Report - Jay & Amanda’s not-so-secret Disney Fairy Tale Wedding Vow Renewal 18 Feb 12

I followed your planning process and am so happy to catch up with your wedding review and pics! You all look so happy! Thanks for sharing your experience with disboards!
 
Welcome back! Sounds like you had a wonderful day - you all look beautiful in the pictures. Wow, your cake is amazing and sounds delish! I love your DW's bouquet although I'm sorry you were disappointed with it in person. Looking forward to reading more.:goodvibes
 
Jay!

It looked wonderful and the photos are amazing. You truly look like you had a wonderful day!
 


Aww, the picture of Kate and Amanda together just melts my heart. I'm welling up at the picture of her crying at the ceremony because she was so happy. Awwww. It looks like overall you had an amazing day, I'm so happy for you all. Can't wait to read more.
 
Your photos are lovely. You have such a beautiful family. Congratulations on your vow renewal.

I especially love the part about your daughter crying and her emotions during your ceremony, what a doll. :goodvibes
 


I am so glad to hear that overall things really worked out beautifully...I am glad to have your honest opinions about some of the vendors we are using. It really helps :goodvibes I am sorry to hear about the quality of the flowers, but like you said you cannot tell at all in pictures, they look beautiful!

I started crying when I saw the picture of Kate at the ceremony, what a sweet girl. I am glad you were able to mention Megan in there too even though Rev. Tim forgot
 
Everything looks beautiful! It sounds like all the major stuff went right :goodvibes Randy's photos are awesome. And your daughter is so cute and sweet. What she said about your wedding had my eyes tearing up a little too!!

And Rev. Tim just sounds like the best, especially for getting your other guests "into" the wedding!
 
Everything looks beautiful! It sounds like all the major stuff went right :goodvibes Randy's photos are awesome. And your daughter is so cute and sweet. What she said about your wedding had my eyes tearing up a little too!!

And Rev. Tim just sounds like the best, especially for getting your other guests "into" the wedding!
 
I love that shot of Kate looking up at you, framed by your and Amanda's arms. ADORABLE! And I, too, misted up at her emotional reaction to the ceremony. :love:

Congratulations! :cloud9:
 
I’m really overwhelmed reliving our reception (even though it is in writing) because it was very close to perfect. It probably wouldn’t be everyone’s ideal, but for Amanda and I, it was EXACTLY what we had hoped it would be.
As you might have read in my PJ, we had quite an issue over Amanda wearing her dress at the venue. This was solved by us being taken to the venue “back stage” in a car. The town car collected Amanda, Kate and I from Saratoga and drove us into Hollywood Studios. :cool1:

I had high hopes for the food and knowing that Fantasmic! had just re-opened after it’s refurb, I was hoping that the show would be even more awesome than it was before. All of our guests met us at the venue and were escorted in by a “guide” CM. When we entered the patio I was blown away by how great it looked. :thumbsup2

The drinks and dessert station

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The two dinner stations

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For those who didn’t read my PJ, our custom menu was as follows:

  • Italian Wedding Soup
  • Garden Salad with Italian, Thousand Island and Raspberry Vinaigrette
  • Grilled Seasonal Vegetables
  • Steamed Green Beans
  • Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes
  • Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
  • Baked Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage, Marinara and Mozzarella
  • Pork Chop with Apple Cider (Influenced by Artist Pointe)
  • Pan Seared Beef Marsala
  • House made Bread with Butter
  • Fresh Fruit Display with Biscotti
  • Warm Chocolate Banana Torte with Rum Glaze
  • Fruit Punch, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and Selection of Teas

The cost for those who are interested was $80 + tax + service charge (21%) per person. The venue hire fee was $250, there was a minimum people count of 10 and a food & beverage minimum of $750. I can’t tell you what the final cost was in total because I haven’t had the final bill yet and I’m due to get some money back.

They had set up 5 tables, with the standard black linens and candles. Servers wore the standard gold vests. Along the front of the patio they had set up chairs to watch the show.

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As it grew dark, the stations glowed blue which was a beautiful setting, very soothing and serene. It was great to have the space for ourselves, with people congratulating us as they walked by and a perfect view of the show.

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The food was INCREDIBLE especially the beef marsala. Everyone was blown away by the food, the only thing that wasn’t stellar was the pork chop which was a bit dry and tough.

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I was upset that so much food would be thrown away, we had food for 10 and everyone really ate a lot of food, but there was WAY more than we needed.

Kate loved the pasta and Amanda loved the soup and the beef. I didn’t eat too much I was busy taking it all in and patting myself on the back for a job well done! ;o) All of our guests were super impressed at what I’d managed to do, but the best was yet to come!

In my PJ, I said that at the very last minute (a few days before we left for FL) they contacted me to say that they would either have to cut the reception 15 minutes short OR move it to an earlier time. I wasn’t happy about either option and basically they backtracked and said we could stay the full time as previously agreed. I think what happened next was about getting us out 15 minutes early rather than a great gesture , but it was really cool anyway and we had all finished eating so I wasn’t too bothered. :)

The service manager in charge of our event tells Amanda and I that she has arranged a “magic moment” for us at 7.45. She said she had arranged for us to have a private ride on Tower of Terror. Basically, us and our guests, in our wedding outfits were going to be taken on a little back door tour of the ride and get to ride TOT privately and we’d get the picture for free. WOO HOO!!! :cool1: I know from reading other people’s PJ’s and trip reports that it is not cheap to get the ride to yourself for your wedding party and we were going to get it FOR FREE!!:banana:

Not all of the guests wanted to ride it (especially on a very full stomach) but Amanda, Kate, our friends Joe and John and myself, couldn’t pass that up! I am not a ride person, Amanda and Kate love them but I do them because I don’t want to be chicken$*^t so I wasn’t exactly excited about the whole thing which is very clear from the resulting picture!

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The show was amazing as always, we all loved it and again I was told that I had done an incredible job and that no one was going to be able to top our day. For me, that was exactly what it was all about, giving Amanda the day of her dreams. It was close to perfect and we all had a brilliant day.

So after I got the life scared out of me, on TOT, it was time to get our car back to Saratoga for a quick costume change. Kate was going back with my MIL and FIL and us “big kids” as my MIL called us went out to Jelly Rolls on the Boardwalk.

Unbeknown to me there is a popcorn machine in there and practically everyone is eating it. For me it was like be surrounding by razors because I’m allergic to corn. Having paid the $12 cover fee to get in, I wasn’t about to just leave but if you’ve ever been in Jelly Rolls, it’s packed tight in there (especially on a Saturday night!) and after about 90 minutes, I was breaking out in hives and my throat was closing up. :sick: I went outside for a bit to see if it would calm down but it didn’t so we had to call it a night. Even with the allergy disaster, we still had a great time. :thumbsup2

So here are some things I learned which are useful for other couples…

1. Hollywood Studios doesn’t get many catered events. Most people go for Wishes or Illuminations for their DP or dinner. For that reason, when they get a catered event they really do a great job and go out of their way to make it awesome!

2. Working directly with Disney Catered Events for your reception meal is a lot less stressful and a lot cheaper than arranging your reception through DFTW!

3. Despite what you might be told, you CAN wear your wedding attire in a park venue if you are driven in the back entrance and escorted

4. It is possible that if you have your event at Fantasmic! you will get a little surprise extra because they need you out!

Well that’s about it for the day itself, I’m posting a TR for the rest of our 14 day trip separately, so if you want to hear more about our trip, you’ll find it here
 
Since all the surprises are now finished, I wanted to come on here and say thank you for all your kind words and help/support for our family! It was a truly magical day :D
 
I loved your reception. Everything looked great and I loved the glowing blue stands. That is so cool to have TOT to yourself!!!
 

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