Christina&Brett's PJ/Wedding2-08/Disneymoon4-08 (Update Flowers & Dress pix 11608)!!!

[lumpyscall]

So, I wanted to join in all the wedding and honeymoon fun and start my own planning journal.

I'm a little new to this thread and discussion board thing so hopefully I do it right without too many mistakes and questions. LOL. Computers...

Well, the players in this are:

Me: I'm 26 and work as an editor for a magazine written by teens. I basically supervise them and make sure they don't get into too much trouble. I'm originally from Milwaukee. We met while I was in grad school in Boston.

Brett: My DF. He's 25. Born in Chicago, moved to Vermont, then went to school in Boston, and now lives in Wisconsin with me.

The engagement: May 12, 2007 -- Our families were in Boston for my graduation from grad school (four years in the making...). We flew in early on Saturday and had ressies at the Cheesecake Factory at the Prudential Center in downtown Boston. So, there were a zillion people there (we had to wait three hours for dinner and I hadn't eaten all day). Finally, before dessert Brett wants to give me a special graduation gift which turned out to be a card and a ring. I was so in shock! Didn't expect it at all!

The wedding: Feb. 15, 2008 -- Everyone asks about the date. Why not just get married on Valentine's Day? Well, I'm horrible with dates. So, we had to pick something I would remember. I figure if its the day after V-Day I'll always remember it. (We've been together three years and I still forget his birthday and our anniversary...I'm horrible!) We're having a VERY small ceremony at a boutique hotel in downtown Milwaukee called Hotel Metro. If we can keep the guest list under 36 we can have it in their rooftop lounge, which has AMAZING views!

The wedding
MOH: Annie, my best friend
Best Man: Brett's Dad, Mike
Bridesmaids: Cory (Brett's sister), Amber (my friend from college), Meena (my niece), Imaeyen (my roommate from grad school)
Groomsmen: Mikey (Brett's cousin), Chris (Brett's brother), "Shorty" (Brett's roommate from college), Bill (mutual friend from school)

The honeymoon: 4-12-08 to 4-19-08 at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We made ressies a few weeks ago with a Savanna View. Just waiting for make ADRs on Oct. 15th.

Reception/Vow Renewal: August 2010 at Swan/Dolphin (for all of our friends and family that can't come in February)

I'll post more shortly. Just waiting till I get enough posts where I can start posting pictures in my messages. Then, you can see my e-ring, invites, dress, everything else.

Also, here's our website: www.mywedding.com/christinaandbrett

 

[IloveChip]

Congrats on the engagement!! What a great city to get engaged in. *I am oringally from MA and went to school in Boston!* I can not wait to read more and I hope you have fun planning your wedding and your honeymoon! Welcome to the site!

 

[oneyodafan]

Congrats! I'm up in central WI, it's nice to see another Wisconsinite.

Looking forward to reading more about your plans!

 

[lumpyscall]

I tried on a few more dresses yesterday and I think I have it narrowed down to two:

and...

The second one I would get with lavender flowers and embroidery to match our aqua and lavender theme.

Hopefully, I'll have some pix of me in them shortly!!

 

[lumpyscall]

Here's another fore-runner (it kinda got ruled out just for pricing....) by Mori Lee. I loved how I looked in it but I'm a little leery that when I look back at the pictures 10 years from now I'll be like 'what were you thinking?'

What do you think?

 

[lumpyscall]

I was bored at work on Tuesday...thank goodness I'm on vacation until Labor Day!!

But, I made a tentative honeymoon itinerary for our trip 4/12-4-19.

Any thoughts?? I know this will change when EMH and nightly show schedules get released, too...

Day 1 - Saturday, April 12, 2008 – Free Day
7:35 a.m. flight
11:10 a.m. Arrive Orlando
3:00 p.m. Check-in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
5:00 p.m. (tentative) Dinner – Boma (AKL)
7:30 p.m. – midnight Boardwalk clubs (ESPN Club, Jellyrolls, Atlantic Dance Hall)

Day 2 – Sunday, April 13, 2008 – Magic Kingdom
10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Magic Kingdom attractions
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. travel to Artist Point
7:30 p.m. (tentative) Dinner – Artist Point (WL)

Day 3 – Monday, April 14, 2008 - EPCOT
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Future World attractions
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Rest at hotel/pool
5 p.m. to close World Showcase attractions
10 p.m. Beaches and Cream (Y&BC)

Day 4 – Tuesday, April 15, 2008 – Animal Kingdom/MGM Studios
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Animal Kingdom attractions
3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Rest at hotel/pool
7 p.m. (tentative) Dinner – Prime Time 50s Café
8:30 p.m. (tentative) Fantasmic!

Day 5 – Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - EPCOT
9 a.m. (tentative) Couples Massage
1 p.m. to 7 p.m. EPCOT attractions
7:30 p.m. (tentative) Dinner – Rose & Crown (World Showcase)
9:00 p.m. (tentative) Illuminations

Day 6 – Thursday, April 17, 2008 – Free Day/Downtown Disney
8 a.m. (tentative) Character Breakfast (Crystal Palace/MK)
2 p.m. Meet with VR planner at Swan/Dolphin
3 to 6 p.m. Rest at hotel/pool
7:30 p.m. Dinner (tentative) Wolfgang Puck Cafe
7 p.m. – close POR (Beignets/Bob Jackson)/Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island

Day 7 – Friday, April 18, 2008 – Magic Kingdom
8 a.m. Honeymoon photo shoot at Magic Kingdom
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Magic Kingdom attractions
3 to 6 p.m. Rest at hotel/pool
7 p.m. (tentative ) Dinner – Liberty Tree Tavern
9 p.m. (tentative) Wishes/Spectromagic at Magic Kingdom

Day 8 – Saturday, April 19, 2008 – Free Day
11 a.m. Check-out Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Downtown Disney (last minute shopping, lunch)
3:30 p.m. Disney’s Magical Express to Orlando airport
7:00 p.m. Flight Home

 

[Hillary12.8.07]

Congrats and welcome to the board!!! I'm glad you've started your PJ, it's so nice seeing other at home brides/disneymooners!!!

AKL is BEAUTIFUL and will be so awesome.

And I love all three of those dresses, I don't know how you would decide! Post pictures of them on yourself so we can see!

Again, congrats, I look forward to hearing more about it!!

 

[lumpyscall]

Well, Brett and I had a lovely weekend in Chicago. I love deep dish pizza! We spent an hour or so at the ESPN Zone playing some games, walked around the Miracle Mile, and window shopped before we headed to a lake house his aunt and uncle have.

So relaxing! I love spending time with my hunny!

We were also VERY productive over our mini-vacation. We had been looking at wedding bands since July. He wanted an engraved (kind Lord of the Rings-type band) but it was really difficult to find a lot of jewelers who had a variety. We finally found a place that we able to custom create a ring for him. It'll take a few weeks till it's finished. But, hopefully my description will do it a slight justice...

The main part of the band will be 14K white gold with a sort of engraved intertwining designs. Then, on both of the sides will be a small ring of yellow 14K gold (it matches my engagement ring that has yellow and white gold). I think it looks great! He's not that used to wearing jewelry and this will probably be the only piece he'll ever have for awhile.

Then, my band goes really well with my e-ring. My engagement ring (I'll try and post pictures soon -- I'm really bad about getting those off the digital camera) is mainly white gold with a heart-shaped diamond. Then on each side are six pave-set diamonds. Next to the heart-shaped diamond are two little gold accents. My wedding band is pave-set diamonds almost entirely around except for maybe a 1/4-inch of solid white gold on the bottom. I have to take the two rings back in a few days before the wedding so they can solder them together to make it one unique ring. It looks a little awkward if they're not flush together.

So, I'm so excited about getting that off of our checklist.

Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll have ordered my dress. Right now my work is stressing me out big time and I'm currently looking for a new job (I didn't really need the added stress of finding a new job, but the stress of staying at the current job has me crying too many hours of my day). I love my job because I work with some of the most talented kids ever, but the management doesn't treat the employees right. Our paychecks have been late twice in the past month without any explanations (I'm waiting for tomorrow since it's payday to see if my direct deposit goes thru...if it does, I can put a down payment on my dress, otherwise, my brother was going to help me out right now...but I hate to have someone else's help...arrrgh!)

I think I'm going to go with the Eden Bridals dress (style 1193). It's simple, yet sparkly, and I think it will look fab at night. I just need a way to stay warm at night in Wisconsin in the middle of February. I've heard the David's Bridals carries a shawl or cape. But is it heavy? If there's a blizzard, I need to make sure I'm warm and fuzzy and not getting frost-bite on my wedding night.

I hope to have pictures up soon of me and the dress I pick. I'm so excited!! Oh, here's a pic of us in early December we had taken for his parents X-Mas gift...

P.S. (Diet update) I went to the gym today. The Chicago deep dish pizza didn't help much. I gained two pounds. I'm back at 167. (I started out at 176 in early May) My goal is still 135, but even if I can get in the low '50s I would be happy probably. <sigh>

 

[shasess]

All 3 of your dresses are very pretty! Such a hard choice!!!!

 

[DisneySweetie]

I love the dress you chose. So pretty! Post some photos of yourself in it and we will oooooo and aaaaaaah. Do you have ideas for your bridesmaid dresses yet?

Sorry to hear about your job. Work stress on top of wedding planning stress can be almost unbearable. That's what disney movies are for - de-stressing.

 

[hmgolden]

I love the dress you chose!

I hope that the job search goes well and you find something else quickly. Getting a pay check late would be a big sign of trouble to me. Good Luck!

 

[lumpyscall]

It's been a while since my last post but a lot has been going on!

I picked out my dress...finally...and put a down payment on it. It's weird...you'd think you'd only have to put a down payment on a car or a house, not a wedding dress.

Here's a picture of it on the model:

We've also finalized most of our wedding reception menu:

London Broil with garlic smashed potatoes
Bourbon Pecan Chicken with roasted red potatoes and roasted vegetables

We're going to be tasting another fish choice on Saturday. It's between the fish we tried already (a salmon with a rice pilaf) or a mahi-mahi. The restaurant normally serves it with mango chutney, but I'm allergic to mango and we figured I shouldn't have to die on my wedding day. So, the chef is going to give us two more options -- a mahi mahi with a tequila lime sauce or a pina colada rum sauce. Mmm!

Our appetizers are going to be:

A phyllo dough filled with cheese and asparagus
A skewered, grilled shrimp in garlic sauce
A salmon on grilled flatbread with capers and dill
A baked brie with cranberries and walnuts
Plus, the tried-and-true Wisconsin saussage and cheese platter, fruits and veggies

The bartender is also going to create a non-alcoholic toasting drink for us since some of our bridal party doesn't drink alcohol and we have some family members who just can't drink alcohol. So, we'll be trying out drinks shortly like sparking white cranberry juice with whole blueberries in the bottom on the glass.

We also designed our cake a few weeks ago. I don't remember if I wrote about it already, so sorry if I repeat...

But, we're getting a two-tiered cake. The bottom tier is going to be a genoise (yellow cake) filled with raspberry chambord mousse and fresh raspberries. The top layer is a chocolate cake filled with vanilla mousse and fresh strawberry slices. We've designed the cake to have fondant Mickey's on it and in our color scheme with a ribbon in silver to accentuate the layers.

For the cake topper, we have decided to go with some Christmas Ornaments from Lenox crystal.

A sorcerer from Fantasia:

And a princess Minnie:

Tonight, we have another silk flower consulation...I hope this is the one!

 

[lumpyscall]

Has anyone ever seen or used a sand ceremony during a wedding? I was thinking of having each of our bridesmaids and groomsmen have a different colored sand and place that into one glass vase. Then, my fiance and I would either place sand or those decorative glass rocks or maybe flowers in it as part of the ceremony.

It would kinda represent how each of our friends and family has made us and then how all of them have made us unique as a couple.

Does that sound hokey?

Also, I just posted a question on the boards about pin trading for our wedding favors. In a nutshell, does anyone know if you can buy pins in bulk and where? Also, any online places where you can personalize lanyards (about 50)?

 

[helloirishkitty]

For the cake topper, we have decided to go with some Christmas Ornaments from Lenox crystal.

A sorcerer from Fantasia:

And a princess Minnie:

Tonight, we have another silk flower consulation...I hope this is the one!

I love your caketoppers! And you got engaged on my birthday... heh

 

[caryndisneydiva]

you're getting married on my birthday!!!

 

[lumpyscall]

We're only a month until the big day! A lot has been going on since my last post -- can't believe it was way back in October!!

But, I wanted to post some photos of my silk flowers (done by Artistic Silks in Illinois) and me and my dress!

My bouquet -- a whole view of it....

The hidden Mickey on my bouquet's handle:

You can view all the photos here: http://brewcrew26.shutterfly.com/action/

Here's me in my dress (before the alterations):

I'll have lots more info soon!!!

 

[BethanyMouse]

Your flowers are beautiful and so is your gown! Thanks for posting, I have enjoyed reading so far!