Jess & Ben's Wishes Wedding 11/18/14 Sea Breeze Point/Backstage Prop Shop

[edeneye]

Another fairly quiet few days! Or week or more, hard to know what to update when nothing much is going on! One thing though, our wedding bands are bought - Jess' will take a little while as they're going to customise it to accommodate her engagement ring but you can see mine below. We tried on a lot of rings but it was hard to find something I liked the look of, then when we got to the two-toned ones I was pretty happy with most of them!

Also we've been hassling Run Disney about if there's a waitlist or anything they can do for us given our many & varied circumstances and that we've already booked EVERYTHING based on when the race is, even more so than the wedding. We're leaving the country less than a week after our wedding because we wanted to be there early enough to attend! They can't do anything though, just keep sending us both the same copy/pasted email information regarding charity groups and travel agents. So we're looking into the charity group option, raising $1000 each when we know all the same people is gonna be tough. Especially when we are getting married overseas which is already asking a lot of our closest friends! It'd be a great achievement we'd be even prouder of than the race itself if we pulled it off, but if we couldn't then there's another couple of thousand onto an already rising bill. Big risk in our current position.

Oh no!!! So sorry about the wine and dine! So disappointing Perhaps you could stop in LA right before the wedding and catch the new Avengers half in Disneyland (Wishful thinking!) Sorry you guys didn't get in, I'm so bummed for you.

I do love how the flowers look, the colors pop so wonderfully and they are great fall colors (they look like they'll match very well with the prop shop too!)

Perhaps your planner just wants to discuss planning session logistics? Eager to hear what they have to say!

Thanks! We hadn't even thought about the colours matching the season (well, I didn't but Jess probably did!) but it's a great point! The Avengers Half looks awesome too but we get to Orlando in time for the W&D Half so we're in the wrong place! Ahhh well, we're not giving up just yet!

The phone call(s as it turned out to be a couple) weren't anything major in the end! Just some minor queries regarding Prop Shop but it's all very easily taken care of, was impressed to hear the ideas our planner has and we talked briefly about the future planning session so I'm looking forward to what we can come up with!

I'm so sorry you missed out on the race that's such a bummer. It filled up super quick this year I have five friends running in it and it was 68% full by
3pm on opening day. You can always buy a ticket to the finish line party I know its not as cool has actually running in the race but I went last year and it was a blast. I'm going to the Finish line party this year as well while all my friends run. Maybe more spots will open up finger crossed!

It filled so FAST! We were actually away that weekend too, plus the registration begun in the middle of the night local time so it would've been tricky anyway but it was just very unlucky! Great suggestion though, I'm just about to book post-race tickets! It was going to be Jess, Jess' dad & myself running and Jess' mum at the party so we're at least getting that part sorted just in case we can get in. Otherwise we'll at least attend the party! We did Expedition Everest last year and the party for that was a great time, so cool to be in the park after hours and with a significantly reduced crowd! Plus Baloo & King Louie have got some moves!

 

[Disneyducks12]

So I just finsished your PJ and am all caught up now

Okay so first off Congrulations on a WDW wedding thats going to be so amazing and I love how special that places is to both of you! Your meeting story is great and the fact that your guys are high school sweethearts is so awesome and being together for so long will make the wedding that much more special!

On the traveling front thats so unfortunate that your family can't make it but the people who really want to will be there which is great doing travel weddings is always hard even with so much notice!

Love the flower colors and I am sure Jess matched them to the season they look great and you can keep them forever which will be awesome! And congratulations on booking Roots! I had looked at them for my wedding but they were out of my price range rats so I will enjoy your pictures but I agree photography is one of the most difficult choices to make because thats all you will really have to show from your wedding

good luck with the MK photo shoot fingers crossed you get it and I love disney cruises you are going to have so much fun and so much Disney Im jealous!!

look forward to more planning and following along now

 

[edeneye]

Thanks for all your wonderful comments! So nice to get feedback from people, especially with a Disney Wedding! Normally if I mention it to people they've got no concept for any of these things so it's fun discussing them with people who actually speak the same magical language.

I'm reminded I had an interesting moment last week. I was picking up a TV from another store for one of our customers so I put on my Walt Disney World lanyard with my id in it so the manager at the other store would know who I am. He saw it and asked when I'd been and I told him last year and the year before too. He commented that I must be a fan and I said "we're going back this year to get married there!". Well... so is he! Two weeks exactly before our own date in fact, also at Sea Breeze Point! Iiiiiitts a smallll world afffffter all!

We got our 8 month update from our Room Block Coordinator last week, so far we're up to 70 room nights so it's safe to say we've got that requirement covered! One of my groomsmen dropped by my work today to let me know he'd just been to the travel agent and booked his flights so it's exciting times!

And now, because there's been a lot of words lately, here's some pictures.

In lieu of Jess' wedding band, here's her engagement ring, featuring the celebratory petals from the in-room 'surprise' from Mickey & Minnie.

And a better look at the engagement ring, the classic Tiffany cut with platinum band.

Did I forget to mention? Mickey tried to marry Jess only hours before I asked! Oh that cheeky Mouse! Minnie was not impressed!

 

[Disneyducks12]

Thanks for all your wonderful comments! So nice to get feedback from people, especially with a Disney Wedding! Normally if I mention it to people they've got no concept for any of these things so it's fun discussing them with people who actually speak the same magical language.

I'm reminded I had an interesting moment last week. I was picking up a TV from another store for one of our customers so I put on my Walt Disney World lanyard with my id in it so the manager at the other store would know who I am. He saw it and asked when I'd been and I told him last year and the year before too. He commented that I must be a fan and I said "we're going back this year to get married there!". Well... so is he! Two weeks exactly before our own date in fact, also at Sea Breeze Point! Iiiiiitts a smallll world afffffter all!

We got our 8 month update from our Room Block Coordinator last week, so far we're up to 70 room nights so it's safe to say we've got that requirement covered! One of my groomsmen dropped by my work today to let me know he'd just been to the travel agent and booked his flights so it's exciting times!

And now, because there's been a lot of words lately, here's some pictures.


In lieu of Jess' wedding band, here's her engagement ring, featuring the celebratory petals from the in-room 'surprise' from Mickey & Minnie.


And a better look at the engagement ring, the classic Tiffany cut with platinum band.


Did I forget to mention? Mickey tried to marry Jess only hours before I asked! Oh that cheeky Mouse! Minnie was not impressed!

I love her engagment ring it is so pretty and anything Tiffany is amazing and fantastic quality and how funny that mickey proposed im sure minnie was not happy and what a small world! That just shows how truly amazing Disney is! Love all the plannin so far can't wait to hear more!

 

[LindsayHD]

Hey Ben!

Just getting caught up on your pj. I absolutely love everything about your story - especially that your a Disney Groom. Maybe I missed it, but does Jess know your working on this? Does she help you with it at all? If not, maybe consider having it printed out on nice paper and give it to her after the wedding?

I tried signing up for the Wine & Dine Race too and totally missed out. Oh well, at least I will be trained by then to run that distance.

I can't believe you're planning from so far away. It has to be so tricky. I live in Southwest Florida and am only 3 hours away but I know I can easily just pop right up to Disney, no problem in case I need anything. I look forward to reading more. Good luck planning

 

[KristiLyn]

Hey Ben!

That ring is gorgeous!!!

 

[Aschenputtel]

OMG! I got the same ring!!! In my opinion there's only one real engagement ring - the Tiffany one! ;-)

 

[edeneye]

We're getting quite close to 200 days until our trip begins! We've hit the 7 month window for checking DVC reservations (we're looking to rent points) so I've gave that a shot but it looks like we aren't gonna be lucky there. Our WDW accommodation is all set but we were thinking about staying at the Grand Californian for a few nights earlier in the month. Unfortunately those few nights include Halloween so it looks pretty much booked solid! Oh well!

The other reason we're looking at the moment is the economy. One unusual aspect of planning a wedding in another country is you're at the mercy of your currency. I don't recall if I've mentioned it yet but at it's worst, we were going to be paying 20% extra compared to the time of booking just because the Australian dollar dropped (read: sank like a stone). It's had a 8% recovery since then so we're eager to pay things off before we lose that again. So therefore our Disney Cruise and all WDW accomodation is now paid! We're thinking about paying more, or even all, of the balance for the Roots too but we've still got some planning to do with them.

Also, rather than getting videography for our wedding we were thinking about using the same money and buying ourselves a brand new and super professional camera and having guests help film it. Then we'd have the new camera we've wanted for years and we will come home and shoot my cousin's wedding with it a couple of weeks later. Not totally set on that yet because we'd love professional videography but it's a thought for now.

I love her engagment ring it is so pretty and anything Tiffany is amazing and fantastic quality and how funny that mickey proposed im sure minnie was not happy and what a small world! That just shows how truly amazing Disney is! Love all the plannin so far can't wait to hear more!

Meeting the Mouses that day was so fun, Jess was getting compliments all day on her dress and it was really capped off by Mickey being so excited. After he got down on one knee, he led Jess over to the other side of the character spot, past a confused Pluto, to Minnie who started waving her finger at him and covering her eyes! Then when they came back and were doing some pictures, Minnie ran up and started hugging me trying to make Mickey jealous!

Hey Ben!

Just getting caught up on your pj. I absolutely love everything about your story - especially that your a Disney Groom. Maybe I missed it, but does Jess know your working on this? Does she help you with it at all? If not, maybe consider having it printed out on nice paper and give it to her after the wedding?

I tried signing up for the Wine & Dine Race too and totally missed out. Oh well, at least I will be trained by then to run that distance.

I can't believe you're planning from so far away. It has to be so tricky. I live in Southwest Florida and am only 3 hours away but I know I can easily just pop right up to Disney, no problem in case I need anything. I look forward to reading more. Good luck planning

Hey! Nope, she knows I'm doing this but hasn't actually seen any of it so that's a great idea! I was going to have her post a picture of her dress on an image sharing site and send me a link I could put on here so everyone could see it but I decided that I'll keep it as a groom's journey - you'll all see the dress when I do! I think it'll definitely be something we'll look back on together when it's all done so that's an excellent thought.

Such a shame you missed out on the Wine & Dine too! It filled up so fast! Hopefully there's some Disney magic between now and then and we get another shot.

Yeah the distance is tricky at times but really not too bad! The main thing we're gonna miss out on is an in-person planning session and a menu tasting. We want to think at least a little outside the box with our cake flavours but might have to either play it safe or cross our fingers because we won't be able to try it out in advance. Otherwise, everyone is so professional that everything is going along nicely just via email so far.

Hey Ben!

That ring is gorgeous!!!

Hey! Thanks! I was so nervous about picking the ring, Jess has a lot of different things she likes and they don't all work together. I looked and looked at so many different places and this is the one I came back to, left room to be accented by the wedding band and as Jess has quite small hands it was nice and simple and something that could be made to fit her size. Bigger and more intricate rings just felt like they'd be a bit overpowering, this was little yet very striking which I though fit nicely.

OMG! I got the same ring!!! In my opinion there's only one real engagement ring - the Tiffany one! ;-)

Oh wow! Yeah it's a classic, I looked at so many other rings but nothing else shines like Tiffanys. After I'd visited there the first time I was pretty much ruined for anywhere else. Both of our wedding bands will be from elsewhere because we can't afford two more Tiffany's rings but I'm glad I could at least get the engagement ring from there, it was so exciting having that little blue box hiding in my wardrobe for a couple of months before our trip.

 

[andeesings]

I know you're looking for outside the box- if I may say, the orange cake with amaretto crunch filling is absolutely AMAZING.

 

[aacvacation]

OK.

A GROOM DOING A WEDDING JOURNAL!!?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!

(I only kid.) How exciting to see you so excited and involved with all of the details of this wedding! After all it is your day too! This makes me very happy. And it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. I cannot wait to see it all come together!

And Congratulations!!!

 

[KristiLyn]

We didn't get to do a cake tasting either, and that's so unfortunate because I LOVE CAKE! I hear the amaretto crunch filling is amazing. We went with lemon cake with raspberry mousse filling. There's so many great options and it was so hard to decide!

 

[edeneye]

Well this time last year we were boarding a plane to come back to the US for our site visit. Today we still have 185 days until we board. Though considering we already had our date in mind, it's a relatively short time! We just got our 7 month update from our room coordinator and all is pretty quiet on that front. Haven't yet discussed the planning session but that'll likely be June as we've been told May is a pretty busy time at DFTW.

So what have we been doing? Well.. not much! Looking at rental cars and things like that. Our first trip was reliant on buses and taxis and I don't think we'd do that again, the freedom of having your own transport and the cost of a cab into town mean we're happier shelling out for a rental. Plus this time we'll have a lot of friends with us, we intend to take a few trips into town so we're looking at hiring a couple of vans to get everyone around in.

Also, all our accommodation is now paid. As I mentioned, we missed out on Grand Californian studios for the Disneyland part of our trip so we found somewhere else nearby and have now paid off all of our flights, cruise and accommodation. And we paid the balance to the Roots so that's already set too! Now we hold our breath until the planning session and find out just how much the wedding itself is gonna cost us!

I know you're looking for outside the box- if I may say, the orange cake with amaretto crunch filling is absolutely AMAZING.

Thanks for the suggestion! I had definitely been thinking something sorta nutty and that does sound good! I love pralines and stuff like that and when the rest of the event is going to be so unlike what our guests know about weddings, why not have a memorable cake!

OK.

A GROOM DOING A WEDDING JOURNAL!!?!!?!!?!?!?!?!?!!

(I only kid.) How exciting to see you so excited and involved with all of the details of this wedding! After all it is your day too! This makes me very happy. And it looks like it is going to be a lot of fun. I cannot wait to see it all come together!

And Congratulations!!!

Thanks! It probably speaks to our personalities that I'm the one doing this, Jess has never been very big on message boards whereas I have always done quite a lot of lurking! It certainly helps that it's a Disney wedding, gives me even more to be excited about and there's such good resources around like this board that I can get info from and make myself useful! Oh & enjoy your solo trip - one day to go! My last trip to WDW was the very same day last year!

We didn't get to do a cake tasting either, and that's so unfortunate because I LOVE CAKE! I hear the amaretto crunch filling is amazing. We went with lemon cake with raspberry mousse filling. There's so many great options and it was so hard to decide!

Nice! I bet that'll turn out great for you. There's almost too many options - what if we pick the wrong one/s! Cake regret! I love that we get such a range to choose from and same with the rest of the menu. I think one thing that'll really stand out that noone would be expecting is how good the food is going to be. Well, how tasty the food is going to be - Jess & I probably aren't going to pick the classiest options! Our other cake decision is going to be just as hard - which style!

 

[edeneye]

Well it has been quiet-ish lately on the wedding front! Lots of other life stuff happening, Jess & I are building a new home - our first together and the first time we wont have any roommates - and after three years of living apart we'll finally be back under the same roof. Also, Jess had double jaw surgery two weeks ago today, she's recovering well and is looking forward to eating solid food again in a month or two!

Oh yeah, and it's under 6 months until our wedding. Less than 180 days! Which of course means we can get started on ADRs. Hooray! Something we can plan while we wait for our planning session (some time late next month when we're settled in our new home). So far, we have a dinner reservation for just the two of us at Cinderella's Royal Table early in our trip and today I booked our farewell lunch at the Crystal Palace for everyone who is coming. As I mentioned earlier, we love Pooh Bear and this is the best way we could get him involved in our wedding!

The free dining promotion was exciting for a few days there, it falls right in our wedding period but after a few calls to the vacation line and our room block consultant (who has been amazing, she didn't know I was calling but knew straight away who I was and the details of my booking) it seems a little out of our reach. We need everyone to stay in the same resort for transportation purposes and that was going to be really hard to coordinate individually without us ending up spread out all over the place.

Hmmmmm, I feel like I had more to add. Oh well, I'll probably remember whatever it is later on when I'm trying to sleep! It's all very exciting anyway, the countdown is really starting to tick now and the next few weeks are going to fly by because there is so much to do and to look forward to.

 

[elphie101]

Good to see you again, and yay for being under 6 months

Hope Jess gets better quick!! I don't imagine double jaw surgery (or any surgery of that matter) is fun. And how exciting that you're almost in a new home.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Aschenputtel]

Congrats on the 6 month line and the new home!

I hope Jess will get well soon - I still know how much it hurt when I got my third molars out.

Your dining plans seem great so far - be sure to keep as posted!!!

 

[edeneye]

Thanks! It's an exciting milestone and I feel like it's really getting close now. We got engaged 19 months ago this week and another 6 seems like nothing!

Jess's surgery must be quite similar in effect to having teeth out, every time we go somewhere and people see how swollen Jess' face is and hear her attempt to speak they ask if that's what has happened! She has been quite sore and gets frustrated at times with how hard looking after it currently is but it was a big thing Jess wanted to get done before our wedding. It was both a corrective and somewhat cosmetic procedure that, to spare the gory details, basically involves moving both of her jaws and setting them in place where they should naturally sit. It means she hopefully wont need braces again (she's had them twice due to her teeth not having the right amount of space) but also has some pleasant side effects in that it will give her a side profile she'll be so much happier with and a smile she doesn't have to grumble at when she sees it in photos. I know I'm her groom-to-be but honestly I didn't see the issues there, of course it wasn't for me though. She'll feel so much happier and more confident on her wedding day and with her wedding photos and that will be absolutely worth all the time, effort, pain and saving!

Oh & I'm very excited it's time to start with dining plans. Jess is not really in that frame of mind at the moment though! We sat down and attempted to map out the whole trip and find some important reservations we need to make such as Cinderella's, Le Cellier, Victoria & Alberts, 1900 Park Faire and so on but haven't yet got that sorted out. Better get a move on!

Good to see you again, and yay for being under 6 months

Hope Jess gets better quick!! I don't imagine double jaw surgery (or any surgery of that matter) is fun. And how exciting that you're almost in a new home.

Can't wait to hear more!

Six months is such a short time! As you'd well know, the start of your planning journey is so far out from the day that it is exciting but also sortof abstract because of the distance. Now, like you said in your PJ, it's getting real.

The new home has been a great thing, something to plan and work toward that fits in nicely during the quiet pre-planning session period. Counting down to that is distracting us a little from our big countdown which is just evaporating now that I'm not staring at it all the time. We're really looking forward to living together again, we get along absolutely perfectly under the same roof. It'll be like a holiday every day, we enjoy doing just about everything - even grocery shopping becomes an adventure.

I was gonna add some more but I'm sure we can all agree a word limit is approaching! That means I know what I can talk about next time, handy when there's not much planning happening. Finally though I will say that I can tell I miss WDW. In another tab I have youtube open, playing Must Do Disney on repeat. I haven't actually watched that since shortly after we got home this time last year and was a little surprised that when it started and I heard the music I almost teared up, wasn't expecting that!

 

[edeneye]

Well! Things are pretty crazy at the moment, I'm frantically packing among working my last days at my current job before I move interstate to be with Jess again. But around that, here's some developments - something wedding related even!

That of course being... the wedding bands! Jess' engagement ring is currently with a jeweler who is custom fitting the band to make a nice set together. Today she sent Jess a quick update on how it is going at the moment, note that there are still diamonds to set in the band so it's not finished yet!



Also, today marks 10 years and 11 months of being together. So I guess it's about time I put a ring on it! In addition to the wedding, we're about to move into our first new home together in the coming weeks. We got in there not long ago to make our mark before the carpet was put down in what will be our bedroom.





And finally, for now, a recent addition to our family! Jess & I have a dog and a cat, who due to distance have never both lived under one roof with us. Our dog is accustomed to having a companion where we live currently and we knew she'd get lonely when we live together when we go out to work and she no longer has that playmate. So Jess went to the animal shelter and rescued a lovely 7 year old fellow whom we named Patch. He also loves company and will be a great friend for us and our Heidi. He's had a rough life until now but that's in the past, I'm looking forward to shortly having our little family all under one roof for the first time.


Note Jess' puffy cheeks, she is recovering well from surgery and can talk quite well again now but there's still a way to go!

 

[alyaki]

Awww, what a cute pup, I'm sure both he and Heidi will have fun. Also, Jess looks like she's doing well after her surgery, and it's cute what you ended up doing in the house. Have fun with moving!

Also, can I say I love what her band looks like? It seriously looks awesome - I'm sure it'll be great once it's completed!

 

[elphie101]

Looks like Patrick is doing just fine now that he's with you guys!

I love what you've painted in your bedroom, that's so sweet and touching

The rings look great - can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Aschenputtel]

It's so sweet of you to adopt a new dog as a buddy for Heidi! Hope the cat copes with the move also well!

The ring looks beautiful so far - I started looking for wedding bands myself so I'm quite interested in what fits with my engagement ring ;-)

The idea for the new home is really cute - way didn't I think of such a think before they put in the floor?

Jess seems also quite well - be sure to greet her and wish her the best for the rest of the healing!!!

Hope to hear more soon!!!