Tanya & Dan's VR DCL!!!Dec 4, 2009 MK & Epcot Photoshoot Pics Posted

[CinderelliT]

The captain starts our ceremony and I wish for the life of me that I can remember what he said.

It was very heartfelt and similar to traditional wedding vows. But I was so caught up in the moment, that I have no idea what I was saying. Also, if you look at our pics, he has a microphone but didn't use it b/c of the wind. I wish he could have b/c he was very soft spoken. I know that none of our guests could hear a word he was saying b/c I was right in front of him and I was straining to hear him. I was like, "I promise to love, and what? Could you repeat that?" I was concentrating sooo hard on making sure that I repeated everything right, that I have no clue what was going on around me.

I did notice though all the rose petals that my kids threw were swirling all around us. It was another of those random, unplanned things that just added magic to the whole ceremony. It was still pretty windy, but not awful, and I think from the shape of the deck, they just kept swirling all around our feet and up towards the sand ceremony table. It was beautiful.

Then it was time to read our vows to each other. They started playing the Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Iz. (I cannot spell his full name! ). That combined with the rose petals and the birds, and the whole thing got the water works going.

I have a ton of pictures of me making all these faces and looking down b/c I was crying the entire time. My DH, who never, ever, ever cries went first when it was time to read our vows. And he got choked up and started crying, and that was it.

These are his vows to me:
I always wanted a house with a beautiful family,
and I never thought that I would have one,
but you proved me wrong.

I didn't believe in love at first sight,
but you proved me wrong.

You told me the 2nd day we were together that you were going to marry me,
and I thought that you were crazy,
but you proved me wrong.

I didn't believe I would ever find my soul mate,
but you proved me wrong.

I never thought that I could love you more than the day I married you,
but you proved me wrong.

For some reason when I am with you,
anything seems possible.

You complete me in every way.
You are, without a question,
my soul mate,
and I look forward to you
proving me wrong for the rest of my life.

I love you more today than yesterday,
and half as much as tomorrow.

I love you, Tanya Downs.

Mine to him:
I never thought that it would be possible for me to love you more than I did on the day we married,
but I do love you more and more with each passing day.
I love you for the ways you care for me and honor me.
You have taught me kindness, selflessness, and passion.
For this and for your undying love,
I am truly grateful.

We have experienced so much together in our past 10 yrs.
We have gone through great happiness and trying times.
You have picked me up when I was down,
and held me when no one else has.
You have cooked for me,
and laughed with me,
and cried with me,
and grieved the loss of our son with me.
We've also celebrated the births of our children
And the joys of parenthood.

However, we have always supported each other,
and as a result, our bonds of love have only grown stronger.
I pledge my undying support to you through the best and worst,
through sickness and health,
through the difficult and the easy -
Whatever may come.
Know that I will always be there for you through all the changes of our lives.

Times and circumstances will continue to change us. Yet you will always be handsome in my eyes. For love is the gift of understanding and acceptance.
I make my home in your heart -
Now and always.
I promise you my love and loyalty from this day forward
and for an eternity.

I will celebrate this union each and every day,
And I will cherish our friendship,
as I love you today, tomorrow, and forever.

I give you my heart to keep.

I love you!

 

[CinderelliT]

Next it was time to exchange rings:

 

[CinderelliT]

Then came the kiss!

And we were officially husband and wife yet again!

We walked down the aisle to When You Wish Upon a Star.

And then we walked right back up! LOL!

Here we are doing our sand ceremony:

My DD poured most of the sand all over the table and on the ground rather than into the vase. She thought it was all free reign. It didn't matter in the end though b/c it got dumped out to carry the stuff back home. It is one of those things that I am going to re-do at our reception so I am able to keep it.

Mackenzie Kay just loved herself some Imran! She kept running up to him and hugging him and holding his hand. She spent more time with him than she did with us!

Then we had our first dance - which is like our second dance in the entire time we've been married. DH does not dance. It was made even more difficult by the fact that my dress wasn't bustled. We didn't have time, and we still wanted to do a few pics out there. So I just grabbed it up.

We danced to So This is Love from Cinderella. LOVE that song!

Then we posed for a few pics with the Captain b/c he was off to officiate another ceremony:

Then the pianist also left, but they put on my CD that I made. It played Brad Paisley's Then while we were cutting the cake:

Our cake was the traditional square cake. It was chocolate with white chocolate mousse, and it was YUMMY! I would kill for more of it. It was starting to melt though by the time we cut it. It was really hot and humid out there. Thank goodness we were doing this in Dec. and not during the summer. If you look closely at it, you can see the chocolate mousse starting to drip out of it. The top layer also started sliding a little and you could see the cake part with out the fondant. But no worries cuz we were about to chow down!

My children attacked the bottom layer. They just used their fingers. Even Kenzie with her gloves on. And we laughed. I know that they are serious about their cake!

We also did our champagne toast.
I didn't get any good pics of this, so I will spare you. Trust me.

 

[CinderelliT]

A few more cake pics:

Mmm...Mmm...

 

[CinderelliT]

We mingled with our guests. I actually got to sit down for a few minutes. My CD played through all of the Disney songs and started over again. By this point we said our goodbyes to everyone b/c it had been about an hour, and it was time to get going for dinner. It was also pirate night, which we totally missed out on.

As our Somewhere Over the Rainbow played again, we enjoyed some quiet, private moments. I was taking in the view and trying to remember the moment when Dan snapped this pic:

I turned around and did this playing, and he took the pic and I actually like it!

A few more for fun:

And then it was over. I could have stayed there all night long if they had let me. It was wonderful.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

Amazing!
All of the pixie dust was just magical for you!
I am still amazed at the pictures you got with the remote! Fabulous! I need to learn how to do that...Not sure how I'm gonna get photos for our DP...
Your vows brought tears to my eyes!
Simply wonderful...So happy for you!

 

[padisneyfour]

Congrats. everything looked beautiful and sounds like it was wonderful!

 

[29apr00]

for not having a photographer, you've got a lot of great shots! Everything is so clear and bright and beautifully framed!!

I'm still jealous/pissed that you got your sand ceremony. mine is still sitting in a box waiting to be done. i was going to do it xmas morning, but never got the time. maybe we'll do it in April on our real anniversary.

We had choclate with white choclate mousse too....YES it was sooo yummy!! I want some now too!

Everything looks great Tanya! You did a great job on all your decorations!

 

[29apr00]

and your cake topper is different from mine. did you bring it with you?

that's the one we got.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

beautiful!!! oh and im bawling here reading your vows....man now i gotta redo my make up- date nite tonite!!!

 

[pink_tink8i8]

beautiful! your daughter looked like a little Cinderella

 

[Leanne1977]

Awww, how lovely.

You had a fair few hiccups along the way and if that were me I would have been so stressed! Thank god you managed to stay calm!

Everything turned out wonderful and you both look so very happy.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

What a beautiful ceremony! Your vows are very touching.

 

[chepic]

looks fantastic....tears in my eyes reading the rest. I want to do it all over again....8 years in Hawaii. I just think that there is something wonderful about telling each other that you would do it over and over again.

cheryl

 

[EyeDisneyCruise]

Nice to see some of the pictures on the board! I had been looking for them! I was at your VR -- taking some of the pictures... I had no idea what had happened behind the scenes. It was fun to read!

 

[CinderelliT]

looks fantastic....tears in my eyes reading the rest. I want to do it all over again....8 years in Hawaii. I just think that there is something wonderful about telling each other that you would do it over and over again.

cheryl

Awww...I think that it is so funny how parallel our lives seem to run. I would totally love to renew my vows again in Hawaii. Although I don't think my hubby will let me after all this! It's so sweet to know that you and your DH have such a wonderful relationship.

Nice to see some of the pictures on the board! I had been looking for them! I was at your VR -- taking some of the pictures... I had no idea what had happened behind the scenes. It was fun to read!

I'm glad you are following along. I totally need to get my butt over to the cruise line forum and post some stuff on there. I have had sooo much going on lately that I just haven't had time.

I'm sure you were all probably wondering what was taking so long waiting on the ceremony to start.

What a beautiful ceremony! Your vows are very touching.

Thanks so much. They come straight from the heart.

beautiful! your daughter looked like a little Cinderella

Thanks. She is a doll baby if I do say so myself.

Awww, how lovely.

You had a fair few hiccups along the way and if that were me I would have been so stressed! Thank god you managed to stay calm!

Everything turned out wonderful and you both look so very happy.

My life has been so stressful lately that nothing could have stressed me out on that trip. It was so fun and relaxing.

 

[CinderelliT]

So I haven't been on here in a month or 2? I don't even know. Things have been just crazy. We photographed the fair, which made us some good money, but kept us super busy. I also had to start writing my master's thesis in school - which is a lot more time consuming than i thought that it would be. I have to spend so much time on research.

THEN - we had tragedy strike again. I have just had the worst year. My MIL passed away suddenly. She just collapsed. It was so unexpected because we had just seen her a few weeks before at Christmas and she was doing well. Our family is devastated to say the least, but we are also still in shock. It just doesn't seem like she is gone. 2 weeks after she passed, our cat of 15 yrs got really ill and had to be put to sleep. It has just been one thing after another.

In an effort to deal with all of this, I have eaten myself sick. I have also been put on anti-depressants which are also helping me to gain weight. I am so nervous that I won't fit into my dress. I am almost back up to my heaviest weight ever. I started taking adult ballet classes to help me get more exercise, and I am still gaining instead of losing.

Anyway, in addition to all of this, we have been doing a ton to get ready for our at home reception. I have made about 800 paper flowers. Amen to that! It doesn't look like that much. I have sent out all the invites, gotten everything ready for the candy buffet, made the centerpieces and the aisle decorations.

We have been in battle with our family about redoing the ceremony, but after Dan's mom passed, we decided to just do some of it again. We have had family medallions made to exchange instead of rings, and we have them for the kids as well. We are redoing our sand ceremony, and I have a vase with a stopper so we can keep it this time. We are doing a hand ceremony (where I put my hands face up in Dan's and there is a special reading and vice versa) and no vows or traditional ceremony. This was the best that I could do to make everyone happy. Dan teases me that we are the only couple in the world who will be married 3 times!

At some point I'll get around to posting pics of everything. I think that it is coming together nicely. I hope that we will have a fun time. My DH wants to get fireworks to set off on the beach, but I don't know if it is allowed. I have a strong suspicion that it isn't, and if I am in jail in 3 weeks time from now - you'll know why.

 

[CinderelliT]

Here are a few more pics from our VR night on the ship:

We decide to eat dinner as a family and as we are walking into the atrium, Minnie and Mickey are there greeting guests. I was desperate to get a pic of us with the two of them with our wedding clothes on, but they were wrapping up and said no more in line. I even asked the photographer and the character escorts if it was possible to please, please, please get a picture of us.

They said, "Where's the ships' photographer? Didn't you have him photograph your ceremony?" Umm..no. "Well, then we can't help you." What??? I am a bride - all dressed up. For real?

Then Dan step on my train. Remember that bustle that the stupid bridal shop took so long to do, well RIIIIP! Out it came. So there goes that. That was Dan's fault and not the bridal shops fault. He stepped on me and I walked, and that was the end of that.

So after that, I begged a little bit more and used my "But it's my wedding day" plea bargain, and the character escort said that Minnie had to go, but Mickey said he would stay!

I love my mouse.

Here we are smooching:

And the whole fam:

This is one of my favorite pics and is hung up in our living room. Mickey was soo much fun. It was totally worth it to see him. He admired all of us and our clothes and my ring. He was trying to make some joke about our pirate garb, but without words, I wasn't sure what was going on. He did give us all lots of kisses though, and it was a blast.

Next we went to dinner at Parrot Cay.

 

[CinderelliT]

Poor Kenzie was so tired that she fell asleep at the dinner table sitting up!

Here is a good shot of the drink that ended up on my dress a few minutes later!

And a celebration cake:

Soooo...the servers made this big fuss about us all being in our wedding attire. The night before we had sat in Animator's in a nice open area, so I didn't think that there would be much of a problem. BUT, we were squished in the spot that they sat us this night in this restaraunt. Plus, my dress wasn't bustled, so I literally had to shove it all wadded up under the table between me and Kenzie b/c the servers kept stepping on it and even tripping on it.

They didn't want the kids to get their clothes all messed up, so they made a big deal about getting them bibs and lots of napkins. Of course their clothes were super cheap compared to mine.

The food was excellent, although Dan and I nibbled through it b/c we were going to eat at Palo's in a few hours. Oh how I wish Palo's had brunch on this cruise. 2 dinners in one night is a lot - even for a chubby girl.

So as we are getting up to leave, it is an ordeal b/c Kenzie is OUT and will not wake up, so we have to carry her. Plus I am trapped in my seat b/c of my train. Then the servers are trying to clean plates up while we are trying to get up. Instead of helping us, they were totally making things worse. So now the whole family is really squished on one side of the table as Dan is trying to get Kenzie and carry our cake. Drew wants me to pick him up and carry his drink - which at least has a lid, and I'm still stuck. Then the server comes over to get another plate or something and like in slow motion, I saw it coming. I knew that drink was going down. It was either the camera or the dress. Dresses can be cleaned, cameras cannot.

I reached over and snatched the camera up just in time and slung it around my neck. This knocked the server over, but she had already knocked the drink over by this point. It FLUNG all down my dress. And not in just one spot, but ALL over it. The bodice, the train, the skirt. I came really close to losing it at this point, but it wasn't totally her fault. It was going to happen to one of us.

She freaked out and started crying and desperately trying to help me clean my dress. At this point I just didn't care. I poured water on it and it was coming out. Plus I know some of my clients who have gotten red wine on dresses and had it come out, so I wasn't too worried.

We spent the next 20 mins soaking me with water and patting dry with napkins, and it didn't look too bad. I think she thought she was never going to get a tip from us!

We left as fast as we could and decided to take the kids up to change before taking them to the kids club. I went to the bathroom and loaded up on soapy washcloths to help the situation. We changed the kids and lounged around for a while. I switched from heels to flip flops b/c my feet were hurting after I had been in 4 inch heels for about 10 hrs. I had also tripped several times. I am soo not graceful.

So we went to drop the kids off, and just outside the kids club, we ran into Stitch. This was like the highlight of the trip. He was so much fun. He saw us in our wedding clothes and ran over to us. There was a line of people trying to get to him, and he just bulldozed past all of them to come over to us. He made us laugh so hard and spent a ton of time with us. He got down on one knee and proposed to me. Then he was being silly and rolling around on the floor with the kids. He also switched into pirate mode and pretended to steal my pearls to bury them to make a joke. Dan got it - he was trying to say "buried treasure" and when Dan blurted it out, Stitch got so excited and jumped up and down and danced! It was total fun. I am so happy that we ran into him. Between him and Mickey, it made my night.

 

[29apr00]

OMG Tanya, what a time you've had. I'm thinking of you guys!!

the last pictures you can't even tell your dress was spilled on! That poor waitress, she must have been horrified!!