Sorry for the interruption! DH is a teacher and needed to do some lesson plans for tomorrow.
Back to the story!
Wedding Day Continued
I forgot to mention that we had a nurse and aide coming at 6:00am for MOH to help her get dressed and ready, so we needed somewhere for MOHG (maid of honor's guest) to go while they were there. I left him my room key the night before and told him he could sleep in our extra bed until we got back from the MK shoot. Lisa Pena was coming at 7:30am to do our moms' hair/makeup and then she was going to do MOH's hair/makeup at 10:00am when she was all ready.
I left two notes taped to our room door. The first was for MOHG, reminding him to please let in Lisa and our moms. The second was for my mom, reminding her to pay Lisa, lol.
I had originally booked Beaute Speciale for everybody, but they wanted to get started on our moms at 6:30am and then they couldn't really hang around and wait until 10:00am to do MOH. I ended up cancelling with them for everybody but me and I booked a separate appointment with Lisa Pena. I was upfront with her about it and told her that I had already booked someone else for my hair and makeup, but that we needed someone who was flexible and willing to do our moms and then wait until MOH was ready. Lisa said this was fine and we booked her, despite my fears after reading Maggimus' TR. Otherwise, Lisa seemed to come highly recommended and she was the only one available.
Sorry, but I needed to add that background info in or else stuff later won't make sense :cutiepie:
SO! DF and I were on our way to the MK. We had passed the CR and were heading in the cast member entrance... soooo cool! We passed all the daytime parade floats and a bunch of buildings. Mike pointed at one and goes, "Pirates of the Caribbean." So weird that it's just a regular looking building from the back! We also got to see the back of Jungle Cruise which is just a bunch of trees, lol.
We pulled onto Main Street and there were soooo many cast members working already. I've read about this in other trip reports, but it's so odd to see it in person for yourself. And they were all bright and cheery and waved! At 5:30 in the morning! While they were cleaning and hosing down the street! Sorry, I was in awe.
We pulled up to the hub and a lady from Disney floral was waiting with my bouquet and DF's bout (I can never spell the whole thing, lol). I fell in love with my bouquet instantly. It was perfect!
Mike got right to work because we had to be out of there by 6:30am because there was an early opening that day. He did some shots of just me in front of the castle, then me and DF, then we headed up the ramp and did some shots in the archway, then the carousel, then CRT, then the little balcony on the castle (so cool to go up there!), then the ramp on the way back to the van, and then some shots of just DF. Whew!
Getting on the carousel was tricky... they both had to help me up and then I was holding on for dear life because I felt myself slipping. My gigantic dress didn't exactly fit in the tiny little "seat" area of the horse, lol. Mike stopped and said to me, "Erin, loosen the grip a little bit and try to look HAPPY!" haha, I was so nervous up there.
I know a lot of people debate whether the MK shoot is worth it, but to me it was worth every single overpriced penny. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we did it because I will never forget being the park all "alone" (except for the hundreds of CM running around!) before opening. It was a great and unique experience. I would do it again in a second.
Here are some of my favorite shots:
(I know I already posted a link to them all, but I feel bad for the lack of pics in these updates!)
We hopped back in the van and Mike started chatting about who we were using for our wedding photography. I cringed a little because of the stories of Disney photographers who have been negative about using outside photography, but I told him Randy Chapman and he goes, "That hack? Just kidding, Randy's a good friend of mine. I like his work." Hmm. Well, I don't know if I believe that, but he dropped the conversation so I was relieved.
He dropped us off outside our building, wished us well, and we headed back to the room.
MOHG was passed out, so we tried to be as quiet as possible since I knew he was exhausted. There was nowhere else to change, and he had the covers pulled over his head, so DF helped me out of my dress right there, lol. I hung it back up and then he got out of his tux and we tried to lie down for a little while.
I couldn't possibly sleep, so I just got up since it was almost time for Lisa to be there anyway. My parents got to the room a little early so my mom came in and my dad went to read by the pool while he waited for her. DF had gone to get his mom and they showed up around that time, so now there was no way MOHG was going to get any sleep.
It was about 7:45am and Lisa wasn't there yet, so I stepped out on the balcony to call her. Just as I got her voicemail, I saw her and her assistant walking towards me. They got to work right away -- Lisa on DF's mom, and the assistant on my mom. They were nice enough, but very... overbearing? Loud? I can't put my finger on it, but Lisa rubbed me the wrong way. DF and I just kind of sat and watched, and Lisa made a comment to me that my hair and makeup was already done. Um, yes, we discussed this. She asked me who did it and I was kind of uncomfortable but I told her anyway. She didn't say anything except to ask me if I did the MK shoot. Yes, again, we already discussed this. Then she says, "You know, I do those too. You could have had me do it." and she just stood there looking at me, I guess waiting for some kind of response.
Luckily there was a knock on the door -- it was the nurse from next door telling me that MOH was all ready to go. Wow, that was fast! So I ran next door and helped MOH pin her dress so that "the girls" didn't make a surprise appearance during the ceremony, and then we brushed teeth and whatnot. DF came over and we sent him and MOHG down to the food court to get us something to eat. I went back next door really quick just in time to see my mom leave. Her hair looked cute -- it was exactly like the picture she brought. I asked Lisa if they could go next door to do MOH's hair rather than have her come into my crowded room. She said that was fine and sent her assistant over.
MOH kind of told her what she wanted -- curls and kind of up -- but she mostly left it up to the asst to do something nice.
I went back next door to eat my fruit cup and DF's mom was leaving then. She looked great. DF walked her back to her room to get dressed so I was left alone with Lisa. I wanted to sink into the floor. She chatted with me -- all about how great she is and how much DFTW loves her and all the weddings that she does allll the time and how much experience she has and blah blah blah. OMG. It was so awkward. Finally MOHG comes over to get me so that I can see MOH's hair. It did not look good. All her hair was kind of pinned back from her face and it just looked funny. We explained to Lisa that she wanted it a little looser, so they fixed it and it turned out really cute.
We went back to my room so that Lisa could do her makeup, and that came out really nice as well.
Lisa left, I took MOH back to her room to hang out, and I went back to my room to do I don't know what. LOL I actually really had to go to the bathroom, so I attempted to without ruining my dress, and just as I was finishing up, DF and his brother showed up. Good thing I was done because the bathroom door didn't close!
For months before the wedding, I was paranoid that either DF or his brother would be late and our wedding would be cancelled. I emphasized over and over how important it was to be on time. DF and his brother are ALWAYS late for EVERYTHING. I had faith in DF and told him that he had to make SURE his brother was ready on time.
DF followed through and had his brother dressed in our room by 10am -- an hour ahead of schedule! I was still really anxious and excited about everything so my stomach started rebelling (I have IBS and it gets really really bad whenever I have a big event) so I ran next door and used MOH's bathroom.
I went back to my room and it occurs to me to check our BEO and double-check what time the guys are getting picked up. I thought it was 11:00am but it turns out it's actually 10:45am! Aaah! Good thing I checked because I needed to start getting ready before DF left. I hopped into my dress (sort of literally, lol) and he quickly laced me up again and ran to meet his family at the limo.
Notice that we have not seen or heard from Sue with DF's brother's new pants yet.
The plan for getting to the WP was this:
DF, his parents, the kids, his oldest brother and SIL would go in the limo. His other brother would follow in his car so that we would have a car later on after dinner to get everyone home.
The ceremony was at noon, reception at 1:00pm, and tea at the Gardenview Lounge was at 2:00pm. Dinner at Chef Mickey's was at 5:10pm.
After tea, DF, his brother, and my dad were supposed to drive back to Pop to pick up my car and my dad's car -- this would give us two cars plus an SUV to drive everyone back. MOH had a van coming to pick up her and MOHG after dinner.
Coming up: Does DBIL get his pants? Does my stomach cooperate for the rest of the day? And how does our transportation plan work out?
And I love the Epcot ones - I really like the dress you wore for Epcot!
I can only imagine that catastrophe! I hope all went well and again you looked wonderful!
We did the best we could and then it was time to feed each other and taste the cake I had been looking forward to for forever. And it was... ok. I didn't really care for it. I thought the cake itself was too dry, and the "mousse" was really heavy and more like pudding. I did like the buttercream, though.
