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

[pinkcow]

Sounds great!! Keep it coming!

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Ok I've logged onto my laptop so here's the photos I promised

Dakota on the plane

Hyatt Hotel Room

Rockin' Balcony View

Pool View

Hyatt Fountain

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Great pics! Can't wait to see more.

 

[29apr00]

woo hoo! Keep going!!

 

[CinderelliT]

Yay! Pictures! And a gorgeous bouquet.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Couple more wedding pics to tide you over!

By the way if you're not big drinkers the sparkling cider was to die for!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Yay for more pictures! You look fantastic! Keep it comin'.

 

[Bride-to-be]

I can't wait to see more pictures!!!

I also have a question? I thought the Captain only did VRs? Now I am totally confused. Does he only do weddings on the ship?

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

I can't wait to see more pictures!!!

I also have a question? I thought the Captain only did VRs? Now I am totally confused. Does he only do weddings on the ship?

Now as far as I know the Captain will do both. Since by the time you get to your wedding ceremony onboard you are technically already married there is no problem with him performing the ceremony.
There may also be times that the Captain may have other obligations so they will send another bridge officer to do it but I don't think that has ever happened.
The Captain usually picks the time of your ceremony to make sure there are no other conflicts.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Start of Cruise:

Well as I said I was up at 8 am because we planned to meet everyone downstairs in the hotel lobby by 8:30 and register for the DCL transfer to port. Dakota grabbed some McD's (yes I know we're unoriginal) I still had a slight upset stomach so I had a little orange juice.

The check-in at the hotel for the transfers was easy. I mean we don't qualify for the advance check-in for US citizens but it was still simple.
We made the first bus at 9:30 but it was a kinda painful wait because you're in the airport watching the DCL bus circle and hope that it's yours. Getting on the bus was rewarding. You know that you're on the way to the ship and soon to be married!

Now it may have been just me but the bus ride down was kinda bumpy.

Security check was fine but I forgot my luggage key was attached to the money holder so of course I set off the alarm. Otherwise the whole process went smoothy and soon we had our boarding card with a No. 7 on it. We laughed because my Aunt and Uncle took a little longer since they were getting an upgrade and they got a number 8. (my friends came way later and got a No. 12)

Once we finally got on and had our welcome pictures taken we dropped off my dress at guest services and met up with my family over at Parrot Cay.
I was happy by this point that I got to eat. Boy did I not even know what to choose. The best part of the meal was when Goofy came over to the table and started giving everyone water. He got to my Dad and since there wasn't much water left he grabbed a fork and started scrapping the water out of the pitcher.

By the time lunch was done we were able to go to our stateroom. I highly recommend the Secret Porthole Rooms! We had 5520 and the view is in my opinion only slightly obstructed. I ordered 4 stateroom gifts and they were waiting in the room. (I was also pleasantly surprised by the sparkling cider and cheese & crackers that I guess were just treats from the cruise for having a wedding on board) I thought it was cute when DH was opening the presents I ordered I had the tag say "From your furry friends" and he thought that it was from the characters. I told him it was from our cats. Then he understood.

We headed up on deck and had our picture taken with some of the characters.

At 3 pm we met with the groups coordinator Rodrigo Padilla to go over all the details of the ceremony and give him the CD of our songs. He doubled checked all the details in the planning kit that we sent in. I think we made it simple since we didn't need anything extra and the dress was already dropped off. This was also when we went over to the Walt Disney Theatre and had our civil ceremony done. It was short and sweet and only I screwed up some of the words. (DH decided to say it almost at the same time as he was so nervous and he did not want to screw up) It's nice that they block off the area so it's nice and quiet plus that way when you're all nervous you don't have an audience to your mortification.
By this time it was almost 3:45 and we had to get up for the mandatory boat drill. It wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

We grabbed a spot on deck 10 and watched the sail away party until they shot off the confetti and then left.

Back to the room to open the cider and watch the ship leave port.

It felt so good to relax for the first time. Since we had late dining we got to see the early show. "The Golden Mickey's" seeing it for the first time was incredible. I mean all the work they put into it really shows.

After the show we got ready for dinner, which was in Parrot Cay, and headed down to eat. I really needed to eat again I was already starting to feel a little ill again. It was worth the wait. While it wasn't my favourite of the 3 restaurants I still found plenty to eat.

You will probably be disappointed to hear that instead of heading out to the pool or one of the clubs we both called it a night. I was completely exhausted! At least the rest of my family went out and had a good time.

Here's the little friend that greeted us:

 

[CinderelliT]

Thanks for the updates! I am very excited to see all the pictures, but I am a little worried about the wedding photographer. He doesn't seem very good. I don't want to have to pay a bunch of money for silly photos. At least my DH and I will be able to do pics of each other and the kids by ourselves. At this rate, I may just bring the tripods and the remote and do it ourselves!!!

It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I love the character pics!

 

[29apr00]

Great update so far! I'm very excited to hear the rest!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Sounds like a great first day--can't wait for more!

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Thanks for the updates! I am very excited to see all the pictures, but I am a little worried about the wedding photographer. He doesn't seem very good. I don't want to have to pay a bunch of money for silly photos. At least my DH and I will be able to do pics of each other and the kids by ourselves. At this rate, I may just bring the tripods and the remote and do it ourselves!!!

It looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I love the character pics!

You do get to choose what types of photos they're going to take. That's part of the coordinator discussion. They will ask for a list of all the shots you want and they then make sure you get those shots. (Time allowing)
I think he also took stock of the type of people we are and chose some shots to make if fun.
The nice thing is that even if you say wanted the $1000.00 "Magic Package" they do not charge you until you go in and put the order in for the pictures you want. You may just have to give back the disc and prints they send to the room. (But I am not 100% sure on this)

I guess photography is always going to be a touchy subject. Everyone I've showed my photos to has said how great my photographer is and how much they love the photos.

I guess all that matters is that I love them right.

 

[29apr00]

I think they are great Leiana!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

You do get to choose what types of photos they're going to take. That's part of the coordinator discussion. They will ask for a list of all the shots you want and they then make sure you get those shots. (Time allowing)

Thanks for this info--I didn't realize they did this. Your pics are beautiful.

 

[CinderelliT]

I wasn't trying to offend you by any means! I hope that you didn't take it as such! Fun pics are always some of our couples favorites too. I just have an idea in my head of what I want, and it takes a pretty experienced photographer to capture that. So, I may not be able to get it. Also, I think that they charge an exuberant amount of money compared to what you get, so it may not be worth it for us to spend the extra money for extra time.

I do think that some of the shots you got are great. I love the one of the two of you looking over the railing, and the formal shot of you guys inside the ship. Please keep posting! I am so curious to know all about the trip and the big day.

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

I wasn't trying to offend you by any means! I hope that you didn't take it as such! Fun pics are always some of our couples favorites too. I just have an idea in my head of what I want, and it takes a pretty experienced photographer to capture that. So, I may not be able to get it. Also, I think that they charge an exuberant amount of money compared to what you get, so it may not be worth it for us to spend the extra money for extra time.

I do think that some of the shots you got are great. I love the one of the two of you looking over the railing, and the formal shot of you guys inside the ship. Please keep posting! I am so curious to know all about the trip and the big day.

Don't worry I know what you mean about wanting a certain "look". I felt bad for our photographer in a way because I only asked for one pic of Dad and me and one pic of me and my sister. I'm no help!

I will have wedding details up before Sunday night. Just have to get all my jumbled thoughts together.

Another sneak peek. Dakota's first reaction as he saw me walking down the aisle. (Taken by my Brother-in-Law)

 

[Sleeping_Beauty81]

Day 2 of Cruise : Nassau Day/ Wedding Day

I was glad to have that sleep. Hoped to sleep in and I guess we did. Only woke up when we heard the little pings in the hall from Cruise Director Ray saying we could disembark. My sister called me a short while later to ask if I was at least going to get off the boat and have a look at the Straw Market. I told her no I didn't want the hassle of people trying to get me to buy stuff. (No extra stress on my wedding day)

Dakota and I headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet to have some breakfast. It was still busy inside so we decided to go have our meal outside. Not a good idea! First off it was insane windy as I said before and not only that the sea gulls were out in full force trying to steal food. Funny story there; Dakota saw one take a Mickey waffle off a plate that was left behind at a nearby table. It got a short way into the air and dropped it over the side of the ship. It landed with a "clang" onto a metal roof on the dock below. LOL
We still toughed it out and finished our meal and then headed back over towards the Gazebo on deck 9 since there were characters out and about. (We both really enjoyed seeing the characters) Thankfully my Aunt's family hadn't gone for their excursion yet so she took some pictures for us.

We decided to do some wandering about the ship. Dropping off our fish extender gifts and taking a look at Deck 7 Aft.

Found the twosome we were hoping to find the Atrium.

We were basically trying to stay out of our stateroom hostesses way. When we did get back we found some cookies waiting for us as well a note from the coordinator giving us a timeline for the day. They were soft and chewy, the way I like them. So I had a couple of them and some more of the sparkling cider. Not long after Rodrigo stopped by and dropped of my dress. It was still wrapped in the sheet so DH could not see it.

I decided to take a shower and then lay down for a nap while Dakota wandered around the ship and got me a pop. My friend Nicolle called me around 2 ish to come and have lunch with her and her husband. So I left a note for DH and told him to meet us at BB Buffet. The wind had gone down. I looked down to see if they had started set up but they had not at that point. Although they did start blocking off deck 9 aft; just outside BB Buffet. Not sure if that's normal for when they close down the Buffet or if it was for the deck cleaning and set up below.

At 2:50 I left them all and headed over to Vista Spa to get my hair done. (With one quick stop to the room to get my tiara) Apparently Dakota used this time to get ready. My hair stylist Carmella was awesome. The night before I got into the Spa just before she left for the night and I had a chance to let her know kind of what I was hoping for and she came up with perfect style for my wedding. I wanted my hair mostly down but some of it could be up so the tiara could sit properly. I also wanted it loosely curled.
The funny thing is that the other bride was in before me and I guess she was kind of nervous because everyone commented on how I was the most calm bride they had ever met. I told them that I had just woken up so maybe that was why. Another lady came in to have her nails done and she said "I'm nervous for her!" It was alot of hair spray and bobby pins but in the end it was gorgeous and totally worth the $65.

I told Dakota that once my hair was done that he'd have to go down to our friends room and get ready while Nicolle came up and helped me get ready. He told me our flowers had been dropped off while I was out.

Couldn't tell you what time it was when we finished up but I called my room and told Dakota that he had to go down to Nicolle and Gerard's room so that he didn't see my hair. We almost had a close call as I was too fast in getting down to deck 5 so I almost ran into him. Now he says that he didn't see my hair because he knew that I'd be mad if he did. Hopefully he's right.
Called Nicolle as well to let her know to come up to my room so we could do my makeup. She was still getting ready so I had to wait a bit. I used this time to take some pics of my hair and put on my jewellery.

My sister had come back from Atlantis and I told her that once she's ready she'll come up to grab the rings and Dakota's flowers.

We kind of liked that they gave us the choice of flower colour for Dakota so we had an extra one to give my Dad.

Thank heavens for television it gave me something to keep my mind occupied while I waited for Nicolle. I was starting to really get nervous. I've never been good at waiting and I was actually looking out the door every few minutes to see if she was coming. I was nice I even set out all the makeup and brushes as well as kleenex and makeup wipes. I wanted to be prepared. So it was maybe 4:30/4:40 when she got to my room but since we had done some trials beforehand it never took that long. Didn't even have to worry about it not turning out the first time.
Next was the sandals. Sadly I can't bend my knees very much so it made doing up the straps on my sandals tough.
Lastly the dress. It probably took the least amount of time because it's just a tie back dress so lots of threading. My sister showed up at 5:00 to pick up everything. We finished at 5:10. Ceremony was going to be at 5:30 and Nicolle had to meet Dakota and the rest of the guests on deck at 5:15. Apparently she took off her shoes and ran the entire length of the ship in her bare feet.

Now came the mega worrying! I had to wait for about 5 minutes for Rodrigo to show up and bring me down to the deck. So I stood in the front area of the stateroom and paced. Not too long to wait but it seems like an eternity.

Finally he knocks on the door and off we go towards deck 7 Aft. Along the way we see all the people leaving for dinner and getting back to their rooms after the port day. Lots of "Congratulations" and other such compliments ensued. We get to the area where my Dad is waiting for me and it really hits you, the music is playing on the deck and all of a sudden the door is opened and out you go.

All I could think is OMG everyone is looking at me! and Thankfully the sun in not in my eyes. Oh and Dakota looks really good in the suit. Someone must've finally helped him with the tie.
Vows were identical to the civil ceremony so it wasn't too big a deal and Capt. John read them sentence by sentence so it was easier to remember what you were supposed to say. Only real snag came when Dakota was putting on my ring. The Captain says "as you put the ring on her correct finger" and he tried to put the ring on my middle finger. (Dakota says the ship moved and it moved me a little bit and that is why the mistake.) We all laughed because its funny.
I was smart and held his hand as I put his ring on. At last came "You may kiss the Bride". For anyone who was wondering I just wore my engagement ring on the opposite hand and switched it after the vows.

You'd think that all my worries would be gone but oh no! As I may have said before neither my husband nor father wanted to dance and those were the only dances that were planned. Horrible thing is that Dakota never looked at the websites I bookmarked for him so even though it was a slow dance he still did not know what to do and I had to lead. Hopefully it doesn't look too awkward on the video. I still haven't watched it. I'm too horrified!
Dad just wanted to hold hands and just step back and forth. It wasn't bad. I decided to keep him relaxed by asking about his day and about the Atlantis Resort.
I hope my guests liked the songs I picked. First Dance: "Greatest Story Ever Told" by Oliver James
Father/Daughter: "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that during the vows Dakota didn't speak too loudly so I'm not sure if everyone heard him. I did but I was next to him. My sister said that she had trouble hearing him and on the video you do not hear him at all. I have a more resonant voice so you could hear me.

Next up was the cake cutting: We get an "F" since our piece got smooshed. For the toast my Dad welcomed Dakota to the family, seemed fitting since it was only my family there.
We had about 15 - 20 minutes or photo time left so at this point we wished everyone adieu and headed off for our photos around the ship. Along the way we met up with some people from our Cruise Meet. We even stopped and had Jovan (our photographer) take a couple photos with her and her girls. The girls were so happy they really wanted to see the bride. Afterwards we had some photos taken outside the shops on deck 4 as well as the customary photos in front of the staircase and piano by Tritons.

Soon enough our time was up and we headed down to Nicolle's room so she could loosen the ties on my dress so that I would be able to sit down at dinner. (Boning in my dress made that a little more difficult then you would've imagined)

Of course as luck would have it I needed to use the bathroom and had to deal with it by myself but it didn't turn out too bad. As I was leaving a lady commented on my dress and said "Just so you know my daughter asked which princess you are" It made me feel so good.

Now all we had to do was wait for the characters to come out in their formal outfits. At 7:15 came Donald we were second in line so afterwards we decided to do some lifestyle portraits as well. Everyone loves the Tink one. Then we lined up in the ever growing line for Mickey.
Now here came the hitch in our plans. Palo was at 8 and the Minnie line for 7:45 was already longer than our Mickey line so we knew we'd never get both. My sister stopped by to chat before they headed off for dinner at Tritons and we decided that maybe I should ask if I could get both of them. (Rodrigo told us that sometimes they may let you get a quick picture in - a bride/groom perk) So we got up there and as the CM (Adam) was taking our KTTW card I said "I already know the answer but could we get both Mickey and Minnie together for a quick shot because we have a Palo reservation in 10 minutes -100% true BTW- and we won't be able to get her". I fully expected him to say no but he astounded me and said "I'll get in trouble but yes, give me a second" So we told the photographer we were getting Minnie to come over as well and you should've seen the look Mickey had when we told him Minnie was coming too! It was cute when they hugged each other and pretended to kiss. Minnie even tried to steal my husband away. This photo is my favourite one. And I did not have to pay the $550/ character.

(I felt bad that I was holding up both lines but this was one picture I really wanted...So if anyone reading this was in either line "I'm sorry!")

After we had the picture taken I had to book it up to Palo for our 8pm reservation. I was able to move pretty quickly in that wedding dress. You should've seen me booking it!
We even ran into the other Bride and Groom their reservation was around the same time as ours. They were a really nice couple from Louisiana and we had a little chat about their photo shoot on Castaway Cay the next day and just how the day went.

The food at Palo was awesome. I had the chef's special pasta and a panna cotta for dessert. We don't remember what Dakota ate except for the Chocolate Souffle. By the time dessert came I was started to become really uncomfortable from the dress and shoes so we finished up thanked our server and headed back to the room to get me out of the dress.

Oh that was the best time it felt so good to get it off and get into some comfy clothes! I sent Dakota down to get a picture taken with Chip and Dale but if I had known that Donald and Daisy would've been right after I would've stayed in the dress and sucked it up. That would've been another pic to go with the Mickey/Minnie one. So as he did that I was in Shutters picking up a photo package (6 - 6x8 & 8 - 8x10) and checking out some of our photos.

Oh and this little friend was waiting for us.

He got back to the room and told me about Donald and Daisy, I was happy he did get them but admitted that I saw him go line up for them. We then called my friends and left a message to meet us at the Quiet Cove pool if they got back in time.

So that is how we ended our Wedding Day in the hot tub of the Quiet Cove pool all by ourselves.

I will try to get the character pictures uploaded but I do not have a scanner and they were part of the photo package I mentioned.

More ceremony pics to come later they have to be uploaded to my photobucket.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I loved reading about your wedding day! Sounds perfect. Your flowers were gorgeous--love that color combo and it goes so well with the tropical setting. Your hair and tiara looked great.

So cool that you got a picture with Mickey and Minnie together. Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures.