Heather & Kevin's PJ/TR! SBP/Ariels-9/19/09: Post Ceremony Started! Updated 5/10!

[tinks_1989]

Hello I have just caught up on your PJ your proposal is so cute YAY too getting the dress and getting married at SBP thats where we're planning on saying our I dos cant wait for more

 

[HeatherNJNC]

First off - those invites are hilarious!! I found this site a while back (some of the advertisements are a bit off, but the pictures are too funny!) http://uglydress.com/index.html

Now about those roses. I think they'll definitely go. You can pull your blue or chocolate in through the ribbon. You could always use pink as an accent color elsewhere in your wedding if you wanted to. Just my two cents!

BTW - Welcome to the boards and good luck with your plans!!

Thanks Meg! That website is ridiculous haha! Oh and I think I have finally decided on adding a deep magenta-ish color as an accent!!!

Hello I have just caught up on your PJ your proposal is so cute YAY too getting the dress and getting married at SBP thats where we're planning on saying our I dos cant wait for more

Yay for SBP! I always wanted an outdoor casual wedding! SBP is the perfect place for that! Good luck with your planning!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

So I've decided that I am definitely going to wear my hair up for my wedding as it is going to be HOT! I have been looking online for pictures of updo's that DO NOT resemble prom hair as I am trying to avoid that completely. I don't want my hair slicked back on my head or pinned so tight my head hurts. I have also become fond of the idea of putting flowers in my hair as my dress is fairly simple and it will not take away from it. I am thinking stephanotis or an orchid but not sure. The flower will most likely be white. Here are some photos that I have found that I like...

I really like the last one...any thoughts? If you find any others send 'em my way!

 

[tiggersam00]

hahahahaha I am your hair twin! I found 1, 3 and 4 on the Knot and LOVED THEM! They are what I am leaning towards as well, with a flower and everything. Check out Heidi's hair (Tiggerrifficheidi) for her wedding, I loved it (so I am guessing you will too lol)

 

[tinks_1989]

Yay for SBP! I always wanted an outdoor casual wedding! SBP is the perfect place for that! Good luck with your planning!

me too i cant go all the way florida and not get married outside

love the hair pics
number 1 is my fave

 

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

HI!
I amdoing my hair up as well, July weather will be INSANE for us here in NY and then to go to do a photoshoot in Epcot, Im terrified of what my hair will look like that day!!

Keep it coming I am enjoying your pj as I just found it!!

 

[auntpunkin]

Just found your PJ. Yay! Another September bride! ...everything sounds great so far! I just love the 1st pink bouquet you posted!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

Hey everyone, sorry I have been such a horrible updater on this thing! So much has happened since I have last written! We just got back from Disney on Tuesday for out planning session and a little mini-trip. We have made most of the arrangements for the wedding and reception just trying to figure out what to do for a rehearsal. Any suggestions? My future MIL would like to invite all of our guests so she was thinking more of a cocktail type party but that got me thinking about a dessert party. So any info would be helpful! I will update next week sometime with pictures and a full TR from our planning session! Thanks for sticking with me!

 

[tiggersam00]

Ohhh you should post the details of your trip for sure! Glad you figured alot of the details out

 

[Bride-to-be]

Wow I just found your PJ! I LOVE your bridesmaids cards - I hope you don't mind if I steal your idea - its the best thing I have ever seen!

Your dress is gorgeous and I am so glad that you have all of your plans in order.

Can't wait to hear about all of the little details!!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

Ohhh you should post the details of your trip for sure! Glad you figured alot of the details out

SAM! I hope you had an awesome trip! Mine was sooo last minute or else I would have tried to meet up because I think we were there some of the same dates!!!

Wow I just found your PJ! I LOVE your bridesmaids cards - I hope you don't mind if I steal your idea - its the best thing I have ever seen!

Your dress is gorgeous and I am so glad that you have all of your plans in order.

Can't wait to hear about all of the little details!!

Thanks! I just finished reading up on your planning journal! Can't wait to hear about the castle! And steal away with the cards! All of my BM's thought they were hilarious and they're still hanging on their fridges haha!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

So on Thursday, March 26th, DF, my mom and I headed down to Jacksonville. We all had to work that morning and decided we would drive most of the way that night and continue on to Orlando early the next morning and meet FMIL at the airport! I drove most of the way as I was WIDE awake for some strange reason. It was an easy drive and we were in Orlando by 11AM on Friday! We had reservations at the Sheraton Vistana Villages as DF and I both work for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and got a great deal on a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom villa! We headed to the resort just to check it out and were pleasantly surprised that our villa was ready!!! The place was huge and gorgeous! It was so clean and a 5 minute drive to Disney. I usually stay on Disney property but I would highly recommend the Sheraton Vistana Village if deciding to stay off property. Anyway, here are some pics...

Our Bedroom:

Mom's Bedroom (FMIL too):

Living Room/Dining Room (and DF taking a pic!):

Balcony/View:

Randoms:

So after getting settled FMIL gave me a small gift and it was a "Bride Surivival Kit" that she had made, it included a beautiful handkercheif that was once her mothers. It was so completely thoughtful, I loved it. After that we headed for some lunch at Firehouse Subs then went tux shopping!!! We headed to MW Tux but we had a specific tan color in mind as my bridesmaids are wearing chocolate brown and I will be in ivory. Unfortunately, they did not carry anything at all in that color so off to Carolyn Allen's we went!

Wow, do I love that place! Keith and his wife and family are all amazing! They were so welcoming and helpful! Keith told a bunch of stories and had us all laughing the whole time. They had exactly what we wanted and the process was so easy! They will also be coming the morning of the wedding to steam my and all the girls dresses! Here is what we picked for the guys:

This exact suit:

This tie but in chocolate brown and ivory:

DF will be the only one wearing the vest, the rest of the guys will just have an ivory shirt and tie with the suit! After Carolyn Allen's we went grocery shopping and had dinner then crashed so we could be up early for our day in the parks!!!

 

[PixyDusted]

I PMed you...

Everything looks great so far! Congratulations!

I love the color suit you picked out. And I'm impartial to orchids in hair for weddings but that's just b/c I love them so much! I'm sure whatever you pick will be beautiful!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

So we got up bright and early on Saturday morning, had some breakfast, and decided to start at Animal Kingdom. The weather was overcast but it turned out to be a beautiful day in the 80's! Our first stop, take Mom on her first ever spin on Expedition Everest! Of course she loved it!!! FMIL would have loved to gone on but she had knee surgery and rollercoasters are a no go unfortunately. Mom loved Everest!!!

The park was fairly crowded and DF was none too happy about it. I guess that's what you get for going in September and being spoiled by nearly non-existent wait times! (Can't wait!!!) Anyway, we got some fast passes for Everest then we then headed over to Dinosaur, which FMIL went on too! Then we took them to see Finding Nemo: The Musical. DF and I loveeee this show and they did too! The music and colors are amazing!

I always cover my ears, its so loud!

Love the Calypso band! I think we may have one at the wedding!

After Nemo, we hopped on Everest again then went over to Kilimanjaro Safari. FMIL hadn't been to Disney in 25 years (!!!) so everything was new to her and we knew she would love this as she loves anything having to with animals! Boy were we right, but come on, who doesn't love that ride! We then decided to head over to Hollywood Studios to catch some rides over there...

 

[PixyDusted]

That's fun that everything was new to your FMIL!! I often wonder what that would be like for DF and me since we're there A LOT!!

Love the idea of a calypso band at your wedding! I love them too but I'll just pretend that the music streamed onto the island is just for us since it's not in our budget (or logistics) and pretend that's our band.

 

[tiggersam00]

I agree with Mikkel an Calypso band would be awesome! DF and i were thinking of doing it for cocktail hour but who knows DFTW's price for it lol!

Isn't it fun to bring new people to the World?

 

[HeatherNJNC]

That's fun that everything was new to your FMIL!! I often wonder what that would be like for DF and me since we're there A LOT!!

Love the idea of a calypso band at your wedding! I love them too but I'll just pretend that the music streamed onto the island is just for us since it's not in our budget (or logistics) and pretend that's our band.

Ha it was awesome having DF's Mom there, she really enjoyed herself although I think we wore her out! We are serious when it comes to Disney visits!

I agree with Mikkel an Calypso band would be awesome! DF and i were thinking of doing it for cocktail hour but who knows DFTW's price for it lol!

Isn't it fun to bring new people to the World?

I just got my initial BEO and the Calypso band is $1565, we'll see if we still want it after we get the floral budget too haha!

And it's always fun to bring anyone to the World, but new people is even more!

P.S. just read up on your TR. one word. JEALOUS!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

So we get into Hollywood Studios just as the parade is heating up! So I know everyone here knows how crazy it can be to push through the crowds to get to the good rides! Rockin' Rollercoaster was a forever and a day wait and the fast passes were for like for hours later so we decided to skip it as FMIL couldn't ride it anyway. We headed over to the Great Movie Ride, which was one of my grandmother (Nonna's) favorites! I remember being deathly afraid of the whole 3 seconds you ride through the the Alien movie but her always telling me that the Wizard of Oz was approaching quickly! For some reason everytime I ride that ride I feel like it was cheesier than the last! But it is a must do for me just for the memories!

After that we decided to cool off and go see the new American Idol Experience. Now I must admit I am not a fan of AI, I have probably watched a whole 5 minutes of it in the last 5 years but I was willing to give it a try. Wow, I loved it! The 3 people we had were AMAZING and the show was genuinely funny! Now, it is different everytime you see it but the truly do find some talented people to preform!

After AI, we headed over to Epcot to check out the flower and garden stuff and to ride Soarin'. It was a 40 minute wait but we went for it. Neither my mom or Kevin's mom had gone on it before and they both loved it....until the ride wouldn't come down!!! Ha, we were up in the air and the speaker says something like "Thank you for riding Soarin' you may now unbuckle your seats and head to the nearest exit". Ummmm wow, people started freaking out becaue they thought the belts were gonna unbuckle as we were in the air but of course that didn't happen. We hung up there for a few minutes and then we came down....but then our seat belts wouldn't unbuckle! So we were stuck there a few more! It was definitely a memorable Soarin' experience!

After that we wandered around and took some shots of the beautiful flowers and topiaries!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

After Epcot, we headed to the final destination of our one day Disney World tour, Magic Kingdom! As all of us were exhausted, we didn't stay too too long. We first went to Columbia Harbour House for some chicken nuggets and clam chowder, yum! Then off we went to ride the classics: Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion! There was practically no wait at all for any of these rides! Then after that we treated our parents to the infamous DOLE WHIP! Of course it was loved by all!

We hung around and watched SpectroMagic as I and my mom probably hadn't see the parade in almost 10 years! It brought back so many memories but wow has it evolved over the years! It's so funny to me that no matter how old you are, whenever you experience something you once did there as a child all the emotions just come rushing back! I just stood there in awe of the parade thinking about how excited my three year old niece is going to be the first time she experiences all this Disney magic in September!

Afterwards we watched some fireworks then headed out. The park was open until midnight but there was no way we could have lasted...well maybe I could have!

 

[HeatherNJNC]

So on Sunday the weather was overcast and we had some rain in the morning. Our Mom's decided to relax and do some reading on the patio so Kev and I headed over to DHS to hop on Rockin' Rollercoaster and Tower of Tower because we didn't get to do so the day before. I didn't bring my camera so I have no pictures! Regardless, the rides were fun as always and TOT surprised the both of us by going up and down like 5 times! The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing by the pool and discussing the wedding for our planning session the next day!

On Monday, we were up bright and early to head over to Franck's to meet Celeste & Rose! I was so excited to finally meet my planner and discuss our special day, Kevin was excited about cake!!! Haha. Celeste was awesome and very upbeat and funny! She completely made me feel at ease about the whole process! Here are some pics of the day!

The ceremony is at 5PM at Sea Breeze Point then the cocktail and reception will follow until 11pm at Ariel's. Right now we decided to have the calypso trio for the ceremony and pre-reception then a DJ for the actual reception. At Ariel's you can only have a buffet so we kind of created our own menu. For the pre-reception we decided on a fruit and cheese display as well as a vegetable and dip display. For dinner, we will have shrimp cocktail, a salad station, parmesan crusted chicken, horseradish-crusted beef strip loin, basil mashed potatoes, and olive oil grilled veggies. Finally for dessert we will have cake!!! The bottom layer is almond cake with amaretto, the middle layer is chocolate cake with raspberry, and the top layer is almond with buttercream! Here is what it looks like:

I went to a hospitality/culinary university therefore I wanted the cake's frosting to be buttercream only. Fondant can make a cake look beautiful but it does no justice to the taste of the cake. Plus, in my opinion, once the cake is cut and served the pieces look somewhat sloppy. I didn't see the point in spending the money on fondant if I wanted something simple anway. Fortunately, Disney is able to make our cake look just like the one above! Our cake will have fresh floral on it too.