Once Upon A Dream: A March 2011 Disney Wedding/Honeymoon Pre-Trip Report!

FINALLY! We’re getting married... that’s right, I said married. After seven years of dating and 21 trips to Disney World together, the time has finally come. Oh dear, where do I even start? I’m constantly splattering our faces (and vacation stories) all over the internet so I never quite know how much detail to put at the beginning of a report, because it always feels so repetitive. I guess a little background on us is a must though, seeing as how this is a pre-marriage report and all.

We (Holly and Brett) met in 2004 working at one of the dive bars in our little college town. We probably worked together (flirting shamelessly) six months or so before we started dating. We weren’t together two months before Brett had my first trip to Disney planned and executed. For real. I vividly remember us hanging out at a friend’s house one afternoon when the subject of Disney came up. The conversation eventually moved to other territory, except for in our little corner of the room... Brett was downright shocked that I’d never been to Disney. He was like “Let’s go.” And I’m thinking, sure, what’s the harm in playing along with this little game, it’s not like we’re going to pick up and go tomorrow. A few days later he tells me he’s worked out all the details, and if I’m still up for it, we leave next week! Talk about sweeping a girl off her feet.

It was a short trip, and I mean short... only two nights. We took off after work one Friday night and were at Downtown Disney by lunchtime the next day. We stayed at Caribbean Beach and somehow managed to hit up all four parks and Blizzard Beach over the course of two and a half days. It was a whirlwind. Here are some pictures from that very first trip. Yes, I had to scan them in because they’re from the dark ages – April 2004 to be precise. High quality!

Overall the trip was a screaming success. Of course it was, otherwise I don’t think we’d be where we are today. :lol:

There are a handful of moments from that first trip that are as clear as could be for me... one was running through the Magic Kingdom at night during a major downpour, laughing like crazy and holding Brett’s hand as he drug me from one awning to the next, not caring in the slightest that I was completely drenched from head to toe.

Another was dinner at Ohana. I fell in love. In love with the Polynesian. In love with the restaurant. In love with the food. In love with the fireworks outside the window. In love with Disney. In love with the guy across the table from me. What?!? Uh-oh. Wait. How’d that happen?! And how am I gonna keep him from noticing? After all we’d only been dating two months.

Another was ice cream on Main Street on our last afternoon, just before we had to leave and head back home. I was hit so hard by how much I didn’t want any of it to end. I still get the exact same feeling every single time we leave property to head home. I think I mention it quite a bit in my trip reports, but my love for Disney is completely and totally tangled up and intertwined with my love for Brett. Falling in love with them both at the same time can have that affect on a girl. :animwink:

For us, Disney is a place where our relationship shines. Simply put... it is us at our best. And as cheesy as it may sound I come away from every trip even more in love with this man than before. THIS is why we are getting married at Disney World... it’s always been a part of our narrative as a couple and it will always continue to be.

 

[HollyBelle]

Okay, for those who may not know, Disney classifies weddings into three different categories: Memories, Escape, and Wishes. We’re having an “escape” wedding, which runs at $4750. Included in that price is quite a bit actually… we get the venue, the bride’s bouquet, the groom’s boutonniere, a violinist for the ceremony, a two tier wedding cake and two bottles of champagne, two hours photography coverage, and four hours of limo service. Also included, as a “gift” from Disney, is an annual pass for each the bride and groom. Honestly, for Brett and I that was money in our pockets because we would’ve been purchasing APs anyway this year.

You can upgrade all kinds of things with the package, but we’re actually sticking with the package options on everything, except for photography. Being that it is the MOST important thing to me that day, other than actually marrying Brett, I decided to go outside Disney for photography. From the research I’ve done, it appears that Disney’s photography services are rather hit or miss. I’m not willing to take a chance on that. Plus, I want more than two hours of coverage, so to “add” that through Disney was going to up the cost anyway, so I just decided to find someone else.

Color
I’m obviously not having bridesmaids with such a small wedding so I wasn’t quite sure how I would include a color scheme into our wedding. Initially I was thinking about finding a way to add a little blue simply because it’s my favorite color, but to be honest I wasn’t really feeling it. As I was browsing weddinggawker (curse you, Kenzie, I’ve spent hours on that site! :lol:), I became quite drawn to weddings with those rich deep plum and eggplant hues. And I just knew it would be my color. Now, a little background on the color purple... in my family we associate this color with my sister, Lani. She’s the baby of the family (three years younger than me) and she died when she was 12 years old. Everything she had was purple, so I just love the fact that I’m somewhat honoring her with the color.

I’ve been planning to wear a locket for Lani as well and I can’t tell you how many we’ve ordered and sent back because they just weren’t right. Then after buying my dress I realized I don’t really want to wear a necklace, so we talked about attaching a locket to my flowers, but I’m not too keen on this because I want a representation of her with me all day and not just when I’m carrying the flowers around. One day while we were out shopping my Mom and I came across an angel wing charm and it was just the thing. So what we’re going to do is actually sew the charm into my dress. Perfect! And I think we might add one to my Mom’s dress, as well.

Bouquet
Initially, I thought I wanted a bouquet of white mini calla lilies and white cymbidium orchids. This isn’t one of the preset options with the Escape Package so they attached a $50 upcharge for it. Even though $50 doesn’t seem to be that bad, I decided it wasn’t necessary because the flowers don’t really mean that much to me. So instead, I’ll be going with one of the package options: a bouquet of white mini calla lilies. Adding a few orchids just wasn’t worth $50.

I love the idea of white on white with my flowers and dress. I think it’s very classy. I’m adding a pop of color with the ribbon. Disney wanted to charge me $25 for a satin purple ribbon. Umm, no thanks, I’ll pick up a spool for $3 and send it to you. :ROFLOL:

 

[HollyBelle]

Leis
How can you have a Hawaiian inspired wedding without leis?! That is the question. So Disney wanted something like $50 per lei to make fresh ones for us. And I wasn’t even that fond of them, or the fact that they would be dead in less than 24 hours. So, of course, what do we do? We decide to make our own, obviously! I’d say this qualified as the one big project we undertook. You wouldn’t think it would be that hard, but Mom and I made no fewer than ten trips to local craft stores to pick out flowers. And that was just the beginning. We strung and re-strung flowers over the course of a few weekends trying to get the look just right. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as easy or as quick as one might think... although, I’m sure that had absolutely EVERYTHING to do with our both being incredibly OCD. I swear being together just magnifies this trait! :ROFLOL:

Here are some fun shots of the table when we first got started. This was before making extra trips to the store for more flowers. As you can see, we bought them in bunches and then had to pop them off the stems and take the plastic pieces out so that we could string them.

One thing that took a while to figure out was how to space the flowers without making them look like they had “spacers” between each petal. We thought we had it figured out when we took some cheap leis (like can be found at the Dollar Store) and cut the 1 to 1 ½ inch spacers into pieces measuring about a quarter of an inch. The problem with this was that the holes in the center of some of the petals were too large and would actually go down over the spacers (rendering them pointless). So then we had to come up with another plan. We ended up buying small crystal beads to use as a way to keep the flowers from slipping, but they didn’t create enough separation so we had to use the bead and the spacer in conjunction with one another to get the right look and keep the petals in place. Sound tedious? It was.

I’m so incredibly happy with how they turned out. The price of the flowers added up fast. And in the end, it cost about $100 to make them all. But it was worth it. I’m so incredibly excited about this. We’re going to include a “lei exchange” with each other and our families as part of the ceremony. I’ll probably try to preserve mine and Brett’s leis in some way, like maybe put them in a shadow box with our invite or a picture of us. Something like that.

Characters
It’s safe to say that Brett and I can be classified as full-fledged character stalkers, right?! I mean we did sign up and run a full marathon just to meet rare characters. If that doesn’t qualify as crazy stalker behavior, then I don’t know what does. :ROFLOL:

So, of course, the only extra thing I wanted with our escape package was to have some characters in attendance. Sign ‘em up! The only problem was who to choose? We went through the motions considering EVERYONE until we realized it would have to be the ducks. C’mon Donald in a top hat and Daisy all dolled up? No contest! My heart goes pitter-patter for Daisy and all her girly-ness. Plus, I thought Daisy’s bright yellow party dress would be downright adorable on Sunset Pointe. I knew what the price was, but I still desperately wanted them, and figured we’d save up the money to have them.

Speaking of the price... it’s a whopping $900 for 30 minutes with one character and $1350 to have two characters for that same time frame. BAM! You can go ahead and pick your jaws up off the floor now.

We were able to save up the money, but honestly when it came down to it, as much as we both wanted them there, we just couldn’t pull the trigger on the price. How about some perspective? The total for our entire 4-night cruise on the Disney Dream (with taxes) comes in under $1350. At something like $1200. As much as I adore my characters, and you know I do, my practical side just can’t fork over the dough. So, my apologies in advance to anyone out there who might have expected to see characters at our wedding. We’ll have to do our best to make up for it while we’re on the Dream!

 

[diddy_mouse]

I love what you decided to do for leis. Very crafty you! I had orchids and roses in my bouquet and I also has loose white orchids scattered on the tables for the reception. I got them flown in fresh from hawaiian-tropical-flowers.com I lived in a Hawaii for a few years and wanted to incorporate a place I hold very dear in my wedding.

What a wonderful, touching tribute to your sister. Also that rich plum color will look amazing with white and the leis you are putting together. You are going to be a beautiful bride!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Catching up.....

Okay. The dress alteration flub. OMG! Poor you! I've never observed or been part of a professional alteration consultation but I *have* had my mother-in-law alter clothes for me and I've helped her with fitting/altering wedding gowns for other people. When she's fitting the dress she pins everything in place while the dress is on the bride. Literally. There's nothing that she does that isn't tucked & pinned, etc. Did your seamstress throw a random tuck in the dress by eyeballing it??? To me, and I'm not the expert here, THAT would be the first problem. How do you fit something so specific like a wedding gown without having the EXACT placement of every tuck or dart? I don't get that. The attitude is insult to injury and I think you should definitely at least send a note to the boutique management so they know the issues with their employee. That's just NUTS!

I'm sorry your brother isn't going to make it to the wedding. That's terrible. I honestly can say I feel ya....my brother was at my wedding but my dad was not. His excuse? He had to work. It's not like it was a destination wedding or anything. It was right there a couple miles from his house but he had to work. Did it bother me the day I got married? Not really. The day was mine and I didn't allow it to be detrimental to that. The day my brother got married I sat in the 2nd pew and watched my dad stand up beside my brother for the ceremony was the day it bothered me and it has ever since. Not in a way but in a :fork::fork: way. Who knows what is going on in those brains. I guess if I understood it it wouldn't bother me so much. I'll just be happy that I don't understand it. My dad's not being there didn't change anything on that day which I'm also grateful for. I know it's awful but in all the little daydreams I've ever had about doing a VR I've never once pictured my dad or any other family members there. I guess I disconnected myself from that concept of others being part of that moment. :shrug:

I loved your color choice even before you said anything about your sister. I feel like the rich, deep plums are very well-suited to an elegant, tropic-kissed wedding. Then you mentioned your sister and it was an oh-wow moment. So sweet. Love your little reference to her with the angel charm. I think your mom & dad should BOTH have one sewn into their attire so it's that much more personal to you all as a family. Ya know?

I love your leis and the creative process! That's me! I love figuring out how to make stuff. They look great and all the colors are so pretty. Can't wait to see them in your pictures!

Thanks for sharing the budgeting info. Oh how I'd love to actually pull the trigger on a little Disney ceremony of my own someday. I always say I want to but then I look at the cost and it's like your characters. I think of all the other stuff I could do with that amount of money...usually more trips...and the ceremony stuff goes right out of my brain. LOL!

Awwww....no ducks for y'all?! This is wrong. We should take up a collection. We could make up some posters with pics of y'all and a little back-story and post a bunch of us girls outside our local grocery stores or Walmarts with collection jars. I think we could totally capitalize on our willingness to be completely honest about what we're asking for donations for. I'd certainly plunk some cash into a bucket if I saw someone sitting there with that display. How could I not?! It's DISNEY! LOL!

Lovin' the ride following along on the days leading up to your biggest adventure of all. Ugh! I'm almost jealous. Sometimes I wish I could go back and savor that time in my life more....... **sigh**

So make sure to plan for lots of really detailed notes and pictures and such on the Dream part of your Disney-moon. We're booking a 3-night in September. Woot!!!!! :sohappy:

 

[HollyBelle]

I love what you decided to do for leis. Very crafty you! I had orchids and roses in my bouquet and I also has loose white orchids scattered on the tables for the reception. I got them flown in fresh from hawaiian-tropical-flowers.com I lived in a Hawaii for a few years and wanted to incorporate a place I hold very dear in my wedding.

What a wonderful, touching tribute to your sister. Also that rich plum color will look amazing with white and the leis you are putting together. You are going to be a beautiful bride!

Oooh, I bet the loose orchids were gorgeous on the tables. They really are such a beautiful (and from what I understand, delicate) flower. I agree, I think the plum is such a rich hue that it will really pop with the white. I decided on the color before we made the leis... so I'm really hoping they complement each other the way I see it in my head. :lol:

Correct me if I'm wrong... in the past you've mentioned a tasty adult beverage served with POG juice at the Tambu lounge, right? Do tell me, what is it called? And other than our beloved POG juice, what else is in it?

Catching up.....

Okay. The dress alteration flub. OMG! Poor you! I've never observed or been part of a professional alteration consultation but I *have* had my mother-in-law alter clothes for me and I've helped her with fitting/altering wedding gowns for other people. When she's fitting the dress she pins everything in place while the dress is on the bride. Literally. There's nothing that she does that isn't tucked & pinned, etc. Did your seamstress throw a random tuck in the dress by eyeballing it??? To me, and I'm not the expert here, THAT would be the first problem. How do you fit something so specific like a wedding gown without having the EXACT placement of every tuck or dart? I don't get that. The attitude is insult to injury and I think you should definitely at least send a note to the boutique management so they know the issues with their employee. That's just NUTS!

Oh yeah, she was pinning it while it was on me... I just think she truly didn't know how to fix it when she tried. Either that, or she didn't want to take the time to do it right. Just from looking at it, my mom could tell exactly what needed to be done. To smooth out the fabric, it was necessary to take it apart at the seams on both sides and then sew it back together evenly down both sides. Instead, she decided to pinch it together with a seam, obviously making the roll more defined.

She also had to hem the underslip and if you look at it, it's very poor work. We looked at it once we got the dress home and my Mom commented that the seamstress clearly didn't have any pride in her work. While no one will ever see the underslip, that isn't the point. It's the fact that she didn't take the time to put any effort into doing it right.

I'm sorry your brother isn't going to make it to the wedding. That's terrible. I honestly can say I feel ya....my brother was at my wedding but my dad was not. His excuse? He had to work. It's not like it was a destination wedding or anything. It was right there a couple miles from his house but he had to work. Did it bother me the day I got married? Not really. The day was mine and I didn't allow it to be detrimental to that. The day my brother got married I sat in the 2nd pew and watched my dad stand up beside my brother for the ceremony was the day it bothered me and it has ever since. Not in a way but in a way. Who knows what is going on in those brains. I guess if I understood it it wouldn't bother me so much. I'll just be happy that I don't understand it. My dad's not being there didn't change anything on that day which I'm also grateful for. I know it's awful but in all the little daydreams I've ever had about doing a VR I've never once pictured my dad or any other family members there. I guess I disconnected myself from that concept of others being part of that moment. :shrug:

OMG! I can totally see how hurtful it was for you to see your dad support your brother at his wedding, and yet not even show up for yours. I'd surely have trouble letting that one go, too. You know, they have the "limited time" Memories collection out right now, and you could do a spectacular vow renewal with just you, Tracey, and the boys. The pricing on that isn't too bad either. I think you should totally go for it!

I loved your color choice even before you said anything about your sister. I feel like the rich, deep plums are very well-suited to an elegant, tropic-kissed wedding. Then you mentioned your sister and it was an oh-wow moment. So sweet. Love your little reference to her with the angel charm. I think your mom & dad should BOTH have one sewn into their attire so it's that much more personal to you all as a family. Ya know?

I love your leis and the creative process! That's me! I love figuring out how to make stuff. They look great and all the colors are so pretty. Can't wait to see them in your pictures!

Tropic-kissed?! LOVE that description. Something else that is completely random is that Lani's name is actually Hawaiian in origin. And how shocking is it that it means "heavenly?" Perfection, indeed!

Thanks for sharing the budgeting info. Oh how I'd love to actually pull the trigger on a little Disney ceremony of my own someday. I always say I want to but then I look at the cost and it's like your characters. I think of all the other stuff I could do with that amount of money...usually more trips...and the ceremony stuff goes right out of my brain. LOL!

Awwww....no ducks for y'all?! This is wrong. We should take up a collection. We could make up some posters with pics of y'all and a little back-story and post a bunch of us girls outside our local grocery stores or Walmarts with collection jars. I think we could totally capitalize on our willingness to be completely honest about what we're asking for donations for. I'd certainly plunk some cash into a bucket if I saw someone sitting there with that display. How could I not?! It's DISNEY! LOL!

Lovin' the ride following along on the days leading up to your biggest adventure of all. Ugh! I'm almost jealous. Sometimes I wish I could go back and savor that time in my life more....... **sigh**

Kelly, you paint such a funny picture... I now have a mental image of you standing on the side of the road shaking a poster with pictures of Brett and I at all the cars that go past. Like the folks doing car washes to raise money. :ROFLOL: I appreciate the sentiment... and I also appreciate you following along with everything leading up to the adventure!

So make sure to plan for lots of really detailed notes and pictures and such on the Dream part of your Disney-moon. We're booking a 3-night in September. Woot!!!!! :sohappy:

Ummm... this is news!!!! I've got to say I'm super excited to hear that you're going to attempt a cruise because I know it's uncharted territory. I think you're really going to enjoy the relaxation part of it. And you might find out that the sticky sand isn't so bad after all! :lol:

 

[HollyBelle]

23 sleeps!!! And I have officially begun to stress over the weather, for which I have no control. If I could place an order for the exact sky that is found below... then all would be right with the world. :lol: Short of that, I'd be okay with anything that isn't rain!

 

[MillerPoppins]

I think I'm completely stunned at the price of the characters! That is INSANE! That is really tough to narrow down which ones to have. I think mine would be Mary Poppins and Boo...HAHAHA what a combo! I'm sure everything will come together with the lei's and the weather. I love the idea of the eggplant, that's a gorgeous color. And honoring your sister...that's so sweet. I'm loving hearing all of your wedding plans! Keep 'em coming!:sohappy::sohappy:

 

[Ariel484]

Loving the updates, Holly!

That's a really beautiful way to honor the memory of your sister. Very sweet, and it will be gorgeous.

Too funny about the whole lei process...for our wedding we ordered flowers in bulk from Sam's Club and my bridesmaids and I put them together the night before the wedding...yikes! It did save a few hundred dollars though.

No ducks? Bummer...but you really put it in perspective when you compared having them to the cost of your cruise. There will be many more character photo opportunities, I'm sure!

 

[HopLow]

I love the colors you chose! What a perfect way to remember your sister. And the leis look fantastic!!! Even though their assembly is tedious, it's probably great time spent with your mom. Well, maybe looking back at it, you'll see it as a great time. :animwink:

That's a bummer about your wedding characters. But that cost is just insane!!!!! I'll cross my fingers that you can find them on your cruise!!

 

[jhoff3405]

I can't believe all you have been able to pull together in such a short period of time! You must certainly be a "master planner."

I love the leis, and that you have "Disney love" but yet keep your reality in check.....I never dreamed the characters would cost so much.

Best of luck!:animwink:

 

[diddy_mouse]

Correct me if I'm wrong... in the past you've mentioned a tasty adult beverage served with POG juice at the Tambu lounge, right? Do tell me, what is it called? And other than our beloved POG juice, what else is in it?

That would be the Island Sunset! (according to a shot of the menu) It has a spiced rum, Parrot Bay coconut rum, mango, peach, and our wonderful POG juice. :slurp:

Oh, and as far as weather goes. Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck (speaking as a Rainy Day Bride.) Granted, you don't want a torrential downpour but don't let a slight shower ruin your day! All in all though I hope you have a clear blue sky, nice sunshine, and gorgeous temperatures.

 

[DisneyRed95]

The Escape Wedding package sounds perfect! I love that you get APs as a gift from Disney!!! What a nice wedding gift.

Did you sign up for Disney's gift registry? We did that for our honeymoon and loved having the "gifts" during our trip.

 

[HollyBelle]

I think I'm completely stunned at the price of the characters! That is INSANE! That is really tough to narrow down which ones to have. I think mine would be Mary Poppins and Boo...HAHAHA what a combo! I'm sure everything will come together with the lei's and the weather. I love the idea of the eggplant, that's a gorgeous color. And honoring your sister...that's so sweet. I'm loving hearing all of your wedding plans! Keep 'em coming!:sohappy::sohappy:

Yeah, if the characters seem shocking, then you'll also be floored by the fact that the Cinderella Coach costs $2700. Yikes! I think it's really easy to get caught up in the excitement of planning a wedding and "having to have" everything because it is a once in a lifetime event. All that being said, I don't really see anything wrong with someone paying that price as long as they're able to work within a budget they've set for themselves. I guess it's just a matter of what each person deems most important.

Loving the updates, Holly!

That's a really beautiful way to honor the memory of your sister. Very sweet, and it will be gorgeous.

Too funny about the whole lei process...for our wedding we ordered flowers in bulk from Sam's Club and my bridesmaids and I put them together the night before the wedding...yikes! It did save a few hundred dollars though.

No ducks? Bummer...but you really put it in perspective when you compared having them to the cost of your cruise. There will be many more character photo opportunities, I'm sure!

Thanks, Shannon. I think that's great that you and your girls took on the flowers to save some money. Doing them the night before the wedding... !

Hey, shouldn't you be leaving for the Princess soon?! Good luck! :sohappy:

I love the colors you chose! What a perfect way to remember your sister. And the leis look fantastic!!! Even though their assembly is tedious, it's probably great time spent with your mom. Well, maybe looking back at it, you'll see it as a great time. :animwink:

That's a bummer about your wedding characters. But that cost is just insane!!!!! I'll cross my fingers that you can find them on your cruise!!

Thanks, Ashley. Yeah, we got quite a few laughs out of putting those leis together. At one point (two weekends and several hours into the project), my dad asked us how it was going... and we were delighted to show him the first and only lei we'd managed to put together. :lol:

I can't believe all you have been able to pull together in such a short period of time! You must certainly be a "master planner."

I love the leis, and that you have "Disney love" but yet keep your reality in check.....I never dreamed the characters would cost so much.

Best of luck!:animwink:

I'm an obsessive list maker, scheduler, and overall general OCD nut... but, hey, I like the sound of "master planner" much better! :ROFLOL: Thanks, jhoff!

 

[HollyBelle]

That would be the Island Sunset! (according to a shot of the menu) It has a spiced rum, Parrot Bay coconut rum, mango, peach, and our wonderful POG juice. :slurp:

Oh, and as far as weather goes. Rain on your wedding day is actually considered good luck (speaking as a Rainy Day Bride.) Granted, you don't want a torrential downpour but don't let a slight shower ruin your day! All in all though I hope you have a clear blue sky, nice sunshine, and gorgeous temperatures.

Mmmm... one Island Sunset please!

I'm with you on the weather, and I'd actually be okay with a morning shower or something, just as long as it doesn't happen at 2:30 and force us into a conference room at the Contemporary (the back-up rain location). If it does, the one thing I'm most concerned about is pictures of us in our wedding attire around the Poly. I've already decided that if there is enough rain to keep us from doing this then I'm going to see what the photographer would charge to come back out for some kind of brief "portrait session" on one of the days following the wedding.

The Escape Wedding package sounds perfect! I love that you get APs as a gift from Disney!!! What a nice wedding gift.

Did you sign up for Disney's gift registry? We did that for our honeymoon and loved having the "gifts" during our trip.

Oh yeah, the escape package is pretty fabulous. I think the APs are HUGE. Disney is smart to gift these to couples because it honestly costs them nothing, while practically ensuring that the couple plans at least one more trip within the AP window.

You know, I never really even considered the Disney gift registry, but I do think it's a great idea.

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks, Shannon. I think that's great that you and your girls took on the flowers to save some money. Doing them the night before the wedding... !

Hey, shouldn't you be leaving for the Princess soon?! Good luck! :sohappy:

I was sooo grateful that they helped me. It took longer than I expected and I must have apologized to them a million times...but they did turn out great. You are smart to, oh, I don't know, NOT leave your lei assembly until the night before the wedding

Yes ma'am, we fly out on Friday! So excited....I am planning on re-reading your trip report some time this week for last-minute tips! :sohappy:

 

[HollyBelle]

I was sooo grateful that they helped me. It took longer than I expected and I must have apologized to them a million times...but they did turn out great. You are smart to, oh, I don't know, NOT leave your lei assembly until the night before the wedding

Yes ma'am, we fly out on Friday! So excited....I am planning on re-reading your trip report some time this week for last-minute tips! :sohappy:

Umm, let's see... don't expect to get much sleep the night before the race. Even if you're able to get in bed early and all that, your mind will be racing (pun intended :lol and keeping you up. I was really worried about how the lack of sleep would affect my ability to run/finish the race, but in the end the adrenaline you experience that morning is more than enough to pull you through. Of course, you still want to set a couple cell phone alarms in addition to the wake up call! :ROFLOL:

I'm so excited for you!!! If you don't plan on doing a trip report, will you at least send me a pm or drop in here to let me know how it goes?

 

[HollyBelle]

So, guess what we found in the mail today?!?! Luggage tags for our Disney Dream cruise! Wooohooooo. It totally didn't cross my mind that we would even receive such a thing. This is a new sort of excitement for us because we never fly, which means we never get to experience the thrill of receiving DME tags. It's fun!

 

[Ariel484]

Umm, let's see... don't expect to get much sleep the night before the race. Even if you're able to get in bed early and all that, your mind will be racing (pun intended :lol and keeping you up. I was really worried about how the lack of sleep would affect my ability to run/finish the race, but in the end the adrenaline you experience that morning is more than enough to pull you through. Of course, you still want to set a couple cell phone alarms in addition to the wake up call! :ROFLOL:

I'm so excited for you!!! If you don't plan on doing a trip report, will you at least send me a pm or drop in here to let me know how it goes?

Thanks for the tips! I think I mentioned to you a few weeks back that I was most nervous about the sleep issue...we will definitely have multiple alarms set.

You are too sweet! I am planing on posting a (most likely wordy) trip report soon after

Horray for getting your luggage tags!! How exciting!! The tags and booklet look so cute...what a great surprise!:sohappy:

 

[diddy_mouse]

Mmmm... one Island Sunset please!

I'm with you on the weather, and I'd actually be okay with a morning shower or something, just as long as it doesn't happen at 2:30 and force us into a conference room at the Contemporary (the back-up rain location). If it does, the one thing I'm most concerned about is pictures of us in our wedding attire around the Poly. I've already decided that if there is enough rain to keep us from doing this then I'm going to see what the photographer would charge to come back out for some kind of brief "portrait session" on one of the days following the wedding.

Well I definitely have my fingers crossed for you on the weather front (pun not intended.)

I'm sure "your" waterfall is on the list for picture spots, right? :animwink: *romantic sigh* The pictures spots are endless at the Poly...as well you know!

 

[allycat27921]

I am so excited for you guys! When you posted your TR when your soon to be DH popped the question, I cried! :ROFLOL: Looking forward to lots of great pictures of the big day! Congrats!! :sohappy: