Christie and Nick- 9/1/13- WP, Italy Isola, AAR- Change of Venue

[enchantedream88]

I'm using the Arndt's for my wedding too! We are doing our engagement shoot in November. I'm so excited - they are so awesome!!! Plus Vicki is a sweetheart!

 

[Freckledginger]

It's a tough call. I would love it either way, but I know my dad really wants us to get married in the church. Diane, the wedding planner I've been talking to, says some people get married officially in a Catholic church before they come and use the ceremony at the WP as a "vow renewal" of sorts. I'm excited about seeing pictures from your DP at the GF. Are you doing Sago Cay or the Marina? Diane said my group would probably be too big for Sago Cay and would have to go to the Marina. Are you having photography for your DP?

And I know this might be blasphemy to even ask such a question on the Disboards (Especially in this section), but have you girls ever had second thoughts about being married at Disney and the cost? I know you can definitely do it at the minimum, but not with the number of people that want to come for me. Part of me thinks we should do it at home and put the rest of the money towards a DVC membership. The thing is, I know somewhere deep down that if I do it at home because I think it will be cheaper, we will wind up spending the same because of all of the extra people (probably over 200 as opposed to 75 or so).[/QUOTE]

Hi Christie,
I agree it's a tough call about the ceremony venue. At least you have a couple of options DCL brides are required to have legal ceremonies before the ship departs, so our actual wedding ceremonies I guess are technically just vow renewals. I just think of it as the legal part is being done separately from my ceremony. So maybe doing more than one ceremony would work well for you. You could do a religious commitment ceremony in a Catholic Church near home, and then have your wedding ceremony and celebration at Disney World.

Our DP is going to be at Sago Cay. I love the look of the Marina, but since we're only going to have about 40 people, SC was a better size for our group. I've never been there before, but I'm really excited about the DP. The venue looks really pretty, and we're having the area modestly decorated as well, so hopefully it'll be a good environment for the party I am having photography at the DP. One of the bonuses of having it outside a theme park is that I can hire an enternal photographer to take photos. So I've asked my Boudoir/Engagement/Wedding Photographer, Jessica Cumbie, to photograph the event. I'm not too fussed about getting photos of us in front of the fireworks (maybe a couple, but I'd rather enjoy the experience than have to pose for the camera), so she's mainly going to try to capture the food/decor and people.

I think you raise a really valid point about the cost of a DFTW. After I had started booking things, I realized how quickly the costs were adding up, and was like geez, should I really be spending this much? I think it's really a personal choice. For me, it was really important to have a nice wedding. I knew I could afford big and nice, so I went for small and nice. DF has said many times that he would be happy with just a small courthouse wedding, but he's happy indulging me Would it be possible for you to do a small wedding and reception at WDW with your closest family and friends as well as a commitment ceremony and at home reception for everyone else? Or is that just over complicating things?

Yay for getting the Arndts! Their work is brilliant!

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Super Stoked!!

Was home this weekend and got more details ironed out- enough to create our Pre RSVPs. They are printed and stuffed... just waiting for us to finish collecting addresses to send them out. What do you guys think?

The "newsletter" is in a "booklet" fold in half 11x17 thing and the blue page is separate for them to send back to us. I couldn't bring myself to fold them in 3rds for a regular envelope (they are just so pretty...), so I sprung for the full sized white envelopes. Sorry for the poor picture quality.

 

[Summer Daydream]

Just following along...your newsletter is amazing!!! I would've sprung for the larger envelopes too, since I hate when things get wrinkly in the mail. Looking forward to reading more

 

[LyndsayJ]

Everything looks great so far!

I love your story...penpals that reconnected after so long...so cute! My fiance is in the Navy...so I could relate a little on the deployment...we've been through 2 together (he's had 3 total).

Thomas (the fiance) is also a converted Disney fanatic...he had been once before meeting me and we've since gone several times! Star Wars Weekends certainly doesn't hurt in convincing him to go.

Very clever on the date you picked! I wouldn't have thought to schedule around a holiday to have that 3 day weekend on anniversaries.

I can relate on the cost of a Disney wedding...right now, we have 129 confirmed guests and I hate looking at costs. My parents are paying for the majority of the wedding, but I can't help but feel bad about the costs. They've told my fiance and I to consider it as them making an investment in our relationship...and therefore if we screw it up, then they'll be pissed because we aren't making good use of theis investment.

Your newsletter looks great! I wish we would've thought to do something like that to get a better idea of how many we thought would be attending...we have the same hotels in our room block too.

 

[MickeysStarTrader]

I love the newsletters!! You are so organized having that down so quick!

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Just following along...your newsletter is amazing!!! I would've sprung for the larger envelopes too, since I hate when things get wrinkly in the mail. Looking forward to reading more

Thanks! Hopefully they won't be too much more to mail... I have some going to Canada and England!

Everything looks great so far!

I love your story...penpals that reconnected after so long...so cute! My fiance is in the Navy...so I could relate a little on the deployment...we've been through 2 together (he's had 3 total).

Thomas (the fiance) is also a converted Disney fanatic...he had been once before meeting me and we've since gone several times! Star Wars Weekends certainly doesn't hurt in convincing him to go.

Very clever on the date you picked! I wouldn't have thought to schedule around a holiday to have that 3 day weekend on anniversaries.

I can relate on the cost of a Disney wedding...right now, we have 129 confirmed guests and I hate looking at costs. My parents are paying for the majority of the wedding, but I can't help but feel bad about the costs. They've told my fiance and I to consider it as them making an investment in our relationship...and therefore if we screw it up, then they'll be pissed because we aren't making good use of theis investment.

Your newsletter looks great! I wish we would've thought to do something like that to get a better idea of how many we thought would be attending...we have the same hotels in our room block too.

Aww... bless you guys for going through multiple deployments together. We have this discussion a lot Me: "aren't there any jobs that prevent you from being deployed" Nick: "Not really..." I ask like every other week hoping the answer will change

Love converted Disney fanatics. I grew up with it, so I couldn't see how anybody would think otherwise. My mom told me I should have put at the end of the "Fast Facts" saying that he's caught the Disney bug... "or else I wouldn't have said yes!" Which is kinda true.

Wow, that's a lot of guests! I'm gonna go read your PJ as soon as I post this

I love the newsletters!! You are so organized having that down so quick!

Thanks you! I understand how planning a Disney vacation can be stressful for some people (I don't see how or why, I love it!) so I wanted to give them enough heads up!

 

[LyndsayJ]

Thanks! Hopefully they won't be too much more to mail... I have some going to Canada and England!



Aww... bless you guys for going through multiple deployments together. We have this discussion a lot Me: "aren't there any jobs that prevent you from being deployed" Nick: "Not really..." I ask like every other week hoping the answer will change

Love converted Disney fanatics. I grew up with it, so I couldn't see how anybody would think otherwise. My mom told me I should have put at the end of the "Fast Facts" saying that he's caught the Disney bug... "or else I wouldn't have said yes!" Which is kinda true.

Wow, that's a lot of guests! I'm gonna go read your PJ as soon as I post this



Thanks you! I understand how planning a Disney vacation can be stressful for some people (I don't see how or why, I love it!) so I wanted to give them enough heads up!

Deployments are not easy...but doable! He just came back from his last one in May actually. Luckily, he is up for shore duty orders and will be separating from the ship in a little over a month! That means 4 years of no deployments...although the job he is going to still has potential for a lot of travel...it won't be 6 - 8 months at a time!

I kinda grew up with it as well...however Disney and I had a love/hate relationship early in life. The first time I went, I was about 3 years old and was terrified of EVERYTHING!! Not just everything at Disney, but everything in general. I cried, screamed, and whined through It's a Small World, even...my dad had to leave the Indiana Jones show about 5 mins in due to me being too scared...in short, I ruined our family vacation. We all laugh about it now. My dad and I went to Disney on our own a few years ago...just went a day ahead of everyone else since we had the day off work...I then learned that he had actually never returned to watch the Indiana Jones show. As we sat down he said something about 'redemption' and I asked what he meant...that's when he told me he never went back since he drug me out of there when I was three.

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Thanks to pinterest, a simple thing that should just be a phone call turned into a full blown crafting event that lasted several weeks. Hopefully none of them will stumble onto this thread in the next few days, since they just went out in the mail today.

The pin that inspired the whole thing is this one: DIY Ask Bridesmaids. I had to make it Disney-style.

So here we go.. you can pretend like you're opening the boxes.

I had to make these address labels because I accidentally folded the box upside down and when I closed the top, "12x9x6" was smack dab in the middle. Oops! I thought the labels came out cute though.

Right when you open it...

Take out the tissue paper...

Take out the ears...

The make up bags have a mini mascara from 100% pure in them... they are fruit dyed!

Take out everything else...

The all had notes in them to each girl that I wrote on these:

In other news... walls are going up in my office this week!!

 

[LyndsayJ]

The boxes look really cute! I only made phone calls and kicked myself when I saw the cute stuff / ideas pop up on Pinterest.

 

[enchantedream88]

I love your bridesmaids gifts!!

 

[leelee9878]

OMG, I feel like I am reading my PJ (or what my PJ will look like, since I am not engaged yet). I am patiently waiting, hoping it's soon, we do have a trip to the World planned in Oct, but I dont want to get my hopes up.

Anyways.... I love everything you planned so far, I too want my wedding at WP and ADH and a DP (most likely at GF because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wishes). I was also thinking that same day because of labor day weekend and people having off of work. I even want to use that last line in the song as my closing line....seriously we have the same exact ideas! I have been planning my disney wedding for awhile now, a girl can dream right? My mom is already giving me grief about not being married in a church, she has requested that I go to the church when we get home from Disney and have an "official" wedding in a church just parents and us.

I love the way you asked your bridesmaids, soooo cute, I might be stealing that hehe.

Congrats to the two of you, and I can't wait to hear all of your details.

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Well, Disney's awesome military discount combined with our free night from the room block has made us figure out that we can swing a really nice honeymoon.

We will be staying at the Polynesian in the honeymoon suite from Sunday night to Thursday. On Thursday we will board the Disney Dream for a quick 3 night cruise. I haven't stayed in the Polynesian in FOREVER (mom saw a snake there when I was like 10, and that was the end of that... and then we bought DVC) and Nick loves Hawaii. Also, he has never been on a cruise before, and even though I've been on DCL 7 times, I've never been on the Dream or Fantasy. Should be a lot of fun! We will wait to see if we can get a military discount on the cruise as well.. they tend to be really good discounts and you get an outside room with a veranda!

Things I would like to do on the Honeymoon:
- Rent a cabana at the Polynesian... probably the day after the wedding so we can just relax. Maybe get the big one so if our parents are still in town, they can come over too
- Spirit of Aloha show.. I've never seen it and neither has Nick
- Hoop Dee Doo Review... I've seen this a bunch of times, but think Nick would enjoy it
- Watch a movie at the outdoor theater and order the smores making kit

 

[Cmdbuddy]

The boxes look really cute! I only made phone calls and kicked myself when I saw the cute stuff / ideas pop up on Pinterest.

Thanks! Pinterest is going to be the death of me in this wedding. Funny story, one of my coworkers was telling me about this "really cool website she found" called "pin the rest" It took me a week to figure out what she was talking about.

I love your bridesmaids gifts!!

Thanks, apparently they did too! One cried, one laughed, and one sent me a pic back with the ears on holding a sign that said yes!!

OMG, I feel like I am reading my PJ (or what my PJ will look like, since I am not engaged yet). I am patiently waiting, hoping it's soon, we do have a trip to the World planned in Oct, but I dont want to get my hopes up.

Anyways.... I love everything you planned so far, I too want my wedding at WP and ADH and a DP (most likely at GF because I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wishes). I was also thinking that same day because of labor day weekend and people having off of work. I even want to use that last line in the song as my closing line....seriously we have the same exact ideas! I have been planning my disney wedding for awhile now, a girl can dream right? My mom is already giving me grief about not being married in a church, she has requested that I go to the church when we get home from Disney and have an "official" wedding in a church just parents and us.

I love the way you asked your bridesmaids, soooo cute, I might be stealing that hehe.

Congrats to the two of you, and I can't wait to hear all of your details.

That's so cool! Don't worry about stealing ideas, because basically every idea I have I have stolen from this site. My wedding so far is the ultimate conglomerate of weddings on the disboards

We got our contract in yesterday, and that with the deposit is going off tomorrow. We also paid our deposit with the Arndt's and have an engagement session with them on Dec 23 when we are down there for Christmas.

 

[LyndsayJ]

Thanks! Pinterest is going to be the death of me in this wedding. Funny story, one of my coworkers was telling me about this "really cool website she found" called "pin the rest" It took me a week to figure out what she was talking about.



Thanks, apparently they did too! One cried, one laughed, and one sent me a pic back with the ears on holding a sign that said yes!!



That's so cool! Don't worry about stealing ideas, because basically every idea I have I have stolen from this site. My wedding so far is the ultimate conglomerate of weddings on the disboards

We got our contract in yesterday, and that with the deposit is going off tomorrow. We also paid our deposit with the Arndt's and have an engagement session with them on Dec 23 when we are down there for Christmas.

My step-mom calls it pin-interest...my sister-in-law calls it pinerest.

For contract! I remember it feeling even more real when we got ours. Where are you guys thinking about doing engagement shots?

Also, I posted a few pictures of the Unity Cross that we got in my thread if you wanted to check them out...I realized after your response that I only ever posted the link...never followed up with pictures!

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Thanks!! I saw the pics in your PJ. It looks great. I think we may order the black and silver one.

We are going to do some around the 7 seas lagoon and the obligatory Atlantic Dance Hall pics

 

[mebbradley]

I LOVE the ears. I may steal that idea!

Everything looks great!!

 

[enchantedream88]

OMG, I feel like I am reading my PJ (or what my PJ will look like, since I am not engaged yet). I am patiently waiting, hoping it's soon, we do have a trip to the World planned in Oct, but I dont want to get my hopes up.

That's my wedding too! Except, swap Wishes DP for Illuminations, since it's following our ADH reception. Otherwise, it's basically the same. LOL! My wedding is the month before Christie's (August 3). I started browsing the DISBoards before I was engaged too, and it helped so much. I don't know what I'd do without this group & these ladies during my research/planning. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you in October - keep us posted, and if you have ANY questions at all, please do not hesitate to PM me!

That's so cool! Don't worry about stealing ideas, because basically every idea I have I have stolen from this site. My wedding so far is the ultimate conglomerate of weddings on the disboards

We got our contract in yesterday, and that with the deposit is going off tomorrow. We also paid our deposit with the Arndt's and have an engagement session with them on Dec 23 when we are down there for Christmas.

I'd be so lost without the DIS! I don't even know how girls plan Disney Weddings without these resources!! And, btw, the Arndt's are AMAZING! My engagement shoot with them is November 1, but I've been talking to Vicki for almost 6 months, and I love her to death!

Have you figured out video yet? Or are you not doing a videographer??

 

[Cmdbuddy]

Have you figured out video yet? Or are you not doing a videographer??

Still trying to figure that one out... might just do raw footage from the WP. Who are you guys using?

 

[leelee9878]

I saw something on Pinterest not too long ago that looks interesting its called wedit, they send you 5 flip cams or something like a flip cam and you give them to your guests to video from their perspective and you mail the cameras back and they edit them together. I don't know of anyone that has personally used them but it seems like a cheaper alternative if you are on the fence about a videographer.