Debra & Brian's Fairytale Trip Report 12/03/10*Completed Wedding Day Report W/PICS*

[Deb loves Disney]

Love all the new updates and pictures!!! How special for the bouquet frame!! I love it

Thank you Amanda!!!! My brother and I were very close growing up and we always used to talk about how our lives would be when we were grown-ups and had our own families and children. I gave my son his name as a middle name in honor of his memory.....Bryan David, David being my brother's name. Since my other two brothers couldn't make it due to distance and other obligations I wanted to include a pic of all of us when we were little!

Oh, I'm loving your new photos and the TR -- it just really comes through how happy you guys were!

Thank you....more to come soon!

 

[sw33t_angel]

Loving the TR! I love the decorations in the Wedding Pavilion, the rose petals, runner and candles are gorgeous! Everything looks great!! can't wait to read more!!

 

[Bewitch324]

I just spent the evening reading through your whole planning journal and trip report (so far!) and I am LOVING it! You looked so beautiful on your special day and it sounds like it was so magical and wonderful and everything you dreamed of. I can't wait to hear more details about your wedding and honeymoon. Your children looked so adorable in their wedding finery. How are they adjusting to their new school and hometown and Brian as stepdad? I hope that everything is working out great for all of you.

Congratulations, and please keep sharing.

Thanks
Brooke

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Loving the TR! I love the decorations in the Wedding Pavilion, the rose petals, runner and candles are gorgeous! Everything looks great!! can't wait to read more!!

Thank you so much for the compliments!!! I had some anxiety before the wedding that I needed to change everything, lol. I think every bride goes through that. When I saw everything in person I knew I chose right.

I just spent the evening reading through your whole planning journal and trip report (so far!) and I am LOVING it! You looked so beautiful on your special day and it sounds like it was so magical and wonderful and everything you dreamed of. I can't wait to hear more details about your wedding and honeymoon. Your children looked so adorable in their wedding finery. How are they adjusting to their new school and hometown and Brian as stepdad? I hope that everything is working out great for all of you.

Congratulations, and please keep sharing.

Thanks
Brooke

Thank you for your incredibly sweet words. You made me smile so much with your compliments.

The kids love their new school but they both keep saying that the teachers here are much more strict than they were in Florida. I think it's a good thing though, lol. They really didn't go through much of an adjustment period with Brian because he is so calm and even tempered. In Florida my mom was living with us and she is a very hyper person so the change has been wonderful for everybody.

I will update with more pics very soon. As I type this I am uploading photos to make photobooks for us and our moms. I will post those when they come is also.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

It's that time again...more wedding report .

I left off at the point where my Dad gave me away to Brian and this is when our Ceremony officially began. We wanted a non-religious ceremony so we decided to choose a Notary from the list that Disney provides. We went with Ron Rosenzweig and began the process of choosing what parts we wanted to include into the ceremony. I'm going to transcribe it below hopefully as it went during the ceremony. I really don't remember anything that was happening around me .

We are here today to participate in a most joyous occasion, to celebrate one of life's greatest moments by acknowledging the wedding of Debra and Brian​

From the very first days of your lives you have both set out on a journey, which has led you to this moment. And now we stand here today for the purpose of fulfilling your desire to unite in marriage. Here and now, you will take your marriage vows, exchange wedding rings, and make a total commitment to each other. Marriage is a covenant made in the hearts of two people who deeply feel that their lives are, and always will be, shared as one. This decision to marry is the most important sacred commitment in life. Today when you, Debra and Brian, pledge to love and care for each other in marriage, you will create a bond, which will bind you closer than any spoken or written word. By stating your vows, you are effectively pledging to the other your love, friendship, loyalty, fidelity and trust: A promise that will take a lifetime to fulfill.​

Love is an intense and fulfilling emotion. It allows you to share intimacy, and experience feelings of tenderness and warmth. Love takes you out of loneliness, and lets you share your life with someone with whom you can express your innermost feelings and thoughts. It was love that brought you together to this moment, to unite your destinies. Always remember just how important your loving relationship is. Cherish your love forever.

The Friendship that grows within your love is a harmony of understanding and support. You are companion and confidant, consistently there for each other: Friendship in marriage is treating your lives partner with respect, as an equal. It is realizing that there is no one else you'd rather be with than the one to whom you are married, and knowing that even if you disagree, you will always be each other's closest and dearest friend.​

In regards to Loyalty, you must always be loyal to the one that you are marrying. "Forsaking all Others" is an essential element to the marriage vows.

Fidelity is giving each other the exclusivity of your physical and emotional intimacy. In your faithfulness, you honor your union, and demonstrate love and respect for each other, and as such, heighten the level of your mutual esteem. All of these ingredients: Love, Friendship, Loyalty and Fidelity, are bound together with ....Trust.

Trust is the single most powerful, and yet the most fragile quality in a relationship. It is the component that will cement your union, and will hold you together through the years. It must be strongly defended, for it can be easily shattered if dishonored. Never abuse each other's trust, if you lose it, you may never find it again. Guard it and your friend and life partner will always be at your side. The vow you are about to pledge, affirm without reservation, your mutual commitment to uphold within your marriage, love, friendship, loyalty, fidelity, and trust.​

Now it was time for the vow portion of the cermony but of course I had to ruin the moment with an embarrassing moment of my own . I wasn't sure if I would put this in the trip report but decided to add it in case it happens or happened to anybody else......I can say you are not alone, lolol. Ok......so I originally bought flat shoes for the ceremony because I was scared of wearing heels and falling or somthing . But then, I started having shoe envy while looking at the "Post your Shoes" thread. You all know what thread I mean right? So, I went out and bought a pair of heels. I practiced walking in them for weeks before the wedding and felt pretty confident. Well, I didn't take into account the weak knees I would have during the ceremony. When I get nervous I shake and I had shaking legs. I made it all the way through the above portion of the ceremony not really hearing any of it because I was concentrating on not falling over!!!! I'm so sad too because it was a really beautiful reading. Then the vows are about to begin and I said OUT LOUD!!! "Can I take my shoes off first?" This was Ron's face .

So I turn towards the altar and almost topple over and I proceed to say to the guests...I bet you won't forget this wedding .

This was us laughing after I took the shoes off, thank you Randy for not taking a photo of me taking them off......

Here are the culprits, I mean shoes.....

I was contemplating just taking them off discreetly during the ceremony but then I knew I had to move behind the altar for the sand ceremony so I just blurted it out. Good times, good times!

Now the Vows.........

The Vows​

Please turn toward each other, hold hands and prepare to take vows.

Debra, would you please repeat your vows after me?

I Debra take you Brian, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward. In sickness in health, the good times and bad, and in joy or sorrow. I promise to love, honor and cherish you all the days of my life.​

My parents watching....

Do you Brian take Debra to be your lawfully wedding Wife?

I Do​

Brian, would you please repeat your vows after me?

I Brian take you Debra, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward. I sickness and in health, the good times and bad and in joy or sorrow. I promise to love. honor and cherish you. all the days of my life.

Do you Debra, Take Brian to be your lawfully wedded husband?

I Do​

He is smiling in the above photo because I really embellished my I DO, lol...I just can't do things normal can I? But in reality it makes it memorable so I'm ok with it!

 

[elleinad16]

Great photos of the ceremony! And the written portion of it was beautiful too.
But you poor thing, those darn shoes...well it is memorable!

 

[Deb loves Disney]

The Ring Ceremony​

The giving and accepting of wedding rings is an important and significant symbol of the wedding ritual. The Ancient Egyptians believed that love traveled to the heart through the vein of the finger of the hand. To them the unbroken circle represented lastingness, symbolizing a marriage strong enough to withstand the day to day pressure of life. Debra and Brian when you place your rings on each other's fingers today, your rings will become ever present symbols of your mutual love, and the vows you have made to each other today.​

Debra, please place your ring on Brian's finger and repeat after me....

I offer you my ring as a symbol of my love and vows that we have taken.​

You can't tell in the above picture but Brian didn't hold up his hand at first and I, in my wedding day brainlessness, could not tell which hand it was and I whispered.....hold out your hand, I don't know which one, lol...You can see Amber laughing behind me.

Brian, please place your ring on Debra's finger and repeat after me....

I offer you my ring, as a symbol of my love and vows that we have taken.​

Sand Ceremony​

I can't find the wording from this but I will show you the pictures of each of us pouring sand......I remember he told us to all hold onto it at the end and he something about the joining of our family, It was something beautiful but I don't remember what it was.

We chose the song Welcome from Brother Bear. We thought it very appropriate for the symbolization of the joining of our new family.

I forgot to repeat the directions to my son before the ceremony and he accidentally poured all of his sand into the jar at once . It turned out to be a really cute thing that happened but he was embarrassed. Every time I look at the sand jar now I remember how cute it was and it's a good memory! This pic is of him pouring in the whole thing....

Here is us holding it at the end, very awkwardly....

I'm not sure why we were looking out at our guests here, but it was right before the official pronouncing and kissing parts.....

As you Debra and Brian have pledged your vows. Have consented to be wed to each other, and have consummated this celebration with the giving and accepting of the wedding rings, by virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride.​

It is with great pleasure that I present first time as husband and wife Debra and Brian Henry...​

Our exit song was Ever Ever After from Enchanted....I just love that song.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Great photos of the ceremony! And the written portion of it was beautiful too.
But you poor thing, those darn shoes...well it is memorable!

Thank you!!! I totally agree...those darn shoes! But it was my own fault for lusting after sparkly, blingy, tall Cinderella shoes that I should have avoided!

Great memories for the guests and now me that I am not mortally embarrassed anymore.

My wedding planner said to me after the ceremony that it happens often. Maybe she was just trying to make me feel better but I appreciated her saying that because it worked.

 

[KatGarcia]

beautiful!!! looks like it was a great ceremony!

 

[sw33t_angel]

Awww I love reading the ceremonies and seeing the pictures!!

Too funny about the shoes!!

 

[Mindyjoy]

So funny about the shoes!!! I'm glad you shared, because I am leaning towards flats but also have high heel envy. But my ceremony will be outside so I can't take my shoes off unless I want to walk on the noontime cement.

And I gotta say, the kids are adorable!!

 

[Deb loves Disney]

beautiful!!! looks like it was a great ceremony!

Thank you so much!! It was really great.

Awww I love reading the ceremonies and seeing the pictures!!

Too funny about the shoes!!

I love reading the ceremonies also, I read a few planning journals of other disbrides who had included the ceremony words and I loved it so much I knew I had to include it in mine.

I have to admit that the shoe thing turned out to be a good memory for both me and the guests, lol.

So funny about the shoes!!! I'm glad you shared, because I am leaning towards flats but also have high heel envy. But my ceremony will be outside so I can't take my shoes off unless I want to walk on the noontime cement.

And I gotta say, the kids are adorable!!

I'm so glad I could help!! I like the pictures of the shoes by themselves but I really wished that I had stuck with only my flats. At least I had the wedding pavilion carpet to walk on. I walked down the isle and back outside into the Bridal Vestibule barefoot . At least it was a cool day, lol.

Thank you for commenting about my children. They really are sweet and so shy. I think the shy pics are my favorite, but I'm their mom so I'm partial!

I'll be updating about the champagne toast, wedding portraits with Randy and also our dessert party at Sago Cay!!! So many pictures to sort through.

 

[SaidYes]

Im joining in a little late but I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading your story! I especially loved reading how you two met! So cute!

I actually lived in Leawood, KS for 5 years growing up! Its right next to Overland park and I was actually your kids age when we moved there too (13). I went to Blue valley North high school, if you know of it. I have to say, my family has fond memories of living there despite what people think KS is like. It's a great place to raise a family and I hope you and your kids will be happy there!

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Im joining in a little late but I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading your story! I especially loved reading how you two met! So cute!

I actually lived in Leawood, KS for 5 years growing up! Its right next to Overland park and I was actually your kids age when we moved there too (13). I went to Blue valley North high school, if you know of it. I have to say, my family has fond memories of living there despite what people think KS is like. It's a great place to raise a family and I hope you and your kids will be happy there!

Oh that is such a coincidence!!! We go through Leawood all the time. Brian and I ate dinner on Valentine's Day at a cute little restaurant there. It even had a skating rink around the corner.

I think the move here has been so great for the kids and you are right about it being a great place to raise a family. It really is not what I expected at all when I heard it was in Kansas. But really, Missouri is only 5 minutes away, lol. The kids will be going to Blue Valley NorthWest High next year, what a small world that you went to the same school district. Which is so good by the way, they are awesome and so on top of everything.

Thank you for the complements. It really means a lot to hear what other think and how they connect with you. I will be updating again really, really soon!!! I have so much more to cover.

I'm going to go read your planning journal right now!

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Continuing the Wedding Day report.....I left off with our Recessional. We were led out of the Wedding Pavilion and into the Bride's Vestibule. Brian and I hung out in there, I have no idea what we talked about because we were now officially Husband and Wife and we were starstruck with it all, lololol.

As we were not so secretly hiding in the Bride's Vestibule, our planner Tanis was making the rounds with a basket filled with Rose Petals. After seeing all of those staged exits on the bridge I knew I wanted one and I chose roses because I was afraid of the bubbles popping on my dress. Disney provided the roses and it was only like 2.50 pp, really great deal as I didn't have to do a thing.

Normally, I'm assuming that most staged exits happen on the bridge but we had ours in the breezeway between the bride's vestibule and the wedding pavilion. I was a little bit bummed but never thought to ask why it was moved here. However......it all turned out beautiful and I really like how the pictures turned out. Here are a few....

Being shooed into the Bride's Vestibule

I was still barefoot after the shoe debacle and my son was kind enough to go get my flat shoes which were for some reason in the Groom's room.

Us "hiding" in plain sight

My mom and my great friend Nicole getting instructions from Tanis

My cute cousin Audrey, she looked so elegant, you can't see here but she had a very cute white flower in her hair

My cousin's cute boyfriend, my Grandmother and my Aunt Marylou who was undergoing Chemo for Cancer and asked them to stop so she wouldn't be sick for my wedding...I had to seriously hold back tears every time I saw her...

Getting final instructions from Tanis

Here we are about to be pelted with all those flowers, I secretly think our guests got a little to into hurling them at us

I love this one in black and white and am using it as my screen saver, my daughter's reaction is so cute and joyous....

We were laughing the whole time and it was so much fun. If anyone is on the fence about a staged exit, I think you should definitely do one. It's fun for both you and the guests. I had petals going everywhere...down my dress, in my hair, down my back, getting caught on my train. If you look closely you can see that Brian had a petal on the top of his head the whole time, lol.

Then we walked back into the wedding pavilion for couple shots and also group shots and the usual wedding photos with family.

I think this group shot is funny because almost everybody on the left has floral or light colors and everybody on the right is in black, very random...(a few people are missing, especially my grandmother but we settled that)

She thought she could hide at the very back corner of the wedding pavilion during the pictures....not during my wedding...heheheh, she wasn't very happy with us

I only get married once and she is 86 so we sneak attacked her with Randy. She said to him "Oh, you are good" and he said "I'm a professional, that's my job". I wish we had gotten that on tape, it was priceless!

Now it was time for everybody to leave. We had the limo take them over to the Grand Floridian in groups since nobody had their car there. I forgot to mention earlier but we had it set up that the limo would meet everybody at the Contemporary and then take them to the WP. We were having a lunch reception at the Napa Room and didn't want any confusion with driving. Our Cake Cutting Ceremony was next so they all went over to the GF while Brian and I had a "VERY" short time to take as many photos as we could. This is one thing that I wish I had thought through more thoroughly. I would have probably done a first look with Brian and then take photo's before the wedding so we weren't as rushed and could have gotten more cool shots. Another tip....make plenty of time for photo's!!!!! They will be your memories of the day, along with Videography which I also HIGHLY recommend!

I should also mention that during this whole time Stan with STVS, our Videographer was capturing everything in a very inconspicuous way. I hardly ever noticed him. He is so great! He had his wife Bonnie running a second Camera at the back of the pavilion to get a different POV for the video. He was literally everywhere and without me even noticing.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

I am ashamed to admit this but Brian and I ate the last of our wedding cake that we had been keeping for 2 months in our refrigerator. Ok, we ate most of it when we came home but we still had about 2 pieces worth of our top tier that had just been sitting around in drying out. We cut off the dry pieces and ate the rest, which was actually still good and moist! It tasted really, really good still and we didn't get sick. We just couldn't bring ourselves to throw it away. I mean, it was part of our wedding!

On another note....it snowed here again last night! I miss Florida . We wanted to buy tickets to the D23 scavenger hunt that will be happening at WDW in May but just couldn't justify another trip. Makes me even sadder.

Enough with that....back to trip reporting. I hope that I am not posting too many pictures. I am having a hard time narrowing down which ones I want to post. I left off before with the flower tossing and group photos. At this point our guests were off to Commander's Terrace at the GF and Brian and I were ushered outside to get WP outside photo's with Randy. I am going to post just a few of my favorite....

This is where Brian gave me my engagement ring so we kind of recreated it

We had good luck with monorails throughout the day. It seemed like every time we went outside there was a monorail there

This one was stopped there and we turned around and people were waving so we waved back

We then got into the limo and headed over to the GF to meet our guests and have our Cake and our first dance, etc....

The cute older CM who dresses fancy, he was in Red, and greets guests at the GF met us and took my arm to help me walk into the GF. He was so sweet and I told him how nice he looked in red and he told me how beautiful I looked . He really knows how to make a girl feel special! We don't have any picks of this.
We were met by Tanis our planner and she walked us up to the Commander's Terrace which is on the second floor near a gift shop and where musician's always play.

Here we are walking towards the elevators. This is where I also met a fellow Diser and told her to come into our elevator because we had plenty of room.

I just noticed that Brian was holding my dress up pretty high in the back. I hope that I didn't give any unsuspecting guests a show!

I also must say that the CM's at the Gf are just so friendly and congratulatory. It made us feel really special since it was the first time we were really seen in public all dressed up in our wedding finery. When we were waiting for the elevator this is also where a little girl told me that I looked like a princess. Nothing makes you feel better than that! I almost teared up from that alone.

We rode up the elevator and before we went out onto the balcony, Tanis and Brian helped bustle my gown.
You can't tell but Tanis is behind me bustling away

We wanted classic Disney love songs played so our Violinist did this to entertain our guests and I have no idea what he played while we were walking in. I really wish I could remember those things because I love disney music so much, but again, I had Bridal Amnesia .

Getting our first glimpse of our cake

The way Commander's Terrace is set up, your guests are all on the left side which has a few tables and then the Cake table is set up with a view of the water. They also put your champagne on this table. I requested no clouding on the table and it had clouding but I really did not mind because I loved the cake setup so much I didn't even notice. Tanis whispered to me that she realized it was wrong and she could change it for the pictures but I told her to leave it like it was.

We were escorted to the back of the table to face our guests and do the toast. I surprised our guests and did the toast to them. It was pretty unexpected and they loved it. I have no idea what I said, lol, but I know that I thanked them for coming to our wedding and being a part of such a special day for us, etc... We opted for the Sparkling Cidar because we don't have that many drinkers and were not sure that we would like the Champagne. I heard it wasn't very sweet and we prefer sweet. Plus the kids were there. I think our decision was the right one because the Cidar tastes so amazing.

Here I am making the toast....

I don't know if I mentioned but Tanis got my Grandmother a wheelchair without my even knowing. It was so sweet because my Grandmother is pretty stubborn and refused one when I suggested it. My grandmother has very bad feet and a fused ankle and has a tremendously hard time walking. Because it was somebody with authority giving it to her, she couldn't refuse.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

I always add too many pictures to a post and have to make it into 2, lol.

Now we cut the cake. The only thing that is awkward here is that we were going to the Contemporary after for our reception and they for some reason made us do the cake thing at the GF. If I had to do it over I would have just had everything at the Contemporary. I will admit that it was kind of cool to go to so many locations on the wedding day.
Cutting a cake with Fondant is harder than it looks. They have to actually teach you how to do it and make sure your hands are in the perfect spot for pictures, the ring has to be showing...so many details that I am glad I didn't have to worry about.

Here is Tanis "teaching us" lol

Brian and I had discussed with each other beforehand that we were not going to smoosh cake in each other's faces. I'm really grateful because I didn't want cake to ruin me make-up .

I then told Tanis that I had to get a picture with her

She already felt like a longtime friend

Now it was time for the first dance. Brian and I at this point had NEVER danced together and never practiced it. We were just going to wing it.

We decided on "Kiss the Girl" for our first dance because I love that song so much...

Here are a few pics I forgot to post, Our champagne glasses and the cake

We had a 2 tier mickey wave pattern that included lots of other hidden characters. The top tier was Almond Cake with amaretto mouse and the bottom and biggest layer was lemon cake with cream cheese frosting...my favorite and soooooooooo good!!!

I have since found out that you can do a pineapple mouse or maybe it's a pineapple cake... that is similar to the Dole Whip....I had never heard of this but really wish we had thought of it. Maybe for an anniversary cake???
p.s. a couple working together in concierge told us about this option, they were in the process of planning their Disney wedding and had millions of questions for us, lol.

Our hidden Tinkerbelle...even her pixie dust has hidden Mickey's

Some cool ring shots

My favorite, I'm using this as the back picture of our book that I had made

We were all done with the toast, cake and dance so now it was time to go to the Contemporary for our lunch reception. We were sending our guests via Monorail so that we could use the limo to drive us over to the Contemporary in style. We thought how often are you able to be dropped off at a fancy resort in a limo, and in your wedding attire.

While our guests and Stan, videographer, headed over to the Napa Room, Randy took Brian and I for a whirlwind picture taking session at the GF. We did not have much time at all. Maybe 30-40 minutes total and that included drive time to the Contemporary. Tanis had our cake packaged up and put in the truck on our limo.

We took only a couple of shots on the stairs, I really wish I had asked for more.

Then some outside/inside shots

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

It looks like it was such an amazing day! And you looked lovely.

 

[disneemama]

Deb, I am still following and love your pics, so much! I get teary everytime I look at them. You were such a radiant bride, your happiness showed in all your pictures. I also want to mention the picture of you walking down the hall at the GF, well I'm sure you don't remember but the two people on the left side are me(bl shirt) and my sister(pink shirt). I can't remember if it was before or after meeting you on the elevator. It just made my day! My daughters wedding day is creeping up and I starting to freak out. I only hope my daughter will be as nice to everyone as you were on your day.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

I'm on a roll and I am just going to keep posting....

Then we headed for the beach. It was very funny to walk past unsuspecting sunbathers with their eyes closed in your complete wedding get-up. I loved their reaction when they first noticed us, lol. In the shots however, it looks like we were totally alone.

I had a pile of sand in my shoes after this. Why didn't I think to take them off?

We then walked through the grass to stand under the monorail beam hoping to catch some pics with it.

One more I like

We were running short on time now and had to be back to the Contemporary to get to our reception. We got into the limo and Randy rode with us back to the WP to get his car.

We arrived at the Contemporary and Tanis and the limo driver unloaded our cake and topper and Brian and I were escorted into the lobby and were met by so many wonderful CM's that greeted and congratulated us. Everybody loved Brian's Mickey top hat. We decided to enter into the reception with our "Ears" on and surprise our guests.

I love the look on the guests faces behind us

We found the correct elevator and made our way up to the California Grill and the Napa Room

We had one large table that all of our guests could sit at and see each other with us at the head of the table

At this point Brian gave our Mom's each a red rose. We were going to do something during the ceremony. But my Mom kind of had a Momzilla moment, lol, about a month before the wedding. She was insisting that we somehow acknowledge her and Brian's Mom since my Dad was going to be walking me down the aisle, she didn't want to feel unappreciated (my parent's are divorced). I was thinking of doing something but I wanted it to be a surprise, not something that she was insisting on doing.
Well, Brian came up with the idea of giving them the roses at our reception. It turned out being really sweet and they appreciated it, without it being totally planned by my Mom. Mom's can sometimes be a little overpowering when it comes to weddings! But it all turned out great.

We used our altar pieces and my bouquet for decoration on our table

Here is our Vinylmation which was a hit with the guests. They loved it so much...

For our favors we opted with the Cinderella Slippers that were an option through Disney. We ordered personalized M&M's and delivered them to Franck's. Disney did the rest...

I still have 2 in our refrigerator