Wishes Wedding 1/17/11-WP/CG-TR Day 6, Last Day

[Kristinella]

Love the newsletter! It looks great! You should be very proud of all your hard work and I may be PMing you for the document so I can modify yours

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jules~Marie]

This newsletter is really great..

Thanks!

You're welcome...I questioned my planner about the quality of the runner and she said it is still paper, not plastic. I was really happy about that! She also said that she has never had a bride's heels break through it yet...hopefully I won't be the first one for that to happen to .

Oh and I love your newsletter!!! The stick figures with the Mickey ears are so cute, where did you find them? I am going to try and be brave and make one myself soon. Maybe I can get DF to do it for me, although I don't know if I could give up all the control on it!

That's great news about the runner!!! I definitely am going to ask for that one. We found the stick figures when we googled Mickey & Minnie bride and groom. Good luck with making one! It actually wasn't so bad, I was terrified whenever I thought about making it, but it turned out super easy (with the help of the boards and my talented DF )

Your newsletter is awesome! What program did you use???

Thanks! We used Photoshop.

I love your newsletter! I've been trying to make ours in word, but it's just so frustrating and won't always let me do what I want to do! Did you use Photoshop? I think I'm going to try making one in there tonight. My df went to school for graphic design, so he has been a big help!

Thank you! Yes, we used Photoshop. Honestly, I have no idea how to use the program, I just watched Eddie click around and magically make this newsletter. I'd be a mess over this thing if it wasn't for him.

Love the newsletter.
You Disney brides are so crafty.
I don't think I would've thought of doing a newsletter but I really like that idea. I've got so much to learn on this board.

I WISH I was crafty! When I thought about doing the newsletter, I would break out into a cold sweat. lol I had no idea that all I needed to do was show DF a few different newsletters from past brides, and he would go from there! I really lucked out with him, because when it comes to crafts and things, I'm totally lazy and give up really fast, and he is the exact opposite. haha

Wow, I love your newsletter. It looks amazing!

Thank you!

Love the newsletter! It looks great! You should be very proud of all your hard work and I may be PMing you for the document so I can modify yours

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I am really proud, especially of Eddie since he worked so hard on it. Basically, I sat next to him and just helped with the wording lol...totally not helpful really....but I tried! Definitely PM whenever you want, we received so much help from the boards and we definitely want to pay it forward.

 

[Jules~Marie]

On Saturday night we went to the California Grill to do a "trial" of our wedding meal. We've never eaten there, so we thought it'd be a good idea to at least see how the food tastes. They didn't have the exact items that we're having served at our wedding, but we had an amazing time! Our reservation was for 7:35. We checked in around 7 and were immediately led upstairs where we waited all of 30 seconds for our table. I was kicking myself because I didn't mention that we wanted a window table, but luckily that didn't matter. We were sat right at the window and our table was decorated with mickey confetti! It was such a surprise! It was so nice because we were seated right at sunset, and we had a beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom and the orange sky.

We ordered the triple cheese flatbread, goat cheese ravioli (on the wedding menu), oak fired filet of beef (on the menu, minus the teriyaki sauce), and the chicken. Everything was delicious! Absolutely amazing. When it came time for dessert, we were trying to compromise on something to share. We weren't making any progress on what to get, when our waiter came out with a huge slice of chocolate cake! It was the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had in my life (the fact that it was free didn't hurt either ).

It was around 8:45 by the time we paid our bill. The HalloWishes fireworks show started at 9:30, so we decided to go hang out on the observation deck until showtime. The show was amazing! It's so cool to hear the soundtrack as you watch the fireworks. We've never seen the Halloween show, so it was really neat to see something new. I took some pictures, unfortunately we didn't take any of the food (except the cake), but I'll post them anyway.

Free Dessert!

We were really excited about the cake

Only 119 more days until the wedding!

 

[smileycrissy]

I love the fireworks shot. I keep telling DF we should check out California Grill for dinner so we can see the fireworks up there. It looks so amazing.

Aw, how nice of them to bring you a slice of cake. My brother-in-law loves that restaurant (he's such a foodie).

Wait a min - are you near the 100 mark for days until the wedding?

 

[April Elizabeth]

Your news letter is so good. I love the pictures from California Grill, especially the fireworks.

 

[Jules~Marie]

I love the fireworks shot. I keep telling DF we should check out California Grill for dinner so we can see the fireworks up there. It looks so amazing.

Aw, how nice of them to bring you a slice of cake. My brother-in-law loves that restaurant (he's such a foodie).

Wait a min - are you near the 100 mark for days until the wedding?

I enjoyed the California Grill...maybe it was little too fancy for my tastes, but it's worth it to go just for that view!

And YES! We're at 107 days!!!!! I'm so excited, I'm driving everyone at work crazy updating them everyday with my countdowns. I have 70 working days before the wedding, 104 days until we leave for our Disney wedding weekend, 107 days until the wedding, and 112 days until our honeymoon!!! I can get a little carried away when it comes to countdowns lol.

Your news letter is so good. I love the pictures from California Grill, especially the fireworks.

Thank you!

 

[DisneyDiva84]

Everything looks fantastic thus far! I will definietly post our review of CA Grill from the reception for you!

Can you believe we are so close!

 

[Belle2Be]

I'm still reading so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but if anyone is going to stay in the parks, if they have a park pass (which is likely) then you don't have to pay the $12 viewing fee for illuminations. I was under the impression that you do have to have a chartered bus for the show, however.

 

[Jules~Marie]

OK!!! Time to really get excited now!!! Only 100 days left!!!!

I can't believe that we're almost into double digits. I'm so excited and freaked out at the same time! Our minimum is due on Oct. 18 or 19 (can't remember), so I'm stressing that. We have the money, I just get panicked at the thought of spending it!!! I feel like we have so much left to do. And I haven't really updated in a while on here. I get kind of bored with the wedding (if you can believe that!). I just feel like I'm thinking about it constantly, and then to sit and write about it just makes me stress even more sometimes. But, I'll fill everyone (anyone? don't know if anyone's really reading this lol) in today.

So we spoke with our new planner Amy on Sept. 30th. I loved speaking with her. She was so easy to talk to, and she really got that we want to keep our costs down. Ken was wonderful too, but I think I'm more comfortable with a female planner for whatever reason. So we talked about taking out all of the things I've previously posted about. No charter bus, no champagne toast. We also discussed taking some items off the dessert party menu to get our price closer to the $23/person minimum. Right now we're at $30/person for the DP menu.

She's looking into changing the cake to two tiers instead of three. She agreed that with the addition of the grooms cake, there's no need to have three tiers. That would be a ton of cake. She's going to get a quote for a square cake and for a round. I would like to stay around $500 for the cake, instead of the $1000 that we're at now. Also, we changed the flavor from almond with buttercream to almond with raspberry mousse filling. Eddie and I weren't too fond of any of the cake flavors. We only care about the Red Velvet layer, and my mom and sister really liked the combo of almond and raspberry, so I figured why not change it for them?

We also are going to change to a Bill on consumption bar thanks to the suggestions from my fellow DISers. It definitely makes sense since it's an early afternoon wedding, and it will most likely save us quite a bit of money.

Also, we've decided to go with Blossoms Orlando for our flowers. Disney's quote for my bouquet was $300...Amy from Blossoms gave me a quote of $125 for my bouquet. Disney had my bridesmaids at $115 each, Amy had them at $40 each. Really no contest there. Going with Blossoms is going to save us over $450. It's crazy the difference in price. I have to say I think Disney might take advantage of the fact that some brides just don't want to bother with going with outside vendors. However, I haven't seen the difference in quality between Disney and Blossoms, so maybe there's a reason the prices are so drastically different. Either way, flowers are very low on my priority list, so I'm happy to spend so much less on them.

I'm now awaiting my new BEO's from Disney floral and for the wedding. We've decided to keep the MK photo session for now. With all of the cuts and changes I think we're around $12000, so we're much happier with that. I will post the exact figures once I get the budgets in.

Now, I'm just working on getting a list together for everything we have left to do. Our RSVP's are starting to come in now, the deadline is Oct. 17th. We're completely shocked at how many people are actually making the trip down. It's cool and exciting and scary all at the same time. I think we might go over 40 people!

Sorry, I'm kind of all over the place today. I will post my to do list later today after I get it all sorted.

Almost 3 months left!

 

[Nikisha421]

Im reading each and every time you post. I happy to see that the revisions are making you a bit more comfortable with your choice to have a DFTW...and going with Blossoms will not be a bad decision at all...no contest at all...becuase their work is great and their prices are right....

 

[DisneyShamrock]

I just stumbled onto your PJ. Everything sounds pretty good.

I like to follow my January 17th ladies, since I'm hoping to get January 17, 2013.

Cutting the BEO always seems like it's the hardest part, but it looks like you did a pretty good job.

I look forward to reading more.

 

[April Elizabeth]

I'm still following too. Blossoms sounds like the way to go. Can you post the link to their website or phone number. Thank you.

 

[smileycrissy]

I'm so happy that you are keeping your MK photo session!!!

Wow that is a big difference in prices for the florals. Are you getting similar bouquets to what you were going to have at Disney?

I'm happy that you are getting responses back. Of course your families are going to want to attend your wedding... especially considering it's at Disney.

And yay for reaching the double digit mark!

 

[KitKat5]

Hiya! Just caught up! Everything sounds so great! I cant wait to see pics of it all!! We actually have the same wedding dress!! Great minds think a like eh?! Im still waiting for my floral BEO so I hope it isnt much longer but seeing yours has reassured me that it might not be as bad as I think!!

 

[Jules~Marie]

Im reading each and every time you post. I happy to see that the revisions are making you a bit more comfortable with your choice to have a DFTW...and going with Blossoms will not be a bad decision at all...no contest at all...becuase their work is great and their prices are right....

Thanks for reading, sorry for being so boring! I'm very happy that we decided to go with Blossoms. They've been great communicating with us and their work looks amazing.

I just stumbled onto your PJ. Everything sounds pretty good.

I like to follow my January 17th ladies, since I'm hoping to get January 17, 2013.

Cutting the BEO always seems like it's the hardest part, but it looks like you did a pretty good job.

I look forward to reading more.

Thanks! Yay for 1/17 brides! But Jan 17, 2013?! And here I thought I liked to plan in advance. I hope you get your date. Thanks for reading!

I'm still following too. Blossoms sounds like the way to go. Can you post the link to their website or phone number. Thank you.

Thanks for following, I love these boards. No matter how bored you think everyone's getting with your wedding, it's nice to know there's a place for you to go and people will still be interested in what you have to say. I think everyone around me everyday is kinda over the wedding already lol.

Here's the link to blossoms: http://blossomsorlando.com/ Amy has been absolutely wonderful with answering my questions and keeping in touch.

I'm so happy that you are keeping your MK photo session!!!

Wow that is a big difference in prices for the florals. Are you getting similar bouquets to what you were going to have at Disney?

I'm happy that you are getting responses back. Of course your families are going to want to attend your wedding... especially considering it's at Disney.

And yay for reaching the double digit mark!

I am totally psyched about the MK photos!!!! I'm really glad we're going through with them, it's the one thing I've really wanted to do since we decided on a Disney wedding.

It's a huge difference in price! I'm under the impression that the bouquets are still going to be similar to what Disney was going to do. At our planning session I showed Warren a picture of the bouquet that I want, and for Amy at Blossoms, I emailed her the same picture. She didn't say that it would be any different...I emailed her basically the floral BEO that Disney sent me and she came up with an estimate that mimicked Disney's, only the price was way lower.

Hiya! Just caught up! Everything sounds so great! I cant wait to see pics of it all!! We actually have the same wedding dress!! Great minds think a like eh?! Im still waiting for my floral BEO so I hope it isnt much longer but seeing yours has reassured me that it might not be as bad as I think!!

I can't believe we have the same dress!!! That's amazing. I keep going back and forth about the dress...it's beautiful, but if I don't try it on every couple of months, I imagine it getting bigger and bigger. But I think it's perfect for a Disney wedding (I'm a little biased lol). Good luck with your floral BEO! I was pleasantly surprised when mine came in..not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I think it helps that we aren't doing floral for centerpieces though. Thanks for reading!

 

[Jules~Marie]

OK, so I had said I was going to post my To Do List on Saturday, but a funny thing happened...I discovered the dining reviews boards!!! Holy crap those reviews are addictive! So I spent all Saturday night and almost all of yesterday reading and reading and drooling over people's reviews. It was a nice change from reading about weddings (don't get me wrong, I love reading about the weddings...just nice to change it up a bit!). So now I'm back where I belong on the weddings boards...and now it's time to get down to business!

I think I've been avoiding writing out a To Do list. It's just so scary to know that we've been working so hard and we still have a ton of things left to do! Well, anyway, here goes:

TO DO:
Buy wedding bands
Get alterations on dress done
Rent DF's tuxedo (in ivory, ugh )
Buy wedding shoes
Buy earrings for wedding day
Make table cards
Purchase frames for table cards
Make place cards *we have the design made, just need to add names
Bring dogs to vet-get shots to prepare them for boarding in Jan.
Make reservation for dog boarding
Make label for welcome bags
Purchase items for welcome bags
Find some kind of favor for wedding guests..
Maybe purchase a tiara?? (If I give in to my mom & sister)
Lose more weight-tone up probably not happening
Book hotel for night before honeymoon
Book rental car to get to Miami for honeymoon
Uuummmm....I don't know, what else... I give up! lol

I'm sure there's more that needs to be added to the list, but my brain is jammed and I can't think of anything else, haha.

For our welcome bags, we were going to purchase personalized ones through a website, but it was coming to around $80 for about 15 bags...
So instead we found nice-ish bags at Michaels for $7. We're going to design a label to slap on the outside of the bags, and voila! personalized bags. lol I don't think anybody's really going to be caring about the actual bag anyway..We're happy with the ones we bought, they're pastel colored and a good size, can definitely fit at least 2 bottles of water, and they're a good quality, so yay!

Also, I don't know if I've ever talked about our honeymoon...We're going to be leaving for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Liberty on the Saturday following our wedding. We love Disney, but it's not really a "honeymoon" location for us being as it's only 45 minutes from where we live. We booked our first balcony room and decided to splurge and make it a suite! Woo! We are so excited for this trip, it's going to be amazing!

I was thinking it'd be a good idea to write out a timeline of our wedding events, so here it is:

Friday- Jan. 14:
Arrive at Disney's Pop Century resort at 1pm (if I can get off work early!)
Deliver items to Francks before 4pm
Dinner with Eddie's parents at Portobello at 8pm

Saturday-Jan. 15:
Enjoy some parks time
Bridal Party dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe (changed from Planet Hollywood-it's just too darn noisy in there!) at 4pm
Grooms friends Drink Around the World at 6pm(?-time isn't set yet)
Bride's night out at Jellyrolls around 7pm

Sunday-Jan. 16:
Check out of Pop and check in to Contemporary (our first deluxe stay!!!)
Breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 10am
Early dinner at Coral Reef Restaurant at 4pm
IllumiNations Dessert party at UK Lochside at 8pm

Monday-Jan. 17-Wedding Day:
Ceremony at 10am-hair & makeup to arrive at...ugh probably ridiculously early lol
Reception at California Grill from 11-3
Private dinner at Narcoossee's at 7:30pm

Tuesday-Jan.18:
Magic Kingdom photo session at 6 am!!!!
Breakfast at Cape May Cafe at 10am
Hopefully get in some parks time
Dinner with my dad and step-mom at Grand Floridian Cafe at 6:30pm

Wednesday-Jan.19:
Breakfast at The Crystal Palace at 9:30am
Check out of Contemporary
Maybe some parks? Go home and pick up my babies (chihuahua's) from the vet.

Thursday-Jan.20:
Hopefully go to the bank and deposit tons and tons of money from all of the generous people that attended our wedding!

Friday-Jan.21:
Pick up rental car & head down to Miami
Check into hotel

Saturday-Jan.22:
Leave for 7 nights on the Carnival Liberty!!!!

Saturday-Jan. 29:
Back to reality

OK, how am I ever going to be able to go back to work after 2 weeks off at amazing places?!?!?! I'm already feeling upset over the fact that it will end, and it hasn't even happened yet!!! hahaha That can't be normal lol.

Woo, anybody still with me after that!? lol That was a long post! Sorry, this is what happens when I have a three day weekend and DF is still sound asleep. I get bored and start thinking waaaaaayyy too much about everything.

Only 98 days until this awesome adventure begins! Hopefully I'll be able to cut down that To Do list sometime soon...right now DF is focused on our annual Halloween party, so once that has passed I think we'll get back on track with the wedding.

 

[TreasureYourDreams]

Yay! I just found your PJ, and will definitely be following along... we're getting married exactly 1 week after you!!

Everything looks awesome so far... that's so cool that you are getting a few days at Disney AND a cruise. How awesome!

Enjoy the last few months of your planning... can you believe how close it finally is!! YAY!

 

[Nikisha421]

as alwasy faithful Nikisha421 is still with you...as long as it was I read every single word...I most certainly love the part about depositing all the cash from the guest.......i mean besides the wedding itself and the money what else is there to smile about....it is a party right ????

 

[Jules~Marie]

Yay! I just found your PJ, and will definitely be following along... we're getting married exactly 1 week after you!!

Everything looks awesome so far... that's so cool that you are getting a few days at Disney AND a cruise. How awesome!

Enjoy the last few months of your planning... can you believe how close it finally is!! YAY!

I absolutely cannot believe how close we're getting! It's so exciting! Congrats on your wedding!!! You're almost at the 100 day mark! WOO!

as alwasy faithful Nikisha421 is still with you...as long as it was I read every single word...I most certainly love the part about depositing all the cash from the guest.......i mean besides the wedding itself and the money what else is there to smile about....it is a party right ????

Thanks for sticking with me Nikisha421!! I'll try to keep my future posts shorter for the sake of my readers. Sometimes I just get on a roll and can't stop myself!

 

[Jules~Marie]

We got our new floral BEO in the other day. Since we're going with an outside vendor for our bouquets, this new BEO is very easy to live with.

I did ask Warren about getting a cheaper aisle runner, and he said that Disney no longer offers any other less expensive runners. He said something about heels getting stuck in the old ones and having other issues with it, so it looks like Eddie and I will be buying one ourselves, or just going with the carpet that's already in the WP. I still don't want to pay $200 for the runner!

For the reception, he accidentally left the scattered rose petals for $100.00, but we're going to go through our florist for those, which will save us around $40 or so.

So our grand total for Disney floral (minus the $100 for the petals) is $324.94 (might be a little different once we get those petals off and the tax is recalculated).

Blossoms Orlando gave us a quote of $462.21 for the floral, so total we are going to be spending $787.15 for our decor and floral! I know we should probably spend more and decorate the wedding pavilion and stuff more, but I just don't think it's necessary. I'm very happy with everything and so excited that we're so under budget with our floral!

We're at the 3 month mark!!!! Time to go shopping for our wedding bands.