LuvLuvLuv's Memories TR Starts Pg 73 - Honeymoon Day 6.1

[LuvLuvLuv]

Well okay I took a few steps forward and a few steps... well not back--i guess i just stood still

Things are coming together since we've set the date. The verbal and facebook word has gotten out and we both have lots of friends that are surprisingly excited about going to Disney World. Which brings us to a problem--the guest list is multiplying rapidly. People saying how they're excited to go--and the problem is... I haven't asked them yet. We both have 2 jobs (double the co-workers), families, and other friends. I'm the closest with my cosmetic girls, but there's lots of them, and if they want to bring their bf/husband/kids... the list will grow even more. I'm starting to freak out a bit I guess.

I'm also leaning toward the WP and Napa Room. I dunno why, after all that time I was set on the YC.... I'm second guessing it. I just love the thought of having the Napa Room during Wishes, which I like MUCH better than Illuminations. Then rises the next problem... the Napa Room is for 50 people. Great.

So I had an appointment on Sunday for the Maggie Sottero trunk show.... then I got the Flu. I knew on Saturday I would not be able to drag myself there, so I canceled. The sales associate told me that I was more than welcome to try on more dresses, but she knows and I know that no dress will compare to the Emily on me. I know this, I've accepted it... I'm saying Yes to the Dress.

In the mean time... I'm feeling near death at work today. My nose won't stop running, the sneezing, the choking/coughing, blah blah... sorry I'm ranting. I can't focus on work stuff so between staring at the wall and sipping tea, I'm looking for shoes and a headband.

We leave in 2 weeks and I've been trying to pack.... Okay, well, not quite packing, but I opened up my suitcase and have been throwing (literally throwing) stuff in it that I probably will take. I also just ended up going to Target and bought all new toiletries, etc so I didn't have to dig thru all my junk. I bought a few new pairs of jeans, new dress pants, a new skirt, and a few nice sweaters for California Grill, Citricos and Yachtsman. I won't get too dressy for those since we hit the parks afterwards... but I like to look like I made an attempt

I made a list of questions for Bill. Mostly involving timeframes, reception menus, venues, guest counts, etc etc. If I don't make a list... I will forget.

Oh yeah...
If you haven't been to Target's $1 bins lately... you should run there! They have 24 month Mickey planners!! How perfect!! 2011 and 2012!! I can see all the way to the wedding--and it's Mickey--and it's $1!!

So we have the date, the dress, the earrings, the bracelet.... and that's it, lol.

Soon we'll have the venues, the guest list, the shoes and the headband!!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

just thought i would add...

i just e-mailed patricia lejeune to get info on booking.

so i'll let you know what i come up with.

 

[FutureMrs.B]

I'm sorry to hear that you have been sick. I hope you feel better. I think it's normal to go back and forth on your choices. I feel like I've been doing alot of that lately. Thanks for the target tip! I'm going to my local target tomorrow and see if I can hunt them down! I'm so jealous that you're going in 2 weeks. Can I be a stow away in your luggage. I'm small I won't take up much space.

 

[princesswendy720]

When we first got engaged I sat down and made a big spreadsheet of all the wedding costs - all of the Disney costs and non-Disney costs - and from there I played around with the guest count and how it affected the total budget (we have dinner minimums of $125 pp, plus welcome party costs, invitations, favors, welcome bags) - basically anything that was a per person charge. From there I determined that I could afford 40 people and anything over that meant that I had to start making cuts elsewhere - in decor, floral, photography, etc.

I told Greg we need to make A, B, and maybe even C lists of who we want there. We will invite all of the A people, and if we don't get 40 yeses we will extend invites to people on the B list and so on. I think we have 60 people on our A list, so we're hoping to get at least 20 no's just from that list...or else we're in trouble. It feels kind of weird to prioritize people based on how close you are to them, how often you see them, the odds they will actually come, etc..but we needed to find a way to stick to our guest count while having the people we want there. Maybe this might work for you guys too!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

So through my sickness, I've been trying to logically put some solutions in place. Unfortunately, this has cost me some $$, because when I need DF to focus--I have to take him out to eat. When you're at a restaurant, there is no laptop, remote control or playstation. I can talk through an iPhone--but I can't compete with DVR recordings. So Sunday it was TGI Fridays, Monday it was Red Lobster, and yesterday was Noodles and Company. Of course after we are done eating he wants to shop. So about $500 later --I have a bit of peace about our invite dilemma, vacation plans for the next 2 years, more travel sized items than we need for our trip, 8 different kinds of cold meds and several boxes of kleenex with aloe.

Here's what we decided. I'm going with Wendy's A/B/C idea--with a twist. I've divided our guest list:

Group A: Immediate Family((disclosure: when i say mom--i mean my stepmother -- biological is not in the picture and i will call the police if she attempts to stalk and show up. that's all i will say about that. i wouldn't give her the satisfaction of being called mother.))

Deena: (10) Mom, Aunt, Grandmother, Uncle, Boy Cousin, Girl Cousin, Uncle's GF, Close Family Friend, Other Aunt, Other Boy Cousin

David: (4) Mom, Brother, Grandpa, Grandma


Group B
Best Friends and Extended Family


Group C
Those I want to invite, but may not be able to.


So here's the plan. My family doesn't work the way most do. There's no Yay, Huggy, Congratulations here. There's... why do you have to do it there, why do you have to wait so long, blah blah blah blah blah. They also live out of state so when I go home for Christmas... I'm taking a business plan with me.

Yes. A business plan. The kind you present when you want to start your own company and need to convince the people that it's a good idea. I will have 4 weeks after we return from vacation to make it perfect. Everyone will have a folder, and I will be presenting--all of this over turkey and mashed potatoes

It will be nice to have them nailed down and I'm pretty much going to ask if they are committing or not, because I'll invite other people. This is my family--so I can say these things to them His family is easy. His grandparents live in Florida so the travel won't be as bad either.

Then I get to mix and mingle with my "B" list. These are my closest friends, his closest friends, and maybe some of his cousins he's semi-close with. In passing we're going to ask and try to solidify their interest and availability.

Everyone I'm asking is close to me. I would be able to tell them they have lipstick on their teeth, that their shoes don't match and that they look rough from the night before. With that said--I'm just going to come right out and tell them: My reception area holds 50 people--so it's going to be tough. I will blame the majority on family and tell them based upon who in my family can come will be deciding on how many friends can come.

I told DF that we're not taking applications for new friends because we can't afford anymore And I was serious

Once I get a pretty good idea--I will know who to send the Save the Dates to. I will send these as soon as I sign the LOA. I feel better about this now that I have a plan.

So more about my business plan. This will include information about the resorts and pricing. I'm going to let my family help decide on the room block because they will be a big chunk of whatever we decide--so I'll let them "help" on this. Information about dining, things to do, transportation, welcome dinner, farewell breakfast, meet and greet, etc.

We decided to calm down on our vacations in 2011. We plan to do a trip during an open house hopefully in the spring. He wants to stay at Coronado Springs... which baffled me. He said he's always wanted to stay there and he's told me that?? What?? You've never told me that. Fine with me--it's cheaper! So as soon as they release the date, I'll book it.

We won't do a fall trip... and sadly won't be back until our planning session. We will stay at Bay Lake Tower during the planning session trip in May 2012. We will most likely do E-pix and my hair trial then.

I'm trying to get focused as I'm approaching the 2 year mark. I need to assure that my savings plan is in place to cover everything we want. In July, we will book our DFTW, our rooms, hopefully Patricia LeJeune, our photographers, and the beginning of July is sooner than we think! Savings won't start until January. We have our trip in 2 weeks... then there's the holiday season. No one can save money during the holidays. I also need to order my dress, and I want my shoes and headband. Oh--then our open house trip.... Looks like I'll be bumping up my hours at the store

2 weeks from right now, we'll be landing at MCO, checking in to POFQ and heading to eat lunch at Mama Melrose. I keep reminding myself that once I see the places in person--it will all flow from there!! 2 weeks!!!

 

[Princess SarahK]

Your family sounds a lot like mine..lol. I like the idea of a business plan. Can you send me what you work up? I may need it when I go "home" for Thanksgiving/Christmas too... I already know I am going to be bombarded..so I feel you! Congrats on working a lot of the logistics though! Hope you feel better soon, I feel myself catching it

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

Your family sounds a lot like mine..lol. I like the idea of a business plan. Can you send me what you work up? I may need it when I go "home" for Thanksgiving/Christmas too... I already know I am going to be bombarded..so I feel you! Congrats on working a lot of the logistics though! Hope you feel better soon, I feel myself catching it

I will send you what I come up with.. we'll coordinate soon!



.......IN OTHER NEWS:

My Ring is Paid in Full!!
It's off Being Sized and will be Back in Time for our Trip!!

I can do online check in in 36 minutes!!!
...and I probably will, lol.

 

[Princess SarahK]

Cheers for having the ring paid off! Its such a nice feeling to know its 100% yours!! Im so glad DF bought mine cash, it would have really thrown us for a loop if not. So congrats! Have a fantastic week!!

 

[Tinkerkell007]

Hello Deena! Love reading about everything so far! Ohhh, your trip is soon! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

So just a little update.

We've let the cat out of the bag. Officially all family and friends know. I guess we were being lazy, and I was feeling a little weird without a ring and the thought of breaking a destination wedding was stressful--but it's done and all is pretty much well. There are of course a family member or two that are not thrilled about travel, etc... but my new attitude is that the Napa Room holds 50 people, minus us, minus the photographers... there are 46 chairs available and 80 people on my guest list. I can fill your spot if you want to gripe and stay home.

Since we've pretty much moved our wedding from the YC gazebo & Yachtsman to WP and the Napa Room lots of changes are happening.

I'm not feeling the aqua blue and lime green with the Napa Room--or the WP carpet, so once I see them, I'm hoping to find a color to compliment them. I shouldn't worry about small things like that, but I'm really weird and crazy about that stuff. Just from pictures I found a color called Clover that may work. Its nice and may be really great for November.

Our new plan is to stay in a honeymoon jacuzzi suite at the GF for 6 nights and move to the YC-CL for our honeymoon for 7 nights. I think it'll be great. I'm just concerned that people won't be able to stay at the GF as easy as they would have the YC. I was hoping everyone would stay close.

I contacted Patricia LeJeune. She's available for my date and said we could book now if I wanted, but advised to wait till I confirm my date. I agree--I just wanted to make sure the second that LOA is signed that I can call her!!

I am rather excited that I think I found a theme Sparkles and Sweets. Since my dress has the sparkly crystals I wanted to go with that. Lots of loose crystals and of course Wishes Fireworks!! I also was stressing over floral centerpieces and their expense and what to do with them after. UNTIL.... I was looking thru some archives and found Sunsh1ne's reception. Candy centerpieces?? Think taking the Candy Buffet and putting them in giant vases for each table. I looked thru a Candy Warehouse online and got the pricing and I'm so excited about it that I can't stand it. We will use little bags for favors and they can load up on sweets I think people will like this because they can snack on their favorites in their room, or on the plane, etc. I'll have to check on the rules with decorating the Napa Room.

As far as cakes go... I have a love for 2. The Mad Hatter and the one with Swarovski crystals. I am trying to get a vision to mesh these together somehow.

Until they put out the fireworks schedule, the timing is up in the air. Keep your fingers crossed that they don't start MVMCP that early because those fireworks are later.

Oh and now that we're at the WP.... HELLO Confetti Cannon!!

----------

So our trip is in 8 days!! Tonight is my last night off until then so we will be doing laundry, packing and cleaning for our doggie sitter. I made some final tweeks to our ADRs and I thought I'd share them just for fun! We like the hidden gems at the resorts ....and about that diet--there's always January.

Wednesday:
Lunch - Mama Melrose
Dinner - California Grill

Thursday:
Breakfast - Kona
----Site Visit----
Lunch - Grand Floridian Cafe
Dinner - Citricos
----MVMCP----

Friday:
Lunch - Les Chefs de France
Dinner - Captain's Grille

Saturday:
Lunch - Turf Club
Dinner - 'Ohana

Sunday:
Lunch - Olivia's
Dinner - Garden Grill

Monday:
Breakfast - Hollywood and Vine
Lunch - Le Cellier
Dinner - Yachtsman

Tuesday:
Lunch - Liberty Tree Tavern



We plan on taking a day to take see and take pictures of all necessary things for newsletters etc. We want to take a few shots of where we want pictures taken, etc. I already let him know that this will be more of a business trip I did promise I would buy his beer.

Tonight I'm breaking down and buying another tanning package. I was trying to get away from it, but with the weather change, my eczema is starting to flare and the only thing other than expensive steriod creams that helps is tanning. It does miracles for me after trying everything. I wanted to get a little color before I wear shorts next week anyway.

Well I think that's all I have for now. I'm unpatiently waiting for my ring to be sized and ready to go on our trip!! I can't wait to see my ticker when I post this!! Yay!!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

Sooo I'm a little frustrated right now.

So on the main board, someone else was frustrated because they hadn't heard back from Bill in a while. Funny, I emailed him on 10/19 and nothing back. So it turns out he's on an unexpected leave. Which is fine. Things happen outside of work and I get that. BUT!!! No one is calling his people and letting them know who is taking care of them??

So I called. I said that I had heard he was away and that I had a site visit for next Thursday. She said to just show up as normal and someone would take his place, okay? (like we were done here and I was going to accept this answer)

Umm.... yeah.

So I asked who it would be. She said she didn't know, but someone would be there. At this point I was nervous, because I was afraid she was assuming "someone" would be there. I know that Wendy's is the same as mine and that rules out at least one coordinator. She tries to end the conversation again--no no. I asked how this person would know what I wanted to see. I sent Bill all this information, and you just want me to show up randomly when I've had an appointment?? She said that someone could call me if I wanted. I asked when, and she said sometime before my appointment. Okay... well that's in 9 days and I leave in 8. She couldn't tell me who was calling me, or when it would be. I called back to see if someone else answered, and it was her again... so I disconnected. Let's hope this is not the way the rest of the planning will go.

I have a feeling this is going to be a major disaster.
I'll keep updating.

 

[pixie921]

I'm sorry that your PS is causing you stress! I totally understand your frustration, but hopefully they'll give you someone equally good to work with. Who knows -- you may really hit it off with the new person and it might turn out to be a good thing!

I also wanted to say that I love your idea of the "sparkles and sweets" theme. I have no idea if you'd be interested, but I was ordering a couple things from Beaucoup Favors for our VR earlier today and came across the prettiest favor (or you could use it for a decoration, too) that would totally work with your theme ... it's a crystal piece of candy:

http://www.beau-coup.com/crystal-candy-keepsake.htm

 

[princesswendy720]

Ugh I'm sorry to hear about the last minute issues with your consultant. It sounds like it took everyone at DFTW by surprise. Does he have an out of office message up? Hopefully they are assigning other people to all of his appointments-or there are going to be lots of angry brides. I don't like the sound of "someone will be there" either- from what I understand, franck's is not their real office, so there isn't a staff of
consultants just hanging around there every day. If I were you I'd keep calling until you get someone who knows how to help. I can PM you Joe's number if you want? He might know more than the people answering the phones.

In happier news, your ADRs look great! I also really like the ideas for
your theme - especially finding a way to bling out the mad hatter cake.

We will be staying at Pop whole we're there (arriving Tuesday and leaving Friday). I don't think we are going to MVMCP.. The only day we could go we are going to spend at the food and wine festival. Right now the plan is DHS on Tuesday, MK on Wednesday, Epcot on thursday after the site visit, and AK on Friday before we leave for the airport.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

pixie921 those candies are amazing--i will totally be ordering those!!

i'm having an -- i'm going to the courthouse -- moment/meltdown.

i called dftw again today because i haven't heard from anyone and they left me on hold for 12 minutes. then come back to me and say that someone will call me back. i have a feeling that i'm not getting a site visit next week--or it'll be someone who has no idea what's going on and i'm going to go "bridal" on them and stash my $ and go to the courthouse. this hasn't been so magical and i'm just agitated. sorry, but i have to get this out. i'm still mad that yesterday when i asked a question that they told me not to believe anything on the message boards because it's all heresay. well if we didn't have these boards than we wouldn't know anything because they don't return calls!! i'm thankful for everyone on here and the information they give. i'm sure no one jumps on here thinking... hmmm what lie can i post today.

lets keep our fingers crossed that they call today.

 

[Princess SarahK]

You poor thing! I hope they call you back today, for their sake! Now Im starting to worry I will be having trouble in about 10 days when its time to get my LOA... I hope they call you back and you get your questions answered, let us know how it goes. In the meantime let me know if theres anything you need to know!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i will be talking with Diane at 11:30am tomorrow.

i'll update everyone on that tomorrow when we're done!

 

[DVC Bride 2011]

Diane was my consultant and she was awesome to work with. You are in good hands

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

So everything is good in my world. I was able work everything out and am finally at peace

Last night we picked up my ring and it is absolutely stunning! I've been getting the ooohs and ahhhhs at work today and I love it!

I've tried to get a pic on my iPhone 3g.... but it's so shiny it looks like a big blur. I'll have to charge my playsport when I get home and take a good one.

I forgot how much I loved tanning. My skin isn't so itchy and I'm getting some color back already. By Wednesday I'll be a sunny bunny.

Still no packing or laundry done. I made a master list today and hope to get lots done over the weekend between working. I'm making wardrobe lists for both of us and scheduling dedicated photopass days, so we have to look better on those days On my last trip I totally failed at this. We had character breakfasts on both our water park days and I had no makeup on and wet hair. Total Failure. I like to have a day or two of being comfy and feeling like I'm on vacation... but I also want great pictures.

Well I guess I'll add a funny story too...

I've been all over the boards today prepping for vaca and debating on doing my usual dining report, my first ever trip report, and keeping this updated. It sounds like a lot, and I'm not sure about it. I feel somewhat obligated to report my food experiences and would feel terrible if I didn't share, lol. I have an addiction. I obviously will report my wedding stuff... so this may not be the trip to do a full trip report on... but we'll see!!

Pix of the Ring Up Next!

 

[FutureMrs.B]

Gratz on getting your ring! I can't wait to see pics of it!!

 

[NOMNOMNOMS]

I've just caught up on your PJ! I'll definitely be following you along your journey...Love everything so far and can't wait to see the pics of your DIY save the dates and everything else!