Bride-to-be's totally confusing PJ - Beach towel design =o)

[Goldeelox9]

You can still have the cake reception in Palo right after the wedding and still have 5 or 6 hours on the beach. It is your wedding people will not mind going back to the ship for cake. It really was seemless!

 

[Bride-to-be]

back to the drawing board. Both of us are in agreement that we don't want to do Palo right after the ceremony. I guess we might be able to just do a cake cutting in studio sea at 4. I really liked the casual feel of doing it out of one of the rooms.

Anyhoo, my sister just called me from France screaming about how selfish I am being asking people to arrive at WDW the day before the cruise and asking them to stay for a night after. She completely agreed with my mom that we can't ask people to take that much time off from work and if we put it on an invite people will feel obligated. I sort of agree with everyone that its my wedding and that I should be able to be selfish. I honestly don't see why one night is so bad in the big scheme of things (especially when its free!). It almost makes me feel like my family doesn't care that its my wedding and that they don't really care if I have a chance to wear a wedding dress or not. She said specifically weddings are 1 day of being special, she said that since we are on a 4 day cruise thats already 4 days of being special and that I can't push it.

 

[29apr00]

Lots of valid points are being made. Yes it is your wedding and you should be able to have what you want. You are paying for the hotel prior, the cruise, AND now a hotel afterwards so you can have the reception. All your guests have to do is get there. And i do agree that most of them would be taking friday off anyway. I mean really, who takes M-Th off, then returns for friday, only to miss the weekend again. So you do have valid points. they are coming to see YOU GET MARRIED, so i would think the reception after teh cruise wouldn't be an inconvience.

Now.....as a guest....i'd have to see it as a bit of an inconvience. Airfare could be more expensive on Friday instead of Thursday. Plus...they'd have an extra day of meals and expenses. You'l only be feeding them 1 time at the reception. Some may want something else to do afterwards, so then it's money for park tickets or DTD or a water park. Plus an extra day of parking at the airport, food on friday too. And i would wonder if this wedding would ever end!! You are having an activity the night before the ship sails, then the 4 night cruise with the ceremony, and now a reception at WDW after the cruise too!?!??

I'm sorry! I really feel for you! It seems like you are really trying to please everyone and still get what you want for a wedding.

Is it possible to just have the reception before the ceremony? I mean, you are already planning something the night before, right? I know it's not normal, but you could still have the cake and champage and a nice reception like you want, but then your guests wouldn't have to stay an extra night.

Plus....it may be easier on your budget! It's got to be getting expensive paying for all these extra hotel rooms!

 

[Goldeelox9]

I think your family is selfish. IT is your wedding and I would put when it takes place and those who don't want to come...poop on them!

Shoot you could fill the ship with dissers and we would do anything you asked when you asked us to do it with no problem.

I had 30 people who all paid thier way for everything and 90% of them came in the night before and they all went back to palo for the reception and then to the beach and a few stayed over after the cruise....and they all still tell me it was the best wedding ever!

DO WHAT YOU WANT! If you family and friends don't want to come you don't need them there.

 

[LLLBelle]

She said specifically weddings are 1 day of being special, she said that since we are on a 4 day cruise thats already 4 days of being special and that I can't push it.

I totally disagree, there may be one "big day" but when you are having a destination wedding you want to make it nice for everyone. I am having 4 days of special-ness at my PR wedding. . .so don't listen to them. I do agree that they seem to be a little ungrateful about the whole thing when you guys are paying the bill.

Everything you are saying brings back the bad memories when I was fighting for my Disney Cruise Wedding, two of my FSIL and my FMIL were horrible about it. Although It will get better, I promise you will find something that works and when you do, everything will fall into place and it will be wonderful

I think that if you want to go for the reception after the cruise cut the day before the cruise out, just to ease some pressure.

Just hang in there and have a class of wine. . .or two

 

[CharacterFan]

It really sounds like you don't want the cruise ship thing. I know you've told people and they're excited, but have you priced and thought about moving it all to WDW. Plans change, people will understand that, and some might enjoy the parks more. Then you don't have to worry about kids being at the reception, you can have the ceremony and reception that you want. If you want a beach wedding you could do the Wedding Pavilion Beach, or I think even Shipweck Beach.

I do think people would stay for a reception on a Friday, because really who only takes off M-Th, but what if some have booked airfare already, and then some might want to stay until Sunday. It is your day, but honestly, I also agree with your sister with that your wedding is 1 day, and while you do have the night before the cruise, the cruise, and then the day after if a bit much. You're steaching your wedding into 6 days. That's just my opinion sorry if you dont' like it.

 

[spacerangerqueen]

First I just wanted to say that when we went on the 4 night cruise in March I only took off Mon-Thurs because I didn't want to use the extra vacation day. However I live in Florida and was home by 11am on Thurs, wondering why I didn't just go in late to work lol. The biggest thing is that when I showed up at work on Friday EVERYONE looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I came in for one day. So really it seams most people would expect your guests to take that Friday off.

In all honesty when are your guests planning on arriving? at 10am the day the cruise sails? My mom was complaining about not wanting to show up on Friday when our cruise sails on Saturday, but really I would have a heart attack if everyone was flying in on Saturday and I had to make sure everyone arrived at the Port on time! And if my guests were coming from FRANCE why the heck wouldn't you fly in early, especially since the day before the cruise is a FREAKIN' SATURDAY. I'm sorry but if I am flying across an ocean then I am going to maximize my time and if that means missing one more day of work can give me three more days out of the country (Fri/Sat/Sun) then what is wrong with that?

I'm sorry, I have to repeat what everyone else is saying, stop catering to your guests. A cruise wedding is supposed to be easy. You know what makes it easy? You can't change it. Tell them this is what the cruise offers, this is what you get. Take it or leave it, but we are getting married on whatever date on Castaway Cay. If you commit to it the way it is, then no one, especially the guests can come to you with things to change, because it simply wont be able to be changed. Once you present to them what you have decided on it will be much easier for them to accept it. They see you are so undecided so they think they can pressure you into what they want.

Once you 100% commit to one of your many options your guests will start to be comfortable with it and be able to plan accordingly.

 

[padisneyfour]

Once you 100% commit to one of your many options your guests will start to be comfortable with it and be able to plan accordingly.

I agree! You and DF need to make the decision and that's it, then the guests will know what is going on and be able to make plans accordingly. It is your wedding.....JMO. good luck

 

[pinkcow]

Cassie, as everyone is saying, really do what is in your heart and what you and your new husband want to do. In my mind if a guest is uncomfortable with taking the extra time off, let them make their own arrangements home early. Maybe have a "come if you want to" policy. It will be far less stressful. You can't please everyone.

Bottom line, the day (or week!) is about the commitment you are making between you and your fiance. Don't let anyone ruin that, and don't loose sight of it either.

 

[Bride-to-be]

Can someone please tell me how to respond using multiple quotes? If I knew how I would - but since I don't -

Thanks everyone for all of the support. DF and I had the longest talk about it last night. It all boils down to the fact that I want to wear my dress (or A dress as DF thinks ).

We determined that the only way I can where a big fancy dress is if we do something at WDW after the cruise ends. I keep thinking about how pretty everyones informal beach pictures are (esp. Heidis from her first wedding) and thinking I should just forget about the dress and all of the stress will go away. But then that thought always makes me really sad, and sometimes makes me cry. I suggested doing things a little backwards and having the reception first - DF refused. So we are going to go and check out LSS salon and the dessert party options this week and see what we think.

Everyone mostly for the wedding is flying in from up north and in January many flights are heavily delayed and cancelled due to the weather. I think I would have a heart attack if anyone missed the boat. So we are requiring everyone to come the day before. We sort of figure if we have everyone there the day before, why not do a come as you are welcome party in the napa room? I figure its one less meal our guests have to pay for and a chance for everyone to meet eachother before we jump on the bus the next morning for the cruise. That and fireworks are never a negative esp when you don't have to buy park tickets!

So we are off to disney today. I will post a ton when we get back next week. Hopefully by then everything will be settled and I can just worry about all of the fun stuff.

 

[ghoulish delight]

Aww, Cassie! I feel so so bad that you're stressed out over all this!! I agree with many of the other girls... you and your DF just need to decide on what the two of you want, and that's that! Weddings are about the couple! You would think that your family and other guests would be thrilled at this opportunity! Heck, if I was asked to go to such an amazing sounding wedding, I'd be absolutely ecstatic!! Keep in mind, there could be jealousy afoot.

But, I digress, don't let them take the wind out of your sails! If you want the chance to wear your beautiful princess gown, then make it happen! You think your family will be disappointed they had to come a day early and leave a day late once they see how gorgeous and happy you are in it? Okay, that's my two cents!

The funny thing is, I stopped by your PJ to wish you a happy planning session since yours is the same day as mine! Soo, I can't wait to hear the details when you get back! And keep your chin up girly. It'll all work out for the best!

 

[29apr00]

Good luck at Disney this weekend!!

 

[Kimmers127]

Oh wow. I guess I sort of keep coming back to the thought that if I were going on a free wedding cruise, EVEN IF I thought the bride was going a little nuts/overscheduling people.... I would TOTALLY SUCK IT UP because hello, free vacation! I mean seriously, 2 nights in Disney plus a 4 day cruise and all I have to pay is airfare and maybe a handful of meals? That's a drop in the bucket to what I'll be asking my guests to spend to attend my Wishes wedding! I think your family probably knows you well enough to know that you will bend over backwards to accomodate them, and they're taking advantage of that a bit. And with this many guests, you can't possibly please everyone. If you let yourself get into that mentality you will make yourself crazy.

My advice is do what YOU want... but say nothing further to your guests until you are 150% positive of your new game plan. If your guests are aware of all these new options you have been considering, that's probably what is making them think you'll happily change your plans for them, because they think you don't know what you want anyway, so you may as well do what they want. I say, keep your plans between you, DF, and us until you know exactly what you want to do, and then TELL them, don't "run it by them".

Good luck!!! Can't wait to hear all about your planning session!

 

[tiggersam00]

My advice is do what YOU want... but say nothing further to your guests until you are 150% positive of your new game plan. If your guests are aware of all these new options you have been considering, that's probably what is making them think you'll happily change your plans for them, because they think you don't know what you want anyway, so you may as well do what they want. I say, keep your plans between you, DF, and us until you know exactly what you want to do, and then TELL them, don't "run it by them".QUOTE]

Ditto

 

[CinderelliT]

Cassie,
I hope that you have fun in Disney!!! Good luck on your trip.

 

[dizneyfreak]

Good luck on your planning trip! I hope that the Disney magic comes into play why you are there and everything falls into place for you and DF. My opinion: do what makes you happy! I spent a year trying to make my DH's family happy before our wedding and it defenitely put a damper on my day. Don't make the same mistake...this is your day....live it up!

Anna Marie

 

[Bride-to-be]

So we're back, and the CASTLE is back in the running!!!!

We didn't do the official site visit (because I was sure it was out of the running) but our coordinator took us over anyway to just look around and we showed him exactly where we wanted the ceremony to be and he said "that shouldn't be a problem"!!!!!!! So he still has to double check and make sure but he thought it would be fine and he didn't seem to think that the construction would affect the location at all.

So yes we came back still undecided. We still have everything on hold and our coordinator wants us to wait to sign a contract for 4 weeks until all of the final construction plans are out. We also left our coordinator with a few pages worth of questions and so our final decision will have something to do with the answers he comes back with.

We also looked at the napa room. We fell in love instantly it was PERFECT for a rehersal dinner/welcome party. Its very itimate. The views out the window are mostly of the concrete roof of the contemp but if you look way out to the left you can see the castle and space mountain. We still really liked it. For anyone who was as confused about it as I am. On one of the menus they offer chicken beef and fish. What they do is just have platters of all of it and come around to the tables and serve guests as much of anything as they would like. I now know this is called Crown Service. Sounds great! I also asked about centerpieces and was told that they restaurant can do really cool centerpieces with lots of fruits and vegetables. I am kind of curious but I was assured it would be awesome. One less thing to worry about. The only downside is that if we do the castle wedding we will probably have more than 50 people there and so the entire thing would turn into a large cocktail party with lots of apps.

Because we didn't take any pictures here are some from Mouseweddings.com

Behind the bar there is a big window looking into the main restaurant. This is pretty much how it was set up when we were there. I don't really know what hte colored cone things are about. I learned that the tables underneath are not wood and therefore you are required to have a tablecloth - free choices are black or white.

Here is another Mouseweddings.com photo - I was assured that we will not have any ugly chairs and they will all be wood like the first photo.

This is the view from the catwalk just off the Napa room -

Space Mountain is way off to the right.

We had dinner at the CG which I will talk more about later but we were really disappointed that fireworks are all over space mountain. I wasn't expecting them to be over the castle but I thought they would be closer to the castle. You have no idea how far space mountain is until you see it from up there. The music wasn't as loud as I would have liked it to be and I just didn't get that same feeling that I do when we watch the show with the fireworks behind the castle. Oh well. The napa room itself is pretty cool.

Then we looked at the Living Seas Salon which was much brighter than I was expecting it to be. The windows were much smaller than I had hoped but oh well. One nice surprise is that there is a conference room with a big window. They suggested we could use it for Kids Nite Out and have lots of games and movies and stuff in there. Big Bonus. The only thing that concerns me is that I really felt like the space was too big for our group especially compared to how small and cozy the napa room is. DF really loved it and so it is still in the running.

Again it looked just like the pictures I saw online and so we didn't take any. Here is a photo from the passporter. The piano is on wheels and can easily be moved.

These pictures came from people named dave and sara!
This is the pre-reception area and also if we had a buffet where it would be set up. The fish decorations come with the room but can be removed.

This picture shows you how small the windows really are and how far away they are from the tables. Its a really big space.

We also looked at French Upper which I thought I would hate and I really loved it. I am so glad our coordinator picked it for us. The reason i like it so much is because it has all of these big planters with flowers all through the space which provides lots of seating so everyone can sit (if they wish) to see the fireworks.
I couldn't find any pictures of this online before the trip - so I took one!

So Plan A

Napa Room/Everyone stays at the Contemp/Castle Wedding/CG Breakfast/Call the whole Cruise a reception

Plan B

Napa Room/Everyone stays at the Contemp/Chef Mickeys Breakfast/Cruise Beach Ceremony/ Everyone spends the next night at the Boardwalk/LSS Dinner/ French Upper Fireworks


We should know the final plans for construction in 4 weeks and we will make the decision then.

 

[29apr00]

wow! Still lots of choices and a whole nother month to figure it out! I'd be going crazy by now!

 

[Bride-to-be]

SO the first day there we went and hotel hopped so DF could see all of the hotels were were considering for our guests. These are the basic conclusions we came to for the epcot area.

The Yacht Club was much darker inside then I had ever remembered it being. I liked it when we stayed there. I don't really like it anymore. The gazebo outside was really really cute and I almost like it more than the one at the Boardwalk. I liked the Beach club a lot more just because it wasn't as dark. They both win for by far the best pool on property - just because of the size and I had always remembered the water slide as being my favorite (we didn't get to do it again this trip, but I still think its my favorite).

The Boardwalk is great because of the the boardwalk and the fact that there is so much to do on it. We ended it choosing it because of the fact that little and old people could walk back from epcot and go to bed and there would be still be lots of stuff to do for anyone who wanted to stay up. We walked through the halls on the BWV side and my only impression was that the carpeting was disgusting and while back it looked like they replaces some sections but not all. The wall paper under the chair rail looked really dated. Overall it really needed to be redone. The halls on the inn side were much more cheerful and better looking. Hopefuly they just redid the inn side and are going to start work on the villa side? maybe? I hope. The pools in comparison to the yacht/ beach club looked really small and boring. But both pools were much quieter which was nice.

After looking at these three and figuring the prices I wanted to make sure DF was in agreement that they were worth the cost. So we drove over to POP just to see what it was like to compare and contrast. I had only ever seen the place from the main road driving by and didn't think I would like it at all. However I actually did really like it! It has a really long entrance with fun signs about color tv and air conditioning. I think the front drive into the gate was my favorite part - it just evoked a sense of excitement and made me think disney did a great job with the themeing. We walked in and it to me looked a lot like the all stars there was a big baloo by the pool and what impressed me most were that there no tears there seemed to be a million little kids and parents everywhere who were all really really happy. So we walked around a bit an ran into two bunnies just hanging out in the grass who didn't run when you got close to them. See even the bunnies were happy!!! They have built in twister boards all over the place and just lots of fun stuff. Then I looked up and suddenly saw ROGER

There is this giant Roger Rabbit (he's my favorite!!!!!!) I figured everyone had forgotten about him after he disappeared from the spectromagic parade and from everything at MGM (will never call it the studios - sorry). The 80's brought him back!!! I think this is a big reason to stay here - just to look at the roger statue everyday.

So in the long run I was really impressed I liked it far more then I did All-Star Sports when we stayed there after it first opened. After that first experience we all had the attitude that once was enough - seen it - done it and never again.

For our wedding we figured we were going all out which is why we picked the boardwalk but if we didn't have our guests in mind - I honestly don't think I would mind staying at Pop if it was just the two of us.

 

[Bride-to-be]

While we were there we got to meet the Roots who we loved. We thought everything we read was completely true. If we go the cruise wedding route they are definitely coming with us. They are also kind enough to hold the space until we hear back from disney and can make a decision. Bottom line they are the nicest people ever, their dog is adorable and their pictures are amazing!!!

So we walked into their apartment and they had a big gallery wrap of Carrie and Patrick haning in the living room!!! I walked in and thought I recognize those people!!

Overall we had a great meeting - Nathan and Jensey are very down to earth. There was no question in our minds that they were going to be our cruise photographers assuming we get married on the beach. If we go the castle wedding route I am going to try as hard as I can to get special permission to get them in even though its not allowed.