StephenWolfs' Wishes Wedding Planning Journal!

[goodmorningirl]

MLA1977--OMG! You are amazing! Thank you so much for looking, I am soo appreciative.

 

[MrsDuck]

I feel your pain!! I need 4 more to complete my set but my store hasn't had them in. Keep calling and checking!

Love the idea of giving them as gifts!

 

[CourtenayB]

Thanks for the kind words once again from everyone. You are all so sweet

I thought I would post the cards I made to ask my friends to be my bridesmaids. I haven't sent them out yet, but I have made my final decision and I'll have seven bridesmaids in total. I know it may be a lot, but they are all very important to me and two of them are my younger cousins who will be 12 and 13 at the wedding. Cory doesn't understand the need of groomsmen or bridesmaids, but he's picked seven guys also.

These are four of the cards I made. I am a total dork and LOVE to color. So I colored each of the princesses on the front and then pasted them on. Inside I wrote that I know it is two years away, but they are very special to me and I would be honored if they would be one of my bridesmaids.

I'm really happy with how they came out. I also wanted to give them something Disney with the cards. I went into the Disney Store the other day, but I couldn't really find anything. I also have a very low budget which always makes it hard. Did you all do something like this?? Do you have any suggestions of what would be cute and inexpensive to give them? Three of the bridesmaids are over 30, two are 22, and two are 10 and 11. Any help would be appreciated. And let me know what you think of the cards

This is just adorable! I love them. What a smarty and fun idea.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Okay. After a super long hiatus I am back. I didn't have much to report on, but now I do. All of my bridesmaids loved the cards and mugs (though I had to send some non-designer ones) and all said yes.

We can get a wedding consultant starting in February which is 18 months out from our date. We decided to take a trip to Disney in March during Cory's spring break for a site visit. I'm so excited! We booked our trip today and will be going from March 8-14. We'll be arriving on the 8th which is the last day of free dining so we will get it for our whole trip ! Though Cory will have to miss a class on that Friday .

So now I am working on dining ressies for then and I am soo bummed I cannot get an 'Ohana ressie on the 9th unless it is at 8:40pm! My parents are meeting us for the site visit and I thought this would be a great place for us, but now I'm stumped. My problem is that my parents may not be staying on property. They may be going to my grandma's in St. Pete and driving over for the day which means probably no park tickets and almost all of the restaurants at the hotels are 2 credits and I don't know if I want to use 2 credits for us.

Do you guys have any suggestions??

 

[MrsDuck]

So glad to hear that your bridesmaids all said yes!!

Ahh!! Upcoming Disney trip! So fun!

What kind of food do you like to eat? Do you want to do a character meal?? I can start thinking...!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Any food really. My fiance just informed me that he doesn't really want to do character meals anymore I really liked 'Ohana because it is a very family oriented restaurant that we could take my parents too. So, I guess I'm looking for a fun, laid back, family place.

 

[goodmorningirl]

I am so excited for our trip in March! 122 days away feels like forever. We are doing our site visit then, and I was just wondering what to expect from this. What do you really talk about ? We'll be 17 months out from our wedding date, so I know we won't be signing contracts or anything. I spent yesterday making our day to day plans and getting dining reservations. Here's our schedule for our trip.

Thursday: March, 8th
Arrive in Orlando at 10am.
Check in to Pop Century
Lunch: Quick Snack
Magic Kingdom
Dinner: California Grill 5:50pm (2)

Friday: March, 9th
Breakfast: Quick Snack
Go to Site Visit at Franck’s at 9am. End by 11am.
Epcot
Lunch: Nine Dragons 1:30pm (1)
Dinner: Narcoossee’s 7:30pm (2)

Saturday: March, 10th
Breakfast: Quick Snack
Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Yak & Yeti 12:00pm (1)
Animal Kingdom
Dinner: Jiko 7:30pm (2)

Sunday: March, 11th
Breakfast: Kona Café 7:30am (1)
Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Raglan Road 1:00pm (1)
Magic Kingdom
Dinner: Artist Point 7:15pm (2)

Monday: March, 12th
Breakfast: Quick Snack
Hollywood Studios
Lunch: Le Cellier Steakhouse 12:15pm (1)
Hollywood Studios
Dinner: Hollywood Brown Derby 7:25pm (2)

Tuesday: March, 13th
Breakfast: Quick Snack
Epcot
Lunch: Coral Reef 12:15pm (1)
Epcot
Dinner: Marrakesh 6:30pm (1)

Wednesday: March, 14th
Breakfast: Kona Café 7:30am (1)
Leave hotel for flight.

So what do you all think? I've been to all the restaurants before, some not in a while and Cory hasn't been to all of them so I think we'll both be happy with them.

 

[mebbradley]

I just posted my site visit TR from the day of my site visit!

We talked about what we wanted to see from the wedding, any location ideas, we save three locations, and went over some information [like pricing and requirements]

 

[MrsDuck]

Your plan looks great!! Are you doing the DDP?

 

[goodmorningirl]

mebbradley--Just read your report and it was really helpful I'm so excited to get the ball rolling.

Mrsduck--Thanks! I think I picked good stuff. We have the Deluxe dining planning, def. splurging with that.

 

[goodmorningirl]

A quick update: Cory and I have been saying how much we want to stay at Port Orleans Riverside and not Pop again. We've stayed at Pop a number of times and while it is nice, we have never stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. He asked me last night how much it is to upgrade. When I told him it was a couple hundred dollars, he asked me what I wanted for Xmas So last night I switched our hotel and also my parents to Port Orleans Riverside . It looks soo romantic and relaxing. Have any of you stayed there?? I think we made a good choice.

 

[rrali33tt]

My boyfriend and I LOVE the Port Orleans Riverside. We did not have to wait long for the buses to the parks, but what is really convenient is the boat to downtown disney.

I have never stayed at the POP so I can't realy give you a comparison of what the rooms are like, but the rooms at Port Orleans are decent. I did not hear any of my neighbors or have any issues with cleanliness.

POR has a nice pool and the grounds are also nice to walk around. They have carriage rides (where the boat dock is).

I have also read on the boards about Yeehaa Bob, who performs at the POR. Posters have said his show is really enjoyable/entertaining/funny. Here is a link to his website yehaabob.com

I did not eat at any of the restaurants at POR (because I had so many ADRs), but it was very convenient to fill up our mugs at the quick service restaurant with coffee on our way for the early morning bus ride to the parks.

I hope some of this babble helps!

 

[MrsDuck]

Aww! So exciting! I love POR! It's very quiet and romantic! Definitely makes me just want to relax at the hotel instead of hitting the parks!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Thank you rrali22t and MrsDuck with your advice on POR. You're both making me even more excited to stay there!

A very small but exciting update. My mom drove by the very small bridal store near our house and told me that a dress in the window looked like a Disney dress. When she described it to me, it sounded like the new Rapunzel one. I instantly got excited because while it isn't super important I have a Disney dress, I have always wanted to try them on to see if I like them. After going in and talking with the owner, she found out they are having a trunk sale of the Alfred Angelo Disney 2011 and supposedly 2012 dresses this coming Friday, Black Friday! The whole store is also on sale!

This is even more exciting because while I have always dreamed about my wedding, I never really was into the dress. It wasn't one of my most important things. I looked at magazines and such but nothing ever really grabbed my attention. The Disney dresses were always nice and of course I liked them, but I never fell in love with a dress until the 2012 ones came out. Again, it is always hard because it may be the complete wrong thing for my body, but I knew I had to try it on.

So, here are the dresses I'm hoping to try on. I like them because they are all different shapes, this way I can see which one works on my body.

Ariel 2011: Cory had seen this online and said he liked it. I like the way it hugs the body, which is why he likes it, I'm just not sure on the bottom part.

Cinderella 2011: I love the top on this, but this is mostly for the fun of it. I don't think I like such a big ballgown type dress, but it is really pretty.

Aurora 2012: Yes, this dress is pink. I like it because it is really different, but I feel like I would regret not wearing a white dress. Another reason why I like the pink is because my grandma's dress was also a light pink.

And now the one I love
Cinderella 2012: I love the sweetheart neckline and tight bodice. I also like the way it flows out. I have always wanted a dress with a colored sash and I love it on this one. I'm not sure about the little layers on the bottom, but I can't wait to try it on.

I'm crossing my fingers they have all of these dresses or at least Cinderella 2012.

I can't believe I am trying on dresses! It is just such a convenient opportunity, I can't pass it up.

So what do you think? Which of these do you all like?? I'm hoping they will allow me to take pictures which I'll definitely post afterwards .

 

[goodmorningirl]

Hello, everyone!

(Sadly, they would not allow us to take photos so I have no pictures to add )

I went down to try on dresses Thanksgiving weekend as I said in my previous post. The shop was supposed to have the 2012 Alfred Angelo dresses, but due to a shipping mix up, as in lost in the mail, they were never received and will not be received until the end of Jan/beginning of Feb . At first I was super disappointed as the dress I thought I really wanted was a 2012.

I decided that I would still try on some dresses as there was still a 20% off discount they were giving for any dress ordered that weekend. I tried on a few dresses both Disney and not. I have to say I was completely surprised. I have always disliked ballgowns thinking they only look good on super skinny short girls, I have no idea why . But, I decided I would still try some on. I tried on the Ariel which is the style I always liked, but surprise! I did not like it. It didn't give me that "princess" feel.
And then I tried on the 2011 Cinderella. "Might as well," I said to myself. And...I loved it! It took a few more tries and trying on a dress similar to the Cinderella 2012 to get that out of my mind completely before I made my final decision. I couldn;t help thinking that if I was walking around the Grand Floridian or wherever, this was the dress that I would feel like a princess. After crying and having my mom and friends cry too, with my aunt adding that it was just, "magical!" I picked the Cinderella 2011!
I got the 20% and ordered it! I ordered it in diamond white I believe and with the glitter. I am so in love

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Just caught up on your PJ. How exciting that you've picked your dress! The Cinderella dress truly is a gorgeous choice, definitely my favourite of all the Alfred Angelo Disney dresses.

Also your upcoming trip sounds very exciting, I've never stayed at POR, so I can't add anything useful, but it looks so beautiful, I'd love to stay there one day myself!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Thanks for the kind words, LittleKittyMarie. I’m happy to see someone is still following along.

I’ve had some huge deadlines for my MFA and the holidays were crazy. I can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve updated my PJ. I hope there are still some people following along. I feel like once we have our site visit in March I’ll have more to talk about.

But, I figured today was a great day to start up with my PJ again as it is exactly 18 months to our wedding date!!!!

A huge thing that happened with our wedding stuff recently was that our engagement party was featured on Carly’s Disney Wedding Blog! I was so honored and excited to be featured on her blog.

I’ve been trying not to think too much about wedding things because I feel like we won’t be able to make too many decisions before we see the different sites and make our decision on that.

My dress is definitely more elegant than I previously thought our wedding would be, but now I figure why shouldn’t it be elegant? Cory’s mom is very “hippie like” and is all about being casual. I just hope she’ll get the message that it is our wedding and it’s elegant and she shouldn’t wear a sundress to the wedding events. I’m not really sure how to get this point across without creating a conflict though. Any advice on this?

The rest of the details of the wedding, the bridesmaid dresses, the invitations, colors, I feel can’t really be decided until we decide on the site.
Did you all decide on colors before or after your site visit? Did you make sure the colors matched exactly with the venue?

My next post will discuss the venues we are interested in seeing on our site visit.

 

[DisneyCP08]

Thanks for the kind words, LittleKittyMarie. I’m happy to see someone is still following along.

I’ve had some huge deadlines for my MFA and the holidays were crazy. I can’t believe it has been so long since I’ve updated my PJ. I hope there are still some people following along. I feel like once we have our site visit in March I’ll have more to talk about.

But, I figured today was a great day to start up with my PJ again as it is exactly 18 months to our wedding date!!!!

A huge thing that happened with our wedding stuff recently was that our engagement party was featured on Carly’s Disney Wedding Blog! I was so honored and excited to be featured on her blog.

I’ve been trying not to think too much about wedding things because I feel like we won’t be able to make too many decisions before we see the different sites and make our decision on that.

My dress is definitely more elegant than I previously thought our wedding would be, but now I figure why shouldn’t it be elegant? Cory’s mom is very “hippie like” and is all about being casual. I just hope she’ll get the message that it is our wedding and it’s elegant and she shouldn’t wear a sundress to the wedding events. I’m not really sure how to get this point across without creating a conflict though. Any advice on this?

The rest of the details of the wedding, the bridesmaid dresses, the invitations, colors, I feel can’t really be decided until we decide on the site.
Did you all decide on colors before or after your site visit? Did you make sure the colors matched exactly with the venue?

My next post will discuss the venues we are interested in seeing on our site visit.

Just joining and I am following along! Congrats on the 18 month mark. Love your dress. I think we had narrowed down our colors before our site visit and then made sure it would work with our venues.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Following along!

What venues do you think you will look at?

 

[Sizzle]

Cory’s mom is very “hippie like” and is all about being casual. I just hope she’ll get the message that it is our wedding and it’s elegant and she shouldn’t wear a sundress to the wedding events. I’m not really sure how to get this point across without creating a conflict though. Any advice on this?

Maybe you can use the venue as the bad guy? For instance, our reception restaurant has a recommended dress code. So we have included that for our guests. We have advised "country club or golf course" attire. Mainly to deter my brother from wearing jeans

I have also asked the ladies in my family to purchase a dress that is within the ball park of my wedding colors. Not requiring it, but asking to coordinate if they can.

Worse comes to worse, you can just tell her what the expected attire is for family/guests. You could even do it in a small group so she isn't being singled out.

Good luck! And congrats on the blog feature!!