Brittany & Frank 12/4/2005 Trip Report - Finally Complete May 2008!!

::sigh::

what an amazing wedding! i can't wait to read more!!!
i've already told my boyfriend that when and if we get married, it's gonna be in disney world. i want a wedding just like yours!!! : )
 

Subscribing! I HAVE to read this, but I'm on my way out! Your pictures are wonderful - you looked sooooo beautiful! Congratulations!!!
 
Reading your trip report makes me so excited for my wedding! I can picture myself there. I would also be the one peaking down the aisle. Congratulations! You look beautiful!!
 
wow. your pics are absolutely beautiful. you made a GORGEOUS bride.

I know this is going to come out wrong no matter how I say it, but I assure you, I mean it as a compliment -- you really do us bigger girls justice. You are absolutely gorgeous.:lovestruc
 
I am so sorry it took me so long to finish these but here goes:

It's RECEPTION TIME! WAhoo!
Here is an overview of the set-up.

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Our bobblehead was too big for the cake. 1 week before the wedding we added the castle topper. I am so glad we did!
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Our cake was yellow cake with rainbow sprinkles baked in for bursts of color and buttercream filling. It was too rich for the most part and I wish they had lightened it up. It was still incredibly good but tons of sugar. They also sprinkled it with snow-looking stuff so it sparkled like winter since we had a December wedding.

The grooms cake was NOT what we expected or paid for at all. It was far above and beyond what we paid for. It was a lot larger (portion size) than the bride's cake. Truly a Texas-sized cake for a Texas Groom! It was chocolate with Bailey's filling and everyone raved about how good it was. We were thrilled with the cake!! I requested just maroon icing (Go Aggies!) and they put Ganache on it. It was so much better than anything I'd imagined. And about two times the size I expected.
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We got the Cake Knife & Server since this is pretty much the only FTW-Branded item you can still buy:
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I made the placecards by hand and I'm so glad I did. This was awkward seeing my "new" name:
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I really really really wanted my dad to introduce us. I am SO glad we didn't have a DJ- for me it was wasted money. We didn't have many dancers anyways.


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To Be Continued...
 
So here we go... it's time to see everything else I'd so carefully planned!

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We went right into our first dance. It was in the middle of the tables. Still not sure about it because it was a tight squeeze. No biggie though. We kissed a lot and everyone said something later about "all the kissing" LOL!

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And just some photos of the two of us:

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More later!
 
This is what our guests saw of us coming over to our reception!!

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Laura Kidd did a FANTASTIC JOB with our reception floral and linens!

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They placed our cakes at the exact spot I specified. As you can see, Frank's cake really WAS larger than mine!

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Here's some more shots of our wedding day. The weather could not have been more beautiful!

This is also the best shot of our aisle decor. I am so glad we decided to cut most of the expensive stuff out!

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The candles REALLY add a level of ambiance I had not expected, especially with all the outside light. It made everything so much more intimate feeling:
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I was totally relaxed, my dad wasn't doing quite that well:
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What a GOOD MOH does!! (Thanks, Sis!!)
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Our Food.

First, let me preface this by saying- THE CALIFORNIA GRILL IS FRICKIN AMAZING! YAY!

So we went back and forth with Ken, the chefs over at Cali Grill for awhile. They are SO strict on ingredients and I am the pickiest eater on the planet earth. I am so thrilled we ended up with the menu we did. The best thing we did WAS to add the sorbet. It was seriously out of this world. Their sorbet is a lot less expensive than other places in the park, which you'd never guess especially because they make it fresh right there in their kitchen!! :shock:

Before anything, we had the goat cheese ravioli appetizer. Standard on their menu, has been since the restaurant opened. No changes to this!

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First, our salad.

It was based on the California salad at the Melting Pot (one of my two favorite restaurants!). The CG kicked it up a notch by adding CANDIED walnuts and fresh raspberries. The salad was amazing. The only thing I did not like was the round plates. I know they didn't have 70 of the rectangle plates we had at our tasting but it really helped the salad look cooler. No biggie, it was gone so fast I forgot to notice.

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OK. This next photo not only shows our wonderful sorbet, but also my sense of humor. NiCole's last name is hyphenated but I had no idea what Chris' name was, so I just put her last name on his place card. They were cracking up from this because obviously, that's not his last name LOL.

The sorbet, OMG. Presentation was awesome to me. I wanted something different and this fit the bill. The choco bits just made it even better because it wasn't overkill and I am not a chocolate person (so sue me!)
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The main course.

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It was awesome. We had green beans at the tasting but looks like we got asparagus on the big day. No biggie, I just loved the green beans so much. The cali grill will make sure only the freshest is served and I'm sure this was based off of the fact the beans weren't good looking on the big day.

OK So I didn't realize that we'd fill everyone up with just that amount of food. Looking back, I still wouldn't have changed what's coming up next: our custom dessert.
 
Our custom dessert.

This took a lot of begging.

Prior to hearing of Stephanie having hers and (I think!) Lynda, I was begging Ken to make this one happen.

I added the slipper as a (idiot!) surprise for our tasting. Little did I know this was a $900 surprise LOL! Cinderella just wasn't our thing, FIGMENT WAS!

I told Ken my vision. We're at Cali Grill, very artistic, bright, airy. I envision a figment silk screen, a white chocolate rose or some other shape, with a chocolate paint brush.

One week later he calls me. "I'm sorry Brittany but we'd have to custom make the silk screen for Figment and it might be expensive. I wish I had better news for you."

I gave up.

Two weeks later on an update call we are about to hang up and he throws something in. "Chef Mary said she loves your idea and would be thrilled to make the Figment dessert for you. Of course there'd be no special charge."

If you've kept up with my recaps of our planning and wedding, you'll know we had a hell of a time with Figment. He could, then he couldn't come, then he could, then he couldn't. After the wedding, Ken told me that even the day before the wedding they didn't want Figment coming up to our wedding but he said it HAD to happen. Basically, it was a safety issue because the Figment costume is so much heavier than all the rest and the person inside it might risk physical injury, not to mention Figment has a HUGE tail and could injure a guest. None of that happened and Figment came to our wedding. But Ken did share with me he was holding his breath the entire time and also begging that they get Figment up there.

So, I just about cried when our dessert came out.

Not only was it cooler than what I thought, but everyone PLAYED with their food! Everyone was "painting" with all the purees!!

I wasn't expecting a molded actual paint brush. That was insane. And the "dusting" of pink powder I didn't know about until the reception. Too much pink is NEVER enough!

Also, instead of whipped cream, they upgraded the to WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!! Just so you know- the rose was hollow and it was filled with piped white chocolate. It's not a solid rose like the slipper is solid.

It was truly incredible and everyone was like "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS THING!"

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See, I spent all this time planning this huge wedding. A big to-do, ya know?

Then the day shows up and all the things I agonized over, I completely forgot.

The Coach (yup, forgot about the big kahoona)
My Flowers (boy, they were so much prettier than I'd expected)
Figment (I can't believe I forgot about him!)
Grand I (yep, this one too)
Figment dessert (how the heck did I forget all this stuff!)

Basically, you can spend all the money in the world but the reality is that your wedding will be special to you without all this stuff. I felt like we really went WOWZA on our wedding. The things I listed above made everything SO special to me and each one was a huge surprise on our wedding day. It all happens so fast. You may spend a week or more planning each specific detail, but then it all happens in a few short hours. You're just not ready yet!

If I could do it all over again, I would make sure I had those things I listed above. It really made it OUR wedding, but MY dream. It was so much better than I could have ever imagined, and although I wanted complete control, sometimes that just doesn't happen. I found that the areas I didn't have complete control were the ones where I was truly blessed on our wedding day. So many things happened that were above and beyond our expectations, that we were in awe of the blessings God had given us that day. A lot of it probably was because I said, OK God, whatever happens happens, but I'm getting married. Once that goal is accomplished, I am going to ENJOY my day. And that's what I did.

Not being nervous was the best thing, and not being picky or whiny made my day so smooth. I was open to whatever came our way and it was the best way for me to have a wonderful wedding.

I remember standing in the getting ready room and the girls asking me how I wanted them to wear their shawls. Truth be told, I honestly didn't care. I looked at Nicole and told her to make a decision, I don't care. And I still don't care. I let that one go. Some battles aren't worth fighting and I wanted everyone to be happy for me and for themselves on my wedding day. And it worked out. I wouldn't change a thing.
 
Ken told me to follow him. I didn't understand. He had Frank right there and then he told me we were going to get Figment.

WHAT?!?!

I couldn't believe it. I've NEVER been more excited in my entire LIFE. Not kidding. Not even for the wedding (sorry, Frank...). Figment was MY character, born the same year I was. We go WAY back.

Because I don't have access to the photo, I will have to wait to tell you more until I do. This one photo shows every emotion I felt on my big day and to be honest, it's probably my favorite Disney photo. It conveys every emotion and I can't believe how elated I was.
 
I will write these and add some photos that I do have. I don't have a lot uploaded though so will have to wait!

So it was Ken, followed by me, with a groom who was lagging behind! We were headed towards the back of the CG by the restrooms and I was headed around the corner.... It was like slow motion!

THERE WAS FIGMENT!

I have never seen this costume, as the last time I saw Figment he was 2 feet tall on the arms of the scary looking dream maker guy.

I just went crazy, screaming, excited. I have never been happier! I hugged figment and we then went straight over to cut the cake.

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First, we cut mine and then we cut Franks. Ganache is really thick stuff, let me tell you. My cake was OK but a little too rich. They used a bit too much buttercream in the center and I had been hoping they'd thin it up but it was thick as butter, literally. The taste was good but looking back, I wish Disney had been more accomodating on what I wanted INSIDE the cake.

I loved the sprinkles and rainbow color throughout. The outside design was great, considering we spent 7/pp. The grooms cake was a steal at $250. The bakery went overboard, Ken said so himself. I guess they got excited to make a Texas groom's cake- just made it Texas sized, too!!!

His cake was delicious!

Nobody ate the cake. Everyone was stuffed. I still wouldn't change it for the world.

Our reception was soon over... people were already leaving halfway through dinner to get back to their lives wherever they came from. I was pretty upset they were leaving so soon and our wedding was so short lived. We didn't have further dancing, which was OK I guess but I did want to dance in my gown a bit!

Finally too many people were leaving, so I went to find Ken in the back. They were chowing down on some cake like I had demanded they do. I said, "I'm ready to go!" and so we got some stuff and headed downstairs with Evan.

I had wanted more photos with frank and I after the reception. I am so glad we did this. Evan was awesome and we got some unique shots. But all good things must end and we said our goodbyes with lots of hugs!

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After this, we headed over to the Grand Floridian on the Monorail. It was incredible! We wanted to ride on the front but were so tired we didn't want to wait since the first one was full in the front and it was pink. So we got in the regular cab. I have never seen people stare so wildly before! They're like... what the heck is wrong with you? It's your WEDDING DAY and you're on this dirty monorail! LOL!

We walked up to the front desk and were checking in for our room when the lady came to get us from concierge. They must do this a lot! While we were waiting, I went over to the regular concierge to see if the Bengals won. They did. My bouquet just about sailed when I raised my arms in victory. Everyone though I was nuts... again.

Our room was Clarendon room ending in the number 4. ON our way over there, we passed Roy Disney's suite. What the heck. Then we took the wrong floor once too and saw Walt Disney's Suite. What the heck. I coulda broke in right there and raided the mini fridge LOL!!

We got to our room, which overlooked the Grand I and the castle. Oh how I missed it so much already. But I was ready to do that thing married people do... but the sleep was showing up so fast... so fast.... we got undressed and passed out in that huge bed... and then the phone rang.

His best man accidentally called us. Oops. So he just invited us out for seafood. No way buddy! Are you frickin kidding me? I was awake and so was Frank. So before we did anything, my crazy butt decides I want to go to a park.

We went on a few things and then ate at the Rose & Crown for Illuminations. I told them I just got married that day and needed a good seat (points to tiara). I think they actually believed me! We had champagne with strawberries and a lot of congratulations from everyone. The food was excellent, too! It was time to head back "home..."

We opened the door and I hopped in the shower and then we did what married people DO :twisted:
 












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