Hello,
I've been a lurker on this board for quite some time but was never able to do a planning report in fear that my guests would get a hold of our wedding details. You see only my hubbie and Mum knew all the details the other 12 guests just knew we were flying to Florida to get married and that was it.
So anyway I'll introduce myself. I'm Hannah and I'm from the UK. I've been with Tim for 7 years and finally tied the knot 2 weeks ago after a very long engagement.
Just a brief bit about our background and then I can move on to the more exciting info: Me and Tim met through a mutual friend while he was in the armed forces. He proposed to me after 6 months not before asking my Dad's permission, we never managed to set a date as things kept cropping up and it was always after this or how about next year... In the end my Mum suggested we set a date, it was starting to sound like excuses.
I had been to Disney before hand and had always said I would love to take Tim some time and when we were on holiday 2 years ago while we sat around the pool we both decided that a good old fashioned white wedding was not for us and it would be so much better to get a holiday on top of a wedding. So that was that the easy bit was done, next came the location.
I'd never have dreamed of getting married at Disney so it was only by off chance that we chose to get married. There may of been a bit of arm twisting on Tim's side but I'm sure now it's all over he knows it was the best decision.
So two years of planning began. I'm too much like a perfectionist and a worrier. We chose not too invite too many guests as we wanted to keep the party small and intimate so we each invited two close friends each and imediate family. Unfortunately grandparents were unable to attend due to age and it being so far away but we would have oved them to be there with us. So in total there was going to be 15 of us. The easiest thing for us to do would be booking a villa big enough to cater for us all. So we ended up with a villa at Emerald Island all of 5 mins from Disney.
We originally wanted to go for an escape wedding as we were below the minimum but as time went on and I kept adding more things it actually made more sense to go for a custom, we ended up getting way more for our money and believe it or not remained within our budget.
As our wedding day went we got married at 2.30pm at the Wedding Pavilion followed by our reception at American Adventure Parlour room and then topping the evening off with an illuminations dessert party at UK lower terrace. It was soooo much fun.... I would do it all over again if I could.
So first of all I'll start with my vendor reviews:
UK Tour operator: First Choice B
12 months of worrying an nagging to confirm details I had no consistancy. Bad turn over so if I was dealing with one person one week they'd have left by the following week. Hope it wasn't something I said? lol. Flight was good, we upgraded our seats to get extra leg room and a bit of indulgence. Unfortunately had to listen to a screaming toddler for 8 hours there and back. Grrrr!
Disney Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter D
Ok I loved the resort it was picturesque and just what I wanted however the bad review is down to the staff who were rude and obnoxious. On the eve of my wedding day I was in tears at the front desk because they were refusing to help me. The night before the wedding I had booked the room for me, my bridesmaids and my mum to stay at the resort with a water view. I was then staying with hubbie for the remainder of my booking and I was happy to stay in the same room. They said because it was under two different bookings that I would need to check out of the room I was staying in for the first night to then check back in to a room at 3pm (half an hour after I would be getting married) I was trying to say that come 11am I would be having my hair and make up done and couldn't possibly check out at that time because they couldn't guarantee me a room to check back in to. The manager who eventually came to see me was not interested in how I felt and offered me a picture frame as compensation and a later check out at 1pm. When I burst in to tears he started laughing and said "what you crying for???"
And the cherry on top was I didn't even have a water view I had a view of the carpark and some trees. Needless to say I won't be returnignto that resort.
Hair and Make-up: Makeovermajic Anna Wacasar A*****
Fantastic love this Woman. So bubbly ad happy just what I needed when I had the worse case of nerves. She did my hair and makeup perfectly and even stuck around to help me get into my dress and check out of the room. Also very efficient, she had my bridal portrait hair and makeup done with in 40mins if that.
Photography: Who else but Randy Chapman A**********
What can I say about Randy that doesn't sound like everyone else.... He is amazing at his job and I loved working with him. He managed to get all of my prints and discs to me before I flew back to the UK. He was great at getting the best out of people especially my younger sister who is very shy and self concious, the piccies of her are stunning. I was so happy that I had Randy booked but now that I have my photo's back I even more thrilled.
Videography: Stvs Weddings Stan A****
Stan blended in to the background and I sometimes I forgot that he was there. When he returned for our dessert party he showed us the sneak peek that he'd done for us and I was so over the moon. The amount of times that I have watched everyone elses sneak peeks and thought one day it will be my turn. It was an amazing feeling watching it and reliving it with everyone. I couldn't help but start crying, the first time all day.
Officient: Reverend Randal Miller B
Absolutely loved the ceremony he performed it was so heart felt. Only slight issue is comunication. Rev Miller has a very laid back approach and with me being a worrier I was constantly emailing to get answers. But all ended well. Would recommend Rev Miller as his ceremonies are beautiful.
Co-ordiantor: Meri Williamson A
Lucky for me, Meri is a very patient person. We did have a lot of contact through emails and a few phone planning sessions but she is extremely efficient when she needs to get an answer for you. It's normally done with in 24 hours at least. I didn't really get any time to thank her for her hard work as she seemed to be running around in the background but everything went well thanks to her.
Floral: Laura Kidd A
I did take my own floral bouquets from the uk so I only needed arrangements for the pavilion and our reception. Everything was stunning though and minimal which is what we wanted our table had blue glow cubes and gel filled cylinders which look stunning when the lights are low. Again Laura is another patient person who completely loves her job and it comes across in her work. She was very efficient but did not have a lot of floral to do for me.
Anyway I'll leave it at that for now and will return with piccies and more about out fairytale wedding.
I've been a lurker on this board for quite some time but was never able to do a planning report in fear that my guests would get a hold of our wedding details. You see only my hubbie and Mum knew all the details the other 12 guests just knew we were flying to Florida to get married and that was it.
So anyway I'll introduce myself. I'm Hannah and I'm from the UK. I've been with Tim for 7 years and finally tied the knot 2 weeks ago after a very long engagement.
Just a brief bit about our background and then I can move on to the more exciting info: Me and Tim met through a mutual friend while he was in the armed forces. He proposed to me after 6 months not before asking my Dad's permission, we never managed to set a date as things kept cropping up and it was always after this or how about next year... In the end my Mum suggested we set a date, it was starting to sound like excuses.
I had been to Disney before hand and had always said I would love to take Tim some time and when we were on holiday 2 years ago while we sat around the pool we both decided that a good old fashioned white wedding was not for us and it would be so much better to get a holiday on top of a wedding. So that was that the easy bit was done, next came the location.
I'd never have dreamed of getting married at Disney so it was only by off chance that we chose to get married. There may of been a bit of arm twisting on Tim's side but I'm sure now it's all over he knows it was the best decision.
So two years of planning began. I'm too much like a perfectionist and a worrier. We chose not too invite too many guests as we wanted to keep the party small and intimate so we each invited two close friends each and imediate family. Unfortunately grandparents were unable to attend due to age and it being so far away but we would have oved them to be there with us. So in total there was going to be 15 of us. The easiest thing for us to do would be booking a villa big enough to cater for us all. So we ended up with a villa at Emerald Island all of 5 mins from Disney.
We originally wanted to go for an escape wedding as we were below the minimum but as time went on and I kept adding more things it actually made more sense to go for a custom, we ended up getting way more for our money and believe it or not remained within our budget.
As our wedding day went we got married at 2.30pm at the Wedding Pavilion followed by our reception at American Adventure Parlour room and then topping the evening off with an illuminations dessert party at UK lower terrace. It was soooo much fun.... I would do it all over again if I could.
So first of all I'll start with my vendor reviews:
UK Tour operator: First Choice B
12 months of worrying an nagging to confirm details I had no consistancy. Bad turn over so if I was dealing with one person one week they'd have left by the following week. Hope it wasn't something I said? lol. Flight was good, we upgraded our seats to get extra leg room and a bit of indulgence. Unfortunately had to listen to a screaming toddler for 8 hours there and back. Grrrr!
Disney Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter D
Ok I loved the resort it was picturesque and just what I wanted however the bad review is down to the staff who were rude and obnoxious. On the eve of my wedding day I was in tears at the front desk because they were refusing to help me. The night before the wedding I had booked the room for me, my bridesmaids and my mum to stay at the resort with a water view. I was then staying with hubbie for the remainder of my booking and I was happy to stay in the same room. They said because it was under two different bookings that I would need to check out of the room I was staying in for the first night to then check back in to a room at 3pm (half an hour after I would be getting married) I was trying to say that come 11am I would be having my hair and make up done and couldn't possibly check out at that time because they couldn't guarantee me a room to check back in to. The manager who eventually came to see me was not interested in how I felt and offered me a picture frame as compensation and a later check out at 1pm. When I burst in to tears he started laughing and said "what you crying for???"
And the cherry on top was I didn't even have a water view I had a view of the carpark and some trees. Needless to say I won't be returnignto that resort.
Hair and Make-up: Makeovermajic Anna Wacasar A*****
Fantastic love this Woman. So bubbly ad happy just what I needed when I had the worse case of nerves. She did my hair and makeup perfectly and even stuck around to help me get into my dress and check out of the room. Also very efficient, she had my bridal portrait hair and makeup done with in 40mins if that.
Photography: Who else but Randy Chapman A**********
What can I say about Randy that doesn't sound like everyone else.... He is amazing at his job and I loved working with him. He managed to get all of my prints and discs to me before I flew back to the UK. He was great at getting the best out of people especially my younger sister who is very shy and self concious, the piccies of her are stunning. I was so happy that I had Randy booked but now that I have my photo's back I even more thrilled.
Videography: Stvs Weddings Stan A****
Stan blended in to the background and I sometimes I forgot that he was there. When he returned for our dessert party he showed us the sneak peek that he'd done for us and I was so over the moon. The amount of times that I have watched everyone elses sneak peeks and thought one day it will be my turn. It was an amazing feeling watching it and reliving it with everyone. I couldn't help but start crying, the first time all day.
Officient: Reverend Randal Miller B
Absolutely loved the ceremony he performed it was so heart felt. Only slight issue is comunication. Rev Miller has a very laid back approach and with me being a worrier I was constantly emailing to get answers. But all ended well. Would recommend Rev Miller as his ceremonies are beautiful.
Co-ordiantor: Meri Williamson A
Lucky for me, Meri is a very patient person. We did have a lot of contact through emails and a few phone planning sessions but she is extremely efficient when she needs to get an answer for you. It's normally done with in 24 hours at least. I didn't really get any time to thank her for her hard work as she seemed to be running around in the background but everything went well thanks to her.
Floral: Laura Kidd A
I did take my own floral bouquets from the uk so I only needed arrangements for the pavilion and our reception. Everything was stunning though and minimal which is what we wanted our table had blue glow cubes and gel filled cylinders which look stunning when the lights are low. Again Laura is another patient person who completely loves her job and it comes across in her work. She was very efficient but did not have a lot of floral to do for me.
Anyway I'll leave it at that for now and will return with piccies and more about out fairytale wedding.
Ailsa, Nick, Kieran & Daniel Fair.
Talk about unnecessary stress. SO I took her back and spoke to the manager who took care of her while I had a much needed coffee. They were so shocked that the girl had cut her hair like it and apologised profusely they then tried to salvage her hairstyle knowing that I was getting married in less than a week. They also gave her a free haircut for when she got back. I suppose I couldn't really say anything to that. At least they did something about her fringe. 
We were both so excited. 
and we had planned to open it that night but Jess and Helen were so tired they just crawled into bed and were out for the count. 
It was a complete nightmare and everything seemed to get on top of me. I got so upset and headed back to the room. I continued to unpack as little as possible so I wouldnt have too much to pack up the next morning. I organised the bags that we were taking the next day and what I needed to hand over to Meri when we would meet her the next day. 
I'm sure everything will work out ok for you in December. The resort is lovely and if I didn't have such a bad experience I would go back again.
