Belle Amy's PJ - Disney wedding cancelled, home wedding is a go! Dress pics up!

[lurkyloo]

Rustyflwr3,

I would love to see pics of your wedding - have you posted any here yet?

 

[Raspberry Bubbles]

What brilliant work!

I loved the Lilo and Stitch invites - too cute!

 

[Belle Amy]

Just some updates, I haven't posted in a long time...I think I actually got burnt out on wedding planning!! Who knew that could happen!

I spoke with Rosie from Floral, finally!! We played phone tag for a while, but she is AMAZING. I had emailed her with some pictures of what I was looking for and some ideas about what our theme was going to be.

We're having "Serenity" as our theme...we already got the stamp with our names and the Chinese symbol for Serenity, and I had asked Rosie about embroidery...They have been working hard trying to get their embroidery machine to embroider in a different language!! It doesn't seem to want to recognize the symbol as a pattern so it won't work!! But she says they are working on it. If that doesn't go through, one of the Cast Members that works in Floral knows how to write in Chinese, so she suggested that they have this CM write on ribbon and include it in the decorations...needless to say, I am thrilled!!

So this is the basis for the bouquet.

The light pink roses will be replaced with black magic roses and the rest of the flowers will be more cream than stark white. I am adding the pearl hidden mickeys in the stephanotis. The handle will be wrapped with a cream ribbon. It will not have ribbon loops around the base of the flowers. Rosie is going to include ribbon somewhere that has Serenity in Chinese.

It's very interesting to have a picture in my mind about what it's going to look like, and think about seeing it on the wedding day...I know it's going to be even more beautiful than I imagine...which makes me consider preservation...but the only one that comes highly recommended is Keepsake Florial and it's SOOO expensive!!! We'll see.

For all the upgrades on my bouquet, Rosie gave me a preliminary quote of $65 dollars, which is much less than I expected. She hasn't been able to give me a full quote, I know she was SWAMPED last month.

As for other flowers from Rosie, we are getting four boutonnieres. Brian's will be a black magic rose with cream ribbon, my best man's will be a cream rose with burgundy ribbon, and the fathers are both getting a cream rose with silver ribbon.

The mothers are both getting corsages, cream roses with silver ribbon.

The Maid of Honor is getting the three rose wand like this...

We received our sandlewood fans that we are using as favors...they are beautiful!!!

Each came with a different colored tassel that we are going to remove and replace with our colors and a favor tag. They have a metal loop at the bottom of the fan that will be easy to attach anything we want.

I ordered the fans online and they shorted me two...I contacted them and they said they would ship the two out immediately, but I've not received them yet, and it's been a month...fortunately, I have a lot of time and I ordered plenty extra, so it's not a huge deal.

We also got our parasols. They are beautiful, and very high quality...I was surprised. They are very thick paper material, probably twice the thickness of brown grocery bags, but they have the natural texture of homemade paper, with the grains and imperfections that I love.

They do kinda stink though! It's a weird musky smell.

You can see my new "wedding investment" in the background! I finally got my treadmill!!!

I think we are going to "attempt" to use the stamp that we got on one of them, and see how it works...I was thinking about using it on the underside, kinda out of the way, so it is doesn't work, it won't be as noticeable, but could be a cute hidden memory for us.

I spoke to Rosie about setting up the small decorations like the parasols and she said there would probably not be an extra fee, if we were going to have them decorate the gazebo anyway.

Which is something else we spoke about...This is the picture that she sent...

I think it's BEAUTIFUL, but a little crowded for our little wedding, so Rosie suggested that we just decorate the gazebo with the ribbon, not the floral. She said they could use the embroidery machine (if they have it accepting the symbol by then) or just have the CM handwrite Serenity on the ribbon and drape that around the gazebo...I think this is an excellent idea. She said the charge would be around $45. The ribbon would be cream and the embroidery or the handwritting would be burgundy to match my dress.


I think I've decided on this bridesmaid dress, but with a burgundy sash instead of white...

I got the bracelet that I'm planning to wear for the ceremony for Valentines Day....with a vase of roses along with it!! DF is so sweet!

I actually searched high and low for this bracelet after seeing Maggimus wearing one similar in her pictures...it was a very understated way to incorporate Mickey into my pictures...I loved how it showed in her pictures and I had to have it!!


We've officially booked Randy, sent in the deposit and received the signed contract back!! I'm SOOOO excited!

We also set up a wedding website that we have a little more control over. While I think the Disney run websites are beautiful, it's a little silly to me that we have to contact our EM every time we want to update something...especially because we are so interested in our guests being involved in all the planning processes...so we set up a xanga account (kinda like livejournal) that we could update more frequently with pics and everything....so it's essentially what I've already posted here, with some more explainations as to why we chose a Disney wedding...my Disney-aphobe family doesn't get it, but we're hoping to turn that all around!!

Anyway, if you want to check it out, it is www.xanga.com/ourdisneywedding

Woo..I think that's it...it surprises me every time how much I've done...I don't realize it until I type it on here!!

A couple things that are ongoing, and I know every bride deals with...

I'm in a heavy fitness regiment, and it is a huge help to have a treadmill in the house...a person can only do so many aerobic workouts with a perky lady on a DVD....now I can RUN!!!

I've never been a very healthy person, always been overweight. Almost two years ago I quit my nasty habit of smoking...something I had done for almost 12 years, and I replaced the cigarettes with food...lots of it! I gained almost 100 pounds on a body that was already about 40 pounds overweight...and as funny as it is to say, I woke up one day and realized "wow, I'm fat!!" It's not as though it happened overnight, but you really don't realize right away what is happening to you....

So I started doing something about it...I cut down portions, cut out sweets, soda, and all those fun things that I liked to eat...and I dropped 40 pounds, pretty darn fast!! I was amazed and how a little change could make the weight fall off...Now I have my beloved treadmill and I've lost another 20 pounds in the last month or two!! I hope to lose another 60 or 70 by the wedding....it's a lot, but I'm dedicated!!!

Just wanted to share, I'm pretty proud!!

Thanks everyone on this board for being so supportive and creative and willing to share your ideas...I've been on this board for almost three years, and I haven't always been really active with my posting, but I've seen the quality of the people who come on here and comment. You simply are a one of a kind bunch, compared to those "other" wedding forums, I'm proud to post my ideas on here because I know they are always met with a warm reception and helpful comments!! Thanks for being there!!!!

 

[karentan]

thanks for letting us peek into the magical parts of your special day! everything looks beautiful!

 

[gillian1926]

I love the three rose wand. I am having my 10 year old and 6 year old niece...I think that would be perfect for them...did you get a price on that?

 

[Tiggerific04]

Everything looks great! I'm glad to see someone else using the triple rose wand for their MOH - I thought I might be the only one! Rosie told me it costs $45.

 

[MickeyAnne]

Just a word to the wise - I got that mickey head charm bracelet and LOVED it but the second time I wore it, the charm mysteriously fell off and was no where to be found. So I would either soder the circle closes or use plyers to shut it more. I wouldn't want you to lose your charm like me!

PS - Your planning is great and I REALLY like your bouquet!

 

[marywdw]

Just some updates, I haven't posted in a long time...I think I actually got burnt out on wedding planning!! Who knew that could happen!

I spoke with Rosie from Floral, finally!! We played phone tag for a while, but she is AMAZING. I had emailed her with some pictures of what I was looking for and some ideas about what our theme was going to be.

We're having "Serenity" as our theme...we already got the stamp with our names and the Chinese symbol for Serenity, and I had asked Rosie about embroidery...They have been working hard trying to get their embroidery machine to embroider in a different language!! It doesn't seem to want to recognize the symbol as a pattern so it won't work!! But she says they are working on it. If that doesn't go through, one of the Cast Members that works in Floral knows how to write in Chinese, so she suggested that they have this CM write on ribbon and include it in the decorations...needless to say, I am thrilled!!

So this is the basis for the bouquet.

The light pink roses will be replaced with black magic roses and the rest of the flowers will be more cream than stark white. I am adding the pearl hidden mickeys in the stephanotis. The handle will be wrapped with a cream ribbon. It will not have ribbon loops around the base of the flowers. Rosie is going to include ribbon somewhere that has Serenity in Chinese.

It's very interesting to have a picture in my mind about what it's going to look like, and think about seeing it on the wedding day...I know it's going to be even more beautiful than I imagine...which makes me consider preservation...but the only one that comes highly recommended is Keepsake Florial and it's SOOO expensive!!! We'll see.

For all the upgrades on my bouquet, Rosie gave me a preliminary quote of $65 dollars, which is much less than I expected. She hasn't been able to give me a full quote, I know she was SWAMPED last month.

As for other flowers from Rosie, we are getting four boutonnieres. Brian's will be a black magic rose with cream ribbon, my best man's will be a cream rose with burgundy ribbon, and the fathers are both getting a cream rose with silver ribbon.

The mothers are both getting corsages, cream roses with silver ribbon.

The Maid of Honor is getting the three rose wand like this...

We received our sandlewood fans that we are using as favors...they are beautiful!!!

Each came with a different colored tassel that we are going to remove and replace with our colors and a favor tag. They have a metal loop at the bottom of the fan that will be easy to attach anything we want.

I ordered the fans online and they shorted me two...I contacted them and they said they would ship the two out immediately, but I've not received them yet, and it's been a month...fortunately, I have a lot of time and I ordered plenty extra, so it's not a huge deal.

We also got our parasols. They are beautiful, and very high quality...I was surprised. They are very thick paper material, probably twice the thickness of brown grocery bags, but they have the natural texture of homemade paper, with the grains and imperfections that I love.

They do kinda stink though! It's a weird musky smell.

You can see my new "wedding investment" in the background! I finally got my treadmill!!!

I think we are going to "attempt" to use the stamp that we got on one of them, and see how it works...I was thinking about using it on the underside, kinda out of the way, so it is doesn't work, it won't be as noticeable, but could be a cute hidden memory for us.

I spoke to Rosie about setting up the small decorations like the parasols and she said there would probably not be an extra fee, if we were going to have them decorate the gazebo anyway.

Which is something else we spoke about...This is the picture that she sent...

I think it's BEAUTIFUL, but a little crowded for our little wedding, so Rosie suggested that we just decorate the gazebo with the ribbon, not the floral. She said they could use the embroidery machine (if they have it accepting the symbol by then) or just have the CM handwrite Serenity on the ribbon and drape that around the gazebo...I think this is an excellent idea. She said the charge would be around $45. The ribbon would be cream and the embroidery or the handwritting would be burgundy to match my dress.


I think I've decided on this bridesmaid dress, but with a burgundy sash instead of white...

I got the bracelet that I'm planning to wear for the ceremony for Valentines Day....with a vase of roses along with it!! DF is so sweet!

I actually searched high and low for this bracelet after seeing Maggimus wearing one similar in her pictures...it was a very understated way to incorporate Mickey into my pictures...I loved how it showed in her pictures and I had to have it!!


We've officially booked Randy, sent in the deposit and received the signed contract back!! I'm SOOOO excited!

We also set up a wedding website that we have a little more control over. While I think the Disney run websites are beautiful, it's a little silly to me that we have to contact our EM every time we want to update something...especially because we are so interested in our guests being involved in all the planning processes...so we set up a xanga account (kinda like livejournal) that we could update more frequently with pics and everything....so it's essentially what I've already posted here, with some more explainations as to why we chose a Disney wedding...my Disney-aphobe family doesn't get it, but we're hoping to turn that all around!!

Anyway, if you want to check it out, it is www.xanga.com/ourdisneywedding

Woo..I think that's it...it surprises me every time how much I've done...I don't realize it until I type it on here!!

A couple things that are ongoing, and I know every bride deals with...

I'm in a heavy fitness regiment, and it is a huge help to have a treadmill in the house...a person can only do so many aerobic workouts with a perky lady on a DVD....now I can RUN!!!

I've never been a very healthy person, always been overweight. Almost two years ago I quit my nasty habit of smoking...something I had done for almost 12 years, and I replaced the cigarettes with food...lots of it! I gained almost 100 pounds on a body that was already about 40 pounds overweight...and as funny as it is to say, I woke up one day and realized "wow, I'm fat!!" It's not as though it happened overnight, but you really don't realize right away what is happening to you....

So I started doing something about it...I cut down portions, cut out sweets, soda, and all those fun things that I liked to eat...and I dropped 40 pounds, pretty darn fast!! I was amazed and how a little change could make the weight fall off...Now I have my beloved treadmill and I've lost another 20 pounds in the last month or two!! I hope to lose another 60 or 70 by the wedding....it's a lot, but I'm dedicated!!!

Just wanted to share, I'm pretty proud!!

Thanks everyone on this board for being so supportive and creative and willing to share your ideas...I've been on this board for almost three years, and I haven't always been really active with my posting, but I've seen the quality of the people who come on here and comment. You simply are a one of a kind bunch, compared to those "other" wedding forums, I'm proud to post my ideas on here because I know they are always met with a warm reception and helpful comments!! Thanks for being there!!!!

Where did you find those bridesmaids dresses??? They seem just like what I am looking for - my sister can't/won't do sleeveless! (She needs something that she can wear a "regular" bra with!)

 

[PrettyInTink]

Everything looks gorgeous! I LOVE your dress! I think it is just stunning.
I have a suggestion for your favor boxes (which I LOVE). How about personalized fortune cookies? I have seen them before. You could google them and put a personalized message inside, maybe even a quote from Serenity.
Congrats on quitting smoking. I quit and gained 100 lbs as well. But I'd do it all over again if I had to. It is the best thing I ever did for myself. Now to lose the weight.....
I LOVE the fans and parasols. You are going to have a beautiful wedding!

 

[Belle Amy]

Thanks everyone for all your comments!!

The rose wand is $45 from what Rosie told me, but I haven't gotten my floral budget back from her yet.

As for the bracelet, because I used to work in a jewelry store, I ALWAYS check the clasp and any charms and make sure they are well attached...I've seen so many ladies come in to replace very expensive bracelets that fell off!! Also, I've been wearing it on a pretty regular basis because I needed to make sure that my skin didn't react to it...I have horrible luck with jewelry...just when I think I know what I'm allergic to, something else pops up!! Thank you for the heads up though...sorry you lost the charm on yours Mickey Anne.

MaryWDW- The funny thing is that I saved the picture, but didn't save the website...oops. So I searched for a while, and I found it!!!Bari Jay Bridesmaids

I really love the dresses from this designer...I have no idea how much they cost though, I haven't even looked into that yet....

PrettyInTink -- I'll have to check into the fortune cookies, but it is an excellent idea! As for the quitting smoking, it seemed really hard at first, but time makes it so much easier!!! Thank you for your kind words!

We finished our Save the Dates, I'll post them on here later. They didn't come out anything like we'd planned, but I actually like them better than the original....

Thanks again ladies!

 

[Belle Amy]

After a long conversation and much thought, we have decided to cancel our Disney wedding and move the celebration to our hometown. A number of things contributed to this, mostly the money issue. We are in the process of renovation of our house which we have been putting off until after the wedding, we just spent quite a bit of money traveling to Pennsylvania for my Grandmothers funeral, and we've been spending every last penny we have on the wedding. We've been neglecting a lot of things, saying "we'll do it after the wedding" or "we can afford more after the wedding", and frankly, it's just not worth it to us. We were having a hard time whittling down our guest list and we have too many people that we couldn't imagine not having at our wedding!!

We've also moved the ceremony up so now I have less than 90 days to do everything, including finding a dress!!!! I thought I'd have enough time to order one, but now I don't know where I will get it from!!!

We are now getting married June 30th, and we couldn't be more excited.

Thanks to everyone all here for their help and support and EVERYTHING!! We are keeping much of the theme the same, so we don't have to rethink it all....

To those that want to know, if you cancel an intimate wedding at the seven month mark, you will lose your deposit. If you consider postponing, they can move the date back almost up to a year as long as you change your four night minimum reservation that is necessary to book.

As for Randy Chapman, who we've already sent our deposit to, we are changing to an engagement session. We are fortunate to live close to Orlando so we have a little freedom in when we can do it, but we still get the Yacht and Beach club pics that we really wanted.

More importantly, we get to start trying to have a baby sooner, which was another major factor in moving the wedding!!

Again, thanks for everything ladies, and if you like, I'll keep you updated on our at home plans. We will most certainly be honeymooning with the mouse so we can have our Disney portion of the wedding as well.

 

[purplegirl247]

It sounds like you guys really thought this through. Congratulations on your impending wedding! Your ideas are really creative; glad to hear a lot of 'em are sticking around. Good luck and keep it up!

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

So sorry to hear that you are cancelling your Disney Wedding, but I am really happy for you that you have came to such a great alternative. You have obviously given this a lot of thought and you sound so happy, that it must be the right decision For some reaso I had never seen your planning journal before and I must say you have some wonderful ideas. I love the asian theme, I have always had a love for chinese/japanese things and I wish now I had incorporated some of these things into our wedding, hmmm, I may just have to steal parts of your ideas. I love the Serenity theme and the logo is beautiful. I think Chinese writing is so beautiful to look at.
Glas to hear that you will be keeping the planning journal, I really hope that you keep us updated with your dress hunt and any other ideas you may have.

 

[princessdisneybelle]

You made a tough decision. I'm glad it turned out to be what you wanted. Sounds like you are thinking more of your lives and not just the wedding. Your plans so far are amazing. I can't wait to see them all pulled together. Best wishes to both of you!

 

[lurkyloo]

Please do keep us updated, with pictures and everything! I am so looking forward to seeing you in a burgandy wedding dress - what a unique idea!

 

[DisneyFairy19]

Wow.. What a tough decision to make... but you both know whats the best... Please keep us posted about anymore wedding decisions.... Good Luck and Best Wishes

 

[Belle Amy]

We cancelled our Disney wedding, but not the one at home! We've made a couple changes to accomodate our less formal at home style.

Since we changed plans halfway through April, with the intent to get married at the end of June, I didn't have enough time to get the dress of my dreams ordered. I found lots of dresses on ebay and a couple other last minute dress sites, but I wanted to be different and preferred a burgundy dress. Of course that's a bit hard to find.

DF's mom is a professional seamstress. She works for a private company that travels around the country to different historical reenactments selling historically correct costumes. She's had her clothing sent to museums and even some sent to historical reenactors living in Venice, Italy.

I knew all of this for myself, but I was still a little weary about having her making me a dress, as she had offered repeatedly. I worried I would hate it, but feel obligated to wear it, or that she would take her own opinions into consideration when making it.

Time went by and I was absolutely unable to find any dresses that were "me" online. So DF asked me to print some pics of the dresses that I liked, and we would show them to her and see what she thought.

She said she could make something like it, but she would need a pattern. It's impossible to find a variety of patterns for wedding dresses!

I finally settled on one from McCalls. It had the simple design that I wanted, with a little texture in the skirt, that wouldn't take too much away from the color I had chosen, burgundy.

After only a few weeks of delivering the fabric that I had chosen, she finished the dress!! This lady works fast!! So here it is!!!

I'm very pleased with it. My only gripes are with the smoking that went on in her house as she made it. It reeks!!! I know how it is to be a smoker and not get the full effect of smoke on clothing, but I quit years ago, and my sensitivity is through the roof!!! Today, as she was making the final alterations, she had a cigarette in her hand!!! Grrrrr! And now I'm not sure if I can dry clean it BEFORE the wedding, or if that will ruin the volume or sheen of the fabric. DF says we need to let it air out for a week or so, maybe steam it to see if we can get the smell out. I can hardly wear it, the smell makes me nauseous!

Oh well, things will work out in the end.

Here's pics of our favors.

The CD cases that we are handing out our wedding soundtrack in.

Sandlewood fans and the boxes they came in. I made a template to cover the boxes and created the logo and printed on regular paper.

All three together.

My bouquet. It's silk, obviously, I bought it through thesilkgarden.net from Robin. She was great! We've decided on a cupcake tower instead of a wedding cake. I sent her the dimentions of the tower and she made a cake topper and decorative pieces to go around the table according to the measurments of the tower.

The bouquet in front of one of my parasols that I bought for decoration.

My engagement ring, wedding band and DF's gargantuan wedding ring. Can you believe he's a size 13? This coming from a guy who was 160 pounds when I met him.

Well, that's all for now. I'm going nuts, thinking about all the prep we have to do. On top of prepping for the wedding, we are remodeling our house, and cleaning out our backyard. DF's father and step-mother, who are renting us their old house, didn't do any yardwork in probably 5 years, and the backyard is outrageously overgrown. We've got a lot of work ahead, I only hope we can get it done!!

Thanks ladies, for reading! It's nice to vent sometimes!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Great to see pictures of your dress - I can't believe your future MIL made it in just a week. There just has to be a way to get the smoke smell out of it - talk to the dry cleaner about it. Maybe even just steaming it would help. Or Febreeze - man, that stuff works like you wouldn't believe!