Matthew & Jaclyn's PJ GF Beach/LSS/UK Lower:Update - Ending my PJ due to problems

[camara381]

Hey there!!! Hope you have a great time on your trip!!!! Take loads of pictures. Can't wait to read the TR when you get back!

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I just read your whole pj...it's great! How was your latest trip??? I can't wait to hear!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

I looked at your pictures the other day and never got to say how beautiful they turned out! We got shots in some of the same areas for our e-pics with Randy so they brought back lots of great memories. I especially like the date in the sand, DH wrote our intials in the sand and I love that shot!

Don't worry about how many guests you end up with in the end, the people that are closest to you will be there for you and you'll have a beautiful wedding no matter what

I love your STD cards that you made for your guests. Do you have a shot of what the new Disney ones look like?

Your web site is looking great, you have tons of wonderful info on there for your guests.

I didn't realize that you're a LS bride too, its such a wonderful location.

You should definitely go to a spring training game with your date. DH loves spring training and he took a group of his groomsmen there to see the Detroit Tigers play in Lakeland while I was having my bridal tea.

Thank you! The STD cards too forever to make! I do have a pic someone of the new STD's - I know my guests loved getting an official wedding invite type thing from Disney.

LOVE THE LS!!! We did end up going to a Spring training game in Clearwater - I'm going to write all about when I finally write a PJ update!

Your website is amazing. There is so much detail and information. What program did you say you used to make it?

Thanks! Weddingwindow - I know that it's expensive but I really wanted a nice website since I wanted to put out a ton of information and doing so many newsletters just would have been too much - I still plan on doing at least 1 or 2 but I have to say that the money I spent (88 +15 for unique website name) was definitely well worth it!

wow Jackie! I thought i was organized - but your website blows me away. DF and I just started working on ours - registered the domain this week. You have faaaar more info on your site than I even considered for ours!

Just an amazing job you did!

Thank you! My website took forever to make plus I'm updating it with new infor whenever I find a good article or news about Disney. I just sent out an email blast to my guests about Free Dining.

Your pictures are absolutely stunning!! I love them!!! I can't wait to see your ceremony on the beach seriously!! I have hardly ever seen pics of ceremonies there!! THe STD's look great too!!

Thank you! I'm so excited for my beach ceremony - I don't care how hot I'll be, lol!

wow! you are so creative with all your ideas. they are great! all the dresses are beautiful. I really love the third dress. who is it designed by? i want something simple and looking to get ideas. thanks!

The third dress is a maggie Sottero, it's part of her destination line. I never found it anywhere so I wasn't able to really try it on or even consider it for my dress. I stopped looking at the slip mermaid type once I realized I didn't like how it constricted my legs

I just found your pj and wow i love all your planning i have loved reading it

I have to say I love your engagement shoot they are just Beautiful I love the dress and your hair I love how they have captured the love between you and then fun you are having together

I am looking into my and DFi to do this on our next trip and yours are just perfect the location as well

Thank you so much! I put alot of effort into the look of my pics, dress wise & hair and all. and I loved the beachy pics

I am so glad you came around I really love your E-pics!!!! They are gorgeous!!!!

The DIY save the dates look really good and they are very very cute!!! I used the same website announcement!!!!

I haven't had a chance to look at you website but I will soon.

Have fun this weekend dress shopping, let us know how it goes!!

Yay for scheduling you planning session, don't forget to ask for a cake tasting too.

Hey Carolina!!! I saw your facebook post - so how bad was is the BEO??? I got mine already - in three weeks after my ps!!! I have to cut like $7,000 off my BEO!!!!! I totally know how you feel right now. ANd I don't even have my floral part yet!!

your engagement pictures are beautiful!

Thank you!

I am so going to keep an eye on your pj & tr. I Cant wait to see how it all turns out because so much of it sounds like how I want mine

Wish i could see the pics you got of LSS, so if you do get a chance can you re-post those at least

I'll definitely try but I'm hating Photobucket!!! Any recommendations for a new photosharing site????

I followed alot of Beach Ceremony PJ's and also LS pjs to get an idea of what I can do at each location. Hopefully I'll post more often so you'll have more to follow!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Hey there!!! Hope you have a great time on your trip!!!! Take loads of pictures. Can't wait to read the TR when you get back!

I just read your whole pj...it's great! How was your latest trip??? I can't wait to hear!

Well you guys are in luck because I'm gonna try and do a PJ update!!! Just hang in there-it's gonna take me awhile!

 

[camara381]

Ha ha $7000 is nothing I have to cut down around $15,000!!!! GL reducing yours!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Double Post

 

[mermaidbride1108]

So I wrote this first update on Feb 16th, so it's kind of past tense. I've just been sooooooo busy with wedding planning that I haven't had the time to actually tell you all about it! I have so much to tell you about, seriously a TON!!! So I'll try my best to remember it all! So many things booked, so many things purchased, really a ton...

I really tried to get a PJ update in before we headed to the PS but it was really hectic. I stress too much and the days leading up to the PS was just soooo stressful! I felt like I had to prepare so much! But in the end it was good because my parents said they were proud at how organized I was! And I think Meri & Elizabeth were really happy too. If only I could have stuck to the budget numbers I had in my head!!! My mom kept wanting to add little things so I think it exploded my budget! Well now I have alot of trimming to do!

On to the PJ!

2/7/09 - Matron of Honor Dress Shopping - My sister & I went out Bridesmaids shopping on 2/7 and I got to try on *my* actual wedding dress because it came in!!! Of course, I completely forgot my camera AGAIN so I wasn't able to take pics. But my sister found her dress. My sis isn't a stand out of the crowd kinda person. I said from the beginning that I wanted my bridesmaids to really feel comfortable in the dresses and that they could pick out their own dresses that suited them best, just as long as I got my colors. Well my sis starts trying to talk me into the dress she wanted and have everyone wear it, LOL. She was funny once she got caught and I called her out on it. She's shy and doesn't want to feel like she's standing out. She kinda of got her way, you'll see her dress later I'll post pics further on that we took when we all went out.

Bridesmaids dresses - so we went out to Aimee Michelle Bridal & David's Bridal to shop for dresses on 2/14. I was kinda nervous beforehand because I had realized I had cut time short and I really needed to have the color confirmed for my PS so I'm really happy we did find them & the dresses are all ordered and paid for! I wanted to start shopping earlier, but it all worked out in the end.

First, I got to try on my dress for my bridesmaids & Mom and this time I remembered the Camera!

I've got some updates for you all!

My sister & I went out Bridesmaids shopping on 2/7 and I got to try on *my* actual wedding dress because it came in!!! Of course, I completely forgot my camera AGAIN so I wasn't able to take pics. But my sister found her dress. My sis isn't a stand out of the crowd kinda person. I said from the beginning that I wanted my bridesmaid to really feel comfortable in the dresses and that they could pick out their own dresses that suited them best, just as long as I got my colors. Well my sis starts trying to talk me into the dress she wanted and have everyone wear it, LOL. She was funny once she got caught and I called her out on it. She's shy and doesn't want to feel like she's standing out. She kinda of got her way, you'll see late I'll post pics further on that we took this past weekend.

Bridesmaids dresses - so we went out to Aimee Michelle Bridal & David's Bridal to shop for dresses. I was kinda nervous beforehand because I had realized I had cut time short and I really needed to have the color confirmed for my PS so I'm really happy we did find them & the dresses are all ordered and paid for! I wanted to start shopping earlier, but it all worked out in the end.

First, I got to try on my dress for my bridesmaids & Mom and this time I remembered the Camera!

Dress

Turns out, my mom noticed my Tiara is missing two crystals, I was SOOOO Mad! They said they would return it and order me a new one, so now I have to make sure the new one isn't broken either.

Veil - we ordered this one, another task to check off

And here's my shoes, though now they are yellowing...More on the shoe dilemma later...

Now we tried on a few dresses at the AimeeMichelle Bridal, but I had already knew we would be better going to David's because the bridal shop really didn't get the whole concept I was going for with individual dresses. The Salesperson was superconfused and of couse SIL

Now at David's we decided to go to the one in Maple Shade - no dress tax in NJ!! And It's much nicer than the Philly one I have to say.

My mom went with us, I had wanted her to shop for dresses too because FMIL keeps asking when she can shop for her dress and it's the whole tradition thing that MOB gets first pick. But basically my mom took over the dressing room! And my attention with my camera! But she did find a really nice dress that looks amazing on her... but it kinda clashes with the Pool bridesmaids dresses. But I kinda don't really care that much. Her dress looks amazing on her and really how many pics are there going to me with Mom & BMs? Unfortunately, my Mom didn't get this dress and I absolutely don't like the dress she actually bought... More on that later.

Talking about Mom's so FSIL is one of my bridesmaids, she went to her Mom's (my FMIL) house afterwards and showed her a swatch and DF's mom said that's the color she wanted to wear! Apparently, she never heard me mention it like the 5 million time I told her I picked it for BM's.

After I shopped with MOH, I browsed David's and kinda picked out a few dresses for each individual BM. I have to say, I know my girls really well! They all picked out a dress I had thought they would! LOL! Here's the pic of everyone together

Here's the color Pool that the dresses will be in

We realized once we all decided we were done and picked the dresses - everyone's dresses has a sash detail and a gathering type in the chest so they kinda all coordinate together. Gail was our salesperson, she was pretty good. My only complaint was at the end my Mom was annoying the hell out of me, because she wanted my attention to take pics of her dress and I was torn between people and I was trying to figure out what sizes everyone was ordering and when the dresses would be in! I had to ask her like 5 times because she kept pushing me sister to make an alteration appt for my niece's dress. Seriously, was it that important we do that right away???

Other updates: We put an E-pic in the local newspapers. I had planned to put an announcement back when we got engaged and my mom told me she was doing it, well I think she forgot! So I decided I would kinda do a 'we set our date announcement' I was thinking of putting it in the Philly Inquirer, but I think I'll do a wedding pic after we get married instead because you have to pay for announcements in the Inquirer.

Here's a pic of the Newspaper

Hairstyle - I'm pretty sure that I'm going with this. I'm going to have a trial with my hairdresser in Philly and take pics for Ana. I had Ana do my hair & make-up for my Epics (love her!) so I like her work, but I really don't know how to place the tiara and veil and how the top part would all work, so I'm going to try it first so I'm more comfortable.

Also, I purchased a couple items off of the knot.com: Personalized Napkins, Just Married Flip-flops, Aqua bubbles, & a Ring Bearer camera because little Eric loves to take pics, and I think it would be really cute to kind of get his perspective of the day, lol! I'll post pics later on all of my purchase items...

I also ordered a ton of items off of vitsaprint.com. It told me I got $87 worth of merchandise for free when I ordered. Only paid $26 for shopping and ordered ten items all to be used for the wedding. I'll post pics when I get them. It will be easier to explain more when I have the pics of the items

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Again, double post

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Inspiration pics

I've said multiple times I want to do a Little Mermaid theme. Well I really don't want to do it with character pics on anything, like Ariel & Eric on stationary & stuff. The only two areas I've decided to allow them is on the Mint-to-be packets I already purchased. Here's a pic
And also the WDCC piece I purchase when I first got engaged.

WDCC, Two Worlds, One Heart

I had originally purchase this as my cake topper. I fell in Love with it immediately and got a deal on ebay. The Statue & stand & shipping all for $287. Well, once I got it I realized the piece was HUGE! It definitely isn't going to make the cake, so I'll do a White Castle Topper with this next to it.


I found this site www.mylittlemermaid.com and they have a ton of great screenshots of the movie. I was able to really see some details that I couldn't really catch watching it on video.

So the theme explanation. I've already said that I don't really want the characters to be the focus, but instead the world & the fairytale be the focus. I'm thinking that it might be cool to kinda incorporate some items from Ariel's Grotto into my reception. I've noticed that many people have different statues as decor at their reception. I've seen Vanessa had a Seahorse & Seashell by her food & someone else had cupid outside of Whitehall. I'm not sure if they are done by request & paid for, or if Disney just puts them out.

Here's what I'm thinking - having the candelabra with the 'dinglehopper' (fork), knife, spoon by the food, buying different wine openers as the 'gadgets & gismos' to go near the bar area.

Also maybe a treasure chest and a wind up dancing figurine?

So what do you think about this? Cheesy? do you think people would get it? Believe me, I'm pretty sure they are all aware of the theme by now, lol!

Any other ideas for my Theme? I'm doing a lot of Little Mermaid instrumental music at the Ceremony. I'm considering buying the bridesmaid's a piece of starfish jewelry each. Bubbles for the exit. Sand Ceremony

Here's the pics I have ready for the Planning Session

Ceremony Decor: I really like Lurkyloo's simplicity but love how the colors pop! I'm spring for the upgraded chair covers to induce some more color

I'd like to use the same Banana leaves with some orchid stems added I think

Same color rose petals but in this pattern on the beach so the sand kinda still comes though

And the chair covers with sashes in Aqua & light green.

And that's it for Ceremony

Personal Decor
I've purchased Starfish Bouquet jewels for my Bouquet & I'm shopping for a starfish or seahorse pin for the wrap. I also may incorporate seashells somehow to match the Boutonniere's. Here's a similar pic of my bouquet - I have to scan in the other one - this without the cala lillies, though I may change that. Same color though.

Bridesmaid bouquets in yellow

Centerpieces

plus my 'Human Stuff' odds and ends

Also, I'm considering the Landau Coach more of CC's coach. It's actually used in TLM.

Ok, so here's an update for you all! I loaded the pics from the PS as maybe I can write up a TR when I'm at work tomorrow, during lunch or something. And then I have another update after that with all the stuff I've bought in the last two months!!!

One last update - We booked our at-home reception! We are having it on Oct. 24th in Philly at Fran Lee's catering. And get this, we are doing a Halloween theme! Totally going for it the whole way, telling everyone to go ahead with costumes and everything. And we are definitely having a candy bar! I'll probably go cheapo with it and not do it like color theme. I found the vases at save-on-crafts website and then I'm buying candy from orientaltrading.

Hope you guys enjoy! Feel free to share a ton of opinions!!!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

WE ARE UNDER % MONTHS!!! YIPEE! It's everything I've planned to do and considered doing and thought about doing for the last 2 years, WELL, I CAN FINALLY START DOING IT! YAY!!!

Since I'm at work and I'm trying to cut down on spending money (I've been major shopping since Summer stuff starting coming out!!!) I plan on staying in for lunch and it seems like a great time to do my PS Report!

I realized that I didn't do very well in the moment for a PS Report, I didn't take many pictures of action things, like on the plane, checking in, to do a really good PS Report - but the good thing is now I know to do that for the Wedding TR!

Wednesday, March 4 - The Day before we leave

So Thursday was absolutely crazy! Everybody wanted to talk to me about the wedding and what we were going to do in Disney, I had to pack, and most importantly I had to get my binder together!!! Some things I really didn't need to do because Meri didn't really need them like Vendor List, and other lists I made. But I was pretty proud of myself because Meri & Elizabeth & my Parents too all seem pretty pleased that I truly had thought about what I wanted for each aspect of the wedding and had pictures or an example to show for everything. My Mom was stressing me out because before the trip she's like "well just don't be really indecisive during the PS, because then you are a pain when you do that" Yea, Thanks MOM! So she actually seem pretty shocked that I had my stuff together. I think she tends to forget I'm an adult now and that the things I did as a kid, I do longer do, LOL

During the day, I ran around last minute shopping and getting Transfers to make T-shirts. Unforunately, I ran out of time

I checked us in for our flight at 11:25am - Our flight was 10:55am the next day so a little less then the 24 mark - Yeah, can you believe that we JUST MADE IT into Group A.

Matt didn't get home till almost 10pm the night before and our flight was at 10:55am the next day. So both of us stayed up packing all night and cleaning our house. It's our biggest pet peeve to come home to a dirty house after vacation. So we were both up till at least 3am! I'm glad I'm taking at least 1-2days off before the wedding so I can get this all done for that trip!

Thursday, March 5 - Departing Philly to Orlando

We had to be at my parents house by 8:00am because we had a driver picking us up at 8:30am. We were actually on time! But for anyone who lives in PA or NJ - DO NOT TAKE VICTORY LIMO! They have the dirtiest town cars and sloppy drivers. I'm not being snotty. The driver didn't even know 4 of us were going and then had to clean out all of his dunkin donuts trach from the front seat - then Matt realizes the driver is Hung Over & Afraid that he's going to crash! The guy goes completely the wrong way, and then says he needs to fill the tires with air!!!!!!!!! OMG! DIASASTER!

So finally we make it to the airport alive and we were in the A Group to Board - Matt & I decided we weren't taking Southwest for the wedding - we hated the whole Cattle Call Boarding & already purchased our flights on Airtran.

The Pilot was a SPEED FLIER! We made to Orlando almost 45 minutes early! I though good because we have to go to Carolyn Allen's and now we'll have time for the pool.

So we pick out the Rental Car and we had a funny moment. The Enterprise Sales Guy sees my Dad sitting in a car totally cramped up because my Dad is 6'5. So Sales Guy (who's about 6' mind you) comes over and says "You might be so comfortable in a larger vehicle, us tall guys really like..." And then he trails off because as he's saying this my Dad starts standing up to full height and Sales guy realizes my Dad is about 2 heads bigger then him!

<a href="http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j4/lilmermaid260/Planning%20Session/?action=view&current=P3050002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j4/lilmermaid260/Planning%20Session/P3050002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

So we head to Carolyn Allen's. My mom asked that we could go there (and it mostly was a waste of time) because she wanted Keith to see how big my father was. Keith was absolutely Hsyterical, like Always I walk in and say "We have an appt for tuxes" And he looks at me staright face for like 5 minutes and says, "Well you have a problem then because this is a pet store" It was so funny I didn't even know how to respond, but it made my parents really like him. So my Dad gets to see the Khaki tux we picked for the guys.

When we told my Dad that we were getting Khaki Tux, he didn't like it. I really didn't have very strong feelings about his tux so I told him to pick out whatever makes you comfortable. He's deciding between the Khaki, Navy, & the Brown Suit. Keith said he doesn't recommend the Navy suit because it doesn't lay very nice.... That's the suit I like best, but oh well. There are other things more important to me for this wedding.

So my dad still hasn't picked a tux and Keith said he will have no problem getting a tux in my Dad's size. The only productive thing is that because I had my Bridesmaids Dresses & I had a color swatch with me, I got to pick out the vests for the Groomsmen tuxes.

Just in case anyone is interested - there is actually a Nail Salon about three stores down from Carolyn Allen's

We go to drive over to POP and here is the first time we get lost on the trip, My Dad got lost alot driving! My mom (who doesn't have a license and went to Disney once in 2006) swears up & down she downs the way, I finally get so tired of hearing her that I tell my Dad to just listen to her. He's the thing with my mom, You have to just do it her way, she her she's wrong once she's down and then start from scratch and do it all over again to get her to stop, other wise - you'll have to hear her complain the entire time anyway. After my Mom sess she's actually wrong, I tell my dad to ask the Toll Attendant which way is Disney, turns out we were heading AWAY from Disney for like a half hour - Thanks MOM

Finally we drive up to POP

And then we see DisneyMooners! I slightly stalked them, LOL

So we go to Check-in to the Resort, My first ever time I got to stay in a Disney Resort!!!! We stayed at Pop Century in the 60's Building, 2nd Floor. I highly recommend Pop Century - I think it will always hold a special place for me now as one of my favorite places to stay ever. I kinda wish I picked Pop Century over All Star Movies for my Room Block. I didn't know there was Disney Character Touches all over the Resort!

So when we check-in the CM says, so "You are here to plan your wedding?" And she gave us Just Engaged pins!!! I have to insert a picture here later. I actually was able to get a ton of pins for all of my Welcome Bags!!!


My Dad waiting on a bench - we have this running joke after watching the Disney Happiest Celebration on Earth Vacation Planning DVD, That my Dad is Dave, lol

Here's pics of our room:

We head down to the Food court and Matt & I get Shrimp Lo Mein and I completely forget the other dish - I thought the food Court was pretty good, we ate breakfast here everyday too. We also purchased a refillable mug to share.

To Be Continued: Thursday night & Friday, March 6 - the Planning Session! I got lots of pics for the next update!

 

[beach bride 2010]

I managed to read through most of your PJ and can't wait to read more because it sounds like a lot of your ideas are similar to what I want. I am planning to get married on the wedding pavilion beach too and am a huge Little Mermaid fan. DF, on the other hand, is not a LM an so I plan on going with a beach theme and keeping the LM touches subtle. I laughed when I read that you originally ordered that statue as a cake topper...I know exactly which one it is and it is so pretty but it is huge! I have a perfect sized statue of Ariel and Eric sitting on my computer desk that I had always planned on using. It looks a little like a small version of a Lenox statue of Ariel and Eric in wedding attire but it is actually a Christmas ornament I bought in Downtown Disney a few years back and decided was too pretty to hang on the tree. Once I finally got engaged I took a closer look at it and because it is a Christmas ornament Ariel has this silver ring sticking out of her belly that can't be easily removed! Oh well, I will have to use it as decor and find something else to use for the cake topper. Another thing I think I might do is use a Little Mermaid print and have people sign the mat as my guest book (stole that idea from someone on here's pictures!). There is a print of Ariel the mermaid with some wedding attire they are selling in the Parks now and another one with a stained glass type background that might work. Looking forward to reading more of your PJ and trip report!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

I managed to read through most of your PJ and can't wait to read more because it sounds like a lot of your ideas are similar to what I want. I am planning to get married on the wedding pavilion beach too and am a huge Little Mermaid fan. DF, on the other hand, is not a LM an so I plan on going with a beach theme and keeping the LM touches subtle. I laughed when I read that you originally ordered that statue as a cake topper...I know exactly which one it is and it is so pretty but it is huge! I have a perfect sized statue of Ariel and Eric sitting on my computer desk that I had always planned on using. It looks a little like a small version of a Lenox statue of Ariel and Eric in wedding attire but it is actually a Christmas ornament I bought in Downtown Disney a few years back and decided was too pretty to hang on the tree. Once I finally got engaged I took a closer look at it and because it is a Christmas ornament Ariel has this silver ring sticking out of her belly that can't be easily removed! Oh well, I will have to use it as decor and find something else to use for the cake topper. Another thing I think I might do is use a Little Mermaid print and have people sign the mat as my guest book (stole that idea from someone on here's pictures!). There is a print of Ariel the mermaid with some wedding attire they are selling in the Parks now and another one with a stained glass type background that might work. Looking forward to reading more of your PJ and trip report!

Yeah, I was pretty shocked that Matt let me go with the Little Mermaid theme! But he's getting really into it, it's hysterical! And I bought that print you are referring to! I told my mom it would make sure a cute Bridal Shower invite, lol! What's the on with the stained glass backgroun, ohhh I'm going to go searching for it now!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

So we continue on to Thursday night, March 5 First day in Disney

So I wanted to finish out the day because I wanted to post all these pics I have from Pop Century. Once we ate Dinner at the food court, we walked back to our rooms and I wanted to change - I was still wearing long sleeves & sweatpants I wore on the plane. However, I should have brought more long sleeves. I never expected Florida to be so cold!!! There was a snowstorm the day before we left Philly and I was ready for some heat! I though I could be wearing tank tops.

Matt ends up falling asleep in like 10 minutes. I never meet anyone who can fall asleep so fast, he can pretty much sleep anywhere and be out in like a second - it makes me so jealous!

Everyone was just super tired and I knew the parks were kinda out. My mom & dad suggested we go for a walk around the resort.

Here's some pics in no particular order:

When we came back, Matt was awake and we walked down to the store. I got the regular cheesecake and he got the tie-dye cheesecake. I'm not a big fan of Cheesecake but it was soooo good!!!

 

[mla1977]

You're so lucky! They weren't selling the tie dye cheese cake when I was there in June!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Friday, March 6 The Menu Tasting & Planning Session Day!


So the night before I scheduled a wake-up call for 8:04 since our menu tasting was at 11:00am. I did this everyday of our trip. I got Stitch & Mickey every morning. I had thought there was different characters for every day so I did different times 8am, 8:02, 8:04 but Stitch still screamed at me to WAKE UP!! Every morning, lol

I was super excited, but nervous too. We went down and got breakfast at the food court. Me & Matt split the chocolate chip pancake platter & an extra side of bacon. I can only really eat one pancake and I knew they came with at least four. He got most of the bacon and I got the sausage and a slice of bacon. I'm a lite eater, but I eat alot! I eat alot of small portions through the day so if I eat too much at once I start to feel sick most of the time. Sometimes I can pig out and eat like 4 tacos and a mexi-melt and nachos from taco bell... And how did I get on this tangent???

Back to PS, after breakfast we came back to get ready. I had wanted to wear a Bride T-shirt but all of the Bride shirts I bought are tanks (to wear for our August Wedding) and it was slightly chilly. I never found the time to make a T-shirt with Iron-on's. I also didn't want to seem too dress down either since it's kind of like a business thing. So I wore Khaki capris and a aqua blue shirt to get me in my color mood!

My very full Wedding Binder - I bought so many binders that I tried to create page dividers but always felt it wasn't organized enough and was missing information that I had stored electronically so I finally sprung for it and paid for an actual Wedding Binder at Target

Our Menu tasting was scheduled for 11am and I realized about 9:30a I didn't where we had to go backstage for Epcot! I have no idea why, but I thought we had to head directly there. I take about a hour to get ready (yeah, I'm definitely a girl, lol) so before I jumped in the shower, I called for the office and spoke with one of the assistants and said my Menu Tasting is at 11:00a and where should we be going at Epcot? She told me we were supposed to meet Meri at Franc's at 10:30a! Crap, I thought I was actually on-time I checked my paper work and it definitely said 11:00am so I had no idea why it was changed. So we rush to get ready and rush to get there. At 10:35, I call the office again and said to tell Meri I'm almost there another 5 minutes and I'm so sorry for being late!. Here, the assistant was wrong and I was right about the time. But it was good because we got to walk around for a few minutes.

I really like this pic for some reason...

My Ceremony Location! My Mom finally realized WE ARE ACTUALLY ON THE BEACH AND THERE WILL BE SAND!

The Obligatory Planning Session Shot

So we go in and we get to meet Meri. I just walked right up and hugged her, lol! I was just so excited my glasses fell right off my head. I was happy I was assigned a bubbly Planner. I knew right away I was going to like her!

So Meri drives us over to Epcot and my Parents get to see Epcot backstage for the first time, Me & Matt for the second (we went to the Living Seas at our Site Visit), I forget what we discussed in the car, but we talked the entire time driving over.

We walk in to Epcot's kitchens and it was so awesome! We literally got to sit and watch the cooking and even had a waiter attend to us. I wish I could remember the Waiter's name, he was sooo sweet. Everyone was really nice.

So we sit and I knew Meri was going to ask about napkin folds so I just pointed out the fan style because I think it looks like a seashell. Well maybe she wasn't going to but I read in other people's PS reports that they had to make decisions during the PS so I was prepared with answers so I could enjoy the food and not be indecisive.

We were really only asked to make decisions pertaining to the food during the Menu Tasting. I don't remember being asked about any other Wedding stuff. I know we were asked to pick out the waiters attire. Our waiter, god I wish I remembered his name!, was wearing the gold vest outfit with black pants. Meri suggested we have the White jacket outfit with black pants, kinda cruise boat attire. I was thinking about it when Matt & my Mom said they liked what he was wearing. I actually decided I liked the whole Cruise Boat look for Living Seas and changed it later when we got home.

I asked Meri if she was going to eat with us. I was going to ask her to because I felt weird eating all this good food and her not getting any. But then my professional side kicked in and thought she does this at least once a week, she's probably doesn't want to. I remembering planning events and some things that a client loved so much, I cared less about because I did it all the time. I didn't push it in case there was a policy about planners eating. I didn't want to be rude so I tried not to think about that we were eating in front of someone and not sharing!

We had water & ice tea set out for us and our water offered us some Perrigreeno (I can't speel so I sounded it out instead!) and we all choose that

We didn't really pick many Appetizers to try because I wanted to kinda skimp on the cocktail hour and had planned to do the Anitpasto Platter. I picked to try

-Florida Rock Shrimp, Crab, Hearts of Palm Fresh Herbs, Lemon, Cilantro & Scallops
-Pan Seared Crab Cake with Lemon Dill Sauce

I forgot to take a pic when they brought it out, so that's the best I have.

The Seafood was chilled but it was soooo good! I didn't expect the Scallops to be cold & never had scallops cold but they were delicious and huge. The Hearts of Palm was really good and I didn't expect to like that at all. It also came with a Seaweed Salad that was also very good. They explained that they didn't have any Rock Shrimp so they used Shrimp Cocktail instead But I think it worked out better. This was a menu item that intrigued me because I wasn't really sure what it could be. When I was picking items for the Tasting, Meri explain that it's individual pieces, but some chef's take creative liberties and make like a salad out of it. She said she can mark it how we would like it served to prevent any ruining of perfectly good seafood!

The crab cakes were very good too, they were tiny but they were cocktail portions so it was fine. The lemon dill sauce is amazing!

Both items made it on the Menu! LOL, we made Seafood a priority because it's always what we order when we go out to eat. We will serve both items as part of our Buffet.

Next were the actual Entree items:

-New York Strip Steak with Merlot & Black Pepper Reduction, Balsamic Crimini Mushrooms, & Roasted Shallots

-Roasted Chicken with Applewood Bacon, Carmelized Shallots, Apple & Carbenet Reduction

-Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast with Mushroom Cream

-Island Spiced Mahi Mahi with Grilled Pineapple, Citrus, Vanilla Bean Beurre Blanc

-Two Pepper rubbed Beef Strip Loin wth Onion (I forgot to take a pic!)

-Mashed Potatoe Martini Bar

Going into the Tasting I expected to pick the Paremesan Chicken & the Mahi Mahi based on review from this board. We wanted beef but thought it would be too expensive on top of the shrimp so we were prepared to cut the beef option. Our family & friends aren't foodie's really and feel uncomfortable with fancy dishes so I didn't want to stay too much from Meat, Potatoes & Veggie's.

All the Meats on my plate at once, lol

The Martini Potatoes! Lisa, who was our cook, said that they didn't have the regular sized glasses and they gave us these mini ones instead. They were so cute! She said you can request the mini-ones and I'm really tempted to still! I didn't specify anything for the Potatoes and let the cooks and Meri pick them. Meri said she specifically requested the white potatoes instead of the purplish ones, I ended liking her decision!

All the trimmings for the Potatoes - we'll be added brown sugar as well.

Well I was surpised what I liked. I didn't like the Strip Loin. It was either a fatty cut or just plain- I didn't think it was anything special. It reminded me of roast beef. The Chicken with Applewood Bacon & Apple was very Southern and delicious. I had expected it to be Chicken with the bone, but it was Chicken breast. Really Good, I highly recommend it. Everyone else liked it too.

The New York Strip was amazing! The flavor was just wow! My mom kept raving about it and she's not even a steak eater. That was hands down a universal favorite for all four of us.

The Mahi Mahi was shocking for me because I was prepared to be in love. For some reason I didn't think the actually Mahi Mahi itself was that great. I liked the citrus flavors & the fruit with it, but it had this spice that seemed too much. We all guessed it was the jerk seasoning that was too much. I was on the fence about it but we when selected our finaly menu I decided to cut it. The Vanilla Sauce was good but it melting really quick and Lisa said that Buerra Blanc is too thick and recommened more of a sauce. It had more of a butter taste and I guess I had expected a sauce.

I realized that the Parmesan Chicken wasn't there and asked about it. Meri didn't have it in her notes and I thought I sent it to her. I still haven't checked my emails to see if it was actually on there, but the cooks were nice enough to whip us up one! I apologize profusely because I felt like a pain but they were really nice about. They cooked us up a big one and gave it to me, I cut it up and shared a piece with everyone.

So we got to choosing our Menu and when it came to the Mahi Mahi, I was having a hard time choosing what to do. We already had enough, plus 2 different seafood items already. My dad said if you need to thing this long about it-you shouldn't add it.

Here's our Menu:

Cocktail
-Anitpasto Display

Buffet
-Florida Rock Shrimp, Crab, Hearts of Palm Fresh Herbs, Lemon, Cilantro & Scallops
-Pan Seared Crab Cake with Lemon Dill Sauce
-New York Strip Steak with Merlot & Black Pepper Reduction, Balsamic Crimini Mushrooms, & Roasted Shallots
-Roasted Chicken with Applewood Bacon, Carmelized Shallots, Apple & Carbenet Reduction
-Mashed Potatoe Martini Bar
-Asparagus & Carrots

On our BEO the buffet is listed at $70 a person. I thought this wasn't too bad considering we have 2 meats, seafood, plus an action station. The Anitpasto Display is $14.25.

We are also doing a Call Brands Bar Package - I'll go into more detail about that when it's time for the BEO.

Next: Dessert!

 

[camara381]

Loving the updates!!! Your wedding is going to turn out beautiful! Can't wait to see it all come together. The food looks yummy!!! I can't believe it's $70, that's great!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I love your dress! It's very flattering. I wish I could wear the mermaid style (I'm too short ).

 

[figmentfan814]

I love the shots of you in your gown; the sparkles on it will look great with the sun hitting it. I also love the color of your bridesmaids dresses.

The shots from your tasting brought back a lot of memories. That was one of my favorite parts of the planning We got to do ours in Epcot too of course because of LSS.

Its funny when you mentioned the sea shells on our buffet I totally didn't remember them and just looked back at the pictures and you're right If you want shots of our buffet table just let me know. To be honest I didn't make any requests for our buffet decor at the wedding or DP. They even added a Figment to our evening dessert buffet to follow our theme there without any suggestions from me. I guess in all the planning I didn't even think to ask about that, so you're definitely ahead of me. That's a great idea to have them wear the white coats like on a cruise.

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Today I am so upset that I have to do this, but it's the safest thing to do for me & Matt. I have to stop my PJ due to the fact that Matt's sister & mother have gone to the point of stalking us throughout the internet. Negative Comments have been made on our wedding window website. They have been trying to find friends of mine who would let them log in to see my facebook. We have been getting a non-stop stream of phone calls. It's only a matter of time before they find me here. It's sick and it's very upsetting.

It really hurts me not to be able to share my wedding planning with you, but I don't want to provide so many details in such an easy place for them to look. From what I understand they don't know about this website and they have never seen my PJ but I'm not taking any chances. However, I don't want to make it any easier for them because it's very possible they may show up on the day of the wedding.

I'm not going to leave the boards completely (I just love it here too much!!!). I'll be posting randomly, asking questions to past brides and always available to answer questions for new brides. Maybe asking opinions and such, just like aways but having a PJ makes it too easy for them to find out too much information.

I promise to post a full recap of my wedding afterwards, with all the little details and pictures that I can possibly include. Once the wedding is over, I'll feel safer.

Thank you all for being there for me and for all your wonderful words of encouragement! I can't wait to share the details of everything in less than 4 months!!!

 

[pink_tink8i8]

I'm so sorry to hear about that. We'll miss you!