cosmolette
Dream Vacation Planner with ****
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2013
First off I want to say my husband and I are both huge Disney fans! After dating for a year, we took our first adult vacation, just the two of us (we left my son at home), and we visited Walt Disney World!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had soooooo much fun! I had an amazing time with my son OF COURSE, but I had no clue that as adults we could have so much fun at Walt Disney World.
After our first “adult” vacation, we continued our Disney tradition. On our third Disney trip together, at 2 years of dating, we did a 4 night cruise on the Disney Dream to Nassau and Castaway Cay. We immediately fell in love with not only DCL but the Disney Dream and CASTAWAY CAY! A true paradise!
THE PROPOSAL:
After our 4 days On the Disney Dream, we took the magical express to WALT DISNEY WORLD for 6 days! There we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, which was a VERY BEAUTIFUL resort! And HUGE! I loved the pull out kid beds even though we did not need it.
ANYWAY to make this long introduction shorter. On our second day at WDW on Friday September 13th after dinner at Ohana, we walked out to Look Out Point where my handsome man (soon to be fiancé) looked at me and said, “You know those bride and groom Mickey ears you keep saying we should get…well we might need to get those.” Then he got down on one knee and proposed! It was so sweet and so romantic.
THE PLANNING:
Once he proposed, I knew I wanted a Disney wedding! I also knew that I did not want to spend a fortune on ONE DAY! We both remembered seeing a bride and groom while on board the Disney Dream, so we did a little research, and we realized that we could get married on that little Island of paradise! And not only would we be paying for our special day, but also for a 4 night cruise AND it would only cost us a little over $6,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wedding alone cost us $4,000.00 for a Castaway Cay ceremony, pianist, cake cutting utensils, a 2 tier wedding cake with a Mickey and Minnie topper, champagne for 10 people ($20 extra per person over the 10 people) with a reception in Palo, my bouquet, and his boutonniere. WOW! WE WERE SOLD! So then and there we booked our magical wedding.
A few weeks after we booked our own magical wedding, I earned a new job with Pixie and Pirate Destinations as a Dream Vacation Planner specializing in Disney vacations. It was perfect timing!!!!!!!!!! I do not think we could've planned this trip so flawlessly without help from other experienced Disney brides. I was able to book all 18 of our guests and get the best tips on how to have a flawless, stress-free wedding.
THE DETAILS:
We had to pick 6 songs. 3 songs for the ceremony, which we had to pick from a list and a pianist, would play during the ceremony. Then we had to choose 3 songs for our reception. Our wedding coordinator said we could pick more to play during our reception since I was making a CD.
Now we had read somewhere that some airlines will allow you to place your gown with the pilots’ jackets….well not Jet Blue or Southwest, so I had my son and soon-to-be-husband pack their belongings in one BIG bag, while I used one medium bag for my clothes. Our favors went into another BIG bag. All three bags we checked upon arriving at the airport, and did not see them again until they arrived in our stateroom. Now for my gown and his beach “suit”, we used them as our carryon and stored those over head. Now what I did not know is that as a bride, I could’ve boarded first!
THE FAVORS:
Now this is a BEACH wedding, so I decided the perfect wedding favors would be beach bags. I got beach bags for each woman and then the men got to share. Each person got flip flops, sunglasses, and an eye patch for the pirate party after the wedding, lotion, and a lanyard that my mom made. Now I wish I would’ve gotten ponchos too because if it had rained on the wedding day, I would’ve had everyone buy them so I could still have a beach wedding.
THE CRUISE TO OUR WEDDING:
HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The day had finally come! After seven months of waiting and planning, we were finally ready to set sail! May 12th my finance (soon-to-be-husband), son, and I all headed to the Reagan International airport at 4am… UGH so early! We were all sporting our Disney shirts. I wore an “I’ll be your Minnie” tee shirt, and my fiancé wore his “I’ll be your Mickey” Tee. My son wore his “Pixie and Pirate Destinations” shirt ready to get to paradise.
We had 5 friends that met us at the airport and flew down with us. Our family all flew out of a separate airport. At 9am, we arrived at MCO in plenty of time to be on one of the first buses to Port Canaveral. I was able to once again store my dress overhead on the Magical Express. On the ride over to the port, the bus played a video explaining what to do once you arrive to the port and aboard the ship.
Once we got to the port, we got through security fairly quickly. The lines for check in were still short so that did not take long either. Since we were getting married on the cruise, we automatically got NUMBER 1!!!!!!!!!
WOOHOO! No waiting! As soon as they started boarding the ship, we got to hop up and RUN to the Disney Magic to begin our magical wedding cruise! Our
guests last number was 21 but it did not take long for them to board. We had just sat down with our lunch when they met up out on the deck. We rathered as many tables and chairs that we would need for all our guests to dine with us.
As soon as we boarded the ship, we were able to hand off our wedding attire to guest services. Our meeting with the onboard wedding coordinator was not till 3:30pm, so we had plenty of time to eat and tour the ship. At 3:30pm, we met up with our onboard wedding coordinator, Helen. Helen and her assistant Ron were absolutely amazing. Helen went over all the wedding details with us to double check everything. She, unfortunately, informed us that there was an 80% chance of rain on Wednesday, May 14th, our wedding day she said there were two spots onboard we could do the wedding, but the day of, we could decide what we wanted to do. Of course this bummed me out, and at that point, we decided if it rained, we were all buying ponchos!
When we made our way to our stateroom we were surprised to find a bunch of notes and gifts! We had a tray of chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, and a Disney weddings bag with two huge Disney wedding beach towels and robes and slippers. It was a pleasant surprise, and the surprises did not stop there! Every day we got chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room. One day we had a fruit and cheese platter, and another day we had cupcakes.
WEDDING DAY!
Wednesday, May 14th 2014 at 5:30am, my soon-to-be husband and I both popped out of bed and went out to the balcony. There it was!! Castaway Cay in the distance. We could see that large “tree” on the island. The sun was starting to rise and there wasn’t a rain cloud in the sky! We took our time discussing the day to come and preparing. At 7:30am, we headed up to deck 9 to have breakfast with the family.
It was such a nice, relaxing morning. The weather was gorgeous, and all was looking bright. We sat outside and looked over the end of the ship at Castaway Cay. Around 8:15am, I decided it was time to go do my hair and makeup.
The boys got dressed while I styled my hair. With a little help from my soon-to-be-husband, I got every piece of hair curled and pinned. My son took to being our photographer and got some really good shots. At 9am, my mom and aunt arrived to get me into my dress, and at that point, I kicked my soon-to-be-husband out because, of course, he couldn’t see my gown before I walked down the aisle.
My mother got me in the gown and laced up in 20 minutes…record time!
9:25, my soon-to-be-husband and all of our guests were due to meet in Keys. My dad and son waited in the stateroom with me. We were lucky enough to have a room on the left side of the ship. We were able to watch everyone load up on the trolley and drive away to the island.
I tried to get a few good photos from the balcony but did not want them to see me. I wore my bride robe over my gown just for extra precaution. After they drove off, I got a call from Helen that we were good to go, and she was headed to my room with my bouquet.
When we got off the ship, an adorable golf cart covered in flowers was waiting for us….my chariot. We drove out to the ceremony spot with people waving and yelling “Congratulations”, “you look beautiful”, and a child yelled “It’s a Princess” (that was my favorite).
Once we arrived to the ceremony, my son was So excited he darted down the aisle and right to my soon to be husband. Of course he was sent right back to me. My dad and my son walked me down the aisle to “I see the Light” played by a pianist.
I could not keep the grin off my face and I was glad I was wearing flip flops and not some gorgeous stilettoes I had dreamed of.
The scene was gorgeous, the sun was shining bright barely a cloud I the sky. The water in front of me was so crystal clear and blue. The Disney Magic sat in the background as a perfect backdrop to our Castaway Cay wedding.
Our closest friends and family sitting there watching and waiting for us to begin our happily ever after. There he was, waiting for me. My Prince Charming He looked so handsome in his white linen suit with a smile from ear to ear. I could not wait to start the rest of our lives.
The Bahamian Officiant started out the ceremony a little slow talking about marriage and what it means to fins your soul mate. As he went on Brett and I started to relax I kept looking at him and winking and laughing at the Officiant’s stories about his marriage. As we got to our vows I started to mouth the words to Brett as the officiant said “always” and “forever” which made us both smile. Finally we were able to exchange our rings showing the world that we are now one person for the rest of time. The officiant then allowed us to kiss for the first time as man and wife (I had been waiting to kiss him since I walked down the aisle!).
Then we were presented as man and wife MR. and MRS. MORLEY Our ceremony lasted about 20minutes. After the ceremony, we took photos with the family.
All we wanted to do now was go lay on the magical beach as HUSBAND AND WIFE like the rest of the cruise goers. We loaded back into our chariot as husband and wife and headed back to the ship for our reception at Palo.
In Palo, we were presented to our guests as Mr. and Mrs. Morley by Helen while “Love is an Open door” played. Helen and all the cast members at Palo had arranged a few flowers around the restaurant and decorated a beautiful table with our touch of character 2 tier wedding cake. Our cake topper was who other than Mickey and Minnie.
After we were presented to our family and friends Brett’s brother Chad gave a nice little toast. Followed by our first dance to “You and Me” by Dave Mathews Band. Brett and I danced for a little then I danced with my father while Brett danced with his mother.
Lastly I then I danced with Joseph. After that it was time to cut the cake! We finally got to use our adorable pumpkin chariot etched cake cutting utensils. Our cake was white fondant with a chocolate cake and chocolate mousse filling.
Oh it was soooooooooooooo very good and rich! We did not spend too much time at the reception. We all wanted to get changed into our swimsuits and head out to the Island and enjoy the amazing beach.
Of course I slipped into my all white bikini and bride robe. Why not!? I will never wear it again. Then I wore my wedding sandals that left “Just Married” all through the sand.
My husband and I agree that this was the most amazing and beautiful wedding. Stress free, relaxed and we got to celebrate for 5 days! I had always dreamt of getting married on a private island and all it took was the perfect man (and a mouse ) to make all my dreams come true.
After our first “adult” vacation, we continued our Disney tradition. On our third Disney trip together, at 2 years of dating, we did a 4 night cruise on the Disney Dream to Nassau and Castaway Cay. We immediately fell in love with not only DCL but the Disney Dream and CASTAWAY CAY! A true paradise!
THE PROPOSAL:
After our 4 days On the Disney Dream, we took the magical express to WALT DISNEY WORLD for 6 days! There we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, which was a VERY BEAUTIFUL resort! And HUGE! I loved the pull out kid beds even though we did not need it.
ANYWAY to make this long introduction shorter. On our second day at WDW on Friday September 13th after dinner at Ohana, we walked out to Look Out Point where my handsome man (soon to be fiancé) looked at me and said, “You know those bride and groom Mickey ears you keep saying we should get…well we might need to get those.” Then he got down on one knee and proposed! It was so sweet and so romantic.
THE PLANNING:
Once he proposed, I knew I wanted a Disney wedding! I also knew that I did not want to spend a fortune on ONE DAY! We both remembered seeing a bride and groom while on board the Disney Dream, so we did a little research, and we realized that we could get married on that little Island of paradise! And not only would we be paying for our special day, but also for a 4 night cruise AND it would only cost us a little over $6,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wedding alone cost us $4,000.00 for a Castaway Cay ceremony, pianist, cake cutting utensils, a 2 tier wedding cake with a Mickey and Minnie topper, champagne for 10 people ($20 extra per person over the 10 people) with a reception in Palo, my bouquet, and his boutonniere. WOW! WE WERE SOLD! So then and there we booked our magical wedding.
A few weeks after we booked our own magical wedding, I earned a new job with Pixie and Pirate Destinations as a Dream Vacation Planner specializing in Disney vacations. It was perfect timing!!!!!!!!!! I do not think we could've planned this trip so flawlessly without help from other experienced Disney brides. I was able to book all 18 of our guests and get the best tips on how to have a flawless, stress-free wedding.
THE DETAILS:
We had to pick 6 songs. 3 songs for the ceremony, which we had to pick from a list and a pianist, would play during the ceremony. Then we had to choose 3 songs for our reception. Our wedding coordinator said we could pick more to play during our reception since I was making a CD.
Now we had read somewhere that some airlines will allow you to place your gown with the pilots’ jackets….well not Jet Blue or Southwest, so I had my son and soon-to-be-husband pack their belongings in one BIG bag, while I used one medium bag for my clothes. Our favors went into another BIG bag. All three bags we checked upon arriving at the airport, and did not see them again until they arrived in our stateroom. Now for my gown and his beach “suit”, we used them as our carryon and stored those over head. Now what I did not know is that as a bride, I could’ve boarded first!
THE FAVORS:
Now this is a BEACH wedding, so I decided the perfect wedding favors would be beach bags. I got beach bags for each woman and then the men got to share. Each person got flip flops, sunglasses, and an eye patch for the pirate party after the wedding, lotion, and a lanyard that my mom made. Now I wish I would’ve gotten ponchos too because if it had rained on the wedding day, I would’ve had everyone buy them so I could still have a beach wedding.
THE CRUISE TO OUR WEDDING:
HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The day had finally come! After seven months of waiting and planning, we were finally ready to set sail! May 12th my finance (soon-to-be-husband), son, and I all headed to the Reagan International airport at 4am… UGH so early! We were all sporting our Disney shirts. I wore an “I’ll be your Minnie” tee shirt, and my fiancé wore his “I’ll be your Mickey” Tee. My son wore his “Pixie and Pirate Destinations” shirt ready to get to paradise.
We had 5 friends that met us at the airport and flew down with us. Our family all flew out of a separate airport. At 9am, we arrived at MCO in plenty of time to be on one of the first buses to Port Canaveral. I was able to once again store my dress overhead on the Magical Express. On the ride over to the port, the bus played a video explaining what to do once you arrive to the port and aboard the ship.
Once we got to the port, we got through security fairly quickly. The lines for check in were still short so that did not take long either. Since we were getting married on the cruise, we automatically got NUMBER 1!!!!!!!!!
WOOHOO! No waiting! As soon as they started boarding the ship, we got to hop up and RUN to the Disney Magic to begin our magical wedding cruise! Our
guests last number was 21 but it did not take long for them to board. We had just sat down with our lunch when they met up out on the deck. We rathered as many tables and chairs that we would need for all our guests to dine with us.
As soon as we boarded the ship, we were able to hand off our wedding attire to guest services. Our meeting with the onboard wedding coordinator was not till 3:30pm, so we had plenty of time to eat and tour the ship. At 3:30pm, we met up with our onboard wedding coordinator, Helen. Helen and her assistant Ron were absolutely amazing. Helen went over all the wedding details with us to double check everything. She, unfortunately, informed us that there was an 80% chance of rain on Wednesday, May 14th, our wedding day she said there were two spots onboard we could do the wedding, but the day of, we could decide what we wanted to do. Of course this bummed me out, and at that point, we decided if it rained, we were all buying ponchos!
When we made our way to our stateroom we were surprised to find a bunch of notes and gifts! We had a tray of chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, and a Disney weddings bag with two huge Disney wedding beach towels and robes and slippers. It was a pleasant surprise, and the surprises did not stop there! Every day we got chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room. One day we had a fruit and cheese platter, and another day we had cupcakes.
WEDDING DAY!
Wednesday, May 14th 2014 at 5:30am, my soon-to-be husband and I both popped out of bed and went out to the balcony. There it was!! Castaway Cay in the distance. We could see that large “tree” on the island. The sun was starting to rise and there wasn’t a rain cloud in the sky! We took our time discussing the day to come and preparing. At 7:30am, we headed up to deck 9 to have breakfast with the family.
It was such a nice, relaxing morning. The weather was gorgeous, and all was looking bright. We sat outside and looked over the end of the ship at Castaway Cay. Around 8:15am, I decided it was time to go do my hair and makeup.
The boys got dressed while I styled my hair. With a little help from my soon-to-be-husband, I got every piece of hair curled and pinned. My son took to being our photographer and got some really good shots. At 9am, my mom and aunt arrived to get me into my dress, and at that point, I kicked my soon-to-be-husband out because, of course, he couldn’t see my gown before I walked down the aisle.
My mother got me in the gown and laced up in 20 minutes…record time!
9:25, my soon-to-be-husband and all of our guests were due to meet in Keys. My dad and son waited in the stateroom with me. We were lucky enough to have a room on the left side of the ship. We were able to watch everyone load up on the trolley and drive away to the island.
I tried to get a few good photos from the balcony but did not want them to see me. I wore my bride robe over my gown just for extra precaution. After they drove off, I got a call from Helen that we were good to go, and she was headed to my room with my bouquet.
When we got off the ship, an adorable golf cart covered in flowers was waiting for us….my chariot. We drove out to the ceremony spot with people waving and yelling “Congratulations”, “you look beautiful”, and a child yelled “It’s a Princess” (that was my favorite).
Once we arrived to the ceremony, my son was So excited he darted down the aisle and right to my soon to be husband. Of course he was sent right back to me. My dad and my son walked me down the aisle to “I see the Light” played by a pianist.
I could not keep the grin off my face and I was glad I was wearing flip flops and not some gorgeous stilettoes I had dreamed of.
The scene was gorgeous, the sun was shining bright barely a cloud I the sky. The water in front of me was so crystal clear and blue. The Disney Magic sat in the background as a perfect backdrop to our Castaway Cay wedding.
Our closest friends and family sitting there watching and waiting for us to begin our happily ever after. There he was, waiting for me. My Prince Charming He looked so handsome in his white linen suit with a smile from ear to ear. I could not wait to start the rest of our lives.
The Bahamian Officiant started out the ceremony a little slow talking about marriage and what it means to fins your soul mate. As he went on Brett and I started to relax I kept looking at him and winking and laughing at the Officiant’s stories about his marriage. As we got to our vows I started to mouth the words to Brett as the officiant said “always” and “forever” which made us both smile. Finally we were able to exchange our rings showing the world that we are now one person for the rest of time. The officiant then allowed us to kiss for the first time as man and wife (I had been waiting to kiss him since I walked down the aisle!).
Then we were presented as man and wife MR. and MRS. MORLEY Our ceremony lasted about 20minutes. After the ceremony, we took photos with the family.
All we wanted to do now was go lay on the magical beach as HUSBAND AND WIFE like the rest of the cruise goers. We loaded back into our chariot as husband and wife and headed back to the ship for our reception at Palo.
In Palo, we were presented to our guests as Mr. and Mrs. Morley by Helen while “Love is an Open door” played. Helen and all the cast members at Palo had arranged a few flowers around the restaurant and decorated a beautiful table with our touch of character 2 tier wedding cake. Our cake topper was who other than Mickey and Minnie.
After we were presented to our family and friends Brett’s brother Chad gave a nice little toast. Followed by our first dance to “You and Me” by Dave Mathews Band. Brett and I danced for a little then I danced with my father while Brett danced with his mother.
Lastly I then I danced with Joseph. After that it was time to cut the cake! We finally got to use our adorable pumpkin chariot etched cake cutting utensils. Our cake was white fondant with a chocolate cake and chocolate mousse filling.
Oh it was soooooooooooooo very good and rich! We did not spend too much time at the reception. We all wanted to get changed into our swimsuits and head out to the Island and enjoy the amazing beach.
Of course I slipped into my all white bikini and bride robe. Why not!? I will never wear it again. Then I wore my wedding sandals that left “Just Married” all through the sand.
My husband and I agree that this was the most amazing and beautiful wedding. Stress free, relaxed and we got to celebrate for 5 days! I had always dreamt of getting married on a private island and all it took was the perfect man (and a mouse ) to make all my dreams come true.
