CherylLynn
Disney Bride 11/11/11
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2011
- Messages
- 84
Hello Everyone! 
I am so excited to start my PJ after following some very cool fellow DisBrides. I have gotten so much help from them that I figured it would be nice to share my story so hopefully I may help other Brides. Or at least offer a bit of entertainment! 
Our 11/11/11 DTFW:
Ceremony: The Croquet Lawn
Pre-Reception: Sea Breeze Point
Reception: The Promenade Ballroom at The Boardwalk Inn
Colors: Navy Blue with Bright Pink Accents
Style: Elegant, chic & modern with a fun & whimsical twist
About Me:
I'm Cheryl, a 31 year old Domestic Goddess (aka Stay-At-Home Mom) from Jacksonville, Fl. I have an amazing 8 year old son named Ashton (aka Greatest Kid Ever)! I have had a pretty interesting life, but I'll give you the basic summary. When I was born my birth mother gave me up for adoption because she and my birth father were divorcing. Within a few months, my Mom & Dad adopted me (it was a closed adoption, no personal info was known on either end). A few years after that they adopted another newborn, my brother Mike. Shortly after that my Mom was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My mom fought hard for the next few years, but she lost the battle and passed away when I was 8. From then on, my Dad raised my brother & I single-handedly. He was, and is, an amazing father.
He's pretty much my Best Friend. The day before my 23rd Birthday I gave birth to the love of my life, my son Ashton. 
He is my Sweet Angel Boy! Fast forward a few years. I put my info on adoption.com and crossed my fingers hoping for a match to my birth family. None so. Then in April of 2010, my birth family found my info from adoption.com and tracked me down on Facebook (thank God for technology, right?) Within a week I met them all- I have my Mother, stepDad, and 2 younger Sisters! 
And a whole slew of other family! Turns out, we were all living within 45 minutes of each other! I had even met my cousin before and never knew it was her. Anyway, it's amazing now to have my family in my life, especially just in time to share in one of the biggest days of my life! 
About Him:
My fiance's is Mathew (goes by Matt). He grew up in the Netherlands and Atlanta, Ga. About 8 years ago he moved down to Jacksonville with his family, (which consists of his Mom, Dad & 2 younger Brothers) & worked his way up through sales until he was an Area Sales Manager for an upscale department store. He went back to school for IT & is now a Technology Director for a great comapny. It must also be said that he is a total technophile & car aficianado.
And IMHO the smartest, handsomest, greatest guy in the world (but I am slightly biased)! 
He has taken the role of Ashton's Father in an awesome way. I know meeting a girl, falling in love, and instantly becoming a Dad to a toddler isn't every single twentysomething guy's dream, but he has stepped into the role beautifully. And years later, we're a Happy Family! 
How We Met:
In 2005 we were both working at the aforementioned department store; me as a Make Up Artist & Consultant with Estee Lauder, and him as a Sales Associate in the Men's Department. We worked together for months with no real thought of each other. A week after I left my job there, I went back to pick up my last check & visit my girls. I ran into Matt, we struck up a random conversation, and stood there talking for 30 minutes (longer than all our previous interactions put together). As we talked, I realized that I would probably never see him again, and that left a yucky feeling in my stomach.
I walked over to my counter and wrote my cell number on one of my old business cards (which is totally out of character for me). I figured if I would never see him again anyway, what was the harm in trying (besides sheer & utter humiliation). I nervously went over to him, (he was on the phone), and low and behold at the exact moment I reached in my pocket for the card, he handed me a piece of paper & pen and mouthed "your number". I held up the card and very uncoolly broke into a goofy grin 
A week later, he called, and we spoke every day for hours. One day we were on the phone & I randomly invited him to grab a bite to eat about 10 minutes from then. He had just eaten, but said he would come up and have a beer and hang out with me. We had a great time, and after hours of talking and laughing, we left. As we walked out, I gathered up my courage and planted one right on his lips (again, completely out of character for me). Then I ran to my car as fast I could and tore out of there! 
Luckily, within a minute of me high tailing it down the road he called my cell and said that if I hadn't done that, he would have. And the rest is history.....
The Engagement:
We had been together about a year and a half when I started dropping hints. After 2-2 1/2 years there were no more hints, just outright statements. Even my Dad & his best friend had been placing bets for a year or so on which days he would propose. FINALLY after almost 3 years together (and a year living together) Matt decided it was time. Within a week he had picked a ring, and called my Dad to ask for my hand. My Dad said he thought he should wait 3 years to give him an answer!
But seriously, he said of course! 3 days before my 28th Birthday Matt couldn't stand it anymore. He had my son go to my Dad's for the night so we could be alone. He called on the way home & said that he had landed a 2nd interview with a company he had met with that day (about this time he was starting his career in Technology) and wanted to celebrate. He came home with steaks and flowers for me. 
Then he plowed through dinner, eating like he hadn't in weeks. I, of course, ate at a normal pace (which he told me later on was killing him, he couldn't wait for me to finish)! After dinner I got up to go in the other room, and he called after me, "Baaaaaaaaaabe" (the only thing he ever calls me) in this pathetic voice. I turned around to see him crawling after me on his knees. Now, you must know that he did things like that all the time. Like, drop to one knee in front of me, wait til I shriek, then say, "Oh, I have to tie my shoe." Or, "Look at the rock I found!" Yeah. Funny. 
So I see him hobbling over laughing and exasperatedly snipped, "That's so not even funny. You're so mean. You shouldn't joke about that." And turned to stalk off; when he said, "What if it's not a joke?" I spun around and saw a small box in his hand. I started screaming, yes, SCREAMING, and he proceeded with his speech. I love you, you're so important, I want to spend my life with you, etc etc, and he's crying. He never cries. And OF COURSE I'm bawling. He finishes his speech with "...you'll make me the happiest man alive if you marry me." Where I promptly fall backwards literally swooning. He caught me and laughed saying that's the reason he didn't do it in public. I started jumping up and down and screaming "I'm gonna be Mrs. Greaves!!!" over and over. 
I realized that I should maybe say yes, which I did in between hugging and kissing him. I realized at some point in all this he had taken the ring out and out it on my finger. Then I swooned again. It was the biggest, prettiest diamond I had ever seen! We laughed and cried and hugged and kissed for awhile, and then popped open the champagne he hid earlier. We toasted and kissed, then I HAD to call my Dad. Matt took a video of our conversation, which was a lot of me crying and jumping again. The whole night was magical and beautiful. Totally worth the wait!
I am so excited to start my PJ after following some very cool fellow DisBrides. I have gotten so much help from them that I figured it would be nice to share my story so hopefully I may help other Brides. Or at least offer a bit of entertainment! Our 11/11/11 DTFW:
Ceremony: The Croquet Lawn
Pre-Reception: Sea Breeze Point
Reception: The Promenade Ballroom at The Boardwalk Inn
Colors: Navy Blue with Bright Pink Accents
Style: Elegant, chic & modern with a fun & whimsical twist
About Me:
I'm Cheryl, a 31 year old Domestic Goddess (aka Stay-At-Home Mom) from Jacksonville, Fl. I have an amazing 8 year old son named Ashton (aka Greatest Kid Ever)! I have had a pretty interesting life, but I'll give you the basic summary. When I was born my birth mother gave me up for adoption because she and my birth father were divorcing. Within a few months, my Mom & Dad adopted me (it was a closed adoption, no personal info was known on either end). A few years after that they adopted another newborn, my brother Mike. Shortly after that my Mom was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My mom fought hard for the next few years, but she lost the battle and passed away when I was 8. From then on, my Dad raised my brother & I single-handedly. He was, and is, an amazing father.
He's pretty much my Best Friend. The day before my 23rd Birthday I gave birth to the love of my life, my son Ashton. He is my Sweet Angel Boy! Fast forward a few years. I put my info on adoption.com and crossed my fingers hoping for a match to my birth family. None so. Then in April of 2010, my birth family found my info from adoption.com and tracked me down on Facebook (thank God for technology, right?) Within a week I met them all- I have my Mother, stepDad, and 2 younger Sisters! And a whole slew of other family! Turns out, we were all living within 45 minutes of each other! I had even met my cousin before and never knew it was her. Anyway, it's amazing now to have my family in my life, especially just in time to share in one of the biggest days of my life! About Him:
My fiance's is Mathew (goes by Matt). He grew up in the Netherlands and Atlanta, Ga. About 8 years ago he moved down to Jacksonville with his family, (which consists of his Mom, Dad & 2 younger Brothers) & worked his way up through sales until he was an Area Sales Manager for an upscale department store. He went back to school for IT & is now a Technology Director for a great comapny. It must also be said that he is a total technophile & car aficianado.
And IMHO the smartest, handsomest, greatest guy in the world (but I am slightly biased)! He has taken the role of Ashton's Father in an awesome way. I know meeting a girl, falling in love, and instantly becoming a Dad to a toddler isn't every single twentysomething guy's dream, but he has stepped into the role beautifully. And years later, we're a Happy Family! How We Met:
In 2005 we were both working at the aforementioned department store; me as a Make Up Artist & Consultant with Estee Lauder, and him as a Sales Associate in the Men's Department. We worked together for months with no real thought of each other. A week after I left my job there, I went back to pick up my last check & visit my girls. I ran into Matt, we struck up a random conversation, and stood there talking for 30 minutes (longer than all our previous interactions put together). As we talked, I realized that I would probably never see him again, and that left a yucky feeling in my stomach.
I walked over to my counter and wrote my cell number on one of my old business cards (which is totally out of character for me). I figured if I would never see him again anyway, what was the harm in trying (besides sheer & utter humiliation). I nervously went over to him, (he was on the phone), and low and behold at the exact moment I reached in my pocket for the card, he handed me a piece of paper & pen and mouthed "your number". I held up the card and very uncoolly broke into a goofy grin A week later, he called, and we spoke every day for hours. One day we were on the phone & I randomly invited him to grab a bite to eat about 10 minutes from then. He had just eaten, but said he would come up and have a beer and hang out with me. We had a great time, and after hours of talking and laughing, we left. As we walked out, I gathered up my courage and planted one right on his lips (again, completely out of character for me). Then I ran to my car as fast I could and tore out of there! Luckily, within a minute of me high tailing it down the road he called my cell and said that if I hadn't done that, he would have. And the rest is history.....The Engagement:
We had been together about a year and a half when I started dropping hints. After 2-2 1/2 years there were no more hints, just outright statements. Even my Dad & his best friend had been placing bets for a year or so on which days he would propose. FINALLY after almost 3 years together (and a year living together) Matt decided it was time. Within a week he had picked a ring, and called my Dad to ask for my hand. My Dad said he thought he should wait 3 years to give him an answer!
But seriously, he said of course! 3 days before my 28th Birthday Matt couldn't stand it anymore. He had my son go to my Dad's for the night so we could be alone. He called on the way home & said that he had landed a 2nd interview with a company he had met with that day (about this time he was starting his career in Technology) and wanted to celebrate. He came home with steaks and flowers for me. Then he plowed through dinner, eating like he hadn't in weeks. I, of course, ate at a normal pace (which he told me later on was killing him, he couldn't wait for me to finish)! After dinner I got up to go in the other room, and he called after me, "Baaaaaaaaaabe" (the only thing he ever calls me) in this pathetic voice. I turned around to see him crawling after me on his knees. Now, you must know that he did things like that all the time. Like, drop to one knee in front of me, wait til I shriek, then say, "Oh, I have to tie my shoe." Or, "Look at the rock I found!" Yeah. Funny. So I see him hobbling over laughing and exasperatedly snipped, "That's so not even funny. You're so mean. You shouldn't joke about that." And turned to stalk off; when he said, "What if it's not a joke?" I spun around and saw a small box in his hand. I started screaming, yes, SCREAMING, and he proceeded with his speech. I love you, you're so important, I want to spend my life with you, etc etc, and he's crying. He never cries. And OF COURSE I'm bawling. He finishes his speech with "...you'll make me the happiest man alive if you marry me." Where I promptly fall backwards literally swooning. He caught me and laughed saying that's the reason he didn't do it in public. I started jumping up and down and screaming "I'm gonna be Mrs. Greaves!!!" over and over. I realized that I should maybe say yes, which I did in between hugging and kissing him. I realized at some point in all this he had taken the ring out and out it on my finger. Then I swooned again. It was the biggest, prettiest diamond I had ever seen! We laughed and cried and hugged and kissed for awhile, and then popped open the champagne he hid earlier. We toasted and kissed, then I HAD to call my Dad. Matt took a video of our conversation, which was a lot of me crying and jumping again. The whole night was magical and beautiful. Totally worth the wait! 
When my Mom & Dad married in 1974, they Honeymooned at Disney World. It had just opened, and they stayed in the Contemporary ($46 dollars
You can't date me and NOT go to Disney! So for our first Valentine's Day together I took him to Disney. Immediately, he understood why it was called "The Happiest Place on Earth." From then on we spent every vacation in Disney. The first trip my Dad & him took together was to Disney (talk about a great place to bond)! Now it's safe to say, he has definitely Earned his Ears!
Finally in Dec of 2010 we were looking at the calendar and decided a 3 day weekend in 2011 would be good. Not a major holiday as to disrupt anyone's plans, but something simple. That gave us Memorial weekend or Veterans weekend. May was jus too soon to get everything done. November wasn't my ideal time of year, but our Anniversary is Nov. 13. How cool would it be to get hitched on our 6 Year Anniversary? And there it was- that Friday was 11/11/11. The second I saw it, I was done. That was our day. Bam. 
A discussion that lasted months. The one thing he kept coming back to was the simplicity of it all. One place, one deposit, one company, and a slew of people to help plan everything. We knew the horror stories about weddings. (One of my best friends was a wedding photog in L.A. and had been working for an all-inclusive site. One day they locked their doors and disappeared, closing the business without a word to anyone. They didn't pay any of their employees [they still owe my friend thousands of $] and walked out on scheduled weddings. There was a poor couple who lost everything one week before their wedding. 
! Oh well, it will all work out and I am sure your wedding will be wonderful! Keep on sharing!
I can't wait to see and read more!
Congratulations, and I am looking forward to hearing ALL about your plans.
He felt so important, and I loved that!
That d*mn thing became the bane of my existance. How could we forsee how many people we would invite until we have more an idea of what things will cost? What if you ended up with too many rooms, or not enough? We had no clue if we were inviting 100 or 150! We had guesstimated 125, but still had to figure out WHO that would be made up of. My Future In Laws were working in Europe at the time, so that put a huge kink in the communication process. It took my FMIL months to get the info together of what family members would be coming with who for how long and at what Resort. All the while NO progress could be made towards planning the actual Wedding until this was done. Lame. 
There was so much time wasted that we could've been working with a Planner already. And if I knew how much various decor items, flowers, cake, etc. cost, I would have a better idea of how many people exactly we could invite! But instead we had to guess, and a lot of people got left off the room block since we don't know if we can afford to invite them. And I also have a feeling that in order to find out how many rooms we need, my FMIL possibly invited people that we may have had to shave off the guest list. See my point? Finally I ended up getting the minimum number of rooms we could and put those in the contract. Hopefully our Resorts won't end up booked & our guests s.o.l. We chose Pop Century, Carribean Beach, and Boardwalk Inn (PC & CB because they have more rooms than other resorts in each price range & BW because that's where the Wedding is). It just would've been nice to have a little more info about costs and budget before having to decide on our guest list. We could've been using the time between May & August to plan & make decisions, but instead I have less than 3 months to do everything. 
Our payment for the balance is due in 8 days and with the exception of the menus, I haven't seen one document, photo, or list of anything we could have at the wedding! I've never even spoken with my Planner.
I have a hard time seeing how anyone could get everything done in short a short time (unless they have an unlimited budget). I feel confident that everything will happen for us because 1) I have had the bulk of my wedding planned already. I know my colors. I have a clear idea of what I like//don't like. I know what look I want for centerpieces, bouquets, ceremony decor, etc. 2) I am fortunate enough to not be working right now, so I have more time than most. My son was at his dad's for the summer so I was able to focus on the Wedding every day (and I spend about 10 hours a day on it). 3) I live 2 1/2 hours from Disney, so I can go down there at the drop of a hat. 4) The DISboards have given me an idea of what to expect. 
I know roughly what things will cost, outside companies other couple's have used, the timeline of what it really takes to get things done, contrary to what may be said (I have already had a few things that haven't matched up.) It has been a HUGE help! 
I just posted more!
Hi, Cheryl!
