it's flying by

When we got engaged nearly 2 years ago, I had grand plans to really savor each moment of our wedding planning process. My mom bought me a journal for all my wedding plans and ideas. I've used it, that's for sure, but have I used it to write really descriptive entries about what I'm thinking, feeling, wishing and hoping for? No. I've jotted down music ideas, floral ideas, little thoughts here and there. I have a huge excel spreadsheet on my computer at work full of my plans: guest list, budgets, seating charts, group events, vendors, and more. It's my wedding-planning bible.

Planning a destination wedding has been a really neat experience - one that I would not trade for anything. I know our wedding will be incredibly fun and unique. I feel a little sad that I haven't chronicled it the way I'd imagined. Now that we are 33 days away from our I Do's (!!!) I want to somehow capture it all so that I will remember it in 5, 10, 15, 20 years. I know that is not an attainable goal right now - with so many other items that need to be crossed off my to-do list. Not to mention my last-ditch effort to lose a few pounds before the big day! I definitely have a full plate for the next four and a half weeks.

So. I am making a commitment to capture as many details of our wedding week as possible. I want to recount it all on this blog - from the day we arrive in Disney until the day we leave. Here is a quick snapshot of what that week should go:

Friday: Arrive in Orlando around 10:00AM, head to our resort to check-in, pick up our tuxes from Bell Services and make sure they all fit, get together all of our wedding items and deliver them to Franck's (the wedding studio by the Wedding Pavilion), and maaaybe if we aren't too exhausted, hop on the monorail and head into the Magic Kingdom. That night we have our first group event - dinner reservations at my parent's resort with 14 of our guests.
Saturday: sleep in! We are heading to Epcot around noon to kick off our second group event: Celebrating Around the World. We are planning to hit as many of the countries in World Showcase as we can to sample food and drinks. Yum! That night John and I have reservations with his best man and one of my bridesmaids at an Italian restaurant.
Sunday: Our rehearsal is at 9:30 in the morning and from there we go straight to our rehearsal brunch with our wedding party. After that we are inviting everyone back to our resort for an afternoon of lounging around the pool. Hoping to keep it low-key and relaxed...I know I will be a bundle of nerves with the wedding the next day!
Monday: WEDDING DAY! Cosmetology will arrive around 6:30 in the morning, the photographer & videographer arrive around 9:00, and we head over to the Grand Floridian Resort around 10:30 for bridal party photos. Wedding is at 12:00, cocktail hour at 1:00, reception at 2:00, and our Epcot dessert party is at 8:00. It will be a long day but I think it's going to be incredibly amazing.
Tuesday: sleep in! We have breakfast reservations around 10am, and then we'll see where the day takes us. We have our farewell dinner at the Polynesian that night with 26 guests.
Wednesday-Sunday: Other than our dining reservations, we have no concrete plans. We'll probably go with the flow and try to hang out with as many of our guests as we can before everyone heads back home. After all, how many chances will we ever get to be in the happiest place in the world with the people we love the most? Nada!

So that's my goal: when we get back, I am going to bore you with all the little details of our wedding events! While I am sad that I have not chronicled my planning thus far, I really want to make sure I write it all down afterwards. Plus, I am sure it will help with the post-wedding blues - I won't know what to do with all my free time!

BTW - we have a new addition to our family. Coming up in my next post!

you are invited

So much for that posting-every-day thing. Sometimes life just gets busy, right?

This month has flown by. I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone already! Today I realized that we have 146 days until the wedding. [Insert panic mode here]. We have had such a long engagement - it has always felt like the wedding was so far away. I swear it was just yesterday that we hit the 9 month mark. I wrote down all of my 'to-do' items in one place yesterday and the list is a little overwhelming. I am DIY-ing a lot of things (invitations, programs, favors, table names, place cards, etc) so I need to get my butt in gear as far as starting all of those projects. My goal is to have all of my DIY items completed one month before the wedding - which only gives me a little under four months.

I am not a very crafty, creative person by nature. I totally missed out on the artsy gene in my family. I like to scrapbook but I get frustrated with my boring layouts and design ideas. I am never sure if my color combinations or fonts fit well together. I've been ordering paper samples from this website to try to get a feel for what works well together within my color scheme. Now I need to bite the bullet and order the supplies - these invites need to go out 3 months before the wedding which is fast approaching.



This is my inspiration design-wise. I like the pocketfold and the option to insert enclosures with additional information. Having a destination wedding is a lot of work - coordinating 40 people's vacations is quite a task! These enclosures will be a nice way to include information like things to do, places to eat, etc. I think I'm also going to have one enclosure with an itinerary for the wedding weekend so our guests will know where they can meet up with us if they'd like to. I can order the pocket fold from C&P, and then go to a local craft store to get cardstock for the invitation and enclosure portion. I'm excited about picking out ribbons and accessories to spruce them up a bit. Hopefully they don't come out looking like a 3rd grade art project. This is why I need to give myself a good six weeks to work on them!

it's real

On Thursday, my wedding consulant faxed me our Letter of Agreement (aka, our contract with Disney). I have been waiting for this for months - this means we are officially getting married in Disney! (Not that there was any question before...it's just all official now and our guests can start planning their trips).

On Monday May 23, 2011, at 12:00 in the afternoon, I will walk down the aisle of Disney's beautiful Wedding Pavilion to become Mrs. F---, to marry my best friend in the entire world. It is crazy that it is set in stone now - deposit will be sent tomorrow, wedding planner will be assigned in the next couple weeks, and OH MY GOSH I'M GETTING MARRIED! When we got engaged almost a year ago, May/June of 2011 seemed so far away. Now we are 351 days away from the start of our happily ever after and I could not be more excited!

I feel like there are so many things I should be thinking about. We now have all of the major things checked off our list: venue, photographer, videographer, hair & makeup artist, the wedding dress!, and bridesmaid dresses. Oh, and my awesome newsletter went out to all of our guests on Saturday! (If you'd like to see the PDF version let me know - I can email it to you!). In the next few weeks I am hoping to get John to go to Men's Warehouse with me to look at different suits and get prices for renting/buying them. I'd also like to go to a craft store that is about 30 minutes away to look at some silk flowers so I can decide if we'll be making bridesmaid bouquets or if we will use live flowers through Disney Floral.

I am so excited for this coming year. It is a bit surreal that we are getting married in less than a year - holy cow! This time next year I will be a Mrs.

bouncy

Home from Disney! It was an exhausting trip because we did. not. stop. moving. for. three. days.

I was under the impression that it would be a relaxing trip since I was going with my grandmother who doesn't move around all that well - but good Lord did she find energy from somewhere! We didn't stop for the entire vacation. And trucking around parks crowded with thousands of people for three days during peak season is not my idea of a fun time. Don't get me wrong, I did have fun but I just much prefer going in January when the crowds are at a bare minimum. We had a great time and maybe I'll post pictures in a couple days.

I'm glad to be home with my babies and I am LOVING the weather here! 80 degrees, sunny, no humidity - absolutely perfect. I only have like three weeks left of classes and then I'm done for three months which is the best news ever. And my boss' mom is talking about making me the director of the theraputic recreation department - which is what I eventually want to get into for a career, so that is exciting.

I'm in such a good mood today, it must be this weather!