My Big Fat Disney Wedding September 2012 Pre-Trippie

[NatsyNoo]

OK, so this is part of the reason I'm doing a pre-trippie. I wanted to see the story of the wedding and how it developed into what it will be on the way!

So since I last updated this, there have been some changes to our plans

The first is my dress..I'm still not 100% decided, but a few weeks ago, I found another dress which is absolutely beautiful and I've fallen in love with it:



The general concensus from another thread I started is that it is preferred from my other one. I wouldn't have a veil as I don't think it would look right and it has a train. And even better, it's half the price! I'm looking to order it next summer after I've lost all my weight (almost 2 stone now!) and have been to try on some dresses so will tell you what I chose then!

The next things that have changed is photography. We've now decided against videography. We always ummed and aahed about this and thought, oh, we'll just do it. However, you'll see below, we just don't have so much money to spend and don't think we'll watch it in the future to it's full value. So I think we'll stick with our original idea and ask my dad to film it, and hope for the best

Due to a change in our hoped circumstances too, the bridal shoot is hanging in the balance! It's one of those things that would be totally amazing to do and we'd love to but not if it's the difference between the wedding being in 2012 or not due to £££. If we've got space on a credit card, maybe yes, we'll do it, but if we haven't, we can't. Simple as that. However, as a DFTW bride, the option is there for me to go back and do it on another trip. I'm hoping things will work out, but if it doesn't, we'll either have to do the Honeymoon Shoot or leave it for now. Keeping my fingers crossed and would appreciate some pixie dust to make this dream of mine come true somehow!

[NatsyNoo]

So, how about the actual holiday?!?!? After all, of a 21 night holiday, only 1 day of it will actually be the wedding! So what are our plans?

Well, when we usually go to WDW, we do all the Disney parks, Sea World, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Universal/Islands of Adventure. Last trip we did MNSSHP but that's usually it. It fills up our time

What I really wanted to make a conscious effort to do is make this trip more special by doing different things than normal. I don't want it to blend in, I want it to stand out!

Our Dibb planner has already been completed. Early, I know, but it is changing every day, and just gives me a base to work with and see how much time we have! It's by no means final, but it's nice to see what we have planned!

Once Disneyland Paris in November and Christmas are out the way, we are going to start saving for the trip so hope to be able to put money away every month. I am looking at the possibility of getting a second job as this would really help things and give us the money to make those magical moments happen. However, there's not much out there at the moment to be honest! I have based our saving planner on what we earn now apart from my hopeful payrise in December as I will have been signed off at work as an Underwriter and that's the next opportunity my salary can be reviewed. Anything else is a bonus!

So, the current plan is to stay for 3 weeks with the deluxe dining plan at Old Key West resort. Depending on pennies, the resort and dining may change but the duration is a certain! We really hope again things work out! If we can do this and the bridal shoots, everything will be so perfect and as we dreamed!

We are going to buy 21 day Ultimate tickets, and the 5 park combo pass, so we will visit Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, Sea World and Aquatica.

Due to the value of the FOTL passes, we have also decided to spend one night at the Hard Rock Hotel. We bought the Express passes last year and they were $30 each. With the opening of WWOHP, doing both parks in one day will now be difficult, even with Express passes (this is what we have done before) so we have planned to visit US/IOA for 2 days. FOTL passes would therefore cost $120 at the very least. Hard Rock Hotel for 1 night is only about £160-£180 for one night so for the privilege of staying in the hotel, we think it's worth it!

Next, every trip, we say 'shall we go see Cirque du Soleil or Blue Man Group', then crunch the numbers, and think, no we just can't stretch that far. Well this time, we're doing BOTH! The night we stay at HRH, we are going to see Blue Man Group. Later in the holiday, we are going to see Cirque du Soleil. After years of waiting, I in particular am so so so excited to see both of these! A totally new experience again and I can't wait!

I've also been reading other honeymoon trip reports for inspiration and have come across two other experiences that I think would be really special for this trip. We are planning to do the Penguin Encounter at Sea World (we both love penguins!) and the Serengeti Safari at Busch Gardens (I can't wait to hug a giraffe!). Again, we are both really excited about these!
Last year, as an engagement present (as I had a sneaky feeling Matt would propose), I booked Matt into the Sharks Deep Dive experience at Sea World, which he loved, so I'm sure the Worlds of Discovery teams will do us proud again!

Something else I've been reading with envy in other reports are raving reviews of the Keys to the Kingdom tour at the Magic Kingdom. Again, I am so excited about this: to learning the secrets, and getting the pin!

All in all, we have some fantastic experiences lined up!

You may all want to know also why we are booking the deluxe dining plan as that is a hell of a lot of food! I know! Even regular DDP defeats me!
However, I really would like to 'have a go' at most of the character breakfasts and signature dining/dinner shows during this once in a lifetime trip! So that's exactly what we're going to do! It's cheaper to upgrade to DxDDP than get regular DDP and pay OOP for the other experiences. So we are looking to do most of the character dining experiences and signature dining, including Spirit of Aloha and Hoop de Doo Musical Review. It's not something we'd ever do again, but for this trip, it feels right. We both love our food (hence my diet! ) so it won't be wasted

I think that's about it that is out of the norm for us!

Take a look at our plan and see what you think! I'd love to hear your comments. I will warn you now, we are pretty hardcore and do not take rest days. Water parks are about as close to rest as we get, but without kids, there's just no need for them. If we need a half day one day, or a little lay in, we'll do it but we are so high on adrenalin for the duration, usually, we're just ready to go! We like to make the most of every single second and I honestly can say we really do. I never get on that plane home and think 'oh I wish we hadn't wasted time doing this, this or this'

[NatsyNoo]

I am hopeful that my family will come to celebrate with us, but that's not a given as it stands. I won't go into it, but it's just not a certainty right now. If it's just the two of us, it'll still be perfect and amazing, but I'd love to celebrate with the people I love so much, so my mum, dad, brother and sisters (who will be 24, 3 and 3 at the time) and nan

If they don't come, this plan might change, and in all likelihood, we'd probably stick with the hen option and try to fit the stag option in elsewhere within our plan

Before we do anything, I'd like us all to go out and have dinner together. We won't be doing many group family things at all on the trip as my family just isn't like that. We all like doing our own thing. So, the night of the hen/stag (the night before the wedding), we'll all go to Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge. I've chosen this restaurant as on our last trip, Matt and I discovered it for us and we just loved it. We had an absolute blast and laughed a lot! I'd love for my family to experience it too but don't know that they'd find it without me. They don't Dibb like I do!

So we're planning for us all to dine here at about 7.30pm, and hopefully share a few skillets...mmmm... my mouth is watering!

Then, we split off...boys and girls:

Hen

I've never been before, and have always wanted to, so I think it'd be a hoot to go to Jellyrolls. I don't drink, and am not a crazy party animal (not boring, just a bit sensible) so would love to go and enjoy the music and the comedy and some banter. I've not looked too much into what goes on here as I want it to be a surprise, but it sounds like the perfect thing for me to do on my hen night. I really hate the idea of doing the drunken night out in town thing. It's not me any more. I've been there and done that at university. So I am really excited about this!

Stag

Matt's 'dream' is to visit Hooters. Classy, I know! I think he thinks the ladies are actually displaying their modesty. I think he'll be unpleasantly surprised. But he does love chicken wings so I hope he'll go and have a few drinks with my dad, sister's fiance and possibly his mum and stepdad, and enjoy his last night of freedom! Let's hope my irresponsible dad looks after him a bit!

[NatsyNoo]

We are planning on having our ceremony at Sea Breeze Point, Boardwalk, hopefully on Friday 7th September 2012, if our current plan sticks

We originally had chosen the Yacht Club Rose Garden as this where I had seen my first Disney Wedding and always dreamed of it. However, having read several trip reports from SBP, I really liked the setting. What I would say is that at either venue, the photo opportunities are amazing, as you have the Yacht Club rose gardens and building (which I love), the beach, the pier and the Boardwalk

We also considered the Wedding Pavilion, however, for the ambience we wanted, we thought it would just be a bit big, especially if my family isn't able to come

We are hoping to have our ceremony at 12pm. I don't think I can wait much longer than that, but I think 10am would make it a very long day and I couldn't have the relaxing morning that I picture for my wedding day

I am hoping that my mum will stay the Yacht Club, so I'll kip with her. Not sure of an alternative plan for that currently. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but I don't want to see Matt that morning, so we will be booking an extra hotel room, and I'll likely stay at Yacht Club while he stays at our hotel, as I will be close to the venue, can have my pre-wedding photos with Randy Chapman at the venue and in the Yacht Club, and we can save our limo hire

As mentioned in a previous post, we are having Randy Chapman and DFTW photographers, so after the ceremony and cake cutting, we will be busy having our pictures taken

We are going to pick the Mickey's Delight cake (2 tier) with Mickey & Minnie cake topper, like this one:



I really like the Mickey Wave (2 tier with Mickey & Minnie cake topper) but it'll cost a lot of money to upgrade



We are then going to have our first dinner as a married couple at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. It's our favourite restaurant in WDW and we are both steak lovers. We just can't wait! If we are going to be a big party, we will have to take an early ADR, but that's fine. If just the two of us, we'll probably just hang out a bit longer and enjoy each other's company, and then go for a later ADR

After dinner, we are planning to use our limo service and go to the Polynesian Resort and watch Wishes on the beach. The music is piped in there so it'll be the perfect end to a perfect day (I hope! )

It would be lovely to do a wedding with a reception in a private room with a personalised menu and a dessert party, and I'm really pleased for people who can, but we simply can't afford it, and don't think by not doing it that it will take away from our day. What we have planned is perfect for us. But we are on a restricted budget, and there are definitely other things we'd rather spend our pennies on!

Also, we'd love to have Mickey and Minnie there, and Cinderella's Carriage, of course we would, but same thing...there are just other priorities. There's always hoping dad will sort it out as a surprise! It would be amazing!
Our priority financially though is getting there, the wedding, and then the bridal shoots. If we can, we'll do it, but if we can't, it's still going to be so perfect!

[Guest]

AARRRRR Nat your plans seem so magical and romantic! Sooo looking forward to your pictures! Ur dress is stunning and I think crystal shoes would go perfectly a true disney princess dress and shoes to match perfect! I really need to do my wedding report and honeymoon plans!

[Sarah84]

Ooh lots of updates


Firstly congratulations on the weight loss, 2 stone is fantastic achievement.
Thats great you prefer the other dress, so you save half the money (more spends for Disney )
You are doing so well holding off going to try dresses on, honestly it was the first thing i wanted to do when I got back from holiday after getting engaged.

Cutting out the videography for money saving seems a good idea to me, it will probably be one of the least things you'll notice not having and you'll still have all the fantastic photos & memories of the day, a video will probably get watched less than you even think it would which is one of the reason we haven't even bothered considering it.

I hope you manage to find the ££ or space on a cc for that bridal shoot, although you'd rather cut it than not have the wedding i understand why you'd love to have it so some for that. I'm also considering not having it now, well like you it will depend on funds but I don't think I will be to upset if we have to cut it, that early morning puts me off a lot.
Not sure if you are aware but I think the shoot has to be done within a year of the wedding, just wanted to say incase you didn't know.

Your holiday plans sound great, 21 nights in Orlando will be great fin espcially with doing new & special things you haven't done before.
I was going to complete my Dibb planner but thought people make think im a loon i already have a spreadsheet all made up with rough idea of day to day plans like you, i wanted to get an idea of how much time we had etc

Though do you relise with the Escape package you get annual passes? so those 21 day tickets for Disney are not needed


I hope your family do go out and celebrate with you, we don't know at the moment who from Darrens family if any will be there. Its a horrible feeling i'm sure to not even know if any of your own family will be at your wedding.
Will you be having any friends or Matt's family there?

I do have one suggestion, although you may be ok with keeping it as it is as like me you say you're not really a drinker but would you not prefer the hen/stag evening 2 nights before rather than the night before the wedding? we are doing this mainly because I want more of a relaxing day, the day before so I don't feel all tired etc on the wedding day. I have read quite a few brides saying they wish they had relaxed a bit more the day before.
Glad to hear you say good things about Whispering Canyon though as we are planning on going there for a 'end of wedding celebrations' meal 2 nights after the wedding, which will be the night before my sister, mum etc plan to fly home.

[Rachy]

We were exactly the same as you with the videographer, decided we wouldn't watch it and we should save the money, but then decided to go for it. We don't have a video camera for one so it would mean forking out for one, and then not exactly sure who we would get to film it. Will probably never end up watching the video again but i do agree though it is one expense which can be cut.

Never know though the dollar rate may rise next year and you may be able to afford more things that you originally thought. Will keep my fingers crossed. Rest of the plans sound great and i love your new dress.
We are doing Planet Hollywood night before our wedding, kind of a joint hen/stag do and a good place for people to meet. The atmosphere is good so if people decide not to chat, it won't feel awkward. Families eh?

Rachel
x

[sarahewoods]

Your plans are really coming along now, i love the dress it is beautiful. I would have loved to get married at Disney, but we were'nt that lucky. Maybe a rewenel(sp) one day.
Keep up the good work xx

[NatsyNoo]

Thanks all for your comments!

Rachy - I definitely think the $$$ rate will have a massive part to play in what we can and cannot afford, so keeping our finger crossed but have been working with a 1.5 rate. Planet Hollywood is another really good idea, but I want to go somewhere none of my family have been so it's different and exciting!

Sarah - I really hope we can do the bridal or honeymoon shoot. I really don't mind the early morning and I just think the pictures would be amazing and something to cherish forever. We have photos all round our house and we look at our previous holiday photos all the time so that's how I know photography would never be a waste! I think we'd definitely have to do the honeymoon shoot so we have some extra pictures and I'd buy a white sundress or something but it's the bridal one I really want and I will do whatever I can and have to to get it! As with everything, it depends on £££ and $$$!
I know we get the APs with the package, which is excellent, but we are hoping to qualify for free DDP and just paying for the deluxe upgrade, and to get that we have to buy passes. We are using the APs for KTTK discount and merchandise discount so they won't be completely wasted. Otherwise, we could consider selling them I guess. It's not something I've looked into at all but it could get us some cash that might just pay for the bridal shoot! I might look into that a little bit later
I too hope my family come. My dad, mum and nan all have money behind them and if my sister really tried hard, she could definitely afford at least 1 week at All Stars. Her fiance's family own DVC so they could even use points to keep it cheap. It's just determination. She's part-ex'd her 2005 VW Lupo today and bought a new Yaris so she can't be that hard up! I'll be cross if she doesn't even try and I'll be upset if no-one else wants to try either. We'll still enjoy it on our own but the other thing we have to consider is that my mum and dad have offered to pay the DFTW package IF we buy a house first. We're just speaking to brokers about mortgages now. We have our deposit but not fees so we've got to save that but I'm hoping it'll get sorted in the next year so we can be sure. I wish I could ask them if they'll still give us the money but they are all very cagey about talking about the wedding so I don't want to ask just now. We're sending our Save the Dates next month so fingers crossed it doesn't all kick off. It's another story though!
We don't think any of Matt's family will come. He doesn't know his dad and his mum put him into care at 14 years old so he doesn't really have a close relationship with her and his stepdad at all. We don't think they'll be willing to shell out to come out to the wedding, though they may surprise us, and they don't have loads of money either so it's a big ask. Matt isn't bothered at all which is reassuring. The only reason they'd come is if Matt's children were to come but we're not sure that they are yet as it's another massive expense that we're not sure we can manage so it's a bit uncertain at the moment. Matt would love them to be there but doesn't want to add additional strain, and we will take them separately to DLP instead and give them a special job at the UK party too so they will still be included. Also, we're travelling in term time so we'd have to take them out of school which his ex-wife wouldn't be so keen on either. I'm not telling you this to start a debate, it's not my intention, but we've discussed it, and it's a decision we're both comfortable with and we'll just have to see. A lot of things are up in the air with the wedding atm!
I like your suggestion about the stag/hen and have considered doing it 2 days before. However, I don't think it's going to be a very crazy one and I don't think I'll sleep well anyway so a late night is probably in order anyway. We are going to Epcot in the day, just me and Matt, and that is normally considered by us to be a fairly relaxing day anyway. Things might change nearer the time though!

Sarah - despite being a DFTW bride (hopefully) a vow renewal is also definitely on the cards! I hope you get the chance to do it!

[NatsyNoo]

It is not our intention to go crazy with wedding presents to each other. The wedding and honeymoon are going to be so fantastic and we have so many things planned that they are essentially the presents

However, we are going to buy each other a token something

I think Matt is going to get me a simple crystal necklace on a silver or white gold chain with matching crystal single stud earrings. Really simple, as I think it's what my dress needs.

We discussed me booking him onto the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the WDW Speedway, but he doesn't feel like he wants to do it enough to spend that much money. So I don't think we'll go ahead with that.

I am instead going to get him a gift basket to be created and delivered to him by Carrie of Destination Occasion.
Here is what I think I will get him in it - Bride & Groom Mickey & Minnie plushes, pen, Mr & Mrs mugs; then a beach towel, Stitch pen and a couple of 2012 souveniers (e.g. fridge magnet, pen); then a couple of things that I will arrange with Carrie and get sent to her - after shave, some 'so you don't get cold feet' socks and a 'how to be a good husband' book. I'm sure I'll think of other things but this will be really personal and a lot of the stuff inside we'd probably get anyway!
The basket will cost $60 for the shopping, gift wrap and delivery service, plus whatever I buy to put inside, which I'm sure will soon add up!

For our guests, me and Matt have lived together since 2007 so don't really need any 'stuff'. We will not be asking for presents, but I'm sure that some people will want to give us something, so think it would therefore be prudent to set up a Registry for if people wish to.

We have therefore decided to set up a Disney Honeymoon Gift Registry:

honeymoonregistry.disney.go.c...HomePageRender

We will select merchandise and experiences that we want to participate in, and people will then be able to select what they buy us. However, the money essentially gets put into a pot and put onto a special Honeymoon gift card for us to spend in WDW as we wish. For example, we want to do the KTTK tour, but will have bought our tickets in advance, so we will say that person A bought that for us, but will still have the money to spend elsewhere if we want. I'm sure it'll all get spent if people are kind enough to contribute to it, but if it doesn't, it'll be good to use next visit.

We are planning to put a poem in with our UK party invites (details to follow about invites and UK party) with the presence/presents line, and if people want to contribute, it'll be greatly appreciated!

The gift card is a special edition gift card for honeymoon registry users only, so will make a lovely keepsake also!