My Disney wedding and honeymoon 9/13/15

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We were married at Maitland Art Center on 9/13/15 and had our reception at the Attic on Disney's Boardwalk. We stayed at the Boardwalk resort for our honeymoon.
Planning was really fun for me. We went to the bridal showcase last September to scout out locations in Orlando. My original want was to do our ceremony in Morocco and reception at the Attic but wishes was just too expensive for us. We then considered an escape package but we couldn't narrow it down without leaving someone important out. Our next thought was Shades of Green but they didn't respond a lot and wouldn't show us the ballrooms when we came to visit. I also didn't like that almost every hotel room could see the gazebo where the ceremony would be.
I discovered the Maitland Art Center online and I loved it through pictures. The Maitland Art Center is gorgeous in pictures and even better in person. After seeing it I knew it was the place I wanted to get married at. Our plan then was to do everything at the art center - ceremony & reception. But after the bridal showcase at Disney I really wanted to use the Attic. That night we went by the boardwalk and asked the concierge if they could let us see it. One of the women working said she could show us around (mind you it's about 9pm). We had a little bit of trouble opening the door to the Attic, the keys are very tricky, but we did eventually get in.
The Attic is such a quaint and perfect room. There are gorgeous little artifacts hanging on all the walls and there are rocking chairs and couches. It is very laid back and needs no decoration. It also has the most gorgeous views. It was perfect for us. My mom was the main benefactor in our reception so she had final say but she asked what my ideal was and I said Maitland for the ceremony and Attic for our reception and we made it work. I was really worried about the distance between the two (about 40 minutes) but we rented a coach bus to help our guests out and no one seemed bothered by it.
Maitland definitely would've been cheaper if we did the whole thing there but the Attic wasn't too bad compared to doing wishes. I believe the total BEO was $6,400 for the Attic reception.
Maitland was about $1000 to have the courtyard and a back-up building for three hours and one hour the next day for extra photos. Plus chair set-up and violinist.

 

[meghammy]

Those are beautiful pictures! I'm glad you were able to find a way to incorporate Disney without destroying your budget

 

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Day one: Rehearsal Dinner at Big River Grille on Disney's boardwalk. 31 guests.
Big River Grille isn't actually Disney owned so dealing with them is a little different. They were pretty loosey-goosey about their system and we changed the number of people up till the morning of. They offered us three or four set menu options. They were not customizable. They ranged from $38-$56 for food and $20-$46 a person for 2 hours unlimited alcohol. We went with the cheapest of both options because they actually fit our needs best. The food was really good and they were very accommodating. Two of our guests came in about 20min before our dinner was over and they still got fully served. They also didn't just kick us out at 9 when the reservation was over. But they did do a last call for the bar.
We had really wonderful service. There was an issue with my grandpa joining us because he has very limited mobility. We had previously spoken to the Boardwalk about getting him a wheelchair to move him to the restaurant. But there ended up being a huge conference and the staff was too busy to help him. I was extremely upset and left the dinner with Will to go find him in the lobby and see how he was doing. He was alright and told us to enjoy our party but I still wasn't entirely happy.
Our server, Joy, was our savior and got a golf cart to bring my grandpa in. It really saved my night because I was extremely upset. People kept trying to take pictures of me and I was just crying.
After my grandfather was brought in I actually got to enjoy myself a little. We had a side of the restaurant(to the right of the bar) roped off for us and two servers. It was pretty easy to move around and mingle. My MIL, who hosted, decorated the tables with some banners and baby pictures of us. We had planned to do toasts but everyone forgot.

 

[streetlight]

Day Two: The wedding Day: Part 1 - getting ready
I had a hard time sleeping and ended waking up at 5am. Make-up & hair was scheduled at 930am for my room at the Boardwalk. I used Beaute Speciale. They were on time and very good. They sent two women for 3 hairs and 3 make-ups. My mom and aunt were also getting their hair & make-up done and they were 50min late and I was freaking out. Will called me trying to calm me down but I was not having it. When they did eventually come in, no apology, no reason, just ignored that it happened. Will actually called my mom to ask her to apologize. And she finally did. My make-up artist even told me to yell at her. We got the tension out and they forced a mimosa on me and it helped. (I had planned to refrain from alcohol in case it'd make me more nervous).
I do not wear any make-up on a daily basis. Zero. Dry shampoo and exfoliant are the only beauty products I use. I have to wear my hair up every day because I work in a hot kitchen and I usually feel like I look worse with make-up on. Explaining this to my artist wasn't too bad. I said I wanted to look extremely natural, no dark mascara (I have blonde eyelashes) no deep colors. It turned out really good but my lips were a little darker than I expected. I thought the color would fade. In photos I look mostly natural.
For my hair I wanted an up-do with swirls and I had one strand of blue hair that I wanted entwined. People always say you need to grow your hair out for your wedding to get a better hairstyle but no one tells you it can be too long. My hair was to my belly button and it took what felt like 100's of bobby pins to hold it up. She did a great job but by the end of the night it was starting to fall from the weight. I also added some fresh flowers to my hair and they magically stayed the whole night. We had special green tips with water to keep them fresh.
Even with my family being late we still finished almost on time. Around 1:15pm. Then we all got dressed and left for Maitland around 2pm. I told them multiple times I would leave without them if they were late.
I attached pics of my aunt, myself, and my mom to show a bit of our hair and make-up. My mother and aunt both got airbrush make-up & lashes while I stuck with traditional make-up, no frills. I feel like my mother's came out heavy but she liked it. I of course don't remember the artist's names but I will come back and add them at some point.

 

[streetlight]

Day Two: The Wedding - First Look
There was some back and forth on where to do the first look. We had the Boardwalk (where I was getting ready) or at the Maitland Art Center where the ceremony was. Both are beautiful but I decided to go with Maitland because I prefer nature (trees, plants, etc) and I wanted it to be private. At the Boardwalk we might have gotten spectators, which we did later when we took pictures there.
We headed to Maitland around 1:30 to start photography at 3pm. We didn't have car services for anything. My mom drove me and Will's dad drove him. Claire Pacelli (photographer) was there when I arrived, as was Will hiding in a car. Claire took me around and took some solo shots in the Germaine building and in the courtyard while the 2nd photographer took some solos of Will. Then They set him up facing away in the courtyard and told me to walk towards him then to call to him when I was close.
We both started crying immediately. After initial compliments, I brought Will to the side so we'd be slightly more private. We had agreed to have a prepared thing to say. He recited some of Winnie the Pooh. The one where he says he'll live one day less so he never has to live a day with you. And I sand "If the moon fell down tonight" to him which was the first song I ever sang to him and was when I realized I loved him. It was really sweet and special. When we came out of our cocoon we had a little crowd of family watching us.
Afterwards we took some photos together around the courtyard and chapel. Then our bus of guests all came in and I had to run away. I might have timed that better if I had thought about it. Everyone saw me before the ceremony. Except the late ones.

 

[streetlight]

Day 2: The Wedding - The Ceremony Part 1
After I made it to the safety of the Germaine building my mom came in to tell me my dad hadn't shown up yet. There was a lot of drama about him coming in the first place because my step dad would be there. Three days before we left for Florida he told me he wasn't coming but he changed his mind two days later. A few minutes later he did show up and came and talked to me for a few minutes before the ceremony. Apologizing, saying he would be a better father, etc. Not quite what I wanted at that moment but oh well. After he left I was really nervous waiting alone and kept reapplying my lip gloss. Then my mom came in with a golf umbrella and my heart sank. It had rained all morning while we were getting ready but cleared up right before we got to Maitland. Claire also had an app that showed exactly where the clouds were and said it wouldn't rain. It had started to sprinkle and she brought in case it got heavier. Luckily I didn't need it because I wouldn't have used it anyway.
As I walked towards the courtyard I heard Canon in D playing and I was getting very nervous. It was the last song before the processional.
By the way we didn't time out any of our music with the violinist (Lisa Ferrigno) She was wonderful but I wish I had said something like 60 seconds on this song, 30 seconds on that. Wills' processional music (Pirates of the Caribbean theme) played so much longer than necessary.
I walked out to the theme from Jurassic Park, which I kept secret from everybody. I was so nervous and giddy that when I saw Will's face recognize the music I bent over laughing.(somehow no pictures of that came out) I was crying the whole way down the aisle and laughing a lot. My nerves were crazy.
We had a good friend of ours, Ruben, act as our officiant. We asked him because he's very loud and the life of the party. He did speak loudly but his diction left something to be desired. We didn't get to practice much together and I think he was really busy in the time before the wedding. If you have a friend perform your ceremony, make sure they speak clearly and go over the words a lot beforehand. But don't expect them to be perfect. No one could be.
I wrote the entire ceremony myself and then had it printed in a shutterfly book that looked amazing and doubled as a guest book. It was a big under taking but I really enjoyed doing it and I loved our ceremony.
We did a ring warming and a hand fasting.

 

[lurkyloo]

This is fantastic! I love reading all the little details we didn't get to talk about on your Disney Wedding Podcast episode. One thing I wish I'd asked—what was the significance of the bear everyone passed around during the ceremony?