Trip Report - Disney Wedding and Honeymoon

[SRUAlmn]

Aw! All of your pictures are so pretty! Everyone's hair and make up just perfectly acentuates their natural beauty. Your BM dresses are gorgeous too! I love the sparkly detailing on the top I was reading your description of you trying to get into your dress!! That's exactly why I stepped into mine from the top. No dark tunnels for me Can't wait to hear more about the big day!

 

[disneyheaven]

We made sure everyone had everything they needed. As we walked down the stairs, it was amazing to hear the gasps from the people in the lobby. I think people get so excited when they see a bridal party anywhere! I know I do! I am known for making Mark pull over when I see a bride just so I can see what she looks like! I just love weddings! We walked down the main staircase and I truly felt like my heart was going to jump out of its chest. I was so excited and truly felt like a bride! This was the day I was dreaming about since I was a little girl. This is how I envisioned I would love, although never felt like the day would arrive. I was 100% in my glory. The limo was scheduled to pick us up at the Beach Club Resort at 4:45. It would be picking up myself, my parents, my 2 sisters, and Danielle and Lauren. It was about 4:30 at this point, so we knew we had some time to kill. I had some amazing experiences waiting in that lobby (little did I know how LONG I would truly end up being there!) I had the most beautiful little girl staring at me from across the lobby of the hotel. She was there with her mother, and her mother was knelt down, pointing at me and smiling in my direction. Before I knew it, I felt a small tug on my dress. I turned around and there was the little girl. Being a first grade teacher, I have a natural tendency to bend down when I talk to little ones. It is so important to be on their level. So I bend down and said “Hello sweetie” and she says to me in the most precious, innocent voice, “Are you a real princess?” to which I burst into tears, as does my mother, simply overcome with happy emotion and bewilderment. I say, “Well, I am not a real Disney princess, but someone thinks I am pretty special today and I am going to marry him.” She simply laughed and walked away holding her mothers hand. It was a perfect memory that time will never steal away from me! It was almost like I had the chance to look into my own self, 20 years ago. I wanted to say, “You see…dreams can come true!”. We had lots and lots of beautiful comments from by passers in the lobby. A lot of children thought I was a princess. Another little girl says to me, “Which movie are you from?”. Haha!! Out of the mouths of babes! By this time, it was about 4:45 and I was wondering where the limo was. Well, no problem. He would be here soon. Before I know it, my grandmother, grandfather, brother in law, and future brother in law arrived in the lobby. The bus (we had gotten through Disney to pick up and drop off all our guests) would be coming at 5:30. They were really early, but wanted to wait with us. I was so happy to have them there.
5:00 rolls around and I am starting to get nervous. We were suppose to be at the Grand Floridian soon to start pictures! Where was the limo?!?! 5:15 came and went as well. OH my god! What is going on! My mom and dad go up to the reception desk and ask to be connected to Disney Fairtale Weddings. I didn’t have Karen’s cell number on me, so we called DFTW to be connected to her. We finially do, and she is at the GF with Mark and his party. She tells us the limo driver should be on his way and not worry. Not to worry?? It is 5:15, I just missed 15 minutes of my wedding pictures, and my wedding was scheduled to start at 6:00!!! Don’t worry! I was panicking. That happy, carefree magical smile I had on my face less than an hour ago has disappeared and I am panicked. Then, the clock turns 5:29 and the limo finially shows up! I thought my dad was going to kill him! It is going to take us AT LEAST 15 minutes to get to the GF, we are going to have only 10 minutes to do pictures (when we had paid and planned for 45 minutes) and then I have to fly to the Wedding Pavilion to get married. I wanted to cry. We gathered all our stuff and were about to head outside the door when what shows up?? The bus FILLED WITH ALL MY WEDDING GUESTS! I CAN’T GO OUTSIDE NOW! THEY WILL ALL SEE ME! OH NO! WHAT DO I DO?!?!? My dad was going to run out and tell them to take a swing around the block but the bus driver had already lifted down the wheelchair lift for my grandmother. My dad tells them to lift it back up and he says he can’t. It was stuck! The bus driver figured it was best to try and load my Grammie and then try and get it up. So there I stood, my long-awaited limo just outside the door, each precious second ticking away my wedding picture time with Randy, my ENTIRE BUS OF WEDDING GUESTS outside, and I am stuck inside the lobby of this god-for-saken hotel!! I start to cry at this point. My mom starts to cry too. Why is this happening?? They had paid so much money for pictures with Randy and now we were missing all of our time! What would happen! I immediately grab my brother in laws cell phone and start to call the best man (I knew Mark would not have his phone). He answers (thank god) and I demand to put Karen on the phone. She was calm as a cucumber (which really made me mad!) Didn’t she realize I was missing! Didn’t she realize that at 5:00 when I wasn’t at the GF that something was wrong?? She said “Don’t worry…we will work this out. The limo driver had been waiting outside the YACHT club the whole time! ” WHAT!!!!!! How can I get back all the time I had just missed!! Needless to say, it took another 10 minutes to get my gram loaded onto the bus, and after felt like an ETERNITY, the bus finally pulled away. So there it was…a bus FILLED with 40+ wedding guests, on their way to the WP and I wouldn’t even be there. I wasn’t even CLOSE to being there. As soon as the bus pulled away, we all made a mad sprint to the limo. I thought my dad was going to punch the guy out, I really did. He was a very ignorant man, with a bit of an attitude. I made it very clear that I was upset and that he had all the correct information and to just get to the GF as quickly as he could. Time check?? 5:45?!?! My wedding was suppose to START at 6:00. In 15 minutes I was suppose to be coming down that aisle. Where was I? Stuck in the back of some idiots limo 15 minutes away. And to make matters worse? My beautiful day and turned into a cloudy, storm filled evening. It hadn’t begun to rain yet, but there were VERY DARK clouds that had started to form and were moving towards the Magic Kingdom. If I don’t get outside pictures because of this idiot…I am going to go crazy!!! Compared to how I was feeling, and all the worry I was experiencing, I was keeping a very cool fasade. The girls were keeping my smiling by singing silly songs and talking about funny stuff. I forced myself to relax, knowing they couldn’t start without me. That was the one good thing about being the bride that day! My mom kept reassuring me how it wouldn’t matter if the guests had to wait for a half hour or so. She would make sure I got all the pictures I wanted and everything would be perfect. I started to believe her and felt the magic in my heart coming back. In just a little bit of time, I would be marrying my best friend and soulmate. No dumb limo driver could take that way.
We arrived at the Grand Floridian in a short amount of time. Time check? 5:55! I was greeted at the GF by what looked like a wedding crisis team. I think they knew how badly the time issue was, so I was met by Karen, her assistant, another DFTW woman, Richard (who I fell in love with at first sight – the adorable elderly man who works at the GF and dresses in the authentic turn of the century clothing and helps brides on their wedding day) and a few other GF staff. Karen opened the door and I was also greeted by Randy and Stan. I did my best to keep my stress level down, and happy face on. I was going to enjoy this moment, this experience in my life. The worst was over now. I had just experienced my “wedding bump” and I would come out on top! I was determined. Richard, helping me with my train, led me directly inside the GF and then out one of the side doors. Randy knew how important outdoor pictures were and with the threatening skies, knew he should get started. He snapped, and snapped and snapped. He took every picture that I could of ever dreamed of. The sun was still shining in party of the sky, so he used that to his advantage, making the illustion that it was a perfect day. I just hoped the rain would come during the ceremony and not after to ruin pictures. Randy and Stan were MIRACLE WORKERS that day. They created video and photographs like they had worked with me all afternoon. Randy kept saying, “it will be ok. I can make thisi work. I am sorry the limo driver forgot you, but I will make you so happy with these pictures.” They were both unbelievable. After many, many, many pictures outside and inside the GF, we hopped right back into the limo and made our way towards that beautiful Wedding Pavilion. I was getting married!!!

 

[disneyheaven]

Ok picture time! Here are the pics from the GF, starting with Mark's side first, then mine

 

[oneyodafan]

Yay, you made it and are having photos taken outside yet! I would have been sweating bullets too. Looking forward to more!


Ohh, I posted while you were posting pics. LOVE 'EM!!!!

 

[disneyheaven]

 

[disneyheaven]

 

[disneyheaven]

(look at that limo driver! The man on the left! Don't let this man near your wedding day vehicle!)

 

[sunsh1ne]

those pictures are so great. such beautiful smiles!!

that story about the little girl. that is sosos preciouse i teach pre school and things that children say is so un planed and real that it means so much. you sound like you had a great wedding

 

[disneyheaven]

It was quick ride over to the Wedding Pavilion. I was late…there was no other way to describe it. It must have been about 6:20 or so. My 45 minutes of pictures had turned into about 15 minutes, but we had done it (no thanks to my limo driver and many thanks to Randy and Stan). I was greeted again by Richard (who he fondly called himself the “train conductor” because he was holding my train each time) and Karen.

The sky was the darkest shade of blue i had ever seen. It looked like it would open up at any moment. Check out this picture

My mom and had each helped me and we walked together over that beautiful bridge to the Wedding Pavilion.

All my guests were inside, and the doors were closed so one would be able to peak. The nerves in my stomach were very strong at this point! They just kept fluttering and fluttering away! It was unbelievable! Right behind those doors would be my husband to me, waiting for me, waiting to start our life together. As we crossed the bridge, the girls started a wonderful rendition of “Going to the Chapel” and we were quickly ushered into the Brides Vestibule. It was a beautiful little room, but I knew we wouldn’t be there long. With in a few seconds, Stan arrived, asking if I had any words for mark. Oh shoot! We had asked Stan to do this for the beginning of our wedding video and I meant to practice something sweet, something romantic, but with all the commotion, I had totally forgotten. So I said something from my heart. Something like, “I love you and I can’t wait to marry you. I have wanted to marry you since the moment I first met you. You are my best friend. I love you” and I blew a kiss into the camera. It was the best I could do under pressure. I teared up a little bit after I said those words, so on the video, my voice is very shaky and I have to wipe my eyes because a tear started to fall. I quickly pulled it together, only to be met my Reverand Day. He did his beautiful rose toss and hand kiss routine, to which a few more tears fell.

Karen was in a second after that to get things started. My nerves were unbearable. Well, I shouldn’t say they were unbearable. I was so excited to see Mark, and was so happy and emotional, but defiantly flutters in my belly.

Here are a few pics of the "inside" action

Then I heard it. I heard “the second star to the right” which was the beginning music in the ceremony. That was the music I had chosen for my grandparents to walk down to (my grammie used her walker and my grampie to help her get down the aisle) and Mark’s parents, who were accompanied by Mark’s brother Michael.

We all got sooo giddy, knowing the ceremony had started. Karen got the girls lined up and brought them outside to the main part of the WP. I stayed behind with my parents. I gave them each a huge hug and thanked them for this beautiful day. I felt strong and excited and could not wait to get down that aisle. I laughed when I heard the boys music starting. Mark had chosen “Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me” for Reverend Day, himself, and his boys to walk down too. This was my little boy, my little Markie fulfilling his own childhood dreams! I imagined him now, walking down that aisle, shoulders back, smiling at each family and friend as he passed. He always walked with such poise and dignity. I could not wait to see him on the video!

Karen quickly came back and took my parents to get them ready. It was their turn soon! I was left with Richard, in the Bride’s vestibule, where we had the most wonderful pre-wedding talk of my life. As I heard my girls music start “Once upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty, Richard started to tell me about his wedding day, and how he felt so excited to see his bride.

As I imagined each of my girls coming down, he told me how he and his wife had spent so many wonderful years, raising children and traveling, experiencing life together. I soon heard “House at Pooh Corner” (my parents favorite song) and Richard and I began our walk from the Brides Vestibule to the main part of the WP.

As we walked, slowly taking our time, Richard went on to tell me how he lost his wife a few years ago to cancer, and that is why he had decided to move down to Florida, to Disney, to live out the rest of his days until they could be together again. Unlike before at the Crystal Palace, this story did not make me cry. This story simply inspired me. It inspired my heart and soul, and filled it with so much joy and excitement as I was at the very moment of my own journey, of my fairytale. I hugged Richard goodbye, and half expected to never see him again, as if he was an angel that came down simply for me, to give me the strength to walk down that aisle. (I did see him shortly after the wedding, of course!). The main doors of the chapel were closed. Karen and her assistant each held a side of the door. Karen looked at me with a huge smile and said, “Are you ready?” and in my most confident, honest voice, I said, “I am.” And the best thing about it? I truly was. I was ready for this journey. I was ready for this walk down the aisle. I was ready to begin my married life with my soulmate. I was feeling like I always hoped I would. It was uncharacteristic of me to have been that calm right before the doors opened, but I was. I thank god for feeling like that on my wedding day. I heard the chiming of the hour, and I heard the beginning meledy to “When you wish upon a star”. It played for a moment, and then Karen said, “Smile..here we go!” and with a SWOOSH the doors flung open!

 

[disneyheaven]

Phew!! Ok...I need a break!! I will leave you in suspense for now! I'll be back tomorrow to post more! My poor hands are tired! I hope you like the TR so far!! Night night my friends!!!

 

[Tabetha]

Girl, you done made me boo-hoo over here!

What a beautifully written, heartfelt story.

Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[dee slack]

Girl, you done made me boo-hoo over here!

What a beautifully written, heartfelt story.

Can't wait to read the rest.

I second that! I'm here with tears on my cheeks - thank you soooo much for your wonderful story. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more

 

[curiouser]

I'm so sorry to hear about the limo fiasco, but your pictures ended up turning out gorgeous! I'm glad Randy and Stan were able to fix the situation for you, a bit.

You are a gorgeous bride!! I hope when it comes my turn to be married I have someone like a Richard there as well; what an amazing blessing he was! I'd be crying as well if I wasn't at work!

 

[zetalove08]

I LOVE your TR! Your pictures are so beautiful and the way you tell it is amazing, you're a great writer.

I can't wait for more!!!

 

[Maggimus]

WHOA-- hot momma comin through!!

You look AMAZING!! Im seriously-- you were made for that dress! I cant say enough about how well you and the entire bridal party look. Its picture perfect!! Congratulations

 

[sunsh1ne]

i have pressure in my chest and i am crying o sweet emotions hehehehe

 

[MickeyNicki]

This is so beautiful!

 

[HarbinsMom]

What a beautiful TR. I can't wait to hear about the reception and you all look beautiful.

Some of your bridesmaids look familiar. Did they play soccer for the Atlanta Beat?

 

[disneyheaven]

I can still remember the breeze I felt as those doors swung towards me, opening with perfectly timed precision. I think my smile was as wide as my face would allow. I saw in that single moment all the people I love and admire standing before me, watching me and no one else. You know that saying, “it doesn’t matter how you look going to a wedding because all eyes will be on the bride anyway”? Well, it certainly felt true at that moment. My eyes scanned the crowd, and they stopped as soon as I saw him, my sweetheart, standing at the center of the Wedding Pavilion, waiting for me with a smile that spoke a thousand words.
I began my walk, slow and steady, slow and steady, taking in each face I passed as I walked closer and closer to Mark. I could not take the smile off my face, even if I wanted too.

I even giggled a bit, a nervous childhood laugher of sorts, as I saw Mark making his move to meet me half way down the aisle.

With each step, we moved closer and closer to one another. I wanted to leap into his arms and kiss him, but knew I had to wait.

As he approached me, he gently touched my arms and kissed me sweetly on the forehead. He whispered to me, “You look so beautiful.” I whispered to him, “You look so handsome. I love you”. He held my hand and we walked together, up to the alter to Reverend Day to begin our marriage ceremony.
It all felt so surreal. Reverend asked everyone to be seated and I realized that all eyes were on us (well, the backs of us!) Mark and I kept gazing at each other, not wanting to miss any of our important cues throughout the ceremony, but not able to stop staring at what we saw.

The ceremony began with an opening prayer and gathering words. The ENTIRE ceremony was hand written by me and Mark. We really wanted to our ceremony to be personalized, intimate, and special. We had been to thousands of weddings over the years and heard the same readings, the same words, the same prayers. We truly wanted something unique, something that was only for us. So, one day at Barnes and Noble I picked up a book called “The Wedding Ceremony Planner” by Reverend Judith Johnson, PhD. It is an incredible book that gives you thousands of choices for each section of your ceremony. And since I wanted it to be very unique, I hand-wrote a great deal of the sections. It certainly was a lot of work, but looking back, I am so happy Mark and I choose to do our ceremony this way.

Reverend Day moved ahead with the ceremony as he discussed our remembrances and acknowledgements. We had a great deal of family members who have passed on that we wanted mentioned during our ceremony. Next, my cousin Marc read First Corinthians, Chapter 13. (ok, ok, there are some parts of wedding that I just had to have! What’s a wedding without First Corinthians?) He did a beautiful job and I was so happy he was able to do this reading for us. Next came the “charge” for the couple. Here, Reverend Day explained to us in beautiful words what marriage is and what significance it has in our lives. He then asked us, one at a time, if we understand and accept this responsibility and do we promise to do our best each day to create a loving, healthy and happy marriage, to which we both replied “yes.”

Then, it was time for the unity candle. Both our parents had lit the unity candle at the beginning of the ceremony. Reverend Day spoke words about the significant of our two families uniting and the organist started to play “ A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes” Mark and I made our way to light the candle. We each took a taper candle from our appropriate sides and met in the middle to light our large pillar candle (we had purchased the Mickey Mouse Swarkarsky Crystal Unity Candle Set from DFTW). We made our way, (slowly!) around the alter again and rejoined in the original position.
It was time for Mark’s mother to do a special reading. She is an incredible writer, so Mark chose her to do an original reading. She began and within a few moments, the tears were welling up in my eyes. She is a very spiritual woman who very much believes in angels. She talked about all the angels that I had as a child, discussing intimate details of my childhood and how my angels helped me to grow into the woman I am today. She then went on to tell about Mark’s childhood, and about how his angels saw him through many incredible events in his life. She then explained about the true meaning of soul mates, and how our angels helped to unite us and will keep us safe the rest of our days. It truly was such a beautiful reading. I still cry when I see the video and listen to that incredible speech. It was so heartfelt and amazing.

 

[disneyheaven]

After Julie finished with her speech, Reverend Day introduced our wedding vows. He explained to our friends and family how we wanted each moment of our wedding ceremony to be special and how we both wanted to write our own vows to each other. We had previously decided that I would go first, so Reverend Day handed me my vows (which were typed and ready to go). I was nervous to hear my own voice, for the Wedding Pavilion was so quiet at the moment. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone had been anxiously awaiting to hear these “wedding vows” they had heard so much about. We hadn’t revealed them to anyone, especially each other. I had practiced so much at home when Mark was out running and errand so that I would be comfortable with hearing and saying each word that I had written. I had so many butterflies before I began. My hand trembled a bit, but I was ready to speak the words that I had spend months writing.
I took a deep breath (it is funny, on the wedding video you can actually see me doing this) and I began. Throughout the entire passage, I did not stumble on any of my words. My voice was clear and I pronunciated each word. I only choked up for a moment when I said the line, “I look forward to creating a family with you, and rocking our babies to sleep together” Right when I said “together” I had a tear fall, but I stopped, took another deep breath, and kept right on going.

That was a miracle for me, to not completely break down during my vows and being a crying emotional mess. That is what I did NOT want to do. I wanted to remain composed and calm. After a few minutes of reading all of my vows, I approached the last few lines. We had both planned to end our vows with “Now, Always, and Forever”. Those 3 words are very special to us. We have said them throughout our entire courtship, and Mark repeated those words when he proposed. Plus, we thought this would be a nice way to tie our vows together. When I reached and spoke those words, I felt soooo relieved!! Reverend Day quietly told me my vows were beautiful and took the papers from me. Mark and I held hands for a moment and he said how much he loved my vows and that he loved me.
It was now Mark’s turn. Reverend Day carefully handed Mark his vows, and he began to speak. I knew the moment he started to speak where his words were coming from. He had taken the lyrics from a Bryan Adams song that we love so much and began saying some of the lines. I laughed because Mark kept saying when he was trying to write his “Does it count if I use a few quotes or two?” And I said, “Of course it’s ok! Don’t worry!” Well, a few quotes turned into half of Bryan Adams song! He then took a pause and began the second part of his vows. Once again, I recognized it immediately and I couldn’t help but giggle! It was some of the words from our first wedding dance song that we would hear later at the reception “Beautiful” by Wayne Brady. He had fallen in love with it the moment he heard it. We actually had the opportunity to hear Wayne Brady sing it live on Main Street USA for a taping for his video. So it had wonderful meaning for us. Anyhow, he said a few lines from that song, and then, moved onto the third part of his vows, the originally written part. And they were worth the wait! His words were beautiful, moving, and sincere.

When our vows were complete, I think we both felt a HUGE sense of “Whooo!” We had both so wanted to write our vows and do that part of the ceremony, but it was by far the most nerve racking part of the service! WE then moved onto the ring exchange. Michael, the best man, handed Reverend Day the rings, and we said our vows to each other. This is what we decided on for our ring exchange words (Mark, from the moment we met, I knew that I wanted to spend my life with you. I give you this ring, as a sign that I choose you to be my soulmate and best friend, for Now, always, and forever. (see, there is that now, always, and forever thing again!). We both spoke with clear voices and hand no problems with his part of the ceremony at all. It was very beautiful and I felt so much excitement as I saw that shiny new wedding ring on Mark’s hand. I think there is nothing sexier than a handsome man with a wedding ring. I think the only thing sexier is a handsome man with a Vera Bradley diaper bag holding a baby! Just something about it I just love so much!
After we had our new wedding rings on, Reverend Day began the final blessing. We had chosen the apache wedding blessing. And FINIALLY, after all that was complete, we shared our first kiss as husband and wife!

It was perfect!! We had practiced it a few times, and it went perfectly!! We were just so excited to kiss and hug and be husband and wife! Our friends were smiling and clapping as we turned to face them! It was such an awesome moment! Reverend Day then said his closing remarks and said, “It is with great pleasure that I present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Sarah Augustyniak! Congratulations! And we practically ran up the aisle to “Zip-a-dee-do-dah!”

It was the PERFECT ending to a pretty much perfect ceremony! We were directed right into the brides vestibule and when the doors closed behind us, we practically jumped into each others arms! We were laughing and hugging and so overcome with happy, joyful emotion. We were married!! We had a few moments alone together, where we both quickly recapped the day and laughed at how I almost didn’t make it with the whole limo situation, and then there was a knock at the door. It was Karen. She said her congratultions and that it was time to do the rose toss. Due to the threatening skies (which had still held off but Karen didn’t want to take the chance) so I was kind of bummed. I had wanted to run over that beautiful bridge, but instead we ran from the brides vestibule back into the wedding pavilion door. It wasn’t as grand, but it was still nice and the pictures came out cool.