Except there are a few things I am going to post on here that I would not want people on that board to read :)
As you know, we went to Florida from July 14th-18th for our planning session.Here is what I wrote on our first day of the trip:
We are here! Planning session time in the stickiest place on earth, I mean, Happiest Place on Earth. I was on the plane yesterday talking to the lady next to me, as I usually do (I talk to everyone) and she asked me why we were going to Florida. I told her for our planning session. She got me all excited and I was officially in wedding mode again. I even bought two bridal magazines....which turned out to be a waste because it was mostly about finding the right dress, forming the guest list, reception locations, etc all of which I have already. Oh well, $12.42 down the drain but it killed some time.
We were on Frontier Airlines and I had planned on sleeping but we were in front of the exit row where the seats don't recline, but of course the people in front of us reclined. It was so tight. I bought the TV service and wound up getting sucked into Cold Case which was fabulous but then I started watching 16 and Pregnant. Um, I wound up sobbing on the plane as the teen gal gave up her baby. I have issues. We got to the airport, and headed to the Magical Express, "an air conditioned motor coach" as they put it. The person guiding us to the AC Motor Coach was from Kiowa-a small town right near where we live. We had to get a picture!
We were thankful for the AC. It was pouring, but soon it was over. We checked in to Saratoga and thought we would just hang out but I said heck, we are here, lets redeem our annual passes (although I really wanted to wait until December) but it would have killed me not to go to the parks. Here are our passes. We thought we would get some hardcore plastic passes with our picture on them. Nope, just paper lame ass tickets. Bryan does not like Pluto so he was not happy. I am ok with Minnie.
At the counter I asked if they had buttons for us, because I am an attention whore and love the buttons. He said, "Did you just get engaged?" Um, 6 months ago but close enough, so he gave us those. So many people congratulated us. I told Bryan I would be rockin' the button the whole trip and he said he knows I would. We already have the Just Married pins in prep of the wedding. The day after the wedding I told Bryan he should wear a birthday button (since it is his birthday) and a Just Married pin. I said I would wear my Just Married pin and a "I'm Celebrating" pin. I am all about the flair.
My good friend still works at the Studios so we went to meet him which was so great. I adore him and I was so happy Bryan got to meet him. It was his first time seeing my ring, and he said Geez! You can't even see where the Titanic hit it. It was sweet. So many people have commented on my ring down here which is weird to me, but it is very sweet. Bryan has even got a few high fives and "Good Job Man!" Here is Jason and me:
After walking around we went to Sci Fi dinner theater. Bryan did not think he would dig it, I told him the atmosphere was so cool and he is obsessed with cars, so he would like it. I did not think we could get in by walking up but sure enough, it was a 20 minute wait. I think the buttons helped :) Bryan thought it was amazing and I just love it there. We weren't scared although we look it here.
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I can't believe it came and went already. The wedding is fast approaching. I am trying not to think about it because I know I will be sad when it is over, but time sure is flying!
Thursday: E-pics day. Ana came over at 3 and did my hair and makeup. Loved her and how I looked although my sister said I have "hooker eyes." I think it is far too dark for the wedding, but it was fine for engagement pictures:
It downpoured the entire time we were getting ready. I was hoping it would cool it off since it was so hot. It rained and rained, and our photographer Jenn called and asked if we should do it another time. We said we would have lots of umbrella pics if needed. I was not going to try and reschedule this. We met her at 6 and it was drizzling at Epcot. I had no idea what to expect with her. She was very sweet but she was far more artistic than what we are used to. So many pictures will be of us kissing and staring off the distance. We tried so hard not to laugh. We kept thinking WHAT are we looking at? I had to ask her for pictures of us with the Epcot ball in the background and she said most clients do not want that. Well, we do. I also had to ask if we could do some smiling ones. On our way to the Boardwalk, it downpoured again. She was a little upset that we had an outfit change and that the clothes we were going to change into were with the bellhop in a suitcase. We raced to get changed, and we took some pics in the candy shop, and a ton of us standing on a bench which I do not understand at all. We can't wait to see what the pics look like! We went with one photographer for the e-pics and the Roots for the wedding. I wanted to spice it up a bit! After that we went to House of Blues at Downtown Disney. Of all the days, it was the coolest so I am SO grateful. I would have died otherwise.
Friday: Planning session. We get to the Boardwalk since Francks was closed. Sadness. I do love the Boardwalk though. It reminds me of the shore.
In the midst of eating my bagel, our planner Maxine tells me not to eat too much because of the food tasting. I said the food tasting was not until 2:30. I pull out my binder, which she tells me is the biggest binder ever and that I killed so many trees because of it
. I am a visual person so I had to have it all together. Looking back, I did not need it at all. I show her the planning session tab and the email I got (since she said "Don't you ever read anything I send you?") which said, tasting at 2:30. She said it was incorrect-it would have been that way if we had to travel from Franck's to the Boardwalk but since we were at the Boardwalk it would be earlier. So since so much was already done over the phone, we just went through some things. I did not realize the Grand Floridian has table covers and centerpieces they include if you just ask, so I nixed the gel candles and saved $500 bucks. We got rid of chicken from the BBQ and saved $4 a person, and then we added in the Wishes soundtrack which I think we are going to nix, even though I was CERTAIN I was going to have it. After watching it without it from the GF area one night, we thought, do we really need to spend $500? Bryan’s call as his dad is paying for it. We got rid of the memorial candles, memorial floral arrangement, etc. Bryan wanted it originally in honor of his mom but then we realized we would be sad. We added more things on the tables so they aren’t so blah, I added the confetti cannons which I am sure I will have to get rid of. I was sure I wanted flowers down the aisle but then I decided against it after I saw the price. Carpet will be fine. We got rid of the limos and town cars so everyone can ride together in a Hummer. Not my style but Bryan liked it. Trying to think of what else… We had our food tasting, really cut back on the cocktail hour and just went with fruit. We tried so much food it was insane, then the cake, etc...Here we are with our chefs William and Wayne, and our server Shelly. All amazing, fabulous people:
After the tasting, Rose came in to work with us since my floral guy Warren was sick. I was SO bummed and I really wanted to meet him. Rose was awesome, we went over everything, she was just fabu. Her binder was as big as mine.
It went by so quick and nothing monumental happened. I was just sad that it was in a random room. I thought about switching to another hotel but I loved Wayne, the chef we had, and love the feel of the Boardwalk. I spent many times at the shore in New Jersey so it reminds me of being a kid.
Since our planning session ended way earlier than we thought, we went to a DVC meeting since we were sure we were going to do it. There was just a price increase and since so many people we know have it, we did not need a big presentation. Our lady was dumb and annoying -it takes a lot for me to say that. We priced it out and decided not to do it right now. We will see. We did get 3 Fastpasses each for going which was good since the ride waits were 100 minutes plus. Friday night we went to dinner with my friend, then went over to the Magic Kingdom since they had extra hours. Why on earth were parents bringing their kids in to the park at 1:45 am? Oh, and they were wondering why they were crying and cranky.
Saturday morning we went to AK with our fast passes to ride Everest and the Safari which had a huge wait when we got there but when we went to FP it, there was no wait which was weird. It was SO hot that day. After that, we went back to the hotel, showered and headed to see the Wedding Pavilion. Well, our monorail driver got shocked, so they shut down all the monorails and took ours off the track. Bryan said hey, that guys sweat stain is a hidden mickey....it kind of did look like one....
There was no time to see the WP since we had reservations at the castle. I was so bummed. We went to the castle and everyone told me it had changed so much. It was more princess like, and more for kids as you know. I was worried but oh my, I had the best time ever. We had a table by the window. We wore just engaged pins (although it had been a few months) and our waitress was from my old stompin grounds in Jersey. Loved her! She saw our pins, sprinkled our table with confetti, gave Bryan a sword, and I got a wand. It was fabulous! I love that stuff. Bryan asked Cinderella if she got tired of her job and in all seriousness she said, “Oh no, I just love making new friends!”
Snow White asked if we lived in a castle with clouds and if so, were we neighbors? Aurora asked if I met my Prince Charming, I said I guess which did not go over too well with B. Belle was the best. She saw my ring, said to Bryan, “Oh my. You must talk to Beast about ring shopping. You have good taste.” Very cute. I thought B would not dig the castle but we both love it. I loved the wand, and Bryan got a sword:
We tried making reservations for the wedding but it is totally sold out. I am thinking it might be busy during the wedding now. Ugh. Normally it is not but with the Mickeys Christmas Party I am thinking it might. We called for reservations ALL over-nothing available all week. I am so stressed.
After dinner, we decided to head back to the hotel after some shopping at the Emporium. I had to get pics with ears of course:
I had seen it before in 1999 when I worked there but it was different to me now knowing I was getting married there. Bryan loved it so that was great! We headed back to the GF and watched the fireworks from there.
Sunday we went to Downtown Disney and bought way too much stuff. Bryan got me the Disney Dooney and Burke purse I have wanted. I love it! Its is different than this, but close! I made sure Minnie was not cut off on mine!
We got a lot of pins, more display boxes for them, etc. My suitcase weighed 49lbs. We had a reservation at the TRex place so we went to Fultons for lunch instead. After that, it was off to the Magical Express and to the airport. I was so sad to see it end but it was nice to get back to no humidity!
