Caryn's Notes on Lindsay's TR...because really, some things are just better from the Matron of Honor's perspective...
After a brief altercation at MCO with some jerk that wouldn't let me get to my luggage, we headed down to Miami to see one of my girls from college and to hang out at the Loews....
Mark and I ventured over to WDW from Miami sometime on Friday morning. The whole way on the FL turnpike I was texting certain Disbrides to make sure they picked up some "special" decorations that I had planned for the weekend...
Mark driving...
a side note...mark wouldn't let me drive that car ONCE on this trip which i thought was really mean and uncalled for.
After making tentative plans to meet up with my parents at CSR, we checked into SSR for our stay. I was underwhelmed with SSR, I love the BW and the Poly, but couldn't get reservations for wedding weekend...I couldn't help but think that SSR (formerly Disney University) was where I did my WDWCP lifeguard training and it was throwing me off the whole weekend. The very cool thing though, was seeing the treetop things that are opening soon. They look amazing and I want to stay there for marathon weekend 2010...but i digress...
We went over to CSR to see the 'rents and then because we were STARVING we went to Olive Garden for some snacks. All I have to say about that dinner was THANK GOD FOR THE IPHONE FAST FOOD APP. I know for a fact that it was responsible for preventing several cases of blocked arteries and unnecessary weight gain during that meal. phew...I myself ate fettucine alfredo with that toscana soup stuff and a boatload of breadsticks (marathon training is GREAT for overindulging...).
Lindsay was jealous of my vaseline so I said, "FINE! I will allow you to be photographed with it."
Apparently, the several glasses of wine she had with dinner (ok fine. ONE glass of wine) wasn't enough and she wanted to get lit, so we headed over to the Poly for drinks with Chris and his boys.
mark and I
self pics are super fab
I stalked Chris to make sure it was really him and NOT some impostor...
OK, for real, Chris's friend Ryan's friend was hilarious. His drinking hat for the evening was mickey ears. PRICELESS!
the vaseline-out for a night on the town
the boys and their coconuts
the tux that chris happened to be carrying around with him in a bar...
I had the blue drink which was "eh," so I donated it to Chris (along with my commemorative cup, which he stole for me later) and Mark and I left to hit the hot tub and get up for a super smashing day in the morning...
SATURDAY
Rehearsal Day, MGM, EPCOT and the SUPER POPULAR NFL Draft (what IS that thing anyway???)
Seeing as how Lindsay was completely RUDE and didn't include us in her breakfast plans, I went ahead and made my own reservation. I'll show her!
Mark and I decided to delight the young breakfast party with our presence so we calmly strolled into O'Hana and said "Hey" before we headed to Kona Cafe for our OWN meal (which lindsay was NOT invited to. SO THERE!).
The rehearsal was next, so we hopped in the rental and headed over to the WP...these pictures are boring and you've seen them all anyway, so I'll leave mine out. BTW-i do NOT have bridesmaid gift pictures, so anyone who does needs to send them to bridezilla-i mean lindsay...zilla asap.
I really wanted to go to MGM, the last time I was there I was in a pretty severe amount of pain after the 1/2, so we grabbed Megan and Ross and were on our way.
Megan and Ross
I was begging Mark to buy me some ice cream, which was really annoying him so he put his hand over my mouth which was REALLY RUDE!
don't worry...i got my ice cream. a pretzel. cheese sauce. and a frozen lemonade later.
We went on all my faves, TSM, ToT, RRC...then we headed over to EPCOT/Japan for the RD...
the "happy" bride to be
the happier couple
my husband being serenaded Happy Birthday
his cake
the japanese rendition of "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands" was GREAT!
The RD was lovely! I think we all ate the same thing though...teriyaki chicken...The conversation was great (the NFL draft of course), but then it was time to go. There were a few other Disbrides in the vicinity and I heard a rumor that they were stalking us so we went outside to take a look
and a self pic
and another pic!
then the husbands got jealous...
so we took one of them too...
it was late and i was tired and i suspected a bit sunburned as well, so it was time to head in. we drove lindsay from the BW to the front of EPCOT and then headed back to SSR for hot tub time and to make sure I had all of my wedding gear packed for the next day.
a sad note...
when we got back, my mom called to tell us that Bea Arthur died! We are huge Golden Girls fans (there is even a pic of Bea hanging in our restaurant)! so we were sad...This is also weird, because the day before our wedding, Heath Ledger died...
a memorial to Bea.
I awoke bright and early the next morning and hit the shower. It was 6:45 and i DID have a sunburn (from my time in Miami though) and it was killing me and I was in a bad mood. It was also my husbands 35th again birthday and I felt bad that I wasn't going to be able to spend it with him, but hey-those are the breaks!
I took a nice, long shower and got out at like 7:30...I looked at my phone to see that Lindsay had called me. Panic instantly arose and I was planning Chris's demise (WHY ELSE would she be calling me so early in the morning on her wedding day if he hadn't gotten cold feet and hopped a plane to cuba?????) but she didn't answer the phone and i was so frazzled that i burned a hole in my favorite dress by hair drying it dry (don't ask...) and i forgot to put on my eye cream so i was puff central in a dress that i had only brought as an emergency when she FINALLY picks up the phone as we're leaving SSR for the Grand. She had a rash. A bad rash. I panicked again, thinking of all the rash removing remedies that the Matron of Honor is supposed to know...but I came up blank and told her to have a drink. Phew. This day is starting off great.
We drive to the GF and i totally forget that you have to park in the middle of BFE if you don't want to valet. WHY do we not want to valet you might ask? BECAUSE MY HUSBAND SAID NO. So i have to lug a bridesmaid dress, 2 tote bags and a train case full of make up into the freaking grand floridian and i'm LATE and my sister and mother are yelling at me. Whatever. We drop the load of stuff off at Lindsay's room and head down to the GF Cafe to play nice with the family...
Now, I'll preface this next part by saying that we own a restaurant. And I completely understand that "things happen" BUT MY FATHER MADE THIS VERY LARGE RESERVATION MONTHS AGO AND THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREPARED. so certain things are unacceptable. Let me take this opportunity to name them...
1. hair in food...
2. not bringing out the matron of honor's OJ...
3. having the same dish look three different ways and including three different side items-totally different from the "menu."
4. including toast on somethings that toast is supposed to come with and not including it in other things that toast is supposed to come with.
6. forgetting to bring out the matron of honor's biscuit.
5. trying to pull a fast one the day before by saying that they "lost" the reservation. please. only disney can get away with such bad service and still be in business.
but i digress...
pics from the "breakfast"
excuse the hair, i couldn't do anything with it in anticipation of beaute speciale making me look fabulous later on that day...(do notice the puffy eyes though, i blame that all on the rash)
lindsay and chris, looking stunned and not so pleased that they were the center of attention...HA! just wait till later this day...
my 1/2 eaten mickey waffle that was RAW in the middle. how do you mess up a waffle?
for some reason everyone wanted to see the WP so we took a walk over there after we "ate."
they were setting up for some huge event near the beach, there were chairs and tables everywhere. later on that day i told some nosey woman in the hall that those chairs were for us. she gave me a nasty look. i guess that's because the corporate logo for "ISTOCK" was plainly visible...oops!
the sign at the WP
and now i shall leave you...another update coming soon (lindsay get on it...i have more to write!)