Debra + Richard's Disney Wedding 2014

[djsmith]

Il mulino is booked for our evening meal

cant wait love italian but what is safe for a bride to eat on her wedding day from an italian lol (pizza and spag bol r my favourite italian dishes lol) think i may need to have a steak so i dont have the horror of spilling a red sauce on my dress

To do list is getting shorter, final remaining balances are paid on everything except JUSTMARRY. just working out the last few details with them before we settle everything. I cacnt remember if i mentioned before but I did have Erin as my planner who then left and i got Rachel her replacement who has now also left. I'm now working with Diana and Kristin, Kristin will be my day of coordinator. I've always got on well with everyone i've spoken to from justmarry it just gets a little unsettling when u are only a few weeks away and u find out u have a new planner yet again although thankfully i was emailed by Diana and Rachel about the change this time whereas when Erin left i didnt hear anything i had to find out myself through facebook and other swan brides that my planner left the company and no one told me! maybe after them not telling me last time and me stressing out and getting a bit angry this time they overcompensated and both Diana and Rachel told me lol oh well not to stress about it just gonna plow on checking every little detail over making sure everything is right and confirmed before the big day!

There are a few things i still need to do but i have organised the centerpieces for the reception with a local businesswoman's help

TO DO LIST

-pay final justmarry balance
-print off all necessary paper work eg reservation details
-make a list of all vendors and their contact details to take to florida
-customise the sign for our nephew to carry
-put I DO stickers on shoes
-organise guest book for at home reception
-manage rsvps for at home reception
-pay off our Swan stay
-order some fun tshirts or vest tops for the honeymoon
-pay off the at home reception
-save/change the rest of the spending money
-book favours
-iron on transfers
-find pics for confetti (Richards mum is ordering photofetti to scatter on the reception tables)
-organise beauty treatments and for holiday
-pick a photo for the forever frame and print it to take with us
-pack for florida
-thank you gifts to hand out at the reception for My mum, Richard's mum, my dad, Richard's dad, my sister(bridesmaid), best man, Connor our pageboy.

 

[djsmith]

everything is officially all paid off!

This is definitely going to be a wedding weekend, have started getting RSVP's back for, have written our first thank u card because we got a card with some dollars in it , have tidied up my livingroom so i have room to do some wedding DIY stuff, tried on my holiday clothes and made a list of what i still need to buy, ordered a gift for Connor our pageboy, and looked at the holiday schedule and found a space to take Connor to disneyquest just me and Rich as our special birthday treat to him (he'll turn 5 a few days before we come back from Florida). Oh and my mum and dad just told us they want to pay for us to go parasailing on the 7 seas lagoon in WDW as our wedding gift cant wait we've booked it for the day after the wedding
we got our final confirmation letter from JUSTMARRY that tells us(among other things) that they have booked Rev Ron for our ceremony. going to email him about ceremony wording but i'v only heard good things about him and he seems to have worked with a lot of british couples and seems to be very laid back, easy going and funny so i'm happy with their decision.
http://www.wedinorlando.com/
i'm gonna look at ordering some custom matching tops for the honeymoon since i'm really running out of time to do this now.

4 WEEKS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-maybe make some fastpass+ reservations for the honeymoon days
-email rev ron about ceremony wording
-print off all necessary paper work eg reservation details
-make a list of all vendors and their contact details to take to florida
-customise the sign for our nephew to carry
-put I DO stickers on shoes
-organise guest book for at home reception
-manage rsvps for at home reception
-pay off our Swan stay
-order some fun tshirts or vest tops for the honeymoon
-pay off the at home reception
-save/change the rest of the spending money
-book favours
-iron on transfers
-find pics for confetti (Richards mum is ordering photofetti to scatter on the reception tables)
-organise beauty treatments for holiday
-pick a photo for the forever frame and print it to take with us
-pack for florida
-thank you gifts to hand out at the reception for My mum, Richard's mum, my dad, Richard's dad, my sister(bridesmaid), best man, Connor our pageboy.

 

[djsmith]

2 weeks tomorrow till the big day!

This might be picture heavy so bear with me.

I tried making some fastpass+ reservations for while we're at disney but i had problems logging into the my disney experience page or whatever its called. ended up having to use a new email address because despite changing my password for my regular email address it still said incorrect and wouldnt let me log in. so when i finally got in and then tried to link my tickets the number i copied off our tickets was too short for it to accept. So i gave up. Its really not worth all the time and effort and hassle for some fastpasses that we're not too fussed about. We'll probably just go to the kiosks when we get to the parks while we're there.

I emailed Rev Ron about the ceremony. He didnt offer for me to select wording or anything like that but he did help go through the order of the ceremony what will happen when which then meant i could order my programmes from my stationer. They're in the post today so hopefully they will arrive in a day or two

I began customising the sign for our nephew but i'v still to finish it so i'll share a picture when i'm finished.

I put my I DO stickers on my shoes

i also ironed on my crystal transfers for everyones getting ready shirts. We have button down shirts so we dont need to worry about lifting anything over our heads
mine

my sisters

my mums

Richard's mum's

Richard's sister's

When i took the transfers out of the envelope i realised not only did i have the bridal ears that i ironed onto the front of my shirt but i also had a just married transfer! i need to pick a top to put it onto

I had a rake through the "wedding" drawer, eg the messy drawer under the bed where i've been putting everything wedding related until needed and i found these 2 sets of earrings. Not sure which ones to wear the longer or the shorter ones?

(my hair)

i hadnt thought about a garter at all and would probably have got married without one but my mum was talking and she's gonna give me her one to wear from her wedding to my dad. So its gonna be my something old, borrowed and blue. My something new will just be several things like my dress and shoes etc.

I've kind of ran out of time to order any fun vest tops for the wedding as all the ones i like come from the states and now wouldnt be here before we fly i'm trying not to dwell on this as i love all the photos i've seen of other couples in matching tops but at the end of the day i've been too busy too order them, i didn't REALLY need them, Rich was never too keen and would've took some convincing to wear matching tops, in the grand scheme of things it doesnt make any difference to our honeymoon and like the fastpass+ its more hassle than its worth right now. i'm trying to just let it go and focus on everything else that needs done.

oh and i got part of our thank you gift for our nephew.

-print off all necessary paper work eg reservation details
-make a list of all vendors and their contact details to take to florida
-customise the sign for our nephew to carry
-organise guest book for at home reception
-manage rsvps for at home reception
-pay off our Swan stay
-pay off the at home reception
-book favours
-find pics for confetti (Richards mum is ordering photofetti to scatter on the reception tables)
-pick a photo for the forever frame and print it to take with us
-pack for florida
-thank you gifts to hand out at the reception for My mum, Richard's mum, my dad, Richard's dad, my sister(bridesmaid), best man, Connor our pageboy.

 

[andeesings]

You also need a sixpence!!! Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence for your shoe!!!

 

[djsmith]

You also need a sixpence!!! Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence for your shoe!!!

is the sixpence an american thing? i'd never heard of the sixpence for your shoes until i started planning i'd always just heard the old new borrowed blue thing. In any case even after hearing about the sixpence i totally forgot about it so thank u for reminding me

 

[andeesings]

is the sixpence an american thing? i'd never heard of the sixpence for your shoes until i started planning i'd always just heard the old new borrowed blue thing. In any case even after hearing about the sixpence i totally forgot about it so thank u for reminding me

No, it's English! The English had sixpence- we've never had them. The rhyme is English. It's just that very few people know the end of it!!! Every time I'm in London I buy a whole bunch to give to my friends who are getting married!

 

[djsmith]

No, it's English! The English had sixpence- we've never had them. The rhyme is English. It's just that very few people know the end of it!!! Every time I'm in London I buy a whole bunch to give to my friends who are getting married!

now i feel dumb i'm scottish but i know a sixpence was an english thing lol i just didnt connect the dots like u say the end of the rhyme i snever really said! i'm a little blonde sometimes lol

 

[djsmith]

The rain is pouring!!!!! down today and i'm having a cosy sunday in the flat. by the looks of things i'm gonna need a to get about soon theres a river of water running down my street right now
so today is the day to stop procrastinating and telling myself i have lots of time and to stop using excuses as to why i'v had time to do stuff but not done it.
So before i share some of the stuff i'v got done today/over the past few days i just wanted to note that tears have been shed a lot recently over a few things . i the past month we lost my uncle to alcoholism then my parents puppy that was only a year old needed to be put down a few days ago because of brain problems she was having . they're both dearly missed by us all, i know they're on my mind every day and as a family we're pulling together and looking forward to getting on that plane in 5days time for much happier times

while looking out my holiday clothes to start packing the suitcases i found a perfectly new unused white vest top that i'v never had on! so i instantly got to work ironing on my just married transfer to it. I'm going to wear it home on the plane

i'v also been saved by another disbride from the UK in relation to me running out of time to order custom tops for the honeymoon. She's ordered the vest tops and has the designs ready to add just waiting on the vest tops arriving so she can get them done and posted out to me so they hopefully arrive before we fly ssst: dont tell rich i didnt have time to discuss it with them had to do it asap for it to have a chance to be ready in time so i haven't told him yet! oppppps!)

i finished customising the sign for our nephew Connor to carry down the aisle. it felt like it took forever! several coats of varnish on both sides then gluing every crystal on one at a time. i'm not good at fiddly things like that so to hold a tiny crystal with tweezers, add glue to the crystal but not the tweezers (which happened several times resulting in the crystal being stuck to the tweezers) not dropping the crystal into the glue and putting it in exactly the right place was very frustrating and several times i had to give up and go do something else until i was calm again but now its done i love it

the orders of the day arrived i'v ordered enough for one each for all our 9 guests then some extras that we plan to give to our grandparents as a keepsake, i'm possibly thinking of getting our one framed or maybe even the grandparents ones framed too.

we've been getting some lovely gifts from friends and family for the wedding so i plan on taking all the cards we have so far with us to put up in the villa or our room at the swan. I've also been on the ball and write thank you notes for them all when i've received anything and most of these have now been handed out. Go Me feeling very organised in relation to thank you notes

off to see what else i can tick of the to do list now
bye for now
Debra
xXx

-print off all necessary paper work eg reservation details
-make a list of all vendors and their contact details to take to florida
-organise guest book for at home reception
-manage rsvps for at home reception
-pay off our Swan stay
-pay off the at home reception
-book favours
-find pics for confetti (Richards mum is ordering photofetti to scatter on the reception tables)
-pick a photo for the forever frame and print it to take with us
-pack for florida
-thank you gifts to hand out at the reception for My mum, Richard's mum, my dad, Richard's dad, my sister(bridesmaid), best man, Connor our pageboy

 

[djsmith]

we've been getting cards over the last week or so from friends and family etc but i got these yesterday from my workmates/children at my work because it was my last day before the wedding

also our vest tops from the lovely Tabitha, are all ready to go in the post today, so i have everything crossed that they arrive tomorrow and that if they dont fit through the letter box then the postman will follow the instructions(on the package and my door!) to leave them under the doormat (since we'll be out all day doing last minute things like picking up kilts and getting my nails done). IF the postman doesnt leave them under the doormat/through the letter box tomorrow (thurs) its game over as we leave for the airport at 5am on fri morning

the MR/MRS is on the front of the vests, the other design is on the back of a second set of vests. I still havent properly said to rich i bought these for us to wear. i did show him them and ask if he'd wear them and he basically said if i have to so the thoughts behind putting the bigger design on the back of the vests was that this is the one he'd be less likely to agree to so my persuasion is going to be that he carries the rucksack and the rucksack will cover his back

so fingers crossed they arrive in time!

Debra
xXx

 

[djsmith]

so the last few months have flown by the wedding was perfect in every way and i wish our honeymoon had never ended! but more on that later thought i would continue to update with planning things for the wedding and reception(which is now only days away!) first then post about the wedding and honeymoon and then the reception to finish everything off.

So again a big thanks to Tabitha (and the postman) for the tops i ordered, they arrived just in time thankfully they did fit through the letter box so all was good again they were quickly put into the suitcase ready to go
unfortunately it turned out that we only wore the mr/mrs shirt for an hour or so to the pool and i didnt take any pictures after pulling mine on over my bikini then off at the pool then back on again i noticed that the transfer on mine had started to crack and flake off with all the pulling i did to get it on and off. My vest top was ribbed which meant it stretched everything i took it on and off stretching and breaking the design i was sad that mine weren't as good as expected as this gave Rich his excuse not to wear his lol and what was the point if we weren't both wearing them! sooooo in hindsight i should've not ordered them at the last minute, it was a waste of money that we didnt need to spend and i wish i'd ordered a bigger size so i didnt need to stretch the top to pull it on and off.

so turns out i was not organised at the last minute. I left pretty much all the packing to 2 days before we flew as did Richard then i kept finding things to put in the case. I was so organised way in advance but actually packing and making sure we had all the last minute bits and pieces i was very unorganised with. I even almost forgot to pack the cake topper! I found it the night before we flew when i was tidying the flat a little before we left. the cases were already packed and there was actually no room for the cake topper at all! but after a little panic i phoned FMIL who then phoned FSIL and it turned out FSIL had enough room in one of their cases so they came up to collect it and took it in their case that was a close one to say the least
It also turned out when we got to florida and unpacked that i hadn't packed either of my sets of earrings, so no dangly earrings for my wedding day but i just kept my small diamond studs in and thankfully i didnt actually miss my other earrings.

So i got my nails done with FMIL and FSIL. I've never had my nails professionally done before and i have to say i was absolutely in love with them! i struggled to get a good picture of them colourwise but here they are

and everyones nails together, a better pic colourwise. The ones on top with the pink and blue are FMIL's to go with her dress for the wedding day, on the left is FSIL's and mine on the right

as well as being in love with the design i'm thrilled with how long they're lasted. the woman said 2-3weeks which i thought was perfect because they'd be needing taken off/be all chipped off by the time i had to go back to work, but 6 weeks on and they are still looking fabulous with only 2 of them having broken so far!

a little less exciting because i always have polish atleast on my toe nails but i got some amazing glitter done on them. it was a base coat then layer of actual glitterlovestruc) then top coat to seal the glitter in. omg i loved them! The light caught the glitter constantly and if i wasnt admiring my fingernails i was admiring me toenails lol

 

[alyaki]

Everything looks so cute

 

[djsmith]

so now for some reception stuff,

i changed my mind on the centerpieces again! When i collected the fish bowls and mirrors from where i'd been storing them at my grans i realised they were a lot smaller than i remembered. so i had a rethink to my original idea of doing the sand like in our forever frame. i played around for a while and realised that they're not big enough to do 2 colours of sand like in the sand ceremony BUT i could put regular sand in the fish bowl and use the purple candles i have. So thats what i'm gonna do fill the fishbowls half way with sand, then add a candle to each.

Ps here's our forever frame before the ceremony

during the ceremony

and how it survived the plane journey home (quite well i might add!) honestly i was paranoid the whole way home even had to take it out at american security and i took it in the backpack on my back for the whole trip home even though it was heavy and killed my shoulders. Everytime someone went near it i panicked and stopped breathing or shouted "be careful" or "watch!" the sand has shifted a bit but i think its done well for a 9 hour flight plus travelling to and from and through 2 airports.

My guest book arrived for the reception! I made it on vistaprint with the 20 or so photos the Arndts sent me as a sneak peek Oh and i made the mickey word bubble on tagxedo a while back and hadn't used it for anything so i used it for the cover.
its as big as my couch cushions

some of the pages, i did some full page ones and some smaller so people have space to sign it.

Now i just need to decide should i do a last minute sign for it to encourage people to sign or should i just leave it open and once a few people from the family have written in it people would get the general idea? i also need to get an acid free pen/archival pen for people to use to sign it.

 

[djsmith]

more reception stuff,

so as favours i was originally going to do tablet for everyone, but it worked out too expensive, so we now have 3 pieces of tablet for each family member, and then i ordered personalised wrapped chocolates for everyone else.
The plan is that my sister the bridesmaid will hand out the tablet to the family (who should all hopefully be there before the other guests because we're getting family group photos done). Then the chocolates will be placed in baskets next to the guest book and hopefully the best man and bridesmaid will keep a watchful eye on them and top up the baskets if they run out.

we also order photofetti to scatter across the tables i have to admitted i was very excited to get this and disappointed by the end product. The pictures i sent them were so vibrant and colourful and the finished product is dull and faded. I'll still use them though.

still to come= thank u gifts and reception set up pics!

 

[October 2014 Bride]

Debra just caught up on your journal. Loving seeing all the details close up having already seen some on the UK group. Can't wait to hear more x

 

[djsmith]

it was a lot easier posting things straight into the facebook group i need to get this finished tho lol so heres the planned to do list
-trip to florida
-maybe some stuff we did before the wedding like get the licence etc
-the wedding day-morning
-the wedding day-ceremony
-the wedding day-after ceremony
-disney honeymoon
-rest of holiday
-reception set up
-reception
then that should be it all. I have my wedding pictures back and i'm busy making photobooks left right and center lol can't wait to see my video, any day now hopefully

Debra
xXx

 

[Charminique121314]

I've been away for too long. Your wedding was so beautiful!!

 

[djsmith]

omg 3 months away from our one year anniversary! Time has flown by, there has been some amazing times, the wedding, the reception, the whole florida trip, spending more and more time with family, booking a trip to Salou in spain for our anniversary, and booking download tickets for our favourite festival also for our aniversary. Now christmas has turned into a new year and now we're in the third month of 2015! There have been a few trying times for us for the start of 2015. We lost Richard's nana (his dad's mum) between xmas and new year, it hit everyone hard. Then while we're still getting over that we unexpectedly lost Richard's papa (his mum's dad). Not the best start to 2015 but it makes u realise who is important, who just likes to cause drama and what it really means to support each other and be 100% there for each other through and through.
ANYWAYZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to get this planning journal finished so i'm gonna start with Day 1 (flying to Orlando time!!!!!!!!!!)

So up early to get in the minibus to go the airport, despite being up late to finish the packing then getting up early we're all wide awake!
there was one little man who was beyond excited for this day to finally arrive!

We got to Glasgow airport and checked in with no issues, and the only thing left to do was get the holiday started..........with a fry up and cocktails! We found the airports Witherspoons and got some cocktails and ordered breakfast

there was no delays thankfully and we got on the plane. I was shocked at how well my nephew Connor took the 9hour flight! he slept for a little bit and watched frozen and the lego movie then slept some more! he had a few wanders up and down the plane and to the toilet (which u had to go downstairs for, this greatly amused Connor lol) and had a shot in everyones seat like a little social butterfly. the 9 hours went by really quickly actually!

the airport,flight and landing were all none eventful really, although we did get a nice shout out and congratulations from the cabin crew over the speakers on our impending wedding we wore our ears and sashes from the hen do from the second we left home and one thing i did notice is that while in scotland no one actually paid any attention to this but once we landed in the states we had loads of people (mainly airport staff) commenting and saying congratulations to us. It was nice to get a little attention i'd never had that with except for when i was at the magic kingdom for my 21st.
pic from airport while waiting on rental cars
After we'd got through the airport, got the cars etc, we headed for the villas. We got our stuff settled into the villas then headed up the road to macdonalds and publix to get something to eat and food for the villa for breakfasts etc. By this point we realised that even though it was only the afternoon in florida for us we'd been up for almost 24 hours and it was getting to us. We went back to the villas, had a wee dip in the pool, made plans for the next day and just relaxed in the villa unpacking and showering and having an early night.

 

[djsmith]

Saturday 31st May 2014

First proper day in florida! We're off to islands of adventure
I was so excited for this day, to get back to one of my favourite places and to show it to all my future in laws. We were so on the ball everyone from both villas was up and ready to leave and we were at the car park for just after park opening. Connor was so excited for this park out of everything we had planned, because it had spiderman and jurassic park in it. He loves spiderman and dinosaurs and jurassic park could not wait to see his little face when all the youtube videos he'd been begging to watch over and over again for months became reality and were right infront of his eyes. It turned out to be a bit overwhelming for him. He had a meltdown about going on the admazing adventures of spiderman. But after calming him down he loved it still says its one of his favourite rides from florida to this day.
This will mainly be pictures of the day, because i'm not one for listing what rides we did in what order and where we ate etc. we just take each day as it comes and eat when hunger strikes. What i do remember from this day is everyone stayed together all day except for 1 hour at lunchtime when me, rich, his mum and dad, and Connor and his parents had lunch in the jurassic park area and my parents and my sister vicky (bridesmaid) and andy (her boyfriend+best man) went to queue up for olivanders wand shop.

 

[djsmith]

Sunday 1st June 2014

Today was aquatica in the morning and shopping at the premier outlets in the afternoon I can't remember what we did after shopping it may have just been food and back to the villa for the night.
We were at aquatica for the park opening. we found sunbeds really easily and started to go on the slides. We went round and done everything (Richard and my dad and my sister also did the new breakaway falls with the boxes that drop the floor away from underneath u) We had been on everythin atleast once before it got busy and had lunch and had time to relax for a little bit before we decided to hit the shops.

 

[djsmith]

Monday 2nd June 2014

Today we went to get our marriage license!!!!!!!!!
We were up and in the car with my dad by 9am and on our way to the courthouse. We went to the Kissimmee Courthouse (osceola county). It didn't take us too long to find it, we got a little lost along the way because we thought we'd gone too far along the big long kissimmee road, then we stopped for directions and it turned out we werent even half way along the road to where we needed to be. so we kept going. It would be hard to miss the Kissimmee old town when u actually get to it. The entrance to kissimmee old town is a big brick arch way. as u go into kissimee old town the place just looks like an old town, nothing like the tourist buildings all over the place in kissimmee and orlando.

Anywayz once we got to the courthouse we stepped inside to be greeted by similar security to the airport. The receptionist called us over and guessed that we were here for our marriage license and gave us directions to what floor and room to go to etc. Once we got in and to the right room we found the form we needed and filled it out. The only thing we needed was our passports and the money to pay for the license. we waited in line for about 10 minutes (we were the only ones in line) then we went forward to the clerk and began the questioning and confirming etc. I'd say this maybe took about 15-20minutes by the time everything was sorted paperwork wise. In all we were in the courthouse for less than an hour.
We headed back to the villa to get everyone else then headed off to seaworld for the rest of the day.
Me, rich and my in laws

manta <3 one of my all time favourite coasters

Connor loved looking at all the animals, and touching the stingrays (he was a bit unsure at first until everyone else did it). We also went down to dolphin cove. It wasn't feeding time but we did get to see loads of dolphins and some did come close enough for us to get a little touch. We then tried the new turtle trek attraction and i have to say i was very impressed with it. I wasn't expecting much as i'd read about it online but the showdome and the graphics etc were really good and i'm glad the message of conservation was in there too as so many people don't know what great conservation and rehabilitation work seaworld actually does. We then watched the dolphin show, went on kraken and journey to atlantis and then went to see the shamu show.
oh and connor got shamu painted on his face!

we're so easily amused to have found some sort of power box with our soon to be married surname on it

I really hope Seaworld doesnt continue to suffer because of this whole blackfish documentary thing. If it wasnt for seaworld i would never have had the change to see not only killer whales like shamu but many other sealife animals and neither would my nephew. It was great remembering the joy and the memories i have at seaworld and seeing and creating new joy and memories with connor. He was mesmerised by almost every animal he saw at seaworld and still talks about shamu. (he was gutted when i took him to deep sea world recently, while it had sharks etc i think he expected to see shamu again and kept asking why shamu wasnt at this sea world but he was at florida seaworld).


The park was pretty quiet today and we didnt find the queues to be that long, definitely nothing more than 30mins apart from the new antartica empire of the penguins attraction. We checked it out twice today, once the queue was about 90mins and the other time we checked the ride was down so the attendant estimated the wait to be around 2 hours once it got back up and running. So unfortunately we never got to see what this was all about. Maybe the next time we're in florida the hype will have died down resulting in a shorter queue!