JaxTeach's PJ-- SBP/CG/UK Upper December 14, 2007 *After Wedding Update 12/15*

[JaxTeach]

We are planning our DFTW for December 14, 2007. We are having an Intimate/Escape wedding. We moved our date from next December due to the upcoming price increase so I feel really behind in our planning. I have never been interested in having a wedding, but I am really getting into our wedding planning! Since I am a teacher, I look forward to having this as a summer project.

We were engaged on Castaway Cay on March 24, 2007 during our cruise on the Disney Wonder. As DF and I have lived together for 4+ years and never discussed the issue, I was shocked. When we returned to FL we kept everything quiet until we chose a ring, which I love.

When we first told our parents about getting married we had no idea what we wanted to do. We jokingly talked about Disney and laughed because it would be super expensive. But I was curious. I started researching the cost of weddings in general. Then I researched a DFTW and it didn't seem so far fetched. Luckily once we decided to move the wedding up a year our date was available and I became super planner.

We are both elated to be having our wedding at Disney World. We are both lifelong Floridians (for the most part). DF was a CP at MGM Studios. My brother is a CM at Animal Kingdom. (And I've threatened to go serve ice cream during my summers many times!) Since DF and I met we have gone to Disney at least one time a month sometimes more. We are definitely a Disney family. It seems like a perfect choice for us.

We are having an intimate with a lot of extras. Since it's my 30th birthday, I'm sort of throwing that into the celebration. Here is the plan so far:

Date: December 14, 2007
Colors: navy blue and platinum
Ceremony Location: Sea Breeze Point
Officiant: Rev. Jack Day
Photographer: Randy Chapman, MK Photo Shoot, Epcot Honeymoon Portraits
Videographer: STVS
Dinner: California Grill Sonoma Room
Illuminations DP: Morocco
Cake: Chocolate 2 tier w/ peanut butter cup filling
Bouquet: French hand tied w/ bright orange roses
Honeymoon: *OFFICIAL* 8 days in Paris; Christmas at Disneyland Paris

 

[JaxTeach]

Here are some pictures of what I've done so far.

Engagement Ring:

Wedding Dress: (My dress will be ivory, not white.)

Flower Girl Dress:

Cakes: I saved these from the boards, I'm sure they belong to someone I just don't know who!

,

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Flowers: I love orange for some strange reason. We saw some orange roses at Epcot last weekend and I fell in love!

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Centerpiece: I am not crafty, but I've been inspired by so many of you on the boards. So this is my first attempt.

Invitations:

Programs:

We are working on favors and welcome bags. I have a lot left to do, but wanted to share what we have so far.

 

[4luvofthemouse]

Congratulation!
Everything sounds amazing so far! You've been really busy, were getting married
Dec 29th and I haven't done half of what you've done...lol
I love your programs & invites, you did a great job,Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[gillian1926]

sounds great so far....so you are having an intimate wedding??? who is your coordinator and how did you get peanut butter mousse? I have begged my WC for it and she said no....Im jealous.

congratulations and looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

yay! love reading about fellow Intimate brides and their planning. subscribing! congratulations!

 

[purplegirl247]

Doesn't sound like you're too far behind at all! Your story sounds pretty similar to mine: DH and I had been together for 4 1/2 years before we got engaged and I didn't think I would be too into the wedding planning at all. By the end, I was having a great time, in large part to the friendliness, advice, and crafty ideas to "steal" from fellow Disers!

Keep up the great work; it sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this already. And the honeymoon to Europe with a stop off at Disney sounds heavenly!

 

[Sparkles9306]

I love your invitations!

You are definitely not behind. You have more done than I do, and my wedding is in October!

Congrats, and can't wait to hear more details!

 

[JaxTeach]

sounds great so far....so you are having an intimate wedding??? who is your coordinator and how did you get peanut butter mousse? I have begged my WC for it and she said no....Im jealous.

congratulations and looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

That is the thing that frustrates me to no end with DFTW! I cannot understand why some WP's allow things that others won't. I asked last week about the peanut butter cup filling and was told yes. I hope that my WP knows what I am referring to or I will be so upset!

 

[stitchfan18]

I love your invitations too! I just got a bunch of Disney invitation samples in the mail yesterday, but wasn't very impressed with them. I love yours so much, where did you order them from?

 

[JaxTeach]

I love your invitations too! I just got a bunch of Disney invitation samples in the mail yesterday, but wasn't very impressed with them. I love yours so much, where did you order them from?

I made them myself. I ordered plain ivory invitations from the Gartner Outlet http://www.gartneroutlet.com/Wedding.html . I paid $30 for 50 of them (but I've seen the kits for a lot less at Jo Ann's, Office Depot, etc.). The kit includes the invite, response card, and the envelopes for each. I found the Mickey image on the DIS creative board-- they are awesome! I found the invitation wording online and voila! Inexpensive original invitations. The Gartner website also has a place to download a Word template for each invitation style. We are inviting a little over 20 people knowing that some will not make it. So now we will have some blank invitations left over to make announcements with to send out on our wedding day.

I'm so glad you all like them! I couldn't bring myself to spend $150 on invitations of which half would be stored in the attic. This way I can have invites and announcements.

 

[Maddiesmum03]

love your dress, and the way your flower girl dresses reflect yours. Congratulations on all your planning so far. Can I ask, how soon are you sending out your invites? We are not getting married until next May, but I sort of planned to wait until after Christmas to send them out, perhaps this is too late.

 

[AbbyPan]

hi there! your flower girl looks so cute That dress compliments yours very well. Congrats!

 

[JaxTeach]

love your dress, and the way your flower girl dresses reflect yours. Congratulations on all your planning so far. Can I ask, how soon are you sending out your invites? We are not getting married until next May, but I sort of planned to wait until after Christmas to send them out, perhaps this is too late.

Thanks! I like the way our dresses compliment each other as well.

I will be sending out my invitations two months ahead of the wedding (so October for me). I've already sent "Save the Dates" to people I expect will be able to attend so they can take time off work and schedule travel. Those same people will receive the formal invitation in October. People who I know cannot make it to the wedding will receive an announcement that we will mail out on our wedding day.

I'm also toying with the idea of sending a newsletter out this summer to the people I expect to come. I've seen some great ideas on the boards. I want to give my guests as much information as I can (where to stay, our schedule of events on the wedding day, etc.).

 

[lajones81]

Love, love, love your dress! I can't wait to read more!

 

[JaxTeach]

So on my first day of summer freedom I chose to make our first wedding newsletter. I borrowed some of the wording and ideas from other DISer's newsletters. We have family and friends coming from Alabama, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Some have been to Disney World once or twice in the past. I've included lodging information for both on and off property resorts. There is information about transportation from MCO for those who fly. I listed ticket information for the Disney theme parks as well as Universal and Sea World. I also put in a note that our guests can begin booking Disney dining in June.

This newsletter will go out in mid-June along with Save the Date magnets I've decided to make. The plan is to send a second newsletter in October with more details.

Page 1

Page 2

 

[JaxTeach]

My dress came in earlier this week along with the "accessories." I am glad it has arrived, but I am concerned about leaving it in my house inside the garment bag. I don't want it to discolor or anything. I really like it and think it definitely suits my style.

I ordered the Swarovski Belle jewelry back on Memorial Day weekend. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It is beautiful, but I don't think it is really my style. Since my dress is a halter, the necklace makes the top look a bit busy. I do like the bracelet. I called the Swarovski outlet and they have Mickey cufflinks that I am considering getting for DF. The only problem is that I cannot find a picture of them anywhere so I don't know what they look like. I guess if we don't like them, there's always eBay!

My wedding ring also came in this week. We haven't ordered DF's yet as he just wants a plain white gold band. He's not sure about the width yet. He doesn't wear jewelry so that makes sense. I also wanted a plain band, but my e-ring setting towers over them.

Wedding Ring w/ E-ring

Today I received the hoodies I ordered for my niece (flower girl) and me. I found a lady on eBay who was willing to "customize" her embroidery for me. I think they turned out really cute!

Front of Hoodies:

Back of Hoodies:

We ordered the Mickey dress and matching shirt for us to wear to our welcome dinner at 'Ohana.

Dress:

Shirt:

I had a phone conference with Rosie Tuesday afternoon. She had some wonderful ideas for us. I really started to see what SBP would look like for our ceremony. She sent along a picture (below) that I love of SBP decorated. I think the site is beautiful on it's own, but I like the simple additions in the picture (especially the rose petals in the aisle). We are having a sand ceremony and a memorial candle for our grandparents so we will need 2 small tables. I think we will go with small centerpieces for our dinner @ CG and DP. Rosie had some cute ideas of things to do with candles. I had originally planned to do our centerpieces myself and didn't budget for any floral really. It looks like to do what I discussed with Rosie, I will spend about $700. DF and I also decided to go with dark lavender flowers for my bouquet.

SBP Decorated:

Lavender Bouquet (we want a darker lavender):

 

[JaxTeach]

My mom came into town last night and we had big plans to do some wedding shopping and planning. We made an innocent stop at David's Bridal to look for a dress for my mom. I decided to check out dresses while waiting for a storm to blow over. My dress came in a couple of weeks ago and I'm not exactly going crazy over it. I ordered ivory and I don't think it looks so great on me. So I ended up trying on 3 new dresses today. I thought I really wanted a pick-up skirt, but then I started wanting a train...maybe white and not ivory...

Long story short, I'm considering exchanging my current dress for one of the three new ones I tried today. These are all lousy photos so forgive me!

Here is my current dress and I'm just not loving it (sorry for the blur-- self-photography):

New dress #1:

New dress #2:

New dress #3:

Any thoughts on which dress works better? I don't want to be a three dress bride so I thought I'd ask for opinions this time!

 

[jodeeluvsdisney]

ooooo...I hate to say it but I love the last two dresses!! I'm sure that doesn't help, but I do! Oh, wait, I like the 1st new one too...ugh! (You look really happy in the last one!) I just know I'm going to have the same problem when I go shopping for a dress..

See what others think... Good Luck!

 

[Tabetha]

I must say, I think new dress number one is particularly pretty on you!

 

[Glorydaz]

Long story short, I'm considering exchanging my current dress for one of the three new ones I tried today. These are all lousy photos so forgive me!

Here is my current dress and I'm just not loving it (sorry for the blur-- self-photography):

New dress #1:

New dress #2:

New dress #3:

Any thoughts on which dress works better? I don't want to be a three dress bride so I thought I'd ask for opinions this time!

I am really loving number ONE but I'm drawn to the ivory color . I also love number 3 because it looks so soft, wispy and Princess like! is it as light as it looks? most important, which one struck you when you tried it on?

Michelle