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

[elphie101]

That menu looks awesome!

My DF and I are actually going to be there those same days! We are staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort and Boardwalk Inn! Looks like a fun-filled weekend!!

Very nice! Caribbean Beach is the only mod I've been able to stay at so far.

I can't stop drooling. I want all that food NOW!

 

[lilofigment1]

Your wedding sounds fantastic!

Good luck running Expedition Everest. We did it a few years ago and it was awesome!

We just set our informal date for a Swan and Dolphin wedding on 10/11/14 (Dftw was too expensive). We want to do an Epcot dessert party that evening, but I saw your comment about no dps during food and wine. We maybe changing our date tomorrow.

 

[elphie101]

Your wedding sounds fantastic!

Good luck running Expedition Everest. We did it a few years ago and it was awesome!

We just set our informal date for a Swan and Dolphin wedding on 10/11/14 (Dftw was too expensive). We want to do an Epcot dessert party that evening, but I saw your comment about no dps during food and wine. We maybe changing our date tomorrow.

Hi there! Good to have you

I'm really excited about Everest - I just went on a quick walk/run for the first time since I was sick over last weekend, and man was it difficult! It was also the first time I've ever run outside though (now that it's finally warm!) so hopefully I can be ready for next month!

You can definitely still have a DP Sunday-Thursday like we are - only Fridays & Saturdays are blacked out for Epcot DPs (I don't think there are any blocks on Wishes DPs if you wanted to go that route and keep your date).

 

[alyaki]

Congrats on getting the planning kit all filled out and sent in. I'm sorry you had such severe food poisoning though - that just stinks!

I have to laugh about your DF's reaction to having pretty much a fully scheduled time when you go - I think Raist will be somewhat the same. There's just way too much to do, in far too little time not to figure out a fairly concrete schedule beforehand. Hopefully the bit of flex time you built in there helps make him a bit more comfortable?

By the way, I like the menu you're considering. It sounds pretty good, though, I'll admit, the pork sounds sort of weird. It'll probably end up tasting really good though.

Your PS is coming up fast!

 

[elphie101]

Congrats on getting the planning kit all filled out and sent in. I'm sorry you had such severe food poisoning though - that just stinks!

I have to laugh about your DF's reaction to having pretty much a fully scheduled time when you go - I think Raist will be somewhat the same. There's just way too much to do, in far too little time not to figure out a fairly concrete schedule beforehand. Hopefully the bit of flex time you built in there helps make him a bit more comfortable?

By the way, I like the menu you're considering. It sounds pretty good, though, I'll admit, the pork sounds sort of weird. It'll probably end up tasting really good though.

Your PS is coming up fast!

DF knows there is a crazy Type-A planner barely concealed in my Disney planning, that I basically keep it hidden for him! He's not too thrilled with our wedding trip plans as well (I have an ADR almost every night, sometimes two with a breakfast), but he says it's a special occasion so he will deal with it. For me, I know I'll never get away with this again, so I'm trying to relish everything I can!

I think the pork sounds totally weird, and I can see us cutting it entirely, but I definitely wanted to try it. We'll for sure have a chicken option, plus probably the pasta so I don't think we'll be hurting on the lunch side of brunch. I'll post my full menu once we get back from our PS (the trip is only 22 days away)!

 

[elphie101]

Hello friends! Today is exactly 6 MONTHS until the wedding!! Tomorrow also marks 7 months that we've been engaged -I swear it feels like it's been 2, maybe 3 months tops.

Today was a momentous day, as it was also 180 days from our check-in for the wedding trip, so it is ADR day! I was up right before 6:00am to get everything on the website - but of course, it wouldn't work It would only let me book EXACTLY at 180 days (check-in day), not the +10 beforehand, which was super frustrating. I got right through to someone at 7:00am when the phone lines opened though, and we got almost everything I wanted! I tried not to overschedule things too much, since I want to enjoy Food & Wine and our Beach Club location as much as possible, but here's our wedding trip food-wise:

Thursday Oct 9th (arrival day): No ADRs - Food & Wine!
Friday Oct 10th: No ADRs - Food & Wine (I may make an ADR at Beaches & Cream, as I want to share the kitchen sink with our friends, but that will come later if so - did you all know Beaches & Cream does ADRs now?)
Saturday Oct 11th - No ADRs - rehearsal/rehearsal lunch or dinner/welcome party day (still TBD on all those events)
Sunday Oct 12th - ALL WEDDING ALL THE TIME FOLKS!
Monday Oct 13th - 5:40 Be Our Guest for Kevin & I (I'm planning on this being our MNSSHP night)
Tuesday Oct 14th - 12:45 Sci-Fi Dine In for 6, for my MOH's birthday (Kevin & I, MOH & whomever she brings, plus room for a few more TBD friends - may cancel this one if we're not feeling it)
Wednesday Oct 15th - 9:15 Kona Cafe for Kevin & I, 6:40 Ohana for Kevin & I
Thursday Oct 16th - 7:35 Yachtsmen Steakhouse for Kevin & I (might be our Universal day)
Friday Oct 17th - No ADRs (might be our Universal Day)
Saturday Oct 18th - 9:20 Boma breakfast for Kevin & I and both sets of parents - I wanted to treat our parents to breakfast the day we get on the cruise as a thank you

The only thing I was hoping for was to get a bigger Be Our Guest reservation - I know my MOH will be going to the Halloween Party that night, and I assume some of our other friends as well, and I had hoped we could all eat there before hand. That being said, I'd rather eat at Be Our Guest than not at all! Overall I'm pretty pleased.

I also picked a crystal headband, and it came the other day - and it is absolutely PERFECT! Seriously. I didn't have the choirs of angels singing for me when I picked my dress, but I DID have it the moment I put on this headband. It just fit me perfectly.

Sorry for end-of-the-day work face and crazy excited smile - I can't wait to wear this in my hair trial in just 19 DAYS!

The other thing we did today was to start scouting at-home reception venues - we visited a function hall and a restaurant, and plan to see at least one other place soonish. We've settled on a date of November 15th for kind of an afternoon meal, though I personally would have liked to wait till January in the hopes of having more of the professional photos (and wanting to stay away from Thanksgiving/Christmas) but FMIL wants to have it ASAP after the wedding, and I don't mind that much. The majority of people who are not coming to the real wedding (that we know of at this point) are her family members, so I'm content to give her what she wants within reason. Visiting venues made me realize how glad I am that we're doing this at Disney though, with their one-stop shopping vendor-wise and their awesome original venues. I couldn't imagine planning a wedding up here!

Less than 3 weeks till our PS! It feels so close now

 

[KristiLyn]

Hey Jenn!

Whew...I'm finally all caught up! Can I just say how much I love the green and blue together! I can't wait to see your brooch bouquet...it's going to be beautiful! I LOVE your dress! And those save the date's are adorable too! I wish your PS was a little later in May so we could meet up! But you're going to have a great time! I wish I would have had a cake tasting...bc I LOVE cake haha!
Everything is coming together nicely! Can't wait to read more!

 

[alyaki]

Yay for being at your 6-month out mark! And getting through all your ADRs. I had to laugh about your comment around Beaches & Cream, though, because I was just talking to Raist last night about wanting to make an ADR for it for our planning session trip (since we're not really going to have time for parks), and he was confused because they didn't have them there when we went last. Congrats on getting Be Our Guest, btw...it seems nearly impossible to get a reservation there!

Looking forward to hearing about your planning session and about where you end up with for your at home reception.

 

[elphie101]

Hey Jenn!

Whew...I'm finally all caught up! Can I just say how much I love the green and blue together! I can't wait to see your brooch bouquet...it's going to be beautiful! I LOVE your dress! And those save the date's are adorable too! I wish your PS was a little later in May so we could meet up! But you're going to have a great time! I wish I would have had a cake tasting...bc I LOVE cake haha!
Everything is coming together nicely! Can't wait to read more!

Hi Kristi! I wish we could meet up too!! Although I can't say I wish our PS was any later - the fact that I know we could be getting official pricing from Disney at this point and time is KILLING me!

I'll be doing a full PS trip report, so you can read all about the cake tasting haha. Honestly, I don't care too much for cake (never really have), but DF loves cake, and especially eating leftover cake! I'm almost certain one of our flavors will be lemon, since it's his favorite up here.

Yay for being at your 6-month out mark! And getting through all your ADRs. I had to laugh about your comment around Beaches & Cream, though, because I was just talking to Raist last night about wanting to make an ADR for it for our planning session trip (since we're not really going to have time for parks), and he was confused because they didn't have them there when we went last. Congrats on getting Be Our Guest, btw...it seems nearly impossible to get a reservation there!

Looking forward to hearing about your planning session and about where you end up with for your at home reception.

I'm so super tempted to make some ADRs for our PS trip, but we're trying to be financially responsible and stick with CS, boo. I just want to eat everywhere at WDW!

 

[elphie101]

Hey all! Today is officially 2 WEEKS until the planning session trip! In fact, at this exact minute 2 weeks from now we'll be getting ready to take flight - it's so close and yet so far away. It's at this time in the countdown to WDW that Kevin goes back to his old tradition of watching the free vacation planning videos to get excited - so I know what we're doing for the next few free nights

A few weeks ago my mother and I (as well as her 3 sisters) all went to Nordstrom to look at their collection of gowns for her Mother of the Bride look. She tried on at least 20 different dresses, and narrowed it down to these two:






(a full-length shot of dress #2)

She couldn't decide between the two, so she ended up bringing both home to show my dad (who, in true manly fashion, claimed he "didn't understand" either one ) In my opinion, based on her comments in the dress, I think she truly likes the first one more, but feels like color-wise she would upstage me (it's kind of a champagne-y gold color).

In the middle of the dress experience, she spotted a third dress on another woman, and immediately wanted to try it on. However, the woman wearing it had just decided to buy it, and it was the only one like it left in the state. Mom was bummed, and couldn't stop thinking about it, so she ordered one from a different Nordstrom (with the assurance that she could return it if it wasn't the one).

Here is the dark horse 3rd contender - as of today it has not yet arrived (or it has and I just haven't been told!) so no decisions have been made yet:

Sidebar: the majority of the models on Nordstrom's mother-of-the-bride dress section online are CLEARLY too young to be mothers of brides. What gives Nordstrom?

Last weekend we also decided on an at home reception venue, a local country club. We'll be having an afternoon lunch buffet, and hopefully showing some photos of the wedding (assumedly candids, since it'll be only one month after the day) and just hanging out and having a good time. May I present to you the venue:

The room is HUGE, which is the only negative in my mind (we aren't thinking we'll have more than 100), but they won't move us to a smaller room unless we're less than 70. Even so, it was the clear choice as it was the only place we looked at that had character and wasn't your standard banquet hall or ballroom. Kevin's family said it reminded them of Wilderness Lodge (which is their favorite WDW hotel).

The one fly in the ointment is I am positive DF's parents want to include the date/time/location of the at-home reception on the wedding invitations........and I don't want to. It doesn't feel appropriate to me, and I don't want anyone to make their decision on whether or not they'll be coming to Florida based on the fact that there's a party closer to home after the wedding. DF is upset, since he knows his parents don't agree and he feels stuck in the middle. He thinks people will assume we've "canceled" the at-home reception if we don't include it (since his extended family knows we're having it, and we're really only having it because they aren't coming) and that we're being rude by NOT mentioning it. Honestly, this is turning out to be more of a headache then the actual wedding itself. We're seeing his parents again on Saturday, and I'm hoping I'll be able to bring this up calmly without any feelings being hurt. I don't see how though

14 days till Disney, just 14 days till Disney.......and only 178 till the wedding!

 

[Aschenputtel]

I'm eager to hear all about your upcoming PT!
Please tell your mom that she looks beautiful in both dresses! We don't have real mother-of-the-bride sections in stores other here, so I think it's great that there is something specific to choose from for the mothers, but I'll agree that the models look more like prom girls than mothers ;-)

Your problem with the invitations is not an easy one, but maybe you could agree that DFs extended family will get a card or something similar with their invitations (like a RSVP card) that invites them already for the at-home-reception? And the other guests get their invitations later? Of course this could cause some confusion if somebody ask someone that hasn't gotten their invitation (to the second reception), but as they all already know about the reception it might be a conclusion! I'm sure you will figure it out!!!

 

[elphie101]

I'm eager to hear all about your upcoming PT!
Please tell your mom that she looks beautiful in both dresses! We don't have real mother-of-the-bride sections in stores other here, so I think it's great that there is something specific to choose from for the mothers, but I'll agree that the models look more like prom girls than mothers ;-)

Your problem with the invitations is not an easy one, but maybe you could agree that DFs extended family will get a card or something similar with their invitations (like a RSVP card) that invites them already for the at-home-reception? And the other guests get their invitations later? Of course this could cause some confusion if somebody ask someone that hasn't gotten their invitation (to the second reception), but as they all already know about the reception it might be a conclusion! I'm sure you will figure it out!!!

Aschenputtel, you are literally a genius. I just presented this idea to DF and he loves it as a happy compromise (include a card with the date of the at-home reception to everyone his parents want to know, and then send out official invites for the at-home reception later to the whole guest list, meaning his family is just getting a "save the date" with the wedding invites). We will definitely be bringing this up to his parents this weekend. You have literally made DF and I feel so much more relaxed - thank you!!

 

[KristiLyn]

I LOVE that venue! And it definitely resembles Wilderness Lodge!

The cake we are getting is lemon with raspberry mousse. If you get to try it, let me know how it is!! I'm incredibly jealous of your cake tasting...hahahahahaha

 

[andeesings]

Make sure you try the orange cake with amaretto crunch filling! It will change your life, seriously!

 

[Aschenputtel]

Glad I could help

 

[alyaki]

I really like the first and third dress that your mother is looking at - they first one she looks amazing in, the third is really different. The second one looks nice on her, but the others seem like styles she really shines in.

Also, I really love you reception venue. When we were thinking of doing a wedding locally, we were looking somewhere similar, but they wanted about 10k for a Sunday off season wedding for food & beverage and the venue...which was what pushed us to Disney, haha. I think it's awesome that you guys were able to find someplace like that near you for a good price.

Also, looks like you guys managed to figure out a compromise in how to deal with inviting people to the at home reception - so congrats!

 

[elphie101]

I LOVE that venue! And it definitely resembles Wilderness Lodge!

The cake we are getting is lemon with raspberry mousse. If you get to try it, let me know how it is!! I'm incredibly jealous of your cake tasting...hahahahahaha

I'm sure we will end up trying that! I'll let you know DF's opinion (since he definitely likes lemon & raspberry more than I do, he'll be able to give you a more accurate opinion )

Make sure you try the orange cake with amaretto crunch filling! It will change your life, seriously!

We will be! I just realized I never included the list of what we're trying for cake:

Cake Flavors: Yellow, Almond, Carrot, Lemon, Orange
Filling Flavors: White Chocolate, Bailey's, Bavarian Cream, Raspberry, Lemon, Peanut Butter Cream Cheese, Amaretto w/Almond Crunch, Strawberry

I really wanted to try Amaretto & Creme Cheese too, but we were told we could only have 8 fillings so we nixed those (I figure I'll get the Amaretto taste from the Amaretto w/Almond Crunch). From what I've heard within a week after we submitted our cake selections the rules were changed so now you can only try up to 4 flavors & 4 fillings - I know of someone having their PS on the same day who has to follow this! I'm glad we got in our 8, I don't know how we could have cut it down any more.

Glad I could help

 

[elphie101]

I really like the first and third dress that your mother is looking at - they first one she looks amazing in, the third is really different. The second one looks nice on her, but the others seem like styles she really shines in.

Also, I really love you reception venue. When we were thinking of doing a wedding locally, we were looking somewhere similar, but they wanted about 10k for a Sunday off season wedding for food & beverage and the venue...which was what pushed us to Disney, haha. I think it's awesome that you guys were able to find someplace like that near you for a good price.

Also, looks like you guys managed to figure out a compromise in how to deal with inviting people to the at home reception - so congrats!

I will tell her! She said the third one actually came in, but she doesn't know how she feels about it, so I'll have to see what she finally picks.

The only reason we were able to consider the at-home venue we chose is because they recently changed their rules to have no F&B minimums for Saturday events that end by 4:00pm (which it what we were looking for anyway). Otherwise we would have been looking strictly at no-minimum places, hands down. It was annoying shopping around though, everyone kept pushing big wedding packages with DJs and dancing and dinner. Not what we're looking for! I'm so so glad I don't have to plan our real reception like this, and Disney will just do all the dirty work

I'll be sure to let you all know what the final compromise is re invitations!

 

[kmg3366]

I don't know if this will work for you, but we're planning on sending two separate invitations. This is partially because there quite a few not invited to the Disney wedding.

 

[elphie101]

I don't know if this will work for you, but we're planning on sending two separate invitations. This is partially because there quite a few not invited to the Disney wedding.

Yeah, we were always going to send separate invites, the issue was the future in-laws really wanted to have some kind of notice in the wedding invites we're sending over the summer, which I didn't want so much.

However, I talked with FMIL over the weekend and she seems perfectly happy with the idea of including a "Save-the-date" card for the at-home reception in those invites she feels need it (aka everyone she added on the list). We haven't quite decided yet, but we'll then send out a round of invitations for the at-home reception either right before we leave for Orlando for the wedding, or while we're down there. Crisis averted!