Shawna & Edward's January 4, 2011 Escape Wedding

[FutureMrs.B]

Happy Wedding Day!!

 

[Disney-Chick]

Thanks everyone for the congrats. The wedding went GREAT!! We had great weather and there was a nice breeze. Once I get some pictures I will post. This time last night we were at the AKL getting our pics done. We had a great photographer. He was so funny and kept us laughing.

More updates once I get home. Only 3 more days.

 

[Tinkershelly]

Congrats! I'm so pleased that things went well. Can't wait to see the pics and get the details!

 

[Disney-Chick]

I arrived home about an hour ago(11pm). Hit some snow in New Brunswick but overall things went well. I will fill more in later. We had a very eventful trip.

Can't wait to visit the Mouse again soon.!!!!!

 

[Disney-Chick]

My plan was to write down each day what we did but that didn't seem to happen. So I am going to try to remember as much as I can.

Edward came to pick me up on Dec. 25th around 8:30am to start our drive to visit the most Magical Place on Earth. It was a beautiful day and we were so excited with all our gear in the back (Brianna was flying with my family on the 29th of Dec). About 2 hours into our drive our gas light decided to come on. I seen a gas station and told Edward to stop. He thought it best to make the next gas station. About 5km away the Jeep starting puttering, Edward starting cursing and I was almost in tears. All I kept saying was "what are we going to do?" So after about a minute we finally pulled over and I said I was going to get out and flag down a car. We ran out in Benton, New Brunswick. Luck was on our side as I seen only one car coming towards us. I started waving my arms hoping they would stop. Thank goodness it was Christmas and two ladies stopped. They were nice enough to take Edward to the gas station and bring him back. I wouldn't go with them since I didn't want to leave my wedding dress. Not even 15 minutes later they were back and we headed back to the gas station to fill up and return the container they lent us.

The rest of the drive was fine, we drove 15 hours and landed in New Jersey and his parents/BIL/SIL were about an hour ahead of us and booked a room.

Dec. 26th we started our drive at 7am hoping to make it all the way. But Mother Nature had other plans and we ended up hitting snow in Virginia and had to stay over in Florence. Again his parents were ahead of us and booked a room at a Econo Lodge. I have a pic that shows snow on the palm tree. I should have taken a pic of the snow angel someone decided to do.

Dec. 27th all was good. The sun was shining and we left around 7am to finish the drive. We arrived around 3 or 4 pm. What a great feeling to be arriving at POP Century. Felt like home!!!!

Snow on Palm Trees
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/3511/005ase.jpg
(I tried posting the pic but it was to large)
http://img37.imageshack.us/i/006ev.jpg/

Off to help with supper. More exciting events will come.

 

[Disney-Chick]

We went to Hollywood Studio's the first night we arrived (Dec. 27th) but of course it was crowded. We knew this so just walked around a bit. We ended up going back to the resort to relax.

Dec. 28th - It was still a bit cold and we were going to Al Capone's Dinner Theatre for Edward's father's birthday. It was a good show. I didn't like the fact that we were so close to the people beside us. Once I get the picture of us that they had taken I will post. I just need to scan it first. After the show which was about 3 hours. We walked out and our car said that it was -2 outside. Thank goodness I brought my winter jacket. Then off to bed we went as the next day was going to be busy as well.

Dec. 29th - Edward, his father, & brother were doing the Richard Petty Driving experience. We had to arrive for 7:30am. What a great experience they had. It was worth the money. Edward & his father did the driving of the car as well as were passengers. His brother was just a passenger. Both Edward and his father hit speeds of 118mph. Here are some links to show the pics.

http://img202.imageshack.us/i/035iis.jpg/
http://img140.imageshack.us/i/049qmy.jpg/
http://img203.imageshack.us/i/053mag.jpg/

We were there until after 10am. Then we went for lunch. My family was arriving around 4ish this day so we didn't want to go to a park. So we decided to go back to POP and grab all the wedding items along with the dresses etc to bring to my parents house since I was staying with them the night before.

Once my family arrived and rented the van, and two cars some of us went to Downtown Disney so they could pick up their tickets. Here are some pics that were taken.

The first one is of my older sister and I. The 2nd is my daughter, nephew and niece.

http://img109.imageshack.us/i/downtowndisneydec301.jpg/
http://img25.imageshack.us/i/downtowndisneydec30.jpg/

 

[daisygirl902]

So excited to hear you are back and updating!! Welcome home to WINTER! Although it's apparently winter in Florida too - so weird!

 

[neener3]

The snow on the palm trees is wild! Here I am hoping to escape winter...

 

[Disney-Chick]

So excited to hear you are back and updating!! Welcome home to WINTER! Although it's apparently winter in Florida too - so weird!

It is freezing today. It was a bit chilly when we first arrived in Florida but it's better than this. I can't wait to go back and not have to worry about shoveling.

The snow on the palm trees is wild! Here I am hoping to escape winter...

It has warmed up though so you will be escaping it. =D All the snow was gone as we headed back home. I hope it warms up for our trip in Feb. Only 24 more days.

 

[Disney-Chick]

2 Weeks ago I was getting ready for my wedding!!!!! Now it all seems like forever ago! I just want to add I won't be able to add pictures now as I am at work but I will add some tonight. I also have some wedding pictures from my family.

Here we go with all the fun things before the wedding:

Dec. 30th - Everyone packed in their cars and drove to Tampa for the hockey game (Tampa vs. Montreal). As I mentioned before, we received a sweet deal on one of the suites. We had just enough people to fill the room (18 total). The only disappointment besides Montreal losing was my $30 worth of M&M's, not big at all and they were the first things gone. But overall it was a great game. We did get some autographs before going in but I don't watch hockey and couldn't tell you who we met with (or if they were even hockey players, I just kept joking that they were probably just spectators )

http://img52.imageshack.us/i/hockeygame1.jpg/ (Me, My father, and my Nephew)
http://img197.imageshack.us/i/hockeygame2.jpg/ (Me and Edward)
http://img213.imageshack.us/i/hockeygame.jpg/
http://img831.imageshack.us/i/hockeygame3.jpg/ (My younger sister and myself

Dec. 31 - We decided to go to EPCOT for the 7:30pm fireworks since my nephew is only 18 months old. So we arrived around lunchtime and OMG it was packed. We managed to stay until the fireworks but boy I was happy to be leaving. Both EPCOT and MK hit capacity. We knew going at this time would be torture and NEVER again will we go at Christmas. Unless as DH says, it is basically free!!! But we decided on this day for both my BIL who was a teacher at the time and Edward's father who is a long haul truck driver. Anyways, the fireworks were great, and everyone loved them. Even my nephew was amazed and watched the whole show.

Jan. 1 - This day we decided to do Universal. We hadn't planned on doing Harry Potter but eventually made our way over. It was of course packed, but looked great. The detail was amazing. But the sad thing is though, it was small. I realize what they were trying to do but the shops were crowded, you had to wait in lines to get into the clothing store, the restaurant etc. I didn't do the Forbidden Journey this day, but was able to get frozen butterbeer. I must say it's not to bad but I couldn't drink it all. I really enjoyed Rip Saw Rocket. And this was the day that Rip Saw Falls was caught on fire. I brought my sisters over to show them but nobody was coming out. Then I noticed the black smoke coming from the top. We ended up leaving but did get some flames on video. My younger sister was disappointed as she wanted to do this ride.

http://img526.imageshack.us/i/dsc00309m.jpg/ My younger sister, my daughter, niece & nephew
http://img651.imageshack.us/i/289gt.jpg/
http://img816.imageshack.us/i/299h.jpg/


Well I better get back to work. Again, once I get home I will post some pictures.

 

[Disney-Chick]

Jan. 3 Day before the wedding - This was the day that I booked for the NASA experience for the guys (and my daughter and niece) and also the day that I was getting my nails done at The Woodhouse. We were also going shopping after the spa. Edward dropped me off at his parents resort at 7am. We had to go and pick up my sisters and be at the spa for 8:50am, which was about 30 minutes away. I was very pleased with the spa that I choose. I liked the name of it so that is why I chose it. The place was beautiful and the girls were great. We were there for about an hour and as we went to pay my older sister said she would pay for all three of us. That was a nice surprise. Meant that I had more money to go shopping with.
http://img535.imageshack.us/i/kidsatnasa.jpg/ My nephew, my daughter and my niece

We then headed to the Florida mall and were suppose to meet my mother, aunt, cousin's wife and my nephew. My favorite place in the mall would be the M&M store. OMG I was in heaven. I bought some things, but wanted to save some money for a purse & wallet at Disney. The others that were meeting us were a bit longer than we thought and we were leaving when they arrived. My older sister stayed with them to watch my nephew while my MIL, and younger sister went to some flea markets. At one point I had to call Edward, just before his tour was about to start. But as I was talking to him he told me some of them couldn't do the tour as it required their passport.!!! It did not state on the sheet that we had that you needed it but it was a new rule that came into place and they couldn't do the one that I originally booked for them. But in the end it worked out and they did another tour and loved it. Edward actually said that he was nervous for the first time ever because he wanted to buy everything.

Edward's mother dropped me off at AKL around 4ish and I thought Edward would be home shortly since I had to go to my parents house where I was staying the night. He didn't arrive home until 8ish. We then headed over to his parents resort (Carribbean Beach) to have something to eat. As we were headed to the restaurant my phone rang and it was Crystal, the one who would be doing my hair. Now I may not have mentioned before but I was very nervous about her for a few reasons. 1. She didn't use credit card and I had to send a money order ($50) to secure her services. 2. I sent her the address to my parents place with a link that showed the map and she still had questions about the location. 3. It was only her doing all of our hair/makeup (total of 4 of us). So Crystal was telling me that she would be running late and that she wouldn't arrive until 9:30 but would be bringing an assistant. Meanwhile, my phone keeps beeping because it's about to die So once I say that is fine she proceeds to ask again where the house is located. In my head I was thinking "print the damn map I sent". But I explained yet again where it was and praying my phone doesn't die. After about 10 minutes all is good. But I say to Edward, "I knew I should have switched". Then we go off and eat.

As we were driving to my parents I kept saying to Edward, im not nervous about the wedding, or even excited and that I felt bad because I have no feelings. I was very confused. But he agreed that he had no anxiety about it either. By the time I arrived at my parents it was 10pm. Edward left about 10 minutes later and I stayed up until 11:30.

Jan. 4 - The Big Day - As we had to downsize to a 5 bedroom house I ended up sleeping in the living room on a cot. Which was fine with me, it was actually quite comfy and I was having a great sleep. That was until I heard my uncle up at 4:45am!!!! So I try going back to sleep even though him eating cereal kept me awake for a bit. But at 7am I was back up along with everyone else. Blah and I had to wait another 2.5 hours till Crystal hopefully showed up. I am a very impatient person and just wanted to get started. I still wasn't nervous but I was bored walking around and waiting. So after awhile I decided to go and play pool in the games room when my younger sister said that someone was on my cell phone for me. Thank goodness I found my charger since I thought I forgot it at the AKL. I didn't think it would be Edward....but can you guess who was calling me saying that they thought they were lost!!!!! Yep Crystal thought she passed it and wanted to know how far it was from some road she was at. In my mind im thinking "im not even from here, I don't know the roads". Where the heck was her map?!?!?! Anyways, turns out she wasn't past it she was almost to the road. So at 9:45am she and her assistant (who came in her own car) arrived at the same time. So as she comes in she asks me what I want so I pull out the pictures that I had and showed her the one that I really loved. Her response "Nope won't work, your calic won't go that way, you have to be realistic. These girls are not in a wedding, there models." Meanwhile she is pulling at the front of my hair and it hurts because I have it thrown up in a bun. This women's attitude stunk more than S@%t. But I didn't want or need a fight so I kept my mouth shut. Her assistant however was awesome. She only did makeup, but of course Crystal did my hair and makeup. Which at the end the makeup was beautiful. Wasn't overly happy with my hair but the other girls looked great. The other thing was Crystal is allergic to EVERYTHING. Not her fault I know but we had to blow out the candle open the door, shut the back door because some were smoking, not spray perfume (until after she left). But overall it turned out fine. She started to loosen up and she even did my mother's hair/makeup.

After about 2 hours they were done! And off they went, and off I went to put my dress on. Here are some pics:


http://img521.imageshack.us/i/wedding16.jpg/
http://img546.imageshack.us/i/wedding15.jpg/

At this point I just wanted to go. Again me being impatient. But still not nervous. We all piled into 3 cars to head over to the AKL where the limo was going to pick us up. I did forget to mention that Tanis called and gave me the run down of what was going to happen. She told me that I was to stay in the limo until she came and got me so that Edward and his family would be gone from the lobby. Meanwhile, as my BIL drove the van I was in while the other 2 cars followed someone almost ran into the side of us. But we made it in one peace and then all went inside to resort lobby to wait for the limo. Here are some pics while we waited:

http://img406.imageshack.us/i/sammax.jpg/ My younger sister and her son Max
http://img687.imageshack.us/i/sydbri.jpg/ My niece Sydney and my daughter Brianna
http://img341.imageshack.us/i/wedding14.jpg/ My mother & I
http://img208.imageshack.us/i/nannygrandkids.jpg/ my nephew, niece, mother and daughter

Finally my BIL said that it was time to go. And out we all went. My mother, niece, nephew, 2 sisters and myself jumped into the limo while the others followed in the cars. My cousin was video taping and my gosh he was everywheres. I haven't seen the video but he seemed like a pro. When we arrived at the Boardwalk I waited in the limo as I was told. About 5 minutes later Tanis came out to get me. My immediate familly stayed with me for pictures while the others went down to get seated. Mike was our photographer (I can't remember his last name) but he was so funny. As we started walking they showed us the sign with our name on it. That was so awesome to see. But again still no nervousness....grrr I was getting mad at myself for not having any feelings. Then we took the elevator down and as I hit the Boardwalk I had a couple of butterflies. Then as fast as they came they were gone. My bestfriend came up to me and asked for the video camera as I asked her to tape it but of course that is the only thing that I forgot. But again, my cousin was taping away. Rev. Day came down as we were getting situated. I was very thankful for the little bit of breeze that we had. I am always so hot. And the day was about 71 with cloudy periods. Then the girls were told to start walking. I had both my parents walk me down and it was awesome. Edward turned around and he was so handsome!!! I couldn't believe how great he looked, and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I just wanted to give him a big kiss and realized why I fell in love with him.

http://img407.imageshack.us/i/wedding4b.jpg/
http://img832.imageshack.us/i/wedding1s.jpg/
http://img143.imageshack.us/i/wedding5j.jpg/
http://img341.imageshack.us/i/wedding6o.jpg/
http://img156.imageshack.us/i/wedding8.jpg/
http://img143.imageshack.us/i/wedding7.jpg/ this is one of my fav

Alright I am off for now.

 

[FutureMrs.B]

Shawna I love the recap. I'm so glad things went well. I love love love the pics. You look so beautiful and your DH looks soo handsome.

 

[KristiLyn]

love the pics!!!! you looked beautiful!!!

 

[daisygirl902]

Aw - so great to have the details and pics finally!! Sounds like everything went off pretty well!

 

[Disney-Chick]

Shawna I love the recap. I'm so glad things went well. I love love love the pics. You look so beautiful and your DH looks soo handsome.

Thank you so much. As I have been telling everyone, I wouldn't have done it any different. I had no stress at all. I may have gone simple but in the end it was worth it.

love the pics!!!! you looked beautiful!!!

Thank you so much.

Aw - so great to have the details and pics finally!! Sounds like everything went off pretty well!

Everything went great. Tanis Armstrong was so great. We just watched the video that my cousin taped and it was awesome. It was nice to watch it and have that feeling back.

 

[Disney-Chick]

After the wedding, DH & I headed to AKL for our resort pictures. We had some taken on the bridge, outside and in front of the tree. Once we were done there I headed to the room for some clothes. Once done there I asked DH to get the car so we could head over to my parents house that they rented and where everyone was waiting for us. When he pulled the car up it was soaking wet. It must have rained once we were done with the pictures outside. I only seen a few drops of rain and once we arrived at my parents it never rained again. I hear it's good to have rain on your wedding day.

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/1931/wedding17.jpg
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8015/wedding18.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/5816/sweddingshoes.jpg

We were going to order catering but we all agreed that the amount it was to order and after looking at the food we decided with a BBQ. I am so glad that we did this. There was so much food and it was so good. After heating and opening some gifts we headed back to the resort around 11ish. The next day we were up around 9ish. The phone rang and it was my father. I found this weird but once I chatted for a bit he told me the reason why he was calling. He had booked a flight for that day and was going back home. We still had 4 days until we were suppose to leave. But as I mentioned before my grandfather had been in the hospital since Dec. 20th. Later, after arriving home and going to visit with my grandfather my aunt told me that on our wedding day they called my father 15 minutes before walking down the isle and told him they didn't know if my grandfather would make it or not. My father didn't want any of my sisters or myself know. I knew deep down when I kept asking and they just said he was fine. He is still in the hospital and 5 days ago he underwent a triple bypass. They were a bit nervous as the blockages were around his heart and he only had 20% of his kidney's working. As of right now all is well, but they are still monitoring him.

I am going to skip a couple of days. On Friday, Jan. 7 we did the 5k run through EPCOT. There was myself, daughter, both sisters, BIL, niece, and nephew. They picked me up at 5:45am and we headed over. It was fun. My older sister and daughter did it in 35 minutes, my niece/nephew did it in 32 mins and me and my younger sister did it in 45 min. My BIL, not sure as he was by himself I guess we all scattered and left him in the dust.

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3299/5kmeveryone.jpg
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5934/5kmrun.jpg
http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/9684/samanthau.jpg my younger sister
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/7915/brirun.jpg
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/7848/briminnie.jpg

Jan 8th - This was the day we all left. My family all flew. Edward & I left around 7am to start our drive home. We were planning on doing this in 2 days. Again, I had mixed feelings. I wanted to stay but then I wanted to get home to see my grandfather. Edward parents, SIL, brother all left that day but were stopping in South Carolina. As we were driving along, doing great time we noticed some cars that were pulled over for speeding then BAM!!! we saw another cop car and knew we were busted. So Edward pulled over to the right lane till the cop was behind us, meanwhile we passed another car pulled over. Once the cop came over to us and asked for our info he asked why we were speeding. Edward told him we were trying to keep up with the flow of traffic He asked if we realized that we were doing 86 MPH in a 65 MPH zone?!?! After Edward apologized, he asked where we were from and told us to wait. He came back and said that he was going to be nice and down grade our 86 to 80 so that he wouldn't have to come back in April for court. So in the end our ticket we thought was $171 but once we arrived home we looked at it closely and realized it was only $30!!!

So after 18 hours of driving, a speeding ticket and no bad weather we decided to stop. We still had about 14 ish hours left the next day to get home.

Jan. 9th - The drive this day was great. We made good time until we arrived in Canada. A snow storm had hit New Brunswick which slowed us a bit and the roads were not the greatest. But we arrived home by 11:30pm. By the time we brought everything in and went to bed it was 1am and I was getting up for work the next day at 6am. Never again will I do that again.

The funny thing that happened to my daughter at the airport was after arriving at the Halifax International Airport at midnight on the 8th she was holding my 18 month old nephew. His mother (my younger sister) said that she would be right behind them, but as Brianna came off the plane and turned around there was nobody there. Not knowing Bri thought she would make her way back on the plane to see where they were. Big mistake!! The guy that was at the gate starting asking Bri "what did you just do?" "WHy would you do that?" Then all of a sudden he started screaming in his walkie talkie thing "Code 9, Code 9" by the time my family came off the plane 3 security guards were running up one said "I think I just lost 5 pounds" as he was huffing and puffing. Then they asked my daughter all these questions. And then said "if you were 16 and not 13 you would be arrested!" Can you imagine. Brianna said they didn't have a sign stating you were not allowed back over. now we call her Brianna code 9er.

Here are some pics from our 2nd visit to Universal

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/517/241o.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/689/251cd.jpg
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/4202/266lq.jpg I took this just sitting down, didn't realize until I got home that I noticed the girls hands, and then the way Scooby is standing

Once I get the professional pictures I will post some. It will be 3 weeks tomorrow so I am hoping that they will come soon. Grr I hate this waiting.

 

[Tinkershelly]

Yay, Shawna!!! The pics and stories are great. I can't wait to see more pictures. It's almost as good as being there (.......not really being there would have been more fun for me )

 

[Disney-Chick]

Yes seeing pictures is not the same as being there. But soon enough you will be on your way back. I haven't heard yet about the professional ones. I will email them on Friday. I want to pick them out so that I can pick them up on our Feb. trip. We have 2 weeks from today. I can't wait to get back and do our own thing. I see you have your ticker up. Have you booked yet? Where are you staying at?

 

[Tinkershelly]

It's the ticker from December, just out by a year. I will put in for my vacation this year and hope for a great promotion to come out just in time! We're looking at late September for the start of Food and Wine and the WDW 40th celebrations. Oh nuts, I shouldn't have tipped them off, now they won't offer it since they think I'll book it anyway!

OK so I changed the ticker. I'm hoping to start our next holiday September 24th!

 

[FutureMrs.B]

Yey for the pics of the shoes! I remember you saying that and I was looking forward to seeing it. They're so cute and I'm sure were comfy.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. I hope he feels better. And that's funny about the whole airport thing. I understand about security and all that but sometimes I think they go a tad bit overboard. LoL.