I thought I'd come on here and give everyone a few wedding updates! All of a sudden it feels like my wedding is starting to come together and I'm getting pretty excited.
Wedding Date: 5/09/11. This date is meaningful to us because May 8th is the anniversary of when we met. We bumped to May 9th because we wanted the wedding to fall on a Monday. I have never been to Disney in May and I can't wait!
Ceremony Location: Sea Breeze Point. We are doing a 12 pm ceremony. I love that this part of our wedding will be outside in the Florida sunshine!
Reception Location: Ariels. When I found Ariel's it seemed perfect - at my favorite hotel, walking distance from the ceremony, vaguely under the sea themed elements. I wanted an indoor reception so that at least one of our wedding events could not possibly be rained out. I also wanted air conditioning! I love that it's so near to Stormalong Bay. And, it brings my guests many steps closer to...
Epcot Dessert Pary! This will most likely be held in Italy. DF and I both love this section of this World Showcase. I think it's beautiful and will make for lovely pictures. DF and I have been slowly compiling a list of items we would like on the menu. As it stands now our DP would probably cost more than our Ariel's buffet!
We need to make some major cuts... I've shoved that task off to the side for now.
Colors: two shades of blue, with accents of bright pink and a soft yellow, like the color of yellow roses.
Here is my MOH's dress, in the shades of blue we have chosen:
I ordered her dress for her a few weeks ago when we went dress shopping together. The dress is beautiful and fun and very Jen. She loved it and she was so happy to have a short dress in a light material for Florida! I surprised her by buying the dress for her and she was thrilled.
Bridesmaids/Groomsmen: My best friend Jen is my MOH, and DF's best friend Chad is his BM. We elected not to have full bridal parties. It just seemed simpler and more cost efficient for everyone.
Both of our friends have been asked and have accepted!
Dress: I started trying on dresses! But even though I brought my camera with me I never thought to take a single picture - sorry! Definitely a PJ FAIL. I came very close to buying the Maggie Soterro Riviera, but at the last second I just couldn't quite pull the trigger. The first time I tried it on it struck me as very fairy tale and perfect for a Disney wedding, but the second time I just wasn't sure. It's still a contender but I need to continue looking. I have an appointment at the Kleinfeld's sample sale this Sunday, so we'll see if I find something there. I would really like to have my dress before my planning session in October so I can show it to my hair & makeup stylist. My mom has very generously said she wants to buy me my dress, and I am so grateful to her for that.
Accessories: My mom recently gave me her mother's pearls, and if possible I would like to wear them on my wedding day. I don't have a picture of them but it's a single strand of pale rose colored Mikimoto pearls. My mom's best friend when she was younger was from Japan, and when she was 12 the two families went over there together for a month of sightseeing. The pearls were a gift from the family to my grandmother. They are beautiful, I just need to have them restrung as I am terrified of the string breaking!
Other wedding events: We are planning to do a Rehearsal Dinner either Saturday or Sunday night at 'Ohana's. If budget permits I would really like to invite ALL of our guests and make it more of a welcome party. This will depend on our final guest count. We are inviting about 90. Right now I could see anywhere between 30 and 80 RSVPing yes, so that's obviously quite a range! I am planning to send out pre-RSVP questionaires with our newsletters, so once those come back we should start being able to get a rough budget going. I am planning to surprise Nick with a Groom's cake at the Rehearsal Dinner. I've had bad luck ordering custom cakes from Disney in the past but this is something I really want to do, so I'm going to make my request as specific as possible and cross my fingers!
We would also like to do the World Showcase Segway Tour with our parents, siblings, MOH and BM on one of the mornings leading up to the wedding. Nick and I took that tour on our February trip and it was SO much fun. It is also where we officially decided that the Disney wedding was back on.
Lastly, I saw someone do a "Drinks Around the World" at the World Showcase and that looked like a lot of fun. We might do a "Drinks and Desserts Around the World" if it fits into the schedule. (We have a lot of non drinkers on our guest list so I thought that might be a nice way to include everyone.) Initially when we were planning to have full bridal parties, this was going to be a bridal party event. Now, I think I will just include it on our schedule of events and let everyone decide if they want to participate. (Sadly that means no matching teeshirts, which I would have made, had it stayed a smaller group.)
Photographer: The Arndts! I just love them, love their work and they are already so great to work WITH. I know they will get great shots for us and really help the day go smoothly.
Planning Session: booked! All set for 10/01/10. My parents and DF's mom are coming along and they are excited to be included. We've ended up making a week long trip out of it and I can't wait!
Next up: Kleinfeld's review, how in the heck do I get these newsletters written, and a special project my MOH is working on with me!
