Wow, I'm just looking at my last updates - we're down from 144 days to only 85 days until the wedding! Crazy, right? There have been just a few little updates.
Ceremony
Oh, so we ended up getting the chair hanger thingies - from the same seller who made the ones I linked to before, just without the star fish on there - it's aqua and raffia. I LOVE them! We also ordered our cake from the Swan through Just Marry. We have 21 (with Todd, Brandon and I), and the smallest cake feeds 19. The next one is more than $100 more, so I asked my sister and brother in law to share a piece, and Todd and I will share a piece, lol. It's just not worth it for $100 more! I told my sister they can have extra cupcakes at our wedding picnic here in Buffalo in August
. She totally agreed that it was the right call!
Tickets
Tickets are all purchased, and we customized our magic bands so that's ready to go too. We watched the new DVD a few weeks ago, and Brandon is totally stoked. He had a bunch of pennies saved up and has been rolling them - he's putting them toward his spending money for the trip. We're going to give him $150 to pick out whatever souvenirs he wants, but he also got some Disney $$ for his birthday, and even though he'll get that much money to spend regardless, we're working with him on "earning" it so he appreciates it more. We talked about it during the DVD, about how he'll see a lot he likes, but how it's important to only pick out the things he really wants, and he was like, "So if I see something I like, I should probably wait to see if I see something I like more, or to be sure I really want it." This kid learns fast, lol. But we're really proud - he is so pumped for the trip, and he's counting it down too. It warms my heart!
Dining
So this may be surprising, but we added the dining plan. Just last week. I realized that we were doing quite a few table meals, and that we could use our credits toward our welcome dinner and farewell breakfast! For the hassle of bringing more cash/traveler's checks, I figured let's just do it (it cost probably a few hundred dollars more than I had budgeted for food, but the convenience is just so nice). Plus we'll have extra meals and snacks for after Brandon leaves. I also ordered breakfast food, pop (soda for everyone who doesn't live in like Michigan or Buffalo!) and bottled water from Garden Grocer. So all we'll need is $$ for any extra snacks or drinks, plus for our wedding dinner at Shula's. This is just going to make it so much simpler.
Speaking of $$ - every last thing is paid for or saved for - souvenirs, food, every single element of the wedding. It's. All. Done. So awesome and such a relief. I know we were there before, but some details (like the dining plan) weren't finalized yet and all that. But it's really, unequivocally, 100% done. We have a little more saved than we need, I think, but I don't want to have to worry about money or anything while we're there, so I want to have extra. We can always use extra money when we get home, but I don't want to worry about anything while we're down there!
Registry
Here's some craziness - my first shower is only 3 weeks away. Time flies! I'm uncomfortable receiving gifts, but I'm excited to see family and get together. My brother is coming into town from Boston too (I wanted to see him before the wedding) - we're going to have some guys at the shower too. It's all a celebration - I am not traditional in that sense at all. Let's just all have a good time! Also, I am so touched that some family members have given us gifts through the Disney honeymoon registry. We can't wait to get our bride and groom ears, have our picture taken, and post when we get home on Facebook thanking the relative who "bought" them off our registry. I'm so glad I found that - it was an awesome idea!
Honeymoon Activities
I booked Todd a ride in a Ferrari through Richard Petty in March, and he was super stoked. Well last week we had a Groupon for the exact same experience at our NFL stadium...but for $300 less! I asked Todd if he would be disappointed to drive the same car here versus on our honeymoon, and he said no way - let's save some money, so we canceled Richard Petty this weekend and he's driving a Ferrari here in June. There was a $75 cancellation fee for Richard Petty, but we still get $200 back - we're using that for something else on our honeymoon. I'm thinking maybe tubing at the Contemporary. Has anyone done that before? He won't do parasailing, but Todd says he'll do tubing. It sounds so fun!!
Okay, I think that's it for now. If anyone has questions about planning a Disney (or Swan & Dolphin) wedding, or really any questions at all, just ask. I'm happy to share anything I can about this experience. It's been awesome - I can't believe we're less than 3 months away now!
Ceremony
Oh, so we ended up getting the chair hanger thingies - from the same seller who made the ones I linked to before, just without the star fish on there - it's aqua and raffia. I LOVE them! We also ordered our cake from the Swan through Just Marry. We have 21 (with Todd, Brandon and I), and the smallest cake feeds 19. The next one is more than $100 more, so I asked my sister and brother in law to share a piece, and Todd and I will share a piece, lol. It's just not worth it for $100 more! I told my sister they can have extra cupcakes at our wedding picnic here in Buffalo in August
. She totally agreed that it was the right call!Tickets
Tickets are all purchased, and we customized our magic bands so that's ready to go too. We watched the new DVD a few weeks ago, and Brandon is totally stoked. He had a bunch of pennies saved up and has been rolling them - he's putting them toward his spending money for the trip. We're going to give him $150 to pick out whatever souvenirs he wants, but he also got some Disney $$ for his birthday, and even though he'll get that much money to spend regardless, we're working with him on "earning" it so he appreciates it more. We talked about it during the DVD, about how he'll see a lot he likes, but how it's important to only pick out the things he really wants, and he was like, "So if I see something I like, I should probably wait to see if I see something I like more, or to be sure I really want it." This kid learns fast, lol. But we're really proud - he is so pumped for the trip, and he's counting it down too. It warms my heart!
Dining
So this may be surprising, but we added the dining plan. Just last week. I realized that we were doing quite a few table meals, and that we could use our credits toward our welcome dinner and farewell breakfast! For the hassle of bringing more cash/traveler's checks, I figured let's just do it (it cost probably a few hundred dollars more than I had budgeted for food, but the convenience is just so nice). Plus we'll have extra meals and snacks for after Brandon leaves. I also ordered breakfast food, pop (soda for everyone who doesn't live in like Michigan or Buffalo!) and bottled water from Garden Grocer. So all we'll need is $$ for any extra snacks or drinks, plus for our wedding dinner at Shula's. This is just going to make it so much simpler.
Speaking of $$ - every last thing is paid for or saved for - souvenirs, food, every single element of the wedding. It's. All. Done. So awesome and such a relief. I know we were there before, but some details (like the dining plan) weren't finalized yet and all that. But it's really, unequivocally, 100% done. We have a little more saved than we need, I think, but I don't want to have to worry about money or anything while we're there, so I want to have extra. We can always use extra money when we get home, but I don't want to worry about anything while we're down there!
Registry
Here's some craziness - my first shower is only 3 weeks away. Time flies! I'm uncomfortable receiving gifts, but I'm excited to see family and get together. My brother is coming into town from Boston too (I wanted to see him before the wedding) - we're going to have some guys at the shower too. It's all a celebration - I am not traditional in that sense at all. Let's just all have a good time! Also, I am so touched that some family members have given us gifts through the Disney honeymoon registry. We can't wait to get our bride and groom ears, have our picture taken, and post when we get home on Facebook thanking the relative who "bought" them off our registry. I'm so glad I found that - it was an awesome idea!
Honeymoon Activities
I booked Todd a ride in a Ferrari through Richard Petty in March, and he was super stoked. Well last week we had a Groupon for the exact same experience at our NFL stadium...but for $300 less! I asked Todd if he would be disappointed to drive the same car here versus on our honeymoon, and he said no way - let's save some money, so we canceled Richard Petty this weekend and he's driving a Ferrari here in June. There was a $75 cancellation fee for Richard Petty, but we still get $200 back - we're using that for something else on our honeymoon. I'm thinking maybe tubing at the Contemporary. Has anyone done that before? He won't do parasailing, but Todd says he'll do tubing. It sounds so fun!!
Okay, I think that's it for now. If anyone has questions about planning a Disney (or Swan & Dolphin) wedding, or really any questions at all, just ask. I'm happy to share anything I can about this experience. It's been awesome - I can't believe we're less than 3 months away now!
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I'll be posting a few more pictures and vendor reviews soon. I put up a bunch on Facebook over the weekend.
