Wishes Wedding in Wonderland 3/3/13 WP/WHR/Sago Cay- PS and Menu Tasting Update 9/15

[DFTWbride2013]

So, with new changes, comes more new changes! It's only logical.

I hate to say it, but Alec really hasn't been much help. I took a month off from wedding planning because I was getting too stressed out and upset about his lack of concern with everything wedding-related. He's actually the one that wanted a wedding, not me, so why am I stuck planning it all by myself? So in that time, I thought about the wedding off and on but didn't do any research, write anything down, didn't go out of my way to do any kind of planning. I guess it ended up being a good thing, because inspiration sure did strike!

We've decided on an Alice in Wonderland-inspired theme. We actually decided this a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to give myself time to really make sure it was something I would be happy with. I was watching Alice in Wonderland (the Disney cartoon version, it's one of my absolute favorites) and they got to the scene with the mad tea party. I love it! All of a sudden, I pictured the Whitehall room with pink linens, tea pot centerpieces, and brightly colored lanterns from the ceilings (instead of the shades of pink I was thinking of before). I love it! We're also going to have Alice and the Mad Hatter as guests. We're debating on whether we'll still have Mickey and Minnie or not. I'm still in love with the cake I posted before, which I found out is the "Original Mad Hatter" design they offer. It actually fits with the theme now! There's only a couple of things I'm still unsure of. We don't know if we're going to keep the chairs the room comes with, or if we'll do chiavari chairs. I also need to figure out if I'd rather do soft-colored flowers like light pinks, creams, and maybe blue hydrangea, or if I want to do something more bold like brightly colored tulips or something along those lines.

Tea pot centerpieces, something like this.

These were the chairs in Whitehall Room during our site visit. We were told they're the ones that come with the room. I wish I'd sat in one to see if they're comfortable or not.

I've also decided that to go with the theme, we'll have character names from the movie as our table names. I'm only assigning tables, not seats, so we decided to do a framed list instead of place cards. It will say something like "Welcome to Wonderland" or "Welcome to the Mad Tea Party" or something along those lines. Then it will explain how to find your seat. There will be 4 tables, so on the list will be 4 quotes from 4 different characters. Under each quote is a list of names. To find your table, you have to remember which character said the quote that your name is under.

For example: "Off with their Heads!" would be the quote, then 8 names listed underneath. Those people would have to remember that the Queen of Hearts said that, and then go find the Queen of Hearts table. I have to find a shorter and more clever way to explain that at the wedding, but I'm not worried about it just yet.

The ceremony is where I'm kind of stuck right now. The wedding pavilion is gorgeous, but I do want to add some decor. I had an idea of giving it touches to remind our guests of the scene in the movie with the royal courtyard, where they're painting the roses red. But what can I do with red roses? Maybe hearts somewhere? To be honest, I'm not sure yet, but it's a start. I'll just use this as an excuse to watch the movie again!

I also contacted our first choice for an officiant, Reverend Kevin Knox. He's available, yay! So that's all set. I can't even explain how stressed out I was just thinking of looking for another officiant if Rev Kev and his wife were both booked. I've heard such great things about them, and I love how they'll let you completely customize your ceremony. We're not religious at all so I don't want a cookie-cutter super religious ceremony. It would be awkward and not as meaningful since it wouldn't represent us.

I still haven't contacted Dara to schedule our photography and to find out if the date we want for our in-park photos is available. I really need to get on that, but I'm not looking forward to talking to her. I might do it Thursday or Friday. I wanted Alec to call but he can't even remember which parks we want or on what day no matter how many times we go over it, so it's another thing I'm left to do myself.

Oh, I also got our planning session and menu tasting scheduled last week! Our planning session is on September 14th from 9am-1pm, followed by our menu tasting at 2:30. I absolutely can not wait to get to go into the GF's kitchen like I've seen in so many other brides' pictures. I'll definitely be bringing my camera for that!

We've been working on looking through the lists and lists of food and we have our menus, I think. We just haven't gone through to decide what we definitely feel we need to taste. I'll post those separately.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Here's our menu lists! Please feel free to make any comments or criticism on any of the items on here, especially if you've found something to be particularly good or bad.

Pre-Reception:
-bacon-wrapped scallops with thai sugar glaze
-bacon crusted beef & blue cheese with balsamic sun-dried tomato pesto (definitely tasting first)
-chinois chopped chicken salad in wonton cup
-hot crabmeat fondue with pita chips and toasted french bread (probably tasting first)

Reception:

Plated salad: we hope to be able to give our guests a choice between the Romaine and Radicchio or the Caesar Salad.

Buffet :

Entrees
-We're hoping the chef can suggest some kind of a salmon dish (definitely tasting)
OR
-herb-crusted seasonal white fish with lemon butter sauce & capers relish
-parmesan crusted breast of chicken with mushroom cream and parsley (thanks to Beth!)
-3 peppercorn and whole grain mustard rubbed beef strip loin with caramelized red onion compote and gorgonzola cheese fondue (definitely tasting)
OR
-NY strip steak with merlot and black pepper reduction, balsamic cremini mushrooms and roasted shallots

Sides
-olive oil, herb, and sea salt tossed steamed vegetables
-Martini Action Station to include:
~Yukon Gold potatoes topped with cheddar, chive sour cream, and bacon crumbles
~creamy parmesan and champagne risotto topped with crab gremolata (definitely tasting)
~grown-up truffle macaroni and cheese with lobster meat salad (maybe tasting)

Pre-Dessert Party Appetizers:
I'm hoping they can offer soup. If so, we'd like to do a choice of Le Cellier's Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup or Minestrone

-grilled beef and creamy onion flatbread with gruyere cheese
-wild mushroom and shallot tart
-seared tuna with wakame, wasabi, and ginger
-tiered antipasto to include meat, cheese, seafood, and olives served with flatbread

Dessert Party Buffet:
(most likely to change, everything sounds so good!)
-tiramisu
-guava cheesecake pushup with mango gelee
-funnel cake bread pudding
-mini cheesecakes
-chocolate fondue station - for this we want to see if they can do milk, dark, and white chocolates. if they can't or if it's crazy expensive, we'll just do milk chocolate - with apples, strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels, bananas, and graham crackers
-peach cobbler if they can do it
OR
-warm berry crumble with agave and granola if they can't do the cobbler

I also want to see if we can offer hot chocolate in addition to the coffee and tea. If they can, I want to ask about getting peppermint schnapps and/or Kahlua for the hot chocolate.

Farewell Breakfast Buffet:
-The Wave's sweet potato pancakes with pecan honey butter
-grand marnier cream cheese crepes with vanilla bean sauce
-mickey waffle bar with seasonal berries, warm fruit compote, warm maple syrup and whipped cream
-egg cookery station with made-to-order omelets, with spinach, mushrooms, cheddar, ham, onion, peppers, feta, and egg substitute
-bacon
-maple glazed sausage
-shredded hash browns with cheddar cheese

The breakfast is the only one I might actually have to add on to, since The Attic has a $1000 minimum for breakfast and I'd say about a good 1/3 of our guests won't be there that morning. All the locals will most likely drive home after the DP. I love breakfast foods so I wouldn't have any problem coming up with more food to add onto this list!

The only thing we haven't looked at yet is cake. I already know we'll be serving our cake with ice cream, though! I'm also fairly certain one layer will be red velvet with cream cheese since it's Alec's favorite.

Phew, I think that's all for today. Time to get things sorted around the house for tomorrow. Animal Kingdom for the 4th of July! Sanaa for dinner, then off to Sea World for fireworks. Can't wait!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Just caught up your plans look amazing!

 

[BethieTink]

Hey Stephanie,

Glad you are so happy with your changes! They all sound great!

Have you decided on DPS or outside photography yet? Now that you are not in a park, you have so many other options. We totally would have hired Regina for everything, if we were not in Epcot for both ceremony and reception.

Hope you like the parmesan crusted chicken. We loved it at our tasting so much that we are having it at 2 meals (welcome dinner and reception). We did change the sauce though, since Paul won't be in the same room as a mushroom. We had them create a creamy tomato sace for us and it was amazing!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[bjbosu]

You plans look so good...and you are farther ahead of me and my date is before you (Feb. 10th). We are also doing the WP, we have the Whitehall/Patio for the cocktail hour and then St. Augustine ballroom for the reception. And we are also using Rev. Knox.

I need DF to figure when he can get off work so that we can ask about a couple of dates for a planning session, although we are targeting last couple of weeks of August or September.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Just caught up your plans look amazing!

Thanks! Would I happen to know you from FB? I love being able to put faces with these names.

Hey Stephanie,

Glad you are so happy with your changes! They all sound great!

Have you decided on DPS or outside photography yet? Now that you are not in a park, you have so many other options. We totally would have hired Regina for everything, if we were not in Epcot for both ceremony and reception.

Hope you like the parmesan crusted chicken. We loved it at our tasting so much that we are having it at 2 meals (welcome dinner and reception). We did change the sauce though, since Paul won't be in the same room as a mushroom. We had them create a creamy tomato sauce for us and it was amazing!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! I'm still undecided on what to do about photography. One of the reasons we chose Disney (aside from that it's, well, Disney) is that we loved the idea of being able to use them for just about everything. I also really don't want to have separate photos for the DP than the rest of the day. The cost of Disney's photography and videography is just so outrageous, and especially to not be guaranteed quality service. It's something we're going to discuss more this weekend, I just hope we make the right choice for us. Hiring Regina is very tempting, or the Ardnts.

Oh, I know all about that parmesan chicken thanks to you! Your pictures made me drool. I actually really like the idea of the creamy tomato sauce, but we both love mushrooms so I was thinking of asking if it would be possible to offer both and let guests choose which they'd like. I, of course, will be eating a bit of both.

You plans look so good...and you are farther ahead of me and my date is before you (Feb. 10th). We are also doing the WP, we have the Whitehall/Patio for the cocktail hour and then St. Augustine ballroom for the reception. And we are also using Rev. Knox.

I need DF to figure when he can get off work so that we can ask about a couple of dates for a planning session, although we are targeting last couple of weeks of August or September.

I'm not that ahead on anything, I'm just good at making it look that way. Oh wow, you're less than a month before us! Go 2013 brides! Haha. February will be great, the weather is so nice that time of year.

Ooh, I hope he figures that out soon! I feel so wonderful having the date now. It's really given me something wedding-related to look forward to before the wedding itself. Oh, and if you're going to do a tasting you'll really want to let them know soon-ish so they can get your date and time for you!

 

[Alifay]

Here's our menu lists! Please feel free to make any comments or criticism on any of the items on here, especially if you've found something to be particularly good or bad.

Pre-Reception:
-bacon-wrapped scallops with thai sugar glaze
-bacon crusted beef & blue cheese with balsamic sun-dried tomato pesto (definitely tasting first)
-chinois chopped chicken salad in wonton cup
-hot crabmeat fondue with pits chips and toasted french bread (probably tasting first)

Hello! Love your journal, can't wait to see how the Alice theme plays out -- it is one of my favorite stories too!

I was reading your menu choices, and of course everything sounds scrumptious -- there was one thing that made think though. These options for pre-reception sound like they might all be very *heavy* foods, especially right before the awesome dinner you plan to serve. Maybe replacing one or two items with something lighter, maybe fruit or veggie based? Just a thought Of course, if you are set on those, by all means! It is your wedding and you deserve to have everything how YOU like it

Subscribing and looking forward to more posts

 

[RandiEliz2]

following along...
I love your table name idea, super cute!

 

[fireofmarajade]

Finally subscribed and read aloud to DF so that he feels more acquainted! SOOOOOO excited more so now than ever! Lmk if u need aaaannnnhyyyyyy help!!!!! I'm looking into details for everything now that I can do!!! Talk to you soon. EVERYTHING including changes sound great! L o v e song choices!!!! Can't wait for more updates!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DFTWbride2013]

So I'm terrible, and I haven't updated in forever. I wanted to update again before our planning session, which is in 3 weeks! I have lots of pictures today- of food and dresses! The two best things.

Oh, but my biggest update is that I have a third bridesmaid now- One of the DisBrides! I'm super excited, she's crazy and funny and our personalities have just clicked. I actually get to see her twice next week, too, so I'm really excited about that as well.

Next update- We've been debating too much about rehearsal dinner locations. I love love love steak and I've heard such glowing reviews about Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort, we decided to try it last week for Alec's birthday dinner and see if we would like it for a RD. Here's what we found.

They had birthday menus waiting for us that we got to keep. That was pretty exciting.

We both got Sangria. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. We both decided we've easily had much better.

The bread course. Both were delicious, but the roasted garlic just made it 100x better. We both love garlic, so guess what we're going to ask about serving at the wedding? One bread was a sourdough and I completely forgot what the other was.

Alec had the salmon. It was good but not amazing. The presentation was very pretty though.

I had the NY Strip Steak. It was pretty, and the sauce was very good, but it was very fatty and grisly. I've had better strip steak for less than $20 so I was disappointed that I payed $44 for something like this. Especially when it's a steakhouse. The potato gratin next to it wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either. I can confidently say I would never order this again.

The truffle mac n cheese sounded too good to pass up, and I'm so glad we didn't! It was easily the best thing we'd had. I wish I could eat it every day, I really do, it was just that amazing. If we were to go back I would order two sides of this as my entree. Yum.

After we were done with all this, the waiter brought out a mini birthday cupcake with a candle for Alec. It was another really nice surprise.

We finished things off with the creme brulee. I always love creme brulee but this one was exceptionally good. It had this amazing vanilla flavor in it that made my mouth water. I'm a huge fan of vanilla. This was a great way to end an otherwise not-so-great meal.

I loved the atmosphere at Yachtsman and our waiter was great. I also felt they did a really good job making a big deal out of your special occasion and I'm sure a RD or honeymoon dinner would be no exception, but I wasn't impressed enough with our entrees at all. I think I'd go to Yachtsman again one day but I would skip getting an actual entree. It's not a part of Disney I care for sharing with my bridal party though. We're less than 2 weeks from our 180-day mark and still don't know where the RD is going to be.

So, we accidentally stuffed ourselves and still had a Tomorrowland Terrace DP to go to just two hours later, oops! We didn't get to try much there but we did try a few things. Nothing was labeled so I had to create my own names for the ones I didn't know. I didn't take individual pictures but I have pictures of my plates, sorry!

My first plate had creme brulee in a little mug, super cute and not bad at all. Fruit tart, not bad but not amazing. Banana square thing with chocolate stripes on it, yummy as usual but I'm partial to banana. Tiramisu cup, okay but nothing great. THe white cup with chocolate sticks sticking out of it? Yeah, I have no idea what that was. It tasted kind of like vanilla pudding but there were crust crumbs underneath so I'm not sure what they were going for. Either way, nothing special. The orange shooter topped with whipped cream was GROSS. I'm thinking I should have maybe mixed it together first but I didn't think about that until after we left. I don't think the whipped cream would have saved it much anyway, it was really sour.

My other plate had a chocolate peanut butter square thingy, it wasn't good at all to me. It just tasted like a spoon of peanut butter in a crust- not my thing. Mini cannoli was soggy from the humidity, otherwise I think it would have been good. I couldn't take more than one bite of it though. The chocolate covered strawberries were by FAR the best thing I had. I have to have some in the wedding somewhere now, they were just that good!

The fireworks DP was a nice experience and we had a great view of Wishes without being overcrowded. I'm just hoping the quality for private catered DPs is better, because these were okay but not exceptionally good. They had other things that I didn't get to taste- fruit, apple tarts, cookies, I think maybe even sundaes. I was just too full from dinner. At $25/person that wasn't bad at ALL though, especially when you factor the fireworks into it.

One more- Le Cellier for lunch the next day. I would consider this place for a rehearsal lunch the next day if everyone in our bridal party had park tickets. We did the $28.99 prix fixe lunch.

<Insert a picture of the cheddar bacon beer soup. It was so good!! We both forgot to take a picture.>

We both got the burger. Oh my GOSH that burger. It was huge but it was so amazing! All the flavors complimented each other really well and the meat itself was so flavorful that it didn't get lost under everything else. I will definitely be back for it again!

We had the maple creme brulee for dessert. It was good but almost too sweet for me. It also wasn't nearly as good as the one at Yachtsman, so that may have spoiled it for me a little.

Okay, that's it for food. I couldn't resist. Next post coming up- dresses!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

This update should not be read when hungry.

But seriously, excellent update.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

So, on to dresses! This is the part I've been most looking forward to. We went to Alfred Angelo yesterday. "We" being my MoH Rachel and my BM Sarah. That was an interesting experience! We did bridesmaid dresses first and oh boy, did I think that was going to be a hellish adventure. We were trying to dress two drastically different body types and I didn't think we'd find something in one day. I'm very happy to report that I was WRONG! That doesn't happen very often, but in this case I'm glad it did.

They only tried on 11 dresses total, but I'm going to just post a couple of my favorites and the one Disney dress they tried.

Rachel started with my favorite dress that I'd seen online. She hated it but she tried it on for me anyway. You can tell by her face that she still hated it. It comes in red so I might go order one for myself for engagement pictures... This one was from Alfred Angelo's Modern Vintage bridesmaids line.

This one is one of the Disney Maidens dresses. Rachel wanted to try it on and we were happily surprised that it wasn't anywhere near as short as it looks on the model online, but I didn't like it. It just looked like a party dress to me, not something for a wedding. Sorry Rachel!

This one was ALMOST the one. I absolutely loved it and so did they, but I think it's just way too formal of a look for my wedding. This says "formal evening wedding" whereas mine is "afternoon tea party" so... Sadly I had to rule it out.

This is one that Rachel pulled, and it actually ended up being the one! It has the right length, it's chiffon which I love, and it looked great on both of them. Sarah wasn't on board until we tried it on with crinoline underneath though- that REALLY made the dress and it was just the look I was going for! I'm so excited.

Here's without crinoline.

Here's with. I don't want it quite this puffy, so we'll take out one of the crinoline layers, but this gives the right idea for the shape!

I'm really excited and relieved that we found something that worked so well for both of them. They're going to look amazing! Even more than usual. I'm just hoping my other bridesmaid likes it. I know it'll look great on her too.

After a quick run to Starbucks for a little break (I just tried the mocha coconut frappuccino, omg delicious!) we came back in to try my dresses. That was a LOT more overwhelming! Again, I'm only posting a few, but I tried on about 9 or 10 total. Of the Disney dresses, I tried on the poofy Tiana, the drop waist Jasmine, the Belle, the Cinderella 205, and the Snow White. I've always admired the Cinderella 205 dress but it did absolutely nothing for my figure. Snow White is the same fit so it did just as little. The Jasmine was amazing but it just wasn't me. I really did like it though. I wanted to try the really really big Sleeping Beauty but they didn't have it anywhere near a size I could squeeze into. Oh well, it wasn't mean to be! I had her pull it out so I could look at it anyway and it was VERY pretty, especially the bodice.

Here's the Tiana I tried. It was so pretty and oh my gosh does that dress sparkle so much in person! No picture I've seen does that thing justice. It just didn't have the soft skirt I was looking for, and I don't like the fabric it's made of. It feels like plastic, kind of like a rain coat. Not my thing. It was pretty to look at though.

This is the Belle. It was very pretty and I loved what it did for my waist! It was just SO HEAVY. It was easily the heaviest dress I tried on all day and I just can't imagine spending 12+ hrs in it. Completely impractical.

This is one from AA's Sapphire line that I've been drooling over for the past couple of months. I love the lace and how soft and delicate it looks. When I tried it on though, I realized I need sparkle and this dress had zero. It was a good thing to figure out though. I know you can always add sparkle with accessories, but that just won't do for me.

This one WOULD HAVE been the one had I not found the other dress. This was such a close second, I had to stand in the mirror for like 10 minutes analyzing it before I put the other dress back on to be sure. It has a lot of sparkle that this picture just doesn't show, but it was absolutely beautiful and I felt great in it.

Here it is, finally- My dress. "The one." I'd been looking at this one on their site for the past year, always convinced that it would look terrible on me. When I went to the site a couple of days ago I noticed it wasn't there anymore- Oh no, it had been discontinued for fall! When I saw it in the store, I knew I had to try it on. It was ivory and corset back too, two things I really wanted. It was also in a size I could squeeze into (two sizes too small so it does look a bit awkward on here). This is the only dress that got me anywhere close to crying. It felt amazing, it was lightweight so I could wear it comfortably all day, it had sparkle in the skirt that this picture doesn't show well at all. Both my bridesmaids actually teared up when they saw me in it too. It was just perfect. I tried on some of the others after this one to be sure but when it came down to it, this was the one. I'm still in shock.

Oh, apparently I hit a sale too so I got $200 off! That was a great bonus. I can't wait til my actual dress comes in! And now that I have a dress picked out I can officially start looking at jewelry and a tiara to go with it. Yeah!

That's all for now, I'll update in 3 weeks after my PS. Thanks for reading!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

This update should not be read when hungry.

But seriously, excellent update.

lol! Thanks. I made myself hungry, actually, I should eat lunch!

 

[Deesknee]

Hi! I'm just following along & want to say how much I am enjoying. Your sons are very handsome. I married a computer geek too. but, now he works at a liquor store, which has it's benefits too. hehehe

I love your dress!!! you look so beautiful. So many times when I see the options brides have & then what they pick, I want to say...no...no... you look so much better in options #xyz. But you hit the nail on the head! It is beautiful on you!

Thanks for posting the photos & opinions of the food and especially the desserts. We are in the middle of picking what desserts we want for our Illuminations DP, your photos & opinions were helpful!

Wishing you enjoyment as you plan this stage of your life. Before you know it you will be celebrating your 25th wedding anniversary! So enjoy each day, each moment!

 

[Bewitch324]

Your dress is PERFECT on you! It is so figure flattering and looks GREAT on you!!!!

I love the bridesmaid dress you selected too! I think it will be perfect for your event. I agree with you, it looks better with some crinoline, but not quite as much as they had...

Can't wait to hear more...

Have a great day!
Brooke

 

[Nicsnick]

I admit I have not been on the dis! I spend all my time on Facebook! I LOVE your dress! I also love your BM dresses!

I have never been to the Yatchsman Stake house. It is on our to do list!

I will be better at following all your plans! Here, on Facebook and when I get to see you!!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Planning Session and menu tasting day! I'd been looking forward to this for so long, and of course it went by really fast.

We got to Franck's at 9am for our planning session with our planner, Chrissy. She was a few minutes late so we looked around. I was really nervous because I've heard she's fairly new, and I find it really hard to warm up to most people when I first meet them. This is the woman that's in charge of my wedding, I was terrified that we weren't going to like each other or understand each other at all.

But....

She was awesome!! When she got there, we went into the Merriweather room.

This was on the table. Of course, I took it home with me and I'll be saving it for a future wedding scrapbook.

We sat down and started going over things. We started talking about venue times, outside vendors, transportation, things like that. She asked us about things we were and weren't planning on having- Cindy's Coach, Major Domo, staged exit, ushers, things like that. She also talked to us about preferred times and locations for our rehearsal venue if the Wedding Pavilion isn't available. She went over music with us and asked if we had a preferred DJ.

Somewhere in that, Alec reminded me that I had a folder with all my inspiration pictures printed out to give to her. Oops! She said she was really happy about it and hadn't had a bride give her something like that before. I know I've heard quite a few girls on these boards do it (that's where I got the idea from!) so if she was serious, I guess that really speaks to how new she is. Either way, she was really happy to have that and it seemed to make communicating my vision for the reception a heck of a lot easier!

Oh, and of course I won't forget the cake tasting! We requested some of the non-standard flavors.

We had yellow, chocolate, marble, almond, lemon, and orange cakes. For fillings, we had buttercream, dark chocolate, white chocolate, passion fruit, raspberry, Bavarian cream, orange, lemon, Bailey's, amaretto, and amaretto crunch.

We tried a LOT of different combinations, of course. The passion fruit was a lot more mild than I was expecting, and the raspberry was very sour. The buttercream made my teeth hurt, I think having that on the outside of the cake will be more than enough! I really liked lemon on lemon, but Alec didn't, so we didn't go with it. We have a 3 tier cake and for our flavors we decided on almond cake with amaretto crunch for the bottom (that was AMAAAAAAZING, by far my favorite and Alec loved it too), chocolate with Bailey's mousse filling for the middle layer (I usually hate chocolate cake but that was a great combo), and yellow cake with raspberry filling for the top. Neither of us really liked it very much though, so I think we'll end up changing it once we've made a decision on something else. I'm thinking either carrot cake with cream cheese or yellow cake with Bavarian cream and strawberries. Something safe since we didn't taste either of those.

After we were done with cake, Chrissy said goodbye and it was time to meet with Michelle, our floral person. She was really nice, too. We talked about everything, of course. Personal floral for us as well as people I'd forgotten about- Alec's parents and our poor kids! I never thought about giving them baby bouts but how cute would that be?? They're getting little silk Stephanotis! We talked about decor for the ceremony and she was completely honest if we were unsure about something and she thought we didn't really need it- no trying to make more money off of the confused girl, I really appreciated it! We talked about decor for everything, of course. If I wasn't sure about something she would pull up pictures on the computer, and a couple of times she even went out to the displays inside Franck's and grabbed things to show me. It was great! She pulled out linen swatches for things I was undecided on, and I have to admit it was kind of fun to play with them! I also gave her a folder of pictures and she was really good about writing down notes on them as well as in her notebook.

That was over before I knew it, and then we were done. We actually finished half an hour early, so we drove over to the Poly since GF's self-parking sucks and we didn't want to stay parked at the WP all day. My maid of honor, Rachel, was meeting us for the tasting, so we monorailed over to the GF to meet her. Alec isn't very vocal with his opinions and I really needed someone I knew would help me decide on food and help me make decisions. I knew I could count on her to be 100% honest. Anyway, we met her and had her monorail back to the Poly with us. I thought it was the perfect time to have her try some Dole Whip, so we headed over to Captain Cook's. She loved it, of course.

We had some time to kill, but it was raining outside so we sat around chatting for a while. Eventually the rain died down and we walked over to the Wedding Pavilion because I wanted Rachel to see it. There was a wedding about to start, though, so she didn't get to go in. We were getting close to our tasting time so we walked over to the convention center building. Chrissy wasn't going to be there with us for some reason, but she told us we would be meeting someone named Jose. As we walked into the convention building, someone followed us in and I looked at his name tag- Jose! He said he'd actually followed us over all the way from the WP, kind of creepy! He was really nice though.

Tasting will be in a new post. Stay with me!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

So, we followed Jose back to the kitchen. This was what we walked in to:

Of course, we had to take the usual marquee picture too.

First, we looked at napkin folds. We decided on the Birds of Paradise.

I actually think napkin folds are kind of silly, but some of our guests might be amused by it! Haha.

Anyway, here's where the FOOD comes in!! (By the way, I think our Chef's name was Martha, but I'm not 100% sure! She was very soft-spoken and we were all struggling to hear her over all the noise of the kitchen.)

First up was the Grilled Shrimp Gazpacho.

It wasn't what any of us were expecting. I don't know exactly what anyone else expected, but I assumed it would be a pale colored, creamy broth. This broth was almost like salsa made into soup. You know what? It was REALLY delicious!! It was my favorite of the 3 pre-reception foods we tried. We'll definitely be serving it. Alec and Rachel really liked it too!

Next was the bacon-crusted beef and blue cheese with balsamic sun-dried tomato pesto.

This was the one I was most excited to try, but I ended up liking it the least. The flavor wasn't bad, but it was really greasy and tasted like a meat lover's pizza from Pizza Hut to me. That might sound odd, but it was the absolute first thing my mind associated it with and I'd say it's pretty accurate. We won't be serving this. I'm thinking of replacing it with either the Thai beef salad in a wonton cup, or the bacon wrapped scallop in a Thai sugar glaze, but we're not sure yet. Rachel really liked this, and Alec didn't have much of an opinion. Good thing the bride always wins!

Next up were the strawberry soup shooters.

This was good. A little sour, a little sweet, very thick and creamy. I'd compare it to drinking strawberry yogurt, only a little more thin than that. It was good, but not great and I don't think we'll be serving it. Rachel thought it was okay but not great also, and again Alec didn't have much of an opinion.

Next, we had the Creamy Parmesan and Champagne Risotto topped with Crab Gremolata.

This was amazing. The texture was creamy and smooth and the flavor was delicious. It was a hit with all 3 of us.

Grown-up Truffle Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster Meat Salad was next.

This was really good too! The flavor was amazing, and I loved the diced bell pepper in it that gave it not only a crunchy texture contrast, but of course another delicious flavor that added to the dish. In one word? Yum! Our only complaint, and this was unanimous, was that we felt it needed more of a cheese flavor to it. We're all cheese lovers so the cheese part of mac n cheese is important to us. The chef said she would add a little more sauce and the cheese should come out more. I hope so, but even if it doesn't the dish was still very good and I'm sure my guests will be happy with it.

Needless to say, both of those will be in our Martini Action Station, along with the Yukon Gold Potatoes topped with Aged Cheddar, Chive Sour Cream,
and Crisp Prosciutto that we didn't feel we needed to taste.

For our last 3 items, we chose to taste all 3 of our entrees. My only complaint was that we didn't get the big, full-sized portions that most people on the boards seem to get. It didn't matter really for the beef or fish, but I found it hard to get a taste for the chicken with only 2 bites of it. Anyway, here come the entrees.

Parmesan-crusted Chicken Breast with Mushroom Cream & Parsley

This wasn't bad, and the breading of the chicken definitely had a very nice crunch to it. Something about it was just off and I didn't really get to taste enough to figure out what it was that I wasn't happy with. Rachel felt about the same as I did, and again I'm really not sure what Alec thought. We'll probably serve it anyway because it wasn't bad, I'm just going to have the sauce served on the side.

Three Peppercorn and Whole Grain Mustard Rubbed Beef Strip Loin with
Caramelized Red Onion Compote and Gorgonzola Cheese Fondue.

This was really good. Beef has more of a flavor overall so I was able to cut my pieces smaller and really play with the different flavors and combinations with the sauce and compote and still get the beef flavor with it. The red onion compote was sweet, but not unpleasantly so. The gorgonzola was too strong for Alec and Rachel, but I absolutely loved it! I also liked mixing both the sauces and getting a bit of each with a bite of the beef. The fondue cut the sweetness of the compote and the compote made the fondue a much more mild flavor, I thought they complimented each other very well! I wasn't as aware of the mustard as I was the other two items, but it was good when I could taste it. I'm very happy with this choice. The fondue and compote will both be served on the side, and the meat is rubbed with the mustard and then carved at the carving station.

Last up is the Quick- fried Red Snapper with Passion Fruit Beurre Blanc. She served it with sea salt veggies on the side.

This was my all-time favorite dish of the whole tasting. I was actually very nervous about this one, and we only chose it because we didn't like the sound of any of the other fish options on the menus. I'm so so so glad we did! It was moist enough on the inside, crispy on the outside but not overly so, and the passion fruit sauce was mild and enhanced the flavor without sticking out on its own. The veggies were also very tasty- This was the first time I've ever enjoyed asparagus. Rachel doesn't like zucchini and she usually doesn't like fish much either, and Alec really doesn't like zucchini or squash, or asparagus. Well, all 3 of us cleaned our plates on this one! I was so impressed and I'm really looking forward to enjoying this again at the wedding.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

That was the end of the planning day, it went by so fast! I do have a few other updates though.

We changed our dessert party venue (again) two days before our planning session. I finally saw IllumiNations for the first time recently, and I really didn't enjoy it. So, as much as I would have liked my guests to have that in-park experience, I felt it was more important to me to share Wishes with them. I love Wishes, it always makes me cry, and I feel that the wedding is a perfect example of what Wishes means. So we're now having our DP at Sago Cay Pointe. This also means we can have outside photo and video now so I'm extra excited!

I got my tiara for the wedding while I was in MK a couple of weeks ago. I don't have a picture on hand and it's late right now, but I'll post one next time (if I remember). I'm stumped as far as jewelry goes but I have a while to decide. I ordered some really cute shoes but not sure yet if I'll be using them or not. We'll see. if I decide to keep them I'll post a picture of those too.

I'd hope I've mentioned by now that I booked the lovely Regina Hyman for our wedding photography. Well she and her husband have recently opened a photobooth business, Fun Fotos Photo Booths. I was planning on having a photo booth at the reception anyway, but that solved my dilemma on who to use! Their booth looks great, the price is right, and they really seem to offer a lot more options than the other booths I was looking at. I'm really excited!

I have my deposit down with Trinity Wedding Cinema for our videography. I fell in love with their style after watching a fellow DisBride's video. It was exactly what I was looking for! They've been very friendly, I just wish they didn't insist on using the phone to communicate so often. Don't they know some of us are terrified of phone calls!? I'm really excited to have them do our video though, because I know it's going to be beautiful and I'll look to this video for the rest of my life when I want to relive my wedding day.

After much debate, we decided to just go with 'Ohana for our rehearsal dinner. The food is amazing, I get to drink out of a pineapple, and we can all wear fun tropical clothes! I think it'll work just fine.

I dragged my lazy *** out of bed at 7am on our 180-day mark and managed to snag the Chef's Table at Victoria and Albert's for our honeymoon, for the day we're hoping to be able to do our Magic Kingdom shoot on. I'm really excited, I thought for sure I wouldn't get it. It's something I wanted to do but I think Alec is looking forward to it even more than I am.

Speaking of the Magic Kingdom shoot, we've gotten really frustrated with Disney photography. I know they're busy and all, but we've called and left messages at least once a month since we signed our contract, and I've also emailed them twice, and we've never heard back from them. Thankfully, Chrissy brought it up at our PS and she's going to email Dara herself and find out about availability for the date we want. She can't officially schedule us yet since we're not using Disney for photography, but she said Dara should at least be able to make a note of it for now. Yay, Chrissy! Hopefully we hear back on that soon.

I think that's all my updates for now, and it's bed time anyway. I hope you enjoyed!

 

[LyndsayJ]

Everything looks great so far! Your dress is beautiful!

I also have Chrissy! Finally someone who shares a planner with me!

I actually have her a book of picture-inspiration as well...so here saying no one has before....