StephenWolfs' Wishes Wedding Planning Journal!

[goodmorningirl]

NoOrdinaryPrincess: I've heard of the TIW card, but don't know much about it. I've got to look into that. That might be the way to go. Thanks!

tinydancr06: Can I just say, I love meeting people with things in common. lol I always thought it was weird and I was probably the only one, but now to meet someone who has that in common with me is awesome! I plan everything way far in advance. I think it may be a sickness. That's so exciting about your site visit! Will you be vacationing in Disney or there just for the site visit?? The bridesmaid thing is crazy! And thank you for the compliment on the gifts. I put a lot of thought and time in to them.

I know my reports been a little boring lately, but once I'm back from my site visit which is in 4, yes 4 , days from now, I will have a bunch to report on.

Thanks for hanging in everyone!

 

[tinydancr06]

We'll be spending the weekend (at POR) with a day in the parks and a day resort hopping. We live in Florida so we squeeze quick trips in whenever possible. I'll be excited to hear how your site visit goes!

 

[sammo]

I'm Sheri from your Disneyland Paris trip report joining your wedding journal.

What a sweet proposal!

My daughter and her fiance have also been dating 7 years as of last October, and started dating in high school.

I need to get caught up on this one now. I hope you enjoyed your site visit! Anxious to hear about it too.

Sheri

 

[sammo]

You had asked on your Paris trip report if my daughter is getting married at Disney. She is not. At least she got engaged there! We were thinking it would be better to be married at home since all of our side of the family and all of their friends live here. Besides, we thought a Disney World wedding would be very costly. I’m glad you checked costs in your area. Yeah for your father! You're right, it isn’t cheap to get married at home! My niece got married 5 years ago, and her entire wedding including everything was $20,000 for a very nice wedding (her sister got married about the same time and spent more for a different type of wedding – my sister and brother-in-law just gave them the $ to spend on their wedding however they liked and they could keep the remaining $). Anyway, we went and priced out the venue where the $20,000 wedding was held. The price now for that venue and food only was $30,000 – 50% more than my niece's entire wedding cost. So, Disney may not have been much more than we will end up spending here. And, the groom’s extended family lives mainly on the east coast, so Florida may have been a cheaper option for them to fly to.

We did not end up choosing the venue my niece held her wedding. I felt ripped off there (such a drastic increase - the venue more than doubled in 5 years, and in January 2012 they were pricing off of a 2013 price sheet for a 2012 wedding).

Sheri

 

[goodmorningirl]

Sammo: My dad is BIG on getting the best deal possible on anything and everything so he def. made sure Disney was a good option. It is really insane how expensive a wedding can be. Luckily, I am an overplanner so hopefully we will stick within a reasonable budget. I can't believe that venue doubled in five years! Wow! I would def. feel like I was getting a bit ripped off there.

tinydancr06: I hope you had a great trip. I'm going to pop on over to your journal to see.

I'm going to upload the site visit photos and come back with our report. We had such an amazing time and are so excited to start "officially" planning!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Hi everyone! Thanks for hanging in there. I know I’ve been absent for some time, but I wanted to take a break from wedding thinking until we went to the site visit as I knew I couldn’t decide on much until we chose the venue. So now, after our visit on March 9th, I have a lot to update you all on!

Let’s start with our amazing vacation and site visit! I’m going to be doing a full report on the entire vacation, but I’ll just do the site visit day here.

We vacationed from March 8-14. My parents joined us from March 8-11 which was great as they are generously paying for our wedding so we had to have them there for the site visit. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.

We woke up at 7am on Friday. We met my parents down at the Riverside Mill counter service restaurant. My parents and Cory used snack credits to get a fruit cup. I didn’t get anything because I was so anxious. In fact, I had one small piece of cantaloupe. This was a day I had been waiting for for so long that I just wanted to get there and talk to DFTW as soon as possible.

We didn’t have a car or want to pay for a cab so we took the bus to MK and then took the monorail to the Grand Floridian. I was nervous we might be late since I hear that sometimes it can take a while, but we got to the Grand with plenty of time.

We went downstairs using the grand staircase that I have seen so many brides on before. I felt like we were finally doing it. We made our way toward Franck’s. We passed blue construction walls and the health club and finally saw this lovely white cottage.

We walked past the path to the Wedding Pavilion.

Then, we took the must-have picture and I was practically jumping from foot to foot in anticipation.

We checked in at the front desk and were told to sit and wait and we would be called when our consultant was ready.

Two cakes.

Our consultant was Kristi and I loved her. She was so sweet and really helpful. I’m so glad we were assigned her. I don’t remember what room we had, but we sat down and started talking right away. We had the 9am appt. and I was told it would go 2 hrs at the longest; we were with her in total probably about 3.5 hrs. She was great and didn’t rush us which we all appreciated. I had two pages of printed questions and Kristi went over every one of them with me.

I don’t have any pictures from this part of the visit, but I’ll just go over some things we discussed.

• Expect 70-80% of guests to come.
• If there is a 50% chance of rain or more and an event is being held outside, we will be moved to our back-up.
• If we choose an outdoor location in Epcot, our back-up will be indoor in Epcot. I was nervous about this as I didn’t want to be put in a ballroom.
• A back-up location can also be used if there is a high heat index. This is really important considering our wedding is in August.
• The bus transportation, specifically during the reception, is your bus and will take people back and forth to their hotel as needed, not just once to get there and once to return. This is really good for people with kids or older people.
• There is a limit of 2 favors per person that Disney will put at each setting.
• A photobooth can be brought in at about $1200-$1300.
• They suggest doing park shoots 1-3 days after the wedding day.
• Disney Weddings does not offer discounts on dining plans. If guests want a dining plan, they cannot use the hotel discount.
• You can get penciled in, but it really doesn’t mean much. First come is not first served. At a year out, as long as there is no one on your date, time, and place you will be confirmed. Otherwise, there will be a lottery.
• After you are confirmed, you get your LOA about 3-5 weeks after.
• A planning sessions is done 4-6 months before the wedding. The menu tasting is done Mon-Fri.

After we had our questions answered and got a folder with a lot of print outs including menus, we got in the car and headed to Epcot to see some of the locations we were interested in.

 

[DisneyBrideCKB]

I'm just tuning in! LOVE your story and your plan so far!!
OHH!! Sounds like you had an awesome trip! I love your bullet points of information! So helpful!
Congrats and I can't wait to read more! yay!

 

[goodmorningirl]

DisneyBrideCKB: Thanks for joining in. I'm glad you found the bullet points helpful. We had such a great time and I'm trying to get back ASAP. lol

SO sorry that I haven't been around for a while. It has been crazy busy here and I feel like I haven't had a spare second to do anything! I hope some of you will still follow along and enjoy.

We went behind the scenes of Epcot which was really cool and pulled up behind our first stop which was China. We were thinking about China for either the ceremony or reception. We were told that the area between the building and the arch wouldn't be large enough to accommodate our size for the ceremony. We were told we could do it in front of the arch, but because Norway is so close and people are allowed there early for breakfast, it may not work so well.

We love the dome in this area, but again, our group was really too big to use it. We were then thinking maybe as the dance floor, but the entrance things were awkward.

This is the main area where the reception or the ceremony could be held. For the ceremony, it would work, but if we wanted the reception here there wouldn't be much room for a dance floor.

We really loved the colors and also how people would walk through the domed area to enter. It's a very wow moment for sure. We wanted to use this stage area for the ceremony and have the guests facing this way.

Here's a detailed pic of the carpet to help with colors.

We really fell in love with China. The colors were great and it had a very elegant feel.

 

[nic100308]

Hey!! Another bride here joining the fun!!

I think the China Pavilion is such a unique and beautiful location!! I know you said you weren't decided what you were going to use it for, but I think a reception there would be so amazing! Sorry, just my two sense. Living a little vicariously through you, DF and I will be having a small wedding.

Can't wait to hear more about your planning session. As an Escape bride I do not get that, but I too am a ridiculous planner so the few details I have to decide on will not be a problem.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I've never seen anyone even consider the china pavillion! How unique!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Just catching up again! I'm really enjoying your site visit report so far! And I totally love the idea of the China pavillion. It's bad the dome is too small for your group, but I still think that it would make an amazing dance floor even with the entrances!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Hello everyone! I haven’t been on in so long and I’m so sorry! First, thank you to the three ladies above this post for commenting and following along. I love that you all have a new love of China as an idea for the wedding. We really thought it was beautiful.

A brief update to explain a bit why I haven’t been around: After we got back from our site visit, a few weeks later, I had an operation on my left knee, an arthroscopic lateral release, to be specific. I was born with my feet going in and while they corrected that with those awful metal shoes when I was a baby, my knees were never corrected. Thus, my knee caps actually went out to the side and were on a tilt. I never had a lot of pain because I played basketball from Kindergarten through high school. I think the huge leg muscles I had then kept the pain at bay. It wasn’t until I stopped playing and started losing the muscle that I noticed any pain. It’s been a few years now that the pain is just getting worse. It was awful when we were in Europe, especially with all the walking we did. So, after trying physical therapy, this surgery was the next step and I took it. I wanted to get it over with and be healed and brand new for our wedding so I can dance the entire night away.

After the first surgery, I was out for about 2 weeks and then things got busy with school. Now, just Monday, I had my right knee surgery. I’m not as sick or exhausted after this one so I figured this is the perfect time to get back to my PJ.

I know it has been awhile, but I hope you guys will join in again. We’ve had a lot happen and have made a lot of decisions.

So now, finally, here is the continuation of our site visit in the next post.

 

[goodmorningirl]

After China we got back into the car and went over toward America. We were considering American Adventure Rotunda for our reception. I’ve been in love with AAR as the reception venue for years now, even before we were officially engaged. Cory has also liked it and I figured it would end up being our reception venue. We went in and looked around with Kristi.

We basically just stood in the middle and she told us how the center could be the dance floor and the tables could go along the outside. She also told us that the cocktail hour could be hosted above so that you are looking down in the main area, but that there is a greens package fee. I don’t have the paper on me now, but it is something crazy like $2,000 I think . Some dummy fell into lighting equipment at a previous party and now they put trees in front of those things so people don’t fall anymore. I could tell my Dad wasn’t crazy about paying for that, but we weren’t planning on having a cocktail hour anyway.

Kristi also told us how the bathrooms are not private; they are the ones the park guests use. I have to say, at first I wasn’t too thrown about this, but then Cory and I had a look in the bathrooms and they were obviously theme park bathrooms and I couldn’t imagine trying to get in there in my dress and maybe being a line or someone getting sick or it being dirty. I didn’t want our guests to feel uncomfortable. So, we put AAR on the maybe list and moved on to Japan to look at the area for the ceremony.

After looking around we really fell in love with Japan for our ceremony. We really liked the subtle, more neutral, colors and loved how you were just immersed in any direction you looked. The ceremony would occur here in front of the pagoda.

My Dad then asked Kristi if it would be possible to actually have us up on the pagoda on the area where the Taiko drummers play. At that time, she said she would have to ask and get back to us. Well, update, she said that while they have never done that before, they don’t see why that would be a problem!! We are so excited! I know how hard it can be from reading others journals about getting Disney to do things, especially things they haven’t done before and I feel so lucky! So basically we will be standing up the stairs beyond this rope.

This is the Koi pond to the right of the Pagoda. My Dad likes the idea of us walking down along this way. I’m not too sure about the logistics of that, but if that’s what he wants, I’ll do it with him. It’s the least I can do as my parents are so generous to pay for the wedding.

This is also further to the right. This is a picture from later on in the trip. Cory and I went back early to get some shots with this shop closed up because my Mom was concerned about having a food stand open in the background. It turns out it looks really cool.

This is the restaurant basically behind the Pagoda.

And this is to the left of the Pagoda. During our wedding, there won’t be any topiaries thankfully. I like them at this time, but not for the wedding.

Yay to our ceremony in Japan!

After Japan we were done with the sites in Epcot. Now, we were taking Kristi’s advice to look at Atlantic Dance Hall. In photos, Cory and I really didn’t see the appeal here, but we went with her suggestion and figured why not? The guests allowance would be great for us too since you can have a medium or large amount and we have a guest list of 150 right now.
We parked in front of the Boardwalk and it was so gorgeous!

During the 100 or so times I’ve been to Disney World, I’ve never walked along the boardwalk. We walked through the hotel and onto the boardwalk. It was a little weird being that we are from the Jersey Shore and this is all supposed to be modeled after that area and Cape May and Atlantic City, but it was so beautiful!

We toured ADH and I have to say that I liked it, but was torn for awhile about how I really felt. After a lot of thought, I decided I liked it. Cory and my parents liked it from the start.

This is the working bar area.

This is the dance area from upstairs.

This is upstairs.

The stairs people will use to come up. The elevator is right to the right.

The upstairs balcony and view.

The dance floor again from upstairs.

Coming down the main staircase.

The main staircase from the floor.

The private bathrooms which were a big plus for all of us, especially my Mom. She really didn’t like the idea of public bathrooms.

And the dance floor.

 

[MrsDuck]

I just love a Japan ceremony! Very cool! And it's awesome you can stand some where new! Trailblazer!

I hope you feel better ASAP! Excited for more updates!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Thanks Faith! I love that, trailblazer!

So after we toured ADH, Kristi was very nice and dropped us off at HS as we had lunch ressies at The Brown Derby. I won't go too much into the rest of the day as it doesn't have much to do with the wedding, but I will discuss lunch. We sat down and we immediately welcomed with smiles and congratulations. We were all given glasses of champagne for a toast.

It's little things like that which make Disney so special. I cannot even wait until our wedding!

During lunch we discussed everything we had done and spoken about the last couple of hours with Kristi and we were still a bit up in the air at that point. I have to say that deciding on the venues was on my mind the entire rest of the trip. We didn't officially decide until we got home, however.

We had a great trip altogether and I think I'll do a trip report on the entire thing.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Since coming home and talking with Cory, we have decided on our venues. Hopefully, our guest count stays in line and allows us our venues. We have invited 150 people and hoping for around a 100. Though it seems now that people I didn’t think were really excited about it are now saying they’d like to come. Oh well. This is why I tried to communicate to my parents that you don’t have to invite everyone who has invited you to their weddings, especially it being a destination wedding.

So here are the details we hope will be set in stone come August at a year out:

August 3, 2013
Desert/Welcome Party: Italy (whichever the bigger/nicer one is. I forget which one Kristi said.)

August 4, 2013
Ceremony: Japan
Brunch: Living Seas Salon (if our numbers and budget allow.)
Reception: Atlantic Dance Hall

August 5, 2013
Drinking Around the World with Bridal Party and others who’d like to join. Kind of our send off from everyone.

For colors, I’m torn between a few things, but they are very similar. I’m changing a bit to a deep purple and gray with touches of bright blue. I have some examples on my Pinterest which is at http://pinterest.com/goodmorningirl/

But here are the photos from there. I think I like the one with the blue to brighten it up and also the blue will work well with Japan. I like the gray because Cory may choose a gray suit so I think it would be a great way to have everything flow.

Cory really doesn’t want to wear a tux, especially with being outside in Aug., but I know my Mom would like him to considering my dress is so fancy. I keep trying to reassure her that it will look fine. I guess we’ll see.

What do you guys think?

 

[CinderALLIE]

Welcome back, glad you are feeling better.

Your locations look great.

 

[goodmorningirl]

CinderAllie: Thank you! I'm just crossing my fingers we get what we want. It's so hard to wait! lol

Sorry there aren't many pictures in this post.

So after choosing our venues, we were able to decide on the inspiration for our day. I have to call it inspiration because when I called it a theme at first Cory said it sounds like a kid's birthday party lol So I'm not allowed to call it that. So, our inspiration is Up. I know it's one that is being done a lot now, but I just want it to be subtle I think.

We chose Up because it's obviously an amazing love story, but also because like Carl and Ellie, we absolutely love to travel, it is probably our number one thing. With the ceremony in Japan we thought this would fit well and also with the reception at ADH it has the swing dance thing going and goes with the time period of when Carl and Ellie got married.

So, we started by getting our Save the Dates which are definitely Up and can be found here, designed by the amazing Wendy at Ever After Printables.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80501433/disneypixar-up-adventure-book-save-the

We sent these out a few weeks ago, soon I know, but our families aren't great at planning ahead and with the wedding we really need them too. Also, I wanted to get our wedding website out there and on there I also have a place for them to pre-RSVP. Here's our site. I'm really happy with it and I've been getting great feedback on it.
www.weddingwire.com/StephensonWolfsandle