Lindsay & Ryan's Wishes PJ 10/25/13 **Planning Session TR Pt 4! 5/21/13**

[tinydancr06]

So, in that last mini update I totally forgot to tell you about the biggest wedding-related thing coming up! I don't think I've mentioned this before but Ryan and I's parents have never met! My parents live near us in south Florida but Ryan's dad was in the air force so they currently live in NJ even though they are originally from Tampa. Our parents have talked through facebook, on the phone, and even on Skype on holidays but the in person thing just hasn't worked out ... until now!

Ryan just finished school and moved to south Florida with me and his parents have never seen the area or our new place so they are trying to find a weekend to come down and visit within the next couple of months! I'm super excited about this because we've spent lots of time with both sets of parents but never everyone together. We're lucky that we both have good relationships with our parents and we are really looking forward to this. We plan on showing them around and doing some fun stuff while they're here so I'll let you know about our plans.

I can't believe I forgot this! I would definitely say it's important to the wedding!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Hope everything runs smoothly for you on the day your parents meet. It has to be less stressful seeing as they have actaul had contact before just not face to face.

My partner and I got his parents and my Mum & her husband to meet over Dinner after a year of us living together. We planned it so when we do get engaged we don't want to have to deal with them meeting except my Dad which we will try to leave til last minute LOL

 

[tinydancr06]

Glad things seem to be going well.

Thanks for following along. So far, so good!

Hope everything runs smoothly for you on the day your parents meet. It has to be less stressful seeing as they have actaul had contact before just not face to face.

My partner and I got his parents and my Mum & her husband to meet over Dinner after a year of us living together. We planned it so when we do get engaged we don't want to have to deal with them meeting except my Dad which we will try to leave til last minute LOL

You were very smart to have your parents meet before your engagement. Then no surprises if there's any drama! Hopefully all goes well when our parents meet. I hope it goes well for you when your dad gets added to the mix!

 

[CourtenayB]

Adorable!!!!! Love everything about this PJ. You two are sweet as can be and I love how much thought was put into that proposal. Great guy! Ring is gorgeous, everything is wonderful! Following along.

 

[CourtenayB]

Oh...and I am also a South Florida girl! Grew up in Fort Lauderdale (Weston). Had a ton of friends at FSU. Glad to see another SoFla lady on the boards!

 

[tinydancr06]

Adorable!!!!! Love everything about this PJ. You two are sweet as can be and I love how much thought was put into that proposal. Great guy! Ring is gorgeous, everything is wonderful! Following along.

Thank you so much! Approval from a fellow DIS bride always makes my day

Oh...and I am also a South Florida girl! Grew up in Fort Lauderdale (Weston). Had a ton of friends at FSU. Glad to see another SoFla lady on the boards!

That's so exciting! I actually did my teaching internship in Weston at Cypress Bay High School for 6 months. I loved it and Weston is such a nice place.

 

[CourtenayB]

That's so funny! What a small world, as they say. Weston has changed so much since I moved...Cypress Bay wasn't even around then...or it was just being built. We had to go to class in an annex until we got into 11th grade. Blech!

Keep us posted, I am enjoying your PJ.

 

[tinydancr06]

That's so funny! What a small world, as they say. Weston has changed so much since I moved...Cypress Bay wasn't even around then...or it was just being built. We had to go to class in an annex until we got into 11th grade. Blech!

Keep us posted, I am enjoying your PJ.

I've heard stories about the annex situation. So crazy!

I'm glad you like everything so far!

 

[tinydancr06]

Now that I've made Sleeping Beauty the central theme for our wedding, I've added a bit to my original inspiration board to show how everything fits together. I think it's preeeeetty ...

In addition to just adding Sleeping Beauty prettiness to my inspiration board, I've also thought of a bunch of ways to incorporate the theme throughout the wedding. Here's what I've got so far:


Inspiration: Aurora's Necklace

For the Wedding: V-Shaped Necklace

I want to find a necklace with a similar v-shape to what Aurora wears. To me, her necklace is so unique and I love how it kind of mimics her dress! I think this would be a fun sort of secret touch that no one but me would really notice. It probably won't be the Harry Winston Natalie Portman wore to the Oscars though...


Inspiration: Dancing on Clouds

For the Wedding: Clouding Down the Aisle

I just love when Aurora and Philip dance on clouds in the final scene of the movie. I somehow randomly found this "walking on clouds" aisle decor idea online and I love it! I'm not sure what materials exactly would be used to get the look without it looking tacky but I think this could be so cool and would be another Sleeping Beauty related touch.


Inspiration: Make it Pink!/Make it Blue!

For the Wedding: Pink and Blue Up-Lighting

The blue/pink controversy is such a big deal in Sleeping Beauty so it HAS to show up in the wedding somehow. DF actually had the idea to have up-lighting alternating between pink and blue throughout the reception and I think that would be so cool! We would want it to be a gradual change to where you almost don't even notice if that were possible. My future hubby has great ideas

Those are our ideas for now but I'm sure the list will grow and change. I love finding sneaky ways to incorporate the theme!


We leave for our site visit trip on Friday (yayayay!!!) so if you don't hear from me again by then expect a trip report and site visit details next week. I can't wait!!!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Love the latest ideas. Especially the uplighting gradually changing colours.

 

[tinydancr06]

Love the latest ideas. Especially the uplighting gradually changing colours.

Thank you! Hopefully the lighting thing can work out. We'll see how it goes when we get down to costs!

 

[tinydancr06]

So, we leave for WDW super early in the morning and I'm so excited! I should definitely be sleeping right now but whatever. I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have been reading along so far. You've really made this process so much fun so far and I am very thankful. Site visit and trip details when we get back!

 

[CinderALLIE]

What kind of a person could possibly be able to sleep when they are going to Disney the next day? LOL

Look forward to when you get back and hearing all the details.

 

[DisneyBrideCKB]

I know you're off gallivanting around Disney right now, but I wanted to say have a GOOD TRIP! I can't wait to hear all about it!!

Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE you're planning board ideas! You and I are going for the same bridesmaid dress! I'm not even joking! Great minds think alike! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

 

[Wshs0127]

Joining in....love everything so far. I'm another 2013 bride, I get to book my date next month. I hope you are enjoying your site visit and I hope the parks aren't too crowded for you.

 

[tinydancr06]

What kind of a person could possibly be able to sleep when they are going to Disney the next day? LOL

Look forward to when you get back and hearing all the details.

Haha! I don't know what kind of person that would be but it's definitely not me!

Details coming soon!

I know you're off gallivanting around Disney right now, but I wanted to say have a GOOD TRIP! I can't wait to hear all about it!!

Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE you're planning board ideas! You and I are going for the same bridesmaid dress! I'm not even joking! Great minds think alike! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Thank you! We had a blast! I'm glad you like everything! How gorgeous are those BM dresses? You have great taste!

Joining in....love everything so far. I'm another 2013 bride, I get to book my date next month. I hope you are enjoying your site visit and I hope the parks aren't too crowded for you.

Yay for 2013! I'm jealous you get to book your date soon. I have to wait until October! Thanks so much for reading!

 

[CourtenayB]

Wow! Your Sleeping Beauty theme is amazing and beautiful. The inspiration board really gives us a good idea of what it will be like. And those clouds down the isle! Gah!!!! I am in love. Great idea! If I wasn't already deep into the Little Mermaid theme I would totally do the Sleeping Beuaty idea...It's my second favorite Disney movie. I am happy to see a fellow DIS bride doing this, it's so great. Can't wait to see what else you have in store. -Court-

 

[tinydancr06]

Wow! Your Sleeping Beauty theme is amazing and beautiful. The inspiration board really gives us a good idea of what it will be like. And those clouds down the isle! Gah!!!! I am in love. Great idea! If I wasn't already deep into the Little Mermaid theme I would totally do the Sleeping Beuaty idea...It's my second favorite Disney movie. I am happy to see a fellow DIS bride doing this, it's so great. Can't wait to see what else you have in store. -Court-

I'm so glad you like the theme! Little Mermaid is a fabulous theme, though. I can't take credit for the cloud idea but I love it, too!

 

[tinydancr06]

NOTE: This will be long and picture filled because I am just too excited! Feel free to skim or read in pieces. Haha.

Hi, everyone! We’re back from our awesome weekend trip and I have lots to tell you all. It was a quick trip but don’t worry, we squeezed a lot in! Before I start the trip report I want to say that if you are having a DFTW and have the means, definitely do a site visit! It was totally worth the trip for us. I was kind of thinking that, because we are still far out from our date, our site visit would be super general and not specific to us but that was definitely not the case. Also, before I get to the trip itself, I forgot to tell you guys that our consultant was changed. I had been communicating (or playing phone tag) with Bill but the day before we left for WDW I got a call from Diane and she told us that she was now our consultant and would be doing our site visit. This didn’t bother me because of the limited amount of contact I had with Bill and because she sounded very nice and Disney-like. Now, on to day one!

Friday morning we got up ridiculously early because we wanted to get to WDW with ample time before our ADR at GF Café. It was also going to be our first time staying at POR so I didn’t want to get there and then have to rush out immediately. We got on the road around 6 am but about 5 minutes out Ryan realized we had forgotten the camera! Probably the worst thing to forget! So, we went back to get it and then we were off. The 2 and a halfish hour trip was uneventful. We stopped at a rest stop at some point and I got my traditional Disney brochure thingy.

When we got to Orlando and I could see the Characters in Flight balloon up in the air we were really starting to get excited. No matter how many times I go to Disney I always get giddy like a little kid when we arrive. Here we are excitedly waiting at a stop light close to Disney property.

And finally, one of the best moments of any Disney trip was here!

We found our way over to POR, parked, and headed to the lobby. We had done online check-in and noted that we would be getting in around 9 am but we weren’t expecting to get into our room until later. Surprise! Our room was ready! This made me really happy and it got even better when we found out we were in one of the mansions because I had been hoping for that. We were in Magnolia Terrace on the first floor. We didn’t have any special view but we got to park super close to our room which was nice. We were also right next to the quiet pool which would have been great had we remembered our bathing suits! Anyway, we hopped in the car and headed to our building. The room was very nice (especially since we often stay value) and I am always elated to see the Mickey towel!

I have to say, if anyone is ever on the fence about staying moderate or value, go with moderate if at all possible. To me, the bathroom size alone was worth it. It was so much bigger than any of the values’ bathrooms!

There is also just a lot more to do at the moderates. They have better themed pools, more places to eat (and drink!), and have great activities. We will definitely stay at POR again and plan on taking advantage of some of their offerings like the carriage rides and boat rentals.

After we spent a little bit of time in the room we headed out to the Grand Floridian. Our ADR was for 10:50 am and we didn’t want to be late! We had a bit of direction/parking confusion but eventually got through the MK gates (the free parking for site visits is a nice perk!) and parked in the WP/Francks lot. I never realized how close in proximity Francks is to the WP! This amazed me for some reason. On our walk over to the main building, we got our first glimpse of the DVC construction. Honestly, as of right now I really don’t think it’s bad at all. The walls that block the site from view are a light blue and, to me, aren’t too much of an eye sore. There was no upward construction yet either which is good, too. If I were having my wedding at the WP tomorrow, I really wouldn’t be worried about the construction at all. I am not sure about when the construction really gets under way, though. :/ I’ll have some construction pics later in the TR. We kept walking past the Health Club and finally reached the main building. Sigh…it is oh so beautiful.

We wandered a little bit more…

…and then headed into the building. Prior to this trip I had only been to the GF once in my whole life and it was probably for about 5 minutes. It was also a long time ago so my memory of it wasn’t very clear. Well, I have completely fallen in LOVE with that place!!! Of course, everyone knows it is nice but the general feeling of the whole resort is right up my alley. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fan of shabby chic/vintage décor and the GF certainly fits that bill. The GF even smells amazing! I could tell they were pumping in some sort of scent and was very curious as to what it was (that will come up later). I think I’ve mentioned it before but I am obsessed with perfume and scents in general so I just had to know. I even use one of Disney’s room sprays in our apartment. Anyway, after I was done gawking over the scent, we found my favorite staircase! I absolutely adore the photos of brides on this staircase so, of course, I had to get one of my own. Not quite as pretty, though…

After that it was time for our ADR so we found the GF Café and got seated right away. The room was so beautiful and I loved all of the natural light.

Our waitress was very nice but her name escapes me. Ryan ordered the Maple Vanilla French Toast. He loved every bite. It was delicious!

I got the Mickey Waffle. Surprisingly enough I’d never had one! It was probably the best waffle I’ve ever had. Even the sausage was amazing! I will definitely be having Mickey waffles again.

 

[tinydancr06]

After breakfast (brunch?) we had some time before our site visit so we did some shopping. After browsing in the Sandy Cove shop we headed towards the tea room and guess who comes down the stairs….Princess Aurora! I was little girl excited! She couldn’t stop because she was on her way (with her CM assistant person) to the tea room for one of the princess parties. We watched for a minute and it was too cute! Here’s a creeper picture we took. You can barely see Aurora but you get the point.

After creeping on the princess party for a little while I went into Summer Lace and did some more shopping. They have such cute stuff. I got myself a pink “Dream Big. Live Grand.” travel mug. I love that motto! Anyway, we then went upstairs and found a Photo Pass CM to take a picture of us in front of the chandelier. She was really nice and even moved us to a better spot for the photo.

We said thank you to the CM and then went into Basin White. I was excited to visit this shop and I wasn’t disappointed. I just couldn’t decide what to get so we decided to come back later. We took the stairs back down to the main floor and went outside to explore the grounds some more. We got to the marina and stopped to get some pictures of it. I considered the marina for our reception but not having music and dancing is just not an option for us. It’s a beautiful area but it is just so public! I still love it, though. If a dessert party is in our budget I would definitely want it in the marina. I would also love to get some photos there at night.

We took some photos of Sago Cay Pointe in case any other brides were looking for more. I know I’m always in search of more venue shots. SCP is such a lovely, intimate spot.

We then decided to start back towards the WP side of the property since we were getting closer to our site visit time. On our way we stumbled across the Summer House and WOW. Pictures do not do this location justice. It was still partially setup for some sort of wedding event. It is very spacious and in a very nice location. It’s still fairly public but not as much as the marina. During our site visit Diane told us the Summer House would be changed during the DVC construction so it wouldn’t be available for a period of time. She wasn’t sure what that would entail but said it would most likely just make it even nicer.

I had Ryan go down on the beach to get some shots of the DVC construction. He was also excited to be on the beach since we don’t usually go at home even though we are close.

We headed back inside one more time because I wanted some photos of the Garden View Tea Room now that the princess party was over. I plan on having a bridal tea for the wedding party girls and moms here. I just love the room! I can’t wait to be fancy and have tea there!

We STILL had a bit more time but needed a break from all the walking around so we found the world’s most comfortable couch in the lobby and relaxed for a bit. Seriously. I need a replica of this couch made for my house IMMEDIATELY!

We decided to go back up to Basin before we went to the WP. We decided to get the tube of bath bombs. It was $20 for as many as you could fit in the tube which I think was a decent deal. We got one for each of our moms and then the rest for me! I can’t remember which scents we got at the moment. I decided I NEEDED to know what the scent they pump into GF is so I figured the CMs in Basin would be the best people to ask. When we went to check out I told the girl I had a question. She was very nice and before I even finished asking she said told me that yes, they do pump a scent in but they do not sell it anywhere. She did write down the name of it to give to me, though. It’s called “Green Clover Aloe.” Ah, I miss that smell!!! I am determined to find something like it! Anyway, after we finished buying the bath bombs it was time to get to Franck’s for our site visit!