Our Wedding take 2! September 2012 - PJ & Pre-Trip

[jellybean]

Firstly, Hi I'm Sophie and a recent florida bride to be! I am marrying my DF Lee next September, we've been together for 4 years and took our first trip to florida together last October.

We started with a UK wedding but have realised its getting out of hand and the amount of stress that comes with it isn't worth it for us when all we really want is just to get married. We were honeymooning in Florida anyway so have decided to move the wedding to Florida and we'll have a UK reception at home.

In light of this decision and the fact we will now be sharing our 10 days at WDW with a lot of family members (which is a great thing and we're looking forward to it!) we've decided to put the money we'll save to good use so we're going to book a 3 night bahamian cruise on the Disney Dream with our last night at Pop Century before we return to the UK 4 days after everyone else.

So the plans so far:

This is my dress - its a Mori Lee and no doubt I will swelter in the florida heat but hopefully I'll only be doing this once and the dress is gorgeous so I will be wearing it regardless!



Our ceremony location (hopefully, this is TBC!)
Cypress Grove Cottage Gazebo - I think this smaller more intimate choice will be a better fit for us and our wedding party



We will then get one of these from CG to the Grand Floridian



Where we will book a photopass session on the beach at GF and maybe in the lobby



Then we'll move onto some celebratory drinks here in Mizners



Before moving on for dinner here - the Grand Floridian Cafe, I just think it looks so lovely and elegant and the menu has something for everyone so hopefully everyone will enjoy it



Now depending on guest numbers (its anyones guess at this point!) we will either maybe get a wishes cruise from the Gf dock or if there is too many of us then we will be chilling out with some drinks and enjoying the view from the GF beach

I think Ill use this as half pre-trip and half planning journal so I can keep track of everything in one place but fell free to join in and offer any opinions advice you may have! Open to everything!

Happy Reading! :pop:

[Tinkerbell 766]

Sophie sweetie - Loving all your plans and can't wait to hear more!
We held our cocktail hour at Mizner's and it was brilliant! I love the GF Cafe too! We looked into having our reception meal there, but the manager at the time could not guarantee that she could sit us all together (we were a party of 15), so we had to look elsewhere!
May I be so bold as to make a suggestion? It may be worth looking into getting an outside photographer to do your session at the GF (eg Randy Chapman). You would probably get a better set of photos and it may well work out less expensive!
Who is doing your photography at CG?
Keep us posted!

[Chilly80]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell 766

Sophie sweetie - Loving all your plans and can't wait to hear more!
We held our cocktail hour at Mizner's and it was brilliant! I love the GF Cafe too! We looked into having our reception meal there, but the manager at the time could not guarantee that she could sit us all together (we were a party of 15), so we had to look elsewhere!
May I be so bold as to make a suggestion? It may be worth looking into getting an outside photographer to do your session at the GF (eg Randy Chapman). You would probably get a better set of photos and it may well work out less expensive!
Who is doing your photography at CG?
Keep us posted!

See more...

Just what I was going to say!

[jellybean]

I was looking at an outsidephotigrapher but because I literally just want someone for an hour I'm finding it difficult to get prices, the ceremony my mum would like tophotogrsph which is fine with me as she's a fantastic photographer and we'd feel
More at ease with mum taking photos at the ceremony itself. Does anyone have an email address for Randy?

Tinkerbell766 - I will admit now that mizners came from your plans! It just sounded gorgeous so I have stole the idea from you if that's ok! Grand floridian cafe is my first choice but we may have the same issue as you did in Whig case we will have to find somewhere else but I hope not as it's so lovely there.

[Tinkerbell 766]

Sophie sweetie - I am flattered that I have had a small influence on your plans! I would certainly check about the seating arrangements with the GF Cafe, as we were definitely told that there were no guarantees on sitting our party together.

Here is a contact e-mail for Randy.

randychapman@mindspring.com

The above is the e-mail address that I was e-mailing him on, but he has a contact page on his website too

chapmanphotography/dismain.html

HTH!

[jellybean]

Your wedding was just gorgeous! So elegant and that's what I'm trying to go for the top if the world bar you went to was just stunning I'd never heard of it until your trippie but we have a couple of children in our party so we couldn't go there - is that at the contemporary?

How did you find about the grand Floridian cafe seating, did you call them? I think it may be worth me calling before I get set on having it there. I thought narcoosees would be nice too but we have children and fussy eaters in our party so Not sure it would be the best choice for them.

[NYBride2be]

Loving the plans - just waiting on confirmation for CG cottage myself for May 2012 - had thought of Califirnia Grill for dinner afterwards, but I think I might be robbing ideas from you

How do you go about booking a beach photo session, I have been talking to Randy for taking the wedding pics - I can't book anything until I hear about dates for CG, but I never knew you could get the beach photos taken, I like the sound of it!

Best of luck with your planning - you are very organised - I still have to loose weight and get dress shopping yet!

[Tinkerbell 766]

Sophie sweetie - Thank you so much for your lovely comments!
Top of the World Lounge allows children - as do all the bars/lounges at WDW except V & A's and the nightclubs (eg Jellyrolls etc), but to gain access you do have to be staying at Bay Lake Tower (the DVC part of the Contemporary) on DVC points.
Remember that all the restaurants at WDW have children's menus and can accommodate 'picky eaters' quite happily. I am sure that Narcossee's would cope admirably! Indeed, if you are a large party and you are all arranged ahead of time, they may be able to customize a menu for you.
I would definitely recommend that you contact your chosen restaurant ahead of booking, and go over the details with them. Most are more than happy to do things like put favours on the table, do personalized menus or allow your florist to put floral arrangements on the tables. If a specific arrangement of tables and seating is important to you (as it was to us), I would say it is essential to contact the restaurant before making any firm arrangements, just to see if they can accommodate your plans!

I think the e-mail address is the correct one for the manager at GF Cafe, it is the one I used, but the managers in Disney restaurants move around very frequently. If this is not correct, I am sure that Lindsey can let you have the correct one.

Lindsey.J.Cole@disney.com

Keep me posted!

[Tinkerbell 766]

Originally Posted by NYBride2be

Loving the plans - just waiting on confirmation for CG cottage myself for May 2012 - had thought of Califirnia Grill for dinner afterwards, but I think I might be robbing ideas from you

How do you go about booking a beach photo session, I have been talking to Randy for taking the wedding pics - I can't book anything until I hear about dates for CG, but I never knew you could get the beach photos taken, I like the sound of it!

Best of luck with your planning - you are very organised - I still have to loose weight and get dress shopping yet!

See more...

Hi sweetie - Just to let you know that Randy will take photos wherever you want him to! We had photos at the following during our VR:- Bay Lake Tower, Swan/Dolphin, Boardwalk, GF beach and inside the GF and, at our TTD session a few days later, the Poly beach, Lagoon and pool and Sunset Point!
Randy knows Disney and weddings inside out and knows the best spots to shoot at!
Randy will often hold your chosen date until you get confirmation back from your chosen venue. If you held date is then not available, he will look at your new date and book you for that if he is available. If you just can't work anything out at all, he will return your deposit. I recommend you get him booked asap, because he is very popular and gets booked up very early! You absolutely cannot go wrong with the fabulous Mr. Chapman!

Here is the link to my PJ/TR on the 'other board', if you want to take a peek at my photo locations.

disboards/showthread.php?t=2513856

Photos start on page 49 (if you want to avoid all the other boring planning stuff! )

Good luck and keep us posted and if I can help in any way at all, don't hesitate to ask!

[NYBride2be]

Tinkebell - Your pics are fab! It looks like you had the best day of your lives! The attention to detail is mind blowing.
I am getting some great ideas. Was showing the pics to DP and he loves the look of the beach photos at GF.
Randys pictures are great.

I have given Carrie a couple of dates for CG so fingers crossed she gets back to me very soon!