August 16 2010 Hot Air Balloon Wedding over WDW! What an amazing experience!!

[LovesHerTaurus]

Well!

Just to update y'all we changed everything. I got really upset about a few rules and regs about DFTW, especially the "can't have kids for trash the dress in waterpark even if I pay for 2 extra lifeguards and both my daughters are done all the swimming levels and I sign an accident waiver". I checked out my options and came up with something much much more US. Disney is still on for a vr, maybe even in 1 years time I understand no kids at the MK photo shoot - don't want to ruin the magic for kids of any age. But this steamed my cookies. I even offered to have my lawyer draft a waiver at my own cost, as well as provide proof they are done the swimming levels. I don't think my coordinator even gave it a shot, just shot me down.

So the new plan is that we (on our first full day in Orlando) booked a hot air balloon wedding! Aaaahhhh! Includes balloon ride, officiant, ceremony in the air, professional photographer, pictures on the ground, buffet breakfast, champagne ceremony AND a cake and transportation to and from hotel. Also, the balloon man (as I call him) is marrying us right over WDW with the castle in the background for pictures. I love people who are as flexible and excitable as me - he just met the love of his life as well and we ended up chatting about love for an hour and soulmates

My cookies are frosted for many reasons, but I'm still calling myself a Disney bride. It FEELS more natural for us too, less formal but still real, more special - and awesome since it is just the four of us!

I'll keep you updated!

 

[Brit_Jude]

Sounds exciting! Sorry that you could not get what you wanted through Disney and on the trash the dress of all things.

The only thing that would bother me about a hot air balloon wedding is the sometimes undignified landing at the end as they can be a little rough. Even with the best ones there is some bumping along the ground and the basket usually ends up on it's side with the passengers horrizontal to the ground.

Please keep us informed of how everything goes on this option for a Disney themed wedding

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

Sounds exciting! Sorry that you could not get what you wanted through Disney and on the trash the dress of all things.

The only thing that would bother me about a hot air balloon wedding is the sometimes undignified landing at the end as they can be a little rough. Even with the best ones there is some bumping along the ground and the basket usually ends up on it's side with the passengers horrizontal to the ground.

Please keep us informed of how everything goes on this option for a Disney themed wedding

There wasn't much I wanted outside the box. If she would have made an effort, tried at least to get me what I wanted even if it wasn't possible I would have been OK with it. But come ON.

I don't care if I end up undignified with my dress over my head honestly! I've never been in a hot air balloon, and in general SUCH a cool thing to do on our first day in Disney! My balloon man even got back to me that he will eat the cost to upgrade the cake to a secret Disney/balloon themed mad hatter style ... and then he had a paragraph of pun-style jokes!

We're not doing traditional flowers even though it is an option. I'm open to ideas but I'm almost thinking pearled purses to hold camera (ha!). Seriously, no clue. But the cost difference between my original plan and this plan is H U G E - and in my favor. And we went with the higher end company too.

 

[padisneyfour]

sounds like some awesome new plans.... congrats! you have done alot of switching and glad its working out in your favor too!

 

[KR1343]

That sounds wonderful!!! Good Luck!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

I am quite pleased that I didn't settle and am going outside the box - originally we thought some family or friends might be at the ceremony, but it is just the four of us flying solo!

Getting up at 3AM for hair and makeup, then we get picked up from hotel. After the pictures, balloon ride and ceremony, champagne ceremony, more pictures, buffet & cake, more pictures and giddiness, we are meeting up with Randy Chapman for our own trash the dress at an undecided location!

Then we siesta then hit the Magic Kingdom HARD until our 9:30 at HDD!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

sounds like some awesome new plans.... congrats! you have done alot of switching and glad its working out in your favor too!

It saved me about $5000. And they are SO sweet, and SUCH an awesome experience!!

Their pro photographer loved taking pictures so much during weddings that he became a balloon chaser And omg does he take beautiful pictures!

They are also getting me the exact cake I want for no extra charge. And we get to be married in a HOT AIR BALLOON!

It includes a buffet as well, more pictures... I am so thrilled! The only thing I am trying to figure out how to get a wedding clothes picture with Goofy for the love of my life to make this complete. Ideas?? We're eating at the buffet already after the balloon ride... then a trash the dress with Randy. We could in theory go to Chef Mickey's but we will be soooo tired. And not hungry!

That is the only piece missing so far to make it a perfect day!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

I won a free manicure and pedicure!
Our passports came in - and there are no mistakes!
We finally picked out rings and we are ordering them tomorrow!
My dress has arrived! Now I just have to get to the city to try it on!
My daughters' dresses came! BOTH OF THEM!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Wow you have lots going on! You must be excited. I hope you show us pics of the rings when you get them! lol

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

July is officially the month of saving money. The kids have 4 straight weeks of summer camp (with the odd day or two home for laundry!) so we're living on easy quick cheap food and feeding the Disney budget

We ordered our wedding rings and they are stuck in customs. AHHH. That is slight stress! I check the USPS website a few times a day (even though I have auto email updating!!) and I'm on day 3 that is says they are in customs

We also got our wedding license by mail notarized locally today and shipped off (with tracking express!!) back to Florida. Thank goodness we have a lawyer at work who can notarize documents that swings by once a week and is a sweetheart. And I have SO many good things to say about the Brevard County court people. I am SO shocked about their amazing customer service AND a one day turn around from when I faxed the original app to them and the time they mailed it out - they even called me to verify my postal code since the fax was a little blurry! Something so far was actually painless!!

Makeup and hair is booked through Beaute Speciale - at 3:00AM! Dress steaming is booked, tux rental is booked... and because of the weird logistics of our first day/night in WDW, we decided to book a limo from the airport to the hotel! We have a 2:38 landing at Orlando airport, then grab luggage, grab limo, quick food stop (and wine!), then to the hotel for check in and THEN a 4:30 dress steaming AND tux try-on-for-rental appointment. Kill me now

My sweetheart has requested that we play in the ocean for a morning and honestly... thank goodness he is so smart I was so wrapped up in ADRs, logistics and BUDGET, that it didn't even occur to me that no one in my family has seen the ocean!! Now I'm researching the best way to get to/from Cocoa Beach for a morning without spending $180 on a car service!!

Other things in July as we get ready ?? :
- Meatloaf concert in the city!
- Family wedding shower a province over!
- Heading to the city (twice in a week!) for wedding dress first fitting and alteration - ACK!
- 3 dental appointments (for me!), two for my DF, one for each of my daughters!
- Finish last three school courses while working overtime at work
- Picking up extra driving shifts at work to make up the extra money I added to the budget by tacking on a lot of extras (BBB for my 10 year old, planned facepainting, etc etc etc)...
- A garage sale to sell off the kids stack of stuff they haven't touched in a year while they are at camp (HA!)
- Full house cleaning before the kids come home!
- A stagette my not-so-subtle friend is planning for me!
- Find shoes to wear at wedding, nail down hair choices....

Ok so my to-do list is longer than my Christmas shopping list. This wedding stuff is kooky! My DF has taken on a second job so he is working 6 14 hour shifts a week to make sure he has a wad of the budget taken care of and no debt to his name when he goes to school in the fall! We're paying the entire trip in cash though because we're too old and too in love to go into debt (does that make any sense?? - it totally did when we first had the 4am chat about where to get married!!). Since we're both so busy it almost feels like we're distance dating. Ugh.

Since we are supposed to wear responsible shoes (as my balloon man told me!) I've been stuck on shoes to wear to the balloon ride/ceremony.Wouldn't it suck to have a pretty Mickey manicure and pedicure only to have ugly muddy toes?? I get worried about the silliest things

Now that we're getting closer I'll start populating my little thread with odd details along the way that might help out someone else... or at least give someone a good giggle!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

Wow you have lots going on! You must be excited. I hope you show us pics of the rings when you get them! lol

Oh there will be many pictures. I'm getting them delivered to work so someone is actually awake to sign for them (poor honey still has 30 days of night shifts ...) and because my buddy is the receptionist and will sign for them!

Also waiting for set of Disney pins I ordered, a Jasmine dress for BBB for my 10 year old (since the ones there might not be big enough!!)...

Good news today though - my work upgraded our medical/dental/benefit package at work and it now includes free trip cancellation insurance!! My lovely travel agent was able to sweet talk the insurance people I bought trip insurance from and get a full refund for me! Cha CHING an extra $400 in the Disney budget!

I think I'll have to keep building up my karma points though - we also got free parking while we're gone since my dad is driving us to the airport/picking us up (at some REALLY ungodly hours!! - 4am and 11:30PM!) and letting us crash overnight in their house (he lives an hour away from the airport, but we live 3 hours away!)

Now if the rings would just get here I would be SO much calmer

 

[CinderelliT]

Hi there! I feel like I am stalking you on the boards b/c I've read your posts on the BBB thread and on the family threads, and more! LOL! So finally, I came over here to read about your wedding details.

1st off, I have to say I love your pics of you and DF. They look great. 2nd, I think your plans are fantastic. I have never been in a hot air balloon, but really want to go. I can't wait to see your pics! Your wedding is going to be one of those crazy cool ones that gets put in a magazine - watch!

and 3rd - Do you sleep? Dear lord, how do you do it? Our schedules seem pretty similar, but yours is just downright crazy! I hope that you truly enjoy your vacation/wedding/honeymoon.

Have you gotten your dress yet? I want to see what it looks like on a real person instead of the silly models. I debated about getting a blue AA dress that was really similar to yours, or a blue Maggie Sottero, and in the end I got what was on clearance. SO I have to say I have a bit of dress/color envy.

I hope you get your rings soon. Please post pics!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

I just read your entire TR! Your kids are absolutely adorable!!

We had our engagement pictures done at Walmart of all places. But I posed us and told her what to shoot. hehehehe I'm photo OCD!

I'm super crafty too and SO wish I had the time to make those touches you did! That is the one thing I had to give up while working on everything else this summer. Boo. No scrapbooking, my website hasn't been updated in a month, and my daughter didn't get any handmade dresses this year.

Stalk away! I love it most of the time on here.

1 week until I get to touch the dress. Alfred Angelo has some amazing dresses - I tried on 3, hated them all, and then POOF got my bridal shop to order the one I coveted off the AA website. Never seen it in person (GAK!), or my daughters dresses that I ordered (EEK!) - and I ordered them in March and the last dress just showed up at their shop today (UGH!). Good thing I had the notion to get them to order a meter of material to make a bowtie for my DF that exactly matches the material in OUR dresses! Score one for me!!

And now I find out my mom is trying to crash our wedding. I haven't spoken to her in years, and she FBed my man trying to get details out of him because she wanted to "show up for the ceremony". Umm... nope! Good thing we changed the location and date (teeheehee) - some people have a beautiful knack for making things weird and honestly ruining planned events.

I am SO excited about the ceremony location, even if it means 2 morning of getting up at stupid hours (to get to Orlando, and then to get hair/makeup!). I went with professional hair/makeup since I can't ever get my hair the way I want it and usually get it chopped off just at my jaw line. But I've been growing it out since December now, and it is driving me BATTY! I LOVED your extensions!!!

With both of us working so much, planning, doing, and transporting kids to different provinces for summer camp we just keep saying that we will sleep in September!

So I get to touch the dress in 1 week - crossing my fingers that no alterations needed (yeah RIGHT!). Then one week later go BACK to the city to try it on again! And hopefully take it home!!

Still so stuck on shoes to wear. I have gorgeous heels, but usually end up barefoot one drink or one song in I'm pondering pretty flip flops. SO stuck! Better decide by next week so I'll have them with me for the fitting!!

GAH!

No rings yet. Not quite freaking out but my buddy told me to go back to my office and take a chill pill since the mail only comes once a day!! heheheh

Hi there! I feel like I am stalking you on the boards b/c I've read your posts on the BBB thread and on the family threads, and more! LOL! So finally, I came over here to read about your wedding details.

1st off, I have to say I love your pics of you and DF. They look great. 2nd, I think your plans are fantastic. I have never been in a hot air balloon, but really want to go. I can't wait to see your pics! Your wedding is going to be one of those crazy cool ones that gets put in a magazine - watch!

and 3rd - Do you sleep? Dear lord, how do you do it? Our schedules seem pretty similar, but yours is just downright crazy! I hope that you truly enjoy your vacation/wedding/honeymoon.

Have you gotten your dress yet? I want to see what it looks like on a real person instead of the silly models. I debated about getting a blue AA dress that was really similar to yours, or a blue Maggie Sottero, and in the end I got what was on clearance. SO I have to say I have a bit of dress/color envy.

I hope you get your rings soon. Please post pics!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

Dear Canada Customs,

why have you been holding on to my tiny package of wedding bands for 5 days now?

Has titanium been upgraded to the same threat as plutonium?

Do all packages heading to my tiny north west Ontario town get flagged as a threat - now I am waiting on 6 packages coming from the US that are all tracked as "stuck in customs". Do we have someone in international witness protection living here that you are screening our packages so carefully?

Are there only four people in your office? Did everyone take July off for holidays and you closed up shop for the month?

Sincerely,
Heather

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

Good news!

My DD (10)'s dress was not lost - it finally arrived almost a full week after mine AND my DD (12) - whose I ordered a full 2 months later!

*whew*

Panic/stressor #16 crossed off the list!

 

[CinderelliT]

Don't you think they would just open the package, look at it, and then send it on it's merry way?? I can't believe that it is taking so long. I would be nuts by now.

I know all about the hair at the jaw line. I grew mine out from a pixie to that and it's been there for a couple of years. Everyone loved my extensions so much that they want me to grow my hair out more - which I'm trying, but it is sooo irritating. LOL! We'll see how long it takes before it's chopped all the way back to a pixie.

And I say go for the flip flops. You can find some really beautiful ones and be comfortable.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Www.dessy.com has many colour that you can get flipflops in I got myself some claret ones to match my AA dress!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

I'm getting MARRIED?? Why can't I go barefoot??

I'm having shoe trouble. My DD10 is a size 6. My DD12 is a size 9. I'm a size 10. If I have to be shoed, I want white ballet flats that all match. Do you think I could find ANYTHING I like in that style that will fit us all?? NoOoOo.

Option 1 - matching ballet flats for me and DD12 and sparklies for my DD12
Option 2 - flip flops for each of us in our personalities! flowerey for me, plain for DD12, glittery for DD10
Option 3 - ME BAREFOOT!, DD10 in glittery flats, DD12 in white tennis shoes
Option 4 - killing myself over the next month finding us all matching white ballet flats

I like option 3.

No time to order online *because* we're from Canada, in a small town (so add an extra week for any mail!) and we're leaving in about 30 days!

I do have an hour in the city after going there to try my dress on next week.... could hit Old Navy and see if they have anything left. I feel like I should turn this into a poll

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

WHOO! RINGS CAME IN!
Will post pics in a little bit, camera needs charging. I'm a picture ho

*whew* Things are coming TOGETHER! WHOO!

For the entire month of July and first week of August my daughters are mostly at summer camp. Which could be romantic for two almost newlyweds right? Well Nononono. My man works nights (for another 29 days!!) 14 hour shifts 3 days a week, and took on a second job to make sure we have enough money for the wedding (awwww). So he is working 3 nights on, 3 days on. I took some odd driving extra shifts for work and rearranged a bunch of bills AND am finally fixing up my old computers to sell. And finishing my school work.

But at 10PM when I would love to cuddle down with my man, I end up calling him at work (where he can't talk long!) and then hanging out on my DIS! So thanks guys!!

He is all over the planning of the wedding with me though, but most discussions are off-the-hook split second changes one of us decide we want and give the other, usually done through a quick text message (ie hey luv, want 2 get mrd on a hot air balloon if you still get goofy at 2 dinners?). Him (hey darling, I want to be smexy not James Bond, that coo?) [referring to tux rental change]. We agree on everything, it is slightly unsettling, but do the good darling thing and "check in". In the past few weeks we're finishing each others sentences and doing the same exclamations (at dinner/breakfast, one of our haunts our buddy/waiter Gracie brought me all my condiments when we first sat down we both yelled out "thanks honey!"... and one waitress at a patio we actually went to for drinks said we were too freaking cute and we both said "awwwwwwwwww" in the same tone). I'm feeling slightly unsettled

His one night off he picked me up at work with a bottle of wine, supper and a timmies. I had just picked up for us a bottle of wine, supper and a timmies for both of us. We both agree that our dentist should play the princess from Princess and a Frog - we told her this separately one day apart.

There I feel better!



What is really cool though is that all the things we have in common, we have ways we balance each other when it comes to the kids. Best thing is, the little things that annoy us that the kids do (ie teenage behaviour, whiny tired voice, forgetting things like shutting the door and the dog gets out and goes under the deck and chew the garbage open and then he falls asleep under the car and we can't find him until a giant cat attacks him - he weighs 2 pounds!).... one of us will usually find delightfully funny, even if the other one gets super annoyed. It ends up with us in stitches hours later, and we find a super great balance! Sure the kids get discipline, but it makes our happiness level stay pretty darn high! Plus he has an iron stomach, so when the kids want to do 12 straight hours of high intensity nausea rides that I can only do twice, he is in there like a dirty shirt. Plus he doesn't mind (TOO much - or let on!) when the kids paint his toenails while he sleeps off a night shift (they only do it when they make him breakfast in bed!!)

Our big luxury is dropping our laundry off at the wash and fold - I love that they fold me undies My socks are matched. Our laundry comes in a beautiful color coded stack of cleaness. We drop it off, pick it up the same day... with our schedules we would never get it done, caught up, and would regularly run out of clean clothes

So overall I'm busy planning, working, school work, planning, disney trip detailing... but my house is so freaking quiet that I am so happy I have you guys for company and conversation!

 

[LovesHerTaurus]

into a cooing gooey smushpot of love. I always re-read my posts to make sure I don't sound like a poohead, but eeee - I just realized how truly and pathetically I am in babbly love.........

I don't know whether to be nauseous, tickled or find it leg crossing funny