Happilyeverafter2008's PJ - 29.09.2008 - WP, LSS, UK Lower

[Happilyeverafter2008]

Hi all

I have been lurking on these boards for a while now and love reading all of your PJ's and TR's so thought it was about time I started my own journal so here it is:

About Us:

I (Kelly, 24) have been with my DF (Paul, 29) for around 8 years now!! We met through my Cousin and after two weeks of getting to know each other he asked me out on New Year's Eve - he kissed me and it started snowing!! My friend recently said that we fit together - he is my lobster!

Paul, my Sis and Me

The Proposal:

We had been together four years before we got engaged and I didn't even see it coming! Paul proposed whilst we were abroad DCL in Palo's. We had a meal with my Mum and Dad (my two sisters were too young to join us) and we had a fantastic time.

Throughout the night my Mum kept moving the cutlary and positioning the camcorder towards me and the waiter kept asking me if I was excited and kept bringing drinks to the table - it never clicked! We finished our meal and were waiting for dessert. We had all ordered the white chocolate souffle as we had been told it was yummy but I kept seeing this chocolate box which I wanted instead!!

Well my dessert arrived and when I looked at it it was the chocolate box surrounded by strawberries and cookies - it was beautiful. Well I put my spoon to it and to my surprise it was the ring box! Well I opened it, looked at the ring, looked at my mum, then the ring, my dad and then the ring and finally at Paul who was down on his knee. He said a speech (not quite sure now what he said!) and then everyone in the restaurant clapped and cheered My two sisters were outside Palo's and were jumping up and down when we told them - one of them never even knew so it was a complete surprise to her as well!

We then went to the dessert party out on deck and they announced it over the tannoy

I always wanted my proposal to be a surprise and perfect and it was I found out later that he had even asked my Dad for my hand (which I love) and managed to keep the ring a secret from me and my sis for a couple of months and a trip from Wales to Florida!! Everyone I knew already knew he was proposing and they all managed to keep it a secret as well - happiness all round.

My Engagement Ring

Coming Up: Our Bridal Party and More......

 

[orangetiggs]

love the proposal story, cant want for more plans

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

So, our date is set - we will be getting married on 29th September 2008 at 2:30pm. Our location choices are:

Ceremony: Wedding Pavillion
Reception: The Living Seas Salon
Dessert Party: UK Lower

We have loved the WP for so long and knew it was the right decision and Paul completely fell in love with the LSS and I have to agree it is beautiful. Thanks to everyone who posted pics of the LSS all dressed up.

Our Bridal Party:

Bride: Me
Groom: Paul
MOB: Lesley
MOG: Liz
FOB: Alun
FOG: Steve
BM's: Katie (26), Katie (21), Teri (19) and Holly (17)
PB: Joshua (2)

We are very lucky and so grateful to everyone who is able to join us. We have 22 guests attending so far.

On 25th October we will also be holding a Blessing and Evening Reception at our local Church and Country Club in Cardiff for everyone who is unable to join us on our special day.

Coming Up: Our Choices So Far...

 

[Pomlover2586]

WooHOO!! Congrats!

 

[padisneyfour]

your plans sound great - looking forward to more details. congrats

 

[Nicola2010]

Congrats from another UK disney bride to be!

We are hoping for the WP and UK Lower for whole reception but it wont be until 2010.

Cant wait to hear more plans... make sure you take lots of pics when the big day comes

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

Thank you for all of your kind messages.

Okay, so we started our planning last November when we met with Diane Mahoney-Brown, Marion Stewart, our Planner and Laura Kidd from Disney Floral. We started with some site visits and then went onto the flowers, transport and of course, cake - YUM! Diane, Marion and Laura are fantastic and we are so glad we have been allocated them.

We made a lot of decisions during our many hours with Marion and Laura but are now in the process of changing a couple of them. Because of our reception choice we had opted for an 'Under the Sea' theme with Aqua's, Ivory's etc... however, we have decided to go with our original choice of a 'Fairytale/Classic Elegance' theme and now have colours of Hot Pink, Pale Pink, Ivory and Chocolate Brown.

During our visit in November we also met up with Randy - thanks to all of your recommedations - and had our engagement shoot with him. We also booked him for the date and cannot wait until we get to work with him again - he is wonderful. Our engagement pics have since become avaliable and you can see them here --> http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=3453981 we are now waiting for them to be delivered

Our initial contract has now also been signed and our Save the Dates have gone to our guests. We were so happy with our Save the Dates even though we had some issues with the way our postman handled my 'Bride's Pack' However, we have now had the replacements thanks to Diane and John.

One thing I have to reiterate is how fantastic Marion, Linda, Diane, John and Laura have been so far.

Coming Up: Suits

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

In the last couple of weeks we have made a lot of choices. I never realised until now how much planning is involved in a wedding! Thank goodness there are planners out there!

After going backwards and forwards with colours, themes etc... we have finally settled and are happy - I have learnt that the first decision is usually the best! Will teach me in future!!

Suits we have picked for the guys:

The little suit in the pic is the exact same waistcoat, cravat etc... that our guys will be wearing. I even have a little version for our 2 year old Pageboy - he is going to look so cute. I was nearly in tears when I saw Paul in his suit - he looked so smart. For some reason I get quite emotional lately when it comes to the wedding!

I would like to get hold of the crystal Mickey cufflinks to go with these - does anyone know where I can get them from? I have looked everywhere online. Any help would be much apprechiated.

Coming Up: Bridesmaid's

 

[tlhbdm]

you're getting married on my birthday! Great day!!!!!!

 

[BaBeeCee14]

Love the proposal story..very sweet . We have the same wedding day schedule!! How exciting! Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[keenercam]

Congratulations and Your plans sound so wonderful! Your engagement pictures are so beautiful and so romantic! And I just showed my husband your choice for tuxedos in an effort to persuade him of a similar color scheme and style. Gorgeous!

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

Love the proposal story..very sweet . We have the same wedding day schedule!! How exciting! Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

Cool....you're not too far after me either. Hope all of your plans are going well.

Congratulations and Your plans sound so wonderful! Your engagement pictures are so beautiful and so romantic! And I just showed my husband your choice for tuxedos in an effort to persuade him of a similar color scheme and style. Gorgeous!

Thank you ...... Good Luck ..... I have always liked brown suits but Paul was totally against them until he put every other colour on and realised that brown suited him best!

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

Dress

My BM's initally tried this dress on last April but I thought it was too expensive and did not look like a BM dress. They all tried it on then and fell in love with it. Fast forward 11 months and 6 Bridal stores later and after trying on the dress last week we have ordered them in this colour....I actually love them as well! Here it is:

Bridesmaid Dress

Hair

My sister (the one in the pic in my first entry) is a hairdresser so will be attending to my hair and my sister's - both my sister's have short hair so will have a hairband like the one below:

My other BM has long hair so will have a style like the one below minus the flower. I think I stole this photo from someone on here - if I did thank you - you have great taste.

I have booked Beaute Speciale (after everyone's recommendations) to do our makeup and hair. We have our trial a couple of days before and I am so excited!

Unfortuatly, one of my BM's (Teri) is unable to join us in Florida and will only be participating in our UK end .

Flowers:

My little sister (Holly) will be carrying a rose wand like the one pictured which will comprise of 1 Hot Pink, 1 Pale Pink and 1 Ivory rose.

Katie and Katie (gonna get confusing!) will be carrying something similar to this in Pale Pink and Ivory.

Coming Up: My Dress!

 

[Happilyeverafter2008]

My Dress:

I started looking for dresses last April and tried on so many my head hurt! I had an image in my head of what I wanted my dress to look like and what I chose was slightly different but just loved it when I tried it on. I knew it was what I wanted as soon as it was on - I did not want to take it off!

My Dress:

Back View:

Side View:

It has swarovski crystals, sequins and glass beads going around the edges of the bodice which also goes up the back. The crystals etc... are also around each rose which holds up the silk so it sparkles each time it hits the light. I wanted something which was plain at the front and kinda over the top at the back. However, I think I have found something which is traditional yet different with the 'wow' factor. I cannot wait to wear it - 189 days to go

It has been hanging in a kings size duvet cover for nearly a year now and slowly the creases have come out of the silk. I am going to 'shake' it on Monday so hopefully will get some more pics then.

Hair and Accessories:

My hair is very long and thick so it has to be put up as I don't think I could cope with my hair down and the heat. I love this style:

My veil will be attached to the back with my tiara at the front.

My Tiara

Example of My Veil

Jewellary

Whilst we were in Florida last November my Mum and Dad also purchased my necklace and earrings from the swarovski shop - They are from the aptly named 'Princess' collection and I totally love them.

My Necklace:

My Earrings:

I am hoping to have a hair trial today so will post actual pics of the above.

Happy Easter everyone and thanks for reading so far.

Coming Up: Cakes, UK Locations etc....

 

[Malefi_Stitch]

Your gown, jewelry...everything is GORGEOUS!! We're having a DFTW in 2009 and our schedule is just like yours! Great minds!
Is everyone great here or what?! All of everyone's suggestions and referrals are helping me out immensely. THANKS!! Good luck with your hair trial and HAPPY EASTER too!

 

[Nicola2010]

what a beautiful dress! can i ask who it is by?

also love your engagement pics, esp pic no 58!

 

[Nicola2010]

Just had a thought, im going to be in Florida on the day you get married!

My DF and i really wanted a site visit but disney wont let us book one as we will be more than 18 months in advance (only by like a month though) so we are planning to go ourselves and view the WP

I am hoping our hotel (we are staying on disney) will be able to contact the WP once we get there so they can say what day they have the least amount going on so that we can then ensure to be able to go inside the WP rather than turning up when a wedding or rehearsal is going on and getting turned away.

 

[newyearsbride]

I hope I'm not too late to say Welcome! and Congrats! I love your proposal story... so sweet! Engagement ring + chocolate= perfection! I looove your BM dresses, that color is amazing! I really love your wedding dress, very princessy! I bet it will be gorgeous on you! Can wait to read more!

 

[cinderella123]

I love the proposal story. That is so sweet, and everything that you've already thought of looks so beautiful

 

[Goldeelox9]

Love your PJ....Your Dress is the prettiest dress I have ever saw! It is amazing! I can't wait to read more!