My wedding day recap - 9-16-11...so magical

[maddiesdaddy]

Ahh...I probably should do a TR on our whole entire trip. The wedding was merely at the end of the week. But it was all a blur leading up to that day so I'll talk about that in generalities and go into specifics with pictures of the wedding day.

This may take some time and I will do it in parts.

A little about us. My wife has our planning journal in the other sub-thread and is a much better writer than I am. She will probably post her thoughts there.

This seems to be a less viewed and used sub thread which is perfect for me.

My wife and I are each on our 2nd marriage. We both got divorced with one kid each. We combined our amazing family into one officially on September 16, 2011. Disney has been a part of our relationship from almost minute one.

After my divorce, I took my daughter on a Disney trip just she and I. When I first met Sarah, I had told her all about it and even encouraged her to take her son. Sarah lived in another city and while her marriage was ending, we become great email and phone friends, after having met the year before through work. I encouraged her to take her son to Disney and explained all the details of our trip.

My daughter and I had so much fun on our trip that we decided to go back a year later. Lo and behold our last weekend at Disney was Sarah and her son's first weekend and a bond that would never break began those days.

After dating for awhile, Sarah and her son moved to St. Louis where I lived and we went on a 'family trip' together just over a year after our overlapping trip. Our trip was amazing and special and during that trip, I plotted my Disney proposal.

That Disney proposal took place in December of 2010 and with Disney so much a part of our relationship, there was no better place than Disney for a wedding that was as magical as a fairytale. Pictures of that proposal are in my wife's PJ which is linked in my signature so I won't duplicate that effort.

We returned to Disney in September 2011 with our family trip first. Sunday - Wednesday, it was just the 4 of us having fun, riding rides, doing the things we ALWAYS do. Then, family and friends started arriving and we had our amazing wedding on Friday, September 16, 2011.

What will follow here soon will be my recount of that day with pictures as soon as I figure out how to post them from photobucket.

It is a day that I will never forget. A day that still causes me to day dream.

I am not the best writer, but I hope I can convey how amazingly magical our wedding was. With friends and family that made it all wonderful and a woman that filled spots in my life that I didn't realize were empty.

Sarah is indeed who I was meant to be with. There was no more magical place than Disney to make that a reality.

Writing soon to commence. Thanks to anyone who reads.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Before I begin...oddly without pictures..I don't have our camera pictures into photobucket yet.....

but Sarah is my wife
Madison is my daughter, age 7
Logan is Sarah's son and my step-son, age 4

Also, you will see from the pictures that we saw each other the day of the wedding. We discussed this at length and came to our own conclusion:

-this wasn't our first wedding so there was no need for tradition
-we were truly each other's best friend...to not see each other until 5 pm would have been miserable since we did everything together

It worked out perfectly for us. But just wanted to explain in case there were questions why we did that.

Wedding Day

The day started off relatively normally, considering that the 4 of us were about to combine our families together forever today. Sarah had made us appointments at the spa for herself, Madison and me.

We had a great time, each of us getting pampered. Maddie got a manicure and pedicure and picked out some blue polish. I'm not sure where she got the polish idea, but the blue was a little 'out there'. She didn't wear blue for the wedding, but that was her 'take home color'. She had a beautiful pink for the wedding day, which matched her awesome dress!

Sarah got a french manicure and a pedicure with a paraffin wax treatment on her hands.

Logan got an 'ipad' treatment and played games and watched movies the whole time.

I got a manicure..come on, my hands and ring were going to be in so many pictures... and pedicure from a lovely woman named Emilia.

It was all so relaxing and thus so very hard to get back to going about the rest of the day.

The kids and I walked back to Franc's to drop off the some various gifts we had for some of the people who helped make this day so marvelous. We had already dropped off some but needed an emergency one this week and had to have it overnighted to the hotel.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Our wedding was at 5 pm with cocktails to start at 6 and the reception to go from 7-11:30. We knew from the previous week that, in order for the kids to be up late, they needed a rest. And timing was tight because we had to feed them some lunch.

So, it seems like just as we got back to our room, things started happening. Janet, the hair dresser showed up and started in on everyone 's hair. She was a very sweet lady and listened to all the stories that everyone had to tell.

Sarah would later say she was the 'glue' that held it all together that day. I hardly remember Barbie, the steaming lady, coming in to steam Sarah's wedding dress, Maddie's flower girl dress and Logan's and my tuxedo. She seemed to be in and out in a minute. But, as each person came and went, Janet was there.

Papa Mike (Logan's grandfather) was the hero, realizing the kids might be in the way of the makeup and hair that was starting so he took the kids swimming, which we told him could only be for half of an hour. That was the start of a lot of time without the kids. I came to regret that...more on that in a minute...but it was necessary and actually worked out well.

Being a divorced parent is hard and Sarah and I are lucky in that we have our kids 50% of the time. We split our weeks with our exes and so we value every minute we have with our kids during our time. We almost never go out without them when we have them so we really value our time, because it is so limited and so at different times, Sarah or I become very conscious of our time with and without the kids. When you start out at 50%, every minute without them becomes less than 50%. So we watch that so carefully.

After about 30 minutes, I ran out to get the kids lunch and get them out of the pool. Timing was important for Maddie's hair. The lunch was pizza for everyone. It was a big win for everyone in the room who were all getting hungry. The kids ate in Papa Mike's room and one hour before Janet needed to start on Maddie's hair, I went and rushed her through lunch and got her down for a nap. The kids fell asleep quickly.

The first of many things that we think Disney did right...they booked everyone in our same building at the Grand and on the same floor and down the same hallway. It made life so very easy. I also went down the hall and socialized. It was a blast to walk down the hall of our favorite hotel and visit with so much family.

Time flew and by the time I came back from my dad's room, Maddie was awake and was getting her hair done. I quickly felt like I was behind as I knew Regina, the photographer was going to be there at 2:00 so at about 1:30, I jumped into the shower. And that's when I realized..that if I thought time was flying up until then...it shot like a rocket after that.

A few test posts with photobucket and I think the picture portion of this trip report will commence later today!

 

[maddiesdaddy]

I took a quick shower and then started to shave. About that time, the photographers got there.

We were lucky enough to get the amazing Regina and we got Daryn as the 2nd shooter. Sarah and I looked at each other because we originally thought from conversations that our 2nd shooter would be a woman named Carrie and the small thank you gifts we got them were very girly...not at all appropriate for a gauy named Daryn. Poor planning for uncertainties by us!!!!

Daryn did a great job at our wedding. At times, he was more than a 2nd shooter. He was part time lots of things as we would come to see throughout the day. But....I have to say that he wasn't overly warm. Regina was warm like the sun, but Daryn was just not. He had some bad jokes and the kids seemed to like him so all in all, not a bad situation, but I just didn't feel that close to him. *Regina, on the other hand, made you feel like you had been her best friend for years. It's hard to say enough about Regina and I will not do her justice. She was amazing from minute 1. She became more amazing at each passing moment.

We showed her Madison's 'real smile' so she could know when she was faking it!!

All in all, we had an amazing time getting ready.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

So, in a day of absolute perfection, there were a few...very minor...snafus. The first was that I was in the middle of shaving, when the photographers wanted to photograph jewelry.

Which was the problem because...that's what I got Sarah for a wedding present and I thought she would wear something I got her for the actual ceremony so I had to jump in and say that it was time to do wedding gifts.

That's when I realized I was pretty far behind because I was only halfway shaved. So, rough shaving and all, we did wedding gifts.

Sarah gave me the sweetest card and the cuff links for my shirt which were 'xo' cuff links from Tiffany. They were beautiful.

What's funny is that I got Sarah the 'xo' necklace, also from Tiffany. Hard to see here..it's smaller than the cufflinks..but perfect for the occasion:

The reason for the matching jewelry that that we both bought for heach other is that Sarah and I try to sign off every note, email, anything written with 'xoxo'. It's just always been our signature to each other so I think when we both realized this was a line of jewelry, it only made sense.

When I put it on her, it seemed to have been made for her. So beautiful on my amazingly beautiful bride.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

We exchanged another gift each, a beautiful locket with our kids' intials engraved on it for her and an amazing photo album of some very beautiful and classy pictures that Sarah had done for me. She knows what a beautiful woman I think she is and it was a very special and amazing gift.

Sarah confirmed that she would wear the 'xo' necklace to the wedding to match my 'xo' cufflinks. All the while, the photographer was snapping shots of all the amazing accessories like the flowers, the shoes, our rings.

Then it was about high time for me to get ready....

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Did I mention that I felt like I was really behind?

Well, that's when the 2nd snafu appeared...my tuxedo didn't have buttons sewed in for my suspenders. Aaaahhhhh...I didn't even think to check for that. So, we improvised and decided to attach them where we thought they belonged by using safety pins!

That's where the first of Daryn's other jobs came in..he offered to sew them on really quickly if I had needle and thread, which I didn't. But, it was nice of him to offer. That took a bit longer than I expected so I was getting worried about time.

I still needed to help with Madison and needed to finish up before pictures..yes she was being a good girl and doing her homework while getting hair, makeup and earrings done.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

We had ssome finishing touches to do...Maddie's last bit of makeup...Sarah helping me with my bowtie:

At the same time, my very handsome ring bearer arrived, all dressed and looking dapper...

Maddie was ready to go...clearly

So..a quick kiss for the beautiful bride to be...

The last minute stuff took a bit longer than I expected so we were rushing! I finally finished everything at the last minute. My family was already at the Grand because we were running a bit late. So, I took sweet Madison with me and, along with Regina and Daryn, we took off for the lobby of the Grand Floridian.

 

[luvs2cruise]

Loving all of it, so far! Can't wait to read more!

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Loving all of it, so far! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for reading. Will post more soon..maybe tonight. Internet is being tricky tonight. Otherwise tomorrow.

Anyways..thanks again...and love reading about your VR cruise plans!

 

[maddiesdaddy]

So, first up was pictures with my incredibly small famliy. I have truly the smallest family. I have one sibling and no cousins. So..this wouldn't take long.

This is my mom and step father:

And my dad and step mother:

And finally my brother....who, as a baptist minister, was also our officiant and his wife, who is expecting their first Disney fan!

So, then it was just pictures with my daughter and me alone. I'll just post some of my favorites with Maddie...although Sarah loves them, I am not a fan of my solo pictures:

 

[maddiesdaddy]

While I was rushing out the door, Logan had some cute pictures with his mom....I didn't even remember these being taken, but they are super cute:

Then, I got the cue that it was time for our first look pictures

 

[torismom]

What a beautiful family!!! I am looking forward to reading more. The photos are perfect!! Thank you for sharing.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Regina had me stand on the Grand Floridian main stairs and look away. They brought Sarah in the back way. I was facing 'Maddie's elevator'..more on that later...with Regina just talking to me. Jamie Betz (our substitute planner while Pamela was on maternity leave) was there with Laura Kidd as they both promised to be. Jamie told me that she could see Sarah coming in and asked me to turn towards the front desk so I did. Then she told me it was ok to turn back towards the elevator.

Regina explained what Sarah was doing...walking around the 2nd floor of the Grand Floridian lobby and she would come down one side of the stairs. I was to keep looking at Regina and she would be my cue when to turn around.

What came up is really one of my only very few complaints with the photography. Regina was to stay in her current location and get Sarah's reaction coming down. Daryn was to move up the stairs and get my reaction as I looked back at Sarah. Regina did an AMAZING job of capturing Sarah's reactions - so great..so meaningful and so beautiful. Daryn's didn't come out so well. This wasn't a huge deal as weddings are all about the brides and I am not missing any pictures of me that much...but from an album stand point, it would have been great to have 2 pictures side by side showing the synchronized shots of our 'first look'.

So, I was waiting and waiting. All of a sudden, Regina started shooting and I could see a white dress in the reflection of Regina's camera lens. I got a huge smile on my face. She shot about 10 quick pictures then told me to turn around.

It's hard to describe that moment. Sarah was stunning..as beautiful as a bride as I have ever seen. She looked so elegant, so beautiful, a true princess. This was the woman I wanted to be with for the rest of my life...and there she was walking towards me....glowing in all of her beauty.

We both had a moment and got a bit teary eyed. We talked a lot about how good everything was..how amazing the day was and how beautiful she was. It was awesome.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

What a beautiful family!!! I am looking forward to reading more. The photos are perfect!! Thank you for sharing.

Awww...thank you so much. I will post more as I get time. I really appreciate your sweet sweet words.

 

[pixie921]

The four of you are gorgeous and the photos really capture how happy all of you are! Congratulations, and I'm looking forward to seeing and reading more!!

 

[maddiesdaddy]

At that time, we took a few shots of the 2 of us and with the kids as well as the combined family shots.

This was my new combined family:

And this was Sarah's:

Maddie clearly didn't have her best smiles in the family pictures!!!!

We were done pretty quickly with that and then Sarah did her family pictures.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

The four of you are gorgeous and the photos really capture how happy all of you are! Congratulations, and I'm looking forward to seeing and reading more!!

Amy,

Thank you so much. The pictures were right..we were so happy. I appreicate your kind words and I will post more when I can. It's addiciting though, reliving the day. It's hard to stop. Boring conference calls at work help....

 

[maddiesdaddy]

This is Sarah's wonderful family. She has a larger family, but not all could attend. We were blessed that the people who could come did.

This is her mom and step father:

This is one of my all time favorite pictures - Sarah and her mom...2 beautiful women:

This is Sarah with her step-sister:

Then, there are the adorable mom and son shots:

 

[maddiesdaddy]

Sarah had a few more pictures with the kids...something else I wish I would have spoke up about. These 2 kiddos are so special to me and I would have loved to have a fun picture with the 3 of us. But I didn't say anything and no one can read my mind. Besides..Sarah is so beautiful in these...it's likely they wouldn't have gotten a good shot!!!

Anyway, I can't tell you how Maddie continues to talk about this wedding...how the beautiful bride that was about to become her stop-mother inspires all of her wedding dreams and imagination. Disney had a bit to do with that..but I think you can see it by the smile on her face. And the love they have for each other is so genuine. I can't tell you how blessed I am to have a woman who loves my kiddo like her own and has given her the space and the comfort to love her back. It is truly magical

One of my favorites of the 3 of them:

Then we all got in together:

And then one more to re-create a shot from a family shoot back home with an amazing friend of ours. The one from back home, which I will post first is actually one of our favorite all time family shots. So we sweetly asked Regina if she would duplicate it for us and though we were on opposite sides, it came out pretty well:

The original:

Regina's sweet duplication:

Then it was time for pre-ceremony pictures: