Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After - October 2016 *Update 8 days to go, more daily plans!

[oh_darling]

Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After – October 2016



Welcome, welcome! Sit down, make yourselves comfortable, maybe grab some olives and a glass of wine or something as we are in for the longhaul here folks! This is the story of how a boy and a girl met, fell in love, got engaged, and planned their magical, fairytale happily ever after.

Enjoy!



The Cast

I'm Libby, I'm 27 and I'm the bride to be



My interests include, but are not limited to, food, Disney, Harry Potter, trashy American TV shows, planning holidays, and cats. I work as a copywriter/marketing/communications type person.

This is Ben, he's 27 in 2 weeks and he is the groom to be



His interests include basketball, food, Disney, music, and rum. He works for an awesome company that teaches kids rock music

Honorary Cast Member

This is Saffie, she's an 18 month old Birman



Her interests include eating, sleeping, meowing to be let out of rooms, meowing to be let into rooms, crawling in to small spaces, and catnip.




The Beginning

Our tale begins one dark, stormy night in 2003, in a little village in Hampshire. Our hero and heroine were both attending a murder-mystery party with a group of their mutual friends (for some reason, murder mystery parties were all the rage when we were in Year 10...) They had never met, but in a weird (and actually really spooky when you think about it) twist, the two characters they were playing were married. Was their fate sealed from the very beginning?

*cue dramatic music (in my head it's the music that plays at the beginning of Beauty and the Beast with the stained glass painting...maybe stick it on for a bit of atmosphere...)*



I was excited about the party. I had to dress up in one of my Mum's black cocktail dresses and pearls as the characters we were playing were quite wealthy. Ben wore a suit and I remember thinking he was kinda cute when I first saw him We spent the evening chatting whilst playing the game, with me trying not to make eye contact or get too embarrassed...I didn't have much experience with boys! There were lots of jokes about us being married (as is the norm when you're 15) and I smiled and tried not to go too red. It was a fun night!

A few months passed and we went to a few of the same parties, and started sitting together with a big group of friends at lunch. I was too shy to speak to him really, and watched from afar as he chatted with other girls in our group Tragic!

Enter MSN Messenger! Everyone had it and we all used it to keep in touch after school. It was like, the bees knees. I felt I could talk to Benj on MSN like I couldn't when we were face to face. We started chatting every night, sometimes for hours and hours until my Mum kicked me off the computer haha! MSN Messenger honestly was how our relationship began We were texting lots too, and flirting, but not speaking in school still! By the end of Year 11 we were really good friends, texting every night, talking about anything and everything...but I had the biggest crush on Benj and didn't know if he knew Or felt the same way! It was tough times!

When we were all making plans for our Year 11 prom, another girl asked Ben to go to the prom with her! :angry:

1. HEY

and

2. manly!?

Anyway, I was going with a group of friends in a limo so couldn't really say anything... And then, a few days before prom...

HE ASKED ME OUT!



I can't remember how it happened but it was by text and I saved the text for ages on my phone (back in the days when you could only have like 10 texts stored on your phone) He said some really sweet stuff though and it was just the best thing ever. I remember going downstairs the next morning and telling my Mum and being so ridiculously happy. Yay! Our first date was a couple of days before the prom; we went to the cinema and neither of us can remember what we saw. Obviously, it was memorable. At prom I was so excited to have an actual boyfriend to go with, even though he was technically still going with the other girl...yes, it was in a big group of our friends, but still. It was the principle. He couldn't cancel on her though, it was like the day before...Lets just say that once we got into the venue, she didn't get a look in Our prom night was amaazing and at the end...WE HAD OUR FIRST KISS! To Robbie Williams' Angels, that end-of-disco romantic classic

So that was that! Apart from a minor blip a few months later when I was being a bit of an idiot at college, we have been together ever since. 12 years in June! Madness! We've grown together and experienced so many of life's major milestones together. We're different in personality; I'm easily stressed, highly strung, excitable and a worrier...he's laid back, relaxed, calm and level-headed. He balances me! Since we got together we've experienced college, spent 4 years long-distance as he went to Uni in Essex and I went to Uni in Cardiff, each struggled to get a job post-Uni, moved into our flat, been to Florida twice, been to Disneyland Paris 5 times, tried out countless fashion fads and lived to tell the tale (emo and scene spring to mind) dyed our hair many different colours, moved into our new flat, and got a kitten!

Phew, there's been a lot!

As a special treat I thought you might enjoy a couple of photos of us from back in the day...







Young love



Aand recent!





And I still look forward to seeing him each day after work, and miss him horribly when he's away...and he still makes me laugh every single day He's the one!





The Proposal

The full story of how Ben proposed to me can be found in my 2013 trippie, so I'll just post the edited highlights here, to keep the story flowing

On Saturday 19th October 2013 after our first wonderful morning at the Magic Kingdom, Ben got down on one knee next to me in front of Cinderella Castle and proposed It was unexpected and amazing and I cried, he cried, our friends cried, guests clapped, birds sang, the sun shone... it was just the most perfect moment ever. Dream proposal!



We then spent the next two weeks in a haze of loved-up, just-engaged bliss, and I started dreaming of what our wedding would be like. We visited the wedding pavilion (full details of this little visit can be be found here) but although it was beautiful, at the time a Disney wedding wasn't something that was really on our radar.

Aaaaaaand so began a very long and drawn out decision making process which if I'm honest, has only very recently come to an actual conclusion. And so ladies and gentlemen, we come to the next chapter!



Coming soon...The Decision


TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Cast

The Beginning

The Proposal

The Decision

Initial Thoughts, Top 3 Most Important Things

Dates and Locations

Save The Dates

Booked the Honeymoon Cruise!

Pencilled In!

Photography/Videography

Wedding Guests! Part 1

I said yes to the dress!

The Details

BIG Update - we got our date!

Planning Session Recaps Pt 1

Planning Session Recaps Pt 2

Planning Session Recaps Pt 3

7 Months To Go!

Part 2!

Honeymoon Plans!

General update 5 months to go!

Biiiiiiig update! 2 months to go!

Part 2!

[BLDY&McGoo]

Love this with a capital L!

The pic of you two when you were at the murder mystery party (assume so as the black dress and pearls) is just cute although I am Soooooo glad Benj cut his hair =D

& the whole MSN thing is so true! Why was it you can talk to someone for hours on there about everything yet the moment you walk into the same room you act like your tongues been cut out! x

[Juliemack]

Ooh fab, glad I had a glass of fizz at the side of me, looking forward to reading along

[emwratten]

Ooh can't wait to read more... please hurry 😊

[tclaireh]

You guys!

Love the old pics, brilliant start to what will be an amazing adventure, can't wait to hear all of your plans, excited!

Claire x

[Guest]

You two are so cute!

[buschqueen]

What a lovely story! Look forward to reading more

[disneymadhouse]

Ooo so looking forward to reading this one

[piglet100]

Following along - love your trip reports and sure you'll have an amazing wedding!

[Guest]

Ah looking forward to reading this!