I also just got back from my planning session trip. It was also on May 5 but it started at 11:00. We were probably either next door to one another or across from one another and didn't even know it. We also had Laura from floral and she is amazing! The whole experience was so incredible and everyone was so nice and helpful! I have Diane as my EM and she is GREAT! We planned all of our events (Welcome Reception, Rehearsal, Ceremony, Reception, After Party and Brunch) all in just 6 hours! This is going to be LONG b/c I am just so excited about everything and I need someone to tell whose eyes are going to glaze over after like 5 minutes!
For our Welcome Reception, we are having it at the Wonders Lounge in Epcot. It's this adorable room that is carnival themed and it overlooks the wonders attraction. We are having carnival food like corn dogs, chicken on a stick, Mickey ice cream novelties, snow cones, cotton candy, etc. We are also looking into getting a caricature artist or some sort of carnival game (skee ball, hoops, etc.) We wanted it to be really fun and casual b/c we are trying to do a balance between formal and casual throughout our wedding weekend. Since the room is so cute and fun as is we didn't need to do much with it. We are keeping with the standard everything and having Laura do edible, fun centerpieces with lollypops and wrapped candy sprinkled on the tables.
We are doing our rehearsal in the morning (10 am) and then having a rehearsal lunch at the Living Seas Lounge. We wanted people to be able to enjoy the parks afterwards if they want or have a day to just chill so that is why we opted for a rehearsal lunch instead of a dinner. Plus, a lunch is cheaper and the food sounds just as good. We didn't really need to do much here either b/c this room is also amazing as is. Laura is just going to do square vases filled with water and plastic fish and float candles on top. Then she will sprinkle some shells around the table.
We are having a NYE wedding and our ceremony is at the WP and we are doing the pillars down the aisle with the white chiffon draping. On top of the pillars, we chose the silver ice buckets with red roses (there will be 3 different shades of red in them). Our alter arrangement is going to be our unity candle arrangement with an ice bucket with roses on either side. Then, we will have red rose petals scattered along the sides of the aisle. I am carrying the black magic roses with white stephanotis and crystal Mickeys mixed throughout with pixie dust. The girls are going to have a mixed red rose bouquet (to match the centerpieces/pillar arrangements). My girls are wearing platinum and red is the accent color. The guys will have a single red rose as their boutonnieres. My DF will have the black magic rose with a white stephanotis to match me. Instead of corsages, I opted for the rose balls for the moms and single presentation roses for everyone else that needs them. I am not having a flower girl but I am having a jr. bridesmaid and she is carrying the flower wand. At the end of the ceremony for our exit, we are doing the red rose petals in the paper cones.
For our reception at the GF, we are going to have the ice buckets brought over from the ceremony as our centerpieces. It saves a ton of money, which is great! Then they are going to put votives around them and sprinkle some rose petals on the tables as well. Our linen is a pewter tablecloth with red napkins and a red sash on the chair. We chose the chivalry chair so no chair covers just the sash. The other thing we are doing is each place setting will have an open red rose sitting in a small bowl of water and then we are placing little cards with quotes on each one. Each card will have a different quote so each guest will read a different one. I am doing the cards myself. Then, we chose the twinkle light/tulle canopy for the ceiling. On the wall, we will have stars and on the dance floor, we will have Cinderellas coach in white (it comes with the lighting package). I want everything to be done with candles and twinkle lights so it will be really romantic and not bright. For our pre-reception at the Whitehall room/patio, we chose silver julep cups with red roses to match our centerpieces. They will put some votives on the table and silver Mickey confetti.
The cake tasting was so good! We got to taste the chocolate, yellow, marble and almond cakes with 8 different fillings. Everything was so yummy...it was so hard to decide!! We are having a 4-tier cake. The bottom is marble with milk chocolate mousse, the next tier is chocolate with bailey's mousse, the 3rd tier is almond cake with Bavarian mousse mixed with fresh strawberries, and the top tier is yellow cake with peanut butter cup mousse (they mix the peanut butter and the chocolate mousses together). We are having the buttons and bows cake without the bows and we are alternating layers to be square, round, square, round...no cake topper...just red roses on top.
For our after/desert party to ring in the New Year (our reception ends at 11), we are going back to the Whitehall room/patio right after the reception until 1:00 AM. It will be decorated just the same as the pre-reception but we are going to have a fondue fountain as desert with any leftover wedding cake. We are not serving desert at our reception (just cake) since we are doing this. We are also stopping the alcohol at this point and having a coffee bar and a cosmopolitan luge. We want this to be very different from the reception...more fun with noisemakers and such. We are also hoping to have Mickey and Minnie to help us ring in the New Year.
For our last event, which is a farewell brunch on New Year's Day, we are going over to the Attic, which is another amazing room! It overlooks the water and everything! We are not doing much here with decor either b/c the room is fabulous as is. We are just going to have tall vases filled with pastel Gerber daises to bring out the colors in the room. We are going with the white lines but using different color napkins in pastels to match the daises and the room.
OK...now that all that is out of the way. I had my food tasting at the GF this past Monday. Our EM said it would be too much to do all in one day. So, we headed over to the GF in the afternoon for some wonderful food! We got to taste 4 cocktail items (scallops Rockefeller, lobster fritter, bacon wrapped filet, and a gingered chicken skewer), 2 salads (Caesar and a mixed green), 2 appetizers (penne vodka and 3-cheese tortellini with roasted vegetable marinara), 4 intermezzos (mango raspberry, rum raisin, mixed berry & lemon/vanilla), 2 main entrees (filet and parmesan crusted chicken) and 2 desserts (Cinderellas slipper and a pastry plate). Even though we knew we weren't serving desert, I just had to try the slipper, which was to die for! I am sad that we won't be having a plated desert so we can have it but it doesn't make sense to spend the money. For the pre-reception, we ended up choosing all of the apps minus the lobster fritter (we are only picking 3 and that was the least favorite out of the four). For the reception, we are serving a Caesar salad (it's served tableside and the homemade croutons were so good!!), the penne vodka (AMAZING!), the lemon/vanilla intermezzo (an Italian tradition to have lemoncello as the intermezzo), a dual plate (filet and chicken) with risotto and baby carrots. Everything was so good! It was so hard to decide!
Now, the hard part will be when the budget comes in. Hopefully, we aren't too much over and I have to decide what to cut out. That will be the hard part. But we knew going into it, that we were going to throw everything we wanted in there and then take out if we had to. Only time will tell! Thanks for listening!