Notices
Weddings and Honeymoons DIBBers wedding and honeymoon planning and chat.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 8 Oct 16, 02:00 AM  
Link to this Post
#1
oh_darling
VIP Dibber
 
oh_darling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 09
Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After - October 2016 *Final final update, 17 hours to go! *

This thread has been automatically created, because the original thread had over 500 posts.

The original thread was located HERE.

The first post was...

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!
Please feel free to carry on...

Edited at 02:39 PM.
oh_darling is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 8 Oct 16, 07:38 AM  
Link to this Post
#2
margyloveswdw
Deck 4, Disney Wonder
 
margyloveswdw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 08

margyloveswdw's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Restaurant Reviews: 1
Mobile

Great update! Can't believe it's almost here!

Just to let you know you can't have room service on the ship on debarkation morning. It's main dining room or buffet. So if you want breakfast in your room you'll need to plan it for another morning.
margyloveswdw is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 8 Oct 16, 05:26 PM  
Link to this Post
#3
DiddyDan
Excited about Disney
 
DiddyDan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 14
Hey Libby,

I'm off to Florida tomorrow, so just wanted to say hope you have the most amazing and brilliant wedding and trip! The whole thing sounds amazing and I think you will love the cruise!

Sorry, I have been keeping up with your plans I just haven't had a chance to reply!

We leave Orlando to go to Vegas on your wedding day, and I'm gutted because I could have just happened to be at the GF lol,

Anyways, have an amazing day! And I can't wait to hear all about it! x
__________________
Wedding pre-trip report - Dan & Dave's Orlando Wedding & Disneymoon Oct 15

With parents 00,01,04,07,12,13-With Dave! Xmas 08 Villa/09 Vegas-LA-San Fran/10 NY-Orlando KV, VB, RP & BLT/11 Vegas/12 LA & Disney Cali/14 DLP/15 Orlando Wedding/16 Orlando Poly & SSR & Vegas/17 Orlando BLT & SSR/17 DLP/18 Orlando
DiddyDan is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 8 Oct 16, 08:25 PM  
Link to this Post
#4
DrGLF
Trying for More Ears
 
DrGLF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 13
It's all sounding amazing! Hope the nerves aren't setting in.
DrGLF is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 11 Oct 16, 03:00 PM  
Link to this Post
#5
moosha
VIP Dibber
 
moosha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 11
For some reason I hadn't been in here since pretty much April 2015 so I've really enjoyed catching up with all the plans. It all looks and sounds absolutely amazing Libby, a real life fairytale .

I've probably said this before right at the beginning of the thread, but we got married at the Wedding Pavilion in 2001 and having been a WP bride, I know how completely magical and wonderful it all is.

We got married there when DFTW were not yet a thing (our simple Disney wedding cost about £2000 and we chose music, flowers, cake and our dove release from a little paper form Virgin Holidays sent us.) Francks didn't even exist then. One day I will post a report and photos of our experience so Dibber brides can see what a 'vintage' WP wedding was like. It's lovely that you are able to plan and personalise your special day so much more now.

I am so grateful to have been lucky enough to get married at the Wedding Pavilion and having gone back to Disney since then, it has been amazing to return to the Pavilion and GF and relive it. Especially having been able to show our girls where Mummy and Daddy got married... just fabulous. Reading about your plans made me think about how you have all that to come too in your futures .

Have a fantastic holiday / wedding / honeymoon, congratulations, and I can't wait to read all about it when you get back. Lots of love to you both xxx
moosha is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 11 Oct 16, 04:20 PM  
Link to this Post
#6
Pussycat Doll
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jun 09

theDIBB Guidebook
Pages Created: 1
So excited for you Libby, have a fabulous time, can't wait to see photos! Xx
Pussycat Doll is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 11 Oct 16, 11:12 PM  
Link to this Post
#7
oh_darling
Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
 
oh_darling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 09
Final big update! 3 days to go!


Oh my goodness guys. We are 3 days out from leaving. We go to Heathrow Friday afternoon, and then we fly Saturday morning eeeeee! We are SO excited! I really really wanted to squeeze in a final update so here goes, I hope I remember everything!

Feeling overwhelmed, and clothes shopping!
So we’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster of a week/2 weeks. Early last week I began feeling really stressed out and tearful, like feeling like I was going to burst into tears at work (eek! ) and I wasn’t really sure why. I got home on the Monday and we talked it all out and I decided I was just feeling overwhelmed. Which is fair enough, I mean it’s such a huge life event, there’s lot to organise, and it was all just getting a bit much for me. Even though our to do list was looking really good, I just felt like I needed some time to just sit and read Disney wedding trippies and just have a minute to take it all in, if that makes sense? Another thing that was stressing me was clothes, and we realised that this was probably the biggest issue! I just felt really underprepared clothes wise and I really wanted some nice new bits to wear for dinners etc – it is our honeymoon! I’m not a big shopper and this isn’t something that would normally bother me but for some reason it really really was. However, all the shops had A/W stuff in and I couldn’t physically find stuff online that I wanted! But, I set time aside on Tuesday and did a massive ASOS shop with like 9 tops and dresses and jeans. Free next day delivery, sooooo good! And then it all came and I only wanted to keep 1 pair of jeans hahhah! Undeterred, I went onto boohoo and placed another huuuuugeee order which came Saturday, again free next day delivery yay! And this time was way more successful, I’m keeping half of it! And it might sound silly but I am feeling so much happier and stress-free now because I’ve got some lovely clothes to wear and I feel confident that I’ll have choices when we’re out there, and I’ll look nice for my new husband So YAY, a big thing that has really helped me feel less overwhelmed! Here are some sneak peeks of my outfits because I know we all love a cheeky outfit haul













Shipping
So this was another thing thart I hadn’t realised had been stressing me out, but it had. Haha! We’d always planned to ship all our ceremony and reception bits in a box to the GF. Once we checked in the day before the wedding, we’d split out half into a bag for the ceremony, half for the reception, and we’d keep our gifts to give our at our rehearsal dinner. So we chose a box and packed it all up and it all fit perfectly. We got some quotes online for about £50 so not bad, but then we realised they were like shipping brokers, not the actual shipping companies. I Googled it and although the chances of the package going missing were no higher if you used a broker, quite a few people were saying that the customer service was a bit of a mare because obviously you wouldn’t be dealing with the actual companies. Soooo I started worrying. Chances are the box would reach the GF fine. But what if it didn’t? The box had all our gifts, tablenames, sequin tablecloth, placecards, Mr and Mrs sign, cake topper….loads of little bits that weren’t necessarily high cost, but in terms of sentimental value and trying to replace them all the day before the wedding…total mare! We’ve spent like 6 months collecting them all!

SO our awesome best man is taking it for us in a cabin case we’ve borrowed And Benj is taking the last few bits that won’t fit, in his cabin case which also has his suit and shoes in. I felt soooooo much better once we had decided to do this, it just means our wedding bits will always be in sight, and fingers crossed all will go smoothy. I actually think this was weighing on my mind more than I realised, and once we decided to do that, I felt so much happier. Our best man has collected the case tonight too, so all is well!

Drama!
So the last couple of weeks have also been a bit dramatic. The exchange rate has obviously fallen on its, shall we say, bottom! Which is pretty annoying, especially as we voted to stay which makes it even more frustrating. But hey, nothing we can do about it. We’ve changed over all our spending money now so there’s no point stressing, we’re not going to let it affect our dream trip

Hurricane Matthew was also another stressful experience...we were watching the news like crazy over the weekend and hoping everyone stayed safe as it was so so awful Obviously the effect it had on Haiti and other areas was horrendous and the whole thing was just awful, but we are thankful it seemed to miraculously not hit Orlando as much as was expected. Emotional rollercoaster!

Just to finish our week off a treat, Ben’s faithful car died on Thursday Poor Sammy the Saxo! Nothing we can do though again, it’s way too much to fix, and we can’t afford a new one slash haven’t got time before the wedding. So he’s getting lifts to work luckily for the forseeable future, and we’ll deal with it when we get back. He doesn’t want to spend these last few days worrying about that so we’re putting it out of our minds. On a similar note, work is both so so so busy for both of us at the moment that I honestly feel like I don’t have a second to think about the wedding until I’m driving home and then I get little bursts of excitement As I was driving home today Robbie William’s ‘Angels’ came on the radio and I started crying haha! We had our first kiss to that song and it holds special memories so I got totes emosh! I really think it’s starting to hit me now eeeekkkk! Anyway, carrying on the update now!

Cruise stickers
Obviously we needed to decorate our cruise door for our 4 night DIsney Dream cruise! I made us some super cute just married stickers and bought magnetic tape so we can stick them up on our cabin door when we get on the cruise Do you like them?





Calls with vendors
We had a call with Trinity about 2 weeks ago which was really helpful, and one with Ashley our photographer last night. We love Ashley sooooo much! So we’ve got a detailed timeline of where we need to be and when, and I think everyones on the same page which is awesome It’s so so mad Skyping these people and just casually chatting away about our wedding day which is A WEEK TOMORROW, me and Benj kept getting little excitement moments and just like squeezing each others arms haha

Marriage licence
I can’t remember if I mentioned this in my last update but we got the forms from Brevard County Court, filled them in, took them to a local registered notary who witnessed us signing them (and charged us £85 ) and then we emailed them back to the court. The whole process was super easy and way less stressful for us than having to find time to get to the courthouse given our limited time before the wedding, and the fact that we don’t have a car. Hurricane Matthew posed a slight threat as the court closed its offices over the weekend, but our licence has now been posted to Rev Tim Yay!

Wedding perfume
This doesn’t seem worthy of an entire section haha ut I am so in love with my wedding day perfume! My Mum actually suggested it to me when we were in Debenhams and I wasn’t expecting to like it as we have quite different tastes but I LOVED it! It’s La Vie est Belle by Lancome, I got the 50ml EDP and my gorgeous friend and wedding guest Lucy bought it for me using her John Lewis discount woooo! I’d like to wear it for my whole honeymoon though as it’s so gorgeous and can’t really bring more than 1 perfume - is this not allowed!? SHould it only be the actual wedding day, will it ruin my memories when I smell it once we’re home!? Thoughts please!

Dress
My dress is now at the shop with all alterations made yay! My Mum is picking it up for me Thursday and dropping it round bless her cause they’re only open 9-4 (flexible, ha) and obvs I work 9.5.30 like a normal person. I have this box for it…



Isn’t it beautifuL! I can’t wait to carry this on our travel day, I think it’s so so lovely What with my Bride jumper and Bride dress box, there’ll be no confusion about who I am hahaha!

I also Disney-fied my shoes



Table names and place settings
We finally sorted out our table names! We’re so pleased with how they came out My darling Dad spray painted the frames gold to match our theme, and I resized some attraction posters in Photoshop and put a vintage-y effect on them to make them all look similar So pleased!



And I made this sign for our guestbook!



I also did our name cards! I bought the cards ages ago and was going to ask someone who was good at writing to write them for us as we tried them and they didn’t look that great, but then the person who was going to help (my Mum’s colleague) had loads going on and in the end we decided it would be just be easier if we did them. So I did! I wrote the names in a nice swirly font that we’ve used throughout our wedding stationery (our ‘brand’ as Benj calls it hehe) and then used my phone as a kind of lightbox to go over the font if that makes sense? The cardstock of the name cards is really thick though so I kind of had to make up the thinner lines haha, but they’re done! I’m actually so pleased with how they look too!



We started packing on the weekend...this was my initial attempt!±



I’ve pretty much finished now though

Righteo I really need to get to bed and get some sleep! We’ve got 2 full days left at work, Benj is off Fri but I’ve got a half day. So the next two evenings will be spent beautifying (moi), packing, and getting excited! I honestly can not WAIT for that taxi to arrive at 3.30pm on Friday because then the holiday can really, truely begin!

Things still left to do according to the document that’s been my bible for the last year or so - a google doc called ‘Wedding Jobs’ that I colour code things green when theyre done

Send Ashley shot list for photos
Photocopy passports/take photo on phone
Finalise music and put on Spotify offline on iphone/ipads etc
Write vows (a fairly big one, this…)
Write Ben’s card
Receive final orders Superdrug, Boots etc (last minute haha)


We’ve also got some things to once we get out there i.e. send out our room number to people, hopefully cancel Carolyn Allens if my dress doesn’t need steaming (everyone thinks it won’t which is good!) so I’ve got a separate list for that. I also need to do all the usual wash hair, paint nails, beautify bits etc! Ooh and I need to save trippies offline on my ipad for the flight, essench!

I’m sorry this wasn’t a super long update but I’m really running out of time to get stuff done! I’ve still got the last of my daily plans to write which I’ll hopefully manage to do! Annndddd for now, I’ll leave you with my countdown...eeeekkk!

oh_darling is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 12 Oct 16, 06:29 PM  
Link to this Post
#8
saratogajan
Apprentice Imagineer
 
Join Date: Mar 15
Have a wonderful time. Looking forward to photos and reports after. Weather looks great next week over there.
saratogajan is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 11 Oct 16, 11:14 PM  
Link to this Post
#9
oh_darling
Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
 
oh_darling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 09
Sorry to everyone who has left such lovely comments I promise I'll reply to them, just wanted to get an update up tonight and I'm falling asleep haha! xxx
oh_darling is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 12 Oct 16, 06:18 AM  
Link to this Post
#10
donna252
VIP Dibber
 
Join Date: Jul 11
Mobile

Fab update!its so close now can't imagine how excited u must be. Everything sounds totally perfect ❤️❤️ x
__________________
AoA/RPROct 2014, New York Aug 2015, SSR/Cabana Bay/RPR/Poly March 2016, DLP June 2016, Las Vegas March 2017, DLP July 2017, Vero beach/Yacht Club Oct 2017, DLP March 2018, Dubai April 2018, New York Dec 2018, DLP July 2019, Lapland Dec 2019, Dubai Aug 2022, Disney Magic Sept 2022, Dubai Oct 2022, RPR/AKL/Coronado springs/Contemporary April 2022
donna252 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:11 PM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2367
CaxtonFX  $1.2309
Covent Garden FX  $1.2546
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2357
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 18:00 28/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1447
CaxtonFX  €1.1402
Covent Garden FX  €1.1506
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 18:00 28/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X