Ashley and Nate's Disney Dream Planning Journal 4/10/15

Thanks, Melissa. The only other items we have finished are the life ring magnets and gift bags:
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The life ring magnets we made using wooden napkin rings spray painted safety orange, athletic tape, twisted twine and water slide decals for lettering. We bought tiny round magnets in bulk on Amazon to put on the back. They came out to roughly $1.50 each.
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The groom made the logo and White Apple Designs (Etsy) applied it to the gift bags ($5/each).

The maid of honor is putting together little survival kits but I won't see them until we're in Orlando.

This week has been super stressful as all of our guests are receiving their welcome packets. Several have had problems with online check-in. Others have asked me to book side trips to WDW for them. Thankfully, I am working with Lisa Reese (former DCL bride) who has been amazing with all of the arrangements. My grandmother (who is particularly particular) called to complement me on my choice of travel agent (imagine that).

Since we moved to San Francisco over the holidays, I declined all offers for showers/parties. Moving and starting a new job (while planning a wedding) are enough stress. My girlfriends are treating me to a spa day on the ship. 33 days until we fly to Orlando. 37 until we're married!
 
Thanks, Melissa. The only other items we have finished are the life ring magnets and gift bags:
unnamed-1_zpsxmsmfkf2.jpg

The life ring magnets we made using wooden napkin rings spray painted safety orange, athletic tape, twisted twine and water slide decals for lettering. We bought tiny round magnets in bulk on Amazon to put on the back. They came out to roughly $1.50 each.
unnamed-2_zps5ulunpif.jpg

The groom made the logo and White Apple Designs (Etsy) applied it to the gift bags ($5/each).

The maid of honor is putting together little survival kits but I won't see them until we're in Orlando.

This week has been super stressful as all of our guests are receiving their welcome packets. Several have had problems with online check-in. Others have asked me to book side trips to WDW for them. Thankfully, I am working with Lisa Reese (former DCL bride) who has been amazing with all of the arrangements. My grandmother (who is particularly particular) called to complement me on my choice of travel agent (imagine that).

Since we moved to San Francisco over the holidays, I declined all offers for showers/parties. Moving and starting a new job (while planning a wedding) are enough stress. My girlfriends are treating me to a spa day on the ship. 33 days until we fly to Orlando. 37 until we're married!

I just love your magnet!!! It looks so amazing I am having magnet jealously :goodvibes and your bags look phenomal let your groom know he did a great job with the logo they look really cute and look great on the tote your guest will love them and your cups look great too! Glad Lisa was able to help up with your online check in fiasco! and congrats to almost exactly a month! :Pinkbounc

Happy Planning
Melissa :goodvibes
 
I just shipped my favors to Florida! I can now give you my final budget recap for 36 guests:

Digital Invitations: $44.00
Engagement Photos: $400.00
Florida Marriage License: $93.50
Castaway Cay Ceremony: $4,000
Extra Guests: $460.00
Wedding Dress: $360.00
Alterations: $65.00
Floral: $148.50
CD-R's: $8.00
Welcome Cocktail Party: $1,032.25
Custom Gift Bags: $132.00
Life Ring Magnets: $80.00
Personalized Tumblers: $60.00
Advil, Tums, Etc.: $30.00
Mini-Alcohol Bottles: $281.13
Gift Bag Shipping: $149.00

Wedding Total:$7,343.38

Our Travel: $2,400 (balcony stateroom, roundtrip airfare from San Francisco, two nights at the Hyatt in the airport, one night at Wilderness Lodge)

Trip Total: $9,743.38
 
I just shipped my favors to Florida! I can now give you my final budget recap for 36 guests:

Digital Invitations: $44.00
Engagement Photos: $400.00
Florida Marriage License: $93.50
Castaway Cay Ceremony: $4,000
Extra Guests: $460.00
Wedding Dress: $360.00
Alterations: $65.00
Floral: $148.50
CD-R's: $8.00
Welcome Cocktail Party: $1,032.25
Custom Gift Bags: $132.00
Life Ring Magnets: $80.00
Personalized Tumblers: $60.00
Advil, Tums, Etc.: $30.00
Mini-Alcohol Bottles: $281.13
Gift Bag Shipping: $149.00

Wedding Total:$7,343.38

Our Travel: $2,400 (balcony stateroom, roundtrip airfare from San Francisco, two nights at the Hyatt in the airport, one night at Wilderness Lodge)

Trip Total: $9,743.38

I love that you broke all your cost down! You stayed within a really good budget im jealous :) are you guys doing a honeymoon or you coming straight back? You have to be so excited less than two weeks, I feel like you just started your PJ and now its almost here you have to do a really through TR I want to hear ALL about it when you get back and settled and what lounge is your reception in again?

Happy Planning
Melissa
 


HAPPY WEDDING DAY!!! :jumping1:party::jumping3::PinkbouncIt has been so much fun to follow along with another bride in the same time as my own wedding especially a disney cruise bride :goodvibes you put such great thought into your wedding and I know your favors are going to be such a hit! I wish you and your now husband lots of good luck and pixie dust in the future and that you have a long and very happy marriage! :wizard: I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back! :wave:

Melissa :goodvibes
 
Trip Report- Day 1

We arrived at MCO late Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to the Hyatt in the atrium. They assigned us a standard, runway-view room near the elevator. When we entered the room, we found they had set out chocolate-covered strawberries and an appetizer. My sister had previously got on a list to pay for an upgrade if available and received a giant suite for an extra $140/night. This was great because it gave the group a giant area to lounge and congregate.

After arrival, we had dinner at McCoy's which is decent. We turned in early.

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Congratulations!! Can't wait to follow along with your TR and of course to see pictures. :)
 


Congratulations! :cheer2:
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!!
Day one seemed like a success!
 
Congratulations! I can't wait to hear all about the rest of your trip. (I also have to say I love love love your scuba head wedding logo).
 
OMG your back yeyyyy!!!!! :cheer2: your married now that is so exciting and I can't wait to hear all about you trip and all the details and how your reception was in the D lounge and the island yeyyy! and I love your welcome letter I am so jealous of your logo super cute!! Congrats again! :goodvibes
 
Congratulations!! Can't wait to follow along with your TR and of course to see pictures. :)

Congratulations! :cheer2:
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!!
Day one seemed like a success!

Congratulations! I can't wait to hear all about the rest of your trip. (I also have to say I love love love your scuba head wedding logo).

Thank you! It feels so great to finally be married. We got to WDW and the groom was basking in the afterglow, remarking that he had no idea how good it would be.
 
Trip Report- Day Two

We grabbed breakfast at Starbucks in the airport and started the day by driving to the courthouse in Winter Park to pick up our marriage license. Winter Park is a lovely community with great civic spaces, however its courthouse is located in a strip mall behind the Whole Foods.

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We got the license in about 30 minutes and headed to my grandmother's nursing home for a brief visit. After a quick lunch, we went to Total Wine to pick up liquor for our make-your-own minibar gift bags. A word of caution: only go to the Millennial Plaza Total Wine. The location we went to was in a rundown section of Orlando and had no selection. Better yet, order online and have things delivered to the Hyatt.

We returned to the Hyatt and went to my sister's suite to set up the gift bag assembly line. Brenda from the Hyatt had all the boxes we shipped delivered to the suite and everything arrived in good order except that the decals had begun to peel off.

Our guests headed to the pool while we put gift bags together. Afterward, everyone came to the suite for a glass of wine and then half the guest went to dinner while the other half went to the bar. After dinner, we sat in the lobby bar for about 3 hours greeting guests as they arrived. We returned to our room to find lavender pistachio brittle and truffles.
 
Trip Report Day 3:

After another quick Starbucks run, we set up the gift bag table in the lobby. Here I am with my friend Craig in front of the make-your-own minibar:
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Our guests wandered in between 9-10. 10 rolled around and we realized we were missing the groom's whole family. It turns out they had headed straight down to the first floor to catch the bus, so be sure if you do something like this that you remind multiple people in each room to show up and grab a gift bag. A few other people had changed travel plans at the last minute without telling us so we were a little panicked when they didn't show up for the bus. The bus driver called and said he was outside so we sent our guests out. 10 minutes later my stepfather returned to tell us the bus wasn't there and that there were Disney people outside the hotel directing our guests to the Magic Express instead of our private bus. I called the bus driver--he was at the wrong airport Hyatt?! He showed up 10 minutes later which was fine since we were still missing guests.

The bus took us to the port and boarding went smoothly. Unfortunately, the groomsmen and groom drank their gift bags on the bus and were noticeably wasted, so I had to have a chat with them in the terminal about how this could never happen again. After lunch at Cabana's, we headed up to the Outlook lounge for our legal ceremony. We waited and waited. It turns out we were supposed to have read a card handed to us at check-in telling us to meet at guest services, not Outlook as stated on the confirmation. I called guest services and the planners came up. We were married by Heather in a short, sweet ceremony with our parents. Next, we sat down with Brent and Maryke to go over the details of our event. The groom had had too much to drink on the bus and fell asleep in the meeting, snoring audibly. I apologized and took him down to the room for a nap.

After the Muster Drill, I put the groom down for another nap. It was clear he was in no shape to go to our Welcome Party, so I left him asleep in the room. The Welcome Party in Evolution was wonderful. The staff and appetizers were great. They offered our guests wine and rum cocktails on trays as they entered, which irritated me because we had paid extra for top shelf and yet very few people were given the opportunity to approach the bar. Still, a good time was had by all. I visited with guests at bingo in the D-Lounge right up until dinner. The food at Animator's Palette was superb and our guests enjoyed interacting with Crush. After dinner we headed up to the Meridian lounge patio for drinks before going to Evolution for dancing which was scheduled to start at 11:15. Unfortunately, the activity in Evolution preceding the dance party ran over by about 20 minutes so many of our guests couldn't find us, gave up and went to bed. Those of us who did stay up in an adjacent bar had a great time dancing until the lights came up at 2:15.
 
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Your first day sounds awesome! To bad about the groomsmen getting so wasted so early in the day! but at least everyone was having a good time :goodvibes also thats too bad about the mix up with the legal ceremony but glad it all went well your dress is so cute too! and your dance party and welcome party sounds like so much fun!! Can't wait to hear more :cool1:

Melissa:goodvibes
 
Your first day sounds awesome! To bad about the groomsmen getting so wasted so early in the day! but at least everyone was having a good time :goodvibes also thats too bad about the mix up with the legal ceremony but glad it all went well your dress is so cute too! and your dance party and welcome party sounds like so much fun!! Can't wait to hear more :cool1:

Melissa:goodvibes

Thank you! It was still super despite everything. Also, I forgot to mention that Disney leaves excellent gifts in the room which I did not post here because I want them to be a surprise for other brides.
 
I must say, you handled the groomsmen and groom situation amazingly!
I'm pretty sure I would not have been as calm and collected :rolleyes1
But it looks like you and your guests had an incredible time!
I love how your welcome party turned out!
It's making me want one on my sailing!
 
Trip Report- Day 2 Nassau

We woke up early and joined our groomsmen for breakfast on the pool deck. They were hysterical. As if it's not hard enough to keep your cheeks from hurting from smiling, try adding the cast of The Hangover to your wedding party. After breakfast we lathered up with sunscreen and prepped our dive gear. We took an 11:30 bus over to Stuart Cove for our dive. I highly recommend bringing extra cash for tipping AND buying rum cake in Nassau.

Once again, we asked the dive master to take us to see sharks. My experience with sharks is that they're cool to look at but not at all interested in humans. This time, we dropped our anchor and sharks began to circle the boat. I was more than a little freaked out, but know that this is a reputable dive company and they shouldn't steer us wrong. We looked over and saw a dive boat 100 yards away that was actually FEEDING sharks. When we jumped in the water there were about a dozen Caribbean reef sharks expecting snacks. They circled and looked me in the eye. It was almost as scary as the groomsmen the first day of the cruise. You can see one of our GoPro videos of the dive in the following link, but be sure to watch to the end when the shark comes right at me.


After the shark dive, we got back on board and had 30 minutes to get ready for Palo. We elected to go to Palo with a couple of friends before our normal dinner time so we could congregate with our guests at the late seating. Be forewarned: Palo is not Remy. It's as good as the best food in the other dining rooms and I would have gladly tried it if I didn't have 34 of my favorite people on earth traveling with me, but if I had a do-over, I would skip it on a 3-night wedding cruise. There simply isn't enough time to step away for fine dining in my opinion. If you really do hate your family and want to sneak away for fine dining, spend the extra $150 and go to Remy.

After dinner at Palo, we met our guests who were already seated in Enchanted Garden. I have this ADD friend who interrupted every visit I made to a table to take pictures of me with the guests. I was super annoyed, but in hindsight, I'm happy to have the extra pictures. Disney doesn't take as many pictures onboard as other cruise lines and with the festivities, I had no time to see what pictures they did take.

After Enchanted Garden, we went to adult karaoke in Evolution which was so fun! The groom killed with his rendition of Walking in Memphis. We stayed and danced for about an hour and went to bed.
 
OMG YOUR SHARK VIDEO IS SCARY!!! lol I have been wanting to get scuba certified for along time now especially living like 15 minutes away form the La Jolla Cove but I am a little (maybe a lot) afraid of sharks and how close that came to you would have freaked me out! buttt it also looks so amazing and what a really memorable and fun experience!! and thanks for the tip on Palo I have been debating on going or not especially with so many people traveling with us I want to spend as much time together as possible we may end up skipping it who knows! and I know the feeling with a big picture taker lol thats totally me and my fil we take way to many pictures but it is always nice to look back on! You have to share some photos Im dying to see! also did you end up using disney cruise line for wedding pictures? everything sounds so magical so far! Can' wait for your wedding day!! :yay:popcorn::
 
have been wanting to get scuba certified for along time now especially living like 15 minutes away form the La Jolla Cove but I am a little (maybe a lot) afraid of sharks and how close that came to you would have freaked me out!

I have gone diving in La Jolla Cove and it is incredible. The seals are very curious. Just don't go during shark feeding times. My uncle was surfing Bird Rock and saw a 12+ foot great white.
 

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