PrincessBrideKatie
Sleeping Beauty
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2007
Sorry this took so long to start, but we have been so busy moving into our new apartment, DH started his new job, and we have been trying to get all of my paperwork in so that I can start applying for a job.
Just a quick history, for anyone that has not read my PJ. DH and I met while working on the College Program at Disney World in 2006, however I was on the international College Program, being from Canada. About 2 weeks after we started dating, I called my SIL (also my MOH) and said "OMG! Patty, I think he is the one!" We were talking marriage when we had only been dating a month... lol he proposed about then but he was drunk at the time His program ended 2 weeks before mine, and he went back to Nebraska. I had decided that since my classes didnt start until about sept 10, that I would come visit him for 10 days before heading back to Ontario. His mother is the kind of person that would welcome anyone to live in her home if they needed to, so she welcomed me and even said I could stay. She seemed to love having me around as she has 3 sons. We continued having a long distance relationship. Feb 2007 DH came along on my annual Mother/Daughter Springbreak trip to DisneyWorld. He proposed on my birthday, the last day of our vacation under the fireworks at a Pirate and Princess Party. I spent summer 2007 living at his house, and his mother got me a job at her work (Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue NE), and we began planning our wedding.
I knew even as a child I wanted a disney wedding, although my dream was to walk down mainstreet and get married in front of Cinderella's Castle. But my Dad is not a millionaire... so I had to plan something different.
DH originally said he wanted an outside wedding, but now claims he never said that. I still remember him saying it and its why we initially said SBP, but when we went to take a look at it in Feb 2007, the paint was chipping and it was dirty and we were not impressed. So then we said YCG. And thats what the plan was. I didnt want to make everyone move around too much, so we said the reception would be at the Yacht Club too. I wanted a dessert party but finances did not allow for it (hopefully at a VR).
We were assigned Celeste DiCicco as our planner, totally awesome planner. And I didnt know she was pregnant til the day before the wedding, but she was pretty far along. I will do a review post soon for everyone we used.
Being a Canadian marrying an American, we had to fill out miles of paperwork. And even then the visa did not come in in time. It was interesting because we had a person very high up in the USCIS helping us (thanks to Larry's Dad a Captain in the Navy with crazy connections) we were not able to push the financee visa through fast enough. So that very nice person at USCIS said to DH "Go, Get Married, enjoy your wedding, spending time with your family and your honeymoon, and then call me when you get back and I will help you with the new paperwork that needs to be filled out." I was like "What??? You are the people that want all of the paperwork done... and yet you are telling me to go against the rules???"
So May 16th came and my parents and I had the car packed and were out on the road at 6:30am heading to the border.
We got to the Fort Erie border and we told them we were going to DisneyWorld, and the officer asked my Dad "When are you coming back?" he said "May 28th at the latest", and she said "ok" and we were across the border. She technically didnt ask me when I was coming back, so I didnt lie.
The rest of the drive was semi-relaxing, except that I was stuck in the backseat and it looked like this
We did the drive in two days, because I asked my Dad to push it on the second day, as DH said he would be able to make it in two days too. But when we were about 2hrs away from Orlando, DH messaged me that his Uncle (who was helping DH drive a Penske down with furniture etc) was done for the day, and they were 3hrs away and it was about 4 in the afternoon. I was mad, cause he told me that morning that he was going to be in Orlando that night, and I pushed my 71year old Dad to drive more than he needed to.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Kissimmee that night, it was bad! They had a problem with laundry that day, and we could not get any clean towels until midnight, and that was with 2 phonecalls to the front desk, and my asking the person delivering towels to the room next to us, whom I know did not get in until after us and called for towels after us.
The next morning we checked into Port Orleans Riverside, my Mom's favourite resort, and it was my Dad's first Disney Resort stay. It was nice, though I think I only slept there one night. We then headed to Walmart to buy stuff for the apartment. We had to wait until DH and his uncle arrived to get into the apartment. We still had time to waste after Walmart, so we went to lunch at Denny's, I havent eaten there since I was like 10, but it reminded me of Village Inn, which DH's family eat at alot. We got to the apartment and DH was there, and we just had to sign the lease together and give the first month's rent. We went and unloaded the cars and some of the penske. My brother Mike and his family arrived that night, and DH and I went to their rented house for dinner and to introduce DH to them. Of course my niece and nephews loved Larry! We got in the pool with them and they had a blast. They invited us to stay over for the night. We did, but DH had an interview in the morning so I went with Mike and his fam to MK as was planned, except that I was supposed to meet them with Mom and Dad there. I dont have any pics of that, Mike and Patty got them all. I loved the kids reactions to WDW!
DH's bestman arrived that day and they met up while I was at MK, and then they came over after. The kids loved Matt as well. Larry, Matt and I went to Downtown Disney for Dinner at Earl of Sandwich (always amazing), and then we saw Prince Caspian. I didnt expect it to be as long as it was, and we didnt get out of the theater til 1:00am, so again I didnt stay with my parents because i knew I would wake them up, and that would be bad. So I stayed with DH and BM at the apartment.
Tuesday morning, I had my test run with Ana from Beaute Speciale set for 12. But I knew I was going to be late as we had to meet with Rev Keener, Dh's Rev from when he lived in VA, as he wanted to go over exactly what we wanted for the ceremony. So I called and had it moved back 1/2 an hour. I still almost didnt arrive in time. It went really well, I loved how I looked. She then put my hair in a different style so that I could meet up with DH and he wouldnt know how my hair was going to be. We met up with his family at the Rainforest Cafe at DAK. It was really good, we got two of their Volcanoes between all 10 of us and there was still some left over. That night I stayed with my parents at POR. Here are pics from the test run:
Lots of curls
Me without makeup
With some makeup, but hair isnt quite right
With the veil
Changed the hair... its closer to the picture I had of what I wanted
Wednesday was tux fitting day, and our Mondry family (AKA my family) dinner. We went to the Florida Mall, and got the tuxes fitted, and for the most part everything fit well, except that there was a hole in DH's tux and Gabriel (the RB)'s tux didnt fit at all, but Mike measured him so I dont know if it was Mike's fault. They told us they would not guarentee any tux to fit that had the measurements phoned in. Overall the tuxes looked great. But I didnt get pics. Mom did. Still waiting on her for her pictures. I stayed with DH and the guys while Mom and Dad went to pick up my brother Jim and his wife Katie as they were arriving on Disney's Magical Express.
Fitting of my Dad:
Fitting Gabriel:
Dinner was at Ohana, it was interesting. They got Larry and I to hold the limbo pole while the kids did the limbo. We had to dress up in Grass skirts and had about a million leis around our necks. Mom had told them that Jim and Katie were vegetarians and so they brought them different food, involving tofu. Jim and Katie gave us their gifts. A blanket that Katie crochetted (sp?) into mickey heads. And blue glass dessert glasses. I could not believe that she put that much effort into anything for me, as we have never gotten along.
Learning to hula:
After dinner, we went back to Mike and Patty's. It went ok, but there was tension as Jim's Katie is not the most favourite person in our family. On they way back to the hotel, I may have said something that made her ask if Dad could stop the car so she could walk, but she picks at me, and my mother knows it. And my mom told me afterwards at the hotel, that she was proud of me for standing up for myself.
Wednesday night I called GF Spa to see if I could get reservations for mani pedis for me and my MOH. and they said we could get in at 11:30am, so Mike took the kids to Mk and Patty and I met up there and then took the monorail over to the GF. We had great mani pedis, and they recommended a facial. But I was like "The day before my wedding? I thought facials make your face breakout" and they guarenteed me their facials would not make me breakout and I would 'glow'. Patty volunteered to pay for them, so I was like "ok". It was the best facial I have ever had, so relaxing and calming. The woman that gave it to me said that its ok if I fall asleep, but I didnt. We were slightly late for the rehersal at the YCG, but the guys were not there yet anyway, the only people there were my Mom, Dad, Celeste, and the Rev. Mom had also checked me in as I was staying at they Yacht Club that night. Patty and Melissa (my junior bridesmaid) were also going to stay with me. The guys arrived and we started the rehersal.
The Ring Bearer (age 3) was adorable, he had to have someone holding his hand, and he would not let go of Larry and I during the rehersal. The only pic I have is on my cell that DH's brother took and i dont know how to get in on here.
I have to stop here as my computer is getting really hot, and it has a tendency to overheat. So hopefully I will continue later.
Just a quick history, for anyone that has not read my PJ. DH and I met while working on the College Program at Disney World in 2006, however I was on the international College Program, being from Canada. About 2 weeks after we started dating, I called my SIL (also my MOH) and said "OMG! Patty, I think he is the one!" We were talking marriage when we had only been dating a month... lol he proposed about then but he was drunk at the time His program ended 2 weeks before mine, and he went back to Nebraska. I had decided that since my classes didnt start until about sept 10, that I would come visit him for 10 days before heading back to Ontario. His mother is the kind of person that would welcome anyone to live in her home if they needed to, so she welcomed me and even said I could stay. She seemed to love having me around as she has 3 sons. We continued having a long distance relationship. Feb 2007 DH came along on my annual Mother/Daughter Springbreak trip to DisneyWorld. He proposed on my birthday, the last day of our vacation under the fireworks at a Pirate and Princess Party. I spent summer 2007 living at his house, and his mother got me a job at her work (Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue NE), and we began planning our wedding.
I knew even as a child I wanted a disney wedding, although my dream was to walk down mainstreet and get married in front of Cinderella's Castle. But my Dad is not a millionaire... so I had to plan something different.
DH originally said he wanted an outside wedding, but now claims he never said that. I still remember him saying it and its why we initially said SBP, but when we went to take a look at it in Feb 2007, the paint was chipping and it was dirty and we were not impressed. So then we said YCG. And thats what the plan was. I didnt want to make everyone move around too much, so we said the reception would be at the Yacht Club too. I wanted a dessert party but finances did not allow for it (hopefully at a VR).
We were assigned Celeste DiCicco as our planner, totally awesome planner. And I didnt know she was pregnant til the day before the wedding, but she was pretty far along. I will do a review post soon for everyone we used.
Being a Canadian marrying an American, we had to fill out miles of paperwork. And even then the visa did not come in in time. It was interesting because we had a person very high up in the USCIS helping us (thanks to Larry's Dad a Captain in the Navy with crazy connections) we were not able to push the financee visa through fast enough. So that very nice person at USCIS said to DH "Go, Get Married, enjoy your wedding, spending time with your family and your honeymoon, and then call me when you get back and I will help you with the new paperwork that needs to be filled out." I was like "What??? You are the people that want all of the paperwork done... and yet you are telling me to go against the rules???"
So May 16th came and my parents and I had the car packed and were out on the road at 6:30am heading to the border.
The rest of the drive was semi-relaxing, except that I was stuck in the backseat and it looked like this
We did the drive in two days, because I asked my Dad to push it on the second day, as DH said he would be able to make it in two days too. But when we were about 2hrs away from Orlando, DH messaged me that his Uncle (who was helping DH drive a Penske down with furniture etc) was done for the day, and they were 3hrs away and it was about 4 in the afternoon. I was mad, cause he told me that morning that he was going to be in Orlando that night, and I pushed my 71year old Dad to drive more than he needed to.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Kissimmee that night, it was bad! They had a problem with laundry that day, and we could not get any clean towels until midnight, and that was with 2 phonecalls to the front desk, and my asking the person delivering towels to the room next to us, whom I know did not get in until after us and called for towels after us.
The next morning we checked into Port Orleans Riverside, my Mom's favourite resort, and it was my Dad's first Disney Resort stay. It was nice, though I think I only slept there one night. We then headed to Walmart to buy stuff for the apartment. We had to wait until DH and his uncle arrived to get into the apartment. We still had time to waste after Walmart, so we went to lunch at Denny's, I havent eaten there since I was like 10, but it reminded me of Village Inn, which DH's family eat at alot. We got to the apartment and DH was there, and we just had to sign the lease together and give the first month's rent. We went and unloaded the cars and some of the penske. My brother Mike and his family arrived that night, and DH and I went to their rented house for dinner and to introduce DH to them. Of course my niece and nephews loved Larry! We got in the pool with them and they had a blast. They invited us to stay over for the night. We did, but DH had an interview in the morning so I went with Mike and his fam to MK as was planned, except that I was supposed to meet them with Mom and Dad there. I dont have any pics of that, Mike and Patty got them all. I loved the kids reactions to WDW!
DH's bestman arrived that day and they met up while I was at MK, and then they came over after. The kids loved Matt as well. Larry, Matt and I went to Downtown Disney for Dinner at Earl of Sandwich (always amazing), and then we saw Prince Caspian. I didnt expect it to be as long as it was, and we didnt get out of the theater til 1:00am, so again I didnt stay with my parents because i knew I would wake them up, and that would be bad. So I stayed with DH and BM at the apartment.
Tuesday morning, I had my test run with Ana from Beaute Speciale set for 12. But I knew I was going to be late as we had to meet with Rev Keener, Dh's Rev from when he lived in VA, as he wanted to go over exactly what we wanted for the ceremony. So I called and had it moved back 1/2 an hour. I still almost didnt arrive in time. It went really well, I loved how I looked. She then put my hair in a different style so that I could meet up with DH and he wouldnt know how my hair was going to be. We met up with his family at the Rainforest Cafe at DAK. It was really good, we got two of their Volcanoes between all 10 of us and there was still some left over. That night I stayed with my parents at POR. Here are pics from the test run:
Lots of curls
Me without makeup
With some makeup, but hair isnt quite right
With the veil
Changed the hair... its closer to the picture I had of what I wanted
Wednesday was tux fitting day, and our Mondry family (AKA my family) dinner. We went to the Florida Mall, and got the tuxes fitted, and for the most part everything fit well, except that there was a hole in DH's tux and Gabriel (the RB)'s tux didnt fit at all, but Mike measured him so I dont know if it was Mike's fault. They told us they would not guarentee any tux to fit that had the measurements phoned in. Overall the tuxes looked great. But I didnt get pics. Mom did. Still waiting on her for her pictures. I stayed with DH and the guys while Mom and Dad went to pick up my brother Jim and his wife Katie as they were arriving on Disney's Magical Express.
Fitting of my Dad:
Fitting Gabriel:
Dinner was at Ohana, it was interesting. They got Larry and I to hold the limbo pole while the kids did the limbo. We had to dress up in Grass skirts and had about a million leis around our necks. Mom had told them that Jim and Katie were vegetarians and so they brought them different food, involving tofu. Jim and Katie gave us their gifts. A blanket that Katie crochetted (sp?) into mickey heads. And blue glass dessert glasses. I could not believe that she put that much effort into anything for me, as we have never gotten along.
Learning to hula:
After dinner, we went back to Mike and Patty's. It went ok, but there was tension as Jim's Katie is not the most favourite person in our family. On they way back to the hotel, I may have said something that made her ask if Dad could stop the car so she could walk, but she picks at me, and my mother knows it. And my mom told me afterwards at the hotel, that she was proud of me for standing up for myself.
Wednesday night I called GF Spa to see if I could get reservations for mani pedis for me and my MOH. and they said we could get in at 11:30am, so Mike took the kids to Mk and Patty and I met up there and then took the monorail over to the GF. We had great mani pedis, and they recommended a facial. But I was like "The day before my wedding? I thought facials make your face breakout" and they guarenteed me their facials would not make me breakout and I would 'glow'. Patty volunteered to pay for them, so I was like "ok". It was the best facial I have ever had, so relaxing and calming. The woman that gave it to me said that its ok if I fall asleep, but I didnt. We were slightly late for the rehersal at the YCG, but the guys were not there yet anyway, the only people there were my Mom, Dad, Celeste, and the Rev. Mom had also checked me in as I was staying at they Yacht Club that night. Patty and Melissa (my junior bridesmaid) were also going to stay with me. The guys arrived and we started the rehersal.
The Ring Bearer (age 3) was adorable, he had to have someone holding his hand, and he would not let go of Larry and I during the rehersal. The only pic I have is on my cell that DH's brother took and i dont know how to get in on here.
I have to stop here as my computer is getting really hot, and it has a tendency to overheat. So hopefully I will continue later.