~Dani and Bryan's Hopefully Fairy Tale Wedding on a Budget PJ and almost TR 12/5/10

your pix are beautiful!! the puppy is sooooooooo sweet!! i hope you're going to tell us alllll about it :)
 
I love your photos and video!!!

We had our wedding only a few days before yours and used Stan as well. He was really great wasn't he?? I barely even remember seeing him move around taking shots on the wedding day. He was very stealth about it all, lol.

Congratulations again and your dog is just so cute and I love the name, how appropriate! :wizard:
 
I love the video! You look gorgeous, and I'm glad you went with the Mickey balloons. I think they looked great by your cake :)
 

glad you are alive!! haha - congrats on everything and enjoy the puppy.... like they say, god made 'em cute for a reason (because they can be sooooo annoying!!! but cute..)

your pics look great, you look beautiful. please tell me everything is calm and wonderful after because i am a stress monkey.

welcome home!
 
GAH!!!!!

i just watched your sneak peek video. and it made me cry! you look so pretty and everything looks so wonderful and..... just lovely! :lovestruc
 
Hi All-

After spending over 45 minutes writing an entry, I went and clicked post reply. It said I was not logged in so it vanished. I should have learned from my last mistake and copied it before clicking post. Sadness. I actually cracked myself up a few times in the post, so after much frustration I hope some of the laughter returns through the post.

I am going to be Dani Downer again. Since it is so crazy warm here in Colorado, we decided to take the Christmas lights down outside. I cried. I cried because it is over, the wedding is over, etc. Seriously over. I would like people to put up lights and radio stations to change over to all my favorite music around my birthday. I do not mean to offend anyone by that statement, as I know the true meaning of Christmas, but it would be a nice mid year event. Perhaps I could celebrate a half Christmas. I don't think the Home Owners Association would like lights up that time of year. I mean, who cries because the holidays are over? Yes, that would be me. Maybe it is because everything is hitting me that it is over. My whole life I hoped, wished and prayed I would get married. My dream came true and now, it is over. I tried telling Brayn we should do a vow renewal. Every year would be nice, but that idea did not go over too well.

I have New Year's Eve to look forward to (we party it up at home and are usually asleep by 12- yes, I am sure you are jealous because we know how to party). We have a stellar honeymoon coming up in February (who says stellar anymore? Rockers? Skaters? All I know is I just did and I am not sure why....) So many things to look forward to yet I am focusing on what is in the past. I tend to do that. Prime example: I used to never wear anything Disney related. Maybe a hoodie because I got cold at the parks but other than that-nothing. I saw no point. What have I done since the wedding trip? Got a dog and named him Mickey. Oh, outfited our Christmas Tree (which will be leaving us soon-sadness) with Disney ornaments. I went to Wal Mart and saw a Mickey shirt-although it was in the juniors section (can you say hello muffin top showing) I bought it. I have been wearing my Disney apparel. I have a Disney hat. I am surprised I have not whipped out the Bride Ears my friends got me with the veil and worn them to my dentist appointments. That would be interesting. I am obsessed. I get Orlando flight updates in my Inbox and think wow, $200 bucks is not bad. Yeah, two people, airfare, etc. adds up and well, we do not have that kind of money. I did catch Bryan in a good mood today and said I would love to go to the parks with just him and he asked if I would like to go for my 35th birthday. Wahoo! Sure, there will be no Christmas lights but wahoo! I think we will be going there. Fingers crossed. Cross your toes too! I get cold when I do that so I better go put on my Mickey hoodie and my Mickey baseball hat and sit by the fire next to the Disney obsessed tree to warm up. Kidding. Sort of.

I am so, so glad I listened to my inner voice that told me," You need to get a videographer! Sure, you may never watch it and it will go on the shelf next to your Beta movies, but you need to get one." The wedding is a blur so I look forward to seeing it. Over and over again. We watched Christmas Vacation the other night and when I saw the part where Chevy Chase (who would name their kid Chevy? Probably a screen name but still. I would not be Chevy. Maybe Cadillac or something better then Chevy.) sorry...back to the point. When I saw him sitting locked in the attic watching old movies crying I thought that is going to be me. All the time. We will see what happens. Oh, and by the way, I do not have any Beta movies. I do have some VHS I am donating. Eventually...but not my mix tapes from junior high and high school. Oh no, those are awesome. Sure I can get those songs from iTunes but nowhere could I get songs that have the annoying DJ breaking into the song as I tried to record from the radio. For those of you who are under 32 or so, you may not have any recollection of anyone doing this, but trust me, it is awesome. So was my perm, huge bangs and blue eye shadow. Oh yeah. So my point? So glad I will have a video. Apparently there were a lot of interesting conversations and I was having panic attacks during our hair and makeup getting done. I wonder if they got any of that on the video. Hope not! Stan also caught me saying how much of an a** Bryan was being. I went on a rant and then I looked over and smiled and said, "Oh hey Stan. Uh, hey Bryan. Love you, mean it." There were a lot of hard days before the wedding. More about that later.

There is so much to tell about our trip/wedding etc. So many great things happened. Why do I use the word SO so much? But today I am going to tell you something that has me so sad (minus Christmas being over, the wedding being over, and the fact that the Bee Gees are no longer together) Our castle pictures. Seriously, majorly bummed. This was a once in a lifetime event and it was so important to me. My parents helped with this and I was thrilled. Beyond thrilled. I hate mornings but getting up at 3:30 to get my hair and makeup done did not bother me. The fact that is was 29 degrees and bitterly cold for Florida was not an issue. I thought about rocking some long johns under the dress and a turtleneck but I did not think that would look too hot. We get picked up by the photographer and his assistant. Not who we requested but there is nothing I could do about that. Loved the guy's personality and he was really cool. We got to the parks, and I tried to remain positive. I am a control freak when it comes to pictures. Majorly. I kept apologizing to the Roots-I did not want to boss everyone around but there were certain pictures I wanted. At the shoot, Bryan was telling me he was freezing. Dude, you have a suit on. I have a strapless dress on and slip on shoes. Our photographer took a ton of pictures of me. I finally got to the point where I told him I was not trying to tell him how to do his job but I really did not need pictures of me. I see myself in the mirror every day-I don't need pictures of me. He took a lot of pictures in weird places and I am so sad. But I tried to remain positive and look forward to getting the email. Low and behold, a few days ago the link appeared in my inbox. Wahoo! My parents happened to be at the house when it arrived so Bryan and I looked at them. Out of 100+ pictures we like MAYBE 5. The lighting is weird, the pictures are tilted, there are a ton of me sitting in a chair. I felt like it was a senior portrait with the chair. Perhaps I should have hugged a tree and peeked around it like I did back in 94. The top of the castle is cut off. The sun is too bright in things. We have no pictures in front of the Mickey and Walt statue. The carousel pictures look like Bryan is eating my hair-although I am sure it is tasty with how crunchy and full of hair spray it was. I cry when I look at other people's pictures. I am so sad and disappointed. I emailed Maxine and asked her if anything can be done. Even my Dad did not like them and said the lighting was off. Usually he likes any pictures of me in them, but not these. I know I am hard to please, but for the amount of money it cost, I want good pictures. I need them. This was one day in our lives and it meant the world to me, and all I can do is cry when I look at them. I doubt anything will come of it, but I am a mess over it. So many people have amazing shots. I do not. I would fly down in a heartbeat and do it all over again to get the pics I wanted. I am sure Disney thinks they are good because they posted one on the Facebook Disney site. The weird thing is I am doing my fake I am so cold smile, and the caption read "Have you thought about using pre existing decorations to cut down on your wedding budget?" or something like that. Uh, that was the castle shoot. We did not cut down on our budget or use pre existing decorations. Oh well, it was an honor just to be on there. :goodvibes I don't know what to do. Any advice?

Well, there is so much more to say but I need to get off the computer. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I am not sure if I mentioned it but did I tell you I am sad it is over? :rotfl: Thankfully Bryan has been very sweet about it all, and he got us pizza for dinner. Pizza always makes things better. One of the kids returned from their mom's house really sick so that plus a new puppy will make for an awesome night.

I am grateful to all who read this, and appreciate the feedback you provide. I will write more about the trip soon.

Have a good evening!
Dani
 
Wow....what a let down about the portrait session. I have mine booked but lately Im rethinking that. I cant imagine how you feel right now, to have such an expensive photo shoot be such a bust. Id love to see what they got right, and I cant wait to read more about your day! :goodvibes
 
Alright, here we go!

We arrive in Orlando on December 2nd. Flight was good, all went well. The kids behaved and we landed early. We got checked into Saratoga and since we were exhausted we ditched the idea of going to Downtown Disney. We ordered a pizza instead and they said it had to come to Saratoga. For one pizza, and order of bread sticks and a 2 liter of soda, it was $45.

The next day we got up and headed to the Animal Kingdom. A lot of my family members and friends joined us for which turned out to be the warmest day of the entire trip. We went on the safari several times. I am fine with one time, but I don't like zoos and on the 3rd ride you kind of zone out. At least I do. Everyone wanted to do different things and my dream of having everyone doing everything together went out the window. On the 3rd Safari ride, out of nowhere I had a panic attack. That was embarrassing. I could not breathe, I was sobbing, etc. I guess the stress was catching up to me.

We went to the Nemo show, I lost my phone but thankfully found it. There were so many things we wanted to do but Torrin needed a nap and so did I. We went back to the hotel to rest up for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. I was so excited to go to the party but somehow, someway, the night turned out to be a mess. At first it was great. My family all went on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, had cookies and hot chocolate (which we needed as it became cold). We decided to head to another ride, and along the way my parents stop to get my nephews popcorn. Bryan said to keep going and we should do our own thing. I lost it. I wanted everyone to be together. Bryan said the kids are hungry and we need to eat. I said we were going to eat after the Haunted Mansion. Well, with so many people it was a mess. I finally just broke down in front of the Liberty Tree Tavern. I went in and asked them if they could fit 17 people for dinner-which was not even remotely possible when I called, but when you are sobbing in the happiest place on earth, they will help you out. Three cast members hug me, and I go outside telling everyone they will seat us. My brother asks whats on the menu, other people say they have been eating cookies and are not hungry, etc. It made me cry even more. I wanted to do something nice where we could all eat together, but nope. I wish I would have realized before the trip that not everyone is going to be together all of the time. So I go back into the restaurant and I sob telling them we do not need a table after all but I appreciate their willingness to help. I keep crying, they ask me what is wrong and I tell them I am getting married, my fiance is being a jerk, and my family can't make any decisions. They tell me they are going to take me over to the Christmas shop to pick out an ornament. I am crying uncontrollably as we walk over there and in the shop. I have no idea what I want to get. If I had been in a happy mood, I would have gotten something wedding related. Here is what I chose:

ChristmasEve7.jpg
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My reason? Because if Bryan were a Mr. Potato Head I would rip off his nose at that moment. I know-such a loving fiance right? I feel bad but I do love the ornament and it is cute.

After the meltdown, I continued to melt down. People went to Space Mountain and no one wanted to see the fireworks. This made me even more upset but I decided there was nothing I could do, so I continued to wait in line for the 7 dwarfs. When I worked at Disney I only got 5 of the dwarfs in a pictures, and finally, all 7 were there. At least that was good! The weather was getting colder and the kids were getting restless so we headed back to our room. The evening was a total let down and Bryan and I were livid at each other.

We put the kids to bed, I went into bed, put my eye mask on, and wanted to just sleep it away. Bryan said we had to talk about what happened, which turned into a huge argument and then the threat of calling off the wedding. It was a mess and I was a mess. I am not sure what the end result was, but I fell asleep and hoped for a better day on Saturday.

Saturday arrives and Torrin has a 101 fever. The weather is very cold but it is expected to be the warmest night of the rest of the week. I really wanted to check into Boardwalk before the end of the welcome dinner. Bryan was not for this, but I really wanted it out of the way. Two of my bridesmaids came to the room and put together the boxes with the ornaments and the place cards on them. I am so grateful for that. While they did that, Camden went to the parks with his great grandparents and Bryan, Torrin and I all went to the outlet mall. We needed coats, hats, gloves, etc. We spent a fortune just to try and stay warm for the rest of the trip.

When we got back, my two bridesmaids and I went to the Boardwalk. We checked in, hung my dress up and got organized. I was thrilled to do this! I did not want to get back to the room after the dinner and have to check in, unpack, etc. While we were doing this Bryan called and told me a room opened up at the GF and we could move the welcome dinner inside. Long story short, I wanted to move it inside but I told Bryan since his Dad was paying for it, it was their decision. They ordered heat lamps and decided to keep it outside as to not confuse people. I let it go and hoped for the best.

After I took my bridesmaids to their hotel, I went back to the room. Torrin was very sick and we were not sure what to do. There was a lot of tension between Bryan and I and I was not feeling good about it at all. I was getting married the next day and all of a sudden we were freaking out I think. Time was passing quickly and I had to get ready. Bryan and I were fighting and he said he did not want to talk about it. I said I was not going to go rehearse a wedding with someone who would not even talk to me. I need the warm loving feelings back. I had to get ready, and after I got out of the shower, I stood there, in grey slipper socks and nothing else, sobbing. Bryan came in, and I am sure I was a beautiful site to behold. Naked crying girl with slipper socks. We had a good talk, although it was weird in my state of nakedness, and worked it out. Off we went to the rehearsal and the welcome dinner. (Don't worry, I put clothes on). I asked my friends and family if it was normal to have so many issues before the wedding and they all told me they thought they could not go through with the wedding, either them or their hubby's threatened to call it off, people threw the ring at the other person, etc. I felt comforted knowing we were not the only dysfunctional couple out there.

We get to the wedding pavilion and of course my Dad and other people are complaining how hard it is to get anywhere on Disney property. Ask directions people! I learned the GPS does not recognize Disney roads as "real" roads so it takes you all over town. Oh well, everyone made it and we were ready to roll.

Jack Day was there and he was so adorable. I felt like I had known him a lifetime and he was my grandfather. He took me aside and told me I was one of the most beautiful brides he had ever seen. I said, "Oh Rev. You must say that to all the ladies." He told me that is not true, I look like an angel, and if he did not say anything about my looks, then I am in trouble. He was so sweet and I looked forward to having him at our wedding the next day.

Rehearsal went well. I asked if it was my unity candle holder on the altar already and Maxine told me it is just a cheap one they use for practice. Sad thing is-it is identical to the one I bought....which I wonder what I should do with it now that it is over. Same with the unity candles. Do people keep them? Sorry-off track.

After the rehearsal we headed over to the GF Marina for the Welcome Dinner. It was so cold, people complained, they could not find it (I had only seen it in pictures so I to was lost), it was dark, etc. I tried not to let the voice of "we should have moved it inside" overtake my brain. I wanted B and me to give a speech, thanking everyone for coming, etc but people wanted to eat so the line began. No one could see the food, so they brought in some tiny lights. I just wanted one person to tell me the night was good instead of hearing how cold it was, how I should have gotten married in the Bahamas where it is warmer (apparently I should have predicted the weather and informed everyone of the unseasonable temperatures Florida would have) The food was good. People did tell me the brownies were amazing. I did not even see the brownies!

Halfway through the Roots arrived. Since they give you an e-pics session with your wedding package, and we used someone else, they agreed to come to the welcome dinner to get fireworks pictures. I adored them both and was so happy we went with them. I just had a great feeling about them! I am excited to see those pictures since Bryan and I were smiling for pics instead of watching the show.

Eventually the night was over, and it was time for me to go to the Boardwalk. I asked my sister to stay with me. She did not realize I was at Boardwalk and thought she would be sleeping on the couch at Saratoga. I told her I had a room at BW and she would have her own bed. She was happy and although I thought I wanted to be by myself, we had a great time. We went to our room, I opened some things the Roots gave me, and then I was so hungry so we went down to the BW and I got a piece of pizza. We hung out in the room and finally went to be around 1.

Next up: Wedding Day!

Thanks to anyone who is reading this!
Dani
 
i'm just going to say that i completely identify with the nose ripping impulse and it is weird to love someone so much and yet want to pull their lips right off their face.

that is all.
 
Anxiously awaiting the next chapter!

The ripping the nose off part made me giggle as did other parts, but it makes me nervous at the same time! Maybe Rick should be reading along so he will know it's normal. Hehe
 
I just stumbled on this TR looking for info on Disney Weddings, how lucky! I'm planning an Escape Disney Fairytale Wedding in Sept 2011. I really enjoyed all of your planning and I feel like I'm just as stressed as you were but I'm only having 18 guests! I can't imagine having more, you are a trooper. Anyway, I just wanted to say congratulations and you make a beautiful bride :)
 
It must be a prewedding thing to have a huge fight with yor fiancé because we had a HUGE fight two nights before the wedding about my mom walking me down the aisle and how his mom would want the same thing. Um, no, your mom does not walk you down. We were in MK waiting for the fireworks to start when we really got into it. Lol. We talked that night in our hotel room and got over it. But it was a huge one and I was ready to call off the wedding ;). I even had to bring out the BEO/timeline from my planner to show him what we talked about and how he didn't want his mom walking him down the aisle, it was explicitly stated in the BEO. I felt so vindicated!!

So don't worry, I think it happens to all of us ;)
 
Hi Dani,

I'm still reading... I'm sorry that you get bummed out after Christmas (I do too - it's miserable), and this year is even tougher for you because wedding stuff is out of the mix too. A birthday Disney trip sounds awesome though!

I'm looking forward to reading more - and seeing pictures too!

Happy New Year!
 
Yay! People are actually reading this! Wahoo! I did not even remember that Mr. Potato Head is in my profile pic. That is awesome and incredibly ironic.

Thank goodness for the BEO. I had to whip it out (that sounded inappropriate) a few times to show Bryan what we talked about before.

Shameless plug: If you have enjoyed reading this and want to nominate me for the Disney Wedding Blog awards, I would greatly appreciate it. Not that I know what it means for me, but hey, "It would be an honor just to be nominated."

http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2010/12/nominations-2010-disney-wedding-awards.html

Thanks to all and more to come! Sorry the entries are so long. Oh, and look, they put us on the Disney blog as well:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...P=SOC-DPFY11Q1TwitterDisneyParks27-12-10@0019

It is one of the somewhat decent pics from our park shoot, even if it is my "I am really cold and it hurts to move my body" smile.

Happy Tuesday!
Dani
 
Congratulations Dani, I've read your whole pj and really enjoyed it! Best of luck in your marriage and new family! princess: :dance3: So glad everything worked out and now you can really enjoy being married:tinker: Now you can look forward to a fantastic honeymoon, love your pictures! :hug:
 














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