Our Magical "Memories" Vow Renewal 5/24/16 : VOW RENEWAL DAY TRIP REPORT (with pics-more to come)

[Stacirella]

I know I literally just said it on Facebook but HAPPY VR DAY!!!!!! Hope it's the most magical day and everything you wish it to be!

Thank you so much- it was PERFECT! I will share some photos and stories soon!

 

[Stacirella]

Love all of this! We are planning on a 25th anniversary vow renewal at the Poly beach.....in 4 years! Love your ideas!!

Thanks for following along, I will do a recap soon! Congrats on your soon to be 25th!!!

 

[MiaBella05]

can't wait to read all about it

 

[Stacirella]

DAY 1 RECAP

We landed in Orlando about 10:00 am and met up with our guests in the food court of MCO. We then gave them their welcome bags and itineraries (which I had placed into a folder with the Wishing Cards).

We all boarded the Magical Express and headed to POR. For some reason the bus stalled for about 20 minutes at Old Key West so we had to push back our lunch reservation. But we arrived , checked in and got our welcome letter from Tiana and also our celebration buttons. Our rooms were not ready (sadly as a few of us were hoping to take a quick nap), but we did get adjoining rooms!

After checking in we boarded the boat to Disney Springs and headed to Portabello for a 12:45 lunch. This is the first group photo we got- I'm glad our one of our welcome bags made it into this shot- I am bad a remembering to take pictures and I wish I had snagged one of us handing them out!

At Portobello we all relaxed and pretty much everyone but me enjoyed what they ordered. I had ordered the margherita pizza and it was not good. I even asked others to try it just to be sure it wasn't me and everyone agreed it had a very strange flavor. But our server was excellent, I don't remember her name but we all thought she was wonderful!

Once we finished eating the plan was to surprise everyone with a ride on Characters in Flight and give them their Grape Soda badges. Sadly, once we got to Characters in Flight it was closed due to high winds- so we handed them all the Grape Soda badges on the ground in front of the balloon. They seemed to still appreciate the thought of the Grape Soda badges but nobody would wear it as we had hoped. We really wanted everyone to have them on for the vow renewal ceremony (that didn't happen either). I have read so many other threads where guests love these and are excited to wear them- and we put so much time and effort into making the cards that we attached them to that I thought they would go over better. In their defense the safety pins they were connected to were on the thicker side and could run the risk of damaging some delicate material. We did have the option to use them as keychains so hopefully they will get put to use that way.

We walked around for a little bit and then decided to check out the Jock Lindsey Hangar Bar. We sat outside on the deck and we all ordered a cocktail and just shared stories and laughter for about an hour and a half- it was nice. Though this time my drink (a mojito) was a disappointment. It was very bitter with a strong lemon flavor (it should be sweet with a lime and mint flavor), actually everyone was pretty disappointed in their cocktails- but we were having so much fun it didn't matter!

While we were at the Hangar Bar we got the text that our rooms were ready. So after cocktails we all headed back to the resort for a very brief stop at our rooms before traveling over to the Hoop dee Doo. We were in the Royal Rooms and we all loved the themeing.

Paul and I had chartered a van to bring us to the Wilderness Lodge (to save on travel time). On the way we popped in our first mixed cd of the trip (we compliled playlists of themed music for each of our chartered rides). The 1st playlist was to help get everyone in a happy/party mood!

RIDE 1 MUSIC (to HDD) 11-15 min ride

1.) Happy (4.06)
2.) Party in the USA (3.22)
3.) Unwritten (3.57)
4.) Vacation (2.58)
5.) Glad You Came ( 3.17)

Once we got to the Wilderness Lodge we headed to the boats but also stopped by the geyser (hoping to see it go off- it never did). We traveled over to the 6:15 showing of Hoop Dee Doo, we had wonderful seats. Paul and I (and one of our guests) have been to the HDD many times and we always love it (I just wish they would bring the original title song back)! But it was such a joy watching the newbies enjoy the show. When they asked if anyone was celebrating anything special- naturally we raised our hands. They asked all couples who were celebrating an anniversary or honeymoon to get up and dance- but Paul and I seemed to be the only couple to do so, so we got a follow spot put on us while they sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". It was so sweet!

After the show we took a group picture outside and headed over to the California Grill and enjoying the gorgeous sunset while on the boat!

Everytime Paul and I go to Disney we always make it to the California Grill lounge for a lemon drop and to watch Wishes so we wanted to share that with our guests. This was the highlight of the day for us. We all got a lemon drop martini (delicious as always)- found a comfy area in the lounge and just relaxed and enjoyed the view while we chatted. Then when Wishes started the newbies were blown away. We kept saying "just wait til you see it from in front of the castle tomorrow- it's even better"!


Once we were done with our drinks we took the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center and got a cab to the hotel, we were all exhausted from being up so early for our morning flights! When Paul and I got to our room we walked in to our In Room Celebration- which was beautiful! We had a trail of rose petals, a heart of petals on the bed, personalized mickey bath towels, a signed picture of Mickey and Minnie, remote controlled led candles, a couple of celebration chocolates, an assortment of spa products (pampered princess lotion, shower gel, body butter, lip balm) and dozen red roses being lit up by tinkerbell!

The only downside was that I had ordered personalized bride and groom Mickey ears to be delivered with the In Room Celebration and they were not there. I have a lot of sensitivities to most aromas so I was skeptical of the spa products- but they are all very light and fresh and they smell like an orange creamsical- I love them! We almost didn't opt for the in-room celebration, but I am so glad we did. It just made us feel a little extra special!

Our guests came into our room to check out all of our goodies and then we all said goodnight and headed to bed. We knew we would have an early and long day in the Magic Kingdom tomorrow!

 

[c3h3a3r]

Loving it congratulations

 

[Stacirella]

Loving it congratulations [/QUOTE

Thank you!

 

[Kiki La Reu]

I've been lurkily awaiting your trip report! I love all the thoughtful, creative things you planned for your guests! I've never seen the in room celebration! It looks awesome! Definitely an awesome choice!!

 

[Kiki La Reu]

Double post. Whoops

 

[Stacirella]

I've been lurkily awaiting your trip report! I love all the thoughtful, creative things you planned for your guests! I've never seen the in room celebration! It looks awesome! Definitely an awesome choice!!

Thanks so much for following- I will keep updating, I am just waiting for some pics to come in!

The In Room Celebration was wonderful- I would totally recommend it. Our first thought was...do we really need souvenirs??? (We are not really souvenir people), but the way it made us feel when we walked in was totally worth it and now we do have some lovely keepsakes as well!

 

[Stacirella]

Here are a few more random pics from DAY 1 :

I'm not sure if I mentioned it- but we put decals on all of our guests Magicbands and placed them in their welcome bags. We also used the luggage tags that came with the MagicBands as nametags on the handles of the welcome bags.

The decals we used were:

Groomsman
Man of Honor
Bridesmaid
Officiant
Mr.
Mrs.

Here is a pic our groomsman took of his:



Here are a couple of our guests on the Magical Express! The Minnie Ears were part of the Welcome Bag!



These were our celebration buttons:



Our drinks at Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar



This was the view from our seats at Hoop dee Doo



Us dancing at the Hoop Dee Doo



And of course, since we were at the Contemporary we had to point out the 5 legged goat to our guests- one of them snapped this shot of it!

 

[alohamom]

Amazing! I just found this and cannot wait for more. Congratulations and many many more happy "ears" to you both!

 

[Stacirella]

Amazing! I just found this and cannot wait for more. Congratulations and many many more happy "ears" to you both!

Thank you so much!

 

[Stacirella]

Day 2 ( Magic Kingdom Day)

Because the Bride and Groom Mickey Ears were missing from our In Room Celebration the night before I had emailed our Disney Fairytale Weddings contact (Nicolette- she was an absolute dream to work with throughout the entire process). I let her know that the ears were missing and asked for them to be refunded as we had wanted them for our day in the Magic Kingdom and I said I would pick them up in the park. Nicolette responded and apologized for the inconvenience and said she would refund and add a little touch of magic to make up for it. Awesome, I didn't know what that meant- but Disney magic is always good!

We all headed out of our rooms at about 6:55, we had chartered a luxury van to bring us to the Transportation and Ticket Center since it was so early. The day before we all rode together in 1- 8 passenger luxury van- today when we got to the entrance of Port Orleans Riverside we had 2 luxury sedans. They were very nice and much more comfy than the 8 passenger vans but we only had 1 cd for our “theme music” ride. So Paul and I and 1 of our guests got into 1 car and we gave it to the car that had 3 guests in it to play on the way to the Magic Kingdom. The theme music today was to get everybody into a truly Magical Disney feel. Here was the playlist:

1.)Magic Kingdom Welcome Medley

2.)Now is the Best Time of Your Life

3.)Fantasyland Medley

Since we were in seperate cars we had no way of knowing if our guests actually put the cd on or not. But then I got a text from one of our guests saying "we'll get you for this" hahaha. He hates the old theme to Carousel of Progress and sent me that text once it came on- mwwhahahaha

We arrived at the Transportation and Ticket center and boarded the ferry to the Magic Kingdom. Everyone was cheerful- but ready for some much needed coffee and breakfast. Once we passed through security (around 7:40 am) had to wait for about 10 minutes until they opened the gate for all those with breakfast reservations. Then we made our way down Main Street and took our group photo in front of the castle.

When we were done with the photo opp we headed for Be Our Guest. Once inside we grabbed a table in the ballroom (my favorite spot) and the newbies began looking around. One of our guests is obsessed with Beauty and the Beast- it was so much fun to watch his reactions to everything!


There were mixed reviews on the food. Some thought it was good others thought it was overpriced and not great. I have a sensitivity to eggs so it is usually a challenge to find breakfast items for me at most restaurants. I ended up with the child's oatmeal (which I didn't care for ) but I also did get to try the "grey stuff" for the first time in the Masters Cupcake!

It was good but I prefer the Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake offered at the Be Our Guest lunch.


After breakfast we decided it would be a good time to use the coins on the wishing cards. We all headed over to Cinderella's Wishing Well and one by one everyone took a turn making their wishes and tossing the coins in the well. I was the last to make a wish and when I was done Paul had surprised me by pulling out a beautiful ring and re-proposing to me! He proposed by singing a song , "Marry Me' by Train and (like the first time he proposed) he tweaked the lyrics a little to include a proposal to fit a vow renewal.

"Forever can never be long enough for me
To feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now, we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do
Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way
Marry me
Today and every day
RE-Marry me
So that we can be together forever and a day
Say you will
Mm-hmm
Say you will"

And then he put this amazing ring on my hand!

After that we separated from the group to take some couples pictures around the castle and on Main Street. (pictures to come soon)

Once we finished taking some pics we met up with the gang at Aloha Isle to introduce them to Dole Whips- 2 of our guests immediately fell in love (how could they not?). Following out Dole Whips we hit Pirates of the Caribbean and then Jungle Cruise. When we got in line for the Jungle Cruise (Paul's favorite ride) the sign read that it was a 40 minute wait. But we were in line for more than 90 minutes. I didn't much care because all I could do was stare at my new sparkly ring


When we finally made it out of the Jungle Cruise we hit Thunder Mountain (Fastpass), Splash Mountain (Fastpass) and The Tiki Room.

The above picture has a long story:

The first time I went to Disney with my friend Peter (the one choking me in the picture) he had never been on Splash Mountain because he was always a little scared of it. I begged him to go on it with me and he said "I will go on it of you buy me the picture" . I agreed. When we got off the ride there were no pictures because the camera was broken. Needless to say he was upset. So this time I got the Memory Maker- knowing full well he would have the picture for sure. But when we got off the ride all other parties pictures were showing up- but not ours. On the way out of the magic Kingdom we stopped in at the photo pass and they searched for it but could not find the picture. They gave me a number to call. I called and the agent had to do (what he referred to as ) a "deep search" and finally found it. Basically this photo got banned for "violent content". The agent released it since he could see I was smiling.

After all of that it was time for our lunch reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table. Although Cinderella is my absolute favorite princess I was more interested in sitting down, cooling off and drinking as much water as possible (I think we all were).

We had a lovely lunch. Most people enjoyed their food- though one of our guests got the fish option and couldn't eat it because it was so bad. At the end of the meal we had the the White Chocolate Slipper and White Chocolate Crown delivered to us- they were delicious!

The picture below was taken after lunch when I had much more energy from the food, water and rest!

After lunch we hit Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Fastpass)

Then :
-Haunted Mansion
-It's a Small World
-Enchanted Tales with Belle

During Enchanted Tales with Belle Paul was chosen to be a knight. Being an actor of course he didn't mind- I just felt bad for him because it was our first time seeing the show and he couldn't watch a good portion of it! But it was fun to watch him!

(Outside Enchanted Tales with Belle- I love Danielle's expression!)

After Enchanted Tales we hit:
-Journey of the Little Mermaid
-Carousel of Progress
-The Tomorrowland Transit Authority
-Monsters Inc Laugh Floor

After Monster's Inc we all made our way to Sleepy Hollow to watch The Main Street Electrical Parade. Most of us were too exhausted to try and find a decent viewing spot. Plus one of our guests had fallen and twisted her ankle the night before and was in a lot of pain. So a bunch of us just sat and relaxed at the tables. We asked a cast member if they had any ice for her ankle. The cast member brought some and was kindly insisting that she go to first aid. Danielle didn't want to be that much of a fuss and she said "I'll be alright, I just want to go on Peter Pan and then I will go back to the hotel to rest". The cast member said- "I can make that happen" and wrote us out a Fastpass voucher for Peter Pan (magical).

After the parade we watched Wishes from in front of the castle. Everyone agreed there is no better place to view it from. No matter how many times I see it I still cry!

It was Extra Magic Hours so we continued to play in the park! We headed to Peter Pan (my all time favorite ride) and used our magical Fastpass the sweet cast member gave Danielle. After we were all so hungry that we headed to Cosmic Rays for some food. After that we used our last Fastpass for Space Mountain. When we were walking out we noticed that Buzz Lightyear was a walk on so we decided to go on that as well!

On the way out of the park - while Paul and Peter were trying to find the missing Splash Mountain picture I ran into the Chapeau to grab our bride and groom Mickey ears and have them personalized. We really wanted to have them for the park shoot in the morning but we didn't have enough time to get them made before we started taking pictures. Oh well, better late then never.

We hoped on the bus and headed back to the resort. When Paul and I walked into our room we first noticed that housekeeping never cleaned our room. They made the beds but there were still rose petals everywhere. We shrugged it off thinking that they might have thought we wanted them left on the floor.?.

Then we noticed the extra touch of magic Nicolette sent for us. It was a Mickey shaped container filled with Wishes sparkling grape juice, assorted cheeses, crackers, chocolates and 2 Mickey wine glasses- amazing! They really went above and beyond! Here is a picture of the basket with our Mickey Ears on it!

After we snacked a little we went right to sleep- ready to dream about the adventures of our vow renewal tomorrow!

 

[Stacirella]

DAY 2 (cont) MAGIC KINGDOM PICS

 

[Kiki La Reu]

You two seem like the sweetest couple ever!! I love that he surprised you after you made your wish...how romantic!! All of the special touches you've done for your guests were so magical and above and beyond! I'm sure they appreciated all your details and surprises along the way! Your magic kingdom shots are great! I cannot believe your splash mountain pic got banned! Oh my gosh! I'm glad they got it for you...it's a hilarious pic!

 

[Stacirella]

You two seem like the sweetest couple ever!! I love that he surprised you after you made your wish...how romantic!! All of the special touches you've done for your guests were so magical and above and beyond! I'm sure they appreciated all your details and surprises along the way! Your magic kingdom shots are great! I cannot believe your splash mountain pic got banned! Oh my gosh! I'm glad they got it for you...it's a hilarious pic!

Thank you so much!
I love that our Splash Mountain photo was in "Disney Jail" - too funny, we'll always have a story about that picture (as if the picture itself isn't worth a thousand words lol)!

 

[Stacirella]

DAY 3 - VOW RENEWAL DAY TRIP REPORT

The morning of the vow renewal I woke up at about 8:00 am- so excited and ready to start the day! My hubby was still fast asleep and I didn't want to wake him since we had such a long day ahead of us so I went outside. I sat by one of the fountains at Port Orleans and worked a little on writing my vows. (Since we sang our vows on our wedding day we wanted to write personal vows for the vow renewal). Once I finished tweaking them, I went back inside and by then DH was beginning to stir.

Once he woke up we took a nice long walk around the grounds and headed to the main building. We did a little souvenir shopping at Fultons General Store and then headed to breakfast at Riverside Mill. After breakfast it was already 11:30 so we walked back to the room.

Paul grabbed his things and went to get ready in our friends adjoining room. We wanted the "first look" to be special- so Paul hadn't even seen my gown or anything.

At 11:45 the steamers arrived and at 12:15 I began styling my hair. The steamers left at about 12:30, I finished with my hair around 1:00 and then began applying my make-up. My "Man of Honor" and "Bridesmaid" joined me in my room around 1:15. I had the Disney Fairytale Weddings Album playing on my phone while I put on my make- up and chatted with my friends, it was nice and relaxing. They all knew how much this day meant to me and they couldn't believe how calm I was.

At about 1:30 we got a call from our on site wedding coordinator (Samantha). I was thrilled that we had Samantha as she was the one who originally booked our package - so I already knew she was a joy to work with! She called to let me know we had a 40 percent chance of rain but that our backup location for Luau Beach was going to be the Wedding Pavilion! I was ecstatic, no matter what happens it would be beautiful! The only concern I had was our Dessert Party getting moved indoors (which we really didn't want)! One of the reasons we chose May 24th was because in our research it was one of the driest days of the year in Orlando. I believe the reports we found said it hadn't rained in almost 40 years!

Anyway at about 1:45 Randy showed up and started taking pictures. At 2:00 I put on my gown and soon after we got the confirmation that we would be in the Wedding Pavilion!!!!!....!!!!!! I was over the moon as the Wedding Pavilion has been my dream since it was first built. I remember watching it being constructed on Disney vacations and seeing it come to life- and just dreaming of THIS DAY! I couldn't believe that my dream was coming true!

Here are some of the getting ready shots:

The flowers were supposed to be delivered by 1:30 and at 1:50 I realized we didn't have them yet. I thought the front desk would call us when we got the delivery- not the case. We called Samantha and she told us they were delivered to the front desk, so our "groomsman" went on the hunt for the floral!

At about 2:10 our groomsman made it back with the floral- just in time for the "first look" photos. Then Randy got DH and I into place for the first look.

When I was ready I said "sweetheart, you can turn around". Paul turned slowly and just smiled with tears in his eyes as he softly said "you look beautiful my love".
Here are a couple of our first look pictures:

Here are a couple of pictures that followed the first look:

After the first look we all piled into the limo and headed to the Wedding Pavilion. Of course there was a playlist, it included:

RIDE 2 (to Ceremony) 10-11 Min Ride

1.) Best Day of My Life (3.13)
2.) I Wanna Marry You (3.51)
3.) Marry Me (3.33)
4.) Enchanted Theme (4.40)
5.) How Long Will I Love You (2.46)

Once we arrived outside the WP we met with Samantha and the rest of her team and also with Stan of STVS! Then Paul and I began our walk over the bridge to the WP.

It felt surreal-everything was just perfect and the weather was actually beautiful, slightly overcast though pretty breezy. Once we reached the entrance to the WP Paul and our officiant got whisked away into the vestibule. Our other guests were waiting for me in the breezeway- they wanted to see my reaction when I entered the WP.

I have been in the WP before- and I have seen the window that perfectly frames the castle on the alter, but only when the stained glass mural was in place. I had never seen it with the magnifying glass in person. When I walked in and saw the castle magnified at the end of the aisle I had an audible gasp and immediately started crying. This was literally a childhood dream coming true!!!! I am just sad that Paul missed my reaction as I know he would have wanted to see it.

Shorty after I was whisked into the Vestibule as well and Samantha went over the flow of the ceremony with me, DH and our Officiant. Soon they all left and I had a moment alone in the room. Then I suddenly had a moment of not being able to remember my vows. I didn't write them down because I wanted to look into Paul's eyes as I said them. I took a few deep breaths and it started to come back to me (thankfully). Then Samantha came to get me as it was time for me to walk down the aisle.

Inside I could here the violinist begin playing a fanfare and immediately once the fanfare finished Samantha and another on her team opened the doors for my entrance. "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" began. I walked down the aisle slowly - trying to take in the sight and sounds of this moment. I looked at Paul, at our friends and all around the chapel just trying to soak it all in.

Our ceremony began and Neil (our officiant) was perfection. He delivered the ceremony with the perfect amount of cadence, sincerity and smiles. We had each of our guests do a reading and they all read each one just right. During the second reading was when our emotions started to swell- both Paul and I were trying to hold back tears. Then it was time to say our vows.

I couldn't even get through the first sentence before I started crying. Because I was so emotional (and because I didn't write anything down) I forgot one or two things I meant to say. But overall I was happy with my delivery. However, Paul did write his out...and his were MAGNIFICENT. His vows were so comprehensive, romantic, poetic and filled with so much love. I am so blessed that this incredible-amazing man chose me to love! He was also crying, we both were a sobbing mess- but it was so sweet.

After the ceremony we all hugged and cried a little with our guests in the lobby and then began taking pictures around the pavilion.

When we headed outside to take pictures I had another audible gasp as I said "oh, we even get pictures at Picture Point!" (Picture Point is the little wedding arch area right outside of the pavilion- I have always wanted pictures there)!

After taking photos it was time to head to Mizners for our cocktail hour.

Love that Randy got a shot of Monorail Blue above us on our way out!

We got to Mizners around 4:15 and we were warmly greeted by the staff. They guided to a set of tables and chairs that they reserved for us. Then they immediately brought out the 2 cheese plates and the 2 bottles of Fairytale Cuvee that we had pre- ordered. Randy grabbed a picture of us clinking the first glass of champagne (I only had a few sips, with all of the emotional excitement all I wanted to drink was water- I couldn't even eat).

Then my bridesmaid (Danielle) and I headed to the ladies room so she could bustle my gown. She did it really fast and it looked beautiful. Danielle headed back to Mizners to join the others while Paul, Randy and I did a photo shoot around the Grand Floridian.

Taking pictures in front of the chandelier was another big moment for me. I remember when i was younger -stepping off of the monorail and seeing a bride taking pictures in that exact spot and wishing it was me...and today IT WAS!

We headed out onto the monorail deck and grabbed some pics on Monorail Red. (Randy was hoping for blue so it would match our flowers and Paul's garters and tie). But I still LOVE the way these came out- they were so much fun.

Stepping off of the monorail Paul accidentally stepped on my train and tore off one of the pearls of my bustle (this would be the first of many times tonight...pretty much everyone stepped on it at some point). But Randy- who just happens to travel with an assortment of pins- (including pearl pins) came to the rescue...he's amazing!

After we got off of the monorail I asked Randy if Richard was working (the older gentleman who is the friendliest greeter at the Grand Floridian, many brides have photos with Richard and I was hoping for one). But sadly Richard had already left for the day.

We finished our GF photos and said bye to Randy for a bit.



We headed back to Mizners where everyone was finishing the second bottle of champagne. The Grand Floridian Society Orchestra was just about to start playing so Paul asked if they could play a song for us to dance to - which the happily did. They played "What a Wonderful World" and Paul and I danced in the lobby area right next to the orchestra. People stopped to watch us, and a couple of people asked for me to take pictures with them after. The orchestra even gave us their CD which had the exact version of the song they played/sang for our dance. It was all just - WONDERFUL!

At about 5:20 it was time for us to check into Citricos. So we walked just a few steps away to the restaurant and were seated at the table we requested. All of our guests loved that our menus were customized!




Citricos gave us a champagne toast to congratulate us- so it was the perfect time for our Man of Honor (Peter) to give his toast. It was perfect. It was funny, sentimental. sweet and perfectly captured our friendship. I honestly have never heard a Best Man/Maid of Honor speech as thoughtful as his was. Both Paul and I think it was one of our favorite memories of the day.

After the toast we all enjoyed our dinner. Everyone RAVED about the food and the service. Paul and I were so happy that this experience at Citricos was just as magical as the first time we visited, and we were estatic that our friends all felt the same way. It was perfection. The food, the wine, the service, the atmosphere- everything was just right! We were seated towards the back of the restaurant and pretty much had the area to ourselves for most of dinner.

Soon it was 7:20 - time to wrap up dinner and catch our limo to the Beach Club. On the way down to the lobby Paul asked our MOH (without my knowledge) to run down and request the lobby pianist to play me a song. Peter ran down and ran back up stairs just as we were about to get on the elevator (he's fast).

When we got off the elevator and rounded the corner of the lobby the pianist immediately switched the song he was playing to "Moon River" (which is my all time favorite song- Paul had even quoted part of Moon River in his vows because he knows how much I love it). I smiled and kissed Paul- thanking him and Paul waved a "thank you" to the pianist as we headed out the door to the limo.

Of course there was another playlist:

RIDE 3 (to DP) 12-1 6 min ride

1.) Celebration (3.33)
2.) I Gotta Feeling (4.08)
3.) Shut Up and Dance (3.18)
4.) Raise Your Glass ( 3.40)
5.) Party Like it's 1999 (3.15)
6.) Dynamite (3.28)

The one thing I made a mistake on when booking was I asked for the limo drop off location to be The Boardwalk when we were actually meeting Randy at The Beach Club for our "Boardwalk" pics...no big deal but we were just a few minutes late meeting Randy so we had a shorter photo session on the beach. After our beach pics we headed to our dessert party.

I love that Randy captured this moment of Peter and I laughing (like we usually do) over a personal joke!

Only our MOH knew that we were having a private dessert party in Epcot. So everyone was trying to guess what we were doing next. They all seemed confused when we got to the entrance to the International Gateway. They kept saying "but we can't go to Epcot, we don't have tickets".

At the International Gateway we met up with our event coordinator -Janice. Paul was the one corresponding with her on the dessert party and she kept forgetting to send him information, respond to emails etc, so we were nervous at how the event would actually turn out. When she saw that I was in a gown she began to panic because apparently it was supposed to be booked through a different department? Randy went over to her and said "it's ok- they got married at the Wedding Pavilion today" and showed her pics- which for some reason put her at ease. I didn't know any of this had happened until Paul told me the next day. But we went through and our event guides led us to Bonsai Terrace.

Walking around Epcot in our attire felt like a dream, we felt like royalty!
Everyone was stopping to take photos of us and congratulating us as we walked by. When we reached Bonsai Terrace everything was set up beautifully. Our cake was perfect, we had 3 more bottles of Fairytale Cuvee, water and a coffee station which even had a bunch of assorted flavored syrups -that was a surprise to us!

Paul and I sat down and chatted with our guests and our event guides handed us these 3-d glasses that put little Mickey's in the lights and fireworks. They were cute- but we didn't use them.

Then Paul and I cut the cake. I was a little disappointed in our bottom layer. It was supposed to be chocolate with Baileys filling and it was chocolate with some type of coffee filling- maybe Kahlua? It was ok, but I was really looking forward to the Baileys filling. But the top layer was or original wedding cake flavors (lemon with raspberry filling) and that was divine!

Soon Randy came to get us into place for our pictures during Illuminations. Bonsai Terrace is a perfect location for Illuminations. I have watched from many points on the lagoon- including the adored UK Lochside- but Bonsai Terrace is my new favorite! It frames Spaceship earth nicely - and although it is not perfectly centered it seems as though it is from the terrace. The view was spectacular! I also loved having a private event in a location the average person isn typically allowed to be in. As many times as I have been to Epcot this was the first time I was ever allowed on this terrace- so it felt really special!

Soon it was over and we had to say goodbye to Randy- the saddest part of our day. We just adore him!

We began walking to our first ride mix-in, Test Track. It was extra magic hours so the park was still pretty busy- but again, we loved how amazing we felt walking around the park having people congratulate us! The only downside was they weren't able to ship our cake back to our room- and we had a TON of cake left over. Our Groomsman was amazing, and carried pretty much anything and everything we asked him to. He was carting around this giant box of cake. When we got to the America pavilion Paul shouted out "WHO WANTS CAKE"?? And some girl passing by said " I DO, I WOULD LOVE SOME CAKE!" Paul said "OK"- turned to Cody (our groomsman), grabbed the box of cake and placed it in the girls arms as he said "Here ya go, enjoy" and we all continued to walk away. She seemed amused and confused. We don't know what she did with the cake- but at least we have a fun story about it!

We reached Test Track and had a wonderful time on the ride! I wish I had thought to raise my arms higher for the picture!

After Test Track we headed to our last ride mix-in on Spaceship Earth. I was so thirsty and starting to get really tired...I almost fell asleep on the ride! Once we got off the ride we headed back to International Gateway and took the boat to the Boardwalk Inn. The plan was to go to Atlantic Dance Hall, but we were all pretty warn out. Our chartered van wasn't coming to pick us up until 12:15 (another hour away), so we decided to relax with a cocktail (and lots of water) at the Bellvue Lounge. It was lovely just to sit outside on the terrace and recap the day with our friends. Then we made our way to van for the ride back to POR.

RIDE 4 (to POR) 7-10 Min Ride

1.) We Are Young (4.13)
2.) Time of Your Life (2.37)
3.) I Had the Time of My Life (4.43)


When we reached our room we noticed that the rose petals were STILL on the floor and our room had never been cleaned. Paul had even asked housekeeping earlier that day to be sure to vaccuum them and they said they would...oh well.

As soon as we got into the room I jumped in the shower! I had been wearing a gown all day- and although I love dressing up I couldn't wait to get into pj's and hop into bed. After, we both fell asleep really quickly. Tomorrow would be another early morning! But today had been MAGICAL and absolutely perfect, I couldn't have asked for more!!!!

 

[DINKsAtDisney]

This is amazing. Those pictures are phenomenal!! And that ring...

 

[fallonkendra]

I just read through everything! What a beautiful bride you are (at both your original wedding and your Disney wedding). Your day sounds like it was so magical and everything you wanted! I love your pictures, everything turned out so nice, I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[Alexsandra]

I just read through your plans and your magical day. Congrats! Such a beautiful vow renewal. Looks like it was a perfect day. Thanks for sharing.