auntpunkin
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We're off for our PS! I'm so excited, I just know I'm going to cry when I see the wedding pavilion again. I'll be sure to take lots of photos! 
Christine & Andrew 09/03/09 WP/WHR, Guest photos
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pink_tink8i8
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that's so exciting! can't wait to hear all about it!
tiggersam00
Dole Whip addict... and proud of it!
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have a blast! Cant wait to hear all abotu it
auntpunkin
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We're back from the planning session...and I wouldn't have missed that opportunity for the world! It was just awesome to get a little backstage tour in the kitchen at the Grand Floridian conference center and spend time looking at the wedding chapel and Whitehall room again! Not to mention getting some peace of mind that everything is going to go alright by talking face to face with our planner and florist...
Our planning session was at 9:30am at the Grand Floridian conference center. We met with our planner, Diane Bowen, and she pointed out this sign..
As we entered the kitchen they had another sign welcoming us
They had a little table set up for the 4 of us (Andy's parents were with us)
And here is Diane
I was really upset when I lost my consultant, Stacey Meachem, and got a planner. Stacey is just the greatest! But Diane is just as wonderful!
Our chef, Joe, and server, Karen...
Joe was so awesome, I loved him!
So on with the food porn.. One of Andy's favorite things is the Chicken Crunch at Planet Hollywood so I asked that they try to recreate that. Planet Hollywood is not owned by Disney so they didn't know the recipe and I guess that there was a big discussion on how it is made...come to find out the crust is made with Captian Crunch cereal and Joe did a fantastic job recreating it for us..
Then came the shrimp cocktail, which had the biggest shrimp ever!
Next we tasted parmesan encrusted chicken with a mushroom sauce, redskin mashed potatoes and veggies..
Everyone was sold on this, it was delicious!
After that was New York strip steak. It looked so good that we forgot to take a photo before we started eating it!
Finally, we tried the cheesecake. It was more like a whip cream, it was so light and fluffy.
So we've decided that we are doing a fruit display at the pre-reception. For the reception, we will have the shrimp cocktail served to each guest at their seat before the go out to the buffet on the patio. I'm guessing this is when we'll have the best man do his toast. After that, the chef will have a grill set up out on the patio of the Whitehall room to grill the New York strip steak to order and on the buffet we're having the parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. We are not doing the dessert because we'll have the wedding cake. We loved the chicken crunch but really didn't want 2 chicken items on the menu; if we come in under budge (yeah, right) we'd add it to the pre-reception.
After the tasting, which lasted from 9:30 to about 11, we had a couple hours to kill before our planning session at 1pm so we wandered through the wedding pavillion and the patio of the Whitehall room (there was a meeting in the room itself). It was the first time Andy's parents saw the venues and I think they were really happy with our choices.
Here's Andy adding up the cost, poor guy...and he hasn't even seen the cost of the chairs I picked out..
At the afternoon planning session Diane went over a timeline of when I have to have certain things done...and I was a little shocked. I have to have a guest count to her by July 10 for our Sept 3 wedding! Which means our invites need to go out by June 4th or so....thank goodness I've been working on them already! We had already given them our $2000 deposit and we found out they need the remainder of our minimum ($9000) by June 3rd, another shocker! (They make you give them an extra $1000 in case you add people later but refund it if you don't). Andy went into visable shock at this point...but we ended up just paying it right then and there so we wouldn't have to worry about it. So, happy news, the wedding is pretty much paid for!!
We decided that we are going to ask Randy, our photographer, to arrive at 9:30am. We will take our getting ready photos at the Wilderness Lodge, then move over to the Grand Floridian for more photos until 11:45am. The wedding is at noon. After the wedding we will have about another 1/2 hour of photos before we can go to the pre-reception and meet up with our guests. We were originally going to have Randy start at 10:30am but Diane said, since we plan to see each other before the wedding, we could start him a little earlier and not have to do as many photos after the wedding itself. If we hadn't done that, we would pretty much miss the pre-reception.
We had Elizabeth as our florist. She was very nice but I just didn't get a real feel for exactly what this is going to look like. We are doing light blue hydrangea's with off white and magenta roses in square glass vases for the reception. I may need to go to a local florist and ask them to put something together so I can see what it looks like. Good thing is I can change my mind up until some time in August.
I had a hard time with the cake tasting too...I didn't like more of the filling flavors than what I did like. I loved the dark chocolate mousse though. Our 1st layer will be yellow cake with the dark chocolate, the 2nd layer is chocolate cake with 2 layers of white chocolate and 1 layer of strawberry mousse, the 3rd layer is chocolate with Bailey's and something else that I forgot...
After we made our choices, Andy's dad proceeded to eat the rest of everything on the tasting tray....he loves his cake!
We're doing this cake but square with our own cake top...
As we were finishing up, Diane remembered that she had someone getting married the following night who was using all blue hydrangea's. She told me that if I wanted to go over there before the guests arrived I could see what it all looked like. We went and it was incredible! I later learned that the wedding was one of our own Dis couples, Anna & DJ! She had one of the ballrooms at the GF for her reception and the Whitehall room for her pre-reception. She had the most beautiful day for a wedding, it was about 84 with a nice breeze, beautiful blue sky's and no humidity! I really wanted to hang around and try to catch a glimpse of Anna in her dress, but Andy had enough wedding stuff for one day and dragged me away..
A couple of nights later we had to jump off a bus at the GF to use the restroom on our way to Downtown Disney. The band that plays on the balcony started playing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" as we walked in. It's one of the songs I have in my processional and I immediatly started bawling. The PS just made everything all feel so real; This is really going to happen to me!
Our planning session was at 9:30am at the Grand Floridian conference center. We met with our planner, Diane Bowen, and she pointed out this sign..
As we entered the kitchen they had another sign welcoming us
They had a little table set up for the 4 of us (Andy's parents were with us)
And here is Diane
I was really upset when I lost my consultant, Stacey Meachem, and got a planner. Stacey is just the greatest! But Diane is just as wonderful!
Our chef, Joe, and server, Karen...
Joe was so awesome, I loved him!
So on with the food porn.. One of Andy's favorite things is the Chicken Crunch at Planet Hollywood so I asked that they try to recreate that. Planet Hollywood is not owned by Disney so they didn't know the recipe and I guess that there was a big discussion on how it is made...come to find out the crust is made with Captian Crunch cereal and Joe did a fantastic job recreating it for us..
Then came the shrimp cocktail, which had the biggest shrimp ever!
Next we tasted parmesan encrusted chicken with a mushroom sauce, redskin mashed potatoes and veggies..
Everyone was sold on this, it was delicious!
After that was New York strip steak. It looked so good that we forgot to take a photo before we started eating it!
Finally, we tried the cheesecake. It was more like a whip cream, it was so light and fluffy.
So we've decided that we are doing a fruit display at the pre-reception. For the reception, we will have the shrimp cocktail served to each guest at their seat before the go out to the buffet on the patio. I'm guessing this is when we'll have the best man do his toast. After that, the chef will have a grill set up out on the patio of the Whitehall room to grill the New York strip steak to order and on the buffet we're having the parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. We are not doing the dessert because we'll have the wedding cake. We loved the chicken crunch but really didn't want 2 chicken items on the menu; if we come in under budge (yeah, right) we'd add it to the pre-reception.
After the tasting, which lasted from 9:30 to about 11, we had a couple hours to kill before our planning session at 1pm so we wandered through the wedding pavillion and the patio of the Whitehall room (there was a meeting in the room itself). It was the first time Andy's parents saw the venues and I think they were really happy with our choices.
Here's Andy adding up the cost, poor guy...and he hasn't even seen the cost of the chairs I picked out..
At the afternoon planning session Diane went over a timeline of when I have to have certain things done...and I was a little shocked. I have to have a guest count to her by July 10 for our Sept 3 wedding! Which means our invites need to go out by June 4th or so....thank goodness I've been working on them already! We had already given them our $2000 deposit and we found out they need the remainder of our minimum ($9000) by June 3rd, another shocker! (They make you give them an extra $1000 in case you add people later but refund it if you don't). Andy went into visable shock at this point...but we ended up just paying it right then and there so we wouldn't have to worry about it. So, happy news, the wedding is pretty much paid for!!
We decided that we are going to ask Randy, our photographer, to arrive at 9:30am. We will take our getting ready photos at the Wilderness Lodge, then move over to the Grand Floridian for more photos until 11:45am. The wedding is at noon. After the wedding we will have about another 1/2 hour of photos before we can go to the pre-reception and meet up with our guests. We were originally going to have Randy start at 10:30am but Diane said, since we plan to see each other before the wedding, we could start him a little earlier and not have to do as many photos after the wedding itself. If we hadn't done that, we would pretty much miss the pre-reception.
We had Elizabeth as our florist. She was very nice but I just didn't get a real feel for exactly what this is going to look like. We are doing light blue hydrangea's with off white and magenta roses in square glass vases for the reception. I may need to go to a local florist and ask them to put something together so I can see what it looks like. Good thing is I can change my mind up until some time in August.
I had a hard time with the cake tasting too...I didn't like more of the filling flavors than what I did like. I loved the dark chocolate mousse though. Our 1st layer will be yellow cake with the dark chocolate, the 2nd layer is chocolate cake with 2 layers of white chocolate and 1 layer of strawberry mousse, the 3rd layer is chocolate with Bailey's and something else that I forgot...
After we made our choices, Andy's dad proceeded to eat the rest of everything on the tasting tray....he loves his cake! We're doing this cake but square with our own cake top...
As we were finishing up, Diane remembered that she had someone getting married the following night who was using all blue hydrangea's. She told me that if I wanted to go over there before the guests arrived I could see what it all looked like. We went and it was incredible! I later learned that the wedding was one of our own Dis couples, Anna & DJ! She had one of the ballrooms at the GF for her reception and the Whitehall room for her pre-reception. She had the most beautiful day for a wedding, it was about 84 with a nice breeze, beautiful blue sky's and no humidity! I really wanted to hang around and try to catch a glimpse of Anna in her dress, but Andy had enough wedding stuff for one day and dragged me away..
A couple of nights later we had to jump off a bus at the GF to use the restroom on our way to Downtown Disney. The band that plays on the balcony started playing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" as we walked in. It's one of the songs I have in my processional and I immediatly started bawling. The PS just made everything all feel so real; This is really going to happen to me!
Yay!!!! You're back!!! I love the food choices, the pics are making me hungry!!!! The cake is beautiful! So glad you like you Wedding Planner, transitioning away from the SC is hard but at least you are in good hands.
I can't wait to see how everything comes together, it's going to be gorgeous!
I can't wait to see how everything comes together, it's going to be gorgeous!
tiggersam00
Dole Whip addict... and proud of it!
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- Dec 29, 2008
- Messages
- 2,011
yay for the wedding being paid for! That must be a huge relief on you both, love the counting pic btw lol!
Oh and I can totally feel your pain about losing Stacey, we had her too and she was fabulous! I was so sad to lose her, but so far we have had good luck with our planner Marion and her assistant Jen as well so I am happy.
Your PS looks like fun, all the food looks yummy. I am debating adding Parmesean Chicken to the menu or not for ours right now, but after your review and pics I think we may just have too
Oh and I can totally feel your pain about losing Stacey, we had her too and she was fabulous! I was so sad to lose her, but so far we have had good luck with our planner Marion and her assistant Jen as well so I am happy.
Your PS looks like fun, all the food looks yummy. I am debating adding Parmesean Chicken to the menu or not for ours right now, but after your review and pics I think we may just have too
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 309
Thanks, we had such a great time! I was glad to be back though, I have a lot to do!!
yay for the wedding being paid for! That must be a huge relief on you both, love the counting pic btw lol!
Oh and I can totally feel your pain about losing Stacey, we had her too and she was fabulous! I was so sad to lose her, but so far we have had good luck with our planner Marion and her assistant Jen as well so I am happy.
Your PS looks like fun, all the food looks yummy. I am debating adding Parmesean Chicken to the menu or not for ours right now, but after your review and pics I think we may just have too
Thank you! I wasn't too sure about the parmesan chicken until I tried it, it is really good! They are going to serve the chicken separately from the mushroom sauce so that guests can decide for themselves if the want it and how much they want. They are also going to serve the sauce Joe used with the chicken crunch on the side so guests will have their choice of using that if they prefer. I can't remember what exactly that sauce was but I actually liked that better than the mushroom sauce.
I'm glad you are happy with your planner too! I wonder when they will promote Stacey to planner so they can quit hearing brides say they don't want to leave her! She really does go above and beyond.
Thank you! I really love the cake too, I'm a little worried about the flavors we picked though...I need to go read some trip reports to see what everyone else did with that. Honestly, the chicken was great but those mashed taters were to die for! Joe said that he had to put pixie dust in them to get rid of the 1000 calories per serving; I guess they are loaded with cream, butter and other magic Disney stuff!
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
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- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 309
Well, my BEO (minus floral and cake) is in. Considering I'm having shrimp cocktail and New York strip steak grilled right on the patio, I think I'm happy with it. My planner said if I eliminate the shrimp cocktail we'd immediatly save $8pp. I'm going to wait to see where we come in with cake and floral before I nix it.
This is what I have, it's based on 50 guests:
Wedding Pavilion: $2662.50
1 Limo: $376.64
Ipod setup: $360
Bar, call brands, based on 50 guests for 4 hours,
billed on consumption: $1546.38
43 custom buffet dinners at $72 each: $3989.66
(with tax & gratuity it's actually $92pp)
6 children's meals at $23 each: $177.83
1 vendor meal at $23 each: $29.64
49 fruit with dip at $8 each: $505.15
Bartender fee: $106.50
GRAND TOTAL: $9754.30
I think our guest count is actually more like 29 adults and 6 children, so I really think I'm going to be close to our $10000.01 goal (I found a penny in the sofa today)
Another thing I thought was really great was that my DF prefers Coors Light beer but it is not on the 'beer list'. He mentioned it and they traded out one brand and added the Coors. Of course I had to chime in then saying that I like Malibu Rum, not a problem, they switched out the Captain Morgan for the Malibu. ...just in case anyone else had that question
.
This is what I have, it's based on 50 guests:
Wedding Pavilion: $2662.50
1 Limo: $376.64
Ipod setup: $360
Bar, call brands, based on 50 guests for 4 hours,
billed on consumption: $1546.38
43 custom buffet dinners at $72 each: $3989.66
(with tax & gratuity it's actually $92pp)
6 children's meals at $23 each: $177.83
1 vendor meal at $23 each: $29.64
49 fruit with dip at $8 each: $505.15
Bartender fee: $106.50
GRAND TOTAL: $9754.30
I think our guest count is actually more like 29 adults and 6 children, so I really think I'm going to be close to our $10000.01 goal (I found a penny in the sofa today)
Another thing I thought was really great was that my DF prefers Coors Light beer but it is not on the 'beer list'. He mentioned it and they traded out one brand and added the Coors. Of course I had to chime in then saying that I like Malibu Rum, not a problem, they switched out the Captain Morgan for the Malibu. ...just in case anyone else had that question
.
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- Sep 28, 2007
- Messages
- 1,676
Nice jobs on keeping the costs low...or at least close to the mins. The food sounds yummy!! And I questioned the mushroom sauce but I'm glad it tastes delicious.
And that cake is so lovely!!! Are you going to still have all those layers if it's for 50 people???
I'm glad to know you can have good food and still get the minimums (but booze!!)
And that cake is so lovely!!! Are you going to still have all those layers if it's for 50 people???
I'm glad to know you can have good food and still get the minimums (but booze!!)
Stephie77
DH and I married at the most magical place on eart
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- Jan 21, 2009
- Messages
- 997
Your BEO is really great for 50 people! Good job!! I love all the pics and getting married the same places as you so it was helpful. I have my planning session in June and so excited especially when i see the pics and read your BEO which sounds so reasonable! The food looks sooo good! I am glad you had a great PS!
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
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- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 309
I was really expecting that I would have to make changes, it felt like we were asking for only the expensive things. I was really happy the price was so reasonable and I don't have to change a thing!
Thank you! We are having only 3 of the layers, they are taking out the one under the top one. We are having them make it a square cake and the minimum cake size for a square feeds 60. I think we are going to invite the rest of the September brides over to our resort for cake the next day
Your BEO is really great for 50 people! Good job!! I love all the pics and getting married the same places as you so it was helpful. I have my planning session in June and so excited especially when i see the pics and read your BEO which sounds so reasonable! The food looks sooo good! I am glad you had a great PS!
Oh thank you so much, you're going to have the best time! Andrew didn't want to go to a planning session but I put my foot down! It's a once in a lifetime deal where you get taken into the kitchen at Disney and a chef cooks just for you; I wouldn't have missed it for the world! I seriously felt like the only person ever to be married at Disney; they made such a fuss over us! And Andrew is really glad he went now
I can guess that without the shrimp cocktail and using something a little less expensive than the new york strip steak, that price would be even less! So it is do-able! My planner also said that it is always cheaper to do plated meals because they can control the portions. We just wanted to do a buffet so people could mingle a little more.
The one mistake I made was not researching cake flavors and requesting certain ones. There were some flavors they gave us to try that I would've known that we would'nt like.
I'm glad to help!
Make sure to take photos at your ps for us!
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
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- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 309
I have shoes! Well, I bought them anyways...they haven't arrived yet. I bought 2 pair, they were on sale and I couldn't decide. I justified it by telling myself I need a pair for my rehearsal dinner but don't tell Andrew or I'll have more photos of him counting costs and getting gray hair 
!
And I just realized I never posted my ring! Andrew did well, I love it!
I booked Anna from Beauty Speciale today also, so things are moving right along!
!
And I just realized I never posted my ring! Andrew did well, I love it!
I booked Anna from Beauty Speciale today also, so things are moving right along!
tiggersam00
Dole Whip addict... and proud of it!
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- Dec 29, 2008
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Great BEO Christine! And hey every penny counts so keep looking in those couch cusions! You did great especially all the food you have, the steaks sound awesome btw I didn't know you could do that, I bet your guests will love it
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
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- May 13, 2008
- Messages
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Great BEO Christine! And hey every penny counts so keep looking in those couch cusions! You did great especially all the food you have, the steaks sound awesome btw I didn't know you could do that, I bet your guests will love it
Thanks, I was all set to have my heart broke and thought I'd be way over budget! I loved the grilling on the patio idea the second the chef mentioned it. I had asked him how the steaks would be cooked; wondering how each guest would get their steak the way they liked it. That's when he said that they could have a chef right there on the patio. He said that they would already have a few of steaks cooked and the guest could take one of those steaks or, if they wanted it a little more done, he would grill it a little longer right there for them. He called it an "action station". I took this grill photo last February....
That photo makes me really glad I'm getting chair covers!!
pink_tink8i8
DIS Veteran
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- Jan 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,573
your BEO is amazing! and I LOVE your cake
The grilling on the patio is such an awesome idea, very unique! I love your ring so beautiful.
Have you recevied your floral proposal yet? I am still waiting on my 2nd revised one.
The shoes are so cute. I am still searching, I feel so behind!
Have you recevied your floral proposal yet? I am still waiting on my 2nd revised one.
The shoes are so cute. I am still searching, I feel so behind!
auntpunkin
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 13, 2008
- Messages
- 309
Well, my floral proposal is in...I'm not sure how to feel about it. It's $4391.79. I'm really stunned that I have $550 just in petals for the aisle and stagged exit; that's ridiculous! I'm going to eliminate the chiavali chairs, but I already knew I'd probably do that.
I think my floral planner and I just aren't on the same wavelength. I really just can't get a feel from her for what we are doing. I've emailed her back and forth several times, telling her my concerns but I just don't think she gets it. I sent her a photo of a sweetheart table I loved with a low unity arrangement in the middle and a large, square vase on each side. Then I got my proposal and it says one vase on the sweetheart table? These vases are 8 inches tall, and with flowers in them, I'm thinking they will be over a foot tall. If we put one vase on the sweetheart table won't Andy and I be basically hidden behind it? We haven't talked at all about how the cake table will be decorated; I'm really shocked that she hasn't asked anything about it. Am I the only one who can't get it just right with their floral planner??? Oh no, am I becoming a floral bridezilla?
Here's that pink rose color she's talking about in my proposal again...
I also got my cake price; $870 with all the fees and whatever. I had Diane change the cake from square to round. The square serves 60 and the round serves 50. Our guest count is down to about 35-40 right now and I thought it was a waste to do the square. I'm really happy with that because I was budgeting $1000.
This is the cake again. We are having 3 layers (taking out the 2nd layer down)...
I'm considering separating the layers and doing something like this...
and the top...
I ordered some stamps from Zazzle for my invitations. Hopefully they come this weekend so I can finish the invites; they need to go out by June 4!
I also ordered an engraveable guest book, I thought it was really unique and can't wait to see it! http://www.idoengravables.com/
(Use code "guest book" for free engraving)
I think my floral planner and I just aren't on the same wavelength. I really just can't get a feel from her for what we are doing. I've emailed her back and forth several times, telling her my concerns but I just don't think she gets it. I sent her a photo of a sweetheart table I loved with a low unity arrangement in the middle and a large, square vase on each side. Then I got my proposal and it says one vase on the sweetheart table? These vases are 8 inches tall, and with flowers in them, I'm thinking they will be over a foot tall. If we put one vase on the sweetheart table won't Andy and I be basically hidden behind it? We haven't talked at all about how the cake table will be decorated; I'm really shocked that she hasn't asked anything about it. Am I the only one who can't get it just right with their floral planner??? Oh no, am I becoming a floral bridezilla?
Here's that pink rose color she's talking about in my proposal again...
I also got my cake price; $870 with all the fees and whatever. I had Diane change the cake from square to round. The square serves 60 and the round serves 50. Our guest count is down to about 35-40 right now and I thought it was a waste to do the square. I'm really happy with that because I was budgeting $1000.
This is the cake again. We are having 3 layers (taking out the 2nd layer down)...
I'm considering separating the layers and doing something like this...
and the top...
I ordered some stamps from Zazzle for my invitations. Hopefully they come this weekend so I can finish the invites; they need to go out by June 4!
I also ordered an engraveable guest book, I thought it was really unique and can't wait to see it! http://www.idoengravables.com/
(Use code "guest book" for free engraving)
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