So Much to Celebrate. . a Disney Wedding, 30th Anniversary & Easter 2015 Updated 3/29

[vamassey1]

Congratulations on the new baby! That little guy is so adorable. Glad to hear mom and baby are doing well and hopefully recovery goes quickly.

Thank you! She had real easy delivery. The recovery is a little bit rougher on her.

Loved the wedding Update! Everything sounded beautiful and perfect. I love Randy's photos, and I thought he did an amazing job with your day. That one of Gia in front of everyone is perfect, and I giggled at the Mickey hands by the wedding pavilion.
And my goodness, your dress and hair were gorgeous. You made a beautiful bride!

Randy's photos were the best. She was a beautiful bride and now new mother.

Congratulations! The baby is beautiful and I'm glad Michelle and baby are going good.

Thanks you! We thinks he's beautiful too. They just got home a little while ago.

Super huge congrats on new baby!! YAY for a safe arrival. Blessings to the whole family!

Thank you Liesa! We'll take those blessings.

 

[afwdwfan]

Ok, I've tried to catch up before I replied and just never have quite made it. In any case, I just had to say congratulations!!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Ok, I've tried to catch up before I replied and just never have quite made it. In any case, I just had to say congratulations!!!!

Thanks Andy! We're still enjoying the newness.

 

[vamassey1]

April 7th- Wedding Lunch

This is the last post I'll be able to put up since we leave for Disney in 3 days! I can't believe how fast time in passing. Last Monday John Paul was born. On Saturday we had a Graduation/Crawfish Boil. A good time was had by all with lots of delicious crawfish. If you have never had some seasoned crawfish you don't know what you're missing. We tried to recover on Mother's Day and took it easy after a big breakfast to see our visitors off. Brent and Hannah came in from Austin and some more family stayed the night too. Last night Danielle walked across the stage and Graduated. I can't believe my baby has grown up. Now we have to finish up everything so we can leave on Saturday for Disney!

Before I get to the Wedding lunch I just want to add a little to what Michelle has already posted. Her wedding day started very early with a knock at our door before the sun had come up. The lady doing her hair and make up was there very bright and early. Yes, Dennis did get a little pouty but being surrounded by a bunch of girls this early in the morning was not his idea of fun. I did end up going to breakfast with him to sooth his ego. The last thing I wanted to do was eat a big breakfast before putting on my dress. Yes, we did end up waiting on Danielle to get ready so we could leave. This is an ongoing issue with her. We are always waiting for her. She was late to Graduation last night. The only time we aren't waiting for her in past has been when we're heading to a park. Hopefully she stays with the program on this trip coming up.

We drove to the Poly. After our dry run the night before we were pretty confident. We made it there with no problem but Dennis had trouble finding a parking spot. A good bit of the lot was closed off with construction stuff. This was when the new DVC was being built. Tyler and Chelsea drove over with Brent and Hannah and had trouble parking too.

The weather was really nice during the ceremony with a lovely breeze. We were set up on the beach between the Poly and Wedding Chapel. It was very close to where the Luau is set up. The wedding planner did stand guard and anyone that tried to pass close was directed to an alternate path. After the ceremony it was time for pictures. Once we had the family pictures done I went with Jimmy, Michelle and Randy to help with props and stuff. Brent had taken Danielle inside to find some benadryl. One of the plants there were standing around didn't agree with her. Of course that was the most expensive benadryl I have ever paid for. It was getting hot so the rest of the party headed inside to cool off. Dennis went to the manager of Kona to make sure the cake had arrived. I had ordered the cake from The Grand Floridian's bakery. My contact person was Pat Anderson. Over several calls she took our suggestions along with my request just to make it special and went with it. We were all very happy with the cake once we saw it.

When we were planning the trip we decided on Kona's since it was close and open for lunch. On our trip in 2012 we had had a great dinner here. Of course the lunch menu was different but I don't think anyone wanted anything too heavy. The staff at Kona's was great! They went above and beyond to make it special.

We were seated pretty much in the center of the restaurant. Of course we knew we were the center of attention. Most of the party was on the Dining Plan, but not everyone. We all ordered our meals and most ordered some drinks.











It wasn't very long before the food came.



Michelle made sure that her dress would not get ruined.

Once we had eaten the manager made a big production of bringing out the cake.








There was no way we could eat all that delicious cake so we asked the manager to share it with everyone else. It was a beautiful cake. Those pretty flowers were even edible.


After the cake I whipped out my Beats Pill and put on some Frank Sinatra for the wedding couple ( I wanted "Beauty and the Beast" but I was overruled). The couple danced.









While the rest of the room clapped. I saw the manager taking pictures of the couple too. The manager treated the whole wedding party to a round of free drinks. After all the food and cake I think most of us skipped the desert and just sat back and enjoyed it. By this point it was getting late and we had the room mostly to ourselves.





If you look closely in the last picture you can see Danielle dozing off. Poor thing after taking the Benadryl she had trouble staying awake at the table. I tried several times to get a picture of her sleeping but never quite caught it.

After our wonderful meal we took a few pictures. This was our first time seeing the newly renovated Lobby.











Then proceeded to send the happy couple off. Did they leave in a car, magic carriage or limo? No they left by monorail.









Gia wanted to be sent off too.







The party disbanded to head back to the resorts for a change of clothes and some rest. We all had plans to meet back up for some park time. I'll let Michelle tell the story of their ride back to the Resort.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

What a wonderful end to the wedding. The cake is just beautiful. The Grand Floridian did a wonderful job on that. I love how the happy couple had their dance right in the center of the restaurant.

Poor Danielle! I so know that Benadryl feeling. It really does wipe you out.

 

[vamassey1]

What a wonderful end to the wedding. The cake is just beautiful. The Grand Floridian did a wonderful job on that. I love how the happy couple had their dance right in the center of the restaurant.

Thank you! I was real happy with how the cake turned out . There's only so much you can do with a small cake. Everyone enjoyed the first dance.

Poor Danielle! I so know that Benadryl feeling. It really does wipe you out.

She was out for the count. When I need her to sleep it's my go to helper.

 

[amazingact21]

You've had a lot of wonderful and exciting things happening in your life these past few weeks! So glad to hear it's all been going well. And yes, a crawfish boil is a memorable experience! (I lived in the Shreveport area for 2 years, so I was fortunate enough to experience a few, myself.)

Only a few days left until your trip! I hope you have a fantastic time! (Sorry, again, for missing our DISmeet opportunity.)

The Kona lunch sounded like it was a great decision for after the ceremony. Everyone looked happy and full in your photos. (Or sleepy, in Danielle's case.)
The cake looked beautiful! How sweet of you guys to share it with everyone.

When married at Disney, it's only appropriate you travel by monorail.

 

[ArielSRL]

If you have never had some seasoned crawfish you don't know what you're missing.

Even though My Dh is from Louisiana and we've had crawfish boils, I have never eaten a crawfish. Eeek. I stick to the shrimp. As a matter of fact, he wants to have one for his birthday in July.

Last night Danielle walked across the stage and Graduated.

Congrats to Danielle!

Yes, we did end up waiting on Danielle to get ready so we could leave. This is an ongoing issue with her. We are always waiting for her.

Must be the redheads. I am the same way.

She was late to Graduation last night.

This would be me. LOL

The only time we aren't waiting for her in past has been when we're heading to a park. Hopefully she stays with the program on this trip coming up.

Again...me! LOL

Of course that was the most expensive benadryl I have ever paid for.

I bet. I need to remember to bring our meds. As a matter of fact I just added it to our packing list!

Once we had eaten the manager made a big production of bringing out the cake.

Very nice cake and very nice photos!

After the cake I whipped out my Beats Pill and put on some Frank Sinatra for the wedding couple ( I wanted "Beauty and the Beast" but I was overruled). The couple danced.

Love this!

The manager treated the whole wedding party to a round of free drinks.

Excellent service!

After our wonderful meal we took a few pictures. This was our first time seeing the newly renovated Lobby.

Beautiful! We will be checking it out in just a few short weeks! I'm not sure if I have ever been to the Poly or not.

 

[Steppesister]

Perfect ending to a perfect wedding. Just beautiful. I love how they shared the celebration with other guests which I'm sure made their own vacations even that much more special!! Very nice!

Leaving by monorail? Oh yes, please! That's the bomb right there.

Have a wonderful trip!! Looking forward to hearing about it!

 

[cajunfan]

You mean I have to wait until you come BACK for more, lol! Have a MAGICAL trip!

I will be in your neck of the woods the second weekend in June for a wedding. I will be sure to wave HI! to you folks!

Lynn

 

[warriorping]

Great TR! Port Orleans is absolutely gorgeous! BTW congrats to the Bride and Groom! What a Magical Way to celebrate their special day!

 

[mFont23]

Let me start by saying that I'm on maternity leave and my home computer is poop compared to the one at work, so I don't even think my laptop could handle individually thanking each of you for your thoughts and well wishes on the baby. So here's a BIG HUGE THANK YOU from our family to all of you! He is just PERFECT and our hearts are just SOOOOO full. I'll try to go back in a bit and answer your TR comments as well. Mom's in Disney right now for "Danielle's grad trip".... really it's because she can't stand to go longer than 24 months between trips. We've all just accepted that. LOL I actually texted her yesterday that the baby and I tried out his carrier for the first time and we love it. I sent the pic along with the words "Okay, we're ready for Disney." Ever since we got married there, my husband "drinks the kool-aid, per-se. So he's the first to check social media each day and see what mom and them have done. He's also established that when we go again, rule of thumb is that if he can stand to ride it then the baby can probably ride it as well. Keep in mind his favorite ride is Small World. My husband was recently promoted at work and has promised us a trip next spring and I've already started filling up the vacation account! We will actually be there for our anniversary. Already planning to eat at the Poly with the kids and maybe do another photoshoot with Randy for our anniversary, with the kids while we are there. And it'll be between both kids' birthdays, so it's kind of perfect. Crowded, but with an infant, a (will be) 8 year old, and a husband that won't ride things.... we tend to find ways to make our own magic, anyway.

So that's the latest life update... now back to the TR.

After the Wedding (yes, we are still only on Tuesday)

So mom left off with our “bubble send-off”. Again, it was one of those silly elements that “real” weddings get that I wanted to bring to our wedding. So of course I had those bubbles packed! Our little homemade (and Kona delivered) reception was the best. It mixed all the right portions of spontaneity, romance, and family. It wasn’t 200 of our closest friends in a ballroom, it was 14 people we knew and a crowd of strangers. It wasn’t champagne and chocolate fountain, but it was a free round of Mickey mojitos and this killer cake that we couldn’t finish ourselves if we tried. It was everything we needed, wanted, and then some. I really wouldn’t have done it any other way. And we may not have been dosed with Benadryl, like Danielle, but we had all already had a long day AND we needed to get ready and get to DHS! Definitely booked the 11am wedding to be able to enjoy the rest of the day in the park J.

So, yeah, bubble send-off. This was another one of those times we had a little time alone. Everyone else basically drove or cabbed it back to their rooms. Not us. WE JUST GOT MARRIED IN DISNEY and we were riding that happy train as long as we could (pun intended, although a monorail isn’t reaaaaalllyy a train, but whatever). So we waited for the monorail, doors opened, we found ourselves a place and took our seats. Well, sort of. It’s way more fun to stand. We, of course, got lots of stares and attention. My favorite was one guy yelled from a car or two down, “Thanks for inviting us to your reception!” I don’t know why but that made my day. I could’ve ridden that monorail all day long, just looking down at where we got married hours prior, hand in hand with my husband, totally getting my money’s worth out of my dress, hair and makeup! But, like I said, we were all a little exhausted. So we got off the monorail at the MK. There were a gillion more people getting off of it there than getting on it at the Poly. So there were infinite more people to look at us as we walked towards the buses. Yep, we took a bus home. Just us two, in our wedding attire. One little girl walked to the buses with us and kept starring like she wanted to talk. She couldn’t be more than 4 or 5. She finally got the courage, ran up to me, and shyly said, “You look like a princess. You’re beautiful.” I said thank you and let her know that SHE looked like a beautiful princess to me!

Thankfully the bus wasn’t far to get back to the resort. Waiting for buses is probably my least favorite thing to do and there’s nothing comfortable about it, either. I couldn’t imagine if we had been out there waiting in wedding clothes for long. So we got on the bus, and it wasn’t long before Jimmy had his head in my lap and was falling asleep. Mind you, he made it to the Poly himself that morning the same way we left (I gave him detailed instructions and I’m still impressed, to this day, that he made it there and EARLY). I’m still curious how his morning rides were by himself in his suit. But he fell asleep on me and I just rubbed his back and leaned by own head back, closing my eyes. That was, until the woman across from us finally said, “so, do you guys dress like this every day?” And I replied, “Nope. Only on Tuesdays!”

It was such a fun and exciting experience but it wore us out pretty dang good! And so much for that 80% chance of rain! It held off and only sprinkled while we rested before heading to the parks. I’ll save our park evening for another post, but I will say (again) that I was getting my money’s worth out of the hair and makeup! Might have taken off the dress, but I went to DHS with hair and makeup still in tact. In fact, when we all met at mom’s bus stop to head out, there was a little girl that recognized me as the princess from earlier in the day.

I wish I knew how to upload videos because as we waited for the bus, I was sure to get a video of my husband. It went something like:

Me- Jimmy Fontenot! You just got married, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT?!

Husband- IM GOING TO DISNEYWORLD

…it was really cute, I promise.

This is one of my husband’s favorite pictures of me. Still pops up every time I call him. He calls it his monorail bride.

[/URLhttp://s125.photobucket.com/user/vamassey/media/Wedding trip day 5 April 7 2015/Image 20.jpg.html]

This was as we were waiting for the bus to DHS. WE WERE MARRIED!

[URL=http://s125.photobucket.com/user/vamassey/media/Wedding%20trip%20day%205%20April%207%202015/Image%2045.jpg.html]

So, folks, the Lesson of the day: if you ever need an ego boost, take public transportation in your wedding attire. Works like a charm.

Next post: DHS with our entire wedding party![/url]

 

[mFont23]

We also have Rev. Kevin!

did you guys meet with him yet? Did you just love him?!

Ok, I've tried to catch up before I replied and just never have quite made it. In any case, I just had to say congratulations!!!!

Thank you! And, take your time catching up... we are super slow (insert guilty emoji)

When married at Disney, it's only appropriate you travel by monorail.

RIGHT?!

I'm not sure if I have ever been to the Poly or not.

If you haven't, you're missing out! It's a favorite for sure. Ohana is a family favorite restaurant-wise. When we go next year I'd like to see the Luau dinner for our anniversary.

Perfect ending to a perfect wedding. Just beautiful. I love how they shared the celebration with other guests which I'm sure made their own vacations even that much more special!!

I remember as a little girl passing by weddings and looking at them from the monorail... so i know how special that is and this time i got to BE that girl. LIFE CHANGING!

I will be in your neck of the woods the second weekend in June for a wedding.

Bless your heart... bring a fan! and prepare to SWEAT! #humidity

Port Orleans is absolutely gorgeous!

It's a personal favorite, for sure. But being from Louisiana, I'm a little biased.

 

[MeghanEmily]

What a fun day your wedding day is turning out to be! I love how up-for-anything you all are. Everything was so beautiful and memorable, but you don't take yourselves too seriously. I love that you rode the monorail in your attire!!

One little girl walked to the buses with us and kept starring like she wanted to talk. She couldn’t be more than 4 or 5. She finally got the courage, ran up to me, and shyly said, “You look like a princess. You’re beautiful.” I said thank you and let her know that SHE looked like a beautiful princess to me!

This is the sweetest thing! You probably made her day.

did you guys meet with him yet? Did you just love him?!

Yes, we met him last weekend! He was so lovely and cheesey! And he's got a nice voice and will be photogenic, which doesn't hurt. We really clicked well with him, and I think our families and friends will love him too.

 

[Steppesister]

She finally got the courage, ran up to me, and shyly said, “You look like a princess. You’re beautiful.” I said thank you and let her know that SHE looked like a beautiful princess to me!

Awwww....!

Might have taken off the dress,

Stunning!

 

[vamassey1]

Hello everyone! We're back from Disney. I have to finish unpacking and start washing clothes. I'm off tomorrow and hoping for some catch up Dis time. I'll do replies than, but it looks like Michelle has done a good job with that.

 

[vamassey1]

You've had a lot of wonderful and exciting things happening in your life these past few weeks! So glad to hear it's all been going well. And yes, a crawfish boil is a memorable experience! (I lived in the Shreveport area for 2 years, so I was fortunate enough to experience a few, myself.)

I'm so ready to have life slow down. I'm glad we had so many memory making events but it's also tiring.

I hope you get some more crawfish again soon.

Only a few days left until your trip! I hope you have a fantastic time! (Sorry, again, for missing our DISmeet opportunity.)

I'm so sorry you didn't get to come. I was so looking forward to meeting ya'll. I'm sure you'll have a blast when you get down there.

The Kona lunch sounded like it was a great decision for after the ceremony. Everyone looked happy and full in your photos. (Or sleepy, in Danielle's case.)
The cake looked beautiful! How sweet of you guys to share it with everyone.

It was a good time had by all. We believe in sharing.

When married at Disney, it's only appropriate you travel by monorail.

Perfect Disney ending.

 

[vamassey1]

Even though My Dh is from Louisiana and we've had crawfish boils, I have never eaten a crawfish. Eeek. I stick to the shrimp. As a matter of fact, he wants to have one for his birthday in July.

You don't know what you're missing! We had some shrimp too and they were fabulous too. I have some crawfish in my freezer, but we ate all the shrimp.

Congrats to Danielle!

Thank you! Last one is done.

Must be the redheads. I am the same way.

She went back brown right before we left and it didn't help.

This would be me. LOL

Does your DH have patience?

Again...me! LOL

Her late issue carried over into our trip, but it wasn't fatal.

I bet. I need to remember to bring our meds. As a matter of fact I just added it to our packing list!

Remember to put in in your park bag. I have some in the room just not our park bag.

Very nice cake and very nice photos!

Thank you! We're very happy with the cake.

Love this!

Jimmy is one of those rare guys who likes to dance.

Excellent service!

The best!

Beautiful! We will be checking it out in just a few short weeks! I'm not sure if I have ever been to the Poly or not.

You'll love it. So pretty.

You leave for Disney real soon. I hope your trip goes well and ya'll have a great time.

 

[vamassey1]

Perfect ending to a perfect wedding. Just beautiful. I love how they shared the celebration with other guests which I'm sure made their own vacations even that much more special!! Very nice!

I know if I was in a restaurant in Disney eating, I would love to be included in the fun. It would make my trip more memorable.

Leaving by monorail? Oh yes, please! That's the bomb right there.

I love Michelle's spirit of adventure. She never takes herself too seriously.

Have a wonderful trip!! Looking forward to hearing about it!

Thank you! We had a great trip, just so sad it's over.

 

[vamassey1]

You mean I have to wait until you come BACK for more, lol! Have a MAGICAL trip!

Luckily Michelle got an update in while I was gone. Thanks for the well wishes we did have a great trip but I'm so ready to go back again.

I will be in your neck of the woods the second weekend in June for a wedding. I will be sure to wave HI! to you folks!

Where are you headed for the Wedding? I hope ya'll have a great time.