Tabitha and Paul's Fairytale Wedding - October 2014

[Guest]

So it's finally time to start my planning journal.

I know our wedding is a million years away, we've already changed our minds at least 4 times as to how we want our day to pan out so I thought I'd better start documenting things so I can remember why we keep changing our minds (thx Hayley!).

About Us
Hi I'm Tabitha, but everyone calls me Tabz... I'm an Aussie living in London, been living in Europe since May 2005, lived in Dublin for 4.5 years before I moved to London in November 2009.


Me and Pascal at Magic Kingdom in July 2011

My DF is Paul, London born and bred, very proud dad to his son, David (18) and his daughter, Sarah (15). Both kids, if you can call them that, live with us full time, with David working full time and Sarah currently doing her GCSE's, going onto A levels next school year.


Paul very excited about his bag of hotdogs at DLRP


David and Sarah on the plane before take off in July 2011


Paul with the kids outside Universal July 2011


Outside Hogwarts July 2011

The Proposal
We had talked about getting married for ages, and I knew he had bought the ring months and months ago... but just before my family came to visit in October 2011 he patted me on the knee one night and said 'you know we won't be getting engaged this year, I'm planning something special and need to save for it'... so I said thats fine, as much as I wanted a new shiny ring I didn't need us to be engaged to know that we were set to be together forever

So fast forward to our traditional trip to Disneyland Paris - well traditional for my sister and me. Everytime she comes to visit we always go to Disneyland Paris and this time was no exception. She and her boyfriend went over to Paris on the morning of Oct 12th, we then followed on an afternoon Eurostar (which got delayed for over 2 hours due to idiots on the track...) We finally made it in, met up with the others, then legged it to Cafe Mickey's where we had a reservation for 7.30pm (we arrived at 9.30pm... they were still nice enough to get us a table!) We had a great time, then headed off to the Dream Castle Hotel for the night.
The next morning we headed straight to the parks after breakfast - we got in before they had dropped the ropes to the lands, so half way to the castle we turned around and grabbed a coffee. After tihs we headed back up to the castle. I was convinced nothing was going to happen so I just ran around and jumped around like the lunatic that I am - went up with Paul first to get our picture taken then started to run away back to my sister to grab the camera so I could take thier picture, when Paul grabbed my arm - my heart started to beat at a million miles a minute! He didn't say a word, just pulled the box from his pocket and opened it, no one knee or anything! (not that this bothers me, it makes me feel like we have started our relationship on the same level) Grinning - he says 'well? ' i grinned back and said 'ask me properly' teehee! So he did, and I of course said yes... and the ring fit perfectly, first time! He was so relieved, he was soooooooooooooooo worried about it!






I <3 my ring sooooooooooooooooooo much!

The Wedding
We had already talked about where we wanted to get married and how we wanted to do it, as it's second time round for both of us we knew we wanted to go abroad. After our amazing trip to Florida in July/August 2011 I said I would love to get married at Disney - he originally wasn't for the idea at all, thinking it would be a bit childish and clique. I then got to work showing him different pictures and venues and he slowly realised it wasn't what he had pictured at all.

Before we decided, we did look at other destination weddings - Crete, Italy, Fiji, Australia, everywhere! Nothing compared to the package that Disney offers, and how easy they make it for you, so Disney was decided

We then started talking about who we would invite - the kids, obviously, his parents, my mum and stepdad, my sister and her boyfriend, my best friend and her husband. So we're looking at 12 including us - perfect size! Now comes a little bit of an issue... his parents are pretty much refusing to come due to the length of the flight. They are in their mid 70's, but I know how much it would mean to him for them to be there, so we're still working on that one!
My family have said they will come - and they will be coming from Australia, so check in that box!

[Guest]

Brilliant start. Really hope DF's parents will change their minds about the flight. Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

[Guest]

The Wedding - Take 1
I had started researching how I'd like our day to pan out a few months before we got engaged teehee

I wanted something small and intimate, with a weddingy feel but not too over the top - I had decided on wearing a short 50's style dress with a hot pink underskirt and sash, hot pink shoes! I loved the Wedding Gazebo at Yacht Club with dinner afterwards at California Grill, photos in between.

After doing a bit more research on the Wedding Gazebo, I was a bit turned off by the fact only the two of you and the officiant could fit in the Gazebo.

I canned this idea...

The Wedding - Take 2
Loving the fact of getting married outside, I stumbled across Sea Breeze Point. At this stage I'd changed my mind about my dress, deciding I wanted a proper wedding so wanting a full length gown Loving the pink and orange theme:


I thought Sea Breeze Point was absolutely gorgeous - I saw some pics of it at night as well and was just blown away!
I took this theory a bit further on, figuring out how the day would pan out:
MK Photo Shoot first thing in the morning after first look
Lunchtime ceremony
Plenty of time to chill out as it's a looooong day
Dinner at Cali Grill
Fireworks from the balcony

Then I thought that would be much too long a day...

MK shoot another day please!

Change ceremony time to 2.30!

Brunch of all involved morning of the wedding!

Loving this plan

Paul starts dropping ever so subtle hints about WP...

The Wedding - Take 3
Still with the above plan, I was stalking ladyemz PJ (thanks Emma! ) and she posts pictures of blue orchids, the flowers she's planning to use for her wedding


Well I nearly fell off my chair! The most beautiful things I've ever seen... ever!
I sat Paul down and showed him, and we were both hooked. I still asked everyone i knew which they prefered out of the pink/orange and the blue, and everyone bar one person said blue... so blue it is! I'll post more about flowers later

After Paul's little WP hints, I started looking around at other TRs and pics. What is with that carpet?!?!?!?! Its the main thing turning me off. But after seeing Hayley's gorgeous runner and coverage of petals, I think we might just be able to hide it

Not to mention changing to WP makes a lot more logistical sense. We are planning to spend 2 weeks at the Contemporary, so getting us and our guests from there, to SBP, then back to the Contemporary was a bit of a nightmare, would have cost us a shedload in transport!

So we were:
Brunch with all guests
2.30 ceremony
Photos etc
Dinner at Cali Grill
Fireworks from Balcony

Loving it!

But as I'm sure you are gathering from this journal... I changed my mind again...

The Wedding - Take 4

I randomly stumbled across the Che'f Domain at Citricos. Seats 12 - hey i've got 12 people! It's at GF - hey we'd be there for our ceremony and photos! It's gorgeous and intimate and the menu can be customised and there is no fee for cake handling - hey that sounds awesome!

I showed it to Paul and he got very excited! so we've canned Cali Grill and hoping we will be able to book Chef's Domain yay

The only issue this presents is fireworks - where can we go and view the fireworks with the music piped in? I know we could do a cruise but I'd prefer not to, I'd like to go somewhere public and watch them with everyone else... any ideas?

Paul also mentioned getting a massage... and I thought hey thats a good idea! We'd be getting ready at the Contemporary and their salon does massages, so I'll be sending him for one while I'm getting ready hair and makeup wise, result!

so the current plan is:
Brunch with everyone (am thinking maybe at the Poly as it's on the monorail)
Me hair and makeup
Paul getting massage
Limo takes him to GF for photos, along with any guests who want a lift
Limo comes back for me and takes me to GF for photos, probably with my mum and sister
2.30 ceremony
6pm sitting at Chef's Domain
Fireworks somewhere

When?
December 2014

It's not as random as it sounds I promise!

We really want to save, we don't want to borrow any money and we want to pay for it all ourselves, and do it 5 star We've got our budget and working towards it.

December - thats because neither of us really like the heat, and I don't want to be a sweaty blob on my wedding day! ... oh and this

[Guest]

Flowers
After falling love with the blue orchids, and the fact that we're doing the Escape package (unless it changes between now and then) I figured we were going to have to upgrade our flowers, and also include the floral refresh (one of the reasons I had MK shoot on the same day as the wedding to start with, hair, makeup and flowers once only), I started looking into silk flowers. I could only find one place that seemed to be able to do the orchids we wanted:


I then got chatting to ladyemz, and gave her the link to the company, who sent her a picture of a prototype:

Silk I tell you! How amazing are they!
I showed Paul and he was sold.

My only issue is the fact they are roses. I know I could get them changed ,but Paul loves it just the way it is, and it is OUR wedding after all I had roses in my bouquet for my first wedding and wanted to avoid doing anything 'again', but I think i will make an exception for this.
I will probably add some crystal sprays to give it a bit of bling

I've not decided if I should do button holes/corsages for all of our guests or do no other flowers at all... time will tell!

I love the fact our silk flowers will be ours forever, can use them again for our MK/DHS shoot and then take them home afterwards

Dress Ideas
So I want a long gown, and these are a few I've stumbled across so far:




I like the last one so far

Shoes
These are my shoes, no questions asked, I love them more than life itself!

I bet I'll change my mind hahahahahaha

Bridal Party
We're not really having a bridal party persay... we don't need any witnesses. I'm walking myself down the aisle, I'm giving myself to Paul, no one else
I'm thinking about asking everyone to either dress in shades of blue or shades of black, and if my sister bullies me into having her as a bridesmaid, she will be in black dress, I think at this stage anyway! I think we will ask Paul's son David to carry the rings, and I will give my bouquet so Sarah to hold throughout the ceremony - I want both kids to feel included without going overboard

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Hayley&Gareth

Brilliant start. Really hope DF's parents will change their minds about the flight. Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

See more...

Thanks Hayley, I hope they will too... closer to the time I might have a quiet word with them and see if I can convince them to come - if it ends up being money (which deep down it might be already) i've overbudgeted so I will pay for their flights myself!

[Guest]

Keeping our guests informed
We are hoping to send out 'save the month's early next year, with our guests travelling from both the UK and Australia we want to give them plenty of notice.

I am also going to be sending them out an A5 display book, then follow it up with pages of information for them to insert every couple of months.

Using our wedding colours I designed a page, so we will use that as the template:


I've asked Paul to design us a monogram... he's not done it yet but I'll be cracking the whip soon!

Engagement photos
I've contacted a photographer that was recommended by the bridal shop I'm planning to start my search at, am due to speak to them on the phone next week which will be awesome - I want something fun and hopefully wintery, as we both love the cold
I want to then incorporate an engagement photo into the save the month's and information books.

Actual Date for our wedding?!
We've not yet decided on an actual date. We want to be able to be as flexible as possible to get the WP and Chef's Domain both on the same day, so closer to the time we will decide on an actual day, but hopefully it will be in the first week of December

[Guest]

Tabz I absolutely LOVE the second dress you posted! xx

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Hayley&Gareth

Tabz I absolutely LOVE the second dress you posted! xx

See more...

I know, that is a very close second to the fourth one... I'm just getting ideas at the moment, I really can't start shopping for another 18 months at least so knowing my luck none of these styles will be available but they are so much fun to look at!

[pennycrayon]

Hi! I got married the first week of December last year at the yacht club and it was fab, like you we do not enjoy the heat and we loved all the Christmas decorations.

Your plans sound fab!

[Pinkgirl]

Brill start to your planning journal Tabz. I love the second dress. (possibly cos the model is more my size than the two skinnies in three and four )

I know you have a long way to go, but just to give a bit input at the start, I'm not sure how you are going to fit in doing brunch with your wedding party if you plan for a 2.30pm ceremony. From what I understand Disney want you ready at least an hour before your ceremony - to get you there and have time for piccies, also hair and make-up come a couple hours before this, factor in time to get into your dress and you will be having brunch at 9am.