Stitchaholic & Scar elopement turned DFTW

[stitchaholic]

Hi, I'm Stitchaholic, a die hard mousejunkie, this is my first attempt at a WPJ, but all you before me have been great insperation

Scar is new to DIS, but not to Disney....

here is our story....

I am a single mom of 2 children Baylee who is my 11 year old daughter

and Reese is my 9 year old son

 

[puente0629]

Welcome & Congrats!!! Let me know if you need any help

 

[stitchaholic]

Scar (Fred) works for a customer of mine, and had befriended me on facebook about 4 years ago, he sent me many little messages that i somewhat ignored, I was just not looking for Mr.Right at the time, the father of my children was very much Mr.Wrong and I stayed alone a long time because of it.
Last February, Fred had sent me a very sweet message about my eyes after I had left my customer that day, a message so sweet that i actually stopped, reread what he had written and realized that it had been a long time since I had heard anything so sweet from a man, I finally responded to the message.
We continued to communicate through facebook throughout the weekend, and evenings until I felt safe enough to see him outside of work.
The attraction was instant and left me breathless most of the time , I felt safe with him, and he made me laugh constantly.
He is always making me feel good and telling me that I am cute, or beautiful, he is sweet, attentive and extremely caring, best of all, my DD and DS loved him instantly !

 

[stitchaholic]

Welcome & Congrats!!! Let me know if you need any help

Thanks, I am very likely to take you up on your offer , and

 

[stitchaholic]

we went on as many dates as I could having to always get a baysitter, and then I started inviting him over, it was just easier with the kids and all.
He started talking about marriage and having a child, he does not have any children.
I introduced him to the rest of the family, who also instantly loved him,you see, he is everything my ex is not, and my parents were thrilled to see me have a nice guy on my arm, up to now, i had a thing for the bad boys
I think I finally learned after spending many years alone, what I really wanted was a man who could be patient, understanding and responsable , did I mention funny and sweet ???
we talked about marriage, I never wanted a big wedding, so my choice was to elope in jamaica, just the 2 of us. We stated to look at Negril resorts, it looked like paradise, my mind was set on this lovely paradise for two

One day, we started talking about our Disney memories, and he said, I would much rather get married at Disney hmmmm, get married at my favorite place on earth, so we created an DIS account for him, and I started perusing the wedding forum, I read about and absolutly stunning escape wedding at Sunset Point, the bride had orchids in her hair, and a beautiful flowing dress, it was just the 2 of them, I was wanting the same thing, but it seems that it is not to be
how can I leave the kids out of a Disney wedding , then we told his dad and stepmom, and they want to be there, and my sister and her family, and my parents....the Sunset Point max of 10 people including bride and groom will no longer work for us.

 

[stitchaholic]

It has ben a long time , I had put the PJ on the backburner because I was not too sure if we were going to continue with the DFTW plan.
After having trying to plan an outdoor backyard BBQ wedding , all the while being discouraged and a little resentful because it was simply not what I wanted , we went back to the elope to the caribean wedding .
This was ridiculous , we had already started paying on renting our points .
I was at my wits end

Then one morning , enjoying the quiet of the kids off to school and the man at work , lurking on the DIS over a great cup of coffee , what did I see ???
A new wedding package added for the anniversary of DFTW , the memories package ! Peeeerrrrrfect !!!!!!
There's no turning back now , the PJ must go on , the papers are signed, sealed and delivered.
I promise plenty of drama ..... even for a small wedding suposing to be kind of an elopement..... stay tuned

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

That's great! So when is the big day???

 

[KristiLyn]

That's wonderful!!!!!!

 

[stitchaholic]

The whole reason we did not plan an escape wedding was because we could not get anyone to commit to coming, now that we signed the paperwork , everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and coming , although they will not be able to attend the ceremony , I will tell some of the backround story in awhile.
We will be getting married on july 30th at 9:00 am at luau cove at the poly.I always wanted a casual beach wedding , feet in the sand , casual.
We hired Theresa Knox as our officiant , my DF really wanted a female minister , he liked that it was a little different , also , we wanted a non denominational ceremony and she is a notary.

 

[Fay]

Hi, Welcome, AND congrats!

It all sounds exciting! I cant wait to hear more! Do you have your dress yet!?

Look forward to seeing dress pics!

 

[Princess SarahK]

Hey Stitchaholic! Welcome! Your fiance sounds great, and you two seem so in love! Cant wait to hear more about your wedding!

 

[stitchaholic]

thanks for coming by everyone
After a busy week , I am finally ready to update and hopefully get some advice , I am overwhelmed to say the least.
Fay , before I get my dress , I am southbeaching for a couple of months , I had started the smart for life diet , after 1 day of straw cookies, I decided I rather starve than eat another one of those cookies , so I just did low fat/low carb for the rest of the week and lost 8 pounds , so tomorrow ,DF and I officially start south beach phase 1.
I am also heading up a big project at work due to start on may 1st and scrambling around my kids scheduals , exhausting , how is one supposed to plan even the smallest of weddings during all of this
So here is what is bothering me, and I'm not too sure how to handle this , what the right thing to do is in these situations.
As I said , when we were originally trying to plan an escape wedding, people were having trouble commiting to coming ,and nobody was ready to plan to come to Disney with us , maybe, we'll see and it was all very unsure.
Now that we booked the memories package , everyone seems to want to be there. My parents have offered to pay for the wedding , so of course they will be part of our 6 maximum guests , the other 4 will be DF and I and the 2 kids.
Now my sister and her family plan on coming along , DF's father and stepmom and maybe his 2 stepbrothers , my best friend and her 3 kids, and perhaps 2 more .
I feel horrible that they will not be able to be at the ceremony , I was trying to think of how they could watch from somewhere at the poly , and is this against Disney rules if they stand somewhere further off from the ceremony site at luau cove ?
Another option is to purchase the Chapman/ video Stan package and get a live webcast video and see if there is somewhere in the Poly that I can set them up with a computor and let them watch the webcast and meet up as soon as the ceremony is over at Kona , we are planning on getting a cake and champagne to toast the wedding
Another thing is, we booked all our ADR's already , got out fantasmic package and everything we wanted , this will change if I have to make ADR's for 19 people that I now feel responsable for .
On 1 hand ,I feel great that we will be surrounded by friends and family , on the other hand I am a bit annoyed because this all falling on my shoulders now and I do not feel prepared , also, we were trying to keep the costs down , is the kona breakfast enough , or do I have to have a welcome dinner and a reception dinner ? Do I need to get favors ? My elopement is now a wedding , what is a girl with no plans to do at only 120 days away from her travel date ?

 

[donald&daisy]

I think the idea of having the wedding streamed is great if you can swing it, if not, I would just explain to people about the guest limit. I also wouldn't worry about hosting a welcome party or a reception dinner. I think a nice casual breakfast would be perfect. Then I might try to schedule one more meal where people could attend if they choose and make it clear that it is just a time to socialize and that everyone is responsible for their own meal. As for favors--that's up to you, you could do a nice inexpensive treat like Mickey head rice crispie treats or flower leis for everyone.

Don't stress about it! Obviously these people love you so they should be understanding of the Disney imposed limits and the financial limitations.

 

[stitchaholic]

I think the idea of having the wedding streamed is great if you can swing it, if not, I would just explain to people about the guest limit. I also wouldn't worry about hosting a welcome party or a reception dinner. I think a nice casual breakfast would be perfect. Then I might try to schedule one more meal where people could attend if they choose and make it clear that it is just a time to socialize and that everyone is responsible for their own meal. As for favors--that's up to you, you could do a nice inexpensive treat like Mickey head rice crispie treats or flower leis for everyone.

Don't stress about it! Obviously these people love you so they should be understanding of the Disney imposed limits and the financial limitations.

thank you for your ideas , the input is very helpful !

 

[stitchaholic]

Today I am feeling a little more organized , we went shopping yesterday and bought clothes for everyone for the wedding , I walked in to old navy and saw hanging before my very eyes a white linnen shirt PERFECT !!!!!! as we went in to the next isle , I saw some lightweight khaki beige pants , so I had my DF and my DS go into the changing rooms , they looked so adorable dressed just the same , DF looked so handsome , we will have to alter DS pants , he is 10 , but a big fella , all grown out of kids sizes , but not tall enough for mens yet .
Then we wandered in to american eagle where my daughter tried on the perfect lightweight sundress , it is white , with some colored thread stitching at the seams , very cute . We paired it up with a pair of gladiator sandals and a wide white belt.
We bought some flip flops (thick canvas) and a pair of white half gladiators (no back) for me.
then we walked into Kay's jeweler and decided on a wedding band for him , we chose a tungsten carbide band with a celtic design , he loves it , he just did not want to go traditional .

what is left ?

something for the family unity ceremony , need to find a ring or something else symbolic to give the kids at the ceremony

My dress

wedding favors

cake

I am going to book Stan and Randy this week
and Patricia Lajeune for me , my mom , and DD

starting to come together , this calls for

Oh YA , best news , lost 15lbs in 3 weeks , I'm getting closer to getting a dress

 

[stitchaholic]

I have been reworking our ADR's for the last few hours , now that we have everyone's travel schedual , we booked our first groups welcome dinner at Ohana's, thought that would be fun for a group , the second night is the real welcome dinner , the whole group will be there , we booked Ranglan Road , maybe the girls and boys will split up at that point for our bachler/ette nights.
after the wedding we will have a reception brunch at Ohana's best friend breakfast (tried for Kona , but they we're all booked) , and we booked a goodbye breakfast for everyone at Boma.
I am still wondering what a good solution would be to be able to have our guests look in on the ceremony , today , my sister came up with renting pontoon boats from the poly and hover near the reception site , although I am not sure if this is possible , or the live webcast , but where can the guests sit at the Poly with a laptop ?

 

[stitchaholic]

Well all the problems are solved , no pontoons , no webcasts , we just upgraded to an escape package at seabreeze point , I am so releived that I won't have to be choosy about the ceremony guests , I am so happy that we will be surrounded by our closest family and friends ! The contract will be signed next week
I wonder if we should dress more traditionally now that it is a boardwalk wedding ? maybe the khakis and linen shirt don't fit the venue...

 

[KristiLyn]

Woohoo!! Congrats!!
And I say, wear what you guys are comfortable in! Whatever fits your personalities

 

[elle1024]

Hi there! Just joining in.
Contracts on the upgrade! Cant wait to read more!

 

[stitchaholic]

So the contract is signed , the deposit has been put down , and we are now awaiting our new escape planning guide , I am super excited to be able to have everyone around us at the wedding , we are coming up with idea's slowly , but with our departing date only 100 days away, we still have many things to do !!
We asked our attendants today to be a part of our wedding, and they all said yes, so now we have to pick colors and get everything in motion.
yesterday we picked up DF's ring , it came out looking great , I will post some pics soon , promise
We have decided that DD will be my MOH , and DS will be the best man ,we will have a little ceremony withen our marriage ceremony to bond us all as a new family union, and we are trying to come up with something to give the kids at that ceremony , I have seen medalions online, but i'm not a big fan of those, I would like to find something else, any ideas would be appreciated .
My sister and my best friend will be my bridesmaids , and DF'd brother and 2 stepbrothers will be the groomsmen , my bestie's daughter Racheal will be the flower girl , I am not sure of my colors yet , nor have I picked a dress ,I am so nervous about this part .
the guys are going to wear black tuxes, and everyone in the bridal party will be wearing chuckie taylor converse , my mom is so cute, she found some gold leather ones online that she wants to get (she never wore chuckies in her life!)
I have made duotangs all decked out in Disneyana to hold itineraries, park calendars and general disney info and numbers ,I am going to fill them of interesting actvities, hidden mickeys ect....