Leiana and Dakota's PJ 4-27-09 DCL Wedding & Disneymoon. Day 9 is up!

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Ok where to start.

First off my name is Leiana I'm 27 years old and my DF name is Dakota and he is 23 years old.

We met at work and have been dating since May 9, 2007.

Now I will admit that I knew that a proposal was coming because 1. We talked about it for awhile before he purchased a ring and 2. He had to text me to ask what size ring I wore. (One thing everyone should know about me is that I really do not like surprises. I guess I prefer to have a level of control over all situations.)

So technically I started planning our wedding the end of November. It started with us thinking about doing a vacation trip and since my sister kept raving about her Disney Cruises I decided to look into it. We ended up choosing the April 26-30 cruise as April 29 is DF birthday and I always like to do something special for his birthday. Now at this point we had not decided on a wedding cruise yet.

But before I go into those details I'll tell you all about the proposal.

Now DF and I had a different work schedule over the Christmas season(He worked Mon-Fri 9-5 kind of thing and I worked various days overnight shift) so we never really saw much of each other for about 6 weeks. On the morning of Saturday December 13 I came home from work and the first thing that greeted me coming in the door was a single rose - just starting to bloom- with a note stating "This rose stands for our past, when we first started dating". It also said to go upstairs to find next note. The next rose was in a further stage of bloom and the note said "This rose stands for the present, yes now and then life seems crappy but things always get better." Then I was directed to our basement suite and the final rose in full bloom was there with a note saying "Here's to our ever blossoming future! Will you marry me?" And the ring box was sitting right next to it on the shelf. So I ran into the bedroom and jumped on the bed and woke him up and said YES!

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Well as I said we were planning a Disney Cruise the end of April '09 and my sister was doing all the planning for me as she knows better and I worked nights and I needed to sleep during the day. She asked me one morning if "you are pulling a Casandra and Ryan?" (my sister and her husband) meaning was I just gonna elope? I told her that I wasn't planning it but that's not a bad idea.

DF and I knew we wanted something small as even a more intimate wedding would be about a 100 people as he is the youngest of 10 kids

So that sets the wheels in motion with my sister contacting DFTW for me and finding out that we could get married on that cruise and booking it.

We have opted for a ceremony onboard Deck 7.

That same day my sister talked her husband into coming with us, so we have our first guests. About the same time as our engagement was announced my Dad said he wanted to come so my sis booked him as well. (We are still working on getting my mom to come with him)

Edit: I was extremely excited when my Aunt told me that since she was already having a family get together on the 9th of May for her 30th Wedding Anniversary and my Dad's 65th Birthday that we could just tack my wedding on there and we can even bring all of his family along. This will save us a bunch of money since we won't have to rent a hall. (I only have to bring some food and beverages)


Info so far:
Disney Wonder April 26-30, 2009
Ceremony April 27, 2009
DF Birthday April 29
Disneymoon Port Orleans French Quarter April 30 - May 7, 2009
At home reception with family May 9, 2009

 

[angelgurl]

Hi!!
I'm Leianas sister that is helping her out with her planning
Its so nice planning small destination weddings, not as stressful

Anyways I wanted to post for Leiana so you guys could see her invitations that she handed out

They are on whiter paper than the picture shows. But they are cute and simple

 

[PrincessShea]

Cute! I used the same scrapbook sticker for my save the dates, so good choice

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Thanks sis.

We printed those off on Christmas Eve so we could personally hand them out to all our relatives.

(Only 2 relatives and 2 of our friends left to go!)

The Mickey and Minnie was the choice of my fiance.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

As I promised both a pic of the two of us:

And the ring: (The digital camera and I did not agree so I found the pic online)

It is a very nice Swarovski Crystal ring. I am partial to Swarovski.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

So as time is ticking down and I finally have extra time off from work I have been thinking about my dress.

Someone at work also works in a bridal shop that her family owns so she is offering to help me out. They also said they can put a rush on the dress I pick.

Here is the one she is thinking of for me:
http://www.morilee.com/DressDetail.aspx?C=2&D=6106&P=1

I like it. We'll have to see if it suits me.

I will be trying on dresses on Tuesday.

Wish me luck! I'll probably need it.

 

[camara381]

Hi I just found your PJ first let me say congrats!! The invitations are really cute! I dress is gorgeous, let us know how it turns out. Here's some that it works out for you. The ring is beautiful I Swarvoski.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Hi I just found your PJ first let me say congrats!! The invitations are really cute! I dress is gorgeous, let us know how it turns out. Here's some that it works out for you. The ring is beautiful I Swarvoski.

Thank you. Everyone at work says that the ring suits me.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

So today was the big day! My friend and I headed to her mother's shop to look for the dress.

We already had an idea for the dress as you all may know and I guess fate was on my side. They had the dress in a size 20 (which is still a little too small for my upper half but otherwise it is perfect.

Please ignore the straps from my bra

It's lightweight, easy to put on [with the exception of the tie back] and I'm so happy that they had it in stock so I did not have to have one special ordered. They have already done the measurements for letting it out along the sides so that you do not see my back along the ties.

We would have done the length measurements but as I did not have my shoes picked out yet we could not. (more on this in a bit)

Now this has been a very productive weekend for me as I had 3 days off in a row for the first time in...well let's just say a VERY long time.

Sunday we picked up all those little things that I needed for the trip like clothespins, small extension cord, etc.

I also went to the drug store clsoe by and taked with the girl at the cosmetic counter about my make up. (As I do not wear any but I wanted to cover a few of my imperfections)

Here is the result, not enough that you can tell I'm wearing any but enough to cover the blotchiness on my face.

Monday I went to the mall to look for a tiara and my shoes.

Tiara was fun and easy. I went into the first shop they let me browse and no one bugged me.
Almost immediately I found one I liked and it was only $95. I kept looking and all of a sudden I found one that just screamed this is the one. It's $140 and I just knew that I had to have it.

The saleswoman and my sister both told me to hold off incase it clashes with the dress. So I did but I knew that it would not be an issue.

(UPDATE: I was able to buy it today as it will not clash with the dress at all and my friend loves it)


Shoes were a totally different issue...

So where I am we are in the dead of winter so try finding sandals. I found ones with heels but I can't wear any of them because I have a prior knee injury and footwear is priority one in making sure I can walk. Lets just say that for it being one of the largest malls in North America (West Edmonton Mall) and having all those shoe stores I did not find anything I liked.

In the fall I saw a pair of shoes that I liked from Sears but I did not order them. Of course they sold out and that is what put me in this dilemma.

That was until today. I drove to the North end of the city and tried a Bridal Shop up there and they had the usual heels, heels and more heels but all of a sudden I found the perfect sandals. No heels, dyeable if I need to ever change the colour and they were even $10 cheaper than the ones from Sears.
I tried on the size 9 but it did not fit. So they salesgirl is special ordering an 8 and 8.5 to make sure I get the right size and they'll just keep the other one to sell.

So today I killed 3 birds - not literally of course.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

So yesterday I had my second dress fitting.

The dress is so much better. My back doesn't hang out between the strings anymore.

My sandals aren't in yet but we just measured the length to a pair of my other sandals.

You should have seen the look on the seamstresses face when she saw my crappy old sandals. She felt so much better when she found out that we were only using them for height. They are honestly that bad, well compared to the dress anyway.

DF has not gotten around to shopping for his suit. He says that next month he'll go looking. He likes to put things off.

Anyone else have this problem? LOL

Most of my guests have confirmed with me (6 people so far)
Two of my friends may not be able to come but here's hoping.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

All my updates:

Last Monday my sandals came in so I was able to pick them up on the Tuesday. They look so nice and in wearing them around the house I found they are easy to walk in and feel comfortable. So now I know I made the right choice. DF loves them too. (It'll have to tide him over since we both want the dress to be a surprise)

On January 30th I made my final payment on the cruise.
I booked my Palo dinner as well as a brunch for DF birthday. Works out in my favour that the At Sea day is also his birthday.

My friends confirmed they are coming and as of Tuesday (final payments due) I will have 8 guests confirmed and paid in full.

I'm really getting excited now!

I asked my friend Nicolle to do my makeup for my wedding day and she was so excited that I asked her. On Wednesday we did a trial run so she could get a handle on what she was gonna do for my wedding. We went a little different from my last trial but it looked awesome. And while it took a few trys to get something we were both happy with. It was still fun.

Oh yeah and DF picked up his suit on January 31 so all he has left is shoes that need to be bought.

The only real big things we have left are wedding bands and I'm still trying to decide on jewellry.

I'm trying to choose between Swarovski crystals for my necklace and earrings as it will look good with my engagement ring or if I should up the ante and go with diamonds. My sister has pearls she could lend me but I don't really like the look of pearls in general. I am so confused.

I have picked the Swarovski I like but I'm afraid that if I buy them I'll change my mind and want to go the opposite direction. I'll keep you posted on what I decide.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

So I decided on Swarovski for both earrings and necklace.

We picked those up last week at the same time we also picked out wedding bands.

Everything has pretty much fallen into place.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

So today I had my final dress fitting. I brought my friend along so she could practice doing up the laces.

Everything went great so I was able to pay for the alterations and I was able to take it home with me.

I have it hiding out at my parents house so my DF can not see it.

7 1/2 weeks to go

 

[camara381]

Wow you're getting so close!!!!! You must be so excited!!!! Love the pickups on the skirt of the dress!!!

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Wow you're getting so close!!!!! You must be so excited!!!! Love the pickups on the skirt of the dress!!!

Oh you can only imagine. Sometimes I'm not sure if it's the wedding or the trip I'm looking forward to most

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

My Aunt e-mailed me today and asked if she could host a wedding shower for me. I obviously told her yes and now I just have to see what day its going to be.

Probably will be soon as they leave on their own Panama Canal cruise just after Easter.

Time is sure flying.

 

[Bride-to-be]

I can't believe I just found your PJ. I LOVE your invitations!!! I used the same sticker on DFs anniversary card last year. Its one of my favorites! Your dress is gorgeous! The pick ups totally remind me of Belle.

We are also doing a DCL wedding in Jan of 2010. I can't wait to hear about all of the details. I really want to know what you pick as far as the cake and flowers etc. Are all of you guys having dinner in Palo after? Are you going to wear your dress to dinner? I have sooo many questions!!!! I am so excited for you!

 

[princess22]

Just found your PJ also! Don't know how I missed it! Everything looks great, the dress is gorgeous!

I also have the problem with the procrastinating DF. Everyone has been telling him since the beginning of Jan. to pick a best man and he still hasn't. I'm starting to get worried!

Can't wait to read more. It's not long until you can start your TR!

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

I can't believe I just found your PJ. I LOVE your invitations!!! I used the same sticker on DFs anniversary card last year. Its one of my favorites! Your dress is gorgeous! The pick ups totally remind me of Belle.

We are also doing a DCL wedding in Jan of 2010. I can't wait to hear about all of the details. I really want to know what you pick as far as the cake and flowers etc. Are all of you guys having dinner in Palo after? Are you going to wear your dress to dinner? I have sooo many questions!!!! I am so excited for you!

I've been following your PJ as well.

You know I'm surprised I never posted about all the things I've chosen. I let Dakota choose the cake filling (as long as I could have a chocolate cake) so he chose the Strawberry mousse. It'll be the round cake you see on the Disney Wedding site under cruise wedding. So simple with the white icing. We both decided to pay the extra $50 and get the calla lilly for our flowers. I wanted the burgundy but he said that the orange/yellow was a nicer colour. I don't particularily care about flowers so I agreed. Besides its nice he wants to have a choice.

I'm pretty sure that I mentioned that I want the ceremony on deck 7. Because I figure it'll make for some nicer pics. That being said I'll probably get rain and have to have it indoors anyway.
I never really asked for anything extra (like different decor or such) but thats because we're both so laid back that just the basic stuff seems perfect to us.

The two of us have a private dinner the night of our ceremony. My sister and I figured that since the ceremony will be between 4:30 and 6:00 pm and our dinner is at 8:00pm the same time as our regular second seating dining we should have enough time in between to chat and celebrate. We may also just meet up at one of the bars later to just hang out and relax.

I am planning on wearing the dress to dinner. My friend and I decided we may just loosen the strings on the back of the dress a bit after the pictures are taken so that it'll be more comfortable to sit while I enjoy my dinner.

Don't worry I will definitely be posting pics of the ceremony.

If you have any other questions just ask. I've been answering questions for my relatives, friends and co-workers non-stop and since its getting closer the questions are constant. But I'm happy to answer them.