We are doing engagment pics with Randy for the very same reason. We want to meet him and be comfortable with him before the actual wedding. We dont really need engagement pics. I am also having my hair trial at the time. Mostly because my hair is short and I need to decide if I can leave it as is or grow it out more. We picked the Boardwalk because #1 we love it, but #2 our wedding is at the WP, so we will get plenty of pictures during the wedding by the GF and Poly. We wanted somewhere a bit different.
Oh and the cake thing. When we were planning an escape we decided to buy a cake to taste the flavor we thought we would use. You have to buy a 10 to get the flavor you want (not sure if the Poly is the same), and it was HUGE. It was however, one of the best cakes I have EVER had in my life!!
I really want to do pics at the Boardwalk but DF is pulling the veto card again- says he would rather use the money for something "more fun"- what's more fun than pics that we can have forever???? As for the cake... yum what flavor did you get for your trial cake?
Love the location for the home reception! Looks very cool...I wish we had some place like that here...
I can't wait to see your e-pics with Misty!
I'm glad you're getting a hair trial...Can't wait to see those too!!! Hurry up April and get here!!!
Hurry April hurry fast!!!!! I get to go to Disney AND book my wedding FINALLY!
Glad it helped! And yeah, what a difference having it fitted to your body and not just a sample- you're gonna be SOO happy! Initially she sewed cups into the dress, but the "push-up" that the cups gave basically made me feel like I was gonna fall out of the dress, so at the 2nd fitting we took them out. (I just wore those silicone flower petal covers so even if the dress moved I didn't give a free show!) Obviously, yes she will sew in whatever you need so you won't have to wear a bra.
Don't worry about calling Tie the Knot...I've been meaning to stop in and say hi anyway, so I'll try to get it this week.
don't want to fall out on your wedding day
I wish my dress would get here already so I know what alterations I'm gonna need
I hope they let you do the cake tasting.
I just wanna eat cake.... LOTS AND LOTS of cake!!!! I've spent so many hours dreaming about cake I would hate to pick a flavor and not think it was to die for on my wedding day
That place you guys picked for your at home reception is so cute and different!! Very cute!
Your planning session should be lots of fun! I think it would be really cute if you guys did an engagement shoot while you're visiting WDW! Wish I could give you suggestions on where else might be a good spot.
There seriously is too many food places to choose from! DF and I are already trying to hash out where to dine on our disneymoon out there! So if any of the places you guys try out are outstanding, do let me know!
Oh! And I hope you get to do a cake test taste!
You are going to have sooooo much fun on your honeymoon! There are soooo many yummy restaurants- all the food is one of my favorite parts of WDW... don't worry I'll be doing a full review of all our meals complete with lots of food porn!
I'm so jelouse!!! I wish i could talk DF into going down before the wedding for a PS! You're going to have to be my taste buds and let me know which cake flavors are the best!
I think its a good idea to go and do an encore engagement shoot with Misty. Make sure you take lots and lots of pictures during the PS so i can live through you! hahaha
HURRY UP APRIL!
Right now the engagement shoot is a no go
DF just isn't going for it
- but I had no trouble talking him into the trip so I can't complain too much
But have no fear- you'll have lots of pics from my handy dandy el crapo camera so you can live vicariously through my unofficial planning trip
I wish I could help with your resort dilemma...unfortunately (especially with the ecomony) it is really hard to predict what will be best. Nowadays, I would normally say wait b/c there are so many deals going on, but since it's a holiday week...boy it would make me research and watch prices for a short while and then book as soon as something is reasonable. I know...$160...God for a value IS NOT reasonable. But considering the time of year sometimes you have to bite the bullet. Esp. b/c they NEVER have florida resident discounts that week (which you could pull off since your 'rents are in Naples). Darn...usually I'm the queen of good rates, but Easter is really difficult on property.
I do agree that you should go to Ohana...it'll make you feel reassured. 
I have 2 suggestions...take em or leave em...it's all good-- Have you been to 50's prime time before? If not, go for lunch..it's just as good & a little cheaper. I've heard Cape May Cafe is great; if you love seafood also think about Flying Fish. If you don't want the full "restaurant thing" sit at the chef's counter; not only is the food superb, but the service is great as well. Maybe for your honeymoon since you've got a lot of ADR's picked for April! Oh, and Le Cellier vs. Narcoossee's...I consider Le Cellier a "heavier meal" (excellent, but heavier), so based on that I like Narcoossee's better, but it depends on the plans: Epcot or MK. I'd wait until closer to the trip to make the final decision. (again, just my opinion...)
You've got beautiful e-pics, but I can understand wanting to feel comfortable with your photog. If only we'd had that opportunity (we had DPS so we only had a phone convo w/ our main photog Joe)! I think it'd be great...esp hitting up other resorts for it. You'll get a totally different vibe than your wedding! (and obviously I vote for the BW 
)
Good luck with the cake tasting. Too bad you won't be down in December b/c we'll be getting another "top" layer for our anniversary and am sure we'd have PLENTY to share!!!
Thanks for all the advice... VERY helpful. I had never really heard of flying fish until the boards and think we will definately check it out during the honeymoon. We are doing dining plan so lunch vs dinner doesn't really matter price wise as it all is 1 TS credit. I'll post all our dining plan changes in a bit and I'm sad bc Narcooses is out now too (bc it would be 2 TS credits since it's sigature) but DF promises Flying Fish and Narcooses for the honeymoon
Oh and what flavor will you be having for your anniversary layer?
Adelia,
Ok, caught up again!!! I love, love, love the place for your at home reception!!! It looks so awesome!! The food looked great too!! It's funny that DF's family is from Flint, MI, I grew up in Royal Oak, MI, which is outside of Detroit, I don't think Flint is that far away from there!! Ok, I will definitely have to try that drink that you were talking about....I hate beer, so anything that doesn't taste like beer is good to me!! Here is a stupid question though-how do you pronounce that?? Do they have it at most bars?
As far as booking your Disney trip goes: I have always booked everything directly through Disney. I found that there weren't that many great discounts through
AAA and I like dealing with Disney directly. When we went to Disney last Dec. we had the whole thing booked and mostly paid for, and then I got something in the mail about free dining, so I called back and we saved $800!!! They just took it off our total price that we owed!!!! So there are definitely some pluses to booking with Disney directly, I don't know if you had it booked through AAA if they could have done that...Your dining plan restaurants sound yummy!!! I am a big fan of the DP, we get it everytime we go!! I remember when they had appetizers too, but I have found that even without the appetizers we were filled up, plus alot of times you can get fruit or something besides an actual dessert with the CS. I have never eaten at Cape May..where is that? 50's Prime time cafe is good, it is fun if you have never been there....if you have the DP, it wouldn't matter if you go for lunch or dinner cause it is 1 TS...As far as LeCellier or Narcoosees...I have never been to Narcoosees, so you will have to tell me how it is!! Le Cellier is excellent!!! We have been there for lunchtime and dinner, both times it has been really good...
I think that is a good idea to have the engagement pics done with MIsty...I will probaby look into that now for us....any clue how much she charges for engagement pics??? Another place that is really pretty for pics is the WL....
I will have to remember that drink that you said at Ohana's as we are eating there in October....the LapuLapu...what's in it?? It sounds yummy!!
Hey Maure! I didn't know you grew up in MI- even more that we have in common
Flint is probably just 1 hour north of Royal Oak and where I grew up (Midland) is just about 45 min north of there! Small world!
I think we are going to do the dining plan- it's just so much easier and from what I read online it looks like some of the restaurants actually raise their prices during holidays too so I don't want to have to suffer "sticker shock" each time we go to eat
Cape May is at the Beach Club- we've never even been in that area before so I don't know any more than that but here's the menu:
http://allears.net/menu/menu_cmc.htm I think it looks so yummy! We've decided on LeCellier for this trip since it's 1 TS and Narcooses is 2
but hopefully we'll go there on the honeymoon
Misty's engagement shoots are kinda pricey IMO... it looks like it will be $300 for the CD only package... I'll post all the details below. I still want to do it but DF thinks the money could be better spent else where
I don't know for sure how to pronounce the full name of that drink
I also just call it Lambic (pronounced Lam-bick)and people know what I'm talking about
I've only seen it on tap one other place (which was in FL) which is why I was so excited to find it in MI at the place I wanted my reception at
Your best bet would probably be to check a liquor store, it comes in what looks like a wine bottle and has foil at the top.
As for the Lapu Lapu it's a drink at the poly that comes in a pineapple- I've never had it but found a pic of pineapple drinks and thought I just had to have them for the wedding... come to find out Ohana's has them. Mandy was sweet enough to post the recipe on page 10 of my PJ- you should check it out! (P.S. I swear I'm not an alcoholic... for some reason my PJ is just filled with booze
)
)
We did decide to only eat at places that are 1 table service credit though so we can get as many meals out of it as possible... which means no dinner shows or signature restaurants
) The only downside to the 180 days ADR's is I don't think they'll have released the park hours by then and we always plan our schedule out based on Magic Hours... I guess we'll just have to wing it
) 
