Wishes Wedding in Wonderland 3/3/13 WP/WHR/Sago Cay- PS and Menu Tasting Update 9/15

[DFTWbride2013]

I have no idea how to start this PJ thing, even after reading so many others! Hope this is okay.

Who we are:
I'm Stephanie (or Steph, if you want), I'm 24 and I'm a stay-at-home mommy of two beautiful little boys. Aside from being a total Disney freak, I love anime, video games, World of Warcraft, cats (we have 3) and dogs (we have none right now, but will one day). I love pizza and sushi more than anything - but not together!- and since I was born and raised in Southern Florida, I also grew up on Cuban food and a Cuban sandwich is like nothing else in the world to me. So tasty! I barely survived my 3 years of living in Texas because there was NO authentic Cuban food! I lived off of fajitas and chicken fried steak.
My Fiance's name is Alec, he's going to be 30 in just a couple of months. I constantly tease him about being my little old man. He knows it's all out of love. Anyway, he's a huge computer geek and works in IT. He was born in Ohio, but he moved around a lot as a kid. He lived in Florida, Virginia, and even England for a few years! Thankfully, his family decided to come back to Florida to settle down. He loves everything technology, anime, video and computer games (but mostly World of Warcraft), cats, pokemon, and he's into Disney more than he'll admit. He sings along to all the songs and he's a total dork with me.

Here's our little family this past Easter.

How we met:
I was out with my friend/roommate at the arcade playing Dance Dance Revolution (For those of you that don't know, it's the game where you watch the screen and step onto the corresponding arrows as they come up). It was a huge hobby of ours that my friends dragged me into when I'd moved home from Texas. We knew a lot of the people that went there, but that night there was this guy we'd never seen before. He was amazing at it! I'm a big nerd myself, and I happen to think geeky guys with computer and gaming skills are super sexy. Then, my friend pointed out that he had a World of Warcraft hat on, which is my other big hobby/obsession. I had to talk to him! I'm not the outgoing type at ALL, I'm usually very shy and awkward around new people. I was drawn to Alec, so I complimented his hat and we started talking. By the end of the night, he asked for my phone number and things just went from there. It's a perfect example to our total nerdiness.

This is a picture from my birthday this past year, taken at the arcade we met at.

The engagement:
Our relationship went faster than we expected. I knew I wanted to marry Alec after maybe a month or so of dating, but we'd both gotten out of terrible, long-term relationships not a year before we met, so we were both -trying- to take it slow. Even after we found out I was pregnant, we didn't want that to be the reason to get married. By Christmastime after our first son was born, though, I was getting impatient and I let him know it. We'd been together a year and a half by then, and had already been through a lot together and things were still great, even through the toughest times. He dragged it out another month, waiting until my birthday. He was just trying to wait so he could get me my "dream ring." He was going to wait until my birthday dinner to propose in front of my friends and his parents, but he knew how impatient I was and he couldn't wait to give me my ring. He got home late "from work" one night (he'd been to the jewelers after work to pick my ring up), and we were sitting on the couch talking. He leaned in to kiss me, and grabbed my hand and slipped the ring on as we kissed. Then he asked a simple "Will you marry me?" I'll admit I was a little disappointed that he didn't get down on one knee, but that's just not my Alec and I know it. I started crying right there, of course, and took a picture of my ring to send to all my friends.

I don't feel the need to post a picture of my ring, because it's just a regular, one carat 3 stone ring on a white gold band. It's what I've always wanted though, as I love the symbolism of the 3 stones representing past/present/future.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

So, we got engaged January of 2011, and at that time I had no idea that Disney does weddings! Can you believe it? We weren't in any hurry to start planning right away, so I let the time go by a little. Meanwhile, Alec's parents had found out that even though I'm a lover of all things Disney, I'd never actually been to the parks! My mom single-handedly raised my brother and myself, so sadly there was never money for something like Disney. It had been a dream of mine to go to Magic Kingdom ever since I can remember. So for my birthday, his parents gave us a Disney weekend! We waited until March, when the weather was more pleasant. We left our son with Alec's parents for the weekend- they insisted that I wouldn't get to fully experience Disney if I had a baby to take care of the whole time, they're so sweet. Of course, the first park I wanted to go to was Magic Kingdom. It was absolutely magical and I felt like a 5 year old the whole time we were there. I couldn't stop grinning all day, it was better than I had ever imagined. The next day, we did Animal Kingdom. The Lion King is one of our favorite Disney movies and I wanted to see the Tree of Life so bad! Another magical day. If I hadn't been so ready to go home to see our son, it would have been pretty hard for Alec to get me in the car when it was time to head home. I'd never had so much fun in my life.
The next day wasn't so great. The day after we got back, Alec got laid off from his job. His department wasn't making enough money, so they went with the "last in, first out" rule. I figured we could still at least get ideas for our wedding, even if we couldn't do anything official yet. Then, just before mother's day, we found out I was pregnant again. Less than a month after his vasectomy had been cleared and we were given the green light, it decided to heal! Planning for a second and very unexpected baby while we were both unemployed was too much, so there went wedding planning.
Our second son, Chance (get it? chance? haha) was born in November. He's an angel, just like his brother, so it took no time for me to get used to having two kids around the house. Alec was back to work by then, too, so it was time to start wedding plans again! Sometime in the middle of all of this, I saw an ad for Alfred Angelo's dresses for Disney, and that led to me finding out about DFTW! From there, it was an easy decision for us. Who WOULDN'T want to get married at Disney!? Once we found out that they have almost all the vendors we'd need, there was no doubt in our minds that this was what we wanted. I couldn't imagine trying to research venues and vendors and all that while raising two small boys. This was just perfect for us.
I'm sorry for the essay, if you're still reading... Wow! I'm impressed. This is kind of me recapping the last few years to myself. In public. Hah.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Annnnyway, to wedding stuff!

Our original date was going to be 1-26-14 because I knew I wanted to get married on a Sunday, and I thought "How awesome would it be to get married on my birthday!?" Silly me, I'm too impatient to wait that long. After a little convincing, I got Alec to agree that we'd be able to move the wedding up to next year. After all, Disney takes the majority of the research and interviewing vendors out! That's going to save us a lot of time. So we decided March would be nice, because that's when we first went to Disney together (and my first time there ever), and the weather had been absolutely perfect that whole weekend. March is usually a pretty good time of the year down here weather-wise, anyway. Looking at the caalendar, I liked 3-3-13. We were already in April by then, so I thought the chances of us getting that date would be pretty slim. We also considered April 14 and 21st as backup dates.
We contacted Disney, went to our site viewing, and then our consultant checked dates for us. All the venues we wanted were available 3-3-13, even though we were already at the end of April! It was meant to be, or at least that's how I felt.
As I'm writing this, we just got the email today that our LoA and deposit were received. We officially have Japan Pavilion for our ceremony, The Attic for our Wedding Breakfast, Whitehall Room and Patio for pre-reception/reception, and Morocco Oasis for our DP. I'm still in shock!

Oh, and our wedding is probably going to be 35-40 people total, including 5 toddlers and an infant.

EDIT: Our venues and day-of schedule have changed! Here's the why and the new plan.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Saves the Dates and Invitations
I love crafty things, but I have limited time to do wedding stuff. I also found a really good groupon for VistaPrint. So, what's a girl to do? I ordered pre-designed save the date magnets from VistaPrint, as well as invitations, and then I'm adding my own touches to them. I actually already finished our STDs, and addressed the envelopes. I'll most likely be sending them out sometime in June.

Here are our STDs.

I used black cardstock to make a little half-card to wrap around them. I embossed the front with my Cuttlebug.

VP's magnets are so thin that I was worried some of Alec's older family members might not realize they're magnets. So I found a cute little poem online and wrote it inside.

I also used a Mickey punch to make confetti in our colors and put that in the envelopes, too.

Here are the invitations.

I haven't done much as far as actual assembly goes, but I'm making black pocketfolds for them. Then I'll attach the invitation on the inside left, heat emboss some pink vellum with a sparkly white design and put that over the invitation. The right will be the pocket with the RSVP card, reception card, etc. I'm then putting some ribbon around the whole thing (I found this pretty white ribbon with silver swirls) with a silver buckle. I also bought some pink and white gems I might put somewhere because I love sparkles so much. Or I may just save them for my shoes.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

The details!

Edit: Most of our details have now changed. I'll be posting the new plan in a separate post. Sorry!

Let's start with colors. After changing our theme and colors 4 or 5 times, we finally settled on light pink, black, white, and touches of silver. I'm thinking I might also throw just a few touches of light blue and/or purple into the flowers, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

For the ceremony, I already love the look of Japan. The beautiful trees and the koi pond have a tranquil look that I don't want to spoil, so I really don't think I'll be adding much, if any extra decor. I'm hoping I'll be able to get the white wooden chairs and put a pink bow around them. We're exchanging vows on the bridge, so maybe putting a flower garland or something on the bridge would be nice, but I'm not sure yet. All I know is that I want rose petals down the aisle since I'm not doing an aisle runner. I want to keep to the natural look of the place. We're doing a wine box ceremony for sure, because I'm tired of the sand pouring and the unity candles. No offense to anyone that's doing one, of course! Just personally don't want to do it myself, and Alec doesn't get the point of any of it even after I've explained it to him 5 times anyway. Oh, and I'm absolutely positively having Cindy's coach!! I freaked out when I saw the price, but I've been obsessing over it and Alec reminded me that he doesn't want me to have any regrets about the wedding. He's so good to me. So, I really get to feel like a princess!

I'm still totally indecisive as far as reception decor goes. I know I want floral centerpieces, and I want lots of pink and white to match that beautiful ceiling in the whitehall room. I'm not sure yet if I want Chiavari chairs or if I want to just keep the ones the room comes with. They look more comfortable, but they're ugly as heck. I know no one else will remember, but I'll have pictures and video of these chairs so I want them to be pretty! I'm also considering hanging paper lanterns from the ceiling in white and shades of pink. All I know for sure is that our tables names will be names of Disney worlds. Agrabah, Fantasia, Atlantica, and Wonderland. We'll also have a kids' activity table named Neverland. I'm thinking of hanging a sign on our sweetheart table that says Upendi.

I stole this picture from someone here. I wish I could remember who it was so I could give her credit.

I heard you can get glowy things for the dessert party, so I'm pretty sure I'll be doing something like that! I love glowy things. Even my hair glows under a blacklight right now.
I'm also hoping we'll be allowed to cut our cake at the DP. Either way, we're probably only going to have a two tier cake. I definitely want a mad hatter.
This is my favorite cake I've seen. It's another picture stolen from the boards, and again I wish I could give credit to the bride it belongs to. I've been obsessing over this cake since the first time I saw it, and no matter how many cakes I've seen since I keep coming back to this one.

I'm pretty sure we've decided on music, at least. The only thing I really feel I might change is the song for the wedding party to walk to, only because the song itself is actually really sad- not that many people will even recognize it.
Seating will be The Throne Room music from Star Wars. The wedding party will walk to the instrumental version of 1000 Words from Final Fantasy X-2. Alec and I will be walking down together, and we'll be walking to an instrumental version of Hikari from kingdom Hearts. The recessional will be the Legend of Zelda theme music.
Our first dance will more than likely be to Mario Kart Love Song. It's amazing and suits our dorky personalities so wonderfully!

As far as flowers go, I'm not much into them. they're pretty, but I don't know much about them. I know I don't want a lot of roses, and I really don't like calla lilies and don't get why they're so popular. I strongly dislike carnations. I love gardenias and STEPHanotis (why wouldn't I like something with my name?), and I also like hydrangea and peonies. We'll have to see where that gets me.

I'm still torn on whether I want a fresh flower bouquet or a brooch bouquet. I think it'll depend on what dress I end up with.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Clothes
Alec is wearing a pinstripe tux. That's that. I have a huge thing for pinstripes and he doesn't mind at all. I have no idea what to put the groomsmen in, I'm thinking maybe just solid black with a white tie.

I'm stuck on bridesmaid dresses. I want tea length dresses for them, but they seem to be hard to find. We're waiting a couple more months to go start trying anything on. Hopefully I can find something that works for both of them! All I know right now is that I want pink.

I'm waiting until the end of August/beginning of September to start shopping for my dress. Of course, my first stop will be Alfred Angelo. I want to try on Tiana, Cinderella #205, one of the Ariel dresses (though I have a feeling it'll make my big hips look even better, we'll see), one of the Jasmine dresses, and the pink Sleeping Beauty dress. I also really like a few Maggie Sottero dresses, and a couple from David Tutera for Mon Cheri.

Here are a few of the ones I like:

This is Victoriana from Maggie Sottero. It also comes in pink!! I'm just afraid of the drop waist, but we'll see.

These two are Alfred Angelo non-Disney dresses.

There are plenty of others, but I don't want to picture flood.

I'm also probably going to get a tea length dress to change into after dinner, for dancing. I'm also going to wear it the next day for Victoria and Albert's. I'm hoping it'll still fit (or even have to be taken in!) for our first anniversary so I can wear it to dinner again then.

Here's my favorite, I'm hoping it'll fit me well! I hate David's Bridal but this one's from there.

This is another one I really like. I think it was from AA, but not totally sure.

Here are shoes I got, still haven't decided if they'll be for engagement pictures or if I'll cover them in swarovski gems for the wedding. I think I want shorter heels or flats for the wedding, because Alec is only 3 inches taller than me and I really don't want to be looking down on him while we're exchanging vows.

I kind of want flats with a pink bow on the front for the reception. And then I'll cover the whole shoe but the bow in crystals and they'll be nice and sparkly. Did I mention I love sparkles? Because I really do.

I'm not sure about jewelry yet. I want to pick a dress first so I know what to get with it. All I know for sure is that I want a tiara!

I'm not sure what to do with my hair yet, either. Part of me wants to get extensions (I was so dumb, I broke down and cut my hair a couple months ago when I dyed it and now I totally regret it) and do a half up/half down with loose curls. Or I could just keep it natural and do an updo to the side. We'll see. I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep it orange or dye it back to black, my natural color. Or I might do a chocolate brown. Who knows.

That's all I have for now. I'm still waiting to be assigned a planner, so I don't think this is a bad start!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Oh, I forgot to mention that we're also doing a mini Disneymoon! We're staying for 3 days after the wedding to have our own little honeymoon. Alec's mom is so sweet, she's taking off work to watch the kids for us for a few days so we can have some alone time. Then, for our first anniversary, we'll probably take a week-long vacation with the kids in place of a longer honeymoon. I'm trying to talk him into Aulani, I want to go there so bad! Either that or we might do New York City at Christmas time because we both want to see NYC and I've never seen snow before.

One day, we're going to Tokyo Disney, but we're waiting until the kids are old enough to either enjoy it or stay home.

Anyway, back to the Disneymoon. We're staying at the Boardwalk. Right now, I'm thinking the day after the wedding we're going to take a day to relax and wander around. Breakfast at GF cafe or room service, if we're even awake early enough for breakfast. Then we'll take a stroll down the boardwalk, have a root beer at Big River Grille (I hate beer, but I love root beer!), wander over to Epcot for lunch at Tokyo Dining, then come back down and maybe walk over to the BC and see what's over there. I also wanna stop at the Boardwalk's bakery and see what kind of sweet treat we might find there. We might relax out on our balcony for a while, and then it'll be time to get ready for dinner at Victoria & Albert's. We're still not sure if we want to do Chef's Table or just the regular dining area. I know if we're paying $200 we're not doing the Queen's Room, I'd rather do the Chef's Table and get the more amazing experience. I don't think Alec cares as long as he gets to eat there. After that, it'll be another walk around the BW at night time and check out some of the places around there.

The second day, I'm really really hoping this is the day we can schedule our MK shoot for. Either way, we're doing breakfast at the Wave. The mention of sweet potato pancakes won me over. Then, we'll be heading over to MK. Ride a couple rides, and photopass for sure! Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table, because we've never done it and it sounds like an amazing experience. We'll see what we want to do after that, maybe ride more rides or go back to the hotel and relax. Jiko's on the menu for dinner that night. Then, DTD if we're in the mood and have the energy for it.

Our last day, we're doing breakfast at Kouzzina before we check out of the hotel. We love Iron Chef and we're excited to Cat Cora's restaurant! From there, we're going to Epcot for some shopping and a last bit of Disney fun. We'll skip lunch and just do an early dinner at Le Cellier before we head home, back to our boys and to reality.

 

[v_misses_epcot]

Love all your plans so far! Holy **** we're so much a like, are we long lost sisters? HAHAHA Chad works for IT for Queen Anns County and love Anime and I grew up in Texas. Where in Texas were you?

Mario Kart love song is the best!!! Still trying to convince Chad to use it for cake cutting but we're thinking of using Up "married life" instead.

Anyhow, keep the updates coming!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

I thought the same thing when I read your PJ! We do have quite a few things in common. Except I'm a flour tortilla kind of girl. I lived in Texas with my ex, and he dragged me around quite a bit. We were always somewhere around the Houston area though. El Campo, Houston, Katy, Sheridan, and then College Station. My favorite place was San Antonio, we went to visit there for a few days once and it was so pretty! Houston is insanely impressive though, too. I'm a city girl so Houston was where I felt most at home. I went bonkers when we lived in the country! How about you? I know you said South, but I'm not sure what's considered south, since it's such a big state!

Aww, that would be a nice song to use! I guess it depends on what kind of feel you want. I'm too goofy, I just want everything to be relaxed and fun. Alec gave me a deer in the headlights look when I told him we need to figure out a song for the cake cutting (if we can't do it at the DP). So I think I'm on my own for finding one. I might pick a Disney song since I cut all the Disney music I was going to play at the ceremony.

 

[belle2211]

I stole this picture from someone here. I wish I could remember who it was so I could give her credit.

Hi! Your plans sound great! And those dresses are beautiful.
The picture above is mine! I loved the scene in Tangled where the lanterns are released and wanted lanterns at my wedding. We couldn't really have them in the ballroom for the reception so I had them at the cocktail hour in the Whitehall Room. I only got to see them for a second when I peeked in (since I had pictures during cocktail hour) but they turned out beautiful!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Hi! Your plans sound great! And those dresses are beautiful.
The picture above is mine! I loved the scene in Tangled where the lanterns are released and wanted lanterns at my wedding. We couldn't really have them in the ballroom for the reception so I had them at the cocktail hour in the Whitehall Room. I only got to see them for a second when I peeked in (since I had pictures during cocktail hour) but they turned out beautiful!

Thanks! I'm hoping one of those dresses ends up being mine. I look forward to dress shopping, but I don't want to be one of those girls that tries on 100+ before they find one they're okay with!

Oh yay, that's one stolen picture claimed! I didn't think I was actually going to make a PJ or I would have taken note of who it belongs to. I fell in love with that look as soon as I saw your picture! It stinks you didn't get to be there for long, but I'm sure it looked even better in person. I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea.

 

[Wshs0127]

Hi Steph, I came over from Facebook! Love your plans so far, you are so on top of things and know what you want! I'm still trying to figure things out lol! What Jasmine dress are you looking to try on? My dress is the Jasmine style 215, I have pics on my PJ. I love it! I also tried one of the Ariel dresses on, I think it was the newer style and it was pretty as well, but the Jasmine dress was the one I wanted since I first saw it in magazines.

I also have two kids, girl 9 and boy 4. They grow so fast. Your little guys are so cute! Looking forward to planning together, my wedding is a few weeks after yours. Yay for 2013 brides!!!

 

[virtuous girl]

Welcome & Great updates!

 

[belle2211]

Thanks! I'm hoping one of those dresses ends up being mine. I look forward to dress shopping, but I don't want to be one of those girls that tries on 100+ before they find one they're okay with!

Oh yay, that's one stolen picture claimed! I didn't think I was actually going to make a PJ or I would have taken note of who it belongs to. I fell in love with that look as soon as I saw your picture! It stinks you didn't get to be there for long, but I'm sure it looked even better in person. I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea.

I tried on a bunch but kept going back to a dress that I had seen in the catalog about a year before I got engaged! I definitely don't mind that you stole the picture...I stole the idea from another Disbride!

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Hi Steph, I came over from Facebook! Love your plans so far, you are so on top of things and know what you want! I'm still trying to figure things out lol! What Jasmine dress are you looking to try on? My dress is the Jasmine style 215, I have pics on my PJ. I love it! I also tried one of the Ariel dresses on, I think it was the newer style and it was pretty as well, but the Jasmine dress was the one I wanted since I first saw it in magazines.

I also have two kids, girl 9 and boy 4. They grow so fast. Your little guys are so cute! Looking forward to planning together, my wedding is a few weeks after yours. Yay for 2013 brides!!!

Hi! I've had your PJ bookmarked for a few days, hahaha! I barely got into the first post when I got interrupted by someone waking up from his nap. I've been waiting for some quiet time to go back to it- hopefully I get a mommy break today.

I'm glad it seems like I know what I want! I feel like I barely know anything. I'm hoping once we get our planning kit I'll be able to narrow down some more stuff. Right now I'm going nuts waiting to hear from our planner and find out who it is!! The 215 is the one I've been looking at, it's so pretty! I really have to hop over to your PJ today. Both the Ariel dresses are pretty, but I'm pretty darn sure a mermaid dress would absolutely not work with my big butt. I'm trying everything on anyway though, because you never know! Aww, I'm glad the dress worked out for you then! I can't wait to see the picture of you in it- I might go take a peek right now.

Oh, you must have your hands full! Hah, I've already noticed how fast they grow. I keep staring at my older son and wondering when he started walking and talking and getting so big. It still feels like I just brought him home from the hospital last week! I don't even want to think about him being 9, how do you handle it!?

 

[CinderALLIE]

Congratulations.

Looking forward to seeing more of your plans

 

[BethieTink]

Stephanie,

Glad to see you started a planning journal. Yay!!

Your plans look great so far. Can't wait to read more.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Welcome & Great updates!

Congratulations.

Looking forward to seeing more of your plans

Stephanie,

Glad to see you started a planning journal. Yay!!

Your plans look great so far. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks all!

Taking a break right now, I'm going nuts waiting to find out what planner was assigned to us. I'm hoping we'll hear from someone next week! I also can't wait to get those APs in the mail. For now, I'm just practicing my heat embossing so I can work on the invitations soon... Our STD's are in their envelopes, addressed, embossed on the front, sealed on the back, and ready to go! Getting those out tomorrow, I'm so excited! It's starting to become real.

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Not an update so much as some venting. We got our wedding planner assigned last week. She called on Wednesday, Chrissy Owen-Walsh. Told us that her assistant would be emailing us our planning kit and details on scheduling our PS. Didn't get anything, so Alec called the next evening and she told us it takes 3-4 business days. I was already irritated because plenty of people told me they got theirs the same day as their phone call. I don't understand why it should take so long to send a quick generic email, but I said okay. Fine. I'll wait. Well, it's now the end of the 4th business day and still nothing! I know my wedding isn't the only one, and not everything can happen right away, but honestly, it's a freaking GENERIC email that EVERYONE gets. It's not that time-consuming, I'm sure! So why the heck is it taking so long?

On top of that, we called the photography department ~2 weeks ago and never got a call back. Our sales consultant (Diane Mahoney-Brown, she was wonderful! Very knowledgeable and quick to answer all of our questions. I loved her!) told us we could call photography and ask about availability for a MK photo shoot the week of our wedding. So, we called, and never heard back from them either.

If we can't get any information for our wedding, how am I supposed to plan it? We have less than 3 months until we're at the 6 month mark. I just want some freaking basic information. If things don't start looking up I'm not sure I want to go though with this. I refuse to invest thousands of dollars into a company that can't send a generic email or return a phone call. What happens when we get into the more complicated things? This has me so stressed out. I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle the next 9 months. Worst case, we'll cancel the wedding and just take a family vacation somewhere and elope. Between being annoyed by Disney and having drama with the future in-laws, that's sounding better and better.....

 

[DFTWbride2013]

Phew, I was in a bad mood during my last post! Sorry about that. Nothing gets me more angry than a nosey FMIL. I swear I'm not a Bridezilla!

Anyway, quite a bit has changed with the wedding now. The biggest thing is our change of venues. Here's the story!

We went to see Japan while we were in Epcot and I absolutely didn't like it for our ceremony. At first, I got tingly and excited that we were about to step into the area we would be getting married in. As we walked around, however, my excitement turned into disappointment and fear. We wanted to exchange vows on the bridge, but it's much too narrow and wouldn't fit us (especially me being a big girl and probably in a big poofy dress) and the officiant comfortably. There's also a tree in the middle of the courtyard where I wanted the aisle to be, right in the middle of where I wanted everyone to sit. I took mental notes of the area and a few pictures! Once we got home we started thinking of ways we could work around the problem areas, but nothing that would be smooth enough for me. We'd also planned on putting our bridesmaids and groomsmen on either side of the bridge, but then there wouldn't have been much room for us to walk onto the bridge once they're in place. I was also afraid of them appearing too separated from us if we're on the bridge and they're next to it. Why have our friends be there to stand next to us if they're not actually next to us?

The view from the bridge. Beautiful, but I think I would have felt a little too far away from our guests.

The bridge itself. Way too narrow for what we wanted to do!

While we were in Epcot, we also visited Morocco to see our dessert party location. I didn't like it at all. I imagined it feeling more private, but instead I felt like we would be hiding in a corner. So we decided to ask about the location I originally wanted anyway (I'm still not sure why I decided on Morocco when I liked another location better).

Here's the Morocco Oasis area. I also didn't like that nasty dirt area way to the back. It looked worse in person than it does in the picture.

It would have been good for pictures though! One I got of Alec.

I was also worried that we were over-feeding people with our current plan and everyone would be too full by the DP. I'd been worried about this from the beginning, but Alec always insisted it would be fine. I snapped out of it finally and realized that he always says everything will be fine! He doesn't look at the big picture most of the time, and he has much more of a "let's spend money on things we want and hope it turns out well" attitude with the wedding than I do.

So here's the new plan, with our new venues-

We moved our ceremony to the Wedding Pavilion (can you believe it's available? I couldn't!) at 10am. From 11am-3pm is our pre-reception/reception at Whitehall Room. There'll be a break from 3-7pm for kids to nap and Alec and I to relax and breathe. Then 7pm-9:30pm at Italy Isola West. We'll be serving appetizers first, for people that skipped dinner, and then we'll have desserts. We'll be using The Attic for our farewell breakfast the next morning, before we start our official honeymoon time. We both loved the Attic too much, we absolutely couldn't let it go entirely. Especially the breathtaking view from the balcony!

View of the Boardwalk, taken from The Attic's balcony during our site visit.

I'm so insanely relieved right now, I have motivation and fuel to start planning again! I was too stressed over our old plans.

I'm also happy to report that our wedding planner seems AMAZING! I emailed her on Thursday about changing venues (with no clear plan of what I wanted at the time), and by Saturday morning I woke up to an email of her confirming our new plan. She helped us redo our entire wedding in TWO DAYS! I'm so impressed. We never even had to go through her assistant for anything, she handled all the communication herself. I do find it amusing that she was able to handle this in two days, but a generic planning kit took a whole week. Good to know we can count on her for the big things!

I have more to post, but I'm going to take a little break.