True Love Conquers All - Disney Fairytale Wedding & Disneymoon Sept 2011

I wake up every morning wondering if it was a dream. It was my dream come true – I got married at the Wedding Pavilion in Walt Disney World. I married my best friend who shares my love for Walt Disney and his legacy. I am just the luckiest girl in the world!

How It All Began

My name is Shelley and like many little girls, I always dreamed of being a princess. Here’s a picture of 15 year old me donning the Bride ears back in 1996. I love this picture for so many reasons but I mainly miss the 2 floor Centorium. I like Mouse Gear but I miss my Centorium

When I was in my mid 20’s I became jaded towards love. One night in September 2006, I went out with some of my girlfriends for a girls’ night out. I remember telling them that I just wanted to meet a nice guy who liked Disney. Yep, those were my criteria: nice guy, likes Disney. We proceeded to our favorite bar and it was still a bit early so the bar wasn’t very full. While I was ordering drinks, a guy came up and started talking to us. The funny thing was, he was all by himself! It’s not every day that a guy has the guts to walk up to a group of girls and just start talking. At first I ignored him thinking he was just another jerk. But then he spotted my Kingdom Hearts cigarette case and matching lighter. (Kingdom Hearts is a video game series, sorry – it is the best video game series to grace God’s green earth. If you love Disney and video games, you must play this series.) I remember the face he made at me, like he couldn’t believe we were meeting. He also loved the Kingdom Hearts series and his name was Jason. I remember so much of that night because it changed my life forever. We talked about everything Disney and he told me that his favorite Disney movie was The Sword in the Stone. I found that very interesting because that is not a well-known animated classic. I told him I had a cat and that I had named her after a character in Aristocats. After a few guesses, he said “Oh I know, so you named her Duchess?” (RIP Duchess, we lost her this past June ). I couldn’t believe I had met my nice guy who liked Disney. I don’t think we ever really dated; we were always in a serious relationship from that point forward.

In 2009 we went on our very first Disney World trip together with my Mom (see the trip report here). At this time, my career was not going well and neither of us had been to Disney World since 2003. This trip changed our lives forever and both of us have made major career strides since then. I have also lost a ton of weight since then Let’s take a stroll down memory lane…

We went back a little over a year later in September 2010 (see the trip report here). On my 29-and-12-month birthday, Jason proposed to me while we were flying over London on Peter Pan’s Flight during Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, September 21, 2010. I loved his proposal, it was absolutely perfect!

 

[Ravenclaw87]

Yay! I love the Simba picture We have one of those framed!

 

[kstella]

I so want to have a Disney wedding but my fiance and I have both had our big weddings already so I have tried to put it out of my mind, but watching your video makes me think about it again!

 

[WDW_Princess24]

LOVE the "UP" picture, it's adorable!

 

[Fashionista007]

those pictures came out really good and who doesnt want to have a picture with Simba in it

Yeah I hardly ever buy the Photopass pictures but this year I just had to! The Simba was a fast favorite!

Loving your trip report! Maybe one day I'll find my very own "Disney man!"

You're really inspiring me to get back to my own TR!

If I can meet my Disney man randomly in a bar, anyone can! You know what Jiminy says...Fate steps in and sees you through...

Oh ya! I remember we walked by there, but we didn't stop because the line was long.
I wish I could have tried one of those pork sliders from Hawaii and there was a few other things but I can't remember them.

Exactly so you could head over there almost everyday if you wanted and try something different everyday!! :sohappy:

And love the UP photopass picture!!! So cute!!!

Oh man I was at my sister's yesterday and I showed my family the F&W passport which I still had in my bag! I still have our boarding passes too...I just can't let anything from this trip go! We have to go back and try every last thing.

Yay! I love the Simba picture We have one of those framed!

I actually thought they might put a baby Mickey in there but Simba was better! Reminds me of the pilot episode of Modern Family when Cam holds the baby up in the air while Circle of Life is playing! Haha!

I so want to have a Disney wedding but my fiance and I have both had our big weddings already so I have tried to put it out of my mind, but watching your video makes me think about it again!

I know how you feel! Originally we were going to get married off property or elsewhere on property but once I set my sights on the Wedding Pavilion, there was no going back!

LOVE the "UP" picture, it's adorable!

I know, right? Jason's face his hilarious!!

 

[Fashionista007]

Day 3

Day 3 was of course BACHELORETTE & BACHELOR PARTY DAY!!

While Jason went off to meet the guys at Disney's Hollywood Studios, I met up with my girls at EPCOT for the Akershus Royal Princess Character Breakfast!

I was so excited for this, I had heard SUCH good things about the food at Akershus. I just loved the Disney Princess themed bachelorette party, it was totally me!

When we walked in, we got to take some professional photos which they gave to us in nice folders during the meal!

My sweet sisters even put together goody bags! This was a big hit with everyone and it made me cry. I was so overwhelmed at that point and starting to get really nervous for the wedding the next day. I just felt so loved and touched that everyone was so excited for the wedding

Aurora came around first. She is my #1 favorite princess and I told her so. She congratulated me on my happily ever after and asked where my prince was? I told her that he was at Hollywood Studios and she looked at me and said "Slaying dragons?" It was too cute!

Then Ariel came around in her human dress. She asked us if we were having human flowers at the wedding hehe

Cinderella dropped by for a visit and I just had to tell her that my wedding dress was the Alfred Angelo Disney Fairytale Weddings Cinderella dress! She thanked me and congratulated me on my happily ever after!

The last princess to grace us with her presence was Snow White. She was really cute and told me to beware of apples.

I am combining pictures from 3 different people (thanks sisters!) in this post and I could not find one picture of the food! Major fail on my part. Well I guess that tells you that's how good it was. I really can't say anything bad about Akershus. We had a fantastic time!

 

[Fashionista007]

Day 3 Continued

At the end of the meal, the waiter brought me a surprise!

I of course cried again...I was so touched that my sisters had gone out of their way to put this event together from the invites, reservation, goody bags, and then the cake! I was not expecting cake for breakfast and I wish I could have eaten more. It was delicious!

After breakfast, everyone split up to do their own thing. Jason's family met up at Animal Kingdom and got this classic picture! It was a fast family favorite! (The first 2 rows are the family)

Back at EPCOT, I had the pleasure of alone time with Grandma. It was great, we walked over to Japan and shopped at Mitsukoshi which is our favorite store on the entire WDW property. Then we took a leisurely stroll to the Friendship and took that back to Future World!

I took Grandma back to her room at the Contemporary where I happened to have an appointment for a manicure! I wish I had taken pictures of the Salon at the Contemporary. I loved it there. Since it was a weekday, it was totally empty and I was the only one there. The staff there were so sweet and we talked the entire time about Disney Weddings. It was just what I needed, a little alone time in Walt Disney World the day before the wedding. It really helped to calm me down and I started to feel more excited about the wedding!

That night, Jason and I had dinner reservations for just the two of us at the Hollywood Brown Derby. So we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios!

We had awhile to hang out before our dinner reservations so we made a beeline for Star Tours 2.0! This ride holds a special place in my heart because Jason and I were lucky enough to attend the grand opening. I will never forget how I choked up when I saw George Lucas and Bob Iger emerge holding lightsabers. Chills.

We actually didn't have to even fastpass this one. The wait was maybe 10 minutes. That kind of makes me sad when Toy Story Mania consistently has a wait time of 30 - 90 minutes. Oh well, it worked out for us that day! We got to walk through the queue and take pictures which we were not able to do in May.

Our ride was great. Although I was not picked as the rebel spy this time around, it was okay with me. We got the Darth Vader beginning, visited Hoth for the first time, and got Princess Leia at the end. It was completely different from our first ride. I'm SO sad I only rode it once on this trip! After it was over we chatted up the guests around us and we told them about the grand opening and the different random scenes that are available. One lady said she would just go and get in line again right now!

 

[Fashionista007]

Day 3 Finale

Then it was time for our dinner reservations! The Hollywood Brown Derby is our favorite restaurant, hands down. The last time we ate there was September 2010 after we were engaged. We have eaten at many restaurants since then but HBD is still our favorite! The food is awesome and I did NOT forget to take pictures here!

Lobster Bisque nom nom nom nom

Blue Crab Cake nom nom nom nom

Jason got a fruity drink concoction whose name escapes me but I had to get a picture!

Jason had the Salmon nom nom nom nom nom

I had the pork nom nom nom nom nom

During our meal, the Maitre'D came over and congratulated us. It was finally dawning on me that I was just one sleep away from my wedding day! At the end of our meal, they brought us two complimentary glasses of champagne and strawberries. We downed that pretty quickly so I didn't get to take a picture. We were both very nervous, anxious, and excited for the next day!!

That wraps up Day 3, stay tuned for the morning of the wedding!!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

:sohappy: Wedding pictures are coming up sooon!!!!!!

Love the goodie bag they made for the breakfast! So creative and so adorable!!!

And you know we've never tried the Hollywood Brown Derby...was never really a fan of the menu every time I looked at it...might just have to try it once though to see!

 

[Fashionista007]

:sohappy: Wedding pictures are coming up sooon!!!!!!

Love the goodie bag they made for the breakfast! So creative and so adorable!!!

And you know we've never tried the Hollywood Brown Derby...was never really a fan of the menu every time I looked at it...might just have to try it once though to see!

HAHA we just posted in each others trip reports at the same time! Hilarious.

Yeah the menu at HBD has a lot of gourmet weirdness that Jason and I were afraid to try at first. We're burger and fries kind-of people. But after we tried all the flavors on the plate together, we nearly blew our lids! Everything we have had there has been delicious and I highly recommend it. It makes me want to watch that episode of I Love Lucy where they eat there!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

HAHA we just posted in each others trip reports at the same time! Hilarious.

Yeah the menu at HBD has a lot of gourmet weirdness that Jason and I were afraid to try at first. We're burger and fries kind-of people. But after we tried all the flavors on the plate together, we nearly blew our lids! Everything we have had there has been delicious and I highly recommend it. It makes me want to watch that episode of I Love Lucy where they eat there!

:ROFLOL: We are just THAT good

Definitely have to rethink it now that I know you had the same initial reaction as well to the menu! I need to branch out a little! lol

 

[diddy_mouse]

Aww it looks like you had such a good time at your bachelorette breakfast. And cake in the morning? Yes please! :slurp:

I think it's so sweet you spent some one-on-one time with your grandmother in Mitsukoshi. That place rocks!

Yay for wedding day pictures!! I can't wait to read all about it!

 

[WDW_Princess24]

ahh it's getting so close!!! I have ants in my pants waiting over here!!

 

[TinkerChelli]

Holy You Know what I am so excited here myself too, I read your whole report I am so happy for you both!!!!!! YIPPIEEE can not wait to see wedding pics. :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

 

[enchanted_belle]

Ahhhh, so looking forward to wedding pictures (which I've been looking forward to since I started reading your wedding journal!)!!!!! :sohappy::sohappy:

 

[Fashionista007]

Aww it looks like you had such a good time at your bachelorette breakfast. And cake in the morning? Yes please! :slurp:

I think it's so sweet you spent some one-on-one time with your grandmother in Mitsukoshi. That place rocks!

Yay for wedding day pictures!! I can't wait to read all about it!

Cake for breakfast would be a recurring theme on our honeymoon I've actually had dreams about our wedding cake, that's how good it was!

It was SO nice to have alone time with Grandma. That day was incredibly hectic so I was glad for some quiet time shopping. I didn't buy anything though!! This was the first trip EVER that I didn't buy anything in Mitsukoshi. Ah well, we already have our next trip booked for late Feb :sohappy: We'll be back soon!

ahh it's getting so close!!! I have ants in my pants waiting over here!!

Holy You Know what I am so excited here myself too, I read your whole report I am so happy for you both!!!!!! YIPPIEEE can not wait to see wedding pics. :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

Ahhhh, so looking forward to wedding pictures (which I've been looking forward to since I started reading your wedding journal!)!!!!! :sohappy::sohappy:

You'll have more to read/see very soon, I promise :sohappy: Work has just been crazy lately and I have myself signed up to write for not 1, not 2, but 3 blogs!! They're actually all for different things, not all Disney related. Ah well I like to keep busy :hammer:

 

[lbrad]

The anticipation is killing me...
Your family is so sweet ... what a neat idea having the Bachelorette Party at
Akershus ... love the goody bag & cake :slurp:

 

[Fashionista007]

The anticipation is killing me...
Your family is so sweet ... what a neat idea having the Bachelorette Party at
Akershus ... love the goody bag & cake :slurp:

The anticipation is almost over! We got our photo cd from Disney yesterday so I'll be finishing up the wedding day portion this weekend

I really want to go back to Akershus and actually eat the food. I was pretty nervous the day before the wedding so I couldn't fully enjoy any of the meals! I did enjoy the cake though...nothing makes me not enjoy cake!!

 

[Blueskyze]

Congratulations!! I am loving your trip report - what a great story the two of you have! I can't wait to see wedding pics. And you were at the grand opening of Star Tours?! AWESOME!! I'm totally jealous. We are going to WDW for our 1-year anniversary in just 65 days, and looking at all your pictures is making me giddy. Looking forward to more!

 

[Fashionista007]

Day 4 The Morning of the Wedding!

The phone rang at 5AM for my wake up call. Unfortunately, I did not know that the wake up call begins with the Twilight Zone theme! That is not how I wanted to wake up on my wedding day! I was incredibly tired and I started to worry about every little thing going wrong. I took a bath to calm down and that did the trick. I really miss that bathtub!

Jason got up soon after me and we got ready in complete silence. We didn't even turn on the TV! We were both SO nervous!! I had to meet Carolyn Allen's for my dress steaming appointment at the elevator at 7AM so Jason and I left the room together and went down to the lobby around 6:50AM.

When we got off the elevator, Carolyn Allen's was already there waiting for me! Jason and I kissed and parted ways. The next time we would see each other would be when I walked down the aisle! (I'm totally in tears as I'm writing this!!). I highly recommend Carolyn Allen's, they were so awesome. They could tell I was a bundle of nerves and they were so nice to me! They assured me everything would be beautiful and perfect. They also gushed over how beautiful my dress was

My Mom, Sister, and Nieces arrived next and everybody was SO excited! It really helped to calm my nerves. Now that I was with family, I started to calm down and get excited! Carolyn Allen's finished up around 7:20AM and I gave them a thank you card with a tip. I bought thank you cards before we left and made a list of everyone I needed to tip on my wedding day. I wrote a little message in each one: "Thank you very much for your wonderful service today. You helped to make our wedding the most magical day of our lives!" I think this went over really well and people appreciated it. We received really good service all day!

While all of this was going on, Jason was waiting for his brother to arrive to hang out. He texted me this picture:

He freaked out because we were getting married at noon and he thought something was messed up. I told him that was just a marquee for the reception, the marquee for our wedding would be posted at the Wedding Pavilion! Poor thing, I can't imagine how he was feeling all by himself for an hour!

The next few minutes were SO hectic! My other sister, Trish, was with Grandma on the monorail and there was an electrical outage at the Grand Floridian monorail station. So they had to sit in the monorail for a bit because the doors wouldn't open. While that was going on, I had to go down to the lobby to meet Patricia LeJeune, my hair and makeup artist. She was right on time and I liked her immediately.

We got started immediately, there was a LOT of work to do! I went first!

Now I was just plain having fun! Everything had gone off without a hitch so far so that really relaxed me for the rest of the day. I still couldn't eat though

We started getting a little silly...I remember making Patricia and her assistant laugh quite a few times! We talked about how much work I put into the wedding and the fact that I sold my car to pay for characters and portrait sessions (totally worth it by the way, I can't wait to post the portrait session day!).

My nieces sat perfectly still and were total angels all morning! I think it helped that I had made some playlists on my iPhone with "party music". I had just started watching iCarly and I had the whole soundtrack which they loved! Other songs included selections from High School Musical and all of the Disney Princess movies. It was fun, it was a fun time (iCarly quote)!

I finally felt like eating so I got a yummy blueberry muffin! I'm looking outside the window at the castle in this candid shot

 

[Fashionista007]

I love my family, we were full on silliness by this point...

It's getting close!!

I loved everything Patricia LeJeune did with our hair! No one even brought pictures, we just kind of told them to do what they thought would look best. That's how good they were!

Then it was Brooke's turn!

So pretty!!

Then it was time to finish me up and put on my tiara!!