10 Year Vow Renewal - 3/8/14

[lcataldimay]

So, I am finally home. While I should be doing my grad course homework (not so much fun), I am multitasking instead!

We woke up really early (5:15am) to be ready to leave at 6:30am. We were leaving my oldest at home with his respite worker. We snuck out of the house and were on our way to the airport.

Frontier Airlines just started flying out of a small airport about 30 minutes away, so we decided to try them to see if it would be a good fit for our oldest son. He does a lot of hand flapping and talks pretty loud at times - a red flag for TSA.

We had no problems at the airport and were anxiously awaiting our flight.

William chewing on Eeyore!

A much better picture.

The flight was easy and William slept the entire trip!

We had Happy Limo pick us up at the airport. Since we did not have a stroller with us, the thought of playing "pass the baby" until the Magical Express was ready to leave was not that appealing.

We made it to the Wilderness Lodge around 12:30pm. Check in was quick and our room was ready! We picked up our stroller (through Magic Stroller Rentals) and headed up to the room.

I had asked for a room on an upper floor close to the elevator. We were assigned to the fifth floor, but were a ways away from the elevator. Oh well - one out of two is not bad. I was a little disappointed until my husband pointed out the following: "Lauren - look through the trees. We can see the castle!" What a wonderful bit of pixie dust!

It is hard to see with my iPhone.

We had some lunch, fed the baby, and off to Hollywood Studios. We had FP+ reservations for Toy Story Mania, so we went there first.

We had to stand in line at Guest services to get our AP's activated. William was asleep by this point.

Since William is young, I was able to get a "stroller as a wheelchair" pass for him. Most of the time, we were able to go to the regular lines. Once we got to the front of the line, however, we had to go to the special area for loading.

Next, it was off to The Great Movie Ride. We were able to sit in the front of the car. In the gangster scene, the gangster must have been weird looking, because William gave him the "Who on earth are you?" look, to which the cast member said, "What are you looking at?" which got a good laugh from everyone in the car!

By this time, William was hungry. So I went to the Baby Care Center while Jeff went to ride Star Tours. I was totally OK with this because I have very bad motion sickness issues and since I am nursing, I can not take anything to help.

By this time it was almost time for dinner, so we took the boat over to the Beach Club for our reservations at Beaches and Cream.

We had a good dinner (William was fussy). My whole reason for going there was to try the No Way Jose sundae. AMAZING! It was as good as I thought it would be. And I also have not had an ice cream sundae since our Disney Cruise in February of 2013.

After dinner, we walked over to EPCOT and went into the Seas with Nemo and Friends exhibit. William was once again asleep and I wanted to see the Manatee's. We decided to take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom since we had not been there yet!

We were able to walk onto Under the Seas with the Little Mermaid. I was really impressed with the ride. After a trip to the friendly Baby Care Center, we found a spot for the 9pm parade. William was once again not impressed and we decided to call it a night.

As I arrived back at the hotel, I noticed a vase of flowers on the night stand. They were beautiful. The note from my husband read, "May all your dreams come true this weekend." Well, that was it and I was crying. I love my husband.

Off to bed for the tired travelers!

 

[lcataldimay]

I have to say that William does not travel well. So, after a long night, we awoke late and had to rush to get ready for breakfast at Kona Cafe. This is a must do on every trip for us!

I have to say that I was not a fan of the boat transportation at the Wilderness Lodge. When we asked the night before about transportation, we were assured the boat to the MK would be running in the morning. Nope. We waited for 30 minutes, no boat. So, back to the bus stop for a bus to the MK and then a monorail to the Polynesian. Was breakfast worth it? Absolutely. I LOVE the Tonga Toast. If you have not tried it, please do so!

After breakfast, we decided to walk over to see Luau Beach. The weather was cold and cloudy. I was so thankful we did not do our vow renewal this day!

We next walked over to the Wedding Pavillion and Franck's just so I could say I have been there!

We walked over to the new DVC at the Grand Floridian, but no one was available for a tour. I think we will wait until the Polynesian is done before we buy more points anyway.

Next up was the MK. We had FP+'s for Belle's, Peter Pan, and Under the Sea. We did Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Belle's Tales, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates.

William Looking Cute

By this time it was already 11am and Carolyn Allen's was coming with Jeff's tux and my dress at 12noon. So, we took a bus back to the Wilderness Lodge, had a quick lunch at Roaring Fork, and then met Sue from Carolyn Allen's.

Jeff's tux was good except the sleeve from his jacket was a little short, so she took it back to lengthen it. One thing to note if you are staying at Wilderness Lodge - it was very difficult to find a place to hang my gown.

Next, we headed to EPCOT. We road Mission Space (William was still not impressed) and headed to the butterfly garden.

Yep - it was cold enough that I was wearing a hoodie!

We headed to the Festival Center where I remembered that Vern Yip was presenting. I remember him from Trading Spaces, so I was super excited!

We walked around World Showcase, tried to get Jeff some caramel corn (it was too crowded), and visited the Baby Care Center (notice a trend?).

William looking cute again!

We went back to the room to relax a little and then it was time for dinner at Ohana.

After dinner, we thought about going to MK, but it was really cold and windy (I know - 51 is a lot warmer than my friends were in Delaware, but I was cold). Plus, I knew the next day was going to be exciting and emotionally draining, so we called it a night!

 

[lcataldimay]

I slept fairly well.

I woke up and took a shower early - claiming that I wanted to be ready for rope drop so we had to eat at roaring fork.

At around 7:05 am, my first surprise for my husband came - room service! My husband had been complaining that he was not going to get a Mickey Waffle this trip, so I surprised him with a Mickey Waffle!

Breakfast was delicious and not that expensive. Note to self though: read the bill. I accidentally gave the room service guy a really nice tip because I did not read that the tip was already included!

After breakfast, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We actually made it to rope drop!

We saw the "talking Mickey" which was kind of cool!

We did Winnie the Pooh, It's A Small World, Haunted Mansion, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (or whatever it is called now).

William was, once again, asleep!

Next up... the mad rush to get ready!

 

[KristiLyn]

How sweet of him to give you the roses, and you the breakfast! Just can't get enough of those Mickey waffles!!

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[lcataldimay]

How sweet of him to give you the roses, and you the breakfast! Just can't get enough of those Mickey waffles!!

Can't wait to hear more!!

Yeah - I don't understand the whole Mickey waffle thing, but I love him anyway!

 

[lcataldimay]

We headed back to the hotel to have lunch at Roaring Fork. As we got there, a family came up to us and said they wanted to buy us lunch to use up their quick service meals! More pixie dust!

We came back to the room to find a cute towel animal. We ran into our housekeeper in the hallway the other day and she commented that she loved my dress and wished us the best.

Janet Mednick from Onsite Beauty arrived around 12:20pm. She was wonderful! Janet was easy to talk to and did a fabulous job on my makeup and hair. I was not sure how I wanted my makeup, so I gave her free reign. At first, I thought it was a little too much, but it looks fabulous in the pictures and I felt beautiful! She also did a fantastic job getting my heavy hair to curl!

Sue from Carolyn Allen arrived at 2pm with Jeff's jacket. She also came to help me get into my dress - I had a corset back. It turns out that the person who altered my dress, who did a fantastic job, forgot to also take up the under part of my dress, leaving it to show through. Bless Sue - she was able to pin it up. What a wonderful woman! I highly recommend Carolyn Allen's. I put my jewelry on and we were ready to go!

 

[lcataldimay]

I should have mentioned that our sitter from Kids Nite Out arrived at 2pm also. William was so upset because I would not feed him and he refused to take a bottle. So, most of the pictures we have with him are not good. Oh well. We'll have some good stories later to tell when he gets older!

So I am now ready to drag myself and my dress down the hallway - in between all the housekeeping carts!

We get off the elevator and make our way through the lobby. I am not one to like attention, but it was nice to hear many "Congratulations!" as we made our way to the limo. The highlight, however, had to be one little girl say, "Look mommy - a princess!" I almost lost it right there. I felt like a princess!

We get to the entrance of the hotel and I look out and see this:

I am thinking, "No way this is our limo - it's just the four of us." Well, thanks DFTW - it was our limo.

The inside of the limo.

I should mention that William hates a pacifier and never usually takes it. That is how upset he was!

And finally we arrive! We met Sarah Herold, our coordinator. She was fantastic and such a nice person to work with.

We met Teresa Knox and our photographer, Brittany Miller. Sarah pinned Jeff's rose on and also William's rose. Then she handed me my bouquet. It was beautiful and huge!

This was taken after the ceremony - sorry.

Sarah led all of us to the ceremony site. It was a perfect day!

I have no pictures of the ceremony, so I am going to have to wait for another 4-6 weeks to post those.

Jeff, William, and Teresa took their place on the beach. I was introduced to my violinist - whose name escapes me. He was fantastic. We started talking shop (as I play for a ton of weddings being a church organist), and then it was time to go.

I almost lost it. What kept going through my mind was "OMG - this is actually happening! Enjoy every moment." I walked as slowly as I could and Jeff came to help me over the lift from the sidewalk to the beach.

Theresa did a fantastic ceremony. We pieced together a couple of things. This was my favorite part:
These are the hands of your best friend, strong and full of love for you.

They are being held by yours as you two renew the promise to love each other for the rest of your lives.

These are the hands that will continue to work alongside yours as together you two build a future and share your innermost secrets and dreams.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief threatens to overwhelm you.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold the children.

These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.

These are the hands that be there to give you strength when you need it the most.

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Jeff started crying at the beginning of this and that was it for me. I cried through most of the rest of the ceremony. Our oldest son has been so trying on our marriage, that all of the words had so much meaning to us.

She finally pronounced us husband and wife - again and we kissed! I am sure there are some great pictures of that as well.

We took some pictures on the beach and the violinist was a great distraction for getting William to look at Brittany!

Sarah and the violinist left and we continued to take pictures around the resort. I can not say enough good things about Brittany Miller. She took some fantastic shots! So much, in fact, that we are going to request her to do a family shoot in August when we go back.

Here are some more pictures:

Brittany sent us this screen shot from her computer. It does not look that great, but I know on the CD it will.

The one thing we did add to our memories package had to do with photos. We did get an extra hour of photography, which I am glad we did. We also added on the Jasmine (?) album and the archival CD. I realize this is a lot of extra photos, but photos are very important to us.

Up next, "Lauren, how on earth do I get you out of this dress?!!"

 

[lcataldimay]

After we said goodbye to Brittany, we took the limo back to the Wilderness Lodge.

My poor husband then had to figure out how to get me out of my dress. I told him it was like undoing a shoe lace (I tie and untie a ton of those for a living), and he was able to get me out quickly.

I fed William and we went off to dinner (after getting a quick photo of my hair).

The roses were straight until I messed with one.

We went over to Epcot - via the bus - and got our picture taken in front of the globe.

Can you tell that I was having a little too much fun with the photo editor?

We arrived about 25 minutes late to Le Cellier. The hostess said she would have to go check and see if they could still seat us since we were so late. I would have broken down (tears and all) if they would not have. I nicely explained to her that we had just done a DFTW Vow Renewal and that is why we were late. After she "checked," we were almost immediately seated.

Dinner was better than I remember from eating their for my 30th birthday. First of all, because I am "doing the mommy thing," I had my first real glass of alcohol since November 2012. It was soooo good! I will borrow the Disney Food Blog's picture of their Ice Wine Flight since it is much better than my picture.

Towards the end of dinner, Jeff kept saying, "Can we skip dessert? I am really stuffed." To which my reply was, "Can we just look at the menu? We did not get dessert here last time."

This is why I kept telling him to wait:

I would recommend this cake highly to anyone who likes buttercream frosting. It was delicious!

After dinner, we walked over to the Boardwalk, caught a bus to MK, and then a bus to Wilderness Lodge. We thought about going over to MK, but we were both tired and Jeff had a plane to catch the next morning.

What a fantastic day! How many people are able to say they had 2 dream weddings? I am truly blessed!

Next up... saying goodbye to my husband and 4 fun-filled days with a 7 month old by myself.

 

[KristiLyn]

Everything was beautiful!! I can't wait to try the wine flight at Le Cellier. That's one of my favorite restaurants!

I can't believe how big that limo was! We are going with the in room celebration, but now I'm jealous!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Hi! Just popping in to say I'm enjoying your TR!!! We did a 10-year Anniversary Memories VR going on 4 years ago now and I always love hearing about other Memories couple's special days. I your bouquet! I picked the same option . Can't wait to see more pictures. Glad your day was magical!

P.S. You looked beautiful! And I love your cake - the ears on top are too cute!

 

[lcataldimay]

Everything was beautiful!! I can't wait to try the wine flight at Le Cellier. That's one of my favorite restaurants!

I can't believe how big that limo was! We are going with the in room celebration, but now I'm jealous!

Thanks! I was not expecting that big limo. I thought it was a mistake! My husband got me the same in room celebration for my 30th birthday, so we did not want it again. Plus, I am not a big bubble bath person unless I have a jacuzzi.

You are almost at 2 months

 

[lcataldimay]

Hi! Just popping in to say I'm enjoying your TR!!! We did a 10-year Anniversary Memories VR going on 4 years ago now and I always love hearing about other Memories couple's special days. I your bouquet! I picked the same option . Can't wait to see more pictures. Glad your day was magical!

P.S. You looked beautiful! And I love your cake - the ears on top are too cute!

Thanks! I felt beautiful - not easy since I feel like a milk machine all the time!

The cake hotline at Epcot suggested the ears at the top

14 years is a great accomplishment! Congrats!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Thanks! I felt beautiful - not easy since I feel like a milk machine all the time!

The cake hotline at Epcot suggested the ears at the top

14 years is a great accomplishment! Congrats!

Thank you! I would love to do another VR for our 15th but I don't think that'll be in the cards - but I'm definitely angling for the 20th!! We do want to take a nice trip next year to celebrate so I'm having fun dreaming of the possibilities.

 

[Mrs. Knowitall]

I loved reading about all the details! Can't wait to see the pictures from the ceremony! I made sure I subscribed so I can see them! Let me know when you post them.

 

[lcataldimay]

I loved reading about all the details! Can't wait to see the pictures from the ceremony! I made sure I subscribed so I can see them! Let me know when you post them.

Thanks! I should get the link to the pictures in April sometime. You need to add your newest addition to your signature

 

[Britbabe]

Awww, everything looked wonderful, can't believe the size of the limo, my kids will love it if we have something similar. I love the photo of you at the monorail, its beautiful. Can't wait to see the rest of them

 

[lcataldimay]

Awww, everything looked wonderful, can't believe the size of the limo, my kids will love it if we have something similar. I love the photo of you at the monorail, its beautiful. Can't wait to see the rest of them

Thanks! I was not expecting the limo to be that big! It was a complete surprise.

 

[lcataldimay]

I just got the link for our pictures!
It is: http://www.collages.net/Disneyweddings
Username is: Cataldi / May Vow Renewal
Password is: 1971

 

[andeesings]

I just got the link for our pictures! It is: http://www.collages.net/Disneyweddings Username is: Cataldi / May Vow Renewal Password is: 1971

It's asking for your email as well! :-(

 

[lcataldimay]

It's asking for your email as well! :-(

I think it wants your e-mail. My husband said he just put in his e-mail and it worked. Let me know if that doesn't work though.