Lauren & George's Wishes Wedding- 12.01/16- WP/Attic *Updated 11/06: TR Day 6!

[Lauren1027]

Hello! I have been lurking this side of the Disboards for YEARS and I’m so, so excited that I can finally start my very own PJ! I became obsessed with the idea of a Disney wedding when one of my besties had a Disney wedding back in 2012 and it was just perfect! She pointed me in the direction of the Disboards and told me I could find tons of valuable information, as well as a great community of Disney brides there and I’ve been quietly around ever since. I can’t wait to share my wedding plans with all of you and reading about all of your lovely weddings and wedding plans in the process.


Wedding Basics:
Date: Thursday, December 1, 2016
Size: 25 guests
Ceremony: 12 PM, Picture Point at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, Grand Floridian Resort
Reception: The Attic, Disney’s BoardWalk Resort
Portrait Sessions: Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Photography: Cricket's Photography
Hair & Makeup: Anna Todd
Personal Floral: Greencycledesigns on Etsy
Officiant: Jeff Richey
DFTW Planner: Kristie Pederson


Table of Contents
About Us
How We Met
The Proposal
Initial Planning and DFTW Site Visit
The Wedding: Dates and Venues
Wedding Dress Shopping
The Dress!!!
Wedding Colors
Disneyland Engagement Photos!
Bridesmaids and Bridesmaids Dresses
Photography & Planning Session
Honeymoon Planning
Confirmed Honeymoon Plans & Our Engagement Photobook
Save the Dates & More Updates
Hair and Makeup Inspiration
Bachelorette Party Plans
Miscellaneous Wedding & Life Updates
Floral and Décor Inspiration
Planning Session Menu Tasting Selections
Our DFTW Planning Session
Menu Tasting Recap (with Pictures!)
Initial Floral Proposal
Initial BEO & Budget
HUGE Round-Up Post: Groomsmen Attire, Wedding Website, Rings & Bridal Attire
Wedding Invitations, Cake Topper, & We're Officially in the Double Digits!!!
Miscellaneous Updates 9/27/16
Bachelorette Party & Bridal Shower
30 Days Out: Hair & Makeup Trial, Final Dress Fitting, Etc.
5 Days Out: Final Updates & Wedding/Honeymoon Timeline
We're Married! Glad I Did/Wish I'd Done
Vendor Reviews
Sneak Peek Wedding Photos!
Wedding Spotlight on This Fairy Tale Life
"At-Home" Wedding Celebration

Wedding Recap/Honeymoon Trip Report
Rehearsal Day- November 30th
December 1st- Wedding Day Entries:
Part 1- Getting Ready Photos
Part 2- Family and Bridemaids Portraits at the Boardwalk
Part 3- The First Look
Part 4- Pre-Ceremony Portraits
Part 5- The Ceremony
Part 6- Post- Ceremony & ALL the Mickey Balloons!
Part 7- Reception Details
Part 8- First Dance & Father-Daughter Dance
Part 9- Toasts & FOOD!
Part 10- Surprise Guests from the Dark Side
Part 11- Cake Cutting
Part 12- Mickey & Minnie
Part 13- Last Moments & Boardwalk Portraits
Part 14- Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Honeymoon Trip Report Entries:
Day 1- Travel Day & DCA
Day 2- Disneyland!
Day 3- Travel Day to Hawaii!
Day 4- Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, Diamondhead, and Ka Wa'a Luau
Day 5- Pearl Harbor
Day 6- North Shore Day

 

[AnnaGiselle]

Yay! I am a 2016 bride too, but at home with a little Disney flair added. But I LOVE reading DisBrides PJs! Wedding Pavilion and The Attic sounds great and I can't wait to read more about your story and planning!

 

[Lauren1027]

About Us



The Bride

My name is Lauren (30) and I’ve been a lifelong Disney lover. I was born and raised in Montreal, but moved to Orlando when I was 10. I work as a coordinator and undergraduate advisor at my alma mater here in Orlando and really enjoy my job. Besides going to Disney practically every weekend, I love going to shows (mostly punk and ska), hanging out with our two amazing dogs, going out to eat, and watching lots of lots of TV (good and bad).


The Groom

My DF is George (32). He currently works as a graphic artist and screenprinter for a local screenprinting shop. DF was born and raised in Orlando, so Disney has also always been part of his life. George is also a big music lover (listening, going to live shows, and playing guitar), is the best father EVER to our two dogs, and is obsessed with Star Wars. He is currently in the process of joining our local chapter of the 501st and is working on building his Stormtrooper gear.

 

[Lauren1027]

How We Met

George and I *technically* met on December 17, 2009, but I had my eye on him before then. The story begins sometime in early December when I was at a ska show with a group of my friends at one of our favorite local music venues. We were all having a blast, and then I saw the cutest barback I had ever seen. I immediately told my rather intoxicated friend that I thought he was so cute. She tried to get me to introduce myself to him, but I’m pretty shy, especially when putting myself out there, so it didn’t happen. After feeding me drinks for the rest of the evening, thinking she could get me drunk enough to muster up some courage to talk to him, she finally gave up and wrote my name and number on a piece of paper, handed it to him and pointed to me and said, “That’s my friend Lauren. She thinks you’re cute!”

Shortly after, the show had ended and I was driving home when I get a text message from someone named George saying that he had been given my number and sorry that he couldn’t talk to me at the venue, but he was busy closing out tabs and cleaning up. He told me that he had to go out of town for a few days, but that we should add each other on MySpace (hahaha the good, ol days) and keep in touch. I thought for sure this was a cop-out, but a couple of days later, I got a message from him telling me that he would be back in town and if I wanted to meet him for a drink. I was super nervous since I had never been on, technically, a blind date before, but I agreed to meet him at a local bar.

Driving to the bar, I thought I was going to throw up everywhere and considered bailing, but I sucked it up and went in. Within a few minutes I calmed down and actually had a really great time. There was definitely chemistry from the start and we ended up hanging out all night.

The next few days after meeting up at the bar were a whirlwind because it was my college graduation and I was super busy with going to commencement, hosting my grandparents who came for my graduation, and having a big graduation party that my parents threw for me with all of my closest friends. I had thought to invite George, but didn’t want to scare him off so I didn’t (he was working all weekend anyways). The day after my graduation, he told me that it was his birthday on Monday and that he was planning to go to Disney and wanted to invite me. This was the year that Disney was giving you free admission on your birthday, so he offered to pay for half of my ticket if I wanted to come. Being a lifelong Disney-lover, I said yes!

We met at his house early on Monday morning and he drove us to Disney. He wanted to go to Hollywood Studios because of the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, which I had never seen before. We had an amazing time throughout the day, but the highlight of the evening was definitely seeing the Osbourne Lights for the first time. I was awestruck and just when I thought that this first date couldn’t get any better, it started to fake snow and George kissed me for the first time. Best. First. Date. Ever. And hands-down the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me. I was giddy.



And from there, it was history. George and I have been together for 6 years and just spent our anniversary together seeing the Osbourne Lights for the last time *sobs*

 

[Lauren1027]

The Proposal

George and I always joked that we were on the 5-year plan. We had agreed kind of early on that we weren’t in a rush to get married and wanted to be together for at least 5 years before getting engaged. So when our 5-year anniversary was approaching last December and we had been talking about getting engaged for awhile now, I thought for sure that it would happen ON our anniversary.

A few months before our anniversary, I suggested that we forgo gifts this year and instead go on a Disney Cruise together. George loved the idea and we booked a 3-day cruise on the Disney Dream. We weren’t going on our anniversary, since cruise prices are outrageous close to Christmas, so we were still going to go out to dinner on our actual anniversary to celebrate.

On the day of our anniversary, I got home from work and was showered with amazing gifts that we had promised we weren’t going to get each other since we booked a cruise. Not only did I get your typical flowers and chocolates, but George also got me a Shellie May all the way from Japan (before she was sold in the U.S.) AND a Disney Dooney and Bourke that I had been eyeing for years. I couldn’t believe it. He told me that he had planned to get me ring, but just couldn’t make it happen yet so he wanted to do something special anyways. We then went to an AMAZING dinner at California Grill and had one of the best nights ever. I didn’t even care that there was no proposal involved. And this extravagant anniversary totally threw me off in the proposal department as well.





Fast forward to a month later, and it was finally time for our first Disney cruise! We were both so excited. On our first night, we had a reservation at Palo, which we were really looking forward to. We got on the ship as early as we could that day and had a great time exploring the ship and having drinks on the top deck. After our muster drill, we went back to our room to get dressed and ready for our fancy dinner at Palo. Before our reservation though, there was a meet and greet opportunity with Captain Mickey and we knew we had to have a photo with him, especially since we would be all dressed up. We quickly got dressed and made our way to the balcony where we would be meeting Mickey. George had been rushing me because he wanted to be the first people in line so that we wouldn’t be late for our dinner reservation. I was getting annoyed because he was being a little too rushy and I wanted to look my best. When we were finally in line, George was practically dripping in sweat and very antsy. I thought nothing of this because he was in a suit and it was warm out.

After waiting for about 10-15 minutes, Captain Mickey finally arrives and we go up to meet him. I walk up to Mickey first and give him a hug, while George goes to the photographer to hand her our room card. I’m in the middle of hugging Mickey and George calls my name. When I turned around, there he was down on one knee with a ring and he asked me to marry him.





Everything was a blur at this point and I was just shaking and trying to get these pictures over with so that I could leave from all of these people in line staring at me and go be with my fiancé!


At our Palo dinner reservation right after the proposal


My ring! Ignore my terrible polish job.

I was so thrilled and completely surprised! Our anniversary conversation had really thrown me off and I did not think a proposal would be coming this soon. Looking back now, it seems obvious, but at the time I was completely surprised and everything was perfect. I wouldn’t trade my proposal for the world.

Of course we had already embarked by this point, so I couldn’t call my parents to tell them the news. George had taken them to dinner the week prior and asked them for their permission to propose and they said yes, so they knew this was coming. Thankfully, we were able to get a small data package for free, so I was able to text them, my sister, and a couple of my close friends to tell them the news. Other than that, we had 3 full days of peace and quiet to enjoy ourselves without any interruptions. It was perfect and we had such a nice time on the cruise. I’ll remember it forever.

 

[twinkybel81]

Welcome out of lurkdom!!! I love your story and can't wait to follow along with your planning journey. We will be having our ceremony 5 days after yours, yay December brides!

 

[Lauren1027]

Welcome out of lurkdom!!! I love your story and can't wait to follow along with your planning journey. We will be having our ceremony 5 days after yours, yay December brides!

Thank you! And yay for another Disney bride! Where are your ceremony and venue locations?

 

[twinkybel81]

Thank you! And yay for another Disney bride! Where are your ceremony and venue locations?

We are having our ceremony in Epcot at the Japan pavilion, reception at Atlantic Dance Hall, and an Illuminations dessert party at UK Lochside.

 

[Lauren1027]

We are having our ceremony in Epcot at the Japan pavilion, reception at Atlantic Dance Hall, and an Illuminations dessert party at UK Lochside.

That sounds amazing! We were going to do Atlantic Dance Hall if we were going to have a big wedding, but then decided on small instead. Japan is my favorite pavilion in World Showcase and I haven't seen too many weddings there before. Its going to be so unique and beautiful. UK Lochside is my top choice for Dessert Party locations too! For right now, we don't have one booked and I don't think we'll be able to swing one, but I've got my fingers crossed that we can make it work in our budget.

 

[Amanda132]

Following along! Love your engagement story and your beautiful ring! December is such a beautiful time to have a Disney wedding. So excited to read about your planning.

 

[Lauren1027]

Following along! Love your engagement story and your beautiful ring! December is such a beautiful time to have a Disney wedding. So excited to read about your planning.

Hi Amanda! I'm so happy you're following along! I've been following your PJ for awhile now and have total wedding envy! I hope my day turns out as beautiful as yours did and I can't wait to read more about your day and honeymoon! Also, yay for another Central Florida Disney bride! Maybe we'll run into each other at the parks someday

 

[Lauren1027]

Initial Wedding Planning and DFTW Site Visit

After our engagement in January 2015, we immediately began discussing when we would have our wedding. We have both always wanted a December wedding because thats when we met, we both love the holiday season, and there's a good chance of mild weather in December (though this year seems to be begging to differ--its going to be 88 degrees on Christmas). George asked me if I wanted to get married this December (2015) or next (2016). Before I knew that we were getting engaged, we had begun planning a a trip to Disneyland for October 2015. If we were to get married this December, then we would inevitably have to postpone the trip to Disneyland, which I had been looking forward to for so long. So without hesitation, I told him that we should have the wedding in December 2016, that way we would have more time to save money and plan the wedding, and we could get our engagement pictures done in Disneyland!

When we got back from our cruise and settled back in to our normal lives as an engaged couple, we started to talk plans for the wedding. George and I both have big families and a Disney wedding just wouldn't be feasible for us, so we started looking at other venues in Orlando. I was a big fan of the Winter Park Farmer's Market, which is an old train station that they now use for weddings and I loved the vintage vibe of it. We also liked the Orlando Science Center, which is our local science museum.

We went and looked at both venues a couple of months after the engagement and immediately nixed the Farmer's Market because it was just too bare and we would have had to spend tons of money and lighting and decor. Plus the outdoor space for the wedding ceremony was just a concrete block outside of the train station and it was ugly.

A few days later, we went for a tour of the Orlando Science Center. This venue was super cool and very unique, and had lots of different options for the wedding in regards to spaces for the ceremony and reception. For the ceremony, we loved the Lakefront option, which is located right outside of the Science Center on Lake Lucerne under this really pretty oak tree. For the reception, it would hands-down have to be the dinosaur room, which has life-size replicas of dinosaurs. The venue will even print a poster with your name and wedding date on it to put in the T-Rex's mouth during the wedding. We thought this venue was super cool and unique and wanted to book it, so we that same day! It was a little rushed, but we were happy with the unique aspect of this venue and knew that we could create a really cool event with this space.

After booking the Orlando Science Center for our wedding, we started looking through their preferred vendor list to try and create the budget for our wedding. We knew that with a big guest list (it was looking to be around 85 people with all of our families and a few close friends) that catering was going to be our biggest cost so we wanted to start there. We started emailing all of the Science Center's preferred catering venues to get quotes on our guest count and most were just outrageous. We finally found one company with good reviews that was willing to work within out budget so we set up a meeting with them and they then invited us to one of their group tastings. We attended two of these and thought the food was ok, but nothing memorable, but we were ok with that. After the second group tasting we put down a deposit to hire them.

After that second tasting, we also went to a bridal showcase in Orlando (me, my mom, and my fiance). Thats when I started to get really overwhelmed. I knew there were a lot of aspects that went into planning a wedding, but being at that showcase and talking to DJs, florists, photo booths, cake companies, etc, I kind of had a breakdown. And thats when the arguing between George and I started. We just couldn't agree on anything, from music to wedding colors, to attire and I just got tired of it and wanted to avoid wedding planning at all costs. After one argument towards the end of the summer, we agreed that we were going to focus on our Disneyland trip for now, and when we got back and our heads were clear, then we would start really cracking down on planning the wedding.

So I had a few months where I kind of just ignored the fact that I was engaged and was just super stoked to go to Disneyland and spent every free minute planning that and reading Disneyland trip reports to get excited for the trip. Then at some point in the summer, DFTW announced Mini-Wishes and I started privately doing mental calculations. It would still be expensive, and wouldn't be the most convenient since we would have to plan a weekday wedding, but it would be SO much cheaper than it would have been with a regular Wishes wedding so I kept it in the back of my mind. However, I was too nervous to bring it up to George because everything was going so well and I didn't want to start a wedding argument.

In October, we went on our long-awaited trip to Disneyland! We hired White Rabbit Photo Boutique to do our engagement pictures and they turned out AMAZING! I couldn't be happier with our pictures (I will post them soon)! We also had such an awesome and memorable trip and I can't wait to go back again. When we got back from Disneyland, I couldn't drop the idea of having the Disney wedding that I'd always dreamed of. I know we were already booked for our wedding, but I just couldn't let go of the idea and had a complete breakdown to George one morning. I told him that I couldn't get excited about our wedding because it wasn't the wedding I had always dreamed of. I had no emotional connection to the Science Center, and as cool of a venue as it was, I just wasn't happy. Not only that, but after getting quotes from different companies for photography, floral, music, catering, etc, the prices were just going up and up and up and our projected budget was getting bigger than we wanted it to. I was stressed and unhappy and I finally convinced George that we should set up a meeting with DFTW.

Since we were within the 16-month mark and getting close to the 12-month mark, we were able to set up an appointment and site visit with DFTW. We met with Michelle, a sales consultant, at Franck's on a Saturday morning at the end of October. We talked pricing, packages, and venues. We told Michelle that we wanted to see Seabreeze Point (my FAVORITE venue) for the ceremony site, and Ariel's for reception (because it was on the Boardwalk and fit our wedding size and wasn't a convention center). Before we got in Michelle's car, she asked us if we wanted to see the Wedding Pavilion, since we were already here so we said sure. I could never envision myself getting married at the Wedding Pavilion because I'm non-traditional and not religious at all, and the Pavilion always just felt churchy to me. But when I stepped inside, the place actually kind of took my breathe away and was really, really beautiful. But the Boardwalk has always been my favorite resort and I knew I wanted to get married outside, so on we went to Seabreeze Point.

When we got to SBT, I didn't get that giddy feeling immediately that I thought I would. I love the look of the Boardwalk and the gazebo, but it was just SO public and noisy. I was still open to it, but DF hated it. We then walked over to the Beach Club to look at Ariel's. We liked the space a lot, but were not crazy about the fishy light fixtures throughout. No worries, not a huge deal. I also really liked the Yacht Club gazebo for a ceremony space, but George didn't because he didn't like that it was surrounded by hotel rooms and that guests could just peek down at our ceremony.

We went home that afternoon and had a lot to think about and numbers to crunch. Would my dreams come true and would I get my DFTW? Well, you already know that answer to that, but the rest of the story will be continued...

 

[Lauren1027]

The Wedding: Dates and Venues

After our site visit with DFTW, George really started to get onboard with having a Disney wedding. While he still loved the Science Center, he didn't love that the process and stress that went into planning it (and the money) was causing so much tension in our relationship. We both loved that with a Disney wedding, the planning process would be completely done through DFTW, which would reduce the stress of keeping track of 15 different vendors to a minimum. The only problem that lay in the way now was that we still wouldn't be able to invite all of our friends and family to the wedding if we wanted a Disney wedding because we simply couldn't afford the per person cost of a 75-person wedding.

We gave ourselves two weeks to come up with the pros and cons of the Science Center versus the Disney wedding. While it was really important for me to invite all of our family to the wedding, the thought of having a large wedding kind of terrified me from the beginning. I'm a pretty shy person and I HATE being the center of attention, but I'm also very close with my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and always felt sad at the thought of not having them there on my wedding day. But in the end, I still couldn't picture having my wedding at the Science Center and knew that a Disney wedding has been my dream, so that's what we chose!

Now we just had to decide what venues we were going to use for our wedding. While I always thought I wanted a Seabreeze Point wedding, I just didn't get butterflies when I saw it in person. George absolutely loved the Wedding Pavilion and even though I hated the idea of a traditional wedding, it made him so happy, so I agreed to compromise with him...if he wanted the Wedding Pavilion for the ceremony, then I got to choose the reception location. He agreed to this and I knew that I wanted something on or near the Boardwalk, since thats my favorite resort. I still wasn't sure whether I wanted Ariel's or Atlantic Dance Hall, but we still had a few weeks before we had to decide so we tabled that for a little bit.

We initially decided on the 10am ceremony start with a brunch reception because it was cheaper, but when I told my mom this, she had a total fit on how early it was. I tried not to let it bother me, but my family was already giving me so much grief and not supporting us very much and I didn't want to deal with it, so after weeks or arguing with my mom, we decided to change it to the noon ceremony with lunch reception. Since the lunch reception would be quite a bit more money per person, we had to further reduce our already reduced guest list. We now decided that we would just be inviting parents, grandparents, siblings, and a few close, mutual friends of ours. This left our guest list at about 25 people.

While I was excited that we were finally coming down with some concrete plans, I was terrified to tell my family of our plans for the small event since all the weddings in my family have always been big. I didn't think they would understand, and sure enough there was a ton of drama involved. Its truly been heartbreaking how little support I am getting from my family. Thankfully, most of it has been resolved now, but until recently, wedding planning has been an absolute nightmare for me On the other hand, George's family has been really supportive of our decision for a small wedding so that was a major relief.

A few days before Thanksgiving, we decided that we wanted to see the Attic, since we were now only having a 25-person wedding. I showed pictures of the venue to George and he absolutely loved the view of the Boardwalk. We called Michelle and asked if we could go see the Attic in person before deciding. The day before Thanksgiving, she had her assistant meet us at the Boardwalk and immediately upon entering the venue, we both knew it was the one. We loved how intimate and kitschy it was, and that view of the Boardwalk/Epcot is just to die for.

It was settled. Our choices were made. Our ceremony would be at noon at the Wedding Pavilion and reception at the Attic. We both got to choose our favorite resorts to have our event at and I was super excited for our plans. We emailed Michelle our choices of event dates/times/locations about a week before the 12-month mark and from there on we had to wait on the dreaded lottery We were told that two other couples had requested the Wedding Pavilion for our time and date, but that there was no one to compete with for the Attic. We were nervous, but had our backup plans.

Finally, December 1st came and by 11AM we had an email from Michelle. And the verdict was...we got our first choices! To recap that, here are are times/dates/and venues for our wedding:

Date: Thursday, December 1, 2016
Ceremony: The Wedding Pavilion @ 12PM
Reception: The Attic, 1:00-4:00PM

Our Letter of Agreement came about two weeks later, and we officially signed it and sent the deposit in on Friday! So this is why I got engaged back in January, but have only started a planning journal now, almost a year later. But I can tell you know, that it is the best feeling in the world that I can now say I AM OFFICIALLY A DISNEY BRIDE!!! You all have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that I can't wait to share the planning process with all you lovely ladies!

 

[Seia]

Following along! Your first date and proposal stories are so sweet! I love that your first date was at the Osborne Lights.

Our stories are pretty similar, too. Before I got my DFTW, we actually had a hold on a wedding space here at home. But I couldn't bring myself to pay the deposit, because I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I'm glad it ended up working out for you, and you're getting your wedding the way you want! Your venues are beautiful - of course I'm obviously biased to the Attic .

Can't wait to see more.

 

[Lauren1027]

Following along! Your first date and proposal stories are so sweet! I love that your first date was at the Osborne Lights.

Our stories are pretty similar, too. Before I got my DFTW, we actually had a hold on a wedding space here at home. But I couldn't bring myself to pay the deposit, because I knew it wasn't what I wanted. I'm glad it ended up working out for you, and you're getting your wedding the way you want! Your venues are beautiful - of course I'm obviously biased to the Attic .

Can't wait to see more.

Thanks, Amanda! I'm so glad you're following along...your wedding is seriously one of my favorite ones and a HUGE reason why I chose the Attic as my venue of choice. Your pictures in the Attic (and everywhere for that matter) are just perfect.

I did end up paying the deposit for the venue of our "first" wedding, but thankfully it was fully refundable. Phew. Really dodged a bullet there. If it weren't refundable, that probably would have been a game-changer in our decision to switch to a Disney wedding. Now there's REALLY no turning back now, since Disney's hefty down payment is completely non-refundable. Lol. I wouldn't turn back on this wedding for anything though. I can't wait to really start getting into planning.

 

[Amanda132]

Hooray on getting your first choice venues! We had a lot of family drama/disagreement too, which continued pretty much all the way up to the wedding. But on our wedding day, everything was perfect! And no one has said anything bad about it since. Just remember why you want Disney and trust in the fact that Disney will prove themselves to all the nay-sayers!

 

[Lauren1027]

Hooray on getting your first choice venues! We had a lot of family drama/disagreement too, which continued pretty much all the way up to the wedding. But on our wedding day, everything was perfect! And no one has said anything bad about it since. Just remember why you want Disney and trust in the fact that Disney will prove themselves to all the nay-sayers!

Thanks Amanda! Getting our first choice was a huge relief. Talking about the wedding in front of my parents still seems to be a sensitive subject, but oh well. They said they will be there and will support me no matter what, but I just know my mom is just internally rolling her eyes at the whole thing. It just kind of hurts my feelings that she's so judgy.

 

[epcotcenter1982]

Thanks Amanda! Getting our first choice was a huge relief. Talking about the wedding in front of my parents still seems to be a sensitive subject, but oh well. They said they will be there and will support me no matter what, but I just know my mom is just internally rolling her eyes at the whole thing. It just kind of hurts my feelings that she's so judgy.

Your wedding is for YOU and YOUR FIANCE...that's it....

For me...I have 3 living relatives remaining. I never got to meet my mothers parents as they passed away when she was 12. My very close Great Aunt passed away a few years ago. The grandparents on the other side are also gone.
My fiancé has lots of friends who are like family but also very little close family.

We are doing a Disney wedding as it is what WE want and suits US. My parents and brother are coming and that's all who could make it. It will be amazing and that's because it's what we want.

I've been to weddings with 200 guests, 450 guests, 80 guests and about 100 guests. In each event there was little or no time for guest interaction as you went from ceremony to photos to cake cutting to each thing YOU need to do. Sure I enjoyed being a guest and being there with my friends as we celebrated a friend getting married. But me being there wasn't what made her day special at the end of the day. Those captured special moments between bride and groom are.

Do what YOU need to do. I'd give anything for more family but I'm not lucky enough...

 

[Lauren1027]

We Got Our Wedding Planner!

I'm so excited because we just found out who our DFTW Event Coordinator will be! We have Kristie!!! I'm so happy because I've heard SO many lovely things about her from reading Amanda and Jenn's planning journals. I'm going to email her back tonight so that we can set up a phone appointment with her at the beginning of January. If any of you had/have Kristie, please let me know the experience you had with her!

I also had an awesome mail day today! Aren't those the best? My Erin Condren wedding planner finally came in! I got a custom cover with a collage of our engagement pictures and I just love it. I can't wait to start journaling all of our plans in it. I'm a huge lover of physical calendars and planners and will always use those rather than electronic calendars. Has anyone else ever used Erin Condren planners before? This is my first experience with it and it seems a little bit overwhelming. This thing is seriously the mack-daddy of all planners.



Not only did I get my wedding planner, but my super sweet friend and fellow Disney bride, Molly (mollydagg), sent me these adorable Bride and Groom tumblers that she made herself. I haven't been part of this Disney bride community for very long, but I can honestly say that the support and friendships that I've made with you ladies has been the absolute best part. I can't wait to meet these amazing ladies in person one day.

 

[Molly.Dagg]

I am so happy that you love your cups! It's the little things that make a bride feel special. This is your fairytale wedding, and it's your big day! I am so excited to hopefully help you through this journey the best I can.

We Got Our Wedding Planner!

I'm so excited because we just found out who our DFTW Event Coordinator will be! We have Kristie!!! I'm so happy because I've heard SO many lovely things about her from reading Amanda and Jenn's planning journals. I'm going to email her back tonight so that we can set up a phone appointment with her at the beginning of January. If any of you had/have Kristie, please let me know the experience you had with her!

I also had an awesome mail day today! Aren't those the best? My Erin Condren wedding planner finally came in! I got a custom cover with a collage of our engagement pictures and I just love it. I can't wait to start journaling all of our plans in it. I'm a huge lover of physical calendars and planners and will always use those rather than electronic calendars. Has anyone else ever used Erin Condren planners before? This is my first experience with it and it seems a little bit overwhelming. This thing is seriously the mack-daddy of all planners.



Not only did I get my wedding planner, but my super sweet friend and fellow Disney bride, Molly (mollydagg), sent me these adorable Bride and Groom tumblers that she made herself. I haven't been part of this Disney bride community for very long, but I can honestly say that the support and friendships that I've made with you ladies has been the absolute best part. I can't wait to meet these amazing ladies in person one day.