Meredith & Matt's PJ-June 19th, 2011 Germany/LSS - Completed TR and Blog Feature!

[irishwishes]

Now that the holidays are over I'm trying to get back in to the wedding spirit. We sent in our planning packet and menu checklist and I have a list to get done before our PS.

I met with my sister's friend who is making our invitations last night and they turned out better than I imagined The plan is to mail them out by Feb 28th and RSVP by April 1st. We decided on green envelopes, off white paper and purple response envelopes. I don't want to spend the extra money for calligrapher because they're just going to throw the invites away once they're done with them. So instead she is going to do labels, and she does a cool wraparound label for the return address stuff.

Has anyone done Disney stamps for their invites? I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on custom stamps, because again, they just get thrown away. I thought in the past the post office has come out with regular Disney stamps but I haven't seem them at all. Any ideas out there?

Anyway, here's some pics of the invites...they're printed on regular paper just to see what they look like. I'll post more pics once they're printed at the end of Feb

 

[BecBennett]

They turned out great! Did I miss it? What sort of paper will they be printed on?

 

[irishwishes]

They turned out great! Did I miss it? What sort of paper will they be printed on?

Oh shoot I guess I forgot to mention all of that. I'll be ordering paper from Paper Source and she will be printing them at her house. It will be on cardstock and black ink. I decided on no liners for the envelopes...too much hassle to glue and just ups the price.

She orders from Paper Source all the time for the stuff she makes. She thinks it's the best quality for the price you pay and they offer a lot of different options. I'll probably be ordering the covers for the passports from there too, but that won't be until I start getting more RSVP's back.

 

[irishwishes]

I can now officially say we only have 150 days until the wedding!! Our PS is 3 weeks from tomorrow and we've decided to do engagement pics down there at the last minute. We haven't officially booked anyone yet but should be doing so by today. We're going to take pics after my hair trial so hopefully Beaute Speciale can do a little something different for the pics. It's going to be a packed weekend while we're there but I'm getting really excited for it!!

I also ordered the paper for my invitations today and I can't wait to see them all printed up and ready to go!

 

[irishwishes]

Ok...time for a little update. We leave for our planning session next Friday morning!!! I can finally say I only have 1 work week left before heading to Florida. I've been trying to get everything organized this past week before I switch to night shift this coming week. My pile is slowly growing and I'll probably be scrambling on Thursday after I wake up. It'll be a quick weekend in Disney and is packed full of stuff. The run down is....

Friday - Planning session and tasting
Saturday - Universal Studios and Harry Potter, Ohana's for dinner
Sunday - hair trial, engagement session, Raglan Road, Downtown Disney

We have book David and Vicki Arndt for our engagement session!! I'm really happy we decided to do this and I don't think we'll regret it. I've been trying to figure out what to wear for the shoot. I have a casual outfit, but I would like to have dressier one too. We plan on using the photos for our guest book and I don't want a book full of pictures with the same outfit on. I really don't look that great with a dress on and no tan...so I feel a little stuck. I'm going to my sisters tomorrow morning to see if we can find something. I'm going to look through David and Vicki's FB page for some ideas once I'm done with this post.

I think that's it for now!

 

[donald&daisy]

Ok...time for a little update. We leave for our planning session next Friday morning!!! I can finally say I only have 1 work week left before heading to Florida. I've been trying to get everything organized this past week before I switch to night shift this coming week. My pile is slowly growing and I'll probably be scrambling on Thursday after I wake up. It'll be a quick weekend in Disney and is packed full of stuff. The run down is....

Friday - Planning session and tasting
Saturday - Universal Studios and Harry Potter, Ohana's for dinner
Sunday - hair trial, engagement session, Raglan Road, Downtown Disney

We have book David and Vicki Arndt for our engagement session!! I'm really happy we decided to do this and I don't think we'll regret it. I've been trying to figure out what to wear for the shoot. I have a casual outfit, but I would like to have dressier one too. We plan on using the photos for our guest book and I don't want a book full of pictures with the same outfit on. I really don't look that great with a dress on and no tan...so I feel a little stuck. I'm going to my sisters tomorrow morning to see if we can find something. I'm going to look through David and Vicki's FB page for some ideas once I'm done with this post.

I think that's it for now!

How exciting! I can't wait to hear about your plans at LSS--it never seems like there is enough info on it. I'm sure your pics will turn out fine. You could always go do a spray tan, if you are worried about that. Otherwise, I would throw on some tights or something. You could also do a nice, dressier pant with a cute blouse. Lots of options! Have a fun and safe trip and take lots of pics!

 

[irishwishes]

Thanks donald&daisy...I picked out 2 outfits that will work for the shoot. My sister and I went shopping and found a cute cardigan to go with a navy dress that I already have. I'm ok with what I look like in my navy dress and the cardigan covers up the stuff that I don't want shown.

On another note I've started thinking about a gift for my planner for after the wedding. I know most people give a gift and I didn't want to send her just a bouquet of flowers or gift card. I haven't really been searching around really hard since the wedding is till over 4 months away but it's been on the back of my mind. Well today I signed on to Groupon and I think I found something that will work!! They have a $40 Groupon to Fairytale Brownies for $20! I thought the Fairytale part was fitting and brownies are delicious!! Let's just hope Amy isn't allergic to chocolate.

Does anybody get a gift for their planner's assistant too? I really haven't looked very far in to this. I just jumped on the Groupon today.

 

[KristiLyn]

Very cute gift idea!! I love it!!!

 

[irishwishes]

Very cute gift idea!! I love it!!!

Thanks!!

I bought another Groupon yesterday for mixbook...I actually bought 2 to get $100 worth of stuff for $30. I'm planning on using it for my guestbook and then maybe some cool thank you cards.

AND we're leaving for our planning session tomorrow morning!!!! I'm so happy it's finally time. I think the wedding will actually feel real after the PS. I was really productive before work yesterday and I think I got all the last minute stuff we need for travel.

I'm going to try to focus and take a bunch of pics so the trip report will be interesting. I hope I'm not forgetting anything!

 

[sw33t_angel]

Just got caught up with your whole PJ!

Loving all of your ideas! Can't wait to hear about your planning session! Have fun!!

 

[pixiegirl]

I bought the same groupon deal at mixbook. I am going to make my save the dates. Thanks for the idea of thank you cards. i hadn't even thought of that!! I also bought two for $100 worth of stuff. I am sort of addicted to groupon now!!

Have a fun and safe trip. Take lots of pictures. Can't wait to hear all about it!!

 

[BecBennett]

Can't wait to read all about your PS!

 

[irishwishes]

We are back from our PS and exhausted from the weekend...but it totally worth it!!! I can't believe we had so much fun and I'm sad it's over. I want to go back and plan it all over again. Our engagement session was a blast and I didn't think I'd like getting my picture taken so much. I'm anxiously awaiting the sneak peaks from David and Vicki! We had so much fun with them and wanted to hang out with them for the rest of the day. I just wish we could have them for our wedding!

Anyway, I'll get started on a TR as soon as I get settled. I'm on vacation all next week, but I may have time to start a little this week.

 

[Sccrmnky2005]

YAY!! Can't wait to see the E-pics and hear all about your PS!!

You CAN have David and Vicki, you would just have to change your wedding locations... This is one big reason I'm having outside the parks ceremony and reception

 

[BecBennett]

You have to start your PS trip report!! What else am I going to do while I wait for my time to go???

 

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your planning and see your e-pics!

 

[irishwishes]

YAY!! Can't wait to see the E-pics and hear all about your PS!!

You CAN have David and Vicki, you would just have to change your wedding locations... This is one big reason I'm having outside the parks ceremony and reception

You're right but I've had my hear set on those locations before I even considered photography. I'm just glad I was able to meet them and that they were able to do our engagement photos. We actually talked about your cruise on the Dream and how much fun it was!

You have to start your PS trip report!! What else am I going to do while I wait for my time to go???

You are so close to your wedding!! I can't imagine how excited you are. I can't wait to read all about it!

Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your planning and see your e-pics!

Thanks!! Vicki said she's going to try to get the sneak peaks up by tomorrow.

 

[irishwishes]

I have some free time tonight so I figured I could get started on my trip report! We woke up early on Friday morning to catch our flight at 7:00am. It was 10 degrees when we were leaving my house and we couldn't wait to get to 60 degree weather in Disney. Our PS was scheduled for 11:00am and we were due to land at 9:30am. We had just enough time to pick up our rental car and drive right over to the Wedding Pavilion. We had originally scheduled our PS for 1:00 but it got pushed up to fit in a tasting session.

Arriving with 15 minutes to spare!

When Amy came in we got right down to business. Let me just say that Amy is awesome and we couldn't have asked for a better planner!! She's so easy to talk to and completely what we are looking for for our wedding Let's see...we decided on the 8 hour photography package and are going to Epcot as early as possible to get pictures. We are going to do a first look so we can get a lot of pictures done before the ceremony. We are actually going to ride a van over to the ceremony and then ride the bus back to the resort after the reception. I'm loving this because we're saving a couple hundred dollars right there and I could care less about riding in a limo!! Amy asked if we wanted them to try to get the cuckcoo clock turned off during the ceremony and we said no way. It's all a part of the the charm of Germany and I think it will be awesome if it goes off. We'll be taking family pics right after the ceremony and then it's off to party at the LSS! We picked a 2 tier mad hatter shape cake and want a World Showcase design. We asked for it to be a Chef's choice since they're WAY more creative then Matt and I will ever be. Also, our cake will be a total surprise for us. For the flavors we decided on amaretto with bailey's filling for one tier and then chocolate with peanut butter cup filling for the next. We are going to supplement with a sheet cake that will also be chocolate with peanut butter cup. I know I'm forgetting a ton of stuff but it all just flew by. I'm sure I'll remember once we get the BEO.

Elizabeth from Disney Floral came in next and she was just as awesome as Amy! We decided on minimal decoration for the ceremony and a staged exit with rose petals. She told us we won't need much decoration for the pre-reception and that's awesome. She then showed us a bunch of ideas for center pieces and we decided on the hanging lamp with some tropical leaves around it to tie in the LSS. We are going to use the standard linens and stick with real simple decorations. I think the LSS is beautiful on it's own.

Apparently we flew through the PS and had some time before the menu tasting so Matt and I went outside to explore the WP and the Grand Floridian.

Matt is always trying to find hidden mickeys

Next up was the menu tasting! We headed over to the Epcot kitchen and man was it busy. They were getting all the food together for the cheerleading competition that was going on all weekend. It was like a well oiled machine in there and it was really cool to see. With all the excitement I completely forgot to take pictures of the food. I know...I'm disappointed in myself. So I think we decided on pasta primavera, chedder cheese mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies, chicken with fig and apples, crepes, mickey waffles, omelet station...crap I can't remember what else. Well anyway we'll see how much it will be pp and adjust things from there. If it ends up being too much we'll probably get rid of the omelet station and just serve eggs. We also took the danishes and fresh fruit and moved them to the pre-reception. We'll be doing a BOC beer and wine with mimosas and bloody marys.

After the tasting it was time to say goodbye to Amy and head to Pop to check in. We got to our room and I think we both fell asleep right away. Once I woke up I forced myself to get out of bed and in the shower to wake up a bit. I wanted to take Matt to the Boardwalk and Jellyrolls that evening since he's never been. I finally dragged him out of bed and off we went for the evening! We had a couple beers and some nachos at Big River Grille before Jellyrolls opened. Matt and I love to sample microbrews and if our wedding wasn't going to be in Disney we were going to have it at a Microbrewery up here.

We had some time after our beers before Jellyrolls so we decided to go over to the Swan and Dolphin to look around.

Jellyrolls was finally open and we couldn't have had a better time! I REALLY want to go back with everyone while we're there for the wedding and I'm going to have to try to fit it in.

Once we got back to Pop we were spent and ready for bed. Up next our day at Universal and Harry Potter!!!

 

[KristiLyn]

Since I'm getting married there, I saw your Swan and dolphin pic and got so happy!!! haha, I'm such a dork
Sounds like you guys had a good time (so far)
I can't wait to go to jellyrolls. DF and I have never been, and are so excited to go this year!!!!

 

[BecBennett]

I really want to take everyone to Jellyrolls too, but my brother is only 17, and DF's brother's GF is only 18, and his 1/2 bro and sis are only 16 and 18, so I don't really want to leave anyone out...