Becky & Jason's Fairy Tale wedding 9/3/11 on Long Island - *complete*

[librarygeek]

I created an index to make it easier to browse my PJ and find all the good stuff:

Personal
Engagement Ring
The Engagement
Engagement Party
Honeymoon Plans
The Disney Quest
Glad I Did, Wish I Did, Glad I Didn't, Wish I Didn't

Vendors
Reception Hall
Ceremony Location
Photography
Rehearsal Dinner Location

Attire and Accessories
The Dress
Bridesmaid Dresses
Headband and Watch
Necklace
My Wedding Ring
DF's Wedding Ring
Men's Attire
Ring Bearer Outfits
Rehearsal Dinner Dress
Hair Trial

DIY Projects
Aisle Runners
Bridesmaid's Newsletter
Table Name Signs
Centerpieces - part one Part two
Place Cards
Ceremony Programs
Ring Bearer Pillows

Stationery
Invitations
Save the Dates
Thank You cards

Other Details
Monogram
Favors
Candy Buffet
Flowers
Ceremony Music
Groomsmen Gifts
Bridesmaid Gifts
Cake Topper

Someone recommended to me that I start a PJ, and I figured why not? I love sharing ideas and seeing everyone else's too. I'm relatively new to the boards so bear with me as I figure everything out! I'm going to try and format this similar to others that I've seen.

So to start off with, I will tell the story of how my fiancé and I met. We both met in college. I was a sophomore, he was a freshman. I'd seen him around a few places but had never really talked to him - I remember seeing him at Math Society meetings and thinking he was a bit of a geek (physics and computer science major). Not that I wasn't - don't forget, I was also attending math society meetings! I was also really into theatre and auditioned for all of the plays there. At auditions for The Laramie Project I was a little surprised to see Jason there, because science-y type people aren't as often involved in the arts. We both got into the play but never really talked to each other.

In March 2008, as we got closer to performance Jason got a haircut, and I thought he just looked so great. For me, that was when I realized that I had been attracted to him for awhile but was trying to deny it because I was dating someone else at the time. We started talking during rehearsal one day, when I used the best pick up line ever. We were wearing our costumes and I said to him, "excuse me, this is going to sound crazy... but it looks like you have a dead fly on your hat." It turned out to be a little pewter cowboy figurine. But that started conversation and we became friends, but nothing more. After a few weeks we were hanging out and he tried to kiss me - I told him no because I had a boyfriend at the time! However, I realized that the relationship I was in was totally wrong and I couldn't lose this guy, so I broke up with my boyfriend and eventually Jason and I got together. He officially asked me out when he was creating a facebook for the first time and I was there. He got to the section about relationships and asked if he could be allowed to put in "In a relationship with Becky." I said yes and we've been a couple ever since!

A few shots from The Laramie Project:

Backstage. Jason is the one on the right, with the tan hat. The other guy is our friend Justin:

An action shot of the play:
I'm the one in black on the "phone," you can't see Jason's face but you can see his back!

We were in quite a few plays together after that too. A year later, in April 2009, we were again in a play together, this time Oedipus - in which he played Oedipus and I played his wife/mother. Here's a shot from that:

Up next: the engagement story!

 

[geek+nerd]

I have to support my fellow geek! I'm subbing in! Can't wait to read more about your story and your plans!

 

[librarygeek]

The Engagement

Right after I graduated college, Jason and I decided to go on a cruise. It was kind of a "congratulations" present for myself. We left from Baltimore on the Carnival Pride and stopped in Port Canaveral and several places in the Bahamas. It was an amazing time. We love to go out to eat, so having fancy gourmet meals for dinner every night was a special treat. On our second night at dinner the waiters said that they had a special cake for us for dessert. We were confused- why weren't we ordering off the menu? Jason looked really confused, so I asked the waiter who it was from. He gave us a small piece of paper which said, "From Uncle Duke." It turns out Jason's uncle had sent us a Bon Voyage cake! On the fourth night, we got another cake from his uncle, a different flavor this time.

On our second to last night on the cruise it was a formal night, so we were dressed up really nicely. At dessert the waiter again told us that we had a special cake coming. I said, "Jason, I can't believe your uncle is sending us so many cakes! How many cakes does he think we can eat?" They brought out the cake, but instead of saying "Bon Voyage" it said "Will You Marry Me?" on the icing. Jason got down on one knee with a ring. I said yes. The waiters all came over and sang "Happy Engagement to you." And a guy on the lower level of the dining hall stood up and said, "Well? She say yes?" We leaned over the railing and gave him the thumbs up.

Jason absolutely loves cake, so it's fitting that he would propose that way! We also got a few formal pictures taken right afterward, and bought some. We decided those would count as our "engagement photos," because we don't really have a lot of money for stuff like that.

The slice of cake (I never got a shot of the whole cake because they took it away to cut it too quickly):

The ring:

Up next: the engagement party, wedding details, buying a wedding dress, and honeymoon planning!

 

[KristiLyn]

Cute story!!

 

[sw33t_angel]

I love your story!! I can't wait to see all the ideas you come up with!!! I am an at-home Disney bride too!

Are you going to Disney for your honeymoon?

 

[librarygeek]

I love your story!! I can't wait to see all the ideas you come up with!!! I am an at-home Disney bride too!

Are you going to Disney for your honeymoon?

That sounds great, I will make sure to go find your PJ now! We have booked our Disney honeymoon - it's something I've wanted since I was a teenager. After Jason and I got serious, about a year in and discussed the possibility of marriage one day, I said to him: "Just so you know, if we ever get married we have to go to Disney for our honeymoon." He said okay and I knew it was meant to be

 

[sw33t_angel]

Awesome! As soon as we got engaged I told my DF, we are going to Disney World!!!

Where are you staying? We are staying at POFQ and are doing the deluxe dining plan!

 

[librarygeek]

Awesome! As soon as we got engaged I told my DF, we are going to Disney World!!!

Where are you staying? We are staying at POFQ and are doing the deluxe dining plan!

We will be right next door (well, at a different time!), at POR! And we got the regular dining plan free since we booked it during that promotion. We decided not to upgrade but to pay for some meals OOP so we could do a few signature restaurants.

 

[librarygeek]

Wedding Details

We decided we wanted the wedding to be in fall of 2011. Jason would graduate college in May 2011, so we wanted to leave him some time to get settled and hopefully find a job! I also didn't really want a summer wedding. We ended up choosing early September because I'm in graduate school and my classes start September 19th, so that would give us enough time to deal with all of the wedding craziness before I have to go back to school! I'm also a substitute teacher so I have off in the summer anyway, so that gives me more time to plan. We knew we were working with a small budget - after all, we're basically poor college students and we don't come from rich families. We were open to having the wedding either on Long Island, where my family is from, or eastern Pennsylvania, where his family is from. Though I wanted Long Island, I had a feeling we would end up in PA because prices are generally cheaper. The only other thing we knew for certain at that point? We wanted a honeymoon in Disney!

The Engagement Party

We had our engagement party on July 24th, 2010. It was a really informal barbecue at my house (and it turned out to be almost 100 degrees that day, so it was mostly an indoor barbecue!), but it gave us a good chance to let our families meet. My aunt and cousins came up from North Carolina, so it was a special treat to see them.

Our engagement cake:

Us at the engagement

Getting to spend time with my little cousins They'll be ring bearers in the wedding:

Up next: the wedding dress and honeymoon plans!

 

[librarygeek]

The Dress

So one of the first things I did was find my wedding dress. This is even before we set an official date! However, I was home for the summer and wanted the chance to go dress shopping with my mom and my best friend. We went to David's Bridal just to check out what was available, not thinking that we would find anything that day. I tried on a few dresses, and tried on one that I really loved. It was on clearance, and it was the only one left in my size - they wouldn't be making any more. So I kind of had to buy it that day. I'm glad I did, cause I love it! I got it in ivory, rather than white.

Here's the David's Bridal picture of it (white here, not the ivory that I got):

And here's me in the dress:

Accessories

During the summer I was also able to get some of my accessories. I got the veil. It's a horrible picture of it because there's so much stuff in the background, but I don't have a better pic:

And a headpiece:

I also got shoes, from Payless. I really love them and they were only $25 so I'm pretty pleased! I think they're very pretty:

 

[KristiLyn]

Your dress is very pretty!!!

 

[redlight]

I'll be following along.

Your dress really suits you. How will you be wearing your hair?

I think it is so funny that he played Oedipus and you were his wife/mother.

 

[librarygeek]

I'll be following along.

Your dress really suits you. How will you be wearing your hair?

I think it is so funny that he played Oedipus and you were his wife/mother.

Thanks! I am really not sure about my hair yet. I want to do some sort of style half up, half down. I don't really feel comfortable with my hair all the way up (I almost always wear it down), but I think it's a little more elegant with at least some of it up. My hairdresser on Long Island is a close family friend, so we're going to get together at some point and just experiment with a few different styles. I've also collected some pictures that I like, which I will post soon. My hair is really thick though, so some styles don't work well on me.

And Oedipus was certainly an interesting experience! The funny part is that Jason didn't originally audition for it. There weren't any really talented guys that tried out, and the director pulled me aside and said he was considering casting a female Oedipus. He asked me if I would be willing to shave my head if he couldn't find a suitable guy to play the part. I went home and asked Jason to audition because I did NOT want to shave my hair off if I could help it!

 

[redlight]

I can see why you would want to wear your hair at least partially down. It's really pretty and the red in your hair works well with the paleness of your dress.

I'm glad Jason stepped in and that you didn't have to shave your head!

 

[Mindyjoy]

Love your shoes and the dress! I never considered Payless for shoes! DUH Can't wait to follow along with your plans.

 

[sw33t_angel]

Aww too bad we aren't honeymooning together! That would have been neat!!

I love your dress! It is very elegant! I do agree that the ivory dresses look better on most skin tones!

I need to definitely check out Payless... I haven't been in one of those in forever!

 

[amazingact21]

Joining along!!!

Your wedding dress looks gorgeous and I love your shoes!

Can't wait to hear your honeymoon plans.

 

[librarygeek]

Joining along!!!

Your wedding dress looks gorgeous and I love your shoes!

Can't wait to hear your honeymoon plans.

Thanks! Yeah, Payless is my favorite place to get shoes. Especially when you hit them during their "buy one get one half off" sales.

 

[librarygeek]

Honeymoon Plans

One of the very first things that I knew about the wedding was where I wanted to have the honeymoon - Disney World, of course! It's my favorite place in the world. I've been there 4 times, but haven't been there recently (four years ago). Jason has also been there twice but the last time he was there was 5 years ago. So we have some new stuff to see and we've never been together, so I think it will be really special. Once we decided on the date (September 3rd), the very next thing I did was book the honeymoon. Disney was doing the free dining offer as well so I booked it immediately so I could get that.

We are staying from Sept. 4th - Sept. 12th, giving us a full week plus two travel days. We decided to stay in Port Orleans Riverside. We couldn't afford a deluxe, but I think POR is beautiful. I stayed there once before with my dad and we loved it. Plus I love having the boat to DTD.

I love being on the Dining Plan because I tend to be a worrier with money/ a bit of a scrooge, so the dining plan gives me some piece of mind - aka, I won't feel obligated to order the cheapest thing on the menu to save a few bucks. We decided not to upgrade to the deluxe but play for a few meals OOP so we can still do some signature dining. And our tickets are regular magic your way, no park hoppers or anything extra.

So as of right now, here are our plans about what to do each day. The days we do what will probably change once the hours come out though, and hopefully we'll be able to get all of our ADR's!:

Sunday, 9/4: arrive mid day
explore DTD
dinner at Narcoossee's

Monday, 9/5: Magic Kingdom day
dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

Tuesday, 9/6: Epcot day
dinner at Coral Reef

Wednesday, 9/7: Animal Kingdom Day
DTD after AK, dinner at T-REX

Thursday, 9/8: not sure yet what we're doing. Maybe a water park, maybe just hanging out by the pool and then exploring the Boardwalk in the evening.
dinner at Kouzzina

Friday, 9/9: Hollywood Studios Day
dinner at Sci-Fi (probably)

Saturday, 9/10: Epcot Day
lunch at Akershus
dinner at Chefs de France

Sunday, 9/11: Magic Kingdom
dinner at Tony's

We are also contemplating adding in tickets to Circe du Soleil one evening.

So let me know what you think! I'm really excited.

 

[librarygeek]

One other thing that I forgot to mention about our Disney Honeymoon:

The "Disney Quest"

As we were discussing going to Disney World, Jason and I (well, mostly me) realized that we haven't seen some of the old Disney movies in a long, long time. Even some of the movies that inspired some of the best rides in WDW. So we decided to take part in something I dubbed our "disney quest": we are trying to watch as many animated Disney movies or Disney movies that inspired rides as we can. To keep track I started a blog about it, where I basically just give my opinions on the movies that we watch, as well as a rating out of 10. I'm planning to do some top 10's and stuff. All just my opinion, really (and a little bit of Jason's!), but if you're interested in checking out the blog it's here:

http://beckydisneyquest.blogspot.com/