I don’t know if I can explain this, but in the weeks leading up to the wedding I had occasionally had the thought that I didn’t want the wedding day to actually come, because what if it didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped and planned? Despite all the work we’d done and all the excitement I’d built up, I would have flashes where I wanted the wedding to remain something to imagine and anticipate. Is that weird? When the alarm went off at 4:00, I snapped wide awake and had another twinge of that feeling. I knew that I would have to control my perfectionist streak and, for once, just go with the flow, or else I might ruin the day for myself. I also really wanted to be emotionally present throughout the day – I didn’t want to later feel that everything had gone by in a big blur and I had missed my own party. So I lay there for a few minutes and thought about the true meaning of the day: expressing love for DF and for all our guests. I knew that if everything I did reflected that love, I couldn’t screw anything up.
I had about half an hour before Patricia was scheduled to come do my makeup, and I enjoyed the peace of being alone as I started to get ready. Even after Patricia got there, it was very mellow because it was just the two of us – another reason I chose not to have a gaggle of bridesmaids. I didn’t even feel worried when Patricia called to say she was running late. She was scheduled to arrive at 4:30 because I’d told her I had to be ready at 6:30 so I could have 30 minutes of leeway before the photographers and videographers arrived. I knew that the moment they showed up, the gates would open and we’d be off and running.
I can’t remember exactly how late Patricia was – she couldn’t find anyone at the valet stand at 4:30am, so she had to park in the boonies and schlep all her stuff. The first thing she did was put my hair in fingerwaves, and then we talked about the makeup I’d brought. I’m very picky about color, and I wanted formulas that would last all day without reapplying. I found that Vincent Longo Pearlessence Gel Stain in Dolceaqua was a good base, and I liked the nonsticky quality of Paul & Joe Lip Gloss in 05, which is shimmery but doesn’t settle into the lines in your lips and make them look wrinkly. For my eyes I brought a Laura Mercier Eye Color Quad in grays that I’ve never been able to make look good on me, but Patricia worked wonders with them. And I brought my own mascara ‘cuz I don’t like to share (CoverGirl LashExact Waterproof). And I invested in Model in a Bottle after hearing about some of the other makeup artists using setting spray. Everything else was Patricia’s.
Initially I told her I didn’t want to use airbrush makeup because I’d heard that it doesn’t last as long as traditional makeup. She said that real airbrush makeup lasts longer than regular foundation, but that many makeup artists skimp by using regular foundation in their airbrushes because they don’t want to pay for airbrush foundation – or they tell people that it doesn’t last so that they don’t have to offer it. Interesting.... Her airbrush makeup job lasted 18 hours! I started to get a little antsy when I saw that it was 6:30 and my hair was still in rollers. Patricia sensed this and picked up the pace, while doing everything she could to reassure me. When she took the finger waves down, I loved the way my hair looked just like that, but it was prolly really fake-y. She brushed through the curls and then began twisting and pinning up sections of my hair. I have a LOT of hair, so this seemed to take forever, and I was getting more and more freaked out.
When Nathan & Jensey knocked on the door, I had my Bridezilla moment for the day. I said some swears... (Patricia didn’t bat an eye). I was still in my robe, so I cracked the door and frantically told Nathan he had to wait outside but that Jensey could come in. She was so great – while I stood in front of the mirror barking out orders to ever-patient Patricia (“Pin that curl there!” “More height in front!”), Jensey quietly slipped around the room taking pictures like these:
This is all Nathan could take pictures of...
I got into my dress by myself (hooray for zippers!!!) and Patricia gently set the fragile fascinator in my hair. I fastened my necklace, stepped into my shoes, grabbed my purse full o’ crap (room card, hankie, bobby pins, chalk, Tide to Go pen, lip stain, gloss, ear plugs, blister blockers, Hollywood Fashion Tape, white plastic bag to sit on for photos [didn’t happen]), and had about 15 seconds to glance in the mirror and mutter, “Good enough!” before I dashed out the door. When I got in the elevator with Nathan & Jensey I felt overwhelmingly glad to have them there. I’d only met them a few times, but it felt like having two friends to send me off on my big adventure (or, as Nathan joked, two “
paid friends”!).
It was really important to me that DF and I have a “first look” where the photographers and videographers captured us seeing each other for the first time. That way we could have the best of both worlds: We could take all our photos together before the ceremony and still capture that special first-look moment. Plus, this gave us a chance to actually spend time together talking when we met, instead of having to wait through the entire ceremony to share our excitement.
Sneaking up on DF
First look!
The waterworks...
The next thing that was really important to me was mailing our Disney Dreams Giveaway postcards. We’ve been entering Disney’s Year of a Million Churros... er, Dreams contest by mail every day since it started in September 2006 (do the math on that... it’s more like the 27 Months of A Million Dreams!). We’ve only missed a handful of days sending in postcards, and I thought it a testament to our dedication that we mail them on our wedding day.
We hand the clerk our postcards to mail...
...She hands us another set of Just Married buttons for the pile!
After that was the only time during the day that things seemed like a blur. I don’t know where I got this idea (trip reports?), but I thought my WP would meet us in the lobby to tell us what to do and where to go.
¿Dónde está mi WP?
Now that I think about it, that doesn’t make sense because all she’d do would be point us in the direction of the limo and then have to get herself to Epcot. But at the time all I could think was, “Who in the %&#@! is gonna bustle this dress?” I’d asked Patricia, but she’d never done it before. I asked the Roots... nope. I asked Sage... no dice. I’m thinking, “These people work in the wedding business – they should know how to do a bustle in their sleep!!!” I’d printed (and laminated!) a little bustle diagram, which I was waving around like a stick of dynamite, apparently, because everyone was ducking it. So guess who saved the day....
I love that man! It took what seemed like an eternity, during which I realized I’d forgotten to have Patricia mist me with Model in a Bottle. Luckily she was still in the lobby, and she sweetly offered to go back up to my room and get it.
Finally I realized my WP wasn’t coming and we needed to get into the limo. Nobody seemed to mind the delay. Now here’s something I think I maybe should have done differently.... I
hate the way limos look. I grew up in a hot-rod household, and I have strong opinions about what makes a good-looking car. To me a limo is something that only high school prom-goers think is the height of sophistication and is really just an ugly white box (my apologies to my high school prom-going readers). The only time DF and I needed transportation all day was to get from the Beach Club to backstage at Epcot, so I picked a limo because it was the cheapest thing Disney offered (well, except for the
Evil Towncars). But what I forgot was that there would be a bazillion pictures of us getting into and out of the dang thing – argh!
Now I'm going to have to try and edit the limo out of our day. I shoulda hired the Rolls Royce.... but at least I was only $69 over my minimums! (Yes, they’ll be carving that on my tombstone.). Just for you, here are more contraband pictures of me ‘n’ Moby Dick: The Hideous White Limo.
About to do the Disney Brides patented sit ‘n’ spin, er... scoot!
“If you put this photo on Internet, I kill you!”
We piled into Moby D. with our entourage of paparazzi (two photogs and two videog...s?). It takes five minutes to walk from the Beach Club to Epcot, but it takes about 15 to drive there. This was good, because I needed time to put bits of Hollywood Fashion Tape on my necklace. Mme. Fortuna and I couldn’t get the crystals to stand apart the way I wanted, so I cut tiny squares of HFT and used them to stick each crystal to my chest.
DF spells our videographer
We get to Epcot and pull up behind Morocco. The paparazzi tumble out of Moby D. and set up to capture The Bride Exiting the Car. The limo driver shuffles around to my side of the car and unceremoniously flings the door open, blocking the shot with his back. The paparazzi shoot each other knowing looks, and someone nicely asks him to do it again. Apparently he’d never opened a limo door for a picture before (and you can be dang sure he didn’t know how to bustle a dress!). This is the best we got...
DF demonstrates proper limo-exiting procedure
As we walked in the back gate we were met by the WP, at whom I shrieked, “Where were you?! I needed you to bustle my dress!” I know – classy... sorry WP!!! DF and I had a little more than an hour to take pictures together in Morocco and Japan. The BM and Mo’H would be coming on the party bus with our guests and the pastor because I wanted time alone with DF where we would feel comfortable enough to be ourselves in photos – which looks something like this:
We spent half our time in Morocco and half in Japan. When we got to Japan, I was disappointed to see that the waterfall – the feature that made me pick Japan for our pictures – was behind maintenance walls. It felt like we took a lot of pictures in front of the Mitsukoshi department store – not exactly my idea of a Kodak Photo Spot… But of course, Nathan & Jensey knew exactly what they were doing, and the pictures turned out fabulously!
I’m about to reach my photo limit for this post, so I’ll do a separate one with just some pix from that hour....
There was more before I even got that last comment out!
(Well, you know, in DISland!)
And all the pictures are so beautiful and personalized that I'm giggling while I'm tearing up. Oh everything was just perfect. 
