We are back from our Planning Session! It was great!! I was horrible and didn't take pictures until the planning session....I know I'm horrible! We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort for the first time, it was nice. There was a huge cheer competition going on Saturday while we were at EPCOT and there was a group of them staying in a block right by our room. It was always quiet at night and in the morning it was a nice change from the values that there seems to always be noise. The double sink was also a nice plus along with the mini fridge and the little bit of extra space!
We drove down to Tifton GA Friday after Allen got off work and stayed the night there, I think next time we will spend the extra and stay in Valdosta.
The next morning we got up and drove down to EPCOT for our 2pm reservations at LeCellier, it was oh so good! Allen got the micro beer sampler and we both ordered the soup and the filet...it's always so yummy! Allen was surprised and really liked the dark beer with a hint of chocolate, normally he's only a light beer drinker. After lunch we walked around the world and tried the Grand Marnier Grey Goose slush in France...ummm yum! Allen said he could taste the alcohol, all I tasted was yumminess which is funny because I don't drink very often so you would think I would taste it but nope! lol He stopped in Morocco and got one of their strawberry slushes, it was too sweet to me but he really liked it. After we walked around we went back up to the parking lot and went over to the Caribbean Beach to check in.
We unpacked and went back to EPCOT and walked over to the Beach Club and had dinner at Beaches & Cream. We had burgers and then split a brownie a la mode. It was soooo good but HUGE we couldn't finish everything, but we will definitely be going back on the wedding trip! We were sitting at the counter and the people behind us had ordered the kitchen sink and the four of them finished it! I think we will try with more then 4 people the first time haha
We walked over to Japan and watched Illuminations, it's Allen's favorite and we always try to catch it when we can.
Sunday we had a quick service breakfast at the resort and headed to Downtown Disney. We wandered around the stores and did some shopping. We had reservations at TRex at noon, oh goodness was it packed in there! We sat on a bench out front over by the DVC stand, the guy (David) came over and talked to us for awhile. He said that TRex was much better than the Rainforest Cafe as far as decor and food. He talked us into doing a tour later that day. TRex was ok, the portions were huge!
We went back to the room for my hair/makeup trial with Beaute Speciale that started at 2. We had a new driver so we were a couple minutes late getting back and made it back just before 2. Rosie was waiting for me outside our door
She came in and got started right away, I showed her my inspiration pictures
She was excited for me not being afraid of color for my makeup. She started on my hair and curled away at my hair and putting pins everywhere! Here's the outcome, I love it!!... and as we all know excuse the odd faces lol
We went on the tour, there was a large group of us that were there. They gave us fast passes for going and dropped us off at the Magic Kingdom. We went on Pirates and then went and checked in for our Liberty Tree Tavern reservation. After dinner we went outside and sat down for a spot at the parade. I haven't seen the parade since I was a kid I was so excited! It was shorter then I remember it. We went and rode on Haunted Mansion it was our first time with the new ending. We walked over to Snow White and rode that for the last time and then over to Buzz Lightyear.
Yay Planning Session Day!! We were up early and on our way over to the Grand for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. We had one of the first reservations and they take opening at 8:00 very seriously because the doors did not open until then! The food was awesome! That's the first place we have found that had thick (well thick for Disney) bacon, it was great! We had our fill and then over to meet with Amy!
We sat down and Amy came right over and introduced herself and took us into Merriweather. We went through a ton of info but I was more prepared than I thought I would be so that made me happy and took a lot of stress off me. We went over how the day would run and our vendors. She said Misty is awesome that her camera sounds like a machine gun because she just keeps getting shots and that Amy is exhausted just watching the bride and groom with Misty hahaha She said she will put you in weird/awkward positions but the pictures turn out amazing. And that Misty likes to use every single minute she possibly can and tries to get extra minutes. I told Amy I am good with all of that because that means she is working her butt off for me and that's just awesome! She gave me a heads up as well that Rev Jack Day is extremely sweet and such a great guy but that he will probably call multiple times to confirm our wedding date and he will call her and do the same thing. It's best to contact him via phone and that he has an iPhone and knows how to use it.
We have our rehearsal scheduled at 8:00am on Sunday at the wedding pavilion, she said nothing can be confirmed until 30 days before but to schedule our breakfast first and we will work around the breakfast.
It will only be the bridal party no family before the ceremony for pictures, all family pictures will be after the ceremony. We will be having a first look and it will just be the two of us (Allen spoke up on that one :mrgreen: )
We met with Laura from Disney floral to go over chairs, tablecloths/napkins, dessert party and personal floral. I have an outside florist for everything else. The only reason why I'm using Disney floral for personal (which is so backwards from the norm) is since our bridal shoot is scheduled for Wednesday after our Monday wedding I want my floral refreshed and my outside vendor is from Daytona Beach. I think it's just easier if Disney does it that way I know for sure it's on time and ready to go for both events.
Laura was great! I showed her my pictures of our colors and I had the swatches of the bridesmaids, mine and my mom's dresses. I asked about the glow tables for the dessert party buffet and she told me that those are something EPCOT events have and Amy will just need to request those for us. So YAY! I told her I just want simple black linens and the glow gel centerpieces. They will be multi-colored on each table and have star confetti inside.
Dessert Party Menu
Milk and Dark Chocolate Fondues with Berries, Pineapple, Bananas, Angel Food Cake, Pretzels,
Graham Crackers, and Marshmallows
Brownies
Strawberry Shortcake in martini glasses
And they are checking on making your own Smores - they have an action station that they put together smores for you but they haven't ever had it where the guest makes their own
My bouquet will be all pink, it will have mokara orchids, roses, hydrangeas, gerbera daisies and stephanotis with rhinestones in the center. Allen will have an orchid and a stephanotis.
Chiavari chairs in silver with ivory pads and crushed satin overlays in turquoise with pink napkins. She said she has two vendors for the chairs and one of them is $1 more per chair but they have more cushion cover options. The ivory is fine to me people will be sitting on them so you won't really see them anyways.
After we met with Laura it was cake time! It was already past our 1pm time oops. We had Yellow, Chocolate, Marble, Lemon and Red Velvet to try. The fillings we had were milk chocolate, dark chocolate, strawberry, fresh strawberries, raspberry, cream cheese, amaretto, baileys, and tropical mouse.
We chose top and bottom layer Lemon cake with raspberry filling and the middle layer red velvet with cream cheese filling.
The lemon cake with the raspberry filling was our favorite, it made me laugh because when I told Allen I was adding it to the sheet for us to try he thought it sounded gross and told me it was all me to try. Well HA!
We had a bit of break before our menu tasting so we went over to the Poly and walked around there for awhile. We headed back over to the Grand at the Convention Center and when we got inside this is what I saw....
YAY!!!! I was so excited!
We met with Amy and she walked us into the back...our names were on the screen!
Our chefs name was Chef Gary and Todd was our butler, they were awesome.
The first thing we tried was Bacon-crusted Beef and Blue Cheese with Balsamic Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
The next was their take on the Le Cellier soup and they gave us pizza bread (sadness)
The soup wasn't as thick and didn't have as much flavor so we asked for the onions to be chopped smaller and more bacon and white cheddar
I had mixed greens with feta cheese, candied pistachios (which were missing; sadness again!) and orange honey vinaigrette It was so good though I kept trying to eat as much as I could but they were waiting on me for the next course hahaha
Allen had grilled jumbo shrimp with lemon garlic butter sauce Allen said they were awesome and a must have at the wedding!
The next course was the raspberry champagne sorbet - it was served in glass flower and there was chocolate and kiwi leaves designed on the plate. The flavors together was so good!
We then tried the LeCellier filet inspired beef....oh so wonderful and they assured us it can be made into a strip loin
It was served with wild mushroom risotto
Airline chicken with blackberry demi sauce
This one was only alright...there wasn't a WOW factor, it tasted like chicken...I kept waiting for some burst of flavor or something and nope nothin! Amy suggested the Parmesan Chicken for the day of as our chicken dish. We said that was fine.
And last but certainly not least....
The chocolate dome was placed on our menu instead of another beef or chicken dish (apparently the chefs won't make two beef or two chicken) so we needed to add something else. Jessica (our assistant) called me the week before and this was what we came up with in place of. It was AMAZING!!
So here is our menu as of now and I'm sure it will be slashed when we get the bill!
Call Brands Bar - we will also be adding a signature cocktail - it will be the juice from Boma (guava passionfruit) with rum
She said it was no extra charge since we were having a bar already
Cocktail Hour
Bacon-crusted Beef and Blue Cheese with Balsamic Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
Pigs in a Blanket with mustard sauce
Grilled jumbo shrimp and steamed muscles with lemon garlic butter sauce
International Cheese Display
LeCellier Beer & Cheese Soup with warm pretzel bread
Buffet Dinner
Build Your Own Salad Station
Medley of Greens with toppings: Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Roasted Peppers, Marinated Fennel, Carrots, Olives, Cheddar Cheese, Feta Cheese, Shredded Hard Boiled Eggs, Bacon, Roasted Garlic Croutons, Candied Pistachios, Balsamic, Low-fat Zinfandel, and Blue Cheese Dressings, Orange Honey Vinaigrette
Main Course
Carved To Order:
LeCellier Inspired Beef Strip Loin with truffle butter sauce
Parmesan-crusted Chicken Breast with Mushroom Cream Olive Oil, Herb and Sea Salt tossed Steamed Vegetables
Assorted Rolls and Butter
Martini Action Station
Yukon Gold Potatoes topped with Aged Cheddar, Chive Sour Cream, and Crisp Prosciutto
Creamy Parmesan and Champagne Risotto topped with Crab Gremolata
Grown-up Truffle Macaroni and Cheese (no lobster)
After dinner we will have the sorbet plated to our guests. And then with cake they will place a three tiered tray on each table that will have bride & groom strawberries and the chocolate domes
^^^^^ - All of that Allen added, I was shocked!
I'm terrified of what our dinner bill is going to be per person so I'm sure we will be removing some things!!
So that was our Planning Session! I'm excited to get the BEO from both and to find out how many guests we are having to give me a better idea!
I'm not going to post pictures of me in the dress just in case... It's 
pick up rental car around noon, pack and be at his work by 2:30. Drive half way (roughly) to Tifton and stay the night.
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