Danielle & Chris: 11-11-11 WP/ADH/DP Wedding PJ/TR - Complete *(1 Year Anniversary)

Oh sweetie, you looked SO pretty!!!! (I actually just said that aloud LOL!) I can't waitttt to read all about it. I've even resisted looking at (most) of your facebook pics so I can be surprised!
 

My sweet Danielle - What a beautiful bride you were!!! Simply stunning and wonderfully elegant!! I am really looking forward to reading your report and seeing your photos.
 
You look GORGEOUS, just like a princess!! Can't wait to see more pictures and read your trip report!
 
You look absolutely beautiful! Congrats again, and looking forward to the TR!

Thanks, Becky! I can't wait to start writing the TR!

You look so pretty, and happy! :goodvibes

Thanks!

that's my favorite picture too!! love it!! you looked amazing :)

i did my laundry before we left at OKW... i just have to unpack all 4 suitcases and my big purse :eek: i've been planning our anniversary trip all morning :rotfl:

Thanks, my dear! You are so lucky you got to do your laundry...It took me about 3 days to unpack and then I got the urge to start reorganizing everything in the closet / bedroom. :rolleyes: And hooray for the anniversary trip! :banana:

You guys look wonderful! Congratulations!! :goodvibes

Thank you so much!

Congratulations to you guys!! :) You look gorgeous! Can't wait to see more! :)

Thank you :goodvibes

Awww, you look so beautiful! Congratulations, married lady!!! :banana:

Aww, thank you!

Oh sweetie, you looked SO pretty!!!! (I actually just said that aloud LOL!) I can't waitttt to read all about it. I've even resisted looking at (most) of your facebook pics so I can be surprised!

Hahah, that's too funny, thanks! And good for you--I can never resist posts on facebook...I'm such a surprise-ruiner. :lmao:

What a gorgeous picture!! Congrats, Mrs!

Thanks, Faith!

Beautiful photo! Can't wait to see more! Congrats!

Thank you!!!

My sweet Danielle - What a beautiful bride you were!!! Simply stunning and wonderfully elegant!! I am really looking forward to reading your report and seeing your photos.

Thanks, Joanne!

You look GORGEOUS, just like a princess!! Can't wait to see more pictures and read your trip report!

Thank you! :)

I've been creeping on facebook! You look gorgeous!!!

LOL. CREEPER!!! :rotfl: Thanks!
 
Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings: (www.disneyweddings.disney.go.com)

Having a Disney Wedding was the best decision we could have made. Everything involved in our special day lived-up-to and even exceeded our expectations. There were times when planning our destination wedding became very strenuous, but the great thing is that Disney really does most of the planning for you. I finished up all my wedding to-dos, aside from packing, about one week before we left for Disney World. It was great knowing I'd be able to start my vacation and not have to worry about any wedding activities until our actual wedding! I also wholeheartedly believe that Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings can accommodate any sort of budget and result in a beautiful wedding. I've read so many planning journals and trip reports on these boards and they all showcase a one-of-a-kind beautiful wedding tailored to each couple, regardless of price. I will say it's also very easy to go over your budget...We sure did! But now that we have the chance to reflect on our 'happily ever after' the money signs fade away and we are happy with what we put our money towards.

Planner - Carol Mikles
I don't even know how to express, in words, my gratitude and love for Carol--She is such a gem! Without her, I'm pretty sure my wedding would have been in shambles. I could honestly rave about her all day. (If you have Carol...you are in GREAT hands!) She was always very prompt and informative in her e-mail communication. We had a blast with her at our planning session and by the time we were done we had already planned our whole wedding day! Also, having phone conferences closer to our wedding date really helped wrap up a lot of loose ends and adjust all the little odds and ends. She stuck around all of wedding day to make sure everything went off without a hitch. Carol is amazing! :hug:

Florist - Elizabeth Sutton
I met Elizabeth at our planning session and was very impressed with her floral and decor suggestions. She was a great sport and helped us add or take out anything we wanted from our floral proposal. Her team did a fabulous job and our floral was beautiful! I am so not a flower person, but I actually got sad when I had to throw away my bouquet. Everything was spot-on with what we had envisioned and it was so neat to see everything come to life on wedding day.

Cost: We had to guarantee a minimum of $30,000 for our special numerical wedding date of 11/11/2011. In the end, we were actually closer to $40,000. :scared: But again, now that it's all said and done, the money is a thing of the past and we are so happy we chose to have a Disney wedding!
Here are the links to our budget and floral breakdowns:
Final Event Budget
Floral Breakdown

Grade: A+
I honestly cannot say one bad thing about our Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings experience. I've read some mixed reviews before, so I feel very fortunate and blessed that we had a wonderful wedding.
 
Reverend Tim Herring: (www.disneyweddingminister.com)

In the coming months, weeks, and even days leading up to our wedding, I was very nervous about having Rev. Tim Herring as our officiant. For me, e-mail communication is vital (mostly because I hate talking on the phone). So when I received e-mails that did not answer any of my questions or did not receive any e-mails at all, I started to panic. Maybe I was just a paranoid DISbride, but I would send e-mails asking about ceremony readings and also confirmation times of when our rehearsal and ceremony took place and all I'd get in response was something along the lines of, "Yes." How is one supposed to take that?! I guess I imagined the worst and really thought he wouldn't show up for rehearsal or wedding day.

Well, fast forward to rehearsal day...
Rev. Tim was the first one in the room and greeted us with open arms. He was an absolute riot! He had the whole bridal party in stitches with his jokes...making sure to poke fun at the guys that had to stand with their hands in the 'fig leaf' position. :rotfl: Rev. Tim ran through the whole procession twice, until we all understood our duties and then he went off on his merry way. The next day at our wedding ceremony I made sure to pay close attention to everything he said and I could not be happier with what he chose to say. Chris and I are not very religious, but our families are, so we opted for a mixed ceremony. He incorporated just enough religion with the right amount of lightheartedness that made for a beautiful ceremony. I was also very happy with how short it was! I think our whole ceremony was about 15 - 20 minutes tops.

Cost: $300 total. ($200 for wedding day services plus $100 for the rehearsal.)

Grade: B+
We all ended up loving Rev. Tim Herring and we are so glad he was our officiant. Maybe I'm being just a little to harsh, but I am giving Rev. Tim a B+ just because I didn't enjoy the lack of communication during our planning process. Maybe he's just not that great at e-mails? Maybe I should have called? Whatever the reasoning may be, we are married now and that's all that really matters!
 
Beauté Spécialé: (www.beautespeciale.com)

I ended up using Beauté Spécialé's services 3 times (trial run, wedding day, and bridal portrait shoot) and each time was just as good as the last! I had the lovely beautician, Laine each time (and one other nice lady to help with half of the bridesmaid's hair on wedding day, but her name slips my mind.) Laine is just amazing to work with. She's so creative with hairstyles and the makeup she used on me never moved and looked great all day! (This is a real miracle because I have oily/dry combo skin with scattered blemishes, along with eyelids that do that disappearing eyeliner trick...sigh.) She was on time for every scheduled session and had a lovely bubbly disposition (even at our 4am session...I want her energy! :rotfl: )

Cost: Apparently I booked all of these sessions before they raised their prices, so these are with the old prices:
Trial Run: 1 hair ($65) + 1 makeup ($50) = $115
Wedding Day: 8 hair @$65 ($520) + 1 makeup ($50) = $570
Bridal Portrait Shoot: 1 hair ($65) + 1 makeup ($50) + 1 early morning fee ($50) = $165
Grand Total to Beauté Spécialé: $850

Grade: A+
I loved working with Laine and would use Beauté Spécialé again in a heartbeat. I am already scheming of more ways to use them in the future...perhaps on an anniversary trip?! ;)
 
Men's Warehouse: (www.menswearhouse.com)

We set up an account with our local Men's Warehouse back in June 2011 by picking out styles, colors, paying deposits, and having all of our bridal party fitted. I then discovered the Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings branch on the Men's Warehouse website and started communicating with the Winter Garden, FL Men's Warehouse location. They told me that they would deliver all of our tuxes, free of charge, to any Disney resort of our choice and then pick them back up at the end of our stay. (SCORE! No unnecessary off-property trips once we got to Disney World.) So, when I called our local Men's Warehouse to change the delivery location they told us that wasn't possible. :headache: Turns out, if you aren't a Men's Warehouse in Florida, no one knows that they have Disney delivery services. :rolleyes: Once we hashed things out, we had all 13 of our tuxes being delivered to Disney by the Winter Garden, FL location. Well, this also meant that Men's Warehouse required the tuxes to be paid off one month prior to our delivery date, and the guys in our bridal party that were scrapping by on funds, then had to switch their order to pickup at their local store so they could have more time to pay it off. (You all following? This was so complicated...) Finally, we had locked in 3 guys picking up their tuxes ahead of time and bringing it with them and 10 being delivered to the Grand Floridian. We also had to have the guys try on the tuxes by 4:00 pm on 11/09 to see if they fit / if we needed to swap anything out. Well, half of the guys weren't coming in until 11/10, so we decided to wing it. After all, with 13 guys, if something doesn't fit they could trade amongst themselves, right? :rotfl:

On 11/08, we checked into the Grand Floridian, went to our room and called bell services. They gathered up our tuxes and brought them to our room. We only had 9. :eek: Where was the 10th? I called Men's Warehouse and they said they'd deliver it the next day, on 11/09. :confused3 Ok...
Well, the tux never came and I called again...next day delivery. Yep, ok. It didn't show up. I was told they'd have the tux to our hotel by 10:00 am on wedding day. :scared1: Cutting it a little close aren't we, Men's Warehouse? Luckily, they kept their word and the tux arrived. No major catastrophe, but still a crisis I would have liked to avoid.

Cost: $166 per tux rental.
This included: Chocolate brown tux jacket and pants, shoes, 2 white collared shirts, vest, tie, pocket square, suspenders, socks, and cufflinks, rented for 5 days, with free delivery and pickup services.

Grade: C
I just have to give a very average grade for this one. While the tuxes turned out beautifully and the delivery service is really convenient, I really didn't enjoy playing phone tag with multiple Men's Warehouses and dealing with an almost naked groomsman! :laughing:
 
13:13 Boutique Wedding Photography: (www.1313photography.com)

Photography was the most important thing to me for my wedding day. In the beginning, I really struggled to find a photographer that fit my vision and expectations. All the local preferred vendors had already been booked for the popular 11/11/11 weddings, so I had to search elsewhere. I went on The Knot and looked into every Florida-based photographer and eventually came across 13:13 Boutique Wedding Photography. I fell in love with their light and airy photo-editing and photo-journalistic shooting style. Luckily, they were still available for our date, so we booked them immediately! We were their first Disney wedding, because they are actually based in Ft. Lauderdale, but they love to travel for destination weddings. We absolutely loved having Ashley and Phillip (a husband and wife team) as a part of our wedding. We felt so comfortable around them and we felt like they were there to celebrate with us on our wedding day. :) It took about 5 weeks for us to get our images back after the wedding and they are even better than we imagined. I highly recommend 13:13--I hope that some other Disney brides use them in the future!

Cost: Custom photo package included:
-8 hours of photo coverage by Ashley and Phillip
-Unlimited images
-Editing and color correcting
-Online proofing and ordering gallery
-Photography coverage at our rehearsal luncheon
-$300 credit towards album purchase
-High resolution DVD of all images and printing rights
($4,000)
Plus Disney accommodations for photographers:
All-Star Movies Resort Wedding Rate for 2 nights
$95.23 x2 = $190.46
Grand Total: $4,190.46

Grade: A+
We made a wonderful choice. I'll let the photos speak for themselves:
http://www.1313blog.com/slideshows/daniellechris_ss/
 
Disney Fine Art Photography & Videography: (www.disneyeventphotography.com)

I was skeptical about using Disney Fine Art Photography & Videography at first, because of all the wishy-washy reviews I had read a few years ago. Well, I had nothing to be worried about because they gave us beautiful photos and video memories that I will cherish forever. I cannot even fully explain how happy I am with the products we received. I look through my pictures almost daily and I watched our video about 5+ times in just the week we got it back.

I loved all the cast members that we worked with--all very personable and professional. The photoshoots are very fun and uniquely Disney experiences, while the video captured things that we missed during the busy day. Turn around with our proofs was a little slow, but I blame the holiday season--I know they were slammed. I have not sat down to plan our album yet, so I cannot comment on the quality on the prints, just what we were given as digital proofs.

Cost: $5,050.00 total (see breakdowns below).
Custom Wedding Photo Package - Dessert Party $350.00
•2 Photographers for 1.5 hours of dessert party coverage

Magic Kingdom Bridal Portrait (Plus 1 additional park - EPCOT) $1,400.00
•Unlimited photos taken in Magic Kingdom and EPCOT
•1 Photographer and 1 assistant
•30 print 5"x7" black or pearl white Disney themed album, customized with your first names and wedding date
•4"x6" keepsake prints, proof book, and web posting

Memories Videography Package $3,300.00
•Three DVD copies with special packaging
•Wedding Day highlights in a 5-7 minute video clip
•Edited documentation of Ceremony and Reception
•3 cameras at the Wedding Pavilion
•2 manned cameras at our Pre-Reception and Reception
•PLUS Live Video Feed - allows 50 viewers for live stream and then stays up for 90 days with unlimited viewers.

Grade: A+ for Photography / B+ for Videography
I love all my pictures and our video, however, video gets a slightly lower grade because we had a little confusion with the number of DVDs we were supposed to receive.
 
Okay, first, I love how you're doing your reviews!!! :goodvibes

Thank you so much for all of these. They're really detailed and amazing.

I had Carol for awhile--- she was really quick with emails! I am glad you liked her so much. :)

And, what else. Oh! How much did you tip Beaute, if you don't mind me asking? Did you pay in advance? I am sorry I am so nosy, but I'm using them too.

Ugh. I'm sorry MW was such a hassle. I've heard the same from so many else... but they're just so gosh darn convenient!
 
I'm loving the detailed reviews. We've booked Tim for our wedding next May, and the first email response, he was so friendly and what not. When I emailed him this past week, I got one word answers. So your review definitely comforts me! I can't wait to read more and see pics!
 
I love your reviews! Congrats again! Can't wait to see photos! :)
 
Danielle sweetie - You are right about Rev Tim and the e-mails. He admitted to me himself that he is very uncomfortable with e-mail communication and finds it 'impersonal'. I assume he would come across better on the phone, but I never got to test this theory, as I was not going to keep phoning from the UK when a short and to the point e-mail would suffice :goodvibes. Once you know what to expect from Rev Tim, you deal with it!!! He is the sweetest man face to face isn't he?
 
Okay, first, I love how you're doing your reviews!!! :goodvibes

Thank you so much for all of these. They're really detailed and amazing.

I had Carol for awhile--- she was really quick with emails! I am glad you liked her so much. :)

And, what else. Oh! How much did you tip Beaute, if you don't mind me asking? Did you pay in advance? I am sorry I am so nosy, but I'm using them too.

Ugh. I'm sorry MW was such a hassle. I've heard the same from so many else... but they're just so gosh darn convenient!

Oh, I'm really glad you like the reviews! I spent a good chunk of time on them trying to be accurate and honest! I tipped Laine $20 at my trial run, but my dad called in the rest ahead of time, so I don't know if he was able to tip on the phone or not.

I'm loving the detailed reviews. We've booked Tim for our wedding next May, and the first email response, he was so friendly and what not. When I emailed him this past week, I got one word answers. So your review definitely comforts me! I can't wait to read more and see pics!

I'm so glad I could comfort you! :) Communication with Rev. Tim is definitely an experience, but you won't be disappointed with him! He's simply amazing!!!

I love your reviews! Congrats again! Can't wait to see photos! :)

Thank you, hun!

Danielle sweetie - You are right about Rev Tim and the e-mails. He admitted to me himself that he is very uncomfortable with e-mail communication and finds it 'impersonal'. I assume he would come across better on the phone, but I never got to test this theory, as I was not going to keep phoning from the UK when a short and to the point e-mail would suffice :goodvibes. Once you know what to expect from Rev Tim, you deal with it!!! He is the sweetest man face to face isn't he?

He really is! We all adored him so much. What an amazing man. :)
 
Danielle,

Great photo! You look beautiful! I remember reading a while ago, a debate about using your jewelry with your dress and I just wanted to say that it looks perfect!

Love the honest reviews. Sorry Mens Warehouse was less than stellar. Paul had to rent one from them in May for a friends wedding and it didn't go smoothly. We live in Medford and the wedding was in Danvers, so our friends picked one up that way. I found them very difficult. We only need one tux for Paul for our VR, but think I will try Carolyn Allen's instead of dealing with MW.
 















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