What's better than a honeymoon? TWO Honeymoons! 8/30 57 hours/13 months to go!

[MainStMandy]

Awww I feel your pain! I know what a PITA doing invitations yourself are!! Good for you for finishing them though

 

[Joyciemc]

Awww bless you It must have been really frustrating. But at least its done now and you have one less thing to worry about

Gosh, two months eh? Not long now. Whats left to do now?

I understand where you are coming from on the whole kids thing. Whilst I love kids, I am not really sure that I want them my wedding either. But they come part of the package with our families now so there is not much you can do. DF always says to me, try to remember that one day you will be the person being invited once you have kids.

Thanks for understanding my vent!
Our wedding is pretty late in the evening, so I just assumed no one would want to bring their kids. But then I learned that some family on DFi's side were planning on it. And because my brother designed our Save the Dates to look like a board game box, the words "fun for all ages" were on there. So I kinda felt like I had implied kids were welcome. But since my shower had kids and they were a lot of fun, I am now looking forward to them being there!

Awww I feel your pain! I know what a PITA doing invitations yourself are!! Good for you for finishing them though

Sympathy is just what I needed, thank you! But I did finish, and they are officially mailed!!

Though I think my day-long ordeal contributed to my first ever wedding nightmare last night... it was NOT fun!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Ooohhh, I love your Save the Dates - how original

It sounds like the invitations are a big pain - I'm wanting to do a few DIY projects but invitations are definitely not one of them, they seem like so much time and work - you're much braver than I am!

 

[Stefy]

That is a cute Save the Date, v creative

 

[SugarSpice]

I'm jumping over here from the Poly thread! Don't stress about putting in your wedding details in the trip report! I love hearing about them as I'm in the wedding industry. (I owna stationery store and create custom designed wedding invitations all day, every day.) Anyways - we are the same age and we will be staying at the Poly on the same week as you all will! How fun! We went last year the week of Labor day and it is def. an awesome time to go. No waits at all! The only busy day was sunday at the magic kingdom. I'm jealous that you are going to get to spend several days at Universal beforehand. I haven't been there since I was younger. My hubby has never been there and wants to go very badly but we have 2 boys, so I think we will have to wait a bit until they are older for them to be able to enjoy it. Have you decided what longhouse you are wantint to stay in? I booked Castle View and am hoping for Tahiti since it will be quiet and the beach outside of it is so private.

 

[klacey1]

Love the Save the Dates! So cute-- perfect for your theme/centerpieces.
Ask me any questions you have about IOA/US! I'd love to help

 

[Joyciemc]

Ooohhh, I love your Save the Dates - how original

It sounds like the invitations are a big pain - I'm wanting to do a few DIY projects but invitations are definitely not one of them, they seem like so much time and work - you're much braver than I am!

That is a cute Save the Date, v creative

Thanks, ladies! The save the dates were Ben's idea and my brother designed and drew them... he did a great job!

I had heard that invitations were something not to attempt as DIY, but I thought I had plenty of time, so how hard could it be? The answer is: hard.

I'm jumping over here from the Poly thread! Don't stress about putting in your wedding details in the trip report! I love hearing about them as I'm in the wedding industry. (I owna stationery store and create custom designed wedding invitations all day, every day.) Anyways - we are the same age and we will be staying at the Poly on the same week as you all will! How fun! We went last year the week of Labor day and it is def. an awesome time to go. No waits at all! The only busy day was sunday at the magic kingdom. I'm jealous that you are going to get to spend several days at Universal beforehand. I haven't been there since I was younger. My hubby has never been there and wants to go very badly but we have 2 boys, so I think we will have to wait a bit until they are older for them to be able to enjoy it. Have you decided what longhouse you are wantint to stay in? I booked Castle View and am hoping for Tahiti since it will be quiet and the beach outside of it is so private.

Welcome, glad to have you! Wish I had your expertise for invitations.. it certainly was NOT my calling!

Maybe we'll see you at the Poly! I hope you get Tahiti-I've heard lots of good things about it! I didn't make a request for a longhouse, I think I'm just going to see what we get- we've never stayed at the Poly so that alone will be good enough for this trip! We are booked for a garden view. Though I did have a dream that we got upgraded to a theme park view, which was exciting even in the dream

 

[Joyciemc]

I am so thankful that the DIS exists. Where else would I find even one person that could possibly understand how happy I was to see September park hours? And here there are a bajillion people that understand! As we creep toward the magic 180 day ADR mark, I have a rough idea of what our park days are looking like. These will change once we're there, I'm sure... and never forget that I am a compulsive park hopper. Like I'm always sure I'm missing something awesome at a park I'm not currently at. I could be having a grand ole time at the World Showcase and suddenly wonder if it's the day that there is no wait for TSM (which I obviously have never actually wondered, because I haven't been to WDW since before TSM was an acronym any of us knew... but it illustrates my point, right?) and hop on a boat to go see.
Park hopping also helps with tricking myself into thinking a trip is longer. I couldn't enjoy myself if on the 3rd day of the trip I'd have to say 'this is the last time I'll be at Epcot', instead I can assume that I will be back to each park again before heading home. When figuring out park days, I don't schedule the hopping. I just plan what park we're starting out at and make meal arrangements based on that. The actual meals may never happen, because I don't really know where we'll be that night... here's a secret about me: I'm a disorganized girl pretending to be a good trip planner. But at least I know we'll have fun!
This is what it looks like so far:
Thursday 9/2-Sunday 9/5 at Universal Parks
Sunday 9/5- Dinner at 'Ohana, maybe get out first taste of MK during EMH hours that night.
Monday 9/6- MK and dinner at Whispering Canyon (never been to Wilderness Lodge and we enjoy large quantities of food. As long as we are well fed, frantic atmosphere is a-ok!)
Tuesday 9/7- Epcot, dinner at Coral Reef (but I really want to try Biergarten... so I don't know which to do)
Wednesday 9/8- DHS, lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In and dinner at the Wave
Thursday 9/9- hanging out at the Poly, maybe DTD. Dinner at Raglan Road
Friday 9/10- AK, dinner at Kona
Saturday 9/11- Wherever we want to go! I might just make an ADR for Biergarten for this night and then keep or cancel it as needed. We'll see!
Sunday 9/12- Epcot for lunch at Le Cellier. Then we have to go home. Boo to that. I have no idea what time that will be, we still don't have plane tickets. That's Ben's job.

That's the plan... who knows what will happen in real life

 

[Stefy]

Sounds pretty good to me I can say that they are all fab choices

 

[klacey1]

Great plans! I'd say go for Coral Reef over Biergarten-- it's so romantic, and still really fun! We loved the food, too.
WCC is #1 on my meals list for our next trip. I really want to see/stay at WL, and I loveee barbecue food. I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[Joyciemc]

Thanks, Stefy! We are looking forward to trying a lot of new places this time around!


In order to pay for all those delicious ADRs, I just called to add the dining plan! Not the best experience I've had with Disney reservations... The chick on the phone talked faster than any human I've ever had interactions with. She was nice enough, but it was like a game trying to figure out what she was saying. She said something about the code I had on my reservation only being for the package with no dining plan, and I have no idea what she was talking about. But then she quoted me the right price (still had the room discount), so maybe I just heard her completely wrong- I wouldn't be surprised. Now I'm waiting for my confirmation email so I can check to be sure I didn't end up adding something like a golf package instead of dining...

This is the first time I've ever paid for the dining plan... is it different than the free one they offered in 2007? (that's the last time we went)


And in wedding news, Ben and I applied for our marriage license today! They never even asked us for ID, which I thought was weird. Apparently, it is very easy to get married in Massachusetts as long as you have 45 bucks. This means that we are under 2 months away and it is crazy-nuts! We've also been getting a couple RSVPs a day... so far if you go buy our little pile of RSVP cards, we'll have about 8 people at the wedding- would be nice on the bank account, but kind of a boring party!

 

[Joyciemc]

I just had to share the other fun thing I did today...

I took our dog Penny to the beach!

She wanted the photo shoot to be over!
It's a 5 minute walk from our house to Wollaston Beach. The weather was actually kinda nice today, so Penny and I had an adventure. We got Penny in October and she's a great dog. But she's a dog and not a cat, and it has taken some adjustment on our part!

And because I am in a bragging mommy kind of mood:

This is Otis. He's awesome. And quirky. And expensive. Right before Christmas he needed surgery to remove bladder stones. He was at the vet for 5 days and came home with a bunch of staples! It was scary, but he is doing great on his new prescription food.

This is Bluebell. She is a very long story. Here is the short version: she was surrendered to the shelter with a uterine infection. She was spayed and healed and put up for adoption. Then she stopped eating, so I took her home to foster her. She still wouldn't eat and I was force feeding her for weeks. Then she met Otis (who had always hated other cats) and he started to eat her food. She hopped off the bed and starting chowing down. And never stopped. Now she is on a diet!

We also have 2 bunnies, George and Buttons. I can't find any pictures of them, and that makes me feel guilty. I'll give them extra salad tonight.

 

[Stefy]

Awww Penny, Otis and Bluebell are just adorable

Congrats on getting the marriage license, not long to go now

Cool about getting the RSVP's back

 

[Joyciemc]

Stefy, I think it's just you and I around here! Thanks for sticking around!

They are pretty cute, huh? That's actually the biggest thing that still needs to be done before the wedding and Jamaica honeymoon... I have no clue who's watching them! I mean, I have a few ideas, but nothing firmed up. I need to get on that!

 

[Stefy]

We are all still here don't worry. I think PTR's are hard to keep up with as there is only so much one can put in them. Mines the same

Do you prefer someone you know to watch them? Or would you take them to a pet hotel?

 

[Stefy]

Urgh, double post, sorry

 

[Joyciemc]

I usually have a friend stop in daily to feed the cats and bunnies. But that was pre-Penny. Having a dog changes a lot of things... I am hoping to find someone to house sit/pet sit. If that doesn't work out, Penny may go stay with my parents and I'll have the same friend stop by for the other pets.

I'm actually thinking that Penny may need to take a off a few days before the wedding, as I don't want to have to worry about rushing home from pre-wedding activities to let her out. I also don't want her underfoot when we are here getting ready with the photographer and such.

Ooh, I have a pre-wedding report update: Ben booked massages today for the day before the wedding! My schedule for that day looks like this: massage at 10am, lunch, nails done, then rehearsal/dinner. After that, Ben heads to the hotel (I may go with for a little hang out time at the hotel bar with our friends) and I head home with some of my bridesmaids. Ahhh, not bad... I can't wait!

 

[klacey1]

Ooo, take one day's break from the Dis and I miss a lot!
We love the DDP, if only for convience sake. It's a bit different from 2007-- no more appetizers with TS meals, and tips are no longer included.
Love your fur-babies! We have a basset, and DBF's parents have two kittens and a slightly older cat. DBF's father ribbed him for getting a dog, saying that they're too needy. Well, our basset sleeps 22 hours a day and those darn cats are constantly rubbing themselves on your legs. MUCH more needy (and annoying!)
Yay for RSVP's coming in! You'll get a flood in the days before the due date-- always!

 

[Stefy]

I usually have a friend stop in daily to feed the cats and bunnies. But that was pre-Penny. Having a dog changes a lot of things... I am hoping to find someone to house sit/pet sit. If that doesn't work out, Penny may go stay with my parents and I'll have the same friend stop by for the other pets.

I'm actually thinking that Penny may need to take a off a few days before the wedding, as I don't want to have to worry about rushing home from pre-wedding activities to let her out. I also don't want her underfoot when we are here getting ready with the photographer and such.

Ooh, I have a pre-wedding report update: Ben booked massages today for the day before the wedding! My schedule for that day looks like this: massage at 10am, lunch, nails done, then rehearsal/dinner. After that, Ben heads to the hotel (I may go with for a little hang out time at the hotel bar with our friends) and I head home with some of my bridesmaids. Ahhh, not bad... I can't wait!

Hopefully you can find someone to house/pet sit

Day before the wedding sounds good Massages are always good

 

[Joyciemc]

Ooo, take one day's break from the Dis and I miss a lot!
We love the DDP, if only for convience sake. It's a bit different from 2007-- no more appetizers with TS meals, and tips are no longer included.
Love your fur-babies! We have a basset, and DBF's parents have two kittens and a slightly older cat. DBF's father ribbed him for getting a dog, saying that they're too needy. Well, our basset sleeps 22 hours a day and those darn cats are constantly rubbing themselves on your legs. MUCH more needy (and annoying!)
Yay for RSVP's coming in! You'll get a flood in the days before the due date-- always!

Bassets are so cute! I love how laid back they are.
My cats are a bit high maintenance, so Penny wasn't too much of an adjustment. Though it was hard at first with having to be sure to get home to let her out. And she did eat the couch once (and she's not a puppy!), but we have worked out our differences and we're glad we have her!

We got a good amount of RSVPs today.. I think we're up to 3 tables for the reception the room's gonna feel a little empty! I'm sure you're right, though- we'll get them all right at the due date (or a little after!)

Hopefully you can find someone to house/pet sit

Day before the wedding sounds good Massages are always good

Kinda like a Disney trip, the week before is something to look forward to in itself- lots of fun getting things ready. It's already getting hard for me to focus at work!