Hey guys! 
After lots of lurking and occasional posting I thought that I would start a planning journal. 
So far I've managed to get tons of ideas from other people on this board so I'm afraid this is more of a keeping track of things rather than trying to offer other people ideas. I'm so not creative!
Anyway, on with the show!
How we met:
I guess you could say Jason and I met through my job. I participated in my 2nd WDWCP from January 2005-May 2005 at Kilimanjaro Safaris. After finishing my CP I stayed on full-time and moved here permanently. On January 5, 2006 a group of safari drivers met at TGIFriday's. Jason's dad was a coworker of mine and stopped by with Jason and his sister. I was one of the last to arrive so I got stuck sitting on Jason's end of the table instead of next to my friends. We ended up talking and his sister invited me to the movie they were going to see after dinner. I accepted and ended up sitting next to Jason during the movie.
Being the extremely shy guy he is he didn't ask for my number. Insert safari friends. My friends teamed up with his dad to get Jason my phone number. Our first date was a 13 hour Disney park marathon on January 11, 2006. We hit 3 out of the 4 parks looking for hidden mickeys. That was when I knew I had found the Disney nerd I was destined to be with. 
The Proposal:
A couple months before January Jason informed me that our anniversary plans had been taken care of. All he would tell me was that we were going to stay on property for 2 nights taking advantage of the dining plan special they had going for cms. Everything else was a complete surprise. The morning of the 11th, our anniversary, we got up and headed over to Epcot. We had lunch at Coral Reef and then participated in the Aqua Seas Tour. We are both divers and I want to work with dolphins so this was perfect for us! After that we went to the resort to check in. This is when I found out we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, one of my absolute favorites and very fitting due to how we met. We had a perfect savannah view room, just off Arusha Rock on the second floor.
We had a little time to enjoy the view before we had to get ready for dinner. All I knew about it was that I had to dress up. Before dinner we ended up at POR where we took a horse-drawn carriage ride. This is where he gave me my anniversary present. He told me to close my eyes so he could prepare it after I unwrapped an Arribas Brothers box. When I opened my eyes in his hand was a glass Dumbo sitting on a pedestal. Engraved on the pedestal was 'Will you marry me?' and a ring was dangling from Dumbo's trunk. 
Dumbo is my favorite character for a couple of reasons. Dumbo was my favorite ride growing up. On my first CP I was assigned to Fantasyland attractions where I was given the opportunity to operate Dumbo on a daily basis. Of course I said "Yes!". Our carriage driver was the sweetest man and actually stopped the horse and took our picture next to a gazebo along the path.
He said he had always thought that would make a pretty picture and was so excited to be able to do it for us. After more pictures at the end of the ride we headed into the gift shop.
We bought a magnet as a momento. Unfortunately they don't have anything for their horse-drawn carriage rides. Then it was on to dinner. I was completely surprised when we ended up turning into the Contemporary. We had dinner at my all-time favorite restaurant, California Grill.
Apparently Jason had told them he was going to propose at dinner and they gave us a seat along the window with an amazing view of the fireworks! 
They also sent someone up from the front desk to take our picture. On our way out of the hotel I asked the front desk for the just married buttons and a sharpie marker. I crossed out married and put engaged and we wore them for the rest of our anniversary trip. Here you can see Jason's button.
The next night we returned to the room to find strawberries my mom had ordered for us. YUM!
The Wedding:
Date: Friday, April 11, 2008
Locations:
12:00 Wedding Pavilion
1:00-6:00 Living Seas
8:30-9:30 Italy Isola
Number of guests: At the actual ceremony and reception we will have a maximum of 104 since that is the capacity for the Living Seas. Our friends who live here in the Orlando area, along with the kids under the age of 13 who are not coming to the WP/LS, will be invited to our DP so we are anticipating around 130.
Colors: different shades of blue and green
The dress: This one
On one hand it feels like we have a lot figured out but on the other it feels like we still have so much to do. I think we are set on which invitations we are going to use and we also have the favors figured out. I am working on doing everything for the favors with the exception of getting the M&Ms. I will try to get a picture up soon. I am also working on getting the ribbon and Mickey heads on the bubbles.
We are still in the process of turning our contract in (things kept needing to be changed on it
) so hopefully that will get done soon so I can schedule a planning session! I can't wait for the taste testing!!! 
After lots of lurking and occasional posting I thought that I would start a planning journal. So far I've managed to get tons of ideas from other people on this board so I'm afraid this is more of a keeping track of things rather than trying to offer other people ideas. I'm so not creative!
Anyway, on with the show!
How we met:
I guess you could say Jason and I met through my job. I participated in my 2nd WDWCP from January 2005-May 2005 at Kilimanjaro Safaris. After finishing my CP I stayed on full-time and moved here permanently. On January 5, 2006 a group of safari drivers met at TGIFriday's. Jason's dad was a coworker of mine and stopped by with Jason and his sister. I was one of the last to arrive so I got stuck sitting on Jason's end of the table instead of next to my friends. We ended up talking and his sister invited me to the movie they were going to see after dinner. I accepted and ended up sitting next to Jason during the movie.
Being the extremely shy guy he is he didn't ask for my number. Insert safari friends. My friends teamed up with his dad to get Jason my phone number. Our first date was a 13 hour Disney park marathon on January 11, 2006. We hit 3 out of the 4 parks looking for hidden mickeys. That was when I knew I had found the Disney nerd I was destined to be with.
The Proposal:
A couple months before January Jason informed me that our anniversary plans had been taken care of. All he would tell me was that we were going to stay on property for 2 nights taking advantage of the dining plan special they had going for cms. Everything else was a complete surprise. The morning of the 11th, our anniversary, we got up and headed over to Epcot. We had lunch at Coral Reef and then participated in the Aqua Seas Tour. We are both divers and I want to work with dolphins so this was perfect for us! After that we went to the resort to check in. This is when I found out we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, one of my absolute favorites and very fitting due to how we met. We had a perfect savannah view room, just off Arusha Rock on the second floor.
Dumbo is my favorite character for a couple of reasons. Dumbo was my favorite ride growing up. On my first CP I was assigned to Fantasyland attractions where I was given the opportunity to operate Dumbo on a daily basis. Of course I said "Yes!". Our carriage driver was the sweetest man and actually stopped the horse and took our picture next to a gazebo along the path.
They also sent someone up from the front desk to take our picture. On our way out of the hotel I asked the front desk for the just married buttons and a sharpie marker. I crossed out married and put engaged and we wore them for the rest of our anniversary trip. Here you can see Jason's button.
The Wedding:
Date: Friday, April 11, 2008
Locations:
12:00 Wedding Pavilion
1:00-6:00 Living Seas
8:30-9:30 Italy Isola
Number of guests: At the actual ceremony and reception we will have a maximum of 104 since that is the capacity for the Living Seas. Our friends who live here in the Orlando area, along with the kids under the age of 13 who are not coming to the WP/LS, will be invited to our DP so we are anticipating around 130.
Colors: different shades of blue and green
The dress: This one
On one hand it feels like we have a lot figured out but on the other it feels like we still have so much to do. I think we are set on which invitations we are going to use and we also have the favors figured out. I am working on doing everything for the favors with the exception of getting the M&Ms. I will try to get a picture up soon. I am also working on getting the ribbon and Mickey heads on the bubbles.
We are still in the process of turning our contract in (things kept needing to be changed on it
) so hopefully that will get done soon so I can schedule a planning session! I can't wait for the taste testing!!! 
At least that enables me to wait as long as possible to buy the candy. If I had to do it during the holiday sale it would more than likely slowly disappear over the couple of months. 
The proposal story is so romantic. It is great that you found a fellow Disney lover. I know my DF enjoys it way more than he wants to admit it, but he is no where near as obsessed with the Mouse as I am!
I remember his dad always trying to set Jason up with someone from work. I had a bf at the time but it's really funny how Jason did end up with a safari driver. 
