Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust! Jenn & Kevin 10/12/14 Italy/ADH/France - The End (7/2016 New TR Link!)

[jAcKs_x0]

So I just wanted to let you know that not only are your updates more exciting, buuut I am mildly obsessed with you and your wedding and your life basically. I spent the entire night last night catching up on your PJ. Crossing my fingers my future fairytale turns out to be somewhat like yours. Sidebar - I'm currently in undergrad in Boston, so you're not too far from me.

 

[BarbP]

Loving your report! What fun pre-wedding stuff.

 

[sheri18]

As I said before great report...I was wondering, with out having to go back through every post who did you use for photos and video?

 

[sheri18]

As I said before great report...I was wondering, with out having to go back through every post who did you use for photos and video?

Never mind....found the answer...Roots....

 

[TheBurchBunch]

So I just wanted to let you know that not only are your updates more exciting, buuut I am mildly obsessed with you and your wedding and your life basically. I spent the entire night last night catching up on your PJ. Crossing my fingers my future fairytale turns out to be somewhat like yours. Sidebar - I'm currently in undergrad in Boston, so you're not too far from me.

It's so funny you say that because I am always talking about her to DF like she is my best friend. lol Jenn is probably one of the most personable people I have never actually met. (I swear I'm not a stalker Jenn)

 

[elphie101]

So fun!

You're such a better bride than me. I didn't make welcome bags. Cost, and time, has mounted all together that I just haven't had the energy to even put them together. Plus, I'm not sure they're really necessary for my particular situation. One of the bridesmaids lives there, and the other is coming down...but she's not the gracious one to have accepted my invitation (she pretty much just made it known that she'd be the maid-of-honor, even though I was thinking about not having a party at all ). They are getting a little token of appreciation (which I cannot name right now, because the Florida bridesmaid could very well be reading this right now--she's a Diser!), plus a super expensive brunch/dessert party.

Do you know what Kristie's last name was?

It looks like you had a blast though!

Tiffiny

Honestly I could not have even fathomed tackling the welcome bags - they were MIL's project and they really wouldn't have happened otherwise. She really loved doing them though - she really enjoyed having a project to focus on that didn't make her feel like she was overstepping any boundaries.

Your bridesmaid bags were so cute! I cracked up at the "protecting the family jewels" groomsmen pose. I'd never thought about it before, but you're so right!

I'm anxiously waiting for the next part, especially now that we're having our rehearsal meal at Ariel's.

Did I miss that you're having a catered event now?! I'll get that up ASAP

If we're being honest my initial thought is actually something not quite as PG as "family jewels" - but that saying gets the point across well enough

So I just wanted to let you know that not only are your updates more exciting, buuut I am mildly obsessed with you and your wedding and your life basically. I spent the entire night last night catching up on your PJ. Crossing my fingers my future fairytale turns out to be somewhat like yours. Sidebar - I'm currently in undergrad in Boston, so you're not too far from me.

It's so funny you say that because I am always talking about her to DF like she is my best friend. lol Jenn is probably one of the most personable people I have never actually met. (I swear I'm not a stalker Jenn)

You ladies are too sweet!! That's really the whole reason I wanted to do a PJ in the first place - to help other brides and give back a little of what I learned from the Boards to plan my own wedding Happy to be of help!

Loving your report! What fun pre-wedding stuff.

Thank you!! It's so nice to know people are reading

Never mind....found the answer...Roots....

Yes The Roots!! I'm sorry I didn't get back to you any sooner but glad you found your answer. We highly recommend them

 

[elphie101]

Well good news everyone - I got my pictures from The Roots over the weekend!!! I'm so over the moon with them, I can't even begin to describe it. I just want more, more, MORE! Now, moving right along...

When we left the YC Convention Center I had a feeling we were going to be late to our own party - especially once I put my heels back on and therefore I was walking quite a bit slower. It turns out I was right on the nose - we walked into Ariel's a little after 5:30pm and most of our guests had already arrived (and were waiting in line at the bar!)




The sign displayed at the entrance to Ariel's

We quickly got to work mingling and greeting our guests; the vast majority of them had only just arrived that morning, so it was the first time we were really seeing them. Kristie was also there, touching base with the banquet team and making sure everything was in order and nothing was needed from her before she left for the evening. She did grab us to show us the two seats reserved for Kevin and I - the seats with the best lighting, should anyone come up and take our photo.


The bar was pretty packed for awhile now - if anyone is having a reception at Ariel's with 60ish people I would highly suggest looking into if it's possible to have 2 bars, as it made the area incredibly congested.




That would be the "good lighting" seats directly in front of the shot




And behind me, the buffet setup (the dessert was on the same level as the seating - where wedding cake is usually staged).

We spent about 30 minutes or so mingling, greeting people, checking in with everyone, and mostly just playing host. I did at one point go and fetch all the welcome bags that were previously not claimed from the entrance and passed them out to their respective owners, for as you remember I was growing obsessively paranoid that someone would somehow miss the transportation to the ceremony the next morning (or miss out on the princess bandages and jelly beans we had so generously schlepped down to Florida for them).

I'm honestly not sure who said it to me, but at some point someone came up to Kevin and I and said that the buffet was ready and said we were welcome to start it - I'm going to assume one of the banquet servers, as I know Kristie had left by then.

Just to refresh your memory, our menu was as follows:

• Petite Garden Lettuce, Carrots, Watermelon, Feta, Sunflower Brittle & Pea Tendrils Salad
• Pasta with Wild Mushrooms, Roasted Tomatoes Confit, Spinach, and Asiago Cream Sauce
• Fried Chicken Fingers, Guava Barbecue Sauce, and Sweet Chili Mustard Sauce
• Ciabatta and Focaccia Bread with Herb-infused Olive Oil and Butter
• "New York" Style Pizza
• "Washington State" Apple Cobbler served warm with Vanilla Sauce

$43pp++

Kevin's parents had insisted that we assemble the menu ourselves, so Kevin asked for his favorite foods (the chicken fingers and pizza), while I requested my beloved pasta that you may remember I adored so much from the menu tasting. The ILs did add the salad, which was fine by us, and we threw in the cobbler as I'm a big fan of apple desserts.


Petite Garden Lettuce, Carrots, Watermelon, Feta, Sunflower Brittle & Pea Tendrils Salad (brittle on the side)


Pasta with Wild Mushrooms, Roasted Tomatoes Confit, Spinach, and Asiago Cream Sauce


Chicken Fingers.....obviously


Pizza.........obviously


Pizza again, this time with staging!


"Washington State" Apple Cobbler

Frankly, I don't remember seeing the bread anywhere, maybe it was with the pizza? Anywho, I didn't grab any so I can't comment on it. I barely touched the salad much, as it wasn't really my thing (the watermelon was good though), but I heard many guests loooooved it. One of our groomsmen in particular was going off about it for a few days. I think I skipped the chicken too, since it really was just basic, standard chicken (but it sure made Kevin happy). I had a few slices of pizza, and it was fantastic!! I would recommend it for sure if you're looking for comfort foods

Oh the pasta. My beloved pasta. I definitely went back for a second helping of this, wedding dress be damned. It was exactly as I remembered it and so perfect, decadent, and creamy. I seriously need to hunt down this recipe or something. I'm starting to drool already....

The cobbler was just ok. I wasn't expecting it to have such a cake-like topping, but I've recently been told I was confusing my cobblers with crumbles, so perhaps that's why I wasn't so crazy for it, because I had false expectations. The apples underneath though were fairly bland, so maybe it was just a miss all together.

I'm very, very glad we did our Welcome Party this way - the only other option I could think of for a group of our size would have been some kind of casual get together at Splitsville, since I can't think of a restaurant that could accommodate 60-70 people like that. Frankly, we seriously appreciated the privacy (and convenience factor for our BC guests) and being able to coordinate everything through our planner was a huge bonus, instead of having to bring yet another person/vendor into the mix. I'm not sure if I said it before, but one of the real pluses of having a DFTW for me was the one-stop shoppingness of it all, and only having to research the vendors that I wanted to research. Even then (in the case of floral and video) it was a bit overwhelming, and I can't imagine having to do that for literally every single aspect of our weekend. For me (and I know Kevin's parents feel the same way in this particular instance), this was definitely one of those situations where it was worth it to pay a bit more for the convenience.


Detail shot!


The little white fish on the table is one of the many sea-themed statuettes Disney put in the center of the table, I assume if you're too cheap to pay for centerpieces like us - they were all different, one was a sand dollar, I think another was a starfish - you get the point.

We spent the rest of the evening mingling and talking to everyone. Slowly the minutes ticked by and every now and then people would remind me that the wedding was mere hours away. Once 7:30 grew closer I started making my goodbyes to everyone, dropping the fact that my alarm was going off in only 7 HOURS for hair and makeup, and nobody tried to make me stay.

Together my MOH and I walked arm and arm through the Beach Club lobby (as she was staying the night so she didn't need to take a cab over from Pop at 3:00am). We were in full-on "I can't believe this day is actually here" mode. I was in a complete daze, and I wish I could have said it was from being lovesick and excited for what was coming tomorrow - but it really was from just being sick-sick. I had a headache, my throat was roaring, and I could feel the onslaught of sinus pressure about to take me over. Talk about luck

We stopped at the Beach Club Marketplace to stock up on those massive Dasani waterbottles they sell there, as well as more cold medicine for me, and walked back to our villas. Surprisingly, we found Kevin waiting for us at the entrance to the villas building in a change of casual clothes. It seems he had left the party soon after we did, raced back to his parents room to change, and decided to wait for us to come back when I wasn't in my room. He was going to DTD he said, to go to D Street and by the newest tray of Marvel Vinylmation, because (and I quote) "If I go upstairs and try to go to bed now I'm going to be staring at the ceiling for hours". I thought it was so sweet and so Kevin, and it reminded me of the morning that he proposed on (where he got up 3 hours early and playing video games because he was so wired) that it only felt appropriate. We said goodnight and had one last kiss as fiances - the next time we saw each other would be our first look!

Vanessa and I trekked back upstairs and I hopped in the shower so that I could have day-old hair for styling purposes (though in retrospect it wasn't exactly day old, considering what time hair & makeup started!) After the shower I was totally exhausted, totally wiped, but I couldn't go to bed yet - I still had to write out my vows, write out my wine box letter, and write out my cards to Kevin and my parents. Let me tell you, it was far from the romantic atmosphere you want to write out your vows, with a sinus-full-of-lead headache, not to mention I had my MOH in the background fretting and worrying about her speech (she has some decent anxiety and this was essentially her worst nightmare). I remember thinking to myself 'oh joy, exactly how I wanted to be feeling the night before my wedding, irritable, tired and annoyed at all the mushy things I need to write out before I can go to bed'. Picture perfect moment, it was not.

By 10:30pm I had finished all my writing and delivered my vows and letter to Kevin's parents' room, so my brother could put them in his officiant folder in the morning (and I could swipe some of the allergy meds Kevin had taken for the evening - did I mention I was bombarding this cold with as many drugs as I could lay my hands on? Probably not the smartest of actions, but you only have one wedding day!) I went back to my room, finished drying my hair, and set the alarm for 2:40am (since Patricia & her team had thankfully bumped the starting time for me up to 3:00am as well).

You might remember that I was worried about being too anxious to sleep - well, I'm (sort of) happy to say that I totally passed out and was dead to the world in about 2 minutes flat. One of the few upsides to having a cold the night before your wedding day!

Coming up next: THE WEDDING DAY!!! It's finally here!!

 

[TiffinyKaye]

I think there's something wrong with Disboards and its notification system. I swear I just happened to see this update. I didn't get the email!

That said, AWESOME update. And you need to put up ALL your Roots pictures! I want to see them so badly! We get married in exactly two weeks from today, and I am so looking forward to working with them.

Your meal at Ariel's looked really yummy. I'm sorry to hear the cobbler wasn't as good as it looked! The idea of apple cobbler makes my mouth water...but I'm sad to hear it wasn't great. That said, if it's the vanilla sauce I'm thinking about...I'd say "no wonder it wasn't great." I tried the crepes mariner at our planning session/menu tasting thinking that I'd die over the vanilla sauce. I remember not being super impressed (and being really disappointed that I wasn't).

Is married life still awesome?

Tiffiny

 

[Seia]

Love this update! Thanks especially for the great shots around Ariel's. I'm happy to hear they supply some sort of centerpiece, because I am also too cheap to add any. Haha! Your welcome menu food looked amazing... especially your pasta.

I'm glad to hear you were able to sleep the night before. That's one of my crazy wedding fears as well. Actually, what I'm most afraid of is how I'm going to be able to nap between reception and DP without messing up my hair. I can't sleep like a Disney princess. I like to be sprawled out on my back.

Can't wait for the next part!!!

 

[Aschenputtel]

So glad you got your pics!
Your welcome party looked absolutely gorgeous (and you as well, if I might add - no one could tell how you really felt in those pictures).
I would totally have done the same as you and take every medicine I could lay hands on - I mean you don't want to cough in your beloved ones face while exchanging vows right (especially with a microphone).

3 a.m. - wow, my MOH's are going to kill me, but I think you get a later start with fewer people, right?

 

[eandesmom]

At first I just assumed someone had trouble getting out of the boat, but then the music and sound effects stopped and announcements in Pirate-CM code started coming over the soundspeakers. I got SO excited that we were going to get evacuated from the ride, especially since I knew there wasn't an evac point for guests in the burning room and that would mean seeing CMs in water pants come out and pull our boats down to the exit Sadly/luckily the ride started up soon after and we finally got off, an hour after we got in line. Someday I'll be evac'd off a ride, someday! (For reasons that will not jeopardize anyone's safety at all of course).

You are the only person I know who wants to be evaced!

We got back to Beach Club and found my parents and my aunts & uncles in the lobby - my mom's remaining sister was on her way to WDW in her rental car and was lost, so she called my dad. He was on the phone with her and suddenly burst out laughing. After he hung up he turned to us all and said "She asked what street Disney World is on".

China meant Kevin getting a Tsing Tao (as he will almost never deviate from beer, unless it's for whiskey), which meant Kevin being sorely disappointed. One of our friends tried the Cantoloopy (vodka and cantaloupe juice) and proclaimed it as "Holy crap" strong.

I have heard that about that drink!

Poor Kevin. I'm impressed he even tried. So many bad beers around the world, Jeff would be too cheap to attempt it given he knows he wouldn't like most of them.

We stopped inside the Enoteca Castello Wine Shop, where I finally tried the much-talked about (at least in my Disney circle) Rosa Regale.



This was waaaaaay too sweet for me. Like drinking pure syrup. I usually gravitate towards sweeter wines too. Total pass - 2/10.

It is sweet, lots of folks love it but I'm with you.

My goodness that was a lot of packing of bags, so many lovely touches for your guests (not to mention a lot to schlep down!).

I do not have a good feeling about those earrings though.

Nice welcome party. I take it a welcome party is basically just a larger rehearsal dinner to?

Major BOO for being sick but glad the drugs knocked you out and you could actually sleep. Somehow that last part of the night before just isn't romantic at all.

I think you did amazingly well for feeling so poorly and I cannot believe how early you have to be up for hair and makeup, that's insanely early! I also love that you actually did get some real park time in before the wedding and it wasn't all spent making up bags and running errands.

 

[LadyD]

I don't know how you survived being sick right up to and through your wedding while staying so busy. I am very impressed you did not just lock yourself in a room and sleep until hair and make up needed you for the wedding. We're a few weeks out now and I caught a cold last week, and I am unloading everything I possibly can so I can just sleep and get better. Granted, I tend to lose my voice really bad after a cold, so I'm really doing everything I can so I don't sound like a raspy man while saying my vows lol.

That is funny you mention the pirates evacuation. In all the times I had been to Disneyland in my life, I had never become stuck on a ride, until last spring on pirates LOL. it is definitely funny seeing the CM come out in the waders and start pushing the boats around. The poor CM who helped with our evacuation was a good sport and posed for pictures haha. It is definitely an interesting experience.

I'm loving all your pictures!!! Everything you have posted thus far looks like you had an incredible time (minus the illness) and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the big day!! Ieeeee!! If Disney World actually called ceremonies for same-sex couples weddings, your PJ and TR would have made the choice between Disneyland and Disney World that much harder for me.

 

[elphie101]

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving week (for those of you that celebrate it anyway - for my international friends I hope you had a great regular week!) I of course got caught up in backing cookies, seeing family, sleeping and of course, shopping I didn't mean to leave on such a cliffhanger! I've started up the recap of the wedding day itself but it feels like such a momentous task. It'll be up soon though, promise!

I think there's something wrong with Disboards and its notification system. I swear I just happened to see this update. I didn't get the email!

That said, AWESOME update. And you need to put up ALL your Roots pictures! I want to see them so badly! We get married in exactly two weeks from today, and I am so looking forward to working with them.

Your meal at Ariel's looked really yummy. I'm sorry to hear the cobbler wasn't as good as it looked! The idea of apple cobbler makes my mouth water...but I'm sad to hear it wasn't great. That said, if it's the vanilla sauce I'm thinking about...I'd say "no wonder it wasn't great." I tried the crepes mariner at our planning session/menu tasting thinking that I'd die over the vanilla sauce. I remember not being super impressed (and being really disappointed that I wasn't).

Is married life still awesome?

Tiffiny

I'll do my darndest to get as many of The Roots' pictures up before you leave! The cobbler definitely tasted better when drowned in the vanilla sauce - but I think most things would Married life is still wonderful - the 1st month snuck up on us but now it feels like forever to get through month #2. Not that I'm complaining!

Love this update! Thanks especially for the great shots around Ariel's. I'm happy to hear they supply some sort of centerpiece, because I am also too cheap to add any. Haha! Your welcome menu food looked amazing... especially your pasta.

I'm glad to hear you were able to sleep the night before. That's one of my crazy wedding fears as well. Actually, what I'm most afraid of is how I'm going to be able to nap between reception and DP without messing up my hair. I can't sleep like a Disney princess. I like to be sprawled out on my back.

Can't wait for the next part!!!

Oh the pasta, how I adore thee Yeah, I have no idea where the centerpiece-like things came from, I honestly didn't notice them on the day of, we only spotted them when looking through photos and video after and realizing there was something different on every table. Glad to see they (probably, just in case they don't actually do this) leave you hanging!

I am 1000% convinced I only slept because I was sick - too many nights at home I was up all hours of the evening because I was so excited just THINKING about the wedding, and I'm so, so sure that would have happened that night. Again, not complaining (well, it would have been nice to be healthy!) because I don't remember feeling tired at all. Yay adrenaline!

I just lightly dozed on my back in between - I'm a stomach sleeper & a rolling starfish sprawler to boot, so I was more nervous about screwing up my makeup then anything (my curls were mostly frizzy and flat by then so I asked a friend to come recurl them before the DP, so I didn't really care about my hair). Honestly it wasn't the most comfy and I only slept about 45 minutes - a catnap is better then nothing though!

So glad you got your pics!
Your welcome party looked absolutely gorgeous (and you as well, if I might add - no one could tell how you really felt in those pictures).
I would totally have done the same as you and take every medicine I could lay hands on - I mean you don't want to cough in your beloved ones face while exchanging vows right (especially with a microphone).

3 a.m. - wow, my MOH's are going to kill me, but I think you get a later start with fewer people, right?

You're so sweet I think if you do have fewer people you perhaps might start later, I don't remember, but are you using Patricia? For Epcot ceremonies for sure you're looking at 3:00am/4:00am, so as to be human-like by the time photo shows up (likewise, I've seen lots of 5:00am for 10:00am ceremonies, 6:00am for noon, etc).

You are the only person I know who wants to be evaced!



I have heard that about that drink!

Poor Kevin. I'm impressed he even tried. So many bad beers around the world, Jeff would be too cheap to attempt it given he knows he wouldn't like most of them.

It is sweet, lots of folks love it but I'm with you.

My goodness that was a lot of packing of bags, so many lovely touches for your guests (not to mention a lot to schlep down!).

I do not have a good feeling about those earrings though.

Nice welcome party. I take it a welcome party is basically just a larger rehearsal dinner to?

Major BOO for being sick but glad the drugs knocked you out and you could actually sleep. Somehow that last part of the night before just isn't romantic at all.

I think you did amazingly well for feeling so poorly and I cannot believe how early you have to be up for hair and makeup, that's insanely early! I also love that you actually did get some real park time in before the wedding and it wasn't all spent making up bags and running errands.

I'm glad I'm not alone on the sickly sweet wine!! Kevin and I definitely want to reattempt DATW with just the two of us and dedicating a day to it, we'll see what happens next time.

Thankfully my MIL shipped everything for the welcome bags down ahead of time, so it was great to just pick the boxes up and be on our way with them! I only wish we could have given them to folks as they checked in for use during their whole stay (since so many people left the day after the wedding).

Yes, our welcome party was our rehearsal dinner - we wanted to have an event with everyone before the day itself and worked out beautifully. I guess you're technically supposed to invite all out of towners to the rehearsal dinner? (God knows I didn't follow etiquette by the book ) If so, that would have been all but about 5 of our guests, so it really made sense and felt appropriate. We loved getting to see everyone before the day, it really took a lot of the pressure off the reception the next day to check in with every person.

I don't know how you survived being sick right up to and through your wedding while staying so busy. I am very impressed you did not just lock yourself in a room and sleep until hair and make up needed you for the wedding. We're a few weeks out now and I caught a cold last week, and I am unloading everything I possibly can so I can just sleep and get better. Granted, I tend to lose my voice really bad after a cold, so I'm really doing everything I can so I don't sound like a raspy man while saying my vows lol.

That is funny you mention the pirates evacuation. In all the times I had been to Disneyland in my life, I had never become stuck on a ride, until last spring on pirates LOL. it is definitely funny seeing the CM come out in the waders and start pushing the boats around. The poor CM who helped with our evacuation was a good sport and posed for pictures haha. It is definitely an interesting experience.

I'm loving all your pictures!!! Everything you have posted thus far looks like you had an incredible time (minus the illness) and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the big day!! Ieeeee!! If Disney World actually called ceremonies for same-sex couples weddings, your PJ and TR would have made the choice between Disneyland and Disney World that much harder for me.

I wouldn't be surprised if my memory of being sick is worse then what I actually was, but Saturday especially I just felt like death. Nothing you can do though - it's not like you can get rid of a cold, and the steady stream of drugs definitely helped. When a cold settles in my chest (like this one ended up doing) I typically get this nasty sounding cough that wrecks havoc on my vocal chords, so I was mostly terrified at that point of not having any voice or having a raspy gross voice for our vows the next day. I hope you feel better soon!!

That's so incredibly sweet of you to say! I'm sure once the state of Florida gets out of the stone age regarding same-sex marriage they'll update their official wordings and be a whole lot busier! I for one cannot WAIT to see your DL wedding - so so close now!

 

[elphie101]

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star your dreams come true

We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do
And all our wishes will come true.

Before I begin this post about the wedding day itself, I just want to say that nothing, nothing at all could have prepared me for how this day felt. I thought I could gauge what every beat in the day was going to feel like from all the planning journals I've read over the years, but man, did I just not have a clue. Of course it was the greatest wedding day I ever could have wanted for the two of us - but it was completely not what I was expecting.

And with that, let's begin...

~~~~~~~~~~~

The alarm went off right at 2:40am - the standard, default iPhone alarm, none of Kevin's fun Disney music. I opened my eyes and just lay there for a moment just thinking "Ok. This is my wedding day" in frankly the most monotone mental voice that I feel has ever existed. I don't know if I had expected to wake up awash in pixie dust and bouncing off the walls with excitement (ok, I think I was expecting that, seeing as I usually bounce off the walls on any given day) but at least at this moment, nothing about the day felt particularly different.

I rolled out of bed to brush my teeth and found Vanessa over the sink in an utter panic. It turned out she had an allergic reaction to the earrings I had given her, and her earlobes had swollen to such a massive size that she couldn't fit any of her plugs in, let alone the wedding ones, which caused her to freak out that I would have tons of wedding picture with her with two cherry tomatoes for ear lobes.

As for me, I was really just riding in neutral. In that moment it really didn't matter to me if she was wearing earrings or not, so long as she wasn't in any kind of pain or anything. I flat out told her as much, and continued the initial getting-ready prep of the morning. For whatever reason, it was utterly freezing in the room, so I got to bust out my sparkly bride hoodie in lieu of my silky robe, and jacked up the heat since I was physically shivering. I took this as a sign of still being ill.

**I should mention at this point that even though I felt like crap the previous day as well as when we first woke up, I do not remember feeling sick at all for the rest of the day. Not one sniffle, cough, nothing. Maybe the wedding just fell on that transition day of colds (you know, when your sore throat subsides but the nose business hasn't yet kicked into gear), or maybe it adrenaline and excitement for the day outweighing me exhaustion, or the happy memories pushing out the not-so happy ones, but I'm definitely not complaining. I promise you, I really was still sick, as I crashed HARD the day after the wedding .

A little before 3:00am Kevin's mother arrived from down the hall, took one look at Vanessa's ears, and went back to her room to retrieve hydrogen peroxide and q-tips. She gave both her ears and earrings a good washing and we decided to leave them all alone until closer to 6:00am, when the media people would be arriving, and we could judge the situation then. Soon after my cousins, aunt and mother arrived, in a fairly zombified state, and my mom put on a pot of coffee while we waited for Patricia & her team to arrive. I'm told the coffee was atrocious (she used Disney napkins in lieu of filters) but even though I had some I didn't even notice.

A little bit after 3:00am Patricia, Andrea and Juanita arrived at the room and began to unpack and set up. Patricia was going to be doing everyone's makeup by the vanity where the light was best, and Andrea and Juanita were going to be hair stations in the living room. Patricia asked if we could get any chairs, so I called bell services to see about getting even some folding chairs or something in the room, and in the meantime we got to work sitting on their makeup kits. I decided to buzz around and take a few pictures, though I didn't know at the time these would be the only ones of hair & makeup in action. Even though everyone had started working, I had the strangest feeling like it wasn't at all real, like it was just some kind of rehearsal and the REAL day was actually still to come.






All beautified!

After a bit of time a maintenance CM came by with what looked like spare end tables for the balconies - it turned out that it was so early that it took them awhile to track someone down, and then they couldn't find any chairs but didn't want to leave us empty handed. They weren't ideal, but they were better then nothing, which was great since it was my turn to get my hair set!


I switched out to my bridal robe at this point, but kept my PJ pants on - I was still pretty cold


Halfway there!


You can see how long my cousin Amanda's hair is in the above picture (and incredibly thick to boot) - poor Juanita was such a trooper! We were amazed that her hair stayed tight all day and that she got it all up!


Vanessa (my MOH's) hair - she hadn't found a style she liked before the trip so she asked Patricia's team to surprise her. Both she and my mother did this, and they both came out FANTASTIC


One silly selfie for the road

Patricia's team cycled through us pretty quickly - I know Juanita left early once she finished my cousin Amanda's hair, since Andrea was working on my mom and other then finishing my hair everyone else was done at that point; I know I was the last for makeup as well. Kevin's mother had gotten her hair & makeup done fairly early in the pack so she could return to the guy's room uninterrupted, but before she left I gave her the handkerchief I had bought for her. It was incredibly sweet as she had been so proud at herself for not tearing up at all during the getting ready, but ran out the door so that we wouldn't see her cry! (Kevin said she came back to their room cursing me for that ) Andrea curled my hair based on the finished product photos Patricia had taken at my trial on my phone, and asked me if I wanted my curls any tighter, if they would hold well enough. I said to her "No, my hair holds a curl well", which is now ingrained in my memory as you know that my curls falling out is one of the few things on my (thankfully short) regrets list. Ah well, hindsight is 20/20 after all. As I said in my Wish I Hads, I 100% take the blame for this - and even now I'm not nearly as bummed about it, as it doesn't look as bad in my slew of photos as I had initially thought.

Andrea placed my headband & my veil, and Vanessa burst into the first of many unexpected (for her) bursts of tears, which was the sweetest thing in the world to me. Patricia asked if there was anything else I wanted changed before they left, and my heart sunk a little when I realized I wouldn't have them around for the professional shots of me getting ready. There was nothing that could be done at that point - photo & video were still 45 minutes from arriving, so I just sucked it up and made peace with the fact that it wasn't going to happen. We ended up having to call Andrea back moments after she left because I forgot to ask her to pin up my headband ribbon, but then with a big hug to them both Patricia and Andrea were gone.

For the record, they had 3 stylists total (2 hair & 1 makeup) and for 6 ladies all getting hair and make-up the whole process took just over 2 hours. Your mileage may vary, but this was what happened for us. This also began the day's bizarre trend of us being incredibly early for every checkpoint in the day (basically the opposite of what you learn to expect reading about other real-life weddings).


All dressed up (mostly) and ready to go!

It was right around 5:30am. Meanwhile, the men were just arriving to Kevin's room (lucky jerks). Thanks once again to my dad's "documentary", I have a handful of pictures of what happened before the media arrived. My brothers and father hadn't had their suits steamed, so they arrived fully dressed while the other 3 guys (who took a cab over from Pop) got dressed at Beach Club with Kevin, since their suits had been done by Carolyn Allen's the day before. I'm told everyone was fully dressed before the media arrived, since Kevin mentioned they made him undress a little for pictures! He did know not to do up his tie until The Roots & Trinity arrived - I had drilled that into his head


Kevin and I both wanted bananas in our room as they're our favorite go-to snack for lots of energy for long periods of time, and everyone else clearly agreed (I had made sure to tell both sides of the wedding party the night before that no one was to leave the hotel rooms without having eaten, considering they were going to be up for at least 5ish hours or more before they got to the pre-reception)


I might go to daughter in law hell for posting MIL in her PJs, but this was my favorite moment of my dad's video - within seconds of opening his banana my brother (who can be a bit absentminded and spacey at times) got banana residue on his suit jacket and MIL was chiding him for it as she cleaned it. It was too stinking funny, because this was so typical of both of them!




MIL had to get a picture of my dad taking video


Our friend doing his tie up is a local politician, and my dad happened to catch a hilarious moment of him where, after 2 or 3 attempts of what he deemed a poor knot, he shouted "I do this for a living!" We all had a good laugh about that one.


Around 6ish, Kyle arrived at the guy's room, escorted by his whole family (save his sister, who was with me!) - I want to say this was right around 6:15am because in my dad's video, Nate Root & Kristina from Trinity arrive literally moments later, and I know all 4 of our media peeps came to my room first, and stayed for a bit.

Back in bridal land, we spent the 45 minutes or so munching on bananas and coffee cake (feeding myself like a baby bird so as not to damage the make-up job) while Vanessa tried to make coffee for the first time for Sinclaire, who arrived right around 5:30am. The results were predictably hilarious. The ladies also donned their jewelry; Vanessa was able to place her plugs in her ears as the swelling and redness had gone down considerably.

As far as I remember, promptly at 6:00am (or even earlier, based on the theme of the day!) there was a knock at the door and there stood Nate, Jensey, David and Kristina - nothing solidified that things were actually happening more so then the arrival of your media entourage on your doorstep.

 

[Serendipityblah]

I just got all caught up and everything is looking sooo amazing! I can't wait for the dress pictures!

 

[Belle612]

Such a great update!!!

I have the same exact name hanger as you that I also used on my wedding day! Now it's hanging on a hook in our bedroom on the wall right next to our dresser

I also totally know the feeling of not at all being prepared for the emotions of the day...it's so overwhelming and amazing and long and short all at the same time. I remember thinking at the end of the night, it's over already?!

I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to wake up at 2:30AM..........CRAZY!!!! I was complaining about having to wake up at 6:30...haha! It sounds like the adrenaline kept you going though, which is awesome and to be expected.

Can't wait to hear about the ceremony and reception and see all of the gorgeous photos!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I absolutely love your hair style! I may have to steal it, since that's pretty much exactly what I want.

That's too funny about the banana residue. I could see that happening to some people in our group

 

[Aschenputtel]

The wedding day begins! I'm so excited and so glad that you started! (But of course you always stop at the best part ;P) already eager to see the Roots photos!!!
And just to clarify: you were both in 2 bedroom Villas? I may have over-read this.

 

[elphie101]

I just got all caught up and everything is looking sooo amazing! I can't wait for the dress pictures!

They're coming so soon! Maybe the next post? We shall see

Such a great update!!!

I have the same exact name hanger as you that I also used on my wedding day! Now it's hanging on a hook in our bedroom on the wall right next to our dresser

I also totally know the feeling of not at all being prepared for the emotions of the day...it's so overwhelming and amazing and long and short all at the same time. I remember thinking at the end of the night, it's over already?!

I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to wake up at 2:30AM..........CRAZY!!!! I was complaining about having to wake up at 6:30...haha! It sounds like the adrenaline kept you going though, which is awesome and to be expected.

Can't wait to hear about the ceremony and reception and see all of the gorgeous photos!

I looooooooved my hanger. Once we settle into our first home I want to make a shadow box with it and my shoes and maybe my jewelry, I think it'll be so pretty.

YES! Overwhelming, you hit the nail on the head! So so many emotions, way more then I ever could have anticipated.

The nice part about having to get up at 2:30am was that we got to take a nap later on in the day......which was much appreciated

I absolutely love your hair style! I may have to steal it, since that's pretty much exactly what I want.

That's too funny about the banana residue. I could see that happening to some people in our group

Please do steal! I loved my hair to pieces - I'm not an all-updo kind of girl I have some more detailed pictures in my hair trial post from our PS trip if you want to save those (there's a link on the first page)

The wedding day begins! I'm so excited and so glad that you started! (But of course you always stop at the best part ;P) already eager to see the Roots photos!!!
And just to clarify: you were both in 2 bedroom Villas? I may have over-read this.

It'll be Roots pics from here on out!

My apologies for not clarifying our room situation - I was getting ready in Kevin & mine's studio villa room, while Kevin was getting ready in his parent's one-bedroom villa down the hall. I was really nervous about the studio since we would have so many people but given that hair & makeup left before the media showed up it ended up working out perfectly.

My MIL insisted on having a one-bedroom so she could get ready without a bunch of guys off in the corner (and rightly so). I requested that our room and their room be close to each other, but not incredibly close to make the going back and forth for photo & video easier (I had to insist on the "not too close" part after the lovely episode where my FATHER requested connecting rooms with us over the wedding weekend......no thank you! It never would have happened since we were DVC and he wasn't but still - no thank you!)

 

[Aschenputtel]

My apologies for not clarifying our room situation - I was getting ready in Kevin & mine's studio villa room, while Kevin was getting ready in his parent's one-bedroom villa down the hall. I was really nervous about the studio since we would have so many people but given that hair & makeup left before the media showed up it ended up working out perfectly. My MIL insisted on having a one-bedroom so she could get ready without a bunch of guys off in the corner (and rightly so). I requested that our room and their room be close to each other, but not incredibly close to make the going back and forth for photo & video easier (I had to insist on the "not too close" part after the lovely episode where my FATHER requested connecting rooms with us over the wedding weekend......no thank you! It never would have happened since we were DVC and he wasn't but still - no thank you!)[/QUOTE]

Thank you! I'm trying to figure out what would work best for us and also on our trip next year. I can totally understand your MIL and you! That's exactly my problem - I normally wouldn't mind sharing a something with my girls since they haven't so much money as students, but I really want to share a room with them in the before-wedding-night (does a technical term exist for this?). Maybe we share a 2-bedroom-villa…