Planning Our Happily Ever After - A Disneymoon PTR! (NEW 7/13 - TR Link!)

[Tnkrbelle565]

That dress is absolute stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that one shoulder thing is so in!

Love the gold/white mother's dress too. Do brides pick out the mothers' dresses in the South???

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

That dress is absolute stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that one shoulder thing is so in!

Love the gold/white mother's dress too. Do brides pick out the mothers' dresses in the South???

Thank you! I LOVE the shoulder detail - I think it gives it a little bit of pizzaz.

Hmmm, I don't know if brides typically pick the mother's dress down here. I've told my mother and grandmothers that they can pick out whatever they want as long as the color goes with the overall color scheme of the wedding. It doesn't have to be exact, but I at least want it in the family (like the one's I posted). Bascially, no blue, purple, red, etc. I'm sure I'll have a big say in what they wear but I really want to make sure they get outfits that they like and feel comfortable in.

 

[ladybugmom]

WOW Courtney!! The dresses are gorgeous!!! But yours is especially beautiful!! I LOVE the floral detailing!!!

 

[Nermel9]

Your bridesmaid dresses are so pretty, I love the colors you chose!

Your dress is beautiful! I really love the strap (? I don't even know if it's a strap or just a decoration!) around one shoulder, that's very unique! Can't wait to see pictures of your wedding, it's going to be so beautiful!

 

[alliebelle3]

I am in love with your dress! It is so beautiful. I love the one-shoulder look. I also just caught up with your trip binder installment...that is too cool! I am in the process of planning a huge family trip to WDW next November...for 12+ people, so a trip binder may be what I need! Thanks for sharing!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

WOW Courtney!! The dresses are gorgeous!!! But yours is especially beautiful!! I LOVE the floral detailing!!!

Thanks, Becky! The flower details are my favorite part of the dress.

Your bridesmaid dresses are so pretty, I love the colors you chose!

Your dress is beautiful! I really love the strap (? I don't even know if it's a strap or just a decoration!) around one shoulder, that's very unique! Can't wait to see pictures of your wedding, it's going to be so beautiful!

Thank you! Yes, it's a strap! I love that the dress has a little something different. I didn't want it to be "just another wedding dress", you know?

I am in love with your dress! It is so beautiful. I love the one-shoulder look. I also just caught up with your trip binder installment...that is too cool! I am in the process of planning a huge family trip to WDW next November...for 12+ people, so a trip binder may be what I need! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I love it too!

A binder makes planning so much easier. It's so nice to have everything in one place. Wow, 12 people?! That's quite an undertaking! I hope you're going to be doing a PTR.

 

[Jennifer48]

Bridesmaids dress - fabulous! Empire waists are a good choice to flatter any body type IMO.

Bridal gown - gorgeous! I went with a corset too and it was great. You are right, I went in with an idea on a gown I wanted and I didn't like any that I tried on that I thought I would like. The girl working at the store said "I think I have an idea on what you like, do you mind trying something on that I pick out?" I said sure and sure enough, that was my dress. I never had the "ah ha" moment but I liked it.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Bridesmaids dress - fabulous! Empire waists are a good choice to flatter any body type IMO.

Bridal gown - gorgeous! I went with a corset too and it was great. You are right, I went in with an idea on a gown I wanted and I didn't like any that I tried on that I thought I would like. The girl working at the store said "I think I have an idea on what you like, do you mind trying something on that I pick out?" I said sure and sure enough, that was my dress. I never had the "ah ha" moment but I liked it.

Thank you! I love the corset back - I felt very Scarlett O'Hara getting strapped in!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

MY ITALIAN ADVENTURE - ROME Pt. 2

I'd say it's about time to wrap up my Italy mini-TR! After a whirlwind 10 days throughout 3 cities, my family and I had finally made it to our last two days, which would include trips to Vatican City and Pompeii!

Vatican City was the place that I was most looking forward to visiting on our trip, and I was very excited for this day! We met back up with Maria, our tour guide from the previous day so she could take us to Vatican City, and once again we realized how lucky we were to have Maria with us because the line to get in was once again hours long!

The first thing we did was of course take a picture in front of the beautiful dome of the cathedral.

Then, before we went on to see the church and chapel, we took a tour through the museum where we say a huge collection of artwork and walked through the Pope's apartment. Finally, we made it to the Sistine Chapel. Is it bad that my reaction was, "that's it"? Yes, the paining on the ceiling was impressive, but the chapel was so tiny! I was expecting a much more regal place, I guess.

While I was slightly disappointed in the chapel, there was no disappointment in the Basilica! Now this was huge, and so so beautiful. There were pictures and sculptures everywhere; there was just so much to take in!

After spending some time in the church, we went out into the square.

My dad and I.

While I am not Catholic, Miguel is, so I really enjoyed getting to take lots of pictures of a place that I know is very important to him. Plus, it was amazing to be in a place that has so much significance.

Now, if you remember way back I mentioned that I ran across some unexpected Disney touches while on our trip. One of them came while we were visiting Vatican City! The last thing I expected to find in the VC gift shop was this!

Cute, huh?

The following day (and our last day in Italy), we embarked on what turned out to be quite an adventure to Pompeii! During the whole trip, we had been spoiled with the private tour guides that my dad arranged for us, so we were very used to making our own schedule and really dictating what we wanted to see and what we wanted to learn about. However, since Pompeii is a good two plus hours from Rome, we would be going with a group. We woke up very early for a 14 hour tour and boarded the huge bus that would take us to Pompeii.

First though, we made a brief stop in Naples since it was on the way. We maybe spent about 45 minutes there.

And, while we were pulling out of Naples, we saw this...

I love how global Disney is!

As we got closer to Pompeii, we were able to get a great view of Mount Vesuvius.

It's amazing to believe that people still live all around Vesuvius even though they are fully aware of the history!

And finally, we made it to Pompeii! It seemed like it took forever.

I thought there would be way more of things like these, but there were only two or three of the "mumified" people.

One of the baths that the people of Pompeii used.

This is pretty much how I spent the entire day! It wasn't raining - it was HOT! Miserably hot, so much so that it kind of put a damper on the day. I must admit I was pretty excited when the tour came to a close and it was time to board the air conditioned bus!

One last shot of Vesuvius.

The ride back to Rome was LONG! I thought we would never make it back, and we didn't arrive to our hotel until around 10. It was quite an adventure!

At the end of the (nearly) two weeks, I was very ready to get home. While Italy was beautiful and I am so glad I got to go, I was ready to get back to the U.S. I had definitely missed Miguel those two weeks and I was so ready to see him!

And finally, the Italy TR is complete!

 

[disneybarbie]

lovely photos!

I bet you were really missing Miguel.. I've had a few holidays with my parents/sister since being with DF and it's sooo hard to be apart! lol

When I went to Pompeii, I thought it was going to be a lot more than it was.. I think because I'd studied Latin in Year 7 (age 11/12) and our whole book was about Pompeii, pre-volcano!



now... aren't you going somewhere this month... !

Emma x

 

[Princess_K]

What a fantastic trip! I'm so glad you shared it with us

 

[Nermel9]

Looks like you had a great time in Italy! I'd probably be ready to go home after 10 days too! Such beautiful pictures, I'd love to visit there someday! I love all the little Disney things you found!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

I LOVE your dress!!! it is GORGEOUS!!!!!! and the color for your bridesmaid dresses is the same color mine were! LOL

I am catholic and i have ALWAYS wanted to go to Italy specifically to see the Vatican City so wonderful to be able to go there and see it and share these gorgeous pictures and memories

ps going to be hitting the grind and starting my TR this week! been too busy since we got back and i need to start it soon otherwise it may be spring before its up! LOL

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

lovely photos!

I bet you were really missing Miguel.. I've had a few holidays with my parents/sister since being with DF and it's sooo hard to be apart! lol

When I went to Pompeii, I thought it was going to be a lot more than it was.. I think because I'd studied Latin in Year 7 (age 11/12) and our whole book was about Pompeii, pre-volcano!



now... aren't you going somewhere this month... !


Emma x

Thanks, Emma! It was so difficult to be away for that long! I have taken shorter vacations without Miguel, but that was by far the longest that we had been apart since we started dating. Let's just say my phone bill from when I was in Italy was not pretty! I'm glad I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed by Pompeii.

Yes, it's so exciting to know I'm going to Disney this month!

What a fantastic trip! I'm so glad you shared it with us

Thank you! I'm really glad I was able to do the mini-TR!

Looks like you had a great time in Italy! I'd probably be ready to go home after 10 days too! Such beautiful pictures, I'd love to visit there someday! I love all the little Disney things you found!

Yeah, 10 days is a long time to be away, especially when you bf/fi/dh isn't there! But we had lots of fun and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to go there - I know it's a must-do for a lot of people! I was so happy when I saw the little Disney things! They were quite unexpected.

I LOVE your dress!!! it is GORGEOUS!!!!!! and the color for your bridesmaid dresses is the same color mine were! LOL

I am catholic and i have ALWAYS wanted to go to Italy specifically to see the Vatican City so wonderful to be able to go there and see it and share these gorgeous pictures and memories

ps going to be hitting the grind and starting my TR this week! been too busy since we got back and i need to start it soon otherwise it may be spring before its up! LOL

Thank you! I'm so pleased with my dress and the bridesmaids dresses! How neat that you had the same color!

Vatican City was such an amazing place, and I'm sure it would be even more so if you are Catholic. Words just can't describe the beauty of St. Peter's!

Yay! I'm glad to hear the TR is about to start! I can't wait!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

What a great wrap up of Italy!!! You got some gorgeous shots. When I backpacked through Europe I was too afraid to bring my "good" camera. Now I want to go back and get some pretty pictures I took barely any

 

[therussells08]

I absolutely loved your Italy TR! I still can't believe you got to go to so many amazing places! The pictures you took are gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us!

I love that you can find touches of Disney just about anywhere! That is so funny that Mickey mouse popped up in Vatican City!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

What a great wrap up of Italy!!! You got some gorgeous shots. When I backpacked through Europe I was too afraid to bring my "good" camera. Now I want to go back and get some pretty pictures I took barely any

Thanks! There's definitely some beautiful scenery throughout Europe (well, I at least in the parts I've been to!) I think needing to take some more pictures is an excellent reason to go back.

I absolutely loved your Italy TR! I still can't believe you got to go to so many amazing places! The pictures you took are gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us!

I love that you can find touches of Disney just about anywhere! That is so funny that Mickey mouse popped up in Vatican City!

Thank you! It was a lot of fun to be able to share my trip with you all. Haha, yes Vatican City was the last place I expected to see Disney merchandise!

 

[ladybugmom]

LOVE the Mickey ornament!! Did it come home with you?! What an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

LOVE the Mickey ornament!! Did it come home with you?! What an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

Sadly, no, I didn't buy the ornament. Would you believe that I actually did not buy a single souvenir (for myself) the whole time?! I guess I was so focused on getting things for everyone on my list that I completely forgot about myself!

 

[alliebelle3]

I'm thinking about doing a PTR for my big family trip next November! I think I'll start it in a few months. The crazy-planner within me already starting to go crazy!

Loved your wrapup of the Italy trip. I understand your feelings of being ready to be home. Last time I traveled to Europe for just over a week but I had seen and done so much in that time that it felt like I was gone for a month! I think time moves so much slower over there!

Vatican City was one of my favorite things I saw in Rome. It was beautiful. Glad you had a great time!!