Planning our November 2012 Disney World Wedding - Photos added!

[Tifa]

That I will! Leave it to me ladies

 

[Tifa]

We just got back from our planning session trip! And it was amazing! I'm so glad we have Jamie as our planner, she was super sweet, easy to talk to, and understood what we are going for. I'll just list a quick rundown of our week and then do a complete trip report as soon as I get all the photos uploaded.

Monday - Flew from Vegas to Orlando / Magic Kingdom / Met with wedding DJ
Tuesday - Typhoon Lagoon / Epcot / Disney Quest
Wednesday - Met with wedding Photographer / Magic Kingdom
Thursday - Epcot / Hollywood Studios / Timeshare salon hair trial
Friday - Wedding Planning Session @ Frank's / Visit family
Saturday - Dress alteration appointment / Bridal shower
Sunday - Brave / Dinner with family
Monday - Flew from Orlando to Vegas

 

[CinderALLIE]

Looking forward to reading about your PS trip.

 

[Tifa]

Yes it is finally that time! Time to hear all about my Planning Session Trip!

We called and reserved a room at Disney's Port Orleans - Riverside. (Thanks to another Disney bride who was nice enough to let us help her out with her room block ) It also worked out wonderfully because it is one of the resorts we chose for our guests and I wanted to take a look at it. We also signed up for Disney Magical Express so we wouldn't have to worry about transportation when we got to Orlando.

A few weeks before our trip we received our Disney Magical Express tickets in the mail yay!

Monday June 18th 2012
On Monday morning we were dropped off at the airport by his parents and we checked in our bags. After that we headed to our terminal and waited to board.

My wedding dress was scrunched into a carryon bag. I had decided to get it altered in Florida and let my mom hold on to it till the wedding.

We arrived safely in Orlando and proceeded to Disney Magical Express where a bus was waiting for us!

After a drive we arrived to our hotel and checked in. There was a little construction going on in the lobby area but it wasn't that big of a deal. (It was a little later in the week when we were at the bar trying to talk to our friends and the buzzsaw/jackhammering was so loud we couldn't hear each other)

We headed to our room and was I surprised! It was so beautiful! And we even had a Mickey icon out of towels on one of the beds!

After dropping off our carry on's we went to the bus terminal and headed to the Magic Kingdom. There we met with one of my fiance's friends who is doubling as our DJ! It was so nice meeting him and I'm glad we were able to request him! I would have had a photo but my phone had died while on the plane because I didn't charge it all the way. So moving on!

After running around the Magic Kingdom we went back to our room and slept.

Tuesday June 19 2012
We woke up early and headed to the food court for breakfast. After a nutritious breakfast we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon. Since we went early we managed to do everything we wanted in about 3 hours and continued on our Disney park hop by jumping over to Epcot.

We made reservations for The Coral Reef restaurant and ate a wonderful lunch right next to the aquarium! The food was absolutely delicious! After lunch we asked the staff if it were possible to see the Living Seas Salon. (For those that know we originally wanted the LSS for our reception but we switched to the GF ballroom to save money) But I was still curious to see how it looked. Luckily the staff was very accommodating and escorted us to the LSS.

After looking at the venue I was actually glad we switched. Although it went extremely well with our theme and the venue is gorgeous, I just couldn't see where there would be room to add a dance floor, DJ area, and open bar. So I'm actually glad we moved to the ballrooms with more room.

After walking around Epcot for a bit we headed over to the Yacht and Beach Club to catch a bus to Downtown Disney. On our way I ran across the Seabreeze Point Gazebo! This would have been our choice if the Wedding Pavilion was not available so I took photos!

Again after looking at the venue I was super glad we had the Wedding Pavilion for our ceremony. Although the location and the gazebo are gorgeous, it was just too small for what we would want to do.

After catching the bus to Downtown Disney we met up with one of my fiance's groomsmen and we played around at Disney Quest!

After having dinner with his friends at Cracker Barrel we headed back to our room and slept extremely well.

Wednesday June 20 2012
We woke up semi-early today and headed to the Grand Floridian to meet with Randy our photographer. I was afraid we would be late so I dragged my sleepy honey onto the bus and monorail.

Along the way to GF the monorail passes right by all the construction.
(Ill post these photos a little later. And no you can't see any of the construction from the Wedding Pavilion save the two gigantic cranes that you only notice on the right hand side of the WP bridge as your exiting the WP)

We arrived at the GF with a few minutes to spare and I called up Randy to let him know we had arrived. Unfortunately there was a small communication misunderstanding and our appointment had changed...luckily only by 30 minutes! So we decided to go take a look at the Wedding Pavilion while we waited. Again you can only see the cranes as your exiting the Wedding Pavilion and your not really taking photos from that angle anyway. So Disney is doing a very good job with taking that into consideration for brides. Plus we couldn't really hear any construction when we were walking around the WP even though we had seen them working from the monorail window.

With that taken care of we headed back to the GF to meet with our photographer.

Along the way we ran across the Summerhouse venue where wedding receptions can be held. I took pictures because, again I was thinking of having this as a venue, but after visiting it I would advice brides to steer clear of this venue until after all the construction is completely done. There's nooooo hiding the construction at this area and it does not do the venue justice.

We returned back into the GF ballroom and met with Randy. I was so glad we hired him as our photographer. He was super nice and told us exactly how the rundown of the photos during our wedding day would go. After etching that into stone we parted ways and my honey and I headed off to Wilderness Lodge for lunch.

We are planning our having our Rehearsal Lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe so we decided to try out the food while we were there.

The restaurant was super cute and fun, which is what we were going for as our rehearsal lunch. The food was quite tasty too! And all you can eat!

After having our fill of BBQ we talked with the manager about having a rehearsal dinner there and if they had a private area to host it. He took us to the back to a room called "The Library" which would be perfect for our gathering!

We told him we were definitely interested and I sent the information to my future mother in law to deal with all the details.

After settling that we headed to the Magic Kingdom to finish off our day with fun!

Thursday June 21 2012
We woke up semi-early again and headed off to Epcot to meet up with some friends. I could only stay a few hours before I had to head back to the resort to meet up with my mother and sister. The boys stayed behind at Epcot and then headed over to Hollywood Studios while my sister, mother, and I headed off to the timeshare we will be renting the week of the wedding to meet with the salon hairdresser.

The ladies at the salon were super sweet and I'm so excited they will be doing my hair for me and my bridesmaids. Kathleen (my hairdresser) even surprised me by doing my hair trial right then and there.

After that we got some lunch at a nearby Applebee's and then just relaxed around the resort for the rest of the day.

Friday June 22 2012 - Planning Session
All the days had finally led up to the PS! I was so excited that I woke up SUPER early at 5:00am and started to do my hair and make-up. After waiting the agonizing 3 hours we hopped into the car and headed over to Frank's. Again we were early by about 45 minutes so we decided to pop over to the Polynesian Resort to grab some breakfast. After everyone finished (I was too excited to eat anything) we returned back to Frank's. This time we could enter! Yay!

We were immediately met by our planner Jamie! And she was an absolute sweetie! She showed us into the Merryweather room where our session was to be held. We went over the itinerary first. How things were going to go, at what times, when the photos will be taken, and transportation. It actually went by pretty quick and was easy to say what we wanted/liked/or needed for our big day. I also had made a scrapbook for Jamie that had our wedding colors, ceremony ideas, reception ideas, cake, cake topper, and wedding program in it. She was surprised and excited when I told her it was hers to keep as a reference, plus it made the process go by so much smoother when all we had to do was go to a certain page and point at what we were talking about.

After the initial planning came the cake tasting!

We had 6 cake choices to choose from: Almond, Chocolate, Marble, Yellow, Carrot, Red Velvet, and Orange. (The last three we had to ask for specifically before the planning session)
We also had 12 filling choices to choose from: Buttercream, Orange, Blackberry, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Bailey's, Mocha, Cream Cheese, Raspberry, Bavarian Cream, Tropical, and Almaretto Mousses (Again we had to ask for specific fillings to be able to try at the tasting)

Here is what I thought of each:

Orange cake - Very flavorful and super moist
Red Velvet - Nice texture not much velvet flavor
Carrot - Very flavorful and wonderful texture
Marble - Nice typical marble cake
Almond - Surprisingly good and nice texture
Chocolate - Very bland for chocolate

I couldn't really tell you how each of the fillings tasted because they would change taste depending on the cake you had it on. But I will tell you what we decided on for our cake.

Bottom Layer - Marble cake with Dark Chocolate Mousse (yum!)
Middle Layer - Carrot cake with Mocha Mousse (my favorite and surprisingly very good combination...it tasted like Christmas and I'm not kidding!)
Top Layer - Chocolate cake with Raspberry Mousse (his favorite...not mine haha)

After getting that situated we took a little break and went to go see the WP.

It's so gorgeous isn't it??!! I love it! My only disappointment is that there was a huge ugly crane next to the Magic Kingdom Castle for the Fantasyland expansion. Sadly we were also told that they couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't be there when we get married in November. They said the crane will never block the castle but it will be moved around the castle depending on what construction they will be doing.

After looking around the WP we went back into Frank's to talk with the Florist. We talked about a few things and choose some decor that we definitely wanted and it was done shortly after.

We took another break and then headed over to the GF to take a look at the ballrooms we will be using and for the menu tasting!

We were greeted with this!

Jamie took us over to the Whitehall Patio first to take a look at our Pre-Reception venue.

Soooo beautiful! I wish we could have just had the reception there but it was too small for our guest number.

We then went inside the Ballroom Salon #7.

Absolutely amazing! And much bigger than I thought it was going to be!

After looking around the venues we headed to the Convention Center Kitchen for the tasting and were met by this!

And this!

We sat down at the Kitchen Table and ate some wonderful food!

Our first course was one of the appetizers I choose to try. Strawberry and Brie cristini. Oh my god they were amazing!!

Next was the mixed salad with all the toppings on the side for create your own! Yum!

Next was Champagne Risotto with Crab stuff(I really have no idea how to say or spell it) It was interesting...I didn't know if I liked it at first but after a few bites I really started liking it.

Next was Yukon Gold Mashed Potato with toppings on the side. This was hands down everyone's favorite! If I could dive in and swim around in this stuff I would...yes it was THAT GOOD! A definite must for any wedding buffet!

Next was Steak in a Red Wine reduction. Soooo good!

Next was Mahi Mahi with a Curry sauce. I didn't like it but it's what honey wanted to try.

Next was Chicken in Apple reduction and Bacon. Yum yum! I ate it up!

And last was a Bread Pudding with Pina Colada Sauce. It was just okay. We will probably just switch it out for something else.

And that was the end of the planning session! Afterwards I visited my family for a few days and then we headed back to Vegas.



Hope you enjoyed reading and seeing the photos (sorry they were so big they didn't resize) and I hope it helps other brides who are deciding on/ or going to their planning session!

 

[Tifa]

I was going to post construction photos but there's a topic all about it on the Disney Weddings and Honeymoons forum titled How's Construction Looking?

 

[Tifa]

Here's a sneak peak at our invitations

 

[Tifa]

Ever since I have returned home I have been in constant worry about my wedding dress that I left to be altered in Florida. I'm just super worried that the alteration lady is going to f*(& it up since she really wasn't listening to what I wanted done to it.

So today I just bought a back-up dress just in case something goes wrong. And it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm praying that my original dress will survive the hack and slash but it's so good to know that I have a plan B....just in case.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I loved your PS TR!

And I fully support your idea of a second dress. Sometimes, it's worth it, just for peace of mind.

 

[Tifa]

I loved your PS TR!

And I fully support your idea of a second dress. Sometimes, it's worth it, just for peace of mind.

Thanks! I do appreciate the support. My mom and fiance' think I'm worrying too much about it but for my peace of mind it was totally worth it...that and the fact that it was only $100.

 

[Tifa]

We just finished putting all the invitations together...yay!!!!

Just had to share our good news haha

Stamping the decorative protective sheeting


Honey stamping the RSVP envelopes


Decorative protective sheeting done


RSVP envelopes done


Invitations when put together


A whole mess of invitations ready to be bottled!


The invitations waiting to be corked and boxed individually...we even dipped the corks in oil so they smell fantastic when you open the bottle

 

[Tifa]

I am so glad we only had to mail out 35 invitations because we had the HARDEST time dealing with the postal service.

We got up kinda early so we could get our invitations sent out today and headed over to the post office. We walked up to the counter and asked what the best way to mail our invites would be. The postal lady scowled at us and told us we weren't ready and to come back when we were ready to ship! Excuse me?? Is that really how customer service is suppose to be? We were trying to figure out the best way and you just send us away without an answer? So we step aside and by this time there's a line that had formed. We go to the back of the line and wait for another teller. This time we made sure not to go to the absurdly rude lady and went to another gentleman. This time he was definitely more helpful.

He advised us to bubble wrap the glass bottles and use this clear packing tape. He also weighed the packages and said we could send them out for $2.80 each. He suggested we buy $1 stamps and then we could just mail them in the little boxes we packed them in...easy enough...so we thought. So we bought the stamps we needed, the bubble wrap, and the packing tape he suggested and went to the side and began wrapping...each...bottle...and taping...each...box...and stamping...each...and every...box. By this time we have been at the post office over 3 hours.

We FINALLY get it all together and wait in line again. We were lucky enough to get the same guy and we begin handing him each of the boxes. He takes a glance at them and says "Oh...you can't mail these like this. The packing tape is over the stamps." We stare at him. "Does it really matter? You can see the stamp and it's price through the clear tape." "No no. You're going to have to take the tape off the stamps."

By this time the fiance is absolutely furious after all the time we have put into putting them together. So we step aside AGAIN to go through each and every box to try and tear off the tape that is touching the stamps. Which most of the stamps would rip because of the tape pulling them off so we ended up having to pay double because we had to buy more stamps!

We wait in line...again...and head to the guy we've been dealing with all day. We hand him all the boxes and told him to double check that they were to his standards. He looked them over and said "Yeah these should be okay. But next time don't use this tape, it has a tendency to peel off."
By this time I'm completely furious because he's the one that TOLD us to buy and use that tape! "Can you please just SEND these out?"
"Yeah."

He FINALLY takes all the invitations and places them in a delivery tote. My fiance and I storm out completely upset over the whole experience. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS I won't have to do that again and it reminds me why I never use the USPS in the first place!!

Again sorry for the vent but I was just so upset over it all that I had to get it out.

Thanks for listening!

 

[Tifa]

We received our floral BEO today! Yay! We're definitely going to cut a few things, but I don't want to hahaha! But we'll see what happens when the event BEO comes in. I'll post it when I get to my computer

 

[Bewitch324]

What a nightmare time you had at the post office! You must have been so frustrated! Helps ya understand the phrase "going postal" though, eh?

Can't wait to hear more about your plans. Are you mostly happy with your BEO?

Brooke

 

[Tifa]

What a nightmare time you had at the post office! You must have been so frustrated! Helps ya understand the phrase "going postal" though, eh?

Can't wait to hear more about your plans. Are you mostly happy with your BEO?

Brooke

It was very frustrating, but at least now it's a great story to tell!

I am happy with our BEO at the moment, thanks for asking
The quote she gave us is around what I thought it was going to be and I can easily take things out to bring the cost down. (I wish I didn't have to because it all sounds so amazing! But funds dictate otherwise.)

Just trying to figure out how to post my floral budget, but as soon as I do I'll let ya know.

 

[Tifa]

Ceremony Floral
Bridal bouquet - Bride to provide silk
Maid of honor bouquet - Bride to provide silk
Bridesmaid bouquet - Bride to provide silk
Groom boutonniere - Bride to provide boutonniere
Groomsmen boutonnieres - Bride to provide boutonnieres
(2) Triple cylinder vase sets with water - (6) @ $5.00each - $30.00
Black magic rose petals for cylinder vase sets - (6) @ $5.00each - $30.00
Floating candle for cylinder vase sets - (6) @ 3.25each - $19.50
Black magic rose petals sprinkled on altar - (1) @ $20.00each - $20.00
22'' Cylinder vases for aisle - (22) @ $10.00each - $220.00
10.5'' Cylinder vases for aisle - (22) @ $5.00each - $110.00
Black magic rose petals for cylinder vases - (44) @ $5.00each - $220.00
Floating candles for cylinder vases - (44) @ $3.25each - $143.00
Black magic rose petals scattered for aisle - (1) @ $200.00each - $200.00

Ceremony Total: $992.50


Reception Floral
Assorted brown/gold lanterns for buffet stations - (8) @ $20.00each - $160.00
Black magic rose petals scattered for buffet stations - (1) @ $75.00each - $75.00
Black floor length linens - To be provided by resort
Garnet taffeta napkins - (75) @ $2.50each - $187.50
Black chaivari chairs w/ garnet cushions - (75) @ $10.00each - $750.00
Burgundy sashes (chairs) - (75) @ $6.00each - $450.00
3 arm gold candelabras for head table - (2) @ $20.00each - $40.00
Weathered bottles, seaglass, dubloons, jewels for all tables - (10) @ $25.00each - $250.00
Gold candelabras for reception tables - (4) @ $30.00each - $120.00
Black magic rose floral balls to top gold candelabras - (4) @ $350.00each - $1,400.00
3 Assorted brown lanterns for reception tables - (15) @ $20.00each - $300.00
Black magic rose petals sprinkled on reception tables - (5) @ $15.00each - $75.00
Cake floral - (1) @ $125.00each - $125.00

Reception Total - $3,932.50


Ceremony/Reception Total - $4,925.00
Tax - $320.13
Delivery Fee - $100.00
Final Total - $5,345.13

 

[Tifa]

So we are starting to receive our RSVPs and I had to share how creative our guests are getting with them hahaha!

 

[Bewitch324]

Hilarious!

 

[Tifa]

For a while now we have been thinking of doing a Disney cruise for our honeymoon next year. We saw that they recently announced they were doing a Hawaii cruise this year in October. Great! Except we don't get married till November so we crossed our fingers in hope they would be doing a Hawaii cruise in 2013...would make sense ya?

We were both extremely disappointed when we found out they will not be adding Hawaii to their itinerary next year.

For a while we weren't sure what to do. I wanted to go to Hawaii and he wanted a Disney cruise. We looked into other cruise lines that offered Hawaii trips but none seemed right for us. We looked on the Disney cruise line website and looked through their choices for next year but none caught my attention. He was happy doing a Bahamas or Caribbean cruise (because he's never been) but I wasn't. I had cruised before on different cruise lines and I really didn't enjoy most of the Bahama or Caribbean ports.

Then out of no where I had clicked a search on the Disney Cruise line website and up popped a 14 day Panama Canal cruise. I wasn't expecting much so I clicked on it. Although it definitely wasn't Hawaii it still seemed like a cruise I would enjoy. I called over my honey and asked what he thought. He took a look at it and was excited for it. He liked the idea of leaving out of Miami and ending up in L.A. and stopping at some ports in Mexico and Castaway Cay along the way.

So we just got finished booking our Honeymoon cruise! Yay!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

How awesome! Panel canal cruise sounds great! Also I love your RSVP in the previous post. Hilarious!

 

[Tifa]

Haha! Thanks! They're a good group.

We are still waiting for our initial BEO. Our planner said we should get it sometime next week, so here's hoping! We're both scared and excited to get it. I just wish it wasn't taking so long haha.

Also our big minimum is due on the 6th! Can't wait to send it out and have most of the wedding paid for!