Lyn and Tim's Wedding PJ 5/19/2014, WP/LSS

[lyncecelia]

Hello everyone, and welcome to our planning journal! My name is Fallon (Lyn for short and to try to make it harder to search for) and my DF (Tim) and I are planning to get married at the World in May 2014, hopefully on the 10th. Now, for those of you who have your calendars in front of you or may be wondering, yes, that is mother's day weekend. I'll get more into detail on that later.

First, let me introduce us. (sorry I can't make the pictures smaller)

This is me
I am 23 years old and a college student. I should have my associates degree by next June, and then I plan to go on for my bachelors. I often get called "Hermione" by DF because I get obsessed with my school work just a little, but I value my GPA a lot. I'm originally from Florida, born and raised, but moved up here to New England in May 2010. I've always been a Disney fan, have done the CP, and have 2 Disney tattoos!

for my older sister on my leg and

on my arm for my grandfather. So imagine my excitement when DF told me that we could do a Disney wedding!


Speaking of DF, here he is:

His name is Tim and he is 31, and works as a software engineer in Cambridge. He is really into video games (especially dragon quest, see if you can recognize this guy)

That's how into dragon quest he is. It's really cute though.

Tim has 4 kids

Camden (11), Makenzie (10), Nancy (8) and Isaac (5). They will be 13, 12, 10, and 6 come the wedding (the 6 year old turning 7 only 8 days later!). The kids all live with their mom, Nichole, who is actually now my best friend. Yes...we get along that well. It's really what's best for the kids, to have all of us get along, even if it's a bit unorthodox. Nichole actually asked me to be the MOH in her wedding next year.

Next, I'll talk about how we met and how we got engaged.

 

[Summer Daydream]

Congrats!!! I'm glad to see another 2014 bride

 

[redlight]

I'm in. I love your ears.

 

[CityGirlLost]

Hey girlie! It's nice to see you over here.

Stepmom to four, eh? Welcome to the jungle! Can't wait to read more about your plans and stuff!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Congratulations and welcome! Love the Disney tattoos!

 

[lyncecelia]

Congrats!!! I'm glad to see another 2014 bride

I'm in. I love your ears.

Hey girlie! It's nice to see you over here.

Stepmom to four, eh? Welcome to the jungle! Can't wait to read more about your plans and stuff!

Congratulations and welcome! Love the Disney tattoos!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it!

Juli--yup four of them. Love them to pieces but I've already started getting greys. They are worth it though.

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Onto how we met!

Tim and I met on the DIS back in March 2010 on the Singles thread. At the time, neither of us were really looking for dates etc. He was just going through a divorce and I was going through a failed engagement, so we both were really only interested in friends. Also, keep in mind, he was in New Hampshire at the time, and I was in Florida (about an hour and a half south of Orlando, that's where my folks live).

As we talked, I was getting restless. I almost settled down with the wrong guy who upped and left out of the blue, and I wanted some adventure. I've always loved Boston (I have family in the area, and visited on many occasions). So I started looking into going to Le Cordon Bleu for baking. I wanted seasons, I wanted a different environment. I didn't want Florida anymore.

So I contacted the school and started talking to my family in the area. My cousins said they would let me stay there until I got on my feet, and I got into the school. I told Tim I was moving to New England in July.

At this moment, Tim started seeing me as a potential person to date, considering I'd be in the same area as him. Around April of 2010, he sent me a youtube link and asked me to tell him when it started playing. The song was "Kiss the Girl". While it was playing, he asked me to be his girlfriend over skype.

Yes--I know what you are thinking. We went from not interested in dating at all to becoming exclusive in about a month...funny how it works that way, isn't it?

Anyway--I said yes, but we didn't want to make it "Facebook official" until we actually met in person. About a week later, things were starting to get kind of rough in my house, and I called Tim in tears. Tim then decided to buy me an airline ticket to go back with him in May of 2010 after he did the Muddy Buddy race at Disney World. Of course, he didn't buy it without my consent, but yes--I was insane enough to agree to go on an airplane to a new area with a strange man I only knew on the internet. At that point the serial killer jokes started...I lucked out that Tim was a nice guy (who respected me greatly) and not some psychopath.

The one condition my parents had to the arrangement was that Tim had to spend the night at our house the night before in the office. The night before we left was also mother's day. My mom still jokes about how her baby left her after her holiday.

Once we all were in agreement, it was all set to go, and Tim was to come down to Palm Bay from Orlando on May 9th 2010. Mother's Day. We both were a bundle of nerves that night, it was crazy.

The next day, I said goodbye to my parents and sister, and we drove up to Orlando, where Tim had a surprise for me. We were going to have our first date at Disney World. Unfortunately...he picked Kona Cafe. Now I have nothing against Kona Cafe, I love Tonga Toast, but a Polynesian restaurant is not the best choice for someone who is allergic to pineapples and macadamia nuts! He didn't realize the mistake until I told the hostess of the allergies, but luckily Disney is amazing with them so it really wasn't an issue. It's just funny to tease him about it. We went back there this past October on our adults-only trip to celebrate our engagement:

It was fun. But every time I go, the servers tease me about my allergy in a friendly way.

Anyway, after we had lunch, we did the monorail loop. We now try to do the monorail loop every time we are in WDW, in memory of our first date. I'd love to take pictures with the monorail on our wedding day.

So we then had to do an emergency bank run, and then to the airport! And let me tell you, I was so nervous the whole time during the flight...worried about what was going to happen etc. But I think it turned out for the best .

We now celebrate May 10th as our dating anniversary, because it was the date of our first date. It's also, as you noticed, the date we want to get married.

We already talked to our moms and Nichole (Tim's ex-wife) about it, and they are all for us getting married mother's day weekend. Nichole even pointed out to me that if we were to marry that weekend, we'd always have our anniversary to ourselves, since she always has the kids mother's day weekend. We obviously aren't going to leave the moms in our life high and dry though. We hope to do a Mother's Day Brunch instead of a Farewell Brunch on that day.

How we got Engaged
On our 2 year anniversary, May 10th 2012, Tim asked me to be his wife. Before then we had talked about getting married, and he asked my parent's permission the previous July so I knew it was coming. However, I was SO sure it was going to be the Disney trip the month before, that him proposing was off my radar.

When I got home from work, Tim was antsy to exchange gifts, when I just wanted to eat some dinner. But I went along with it and he gave me his gift to me. The first part was one of those oriental lipstick holders, inside it had a metal....well it turned out to be a key but it didn't look like a key so I had no idea what it was. Attached to the mysterious metal object was a note asking "Hmm...what's this for?"

Next was jewelry box (which, yes, the odd shaped key opened). Inside, there were these two adorable chinese dolls and another note: "The two dolls are a symbol of good luck. They represent a couple that will be together. But still it seems this jewelry box is somewhat empty. What else could we possibly put in it?"

Under the dolls was another note that read "I want to be like these little dolls....together for a long time. Will you marry me? P.S. the dolls don't have to stay in the box " . As I was reading the last note he got down on one knee in front of me and said "well?"

I had no idea what to say...I was in total shock...I kept asking "are you serious?" and then buried my face into my hands. I then said "YES" really loud and almost knocked him down because I hugged/attacked him. Then I kept looking at the dolls and hugging him over and over again. The dolls didn't stay in the box--they are now on the shelf by the front door.

He didn't have an engagement ring for me at that moment, so we ordered it together that night. I absolutely love it

 

[jennamarie]

yay, I am excited to follow along! 2014 brides!!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Congratulations!! Can't wait to see your plans progress.

It's great that you get along with Tims ex-wife. Easier for the kids.

 

[Summer Daydream]

I love your engagement ring! My ring is also non-traditional and I am so glad he chose it. Is it sapphire? I look forward to more of your plans

 

[lyncecelia]

yay, I am excited to follow along! 2014 brides!!

Congratulations!! Can't wait to see your plans progress.

It's great that you get along with Tims ex-wife. Easier for the kids.

Thanks guys, and welcome!

I love your engagement ring! My ring is also non-traditional and I am so glad he chose it. Is it sapphire? I look forward to more of your plans

Yes, it is sapphire! It has always been my favorite, so that's what I got. I love it

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I'm happy to see I have some people commenting! I was so worried that no one would read my journal and I'd be sitting here talking to myself! So thanks to all of you guys, both commenters and lurkers alike!

Now...I'd like to tell you guys I made my first wedding purchase! our cake topper! I bought it on Etsy, but it's a custom order so it isn't made yet. But I can describe it to you! It will be a dinosaur bride and a monkey groom. To give some backstory, those are our nicknames for each other (I'm dinosaur, he's monkey) so I thought it'd be perfect.

Here is the image I gave her as an inspiration pic for the dinosaur:

and here is a sample of her work (and the monkey!)

aren't they cute? I'm so excited to see the finished project!

I also bought lockets to give to my side of the bridal party when I ask them to be my bridesmaids/maid of honor/jr. bridesmaid/flower girl. The Jr. Bridesmaid will be Tim's eldest daughter Makenzie and the flower girl will be his younger daughter Nancy.

Here are the lockets:

I don't know if I'm allowed to post what store I got them from on here, if I am I will definitely do so. Both shop owners have been very nice, and I'm excited to get my products!

We also had some engagement pictures taken! Tim's friend from work is a semi-professional photographer, and he did them for us. I don't have any of the pictures yet, but I do have a picture of me in the outfit I wore:

I'm excited for the pictures! I hope I look okay in them!

I've also contacted a couple of vendors (Randy Chapman, The Arndts, and Jack Day) but haven't heard anything back from any of them...I might call the number that was on the end of Randy's form tonight and see what happens since it did say to call if we don't hear after 2 days. I think it's weird that no one emailed me back though...is that normal?

In other news, I joined weight watchers last week. I went to weigh-in this week and have lost 4.2 pounds! my goal is 75 by the wedding!

 

[jennamarie]

I've also contacted a couple of vendors (Randy Chapman, The Arndts, and Jack Day) but haven't heard anything back from any of them...I might call the number that was on the end of Randy's form tonight and see what happens since it did say to call if we don't hear after 2 days. I think it's weird that no one emailed me back though...is that normal?

In other news, I joined weight watchers last week. I went to weigh-in this week and have lost 4.2 pounds! my goal is 75 by the wedding!

I really like that dress!

I contacted The Arndt's a little over a week ago, and I know that they have been SUPER busy with weddings lately, I would just send a follow up email if you haven't heard from them after about a week. Vicki is super friendly!

Congrats on Weight Watchers! woohoo! Thats awesome! My goal is 100 by our wedding, and I've lost 18 so far.

 

[redlight]

Congrats on your weight loss. I lost 40 something pounds a couple years ago. Trying to maintain!

 

[lyncecelia]

I really like that dress!

I contacted The Arndt's a little over a week ago, and I know that they have been SUPER busy with weddings lately, I would just send a follow up email if you haven't heard from them after about a week. Vicki is super friendly!

Congrats on Weight Watchers! woohoo! Thats awesome! My goal is 100 by our wedding, and I've lost 18 so far.

I'll send them again next week if I don't hear back, and I'll call Randy tomorrow probably. I tried emailing Jack Day, but I think that email account is a broken one--I got a permanent failure. So I'll try calling him tomorrow as well.

Congrats on your weight loss as well doesn't it feel amazing?!

Congrats on your weight loss. I lost 40 something pounds a couple years ago. Trying to maintain!

Congrats on getting to your goal! I bet that is an extraordinary feeling!

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So I ended up contacted Rev. Kevin Knox after hearing him on Carrie's podcast, and he responded to me in less than 12 hours. I emailed him today with follow-up questions, and I got a response in 23 minutes. (I wasn't timing him, I noticed the time stamp when I opened the email ). Tim really likes him, so I think I'm going to call Jack Day tomorrow and if that's a no go, we might book him! Any thoughts on him? He seems like a pretty awesome guy, and is right in budget!

So tomorrow I have 2 people to call! I hate talking on the phone but ah well.

 

[lyncecelia]

So we just booked Rev. Kevin Knox for our ceremony! Pretty excited about that. He seems wicked nice, and I'm looking forward to working with him!

I've also talked with Randy Chapman and I'm waiting for him to email me some paperwork. I know he's really busy right now so I'll give him some time before I call again. He spent a good hour talking on the phone with me helping me figure out where to have the reception. He just offered his advice without prompting, I thought that was awesome. He suggested ADH for us. He said it'll need less decorations and can hold our guest list comfortably. So I'm highly considering his suggestion. DF wanted to book him that night, he felt he was very personable and reasonably priced. We still don't have a contract though, so we're just waiting at this point. I've also called the Arndts today to see if they can give me more information just so that we don't run into the habit of booking the first vendor we find, but we still might go with Randy. I was expecting booking to be a lot harder...I'm concerned that it's so easy...am I doing it wrong?

 

[redlight]

Getting to my goal feels really good. It's a struggle to stay there, but worth it.

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Really enjoyed reading your how-we-met and engagement stories. Your engagement ring is beautiful, I love sapphires too!

Your cake topper is going to be so cute!

 

[lyncecelia]

So we're in a dilemma and could use the creative minds of the DISBoards!

I'm giving my bridal party lockets, a t-shirt, and possibly a hat to ask them to be in the bridal party. For the adult groomsmen, FH wants to give them a bottle of liquor with a possible shirt, but we're trying to figure out a cool thing to give his sons that is comparable in value to the lockets we're giving his daughters, but that the boys will enjoy. Originally he was thinking a video game (a cheap one) with a DVD cover on front saying something along the lines of "Here is a game to play, will you play a part in my wedding"; but I was worried that it wouldn't be a comparable gift to the lockets and cause an issue...

Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[lyncecelia]

So finals are over (thank goodness), as well as Christmas; so I can spend the next month concentrating on wedding planning (oh...and applying to colleges for my bachelor's degree...lol). Tomorrow my folks and kid sister come in town, and Saturday I go to look at wedding dresses for the first time (eep!). Nervous is an understatement right now. Being a plus-sized woman, I'm worried that it'll be an absolute disaster, that they won't have anything for me to try on, and nothing will fit me. I'm also worried about my mom's reaction...that she'll make a comment about my weight (suggesting her "shake diet" for instance) and cause me to break down in front of everyone. I'm terrified right now ....isn't this suppose to be the exciting, fun part? Well...it isn't...for me at least...I'm terrible at shopping for myself. It's a really long story, but let's just say my self-image is pretty low.

Luckily for me...my best friend (Nichole, remember, Tim's ex-wife) will be there too. She promised me she'll play defense against any negative crap that might be put out there. She knows my history and knows how nervous I am. Tim also will be at my appointment (due to my begging...lol) so I have those two at least.

In the form of bridal party members: Tim asked Eric (ex-wife's fiance..I mentioned the dynamic between us 4 right? Lol) to be his Best Man the weekend before Christmas. On Christmas Day, I asked my two cousins Ellen and Joanna to be bridesmaids. They all said yes. I plan to ask my sister to be Maid of Honor tomorrow when they arrive, and Nichole to be a bridesmaid on Saturday, before the dress appointment. Hopefully I get two more yeses under my belt!

We sent in the contract for Randy Chapman, so that's set. Took us a while due to my studying.

So....I will try to update after the appointment, but I'll have family here til January 7th so I don't know how possible it'll be to do right away.

 

[MissTeacher]

Following along!

Good luck with the dress shopping! We all have those insecurities no matter what size, and I know it's easier said than done, but just remember it is your day, and you will be the most important and beautiful person there! Have fun!!

 

[redlight]

Good luck with dress shopping.