Avery and Andy's Crazy Adventure--3/27/2011 ***SNEEK PEEKS***

[Princess85]

So I am happy to report that I got my new BEO and its all starting to look alot better with everything updated. I think I am at the point where it's exactly what the dollar amount needs to be and I don't think there's anything else I can cut. I am hoping to find some money land mysteriously in my bank account so I can at least have....hmmm you know I think I might actually be good where it is!!

I was going over again and again last night with Andy about my damn obsession with those stupid ponies and how its taking $2700 away from actually treating our guests and I'm spoiling myself blah blah blah...(it happens everytime I look at the budget and see it written down ), so anyways once again my sweet man refuses to actually let me start thinking about getting rid of it because he knows I would be so heartbroken!! Its the only reason we're getting married at Disney and he'll be damned if I am not a princess at our wedding! I love him whole bunches!! I'm not one to spoil myself and I am always worrying about everyone else so it's kinda hard to grasp the idea sometimes that this is all for me. Yes Andy is very excited to be marrying me but honestly he'd be happy going to a courthouse if it meant I would be walking out as Mrs. This whole big hoopla is to make my dreams come true and I gotta say it kinda makes me feel guilty. Shouldn't I be ok too with just going to Vegas or a courthouse....all that matters is that I am marrying him right?!? Nope I want the ponies, and the tiara, and the fireworks. I blame my parents for all the bedtime stories involving princesses!!

I also got my proposal from Elizabeth over in floral and started looking at some great options for centerpieces.I wanted at first to do the teapots but then surprise surprise I changed my mind. I want really tall ones now. I've decided little teapots are not grand enough for my wedding or something. The amount I change my mind is staggering. So anyways she suggested tree branches with tea cups hanging from them, and I gotta say I love that idea. We were thinking about doing 3 different centerpieces so each table will have something different. I can't decide if I want uniform or to just go with the theme of Wonderland and make everything all wonky because I also think I want to get some bright colored ostrich feathers in there too. Not through Disney though because they start at something stupid like $180 per centerpiece. So not happening expecially since I found a company that sells the whole centerpiece for $40. And if i only need one I can find a way to make that work. But the question is do tree branches and ostrich feathers work together?!? Probably not but I think thats the point. I will post pictures when I get home from work and get some opinions. I also contacted a couple outside florists just to see what they would quote compared to Disney!! Sorry for the long post its been way too long since I've posted when all I do is think about the wedding!!

 

[Princess85]

I have totally let my planning journal fall to the wayside but WE LEAVE FOR OUR WEDDING TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will complete a trip report when we get home! I can't believe after 14 months of planning its FINALLY time to go!!!!

 

[DisneyShamrock]

I have totally let my planning journal fall to the wayside but WE LEAVE FOR OUR WEDDING TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will complete a trip report when we get home! I can't believe after 14 months of planning its FINALLY time to go!!!!

Yay!

Have fun, and enjoy every moment. Sending lots of pixie dust your way!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Yaaaaay!!!!!! Have a blast!!!!!!!!

 

[KristiLyn]

Yay!!!! I hope everything is magical!!!!
Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

 

[Sccrmnky2005]

Congrats!! Have a wonderful time!

 

[irishwishes]

Have an awesome time and a magical wedding day!!!!

 

[Princess85]

Glad I did’s, Glad I didn’t, Wishes I had….

Glad I did:

-Had a DFTW. We had decided we didn’t want to do a local wedding but before really starting to research, never in a million years did I think I could afford to actually be married there. I felt it was reserved for the rich. The more research I did, the more I realized it was possible and eventually convinced Andy we should have our wedding at Disney World. It was the single best decision I have made other than deciding to marry Andy. I will admit in the beginning, there were some moments of insane frustration by the way they run their timelines and the waiting game you play to hear back from your planner. So much so that I really was questioning if we made the right decision. But the moment I saw the coach pull up I knew that Disney World was the only place I could have ever done it the way I wanted to. They literally made my dreams come true.

-Got the coach. It really was the one thing that pulled me into having our wedding there. I t was so expensive but it made the wedding into something other than a typical golf course boardroom reception wedding. I had gone back and forth during the planning process if I was just being too spoiled and we should have dropped it. But I am so happy that Andy insisted that it was all about me and in no way was he letting me get rid of it. Even my dad, who thought I was insane to get it due to the massive price tag, was blown away riding it in down the boardwalk. It was the most beautiful way to enter a wedding and worth every single penny I paid. Period.

-Decided against flower centerpieces. I will admit at first I didn’t want floral centerpieces because I was being cheap thinking I could do it with something else while saving a bundle. Our centerpieces ended up costing the same, if not more as a standard floral centerpiece but they were so beautiful. We did 3 foot trees with teacups hanging from the branches in different colored ribbon and teacups with floating Gerber daisies at the base. I had a moment when I saw my room of being on My Fair Wedding. I was speechless.

-Hired a photographer that had never done a Disney Wedding. I will be honest, at the beginning and almost right up until the wedding, I was scared that he wouldn’t know all the secret spots that Disney or Randy Chapman knew. But I had faith in him that because he had never done it he would work really hard to prove that he could. His excitement on the wedding day was worth it alone because it wasn’t a run of the mill job for him, he felt honored to be chosen to be there and he worked so hard to make every detail, every picture beautiful.

-Had the music piped in at Sago Cay for the desert party. And as a second part, had the desert party in the first place. We were going back and forth if it was worth it and I spent a lot of time on here reading everyone’s opinions and it honestly made the show. It wouldn’t have been the same just watching the fireworks. We cut the caricaturist to have the music and it was one of best changes we did. If you are contemplated having the music or not. Just do it. My wish I had list would have been much longer had it had not been for this site. The fireworks really made it feel like we paid a lot more for the wedding than we did. It was a perfect way to end the day.

Glad I didn’t….

-Give into everyone when they thought we were crazy for wanting our wedding there. I was so tired at the end of “So is goofy marrying you?” “Don’t you think it’s a little childish?” Blah blah blah. I had to keep faith in myself and my vision and the day of the wedding, there was not one single person not blown away by the beauty of it all. Vindication is a wonderful thing. And it gave me a huge lesson to trust myself even when everyone doubts you.

-Pay the extra $1000 for the DJ. Having an afternoon wedding and having so many people from out of town, dancing was really second to enjoying the day. Also having complete control over what was played was better than a random DJ playing a bunch of stuff we didn’t like. We had Metallica and AC/DC and everything we loved and got to skip all the club music that was bound to be played if we didn’t have control.

-Get the bridesmaids bouquets. It would have been at least $200 to get everyone else flowers and I am really happy since the ceremony was only 20ish minutes that I didn’t worry about it. And they didn’t feel like they were missing anything not having them. Also the pictures certainly did not suffer, it actually made my bouquet stand out that much more.

Wish I had….

-I honestly feel if I wouldn’t have had this site I would have a list of things for this part. Not having the music for Wishes, not having the coach, having a DJ, using Disney photography. The list could go on and on. Having this site and trusting my gut, I have nothing to put here. So thank you to all the people’s pj’s I stalked and all the ideas that came from it. My hope that if only one girl gets one idea from this list, I feel I would have helped in some way like you guys helped me. I’m sure as time goes by I will add more to the list but that’s what stands out the most 6 days into married life!!!


Up Next vendor reviews!!!!!!!!

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Welcome back and congrats on being a newlywed! Great list of wish I had/glad I did/didn't. It was helpful to me to read that! I can't wait to see your pictures, I am sure they are beautiful!

 

[Princess85]

It's taken me quite a while to come back and do this. It's been quite the 3 weeks since the wedding. My dad started having heart pains last week after we got back from Florida. He got admitted to the hospital and after serveral tests, they found that he needed emergency triple bipass surgery. So I packed a bag and drove back to Canada. Actually, thankfully my husband drove me. Anyway dad went into surgery last Thursday and just has been released home. He is in very good spirits but obviously there's alot of things he's not capable of doing for himself. I am in Canada for a couple weeks to take care of him. My wedding seems like a life time ago now.

And my poor newlywed hubby is down in North Dakota playing video games and probably eating out too much However for the first year and a half of our relationship we drove back and forth every weekend so he's very capable of living without me but now he's alot more whiney about me coming home lol. Funnily enough, the week after the wedding we talked about how if we needed to leave for any length of time to take care of our family, we would both be willing to let the other go without a fuss or return date. My opinion is that my family spent 25 years making me who I am, Andy gets to enjoy all their hard work, so if they need me I have to go. There's no way around it. And I am so lucky to have a husband who totally understands that mindset and respects me more for it. I certainly never imagined it would be 2 weeks after our wedding.

We did get some picture sneek peeks last week which helped remind me of what was only a couple weeks ago. I am so thankful that I got to dance with my daddy at my wedding. Thats all I kept thinking about in the operating room waiting room. So I am working on a trip report and vendor reviews. And now that he's home and we aren't spending 15 hours a day at the hospital, I can finally get on it!

 

[Princess85]

To me this was the greatest part of people's trip reports so I give you mine, as honest as possible and detailed. I really did love everything about the day and there's really nothing I would have changed that was in my control.



DFTW staff: The staff was amazing throughout our whole stay in Disney but on the wedding day the were exceptional. I truly felt like I was the only princess to ever had a wedding in Disney. They were incredible. The food too was so good, it wasn't just the best wedding food but honestly one of the best meals I have ever had. I can't say enough about how special they made us feel on our wedding day. If you want to be treated like a million bucks on your wedding day, you're getting married in the right place!!

Disney Guests: I really just have to say a quick something about the amazing Disney guests who made me feel so special all day. The little girls who would literally stop in their tracks and say "Mommy look a princess!" was the most incredible thing ever. The girl staying at my sisters resort who was getting married there next year who calmed my nerves. The lady who saw us at the end of the day walking back to our room still in wedding clothes and stopped us and told us about her Disney wedding 6 years earlier and told us its the one thing she will never regret, and all the bazillion congratulations that day. To me, there was no better place in the world that day.

David’s Bridal: My sales consultant, Gina was amazing. I tried on a billion dresses and even though it was Saturday and they were super busy, she spent 4 hours with me and never ever rushed me. I knew as soon as put it on that I found my dress but waited and kept looking for a while but as soon as I called she remembered me and remembered my dress. She really made the whole thing the wonderful experience it should be!

Kristi Davis: Simply amazing. That’s the only words I can use for her. I asked her pages and pages of questions and she always had an answer and never made me feel as though I was a bother. She always made me feel like I was the only person she was working with. Had I had the same issues I had with her as I had with Diane, I doubt I would have had a DFTW. She will hold your hand through the beginning steps but also give you every option imaginable. As I will say over and over, I didn’t want cookie cutter, I wanted to make it mine. And she really helped me do that. I loved her.

Diane Bowen: As I said earlier, I was extremely frustrated during a lot of the planning process because I am a huge fan of email and apparently Disney is not. Communication was varied every time I sent an email to Diane, sometimes it would instant sometimes it would take days. It sometimes felt like because I was having a smaller (i.e. cheaper) wedding that I wasn’t as important as her other brides. I know that’s not the case and I know they have way too big of a work load, but sometimes I wanted answers yesterday. On the wedding day though, she was awesome. She was super friendly to everyone and made sure that I always knew what time it was and what was happening next. In the end, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the overall process but when she needed to do her job on the wedding day she went above and beyond and that’s all I can ask for.

Elizabeth Sutton: Elizabeth made my day more beautiful than even this crazy planning bride could have imagined. From my bouquet to the centerpieces to the linens, it was perfect. She saw my vision and ran with it. Having a mad hatter wedding, I didn’t want to have the normal centerpieces, I didn’t want it to look like a wedding per say. So she suggested these trees with teacups hanging from them (among a million other suggestions!) and I fell in love. She was extremely meticulous with the details which I very much appreciated. I wanted to pick the napkin folds and the ribbon colors. I wanted to be completely submerged in the wedding planning process and she encouraged me do that. Plus, as a surprise she put in a square table in the room which I really wanted but refused to pay the $200 moving fee that they charged. She was awesome!!

Grand Floridian Bakery: I have to say first and foremost the cake was the most amazing cake I ever tasted. It had 2 flavors; marble cake with peanut butter mousse and red velvet with raspberry mousse. Diane was not very helpful with the cake either as she only recommended red velvet with cream cheese filling. That’s all. I am so happy we went with our guts and did it differently. It was so fresh and light. So my only complaint with the bakery is that I submitted a picture to Diane as a starting point. I wanted the bakery to take that picture and run with it and make it as crazy as they wanted to go with the Mad Hatter theme. Instead, I got that cake, the IDENTICAL cake. I was honestly disappointed when I got to the desert party and saw it. It was beautiful and everyone loved it but my big thing was that I wanted my wedding to be different than anyone else’s. In the end it’s not the worst thing that could have happened and I still had a beautiful cake, But as I’ve read, if you want something specific you have to ask for it. Otherwise, they won’t do anything other than what it says in the BEO. But it did light up which was really cool!

Carolyn Allen’s: They showed up right on time and made my dress all pretty. There’s not too much to write about them but they got the job done and there were no issues!

Men’s Warehouse: They were extremely friendly and went over all options with us. They made sure that the guy’s vests matched the girls dresses (a very nice thing between David’s Bridal and them!). They had everything delivered to the hotel two days before the wedding, called to make sure everything fit and then picked it all back up the day after. They made it very easy for us so it was one thing I didn’t have to think about.

Oscar Chavez: Oscar and Michelle were fantastic. In the beginning I was going back and forth between using Disney or using an outside vendor. I looked at all the Disney usuals but he worked for the job and convinced me to give him a chance. I was nervous to use someone other than Randy or David and Vicki but the enthusiasm he had was worth the risk. It wasn’t a run of a mill job for him, he was so excited. He came out from Tampa when we arrived in Orlando and spent a couple hours with us going to the locations and just hanging out with us. He felt honored that I gave him the opportunity to be there. He went over and above what he needed to do that day. He spent 5 hours between the reception and desert party and went in a town car with me and Andy to different resorts and took a million pictures. And now I feel lucky to call him a friend. He was worth every penny and a million more for what he did that day.

Pearl Beach Paperies: Darcy Sang is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. She is so incredibly creative and really worked to make everything perfect. She came up with so many great ideas that I would have never come up with on my own. She did everything from invites to programs and all the place and table cards. She made everything tie together and made the theme come to life. I would recommend her to anyone!

I think that is everyone!! I am so excited to actually start the wedding report and all the details of the day. Looking at the glad I did list and the vendor reviews, I think it may be too long for anyone to actually read but at least I'll have it as a keepsake!

 

[brer rabbit 28]

Thank you for your vendor reveiws, they are always so helpful for us brides that are still planning and agonising over who to book.

can't wait for your TR and some piccies

 

[Princess85]

I looked at so many people's pj's to make my decisions so its the least that I can do!

 

[Princess85]

I feel awful! I forgot the most important person, the person we wouldn't even be married without....

Rev. Jack Day!!!

He was so easy to deal with and so friendly. The best part about him was that he let us write the whole ceremony and told me even he couldn't have written it as well as we did. We spoke to him a few times before but we only met him at the rehearsal. I felt insantly like I knew him for years. He was perfect the day of the wedding and added a very nice touch to the day. He hung around for pictures, which is something I hear not all of them do. Incredibly sweet, just loved him!

 

[DisneyShamrock]

I feel awful! I forgot the most important person, the person we wouldn't even be married without....

Rev. Jack Day!!!

He was so easy to deal with and so friendly. The best part about him was that he let us write the whole ceremony and told me even he couldn't have written it as well as we did. We spoke to him a few times before but we only met him at the rehearsal. I felt insantly like I knew him for years. He was perfect the day of the wedding and added a very nice touch to the day. He hung around for pictures, which is something I hear not all of them do. Incredibly sweet, just loved him!

I am so glad to hear this! DF and I want to use Rev. Day, and I am going to be writing our ceremony. I am glad to know he was so accommodating for that.

 

[Princess85]

That was what sold me on him!! Most officiants, as far as I researched, wouldn't let you write the whole thing they would just let you add stuff. He was worth every penny! And he was very calming to us on the rehearsal day and to Andy before the wedding. He's also very funny and twisted a few words and pronounced them a certain way to get laughs out of everyone. You'll be in good hands!

 

[Princess85]

Oscar has posted some sneek peeks if anyone wants to take a look!!

http://oscarchavezphotography.blogspot.com/

We are the top entry! I will actually post some pictures once we have recieved all of them!

 

[pixie921]

Your photos look great! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Princess85]

So I am going to start working on the trip report but it doesn't seem like alot of fun without pictures! So I'm going to do a outline of the details so everything's in one place since looking back on my pj today there's not much there. It kind of makes me sad when I see all these awesome detailed ones so I'm hell bent now making my trip report as detailed as possible.

Date: March 27th, 2011
Ceremony: Sea Breeze Point 12pm
Reception: St James Room and Patio, Boardwalk Inn 1pm-5pm
Desert Party: Sago Cay at the Grand Floridian 9pm-1030pm

Guests: 21 including myself and Andy. All we wanted was a small wedding. His family apparently felt that they could all invite themselves. This is one of those moments I wish I would have updated my PJ, I could have used lots of advice!! After alot of explaining and having people who had never even met me angry at me, we finally got it through to everyone that unless you got an invitation, you weren't invited (I presumed that was normal for weddings but apparently not )

The day of the wedding it was exactly what I wanted. This sounds crazy but we based our list based on tears. If you weren't moved enough to shead a tear, you can see the pictures when we get home. We went to hell and back to even have this wedding. We travelled back and forth every weekend for 2 years. We had a major crisis 8 months before the wedding. To boot, we paid for it all by ourselves. And all we wanted was the people who supported us through all that, who knew how much we faught to be there. And it was a beautiful intimate moment in time that no one will forget.

Music Choices: I painstakingly put together all the music for the whole day but I won't post the reception music as that varies with everyone. As much work as it took, I am so happy that I had the IPod, although Andy was starting to roll his eyes when the 2nd Bon Jovi song came on. But I really struggled with the ceremony music and I spent alot of time looking at everyone's choices so here's mine:
Prelude: Disney love songs (I had to incorportate Disney somehow!!)

Andy, the groomsmen and Jack: Can You Feel The Love Tonight? (Andy and I have a huge sweet spot for the Lion King even having Nahla and Simba stuffed animals that live with us haha)

My girls: Wonderful Tonight (A beautiful song on acoustic guitar and a nice nod to my beautiful bridesmaids and mom)

My Entrance: Nothing Else Matters (This would be the closest thing you could pick as "our song" We are both huge fans and the first night we met we made a date to go see them. Well 3 days later they announced a stop in Winnipeg and 6 months after that, there we were!!)

Recessional: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Such a happy song!)

I let my dad choose his dance and he chose "My Little Girl" by Tim Mcgraw. He did it to himself He had a very hard time from Saturday to Monday. He was crazy emotional and that song really got to him. But to look up at him and say "daddy love you more" during the song will be something that will stay with me forever!

Andy and I danced to "Seat Next To You" by Bon Jovi. This was what makes it obvious to me that all Andy cared about was making me happy that day. (Side note completely and hopelessly in love with him, I will play them any chance I get and always have one of their dvd's in the player just in case) It is a beautiful song and since I walked down the aisle to Metallica, he let me win this round!

And a quick note, our last dance was "Wagon Wheel" By Old Crow Medicine Show. Epic ending to the reception. It was my favorite 5 minutes of the whole day. We had everyone in circle clapping thier hands and stomping their feet and just enjoying everyone's company. It was beautiful.

 

[redlight]

Looking forward to TR.

Congratulations again!