I guess I'll start with the good news stuff...then I'll have a little vent....and more happy stuff at the end... 
Rings
Amanda's is bought and paid for and we've just had confirmation that it's being shipped tomorrow! It's going to my parents-in-law because we bought it from the US and they wanted some ridiculous amount to ship it to the UK. Seriously, it's just a ring in a ring box, what does it weigh, an ounce? Is it really valid to charge £40 or $60 to ship it? Another worry I have is that it'll be stopped at customs and they'll tax the life out of me and we'll have to go through the whole performance of claiming it back because we're US tax payers blah blah blah... By sending it to my parents-in-law, they can bring it down to Orlando if they come, if not, they can give it to Amanda's friend who is attending and she can bring it down.
Tonight we are potentially ordering my ring. It'll be the same drill I guess but for me, having them bought, paid for and shipped will be a relief!
Yeah..it's still an "if they come" because after 5 emails they've still not responded with anything more than "give me the dates". So this is where the venting comes in... VENT WARNING...if you want to skip the Jay being a grumpy old man bits...this is where you scroll down
So, Amanda's parents are not exactly in the financially struggling category. To give you an bit of the back story, Amanda was told for many years before we got together that she should "have a small wedding and take the cash option" because they had a "big chunk of change set aside" (apparently the figure of $25,000 was given) and she could use it for a down payment on a house.
Our first wedding cost £60 ($90) which was the registry office/court house fee because as you know we had a basic "legal" wedding with a plan to have a bigger one later. We paid for that and I am paying for this renewal myself after saving hard ever since! They have never paid a single penny towards anything we've done and frankly, I like it that way because there is always a bigger price to pay with my MIL, in that she thinks she can tell us what to do with our kids by using the jacket she bought me in 2002 as leverage! I never asked for the jacket, didn't want the jacket, did everything I could not to get the jacket, but apparently, if she buys you anything, that gives her rights in telling us how to parent our kids!
That said, we have never seen the $25k wedding fund nor do we want it, and we've been stuck in rented housing since because we can't afford a downpayment! Amanda is an only child, they never so much as called her on our wedding day, all we got was an email 5 days later saying we put $1000 in your account as a wedding gift. Great, we would have traded that for a $2 phone call to say best wishes!
They both retired from the US military base after 30+ years service in 1998. They have full pensions, health care etc. and both received a HUGE lump sum retirement package. Within a year, both were back working full time, MIL as a teachers aide at the school, FIL as a janitor at the school. I don't know what their financial situation is and it is none of my busiess, but I do know they have no debt, no car payment, no mortgage, no health care costs, and by their own words "enough money in the bank to buy a much bigger house cash but we don't want to move".
So, in my opinion, they can drop $1200 to come to this renewal and be there for Amanda probably without even noticing. They also have Disney Visa cards that they got when we went to the world in 2008, both with $15k limits which are interest free for 6 or 12 months on Disney bookings. In other words, no excuses!
So why is it, that you can't say yes or no? What's the hold up here?
: Seriously, I don't know what it is with her family but it's really grating on both of us! If you don't want to be there, don't be, Amanda will have a perfect day whether you're there or not! I'll see to that! So just decide already so we can set the numbers for the meal!
VENT OVER...
Dress
We've found a dress alterations place that can take care of Amanda's dress!
I hated the fact that she was so bogged down with losing weight so it would fit. The only place it didn't fit was across the back and the last thing I wanted to do was put her under that pressure! So now the pressure is off, she is still determined to lose weight but it's now out of choice not out of "necessity". With her spinal injuries, exercise is not exactly easy for her right now, so I'm relieved that the "problem" is over!
BEO
So our BEO for the ceremony and all the extras is here! It's pretty much exactly what I'd worked out for myself.
Payment is due 18th January 2012, but I'm just going to pay it now and get it out of the way!
The other BEO will be for the Fantasmic! reception buffet and dessert party. I'm figuring that'll come out at about $1300.
$250 venue fee
$80 per person x 10
$50 Soft Drinks
Taxes, Service Charge etc.
I'm considering getting an outside photographer in for that but I've tried 4 times to email Randy Chapman and he's never responded. I don't know if I have the right details for him so if anyone has a current email address for him they'd like to share, I'd be very grateful
So, in short, other than pain in the butt family members...all is well!
Well, I'm off to see about ordering this ring (hopefully without a repeat debate about sapphires vs emeralds!)
Rings
Amanda's is bought and paid for and we've just had confirmation that it's being shipped tomorrow! It's going to my parents-in-law because we bought it from the US and they wanted some ridiculous amount to ship it to the UK. Seriously, it's just a ring in a ring box, what does it weigh, an ounce? Is it really valid to charge £40 or $60 to ship it? Another worry I have is that it'll be stopped at customs and they'll tax the life out of me and we'll have to go through the whole performance of claiming it back because we're US tax payers blah blah blah... By sending it to my parents-in-law, they can bring it down to Orlando if they come, if not, they can give it to Amanda's friend who is attending and she can bring it down.
Tonight we are potentially ordering my ring. It'll be the same drill I guess but for me, having them bought, paid for and shipped will be a relief!
Yeah..it's still an "if they come" because after 5 emails they've still not responded with anything more than "give me the dates". So this is where the venting comes in... VENT WARNING...if you want to skip the Jay being a grumpy old man bits...this is where you scroll down
So, Amanda's parents are not exactly in the financially struggling category. To give you an bit of the back story, Amanda was told for many years before we got together that she should "have a small wedding and take the cash option" because they had a "big chunk of change set aside" (apparently the figure of $25,000 was given) and she could use it for a down payment on a house.
Our first wedding cost £60 ($90) which was the registry office/court house fee because as you know we had a basic "legal" wedding with a plan to have a bigger one later. We paid for that and I am paying for this renewal myself after saving hard ever since! They have never paid a single penny towards anything we've done and frankly, I like it that way because there is always a bigger price to pay with my MIL, in that she thinks she can tell us what to do with our kids by using the jacket she bought me in 2002 as leverage! I never asked for the jacket, didn't want the jacket, did everything I could not to get the jacket, but apparently, if she buys you anything, that gives her rights in telling us how to parent our kids!
That said, we have never seen the $25k wedding fund nor do we want it, and we've been stuck in rented housing since because we can't afford a downpayment! Amanda is an only child, they never so much as called her on our wedding day, all we got was an email 5 days later saying we put $1000 in your account as a wedding gift. Great, we would have traded that for a $2 phone call to say best wishes!
They both retired from the US military base after 30+ years service in 1998. They have full pensions, health care etc. and both received a HUGE lump sum retirement package. Within a year, both were back working full time, MIL as a teachers aide at the school, FIL as a janitor at the school. I don't know what their financial situation is and it is none of my busiess, but I do know they have no debt, no car payment, no mortgage, no health care costs, and by their own words "enough money in the bank to buy a much bigger house cash but we don't want to move".
So, in my opinion, they can drop $1200 to come to this renewal and be there for Amanda probably without even noticing. They also have Disney Visa cards that they got when we went to the world in 2008, both with $15k limits which are interest free for 6 or 12 months on Disney bookings. In other words, no excuses!
So why is it, that you can't say yes or no? What's the hold up here?
: Seriously, I don't know what it is with her family but it's really grating on both of us! If you don't want to be there, don't be, Amanda will have a perfect day whether you're there or not! I'll see to that! So just decide already so we can set the numbers for the meal!VENT OVER...
Dress
We've found a dress alterations place that can take care of Amanda's dress!
I hated the fact that she was so bogged down with losing weight so it would fit. The only place it didn't fit was across the back and the last thing I wanted to do was put her under that pressure! So now the pressure is off, she is still determined to lose weight but it's now out of choice not out of "necessity". With her spinal injuries, exercise is not exactly easy for her right now, so I'm relieved that the "problem" is over!BEO
So our BEO for the ceremony and all the extras is here! It's pretty much exactly what I'd worked out for myself.
Payment is due 18th January 2012, but I'm just going to pay it now and get it out of the way!
The other BEO will be for the Fantasmic! reception buffet and dessert party. I'm figuring that'll come out at about $1300.
$250 venue fee
$80 per person x 10
$50 Soft Drinks
Taxes, Service Charge etc.
I'm considering getting an outside photographer in for that but I've tried 4 times to email Randy Chapman and he's never responded. I don't know if I have the right details for him so if anyone has a current email address for him they'd like to share, I'd be very grateful
So, in short, other than pain in the butt family members...all is well!
Well, I'm off to see about ordering this ring (hopefully without a repeat debate about sapphires vs emeralds!)
Amanda has decided that we have to do welcome boxes. I don't really see the point seeing as everyone who is attending is staying on-site and has the 
