I've calmed down a little since yesterday.
Plus, I got a sweet email from an out of state friend who's making it work to come to the wedding (she's a teacher in MO and they don't have Feb break) and she had some questions. And then mentioned that she just realized she was supposed to pre-RSVP and didn't...it slipped her mind. Okay, I get it. People have lives. And I knew she was most likely a Yes anyway since she had reached out to me before. That's different. But to not hear ANYTHING from some people? And have other tell me "so and so is so happy to be going"" or "so and so can't make it". So when the hell were they going to tell the BRIDE?!??!?!
So, I need to put on my teacher hat, put out an email after June 1st, and lay it down nicely. And basically say, if I do not hear from you, I will assume you are a "No". Done.
I know many brides on here have said this has happened to them. I know I can't control people. I know I better get a grip on this type of stress NOW before I go nuts over the next nine months. But it's still hard when people aren't respectful of your effort.
Okay, I'm done for now. LOL

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

I feel you on the rant. The worst part about planning a wedding really is the other people! I don't know if this helps or not, but of the replies I received, most of them arrived the week of the due date and the week after, as if some people thought the date I wrote was the day they should put it in the mail, rather than the actual due date for us to receive them.

 

[gelandnick]

Sorry you're feeling frustrated. It really is surprising how people are not responsible or considerate of others sometimes. Hopefully they will respond soon! BTW, I'm a new reader and I love your save the dates! Checking into Vistaprint right now.

 

[charliegirl76]

I also feel your pain with the lack of response.

My initial guest count was approximately 70. I sent an email one week before we left for our planning session, 26 or 29 addresses of people I still had a question mark on. I got a total of 7 responses. I even put "URGENT" in the subject line. It really is frustrating. DF just keeps telling me, don't worry about it, but it is so disheartening to think that people are blatantly not responding when you've put so much work into all the planning.

DF is still under the impression that we'll have about 40 guests, but I'm thinking 30 max (even now we only have 22 confirmed). Anyway, he tells me, "We can't MAKE people come. They knew what they needed to do and that they needed to save money. If they can't come, it's not our fault. AND that just means more money for us to spend on the guests that DO come and US and our honeymoon." He has a great way of making me feel better.

 

[Jazzygirl72]

You're right, Charliegirl! And DF is right! You can't force people and while things do come up, you pretty much know if you can swing it.
Well, last night I sent out my friendly, but firm, "Did you Pre-RSVP yet?" email and I'm happy to say that it prodded at least 10 parties to respond.
Some I knew what the answer would be and some I didn't know. I am feeling a little better in terms of seeing the numbers fall into place. I'm still over the 150 that ADH holds but I think I'll come down below that once the rest answer. And I've been told that there will be some that back out as we get closer for whatever reason. I honestly didn't mean to over-invite...it was the kids that threw my numbers. My biggest snafu to date. But I think it will all work out in the end. (At least I'm telling myself that! )
So now I wait for the rest and then I might have to make some individual calls and/or Facebook messages. At least a lot of people who replied today also emailed me and apologized for not doing it. Restored my faith a little. LOL