Cam & Howard's Vow Renewal PJ -1/12/09 - WP&WH--p.98: TRIP REPORT BEGINS

[WithDisneySpirit]

Lisa -- I looked at your MK portraits today and all I could think of was that gown was so absolutely exquisite on you. Nothing could have been more perfect. And the pictures of you and DH on the castle balcony in front of the window looked as if they belonged in a couture bridal magazine "for the Bride who has style and can pull off an extraordinary gown". Really perfect, sweetie!

What a very sweet compliment! Thank you!! I hope you are having a MK shoot too; it really is an incredible experience

 

[figmentfan814]

What a very sweet compliment! Thank you!! I hope you are having a MK shoot too; it really is an incredible experience

I have to second that, Kris wasn't too excited about it, but once we were there that morning he kept saying, "wow this is so cool, I'm so glad that we decided to do this!"

 

[keenercam]

Jen -- It is so nice to see you here, sweetie! I am really looking forward to seeing you in January! One of the highlights of our trip will be the WISH meet Friday. Will you be there? Oh, and the 1/2 marathon, of course! I'll probably be the one in the Minnie bride ears! LOL! The one thing I will really miss is the Boardwalk meet. I WISH we could move that to Gasparilla's at the Grand Floridian. LOL! Woulnd't that be something? Me and Howard in our formal wear and everyone in their medals!

Vanessa and Lisa -- We are really looking forward to the MK photo shoot. It is Monday morning before the VR. I think we get picked up at 6 am for 6:30-7:30 in the MK. I am so excited!

 

[JoJo1980]

Hiya honey! I am totally in love with your wedding purse, it is stunning and those shoes are beautiful too The shoes you've got for the reception are a fab idea as then you can just enjoy yourself without achy feet Plus, I'm glad I'm not the only one that it planning lots of shoe changes

 

[Mama of Indybride]

Cam, love the bags, especially the pink one.

You are going to have the best most wonderful time, with all of the attention to detail you are putting in now, you will be able to relax and enjoy when you are there!

Congratulations!

 

[keenercam]

Hiya honey! I am totally in love with your wedding purse, it is stunning and those shoes are beautiful too The shoes you've got for the reception are a fab idea as then you can just enjoy yourself without achy feet Plus, I'm glad I'm not the only one that it planning lots of shoe changes

Thanks, Joanne! I just hope I can still walk by the time the reception rolls around. It will be two days post-race, so I think my feet should be fine by then.

Cam, love the bags, especially the pink one.

You are going to have the best most wonderful time, with all of the attention to detail you are putting in now, you will be able to relax and enjoy when you are there!

Congratulations!

THank you! The pink bag is smaller than I expected, but still will be perfect for all the paperwork I'll need that Sunday. I'll end up carrying some kind of heavy duty bag anyway for gifts to give out at the RD, so I'm glad the bag is cute even if it won't be a catch-all. Randy is photograghing the dessert party, so I want to be sure to look as cute as this face & body can manage. As for tending to details now, I came to a very conscious conclusion several months ago. Once Andrew goes back to school, life will be so busy with marching band season. Then the holidays. Somewhere in there Howard and I want to take ballroom dancing lessons, too (something I've always promised myself we'd do when I lost some weight. Now that I've lost ~70 pounds and we have the VR to look forward to, it seems the perfect opportunity). So, I figure anything I can get done now (and especially anything I can take to Orlando and put in my Owners' Locker in September) will be a load off my mind.

Yesterday, I took the first steps toward organizing the piles of "stuff" for the VR
I gathered all the supplies I've bought and know I won't need, and returned it all to Michaels.
I pulled out the wrapped notepads for our guests, which I will decorate and label & package for storage
I printed the template for the door hangers and Howard cut it out. I am hoping to have them all done and printed and decorated in the next 2 weeks, also to take to storage
I bought a wax seal & sealing wax and Howard said he'll take care of sealing the envelopes when they are done
We found baskets for the men's and ladies' rooms at the reception site. I have to check with Meri to be sure it is okay to put those in the restrooms for our guests.
I sent all the leftover chocolate to Howard's office and to the candy dish in my office that I won't touch.
I tried on my garter to be sure it fits. It does. YAY!

I know there is some other stuff that is done, but can't remember it right now. Just so glad to see the to-do-now-before-life-gets-crazy list getting shorter.

 

[keenercam]

I am more than a bit compulsive about checking the time and wanted to find a silver-toned watch that would work with my jewelry for our VR. Found this one on ebay yesterday, lost the bid, got a second chance offer and Howard said it would go nicely with the already-procured "ear and neck blingage". LOL!

The price was good and the seller seems to have a great reputation. It is a liquidator of sorts, and they have some really great looking watches at what seem to be reasonable prices. I restrained myself from even looking at the details on the cutest PINK COACH watch.

 

[jennifaerie]

Cam, that's a very pretty watch! I know what you mean about checking time. I'm not wearing a watch that day. I don't know what I'm going to do!

 

[keenercam]

Thanks, Jennifer! I think as the day approaches, those nearest and dearest to me may persuade me NOT to worry about the time that day, but I'll feel better knowing I have it if I want to wear it. The nice thing is that I now will have a dressy silver-tone watch for whenever I wear silver tone jewelry with evening wear (DCL cruises, etc.), instead of having to carry my ordinary watch in my purse to check the time.

 

[padisneyfour]

Cam, I was in Michaels yesterday and I saw your star lollipops! When you posted the pic. the sticks looked stiff these ones were on bendable clear plastic tubes....they look cute!

 

[pjstevens]

Cam,

that watch is beautiful!!!! But honey, you have got to NOT worry about the time on that day! Everything will run so smoothly and you will NOT want to know how fast it is going by. But, hey, Howard said buy it, go for it!!! You can use it for lots of other times.

 

[accountingbabe08]

I love the watch to go with your bling. Its so beautiful.

Belinda

 

[keenercam]

OMG!! We are FIVE MONTHS AWAY!!!

Cam, I was in Michaels yesterday and I saw your star lollipops! When you posted the pic. the sticks looked stiff these ones were on bendable clear plastic tubes....they look cute!

Yes, Tammy, ours are on clear plastic tubes that are flexible, rather than stiff. It was great because I could cut them to varying lengths to arrange in the centerpiece.

Cam,

that watch is beautiful!!!! But honey, you have got to NOT worry about the time on that day! Everything will run so smoothly and you will NOT want to know how fast it is going by. But, hey, Howard said buy it, go for it!!! You can use it for lots of other times.

I love the watch to go with your bling. Its so beautiful.

Belinda

Thanks, Patty and Belinda! I can't wait for it to arrive. It looks so pretty in the picture.

I think I am totally set now for "wedding" day, except for undergarments, and I haven't decided yet whether I will wear stockings. We have been in WDW the last 3 years for marathon weekend. The temperature has within each of those stays been variable within 20 degrees over the course of a week. So, it is hard to know whether our wedding day will be warm or chilly. I'll probably buy stockings but play it by ear whether to wear them. My feet may be a mess from the race, so it may be a good idea to wear stockings. LOL! All I need now are the dress and undergarments. I'll figure all of that out in late September or early October, I think.

As for the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner & dessert party, I have NO IDEA what to wear. I have the pink shoes & tote and I am hoping that if I haven't pushed the time envelope too much, my friend's Mom, who is an incredible jewelry artisan, might still be willing to make my jewelry with gorgeous swarovski star crystals that I bought. I may end up in white dressy capris (saw a cute pair on the j.marco website) with an embellished pink chiffon tunic-type top. Still keeping my eyes open and I figure I will know it when I see it.

And now, thanks to someone's very creative idea and their thread here, I have added "create a playlist for when I am getting ready VR morning" to my to-do list. I had already been compiling a playlist of songs that were popular while we were dating and the top 20 list from the week we got married, so I think a lot of those songs will be on the "morning of" list. I am afraid that anything real sentimental will have me a blubbering mess.

 

[padisneyfour]

FIVE MONTHS WILL FLY! Creating a play list from when you dated...I like that idea.....

 

[Lindsay22]

And now, thanks to someone's very creative idea and their thread here, I have added "create a playlist for when I am getting ready VR morning" to my to-do list. I had already been compiling a playlist of songs that were popular while we were dating and the top 20 list from the week we got married, so I think a lot of those songs will be on the "morning of" list. I am afraid that anything real sentimental will have me a blubbering mess.

Cam that is ADORABLE! I made a CD for my parents 25th anniversay that we played during the party.

Oh, and I love your watch and think it will match beautifully!

 

[Honeibee]

Cam - Love the watch! Oh it's beautiful! What a great idea, a playlist for when you're getting ready.

How about some Kenny Chesney??

 

[keenercam]

FIVE MONTHS WILL FLY! Creating a play list from when you dated...I like that idea.....

I had originally planned this music for our WISHES dessert party until the fireworks start, so it could definitely do double duty. If I play it on "wedding" morning, it would bring back the happy vibes from the night before and keep me calm. (um....maybe not, but it's a good plan nonetheless )

Cam that is ADORABLE! I made a CD for my parents 25th anniversay that we played during the party.

Oh, and I love your watch and think it will match beautifully!

Lindsay, what a sweet idea! Did you load it with their favorites? Or just a romantic mix?

Cam - Love the watch! Oh it's beautiful! What a great idea, a playlist for when you're getting ready.

How about some Kenny Chesney??

Hmmmm.... some of Kenny's stuff is wayyy too romantic and has some special memories attached to it. I may have to be VERY selective about which of his songs I pick.

 

[keenercam]

Just another small update --
I emailed Meri about our baskets and there is no problem putting them in the restrooms, but people other than our wedding guests will likely use those restrooms, too, so she gave me a heads' up on that. Also, the colors of the restrooms are shades of peach with dark and light green accents, so somehow I don't think the pink gingham and blue gingham liners will work, though the white wicker will be fine. I got a good deal on the baskets, so I may end up removing the lining. I'd love to get those finalized and put in storage in September as well.

Our revised BEO arrived last night. It was great to see it all pulled together with our finalized pre-reception menu and the floral quote. We've started going through it very carefully but some of the reception menu details won't be finalized until after my September visit, so I don't feel like there is too huge a rush to turn this around (it helps that Meri is on vacation for a bit, too!)

The watch arrived yesterday. OMG! I can't even describe how perfect it is for what I was hoping to achieve. It is a very narrow band and an elongated oval face and the crystals in it are outright dazzling. I am so happy with it! IIRC the retail price was $225. I got it for $50 plus reasonable shipping, and will be able to wear it for any dressy event, so I am thrilled.

I spoke with Linda at Chapman Photography yesterday, too, and she said it won't be any problem if we end up wanting to extend our VR day package by an hour. She was an absolute darling to talk to.

I think that is everything for the moment. Howard is away this weekend working as a counselor for a Special Olympics camp and Andrew will be away at sleepaway band camp. Not sure about Jenn's plans, so I've decided tomorrow will be productive for wrapping up some DIY projects I want to take to WDW in September. My friend Patty is coming to help me with some Cricut stuff after our run and breakfast. I am also considering driving up to the Demetrios salon to visit my dress sample. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I'll have pix of some more completed projects.

My to-do list for the weekend:
1. Thank you tags for the gym bags
2. decorate the notepad packages and pack for storage
3. re-pack the DP centerpieces for easy transport and compact storage
4. figure out the whole embossing thing
5. figure out restroom basket issue, purchase & pack items for each & pack for transport and storage
6. find 3-wick candle for memorial table & pack for storage

What am I forgetting?

 

[padisneyfour]

Cam the watch sounds stunning- how wonderful! Everything at your VR will be amazing, I just know it! Have a fun weekend with all your projects!

 

[cheerbop]

yay! I finally finished reading all 60 pages. I told you it would take me the rest of the week

I am so excited for you and your hubby to do this. What a special story you have and have created and will continue to live.

My hubby is now *slightly* considering doing this for us sometime. But, all this planning you are doing has me nervous. There is so much to do--so many little things.

Can't wait to read more as the time draws near