BLDY&McGoos FloridaWedMoon 2013 - Day 10 - Our Wedding Day!

[BLDY&McGoo]

Day 9 – November 16th 2013 - The Day You Have All Been Waiting For… Our Wedding Day!

Waking up today was a very strange feeling; I woke as usual but took a few moments to remember that today was actually THE day!
Most brides would have had a huge build up the night before however I had gone to sleep happily lying next to the man that I love, as I hoped I would be doing every day for the rest of my life. I felt excited about our day ahead but in no way nervous.

I looked over to Scott who was still asleep and just couldn’t stop smiling, He was the one and I knew it. My best friend, soulmate & safety net; always ready to catch me!
We had been together for nearly 6 years, but known each other in passing since we were at primary school. We got together slightly unconventionally, I was a 16 year old still at school & Scott was 17 working for a plumbing company. We just intended it to be a ‘one time thing’ but after spending more time together it developed into something so much more, Back then no one thought we would stand the test of time.

Scott actually had wobble a few weeks in to our relationship and tried to dump me. He was in the process of joining the army and felt our relationship would suffer if he went. I explained I really didn’t mind & being an army wife would be interesting so he changed his mind and we stayed together. It just proves everything happens for a reason though as a few weeks later he failed the medical screening so he would have lost me for no reason.

I also remember Scott’s sister saying we weren’t allowed to live together as we were too young and it would all end in tears or with a baby!

All these things were going through my head that morning and I was feeling very proud of us as a couple. Don’t get me wrong we have had a few hiccups throughout our life together but we both had jobs, a roof over our heads, our own car & our own little family with Oreo & Gingey. We were now also in our favourite place in the world about to declare our love for each other once and for all!

So with my reminiscing and day dreaming over I thought I best get up and get on with the day. I left Scott in bed and went to the spare room to check on my dress, a couple of last creases quickly ironed out & then I gathered my tiara, shoes etc for the day.
My sister had written me a letter to read on my wedding day so I sat myself on the bed to read all the 3 & a half A4 pages worth!
It was a very sweet letter about how she hoped we had a wonderful day & she was so happy for us but sad she didn’t get to see her baby sister get married.

It was a hard decision for us to get married abroad without our family but not hard enough for us to change our minds. Neither of us are big on crowds or attention but we wanted the day to be about us and our happiness not pleasing everyone else.
Florida was where we felt our hearts belonged and we didn’t want to compromise on what we wanted; despite different family members saying they would come out anyway we made it clear that under no circumstances they would be attending. It was an all or nothing decision as we wouldn’t have had some people without others & didn’t want to be responsible for any debts or hardship.

The only part of a normal wedding that I feel I really missed out on was having my dad give me away, I don’t regret our decision because of it but I am upset that I know I won’t ever get that experience back. It’s kind of a rite of passage as a father to walk your daughter down the aisle and it upsets me that I took that duty away from him.
He would never say that he was upset about it but I know it must have been hard, however my dad loves Scott so I know he approves, he has said himself he doesn’t feel like he has lost a daughter but gained a Mechanic and a Bodyguard.

Scott had woken and had come to find me in the spare room just as I was finishing the letter so had a read & then we opened the card my mum & dad had given us which was filled with confetti!

When gathering all my bits together I thought id also take some photos of all the bits I would be wearing.





Old – Earring that’s my dad bought me when I was 12
New - My special Cinderella shoes from Harrods that my dad also bought for me
Borrowed – The garter which I borrowed from my mum
Blue - The Earrings, inside of the shoes & the garter were all blue!
& of course a silver sixpence which I didn’t put in my shoe but put in my bra instead =] 

It was quite early still but we started to deliberate about the weather. Something we didn’t feel we would need to worry about whilst being in Florida but today wasn’t looking very bright. This was the only thing that was causing me to worry slightly but Scott said to stop thinking about it & as long as by the end of the day we were married it wouldn’t matter.

So trying to put it out of my mind I went and showered and got dressed but looking out of the windows far more often than usual, it was now not just dull but actually raining =[

I remembered that I needed to print something off which id forgotten so headed down to the clubhouse to use the facilities there. I also grabbed a few snacks for us to eat too. I spent $8 & came back with some Chips Ahoy cookies, Oreos & some other bits.
We then both laid on the bed for an hour or so watching tv & eating our snacks. Our programme choice was slightly unusual for a wedding day but was a documentary about some serial killers which we actually really enjoyed.



Throughout the day we received lots of messages of love and good luck from people back home so we were feeling very excited by now but very surreal!

I had a phone call from Marcia Ciola who was our wedding co-ordinator, she was confirming that we still wanted to get married outside despite the weather & whether there was an alternative location we wanted to use.
We declined saying we would wait & hope that it passed as our wedding was not until 4pm and she would ring us at about 2pm to make a final decision.
We talked about moving it but had already paid a fee to Kraft Azelea Gardens before we had left home and didn’t really want to get married anywhere else. Marcia did suggest at Caribe cove itself in the woodland area, near the little lake or on our balcony but we weren’t very keen on that & had also got Stan Severance videoing for us so didn’t want to re arrange that.

12 O’clock soon arrived and the lovely Jenny from Beaute Speciale appeared on the doorstep like a fairy godmother to beautify me.
We set up a chair and the small table in the living room where there were lots of light and she began to work her magic. She was so lovely & we talked about a million & one things.

She did my hair first which took about 45 minutes; my hair doesn’t take to curls very well so I was pretty impressed with how well she had done it. She then did my makeup which I wanted quite natural. I don’t normally wear anything on my lips so Jenny tried a couple of shades of lipstick on but they were all too red so I opted for one that was nearer my natural lip shade which suited me better. I Paid her the remaining balance +Tip ($80) & said our goodbyes.
I was very pleased and as my hair and makeup had been a present from my dad I sent a photo to him, my mum & my sister using Facebook chat & they wished us luck =]





I had planned to ask Jenny to help me into my dress but she had left just before 2pm so it was a bit too early so instead it would now be Scott’s job =]
Scott showered whilst I pottered around; I packed a bag with water, marriage Liscence, Rings & other bits to keep in the car. Then I packed some bits in my little clutch bag to take with me. Jenny had done a little touch up kit with a sponge with foundation on & lipstick sample plus my camera & money. Marcia Rang at some point and said it was brightening up so we decided we would just go for it.


It was time for us both to get dressed so Scott went to iron his shirt whilst I started to get dressed, I was feeling all excited as the only tradition that we had kept to was that he hadn’t seen my dress. He knew it was ivory & had straps but that was about it.

I called him in to our room once I had it on so he could do it up and the look on his face was just perfect. He immediately said I looked just how he had imagined & said had we participated in the TV Show ‘Don’t Tell The Bride’ it would have been exactly what he would have chosen for me. I was so happy he approved of the dress & thought I looked beautiful so I had a huge smile on my face whilst I directed him to lace up my dress.
He was actually pretty good at it and within a few minutes I was all done!
Scott went back to the other room to finishing getting changed whilst I took a few more selfies in the mirror.





I definitely felt like a princess and was happy with all the choices I made. My hair, dress, Flowers etc all were very suited to me even down to the cleavage!
My nan always taught me the ‘got it flaunt it’ rule so I thought why not!
Scott was ready now and looked very handsome in his suit so we set the camera up on a timer outside to take a few photos of us together & then some on our own.







We left slightly later than planned at about 3:10pm which as our wedding was at 4pm and about 40mins away we were cutting it fine!

As we got in the car the rain clouds were still looming above us and a pitter patter started, It was too late to change it now so we headed off not letting it faze us.
I had brought 2 Pull bows with us that Scott had attached to the car's wing mirrors so they were flapping around as we were driving along and a few people were looking at us as we drove past.
An old couple stopped next to us at the lights & signalled to wind down my window so we explained we were just on our way to our ceremony.
The man was really funny and said I sounded strange so I explained we were English & then we said our goodbyes as the lights turned green.



As we drove the traffic seemed to get really bad, It was soon apparent that the fire truck that was parked across 3 lanes infront had something to do with the commotion. There was a rather nasty looking accident involving a couple of cars ahead which wasn't exactly what we had wanted to be stuck behind.
A county sheriff was directing cars to all use the one lane & giving way to different lanes at a time so we were soon through and back on our way thanks to Scott's sneaky lane cutting skills.

Slightly further up we saw another two cars at the side of the road, the drivers we imagine were too busy rubber necking to pay attention to their own driving. People really should be more careful.
We continued the rest of our journey with no further hiccups or delays and despite the gloomy weather were rather excited.
We soon came into the Winter park area and enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful houses and amazing trees. We were very amused to see that on one of the streets the trees were all dressed as carrots too!



We parked the car and found Stan & Marcia waiting for us at the entrance. At this point the rain was just a light drizzle but Marcia was slightly concerned that it would get worse so with quick introductions to Stan’s wife who was also filming and Reverend Tom we had a very quick briefing and then started the proceedings.

Stan made us walk along the path up towards the Exedra monument so we could be filmed, as we walked there was a family walking there dog who stopped to let us pass. We paused to take a photo & then our ceremony started with the music & the sound of rain in the background.



Reverend Tom spoke for a while about the meaning of marriage and how our lives would be together, it was all very beautifully put but most of what he said is now a blur.

I had so many things going through my head that I struggled to pay attention. I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way but my mind kept wandering & apparently Scott’s did too.
Trying to keep composed and not cry was quite high on the list of things my brain was thinking along with ‘Oh My God Are We Actually Doing This’, ‘Can’t Believe I Am Finally Marrying This Gorgeous Man’ & ‘Please Stop Raining, Please Stop Raining’.

Every so often we would glance at each other and give a little smile and then we had to face each other and say our vows. I got a little giggly with nerves & Scott was trying to be serious, which is very unlike him as you know, so neither of us looks or sounds particularly good in our video.
When choosing the type of ceremony our options were religious or non-religious, we chose the latter but never confirmed wording exactly.
So when the phrase ‘encircles your finger’ was said I accidently let out a little giggle! I just couldn't help it, it sounds so dodgy. Out of everything that is probably my only regret: I should have chosen our own!







As we were saying our vows we had to move closer together as the rain started to get heavier and heavier, causing Reverend Tom to pause and take us to the side for a moment under a big tree and ask us if we wanted to continue, Marcia ran off to get an umbrella from her car but we decided we were all here so should carry on.

Marcia returned with the umbrella so we stood under it to finish off & do our sand ceremony, the sand had been sat in the rain so was a little bit stuck in the vase’s so Scott had to poke at his whist I shook mine and we soon made a lovely mix of purple & charcoal sand.
The rain was hammering down and the words in Tom’s book had ran and were no longer readable so he had to do without, Scott’s suit was now two shades of grey, my hair was soaked & we were both a little cold but when Tom said ‘Scott, you may now kiss your wife’ none of it mattered & we just couldn't take the smiles of our faces.



Our goal for the day had been to get married so we had succeeded, the details didn’t matter we were just so delighted we were husband and wife. Now when people ask us about our wedding we have a pretty cool story to tell. How ironic we should go so far from England to have a sunny day for it to pour with rain?



With the ceremony over Stan got us to walk back down the pathway for a few last seconds of footage whilst the others grabbed all of their equipment. Scott then ran to pull the car closer and I stood under the umbrella for a minute talking to Marcia. She said we were mad to have continued and no couple had ever persevered so much before but she was so pleased for us.

I took a seat in the car as Scott came back, Stan was concerned about his video cameras as they had gotten quite wet so he said his goodbyes very quickly and headed off.
He later emailed over the edited video for us which we were happy with considering the situation however perhaps the longer pauses of rain drops glistening on my chest could have been avoided =P
Here is the youtube link if any of you want to see for yourselves

[BLDY&McGoo]

Marcia was very apologetic as our marriage licence had been lying on the table & had got pretty soaked so they couldn’t get a good enough notary stamp onto it to make it readable, Because of this she said they would take it away with them & deliver that, our vase of sand & photos to our condo in a few days’ time. We were fine with this so they left too and then it was just us, in our Mustang in the pouring rain.
We were soaked but happy so spent 20 minutes taking photos, drinking water and talking about our crazy experience & just generally basking in our happiness!







The rain wasn’t subsiding so we gave up any hope of going back out to explore the Garden’s further, knowing it would take us 40 minutes or so to be back in the Disney area we decided to head back for dinner. We did vow that we would return here on our next visit to see the area properly minus the rain.

We had chosen to eat at our favourite restaurant for the evening, Longhorn Steakhouse!
We chose the Vineland Avenue one due to its location close to Disney but had actually never been to that branch before.
We arrived at around half 5, after a slight navigational error, spending a couple of minutes in the car trying to dry off before going in. We were asked immediately what we were celebrating and all the staff were shocked when we said we had just got married an hour or so ago.

We were sat in a booth & ordered drinks, a Sprite for me & a bud lite lime for my new husband. Shortly after the manager and our waitress came back over saying they were very pleased we had chosen their restaurant to dine in & gave us two glasses of wine & strawberries on a decorated plate.





We were very grateful however neither of us particularly like wine but I drank some to be polite and we enjoyed the strawberries. The waitress shortly came back to take our order too. Today we were hungry so went for Western Cheese Fries to share as a starter followed by the Porterhouse for Two, we were in a sharing mood today!



The fries were delicious and we ate nearly the whole plate however regretted it shortly after when we realised we had our steak to eat, which came with more fries & a salad each.
It also came with a steak sauce that was made for us tableside which was interesting to watch the waiter make for us but neither particularly liked the taste.





I hit a wall after only eating a small amount of steak, I really shouldn't have eaten so many cheese fries, and so Scott fought the 30oz monster majorly alone but wasn’t exactly complaining.
During dinner I was feeling a bit uncomfortable in my dress, because I had been sat down for a while it felt a bit too tight under my bust but because I had gotten so wet earlier I was feeling all cold and damp. I took myself to the restroom, with a few glances from other diners as to why I was so dressed up in a Longhorn's, to try and dry off a little. Not particularly very ladylike but the rain had soaked through to my underwear so I tucked a napkin into the back so that I would no longer be sitting on my wet dress, a good plan I thought =]
After our meal we paid up $59.60 ($70 with tip) and jumped back in the Mustang headed for Grand Floridian!

We drove through the Magic Kingdom sign as we had done before when we visited, if you stay to the barrier on the far right & tell them where your headed they direct you through and instead of going to the Magic Kingdom parking lot you take the resort road with the buses.
We arrived soon after & paid for valet parking ($15) & headed into the lobby. It was busier than before, perhaps that is just how it is in the evenings or because the gingerbread house had opened today but the atmosphere was friendly.

We were a little early for meeting Julie-Ann & Conor who were eating at the Grand Floridian Café this evening so took a seat in the lobby watching people pass by and sent a few messages back home to say we were now officially married.
It wasn’t long before Julie-Ann & Conor found us so we exchanged hugs and tales of our day in the rain and how they had a little issue with the Disney buses earlier on. They had also bought us a wedding gift too which was ever so kind of them; It was a happily ever after Mickey & Minnie Christmas Bauble. I had been looking at the different baubles a few days beforehand but couldn’t decide which one so I was pleased that they had chosen one of the ones I had been looking at.
I also suddenly remembered that the napkin was still tucked into my knickers so thought it was best I removed it before it fell out in a room full of people.

We went outside to take some photos so gave Conor our camera to use and put a fresh memory card of ours in Julie-Ann’s camera so at the end of the night we could take them away. We took a few different photos by the beach & seating area’s & wandered up towards the boat dock too. Julie-Ann’s camera wasn’t behaving very well in the light so Conor used ours instead and did a very good job throughout the night. Julie-Ann did take this pretty cool one of the moon though!







After taking a few we decided we would go ahead and board our boat for the night. At the Captains Shipyard, where we had been the other day, we paid up $318.24 before being shown to our boat.

We were pleased to see the decorations on board and took a few photos before having a drink & taking a seat. The cooler was full of bottled water and cans of drink plus a selection of crisps, snacks laid out on the side for us too.



The lady ‘skipper’ soon joined us, along with our wedding cake which was in a box so I couldn’t see it yet, so I decided that just before we would set off id nip to the rest room.

I thought it was best I went before we were half way across the lake so took the short walk over to the Gasparilla Island Grill. On my way to and fro I passed quite a few people who smiled & congratulated me; a maid, a guy on a golf buggy and a guest who seemed to like staring at my assets more than my face =]
I was soon back on the boat where we set off to see the sights, I was a little cold so was pleased that there were blankets on board so had a little snuggle up with my new hubby.





The skipper was nice and chatted as we went round on the tour around the lake, but I think Julie-Ann and I slightly annoyed her as we were discussing our own Disney things & probably asked more questions than most which she mainly didn’t know the answers to. The tour pointed some things out to us that we had previously missed or not known. We all found the shoe tree and the water bridge quite interesting & realising that there is bear’s face over at Wilderness Lodge was pretty cool.

As time was getting on we began to get nearer to the front of Magic Kingdom to park up to watch the fireworks. There were a few other boats around now too and we were all just bobbing in the water waiting for the show.
Whilst we were waiting, the skipper brought over our cake which we were very impressed to see. I had booked it via the cake hotline a few months beforehand and it cost $52 which was debited from my account on the day. It was a 9inch Chocolate cake with chocolate filling and white frosting; topped with Bride & Groom strawberries, crisp pearls & Mickey head confetti.
 








After taking a few more photos we decided the cake was far too appealing just to look at so all had a slice each. The cake itself was delicious & the strawberries nice & fresh. I offered a slice to the skipper but she declined so the four of us spent a few minutes chatting away.
I’m also not quite sure how I managed it but I accidently dropped my fork in my lap so had a little chocolate stain. Oops!

Just a few minutes later the music started and the fireworks began. At that very moment I was just completely and utterly happy.
I was sat in the arms of my Husband, the man who I had grown with over the last 6 years, the man who shared my dreams and made this very moment happen. We overcame hurdles together to get here and would ultimately have some more to come in the future but we were here, strong and so in love with each other that nothing else mattered.

If you include the fact I had just eaten chocolate cake then who wouldn’t be happy?





Whilst watching the fireworks, my mind again wandered, our whole relationship flashed through my mind. Four years beforehand we had been in this exact place watching the fireworks from the ferryboat on this very lake. I was in awe of the place, excited and amazed of something so incredible, something that I never thought I’d get to see.
A once in a lifetime trip was not quite so; we worked hard to return to see that view again, it took two years from that first trip but we were on that same ferryboat when Scott proposed to me in 2011. We had changed over the years, we had moved, we had grown but we were still stood in the same place hand in hand looking at our castle.
This leads us back to the present day, exactly two years older we were back again watching over our castle, watching the magic sparkle through the sky. Most importantly however we were here together, this time as a newly married couple. Part of our dream had already come true and our happily ever after was on its way.

As the fireworks began to end, we all decided that this really was the most perfect way to watch Wishes. We all had seats, no one was pushed, shoved or trod on, there were no children sitting on their fathers shoulders blocking our view & there was no rushing to leave. In fact after the show ended we were treated to another little show, The Electrical Light Pageant.

[BLDY&McGoo]

The boat sailed closer back towards the Grand Floridian and stopped again just as the show started, I had heard about it before and seen a few photos but didn’t know quite what to expect. It remains one of the few original shows that were at the park when it opened which I thought was pretty cool but it really does show that it has never been updated.



Despite it being very simple or in Scott’s words ‘annoying’, I thought the music was quite catchy but wasn’t thrilled by the experience.
By the time we arrived back to the boat dock it was 9:30pm so we had been out on the water for over the hour that is suggested. The skipper took one last photo of us all together before we gathered our belongings plus a selection of the snacks that we had on board that we hadn’t even touched.




Having been talking earlier about the onsite buses that had caused Julie-Ann & Conor a bit of grief we decided that we would give them a ride home to save them the hassle tonight. We walked back through the Grand Floridian lobby and out the other side to find the Mustang.

Scott gave the valet ticket to a CM who soon returned with the car but because we needed the roof down to let the others in the Valet guy was more of a hindrance than a help. Scott was busy sorting the roof and clearing the items we had on the back seat whilst he was trying to open doors and assist but it didn’t really work. As a result he left Scott to it before he could be given a tip so we felt a bit sorry afterwards but if he had waited until we were done then he wouldn’t have lost out.

Julie-Ann & Conor were staying at Port Orleans Riverside which was just a ten minute journey away so with a quick tap in the sat nav we were on our way.
Conor is quite a tall lad so didn’t have much leg space, on a short journey it was fine but I definitely wouldn’t recommend having a convertible for a group of four.
We were all more excited than is probably healthy to go under the water bridge that was pointed out on our tour and we also drove past the back of Space Mountain and the pet care centre too.

We were soon pulling up at Riverside where after Julie-Ann waved her magic band at the security guard we were driving round to Alligator Bayou to drop off our guests.

It was strange to say goodbye to Julie-Ann & Conor, We had only met them twice but really enjoyed our time together and in a way it was sad to end our friendship so soon. We were very grateful that they were willing to take time out of their trip to take our photos for us. They are such wonderful memories for us to look back on & without those photos we wouldn’t have been able to share our evening with our families back home.
We are still friends on Facebook so our friendship isn’t over and if we ever happen to be in Florida at the same time again I’m certain we will meet up.
At this point it also dawned on me that we only had a few days left of our trip, whereas they were only half way through theirs so I was a tad jealous.

So we swapped back memory cards, said our goodbyes and hugged it out before waving from the car as they walked up to their room.

It was the latest we had actually been out for the whole holiday so we were actually quite pleased to be on our way home after our busy day.

We walked through the condo door at about 10:30pm, we had lots of messages from people back home, including a video from Scott’s Mum, her Boyfriend Pete, Scott’s sister Donna, Her Boyfriend Sean & our Oldest Neice & Nephew who had their own firework party in our honour & a voice message from a very drunk Sean saying ‘I’ve got a new sister WooooHoooooooo’ which had us laughing and made me feel very loved.

I decided I wanted to have a nice bath before we did what I imagine most modern newlyweds do… Changed my name on Facebook! We also sat for a little while and looked through the photos of our day together before turning the lights out and doing that other thing that’s quite popular on your wedding night =P


Costs For the Day
Food – $130 (Included Cake)
Shopping – $0.00
Misc (Parking/Petrol/Lockers) - $1039.38
(Hair, Cruise, Stan Severance $346.14, Ceremony $295.00)
Total - $1169.38
Running Total Spends So Far - $4088.31

[MissVincent]

What a great day, congratulations!

[Tinks]

Ahhhh what a beautiful day you had - you looked lovely and so very very happy! I remember you messaging me about the Chapel of Love for your ceremony ... You did the right thing going where you did - stunning place! xx

[collybird]

I may or may not have blubbed whilst reading this...

What a perfect day, you guys looked gorgeous and I'm so glad you got the wedding you wanted. We are going to just do it at the courthouse next year and are really struggling with my boyfriend's family respecting our wishes.

So glad you enjoyed your day despite the rain (we were there the same time as you guys and I knew this day was a wash out and was worried for you!).

Hope you guys live happily ever after, thank you for sharing.

[pumpkin]

Ah what a gorgeous day, so chilled and relaxed. You both look so utterly in love and so happy together. Xx

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful day.Your dress is beautiful.My fav picture is on your cruise watching the fireworks.
Claire

[Guest]

Wow! What an awesome day! You both look fabulous! Lots of lovely little touches! Congratulations x

[Milner]

What a great day you looked stunning in your dress.