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

[roozlilone]

My favorite is #2!! But you need to pick the one that "speaks" to you, Go with your heart, it's never wrong!

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[crzy4pooh]

Cam - First of all, you are just such an amazing person!!! I can't wait to see you and Howard again. And I loved reading your story - I am so incredibly excited for you! You will look stunning in any dress you choose, but I love the first one on you. No more talk of looking big - you look fabulous, and your weight loss is awesome!

Lynnda

 

[pjstevens]

Oh, and here I was 70+ pounds ago, with two of the loves of my life!

Jen's mom!!!! Hi, It's Patty Stevens (Aubre's mom)! Oh my goodness you look wonderful! I have always wanted to run (use to be able to many pounds ago). You have truly inspired me. Hubby and I just started looking last night into a Disney Cruise and renewing our vows in September for our 25th. I was searching the boards and found your renewal pj. I can't wait to read more and live your dream with you.

 

[keenercam]

Cam -

Yes, after I spoke with Kristen the other evening, I took a long 30 seconds to think about it and then logged into the registration website! I am officially signed up - now I just have to make the time for training when I get back to the real world and actually have a life again. It's going to be a blast I am sure - so much excitement that weekend!

Z

Kevin -- I am so glad you are registered. Howard confirmed yesterday that he is too! Are you doing the 5k with Kyle as well? I think you guys are nuts! I know some of my girlfriends' husbands want to take Howard out for a night on the town Thursday night, probably at PI. Not sure if you and Kristen will be in town by then and whether Kristen and you will be up for it, by I hope you'll keep it in mind.

Cam - First of all, you are just such an amazing person!!! I can't wait to see you and Howard again. And I loved reading your story - I am so incredibly excited for you! You will look stunning in any dress you choose, but I love the first one on you. No more talk of looking big - you look fabulous, and your weight loss is awesome!

Lynnda

Thank you, Lynnda! You are so sweet! That first dress really is a princess dress isn't it? When I walked out of the dressing room to show Howard, he said "that's perfect. a princess ballgown for a fairytale wedding." And all I keep thinking is of how these gowns will look all spread out around us in our Magic Kingdom castle shoot. And I get all weepy. Happy tears, of course, but I just can't believe it is all going to happen!

Jen's mom!!!! Hi, It's Patty Stevens (Aubre's mom)! Oh my goodness you look wonderful! I have always wanted to run (use to be able to many pounds ago). You have truly inspired me. Hubby and I just started looking last night into a Disney Cruise and renewing our vows in September for our 25th. I was searching the boards and found your renewal pj. I can't wait to read more and live your dream with you.

Hi, Patty! Wow! What a small world!! I just looked at your WDW holiday pix and they are great! You look absolutely awesome! And the kids look really great. I am so happy that everyone is doing well. I hope you will get to do your VR, too and that you'll start a planning journal here. I'd LOVE to hear all about your planning!

Oh, I should mention that when I try on those two Demetrios gowns or when I find "the one" I definitely will NOT be posting here. As you can all see, my DH is attentive not only IRL, but also here and has been so intimately involved with the planning. But the one thing I am going to keep a secret from him is what I will look like and what gown I ultimately choose. It will be SO HARD NOT to put pix in here to ask for opinions, but I am looking forward to sharing them by PM so that I can get advice and feedback.

I have been so sick since Monday that my weight dropped 6 pounds. I am sure it will all reappear when I can eat normally again, but my goal weight for gown shopping is not so far off from where I am now. Since I am still feeling so outrageously sick, maybe I'll just stick with brown rice and chicken broth and reach my next mini-goal by 2/22, when Judy & Kathy come to go shopping with me.


Oh, and after being so upset about the sizing issue, I feel better now because my very dear friend who is the tiniest person I know (geez, i'd guess she's a size 2 or 4 at absolute most), had to order a size 8 for her gown! Now, I'd give almost anything to be a size 8 but there is no way my sweet friend Jess is a size 8! Thank God her ego isn't fragile.

 

[keenercam]

Thanks to another bride here, I was reminded to stop at Target last night to check the $1 spot for mickey stuff. I found packs of 3 mickey gel pens and a 20 pack of heart cellophane bags. I figure after Valentine's day, I might be able to find some pick stuff in the valentines clearance that will work for our welcome bags.

A really sweet DISer on the DISigns board made the cutest graphic of mickey & minnie running that will be perfect for our DP invites. So, last night at Target I picked up some ivory scalloped edge 4x6 cards and matching envelopes. I may not end up using them, but I want to have them in case that is the route we decide to go.

I dont' remember if I mentioned that the samples from cardsandpockets were really pretty and great quality. I am still pretty determined to make our invitations, though I may end up designing them and then handing over a CD rom to a printer so that the print quality will be great. Still undecided on this, but we have some time.

Sent our room block spreadsheet to Joe yesterday but he is on vacation for about a week, so I dont' expect to hear from him for a while. If I've figured it right, I think we can start making our DVC reservations tomorrow and through next week.

 

[pjstevens]

Cam,

We are doing it!!!! Booked our cruise today and talked to DFTW today to renew our vows on the cruise!!! I am so excited!!!

 

[keenercam]

Cam,

We are doing it!!!! Booked our cruise today and talked to DFTW today to renew our vows on the cruise!!! I am so excited!!!

Patty -- That is so exciting! Congrats! Now you have to start a planning journal!!

 

[BayouPrincess]

Thanks to another bride here, I was reminded to stop at Target last night to check the $1 spot for mickey stuff. I found packs of 3 mickey gel pens and a 20 pack of heart cellophane bags. I figure after Valentine's day, I might be able to find some pick stuff in the valentines clearance that will work for our welcome bags.

Lucky Duck! I went to our Target this weekend, but no such luck. I'm going to my mother's this weekend, maybe her Target has some! I was able to get these great photo albums at DollarTree though. I'm going to post pics of them in my PJ soon.

Good Luck on the dress shopping. I love dress #1, you look absolutely princessy! (even if it doesn't fit right), it's beautiful!

 

[caryndisneydiva]

i love the 1st lacy dress the best out of all of them...i'm sending that pic to my sister, i think she might need some inspiration...

 

[pjstevens]

Patty -- That is so exciting! Congrats! Now you have to start a planning journal!!

Thanks Cam. I'm trying to finish my trip report from our trip in December, so I cannot start the planning journal yet, but I will.

 

[DisneyLaura]

Cam,

We are doing it!!!! Booked our cruise today and talked to DFTW today to renew our vows on the cruise!!! I am so excited!!!

That's so awesome. I'm doing a VR for our 25th but I have a long time to go (we just celebrated our 11th anniversary in Oct 2007). I should of did it for our 10th but I didn't know about the DIS boards then

Laura

 

[keenercam]

Lucky Duck! I went to our Target this weekend, but no such luck. I'm going to my mother's this weekend, maybe her Target has some! I was able to get these great photo albums at DollarTree though. I'm going to post pics of them in my PJ soon.

Good Luck on the dress shopping. I love dress #1, you look absolutely princessy! (even if it doesn't fit right), it's beautiful!

Lisa -- Don't give up! I didn't find the pens in the dollar spot when I was there earlier this week (Monday) and then found them Thursday night, I think. I am still hoping to find Mickey note pads that I got there for the kids' stockings last year. I am hoping they will magically reappear in the dollar spot.

I had Howard stop at Target last night to pick up five more packs of gel pens. I figured I should probably plan on 20 welcome bags/boxes, just to be sure I have enough of everything. And I figure if I pick up things as we go along, it wont' be overwhelming to come up with ideas and shop later. Plus, it gives me plenty of time if I need to take pricemarks off stuff and if I want to wrap anything.

I have a really awesome "to-do" list running so that when I have some free time, I will do things like start designing our water bottle template, replace the tags on the wine bottle stoppers, etc. I think once it is time to send out the save the dates and our first newsletter, things might start rolling pretty quickly.

My next big project is our first newsletter. I am so psyched to do that!

i love the 1st lacy dress the best out of all of them...i'm sending that pic to my sister, i think she might need some inspiration...

Caryn -- I am so glad you like it. I hope it inspires your sister.

Thanks Cam. I'm trying to finish my trip report from our trip in December, so I cannot start the planning journal yet, but I will.

Well, get writing!!! We NEEEEEDDD a PJ here from you!
I'm waiting..........

 

[keenercam]

that my BFF would NEVER do anything to make me feel uncomfortable or sad, but I was still worried about telling him that we can't invite his children (two of the three of whom are our Godchildren) to the VR. That was so hard, but he said it is absolutely NO problem. When he heard our guest limit is 40 he said "40 people is nothing. That would definitely limit your guestlist." He keeps telling me he will do absolutely ANYTHING I need him to do, that I should think of some stuff he can handle for me, before, during, after. I told him about Howard's bachelor outing Thursday night just so he can start planning to be down there in time for that, if at all possible. He even said he'd be glad to make sure all our guests are comfortable during the VR & reception, introduce people around, make sure no one is uncomfortable, etc. Geez, I love him! The good thing is that we can invite the children to our dessert party Sunday night.

 

[gradtchr]

Cam you are truly one of the sweetest people! I love everything that you and Howard have planned so far!

That is so cool that your BFF was so understanding!

I can't wait to see what else develops in here.

 

[DisneyLaura]

Cam - can you post pictures of the mickey things from Target? That was nice for your BFF to understand. See no worries.

 

[keenercam]

Cam you are truly one of the sweetest people! I love everything that you and Howard have planned so far!

That is so cool that your BFF was so understanding!

I can't wait to see what else develops in here.

Thank you so much, Beth. That is so nice of you!

Cam - can you post pictures of the mickey things from Target? That was nice for your BFF to understand. See no worries.

Laura -- I haven't had a chance to take a picture, but there are some listed on ebay and this is what they look like:

They are only $1.00/pack. Today on a long car ride, Jenn put little Disney stickers over the pre-printed price on the backs of the packages.

Last night at Christmas Tree Shoppe, I found some cute notepads for the welcome bags as well as all sorts of fun wrapping supplies. I also took off all the price tags on the notepads today. So, now when I have some time, I can wrap the 20 pkgs of pens and the ~30 notepads. My to-do list is getting longer. I LOVE it!

I also started playing around with a template to make my own mini candy bar wrappers. Howard, Jenn & Andrew were all very impressed!

 

[pink_tink8i8]

Hey, you posted a picture of the mickey pens! They are SO cute!

 

[roozlilone]

Great deal on the pens. I've been looking for some cheap ones and those are perfect!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Oh Cam,

I saw your post this morning in your WISH journal and just had to come over and visit. I'm sitting here crying with happiness for you and Howard. You are both very special, caring, loving people. We WISH you all the best in the world!

By the way, I know I'm a little late here, but out of the dresses that you have tried on so far, I think #1 is my favorite. You look beautiful!

 

[keenercam]

Thank you so much, Tracy! It is so nice to see you here, sweetie!

Okay, so I started recapping what we got done this weekend:

1. Howard and Andrew went to the dollar store and found packs of 100 individual loose Disney stickers that are kind of foil edged/glittery. We will be able to use these to decorate the plain wrapping paper I bought for welcome bag gifts.
2. We found really cute Disney bandaids for the welcome bags.
3. We bought hersheys miniatures so that I could start creating a template for mini candy bar wrappers.
4. I found some thin pink organza ribbon, though I'm not sure yet what I'll use it for.
5. We found inividual initial notepads at Christmas Tree Shoppes and picked them up for welcome bags
6. We found more of the mickey gel pen 3pks so that we now have enough for the maximum number of welcome bags that we would be making
7. I created a template for mini candy bar wrappers and came up with two designs that everyone in the family loved
8. I think I've finalized our save the date design for the vow renewal. Now I can order the components to make them
9. I think I've finalized the design for the invitations to the dessert party.
10. We signed the Randy Chapman contract and mailed it back
11. I contacted Beaute Speciale for my hair & makeup and Jenn's and told them I hope to do a trial in August or September when I am there for a weekend with a girlfriend.
12. I found some plain wrapping paper in pink and in gold foil so that I could start wrapping pens whenever I am ready

So, now my to-do list looks something like this:

Buy gold organza ribbon for wine bottle stoppers & star pens
Buy small clear labels (80/sheet) & clear address labels (20/sheet)
Wine bottle stoppers – remove ribbon; attach new tag & ribbon
Create label for back of “wishes do come true” tags
Tie “wishes” tags to star pens
Refine template for candy bar wrappers
Print candy bar wrappers
Cut candy bar wrappers & put in bag w/roll of tape
Refine template for water bottle wrappers
Print water bottle wrappers
Cut water bottle wrappers
Put water bottle wrappers in bag w/roll of tape
Order mickey mints
Order mickey sweetarts
Package mickey mints
Package mickey sweetarts
Wrap notepads & label
Wrap mickey pens

I've also started the shopping list for when we arrive in Orlando so that we won't be transporting mini candy bars or water bottles. LOL!

HUGE accomplishment today (though it took more than 35 minutes) -- I booked the studio that Howard and I will stay in Thursday night and then turn over to his mom & sister when they arrive Friday. I also booked the 2BR that Howard, Jenn and I will stay in Friday night and Saturday night. I'll call again tomorrow to book Sunday night on the studio and the 2BR. I haven't decided yet what to do about Monday night because we won't know for a while whether his Mom & sister will stay Monday night. I am pretty sure Jenn & Andrew will fly back Monday night so that they can both get back to class on Tuesday, but haven't decided yet whether to give up the 2BR for Monday night or keep it so that everyone has a place to leave their stuff before they go to the airport. Still all up in the air for Monday, but the critical accommodations will be in place as of tomorrow.