Planning The Super Secret Renewal of Vows - 18th February 2012

[MrRomance]

My sister got married in Las Vegas and she flew with Virgin too. They put the dress inside the cabin in a locker thing for her. We're flying premium econonmy so I was planning on asking them to do the same for us. They've had their £3000 for P.E. flights, the least they can do is help me out!

 

[MrRomance]

I can't figure out how to put a picture on here of Amanda's dress, so it'll have to be a link I'm afraid.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Strapless-Satin-A-Line-Front-Gown-V8591_Sale-Sale-Bridal-Gowns

I did pretty well (for a guy buying a frock!) because everyone seems to like it!

Here are some pictures of our daughter trying on her dress...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67876613@N08/6172882600/

 

[librarygeek]

You picked out a gorgeous dress! It is really nice, good job

And your daughter is adorable! Do you have a color scheme or any sort of theme for your VR?

 

[MrRomance]

Thank you....not bad for a guy choice I guess!
Our daughter is so excited, when I told her that the surprise was blown, she started crying say "but daddy, now it's ruined, it was going to be a surprise and now it's all ruined". She's better now, but because she has a form of autism, it took a while to calm her down.

Yes, our colour theme will be light blue and green. Blue is Amanda's favourite colour and green is mine. We don't have any other theme but we have to sneak Stitch in there somewhere as Amanda adores him!

 

[Princess SarahK]

Hi Jay! I just joined in on your journal and you totally had me crying in your first post! It is definitely romantic of you to plan your vow renewal to surprise your ever-deserving wife! You both sound so fantastic, and I am so happy for you to be getting the wedding of your dreams! Congrats!

Anyways, things look great so far! The dress you chose for your wife and daughters are beautiful! The colors are a good match too! You are on the ball, mister! Way to go!! I cant wait to read more!

 

[PixieDust1969]

Wow! You are an awesome guy for setting all of that up for your wife! Whether she found out about the surprise now or later, it was still a surprise and I am sure it means the world to her!!

Great job on both dresses!! Your daughter is precious! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[MrRomance]

First and foremost, I wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone for their kind words, help and advice. I am touched by all the wonderful people who want to read about and share in our wonderful day!

So many of you have told me that our story and my plans for our VR touched your hearts. This year has been so incredibly tough and this is definitely not the place to go into all of the reasons why.

But... I do have to say that a man could get a bit of a ego with all the comments about how great I am! On a serious note, I'm really just an average guy with a very special family so I thought I'd try to fill in some gaps and share some pictures!

For those of you wondering why I am doing this in the early hours of the morning...I suffer with horrendous insomnia, so late night posts are probably going to be a regular thing!!

So...this is the very first picture of Amanda and I taken just after we started dating in 2001.

This one is from our engagement party in 2005.

Finally, this is one of about 7 pictures taken on our wedding day. As you can see, Amanda didn't have a wedding dress, she just put on a dress that was sorta white and I wore a suit I bought for someone else's wedding...which by my calculations means it doesn't count and our "real" wedding day is yet to come!!

So to fill in some gaps...Amanda is a secondary (high school) science teacher and I'm a writer. I did try my and at teaching for a while, but I don't think I was really cut out for it!

Our girls are now 11 and 7, but they were 7 and 3 when we adopted them.

Here are some pictures of Amanda with the girls when they first became our babies!

It all seems like yesterday, but they've grown up so much and so fast. Both of them have Autism. Our eldest daughter has a lot of other co-morbid conditions including 18p deletion syndrome, severe learning disabilities and language disorders. The little one has attachment and anxiety disorders. Life is never quiet or dull in our world, but they are both precious little princesses!

Exactly one year after we adopted them, we took the to Disney World. We celebrated our first year as a family at the MK, where they went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and were magically transformed into Belle and Cinderella.

Unfortunately, neither of them remember any of it now! The little one was too young and our eldest has episodic memory, which basically means she struggles to remember anything for very long.

Sadly, our eldest won't be coming with us for our trip in February because she is currently having extensive treatment and help at a specialist residential school. That means that we may have to do our VR all over again when she is well enough to be there

Well I guess that is a little background on us...

This week there are 4 things on the VR agenda...

1. US Visa Interview For Me!

Monday, I have to attend the US embassy to get my visa to travel to the US. I always find this incredibly stressful but this time it is even more so. There shouldn't be any problems, there wasn't last time, but because I'm married to a US citizen, they always seem to worry that I'm about to illegally migrate!

Once I'm over that hurdle, I'll defintely be able to relax more and enjoy the planning!

2. Returning the Agreement to DFTW...

Tuesday I'll be on the hunt for a faxing service to get my agreement back on Janna's (my coordinator) desk. I can't wait to start picking out the enhancements and getting things finalized!

3. Deciding and booking the reception...

We are still unsure of what we want to do! Having Amanda on board now should make it easier to narrow down. We have the DDP as we always do when we go to WDW, but I really want something more private and intimate.

The leading idea at the moment is to have a meal somewhere and then book a private event dessert party for Illuminations, either a cruise or hiring a small venue. By the day of the VR we can be finished with our healthy eating/lose weight kick and eat ridiculous amounts of junk as a reward!

4. My attire

In all of the planning I never really thought about myself. Here I am, planning this beautiful event, my wife and daughter with the perfect dresses and I'll end up in my jeans! I have a good idea what I want, just have to go get it! As my grandmother used to say "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" but I reckon if I can make myself a little bit presentable for my ladies!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Jay sweetie - Not sure why your Flicka photos are not showing up. Are you copy and pasting the image code? If it really won't work, you need to get yourself a different photo hosting account (eg Photobucket) and upload your photos to it. Then copy and paste the IMG code into your post.
Love the photos of your gorgeous family!!
I am sure that VA will be fine with the dress since you are going all posh and flying PE!!!

 

[MrRomance]

posh....me! Oh I wish! The reason we're flying PE is purely necessity. We had a car accident last year and Amanda and I are both waiting for surgery. Amanda has a pretty serious spinal injury and I need a hip replacement. We didn't think either of us would manage the flight in economy and we needed a smaller cabin for the little one. She doesn't deal with strangers very well due to her autism.

I'm going to try to post some pictures from Photobucket instead and see how that works!

This picture always makes me smile. It captured a beautiful moment on our last WDW trip...it was one of those Disney Magical Moments that makes us all LOVE Disney.

So, as I said it was the 1 year anniversary of our adopting the girls and we created a wonderful day for them. Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boutique, lunch with Cinderella and photoshoot etc. Our last stop of the day was the candy store on Main Street. CM's pay special attention to kids dressed up from the boutique and the lady on the left was talking to us and we explained that we were celebrating our anniversary.

It was the "year of a million dreams" and she was so enchanted by the girls and touched by our special occasion that she said she wanted to make the girls "Chef for the Day". They bought out a trolley, with mickey treats, chocolate, sprinkles, chef hats, etc. and the girls made their own Mickey Head Treat. Then she gave them a special pin, some candy and a rose each.

The lady (I believe her name as Jacinthe) explained that she had not long started working at Disney. She said it had always been her dream and after a tough time that year, she had moved from Canada and just did it! These CM were two of the most beautiful people I have ever met and when we got home I wrote a long letter to Disney telling them so. I am hoping they are still there when we go in February so we can show them how the little one has grown and thank them again for giving us this special moment!

 

[disneyido2015]

Hello there,

I am sitting here reading your PJ with tears in my eyes over your very special story! What an amazing family you have, and you are so sweet to have planned this for your wife. I can just imagine her reaction when that DB package arrived!

I hope your planning together goes well, and that your VR is all (and more) than you hope for!

I will be following along!

 

[MrRomance]

Hi...thank you for following on our journey!

 

[Jilian]

What a sweet story, I'm welling up with tears over here! You are so thoughtful to plan a surprise VR for your wife, I'm sorry that the secret got out but I'm sure it will still be a wonderful day. Your daughter are so beautiful, they look so happy and full of life. Our story is somewhat similar (we have 2 special needs kids and didn't get to do the wedding we planned because of our younger son's rough start) and we're doing a 5 year vow renewal too.

I'm excited to hear more of your plans and wish you both the best!

 

[mebbradley]

This is so sweet!

I love the surprise aspect!

Congrats!

 

[librarygeek]

Your family is just beautiful. Your girls are so precious! If any family deserves some Disney magic it's yours. Hope you get plenty of pixie dust on your VR trip!

 

[MrRomance]

It seems we have finally decided that we want a dessert party for Illuminations on the night of the VR.

So the ceremony being at 3pm, we'll probably be finished on the beach at 4 so now we have to fill the time between 4pm and 8pm (when the dessert party will be!). Looks like possibly Mizner's Lounge for drinks and snacks will be the best option, but we're still working on that!

Tomorrow is the Visa Interview day. I'm feeling incredibly stressed about it. Rationally I know there shouldn't be any problems, but having been on the "wrong side" of immigration officials before without actually doing anything wrong, I can't help being worried. I can understand they have a job to do and I appreciate that being married to a US citizen might mean that I would want to move there, but after spending a small fortune getting Amanda her permanent residency in the UK, I really don't want to go through it all again to move to the US!

So much is resting on this trip, not just the VR. My daughter has had an incredibly tough year that would be enough to destroy the heart of a grown adult. She's been so brave and the main reason we booked this trip was because her doctors have told us that she really needs a holiday where she can relax and begin to recover. She LOVES Free Willy and wants to swim with the dolphins so badly! We have tickets for Discovery Cove and I can't stand the thought of coming home tomorrow and having to say we can't go because I was refused the visa.

I need lots of positive thoughts for tomorrow!

 

[librarygeek]

Good luck with your visa! Don't worry, you'll be fine and you will get it!! And after today you won't have to worry about it anymore

 

[MrRomance]

Good luck with your visa! Don't worry, you'll be fine and you will get it!! And after today you won't have to worry about it anymore

Thank you!! It's true, hopefully tomorrow all the stress will be gone and I can enjoy the planning!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Jay sweetie - sending you lots of pixiedust that your visa interview will be a breeze tomorrow!!!

 

[Pinkgirl]

Hi Jay, just found your PJ of course I'm now a blubbering wreck having read through all your story. Good luck for tomorrow with your Visa.

 

[MrsDuck]

Sending for the interview!!