We have worked out the issues with the Sheraton and signed with them. We are due to be married in January, so yay!
Of course now, with about 5 months until the wedding day, we need to turn our full attention to the decorations. We're not incredibly rich, actually, we're on a very tight budget, so we were trying to think of a nice theme that would be fun and playful, but most importantly - cheap.
The solution? Origami! It's colorful, fun-looking, you can make just about anything with origami, and it's very very cheap. I do have some minor edge over others in that I am more familiar with origami than others since I've been obsessed with it since I was a little girl. Since origami is super vague and could mean freaking anything, we decided to further specify our theme as being origami - spring time.
The way we plan to incorporate this is by having origami flowers as the centerpieces for each table, using origami butterflies as the place-cards, placing origami insects around the room (along with many many flowers), and hanging little origami balloons off of chairs. On top of that, I have decided to make my bridal and bridesmaids' bouquets entirely out of origami flowers.
The good news: all of the decorations, centerpieces, bouquets, and place-cards will be very cheap, totaling less than $150 for paper, vases, and bouquet bases, which is about $750 (floral only) for the average wedding.
The bad news: it's a lot of work.
Here's all of what we are making out of paper for the wedding:
90 butterfly place-cards
9 reception table centerpieces (24 origami tulips per arrangement - that's 216 origami tulips)
2 cherry blossoms per reception table (each flower is made of 5 pieces of paper)
23 candy dishes (2 per reception table, the rest on the dessert and hors d'oeuvres tables)
3 bridesmaids bouquets (each containing about 70 flowers)
1 bridal bouquet (containing about 120 flowers)
4 boutonnieres
10 balloon w/floral aisle decorations
50 origami insects to be scattered around the room
100 additional flowers to be placed around the room
1 paper bonsai sculpture (approximately 550 sheets of paper)
1 paper peacock sculpture (approximately 800 sheets of paper)
When it's all said and done, I will have used about 5000 very colorful sheets of paper (all for the whopping cost of 50 bucks). Does it sound like I'm a mass tree-murderer? Well, I worried about that too, and the obvious fix is to make everything so beautiful that no one will want to chuck it, instead, they'd want to keep it. Everything will last a long time since nothing is made from fresh flowers, meaning they'll make excellent gifts for family and friends who want to snatch them up. Since my bouquet will have required so many hours of labor, I will not be tossing it, that's for sure! We already have plans for getting a vase to place my bouquet in as a decoration for our home.
Since I've started early and have no plans of slowing down or stopping, having these decorations prepared by the wedding date is probably a reasonable expectation. At least, I sure hope so...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Booking the venue
We looked at two more venues for the ceremony and reception at the Hilton and Sheraton. We were impressed by both, and both representatives were willing to cut us some very nice deals for a January wedding. Obviously, since people aren't exactly lining up to have a January wedding, venues tend to be cheaper.
The Sheraton usually charges $1000 per event for prime time seasons, but for January, we were offered a price of $250 per event. Not bad, huh? The ballrooms are very lovely, have these great lighted alcoves, and are spacious and clean, unlike Savage Mill. Also, I would have a parlor-area to wait in and a complimentary suite to stay in the night before (where I could obviously get dressed and ready for the big day). This completely outshines the small, cluttered office that Savage Mill only had to offer. The menus are absolutely amazing and offer a ton of food for not a bad price. For the brunch menu (which is definitely their best deal), you get an omelet station complete with toppings, a waffle station complete with toppings, breakfast meats, potatoes, three lunch entrees, hors d'oeuvres served after the ceremony and before the reception, non-alcoholic beverages (juice, lemonade, and iced tea), and a dessert station. All of this for about $65 per person. Additionally, the staff would be setting up all of our decorations in addition to the linens and stuff. That was really nice to know.
The Hilton... there's not much to say. This whole setup is basically the same as the Sheraton. The main difference is that they don't charge room rental fees; you only pay for the food costs. They also have ballrooms that you can hold events in as well as as the hotel lobby which is very interesting looking and very nice. Since the hotel is a business hotel, a wedding event on a Sunday in January will pretty much guarantee that there won't be any unwanted bathing-suit-clad tourists walking through your reception. The downside is that the pool is nearby as is the bar. Since January is a big football month, we aren't exactly fond the idea of our guests running off to watch the game.
It was definitely a difficult decision to make. Both places were absolutely wonderful, and we were satisfied in knowing that no matter which one we went with, the ceremony and reception would be fantastic.
I suppose we were more impressed with the Sheraton overall (my fiance was so excited about the Sheraton he was literally hopping like he was high on cocaine).
When we requested a contract for the Sheraton ballroom, we found a couple of things in the contract that really threw us off. We have to call the representative back to ask for a changed contract.
The first problem was that they never guaranteed us the ballroom we wanted, or any ballroom for that matter. We want to specify in the contract which ballroom we want, since we actually did tell the representative which one we wanted. I can't imagine what would happen if we didn't have a ballroom. Where would the ceremony and reception be if not in a ballroom? The lobby bathroom?
The second problem is that the contract stated that Sheraton could cancel our reservations at any time for any reason. Haha... no. If someone comes along and offers triple what we paid for the ballroom, they could just throw us out the window and we'd be screwed? I don't think so. If we are signing with them, they are changing that part.
The Sheraton usually charges $1000 per event for prime time seasons, but for January, we were offered a price of $250 per event. Not bad, huh? The ballrooms are very lovely, have these great lighted alcoves, and are spacious and clean, unlike Savage Mill. Also, I would have a parlor-area to wait in and a complimentary suite to stay in the night before (where I could obviously get dressed and ready for the big day). This completely outshines the small, cluttered office that Savage Mill only had to offer. The menus are absolutely amazing and offer a ton of food for not a bad price. For the brunch menu (which is definitely their best deal), you get an omelet station complete with toppings, a waffle station complete with toppings, breakfast meats, potatoes, three lunch entrees, hors d'oeuvres served after the ceremony and before the reception, non-alcoholic beverages (juice, lemonade, and iced tea), and a dessert station. All of this for about $65 per person. Additionally, the staff would be setting up all of our decorations in addition to the linens and stuff. That was really nice to know.
The Hilton... there's not much to say. This whole setup is basically the same as the Sheraton. The main difference is that they don't charge room rental fees; you only pay for the food costs. They also have ballrooms that you can hold events in as well as as the hotel lobby which is very interesting looking and very nice. Since the hotel is a business hotel, a wedding event on a Sunday in January will pretty much guarantee that there won't be any unwanted bathing-suit-clad tourists walking through your reception. The downside is that the pool is nearby as is the bar. Since January is a big football month, we aren't exactly fond the idea of our guests running off to watch the game.
It was definitely a difficult decision to make. Both places were absolutely wonderful, and we were satisfied in knowing that no matter which one we went with, the ceremony and reception would be fantastic.
I suppose we were more impressed with the Sheraton overall (my fiance was so excited about the Sheraton he was literally hopping like he was high on cocaine).
When we requested a contract for the Sheraton ballroom, we found a couple of things in the contract that really threw us off. We have to call the representative back to ask for a changed contract.
The first problem was that they never guaranteed us the ballroom we wanted, or any ballroom for that matter. We want to specify in the contract which ballroom we want, since we actually did tell the representative which one we wanted. I can't imagine what would happen if we didn't have a ballroom. Where would the ceremony and reception be if not in a ballroom? The lobby bathroom?
The second problem is that the contract stated that Sheraton could cancel our reservations at any time for any reason. Haha... no. If someone comes along and offers triple what we paid for the ballroom, they could just throw us out the window and we'd be screwed? I don't think so. If we are signing with them, they are changing that part.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The frustrations of finding a venue
When we first started dating, almost all of the first dates were at Savage Mill. We shared our first kiss at Savage Mill's park, we first held hands at Savage Mill, we bonded and grew closer at Savage Mill, and my fiance proposed to me at Savage Mill. Because of all this, and the charming antique look of the place, we thought it would be great if we could also be married at Savage Mill. How romantic would that be? ;)
So, we made a meeting to talk to the manager of The Great Room. The problems with this place are plentiful.
Where to start... well, first off, the place is dirty and dusty. The windows don't look like they've been cleaned in a long time. There were dead insects littering the window sills. Maybe they were going to clean it up soon for the next event. Ahem.. they had had an event the night before... and it's June... this is major wedding season. If the windows aren't clean now, they won't ever be clean for future events. Oh, but they're just windows right, surely they've cleaned more important parts of the room. Ha ha... No. The floors, tables, and chairs are all filthy too. We weren't thrilled going into the meeting after seeing how dirty everything was, but we figured we needed to meet with her to see what redeeming qualities The Great Room has to offer (I mean, it was a top pick for The Knot in 2008, right?)
For the months of April to December, they have a tent set up on the balcony connected to The Great Room. So, if you book this room for the reception, you could have the wedding on the balcony and the reception in the actual room. Well, our wedding is going to be in January, so we can't use the balcony. So what the hell are we supposed to do for the reception? The manager told us that we could have the ceremony on the dance floor (which, in my opinion is extraordinarily tacky, but for some reason, other broke brides choose to do that). The catch is that only 70 people can be seated on the dance floor. We have about 80-90 people coming to the wedding, so the rest of them would be seated at tables. That is just way too tacky for me to even consider. That is such a bad idea that I decided at that point that The Great Room was out.
At this point, we are looking at some nice hotels in the area as another cheap way to have a nice wedding. We have a meeting next week with Hilton, and we're also waiting to hear back from Sheraton. Hopefully we can book a freaking place soon here.
So, we made a meeting to talk to the manager of The Great Room. The problems with this place are plentiful.
Where to start... well, first off, the place is dirty and dusty. The windows don't look like they've been cleaned in a long time. There were dead insects littering the window sills. Maybe they were going to clean it up soon for the next event. Ahem.. they had had an event the night before... and it's June... this is major wedding season. If the windows aren't clean now, they won't ever be clean for future events. Oh, but they're just windows right, surely they've cleaned more important parts of the room. Ha ha... No. The floors, tables, and chairs are all filthy too. We weren't thrilled going into the meeting after seeing how dirty everything was, but we figured we needed to meet with her to see what redeeming qualities The Great Room has to offer (I mean, it was a top pick for The Knot in 2008, right?)
For the months of April to December, they have a tent set up on the balcony connected to The Great Room. So, if you book this room for the reception, you could have the wedding on the balcony and the reception in the actual room. Well, our wedding is going to be in January, so we can't use the balcony. So what the hell are we supposed to do for the reception? The manager told us that we could have the ceremony on the dance floor (which, in my opinion is extraordinarily tacky, but for some reason, other broke brides choose to do that). The catch is that only 70 people can be seated on the dance floor. We have about 80-90 people coming to the wedding, so the rest of them would be seated at tables. That is just way too tacky for me to even consider. That is such a bad idea that I decided at that point that The Great Room was out.
At this point, we are looking at some nice hotels in the area as another cheap way to have a nice wedding. We have a meeting next week with Hilton, and we're also waiting to hear back from Sheraton. Hopefully we can book a freaking place soon here.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wedding Registry
To get my mind off of all the stress that is buzzing around, I turned my attention to the ever-important wedding registry. Being an independent person, I usually buy things for myself as they go on sale and I have the money for it, so I really have a lot of the important things for the home already. What else do you ask for on your wedding registry? I personally had no clue.
The first thing I asked myself was: Do I actually need a wedding registry?
The answer for me was that I do indeed need one. Since I have been accumulating appliances and other home goods for the past several months, the likelihood of some of our guests buying something for us that we already have is much higher. I don't know about you, but I really would hate to get a bunch of chores to run on my wedding night - you know, having to go and exchange things at various stores.
Of course, when you do decide to make a wedding registry, you have to be concerned about two things: people being really cheap, and asking for too much.
If you put a bunch of really cheap things on your lists along with the more expensive things, then you are more likely to only get the cheap things on your list. Also, if you ask for a whole bunch of stuff on your registry list, you are more likely to not get as much of it. Sites often suggest a number of gifts to include on your registry depending on the number of guests attending your wedding, and that's great and all, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll get all of those things.
Especially since we are in a recession (and a really bad one at that), everyone must put their minds to the priorities as well as the cost. Fine china is really nice to own, but how practical is that? All you're doing is covering your plate with food, so you really shouldn't be looking at it (if you're hosting your social event right, anyway, your guests shouldn't be bored enough to stare at their plates). It's much more practical to get a dining set that you would actually use for events other than the super fancy dinners you're imagining you might have in the future (you know, the ones that aren't actually going to happen).
Looking for a site that has most of what I want and having those things at a price that doesn't floor me is really freaking hard. Like any other person with dignity, I will not even consider Wal-mart for my wedding registry. But where else? Sonoma is a nice store, but they are way too pricey for it to be reasonable to expect that I would even get a majority of what I ask for from there. Even Macy's was just too expensive for certain things that I just thought was just not reasonable.
I ended up going with Sears, since they have a lot of the pieces of furniture that I want at a price that I think is reasonable. On the other hand, Sears did not have everything that I wanted at a price that I liked, so I looked elsewhere, and found that Kohl's filled in a lot of those gaps. Kohl's seems to overprice the items that Sears offers at a more reasonable price and vice versa. For all of the cheap stuff that both sites overprice, Target offers at a liveable price.
Three registries. Is that bad? Probably not. Since Target offers things at such a cheap price, and I happen to have had a very bad experience with Target-bought furniture (and thus, will not get anymore furniture from Target), there isn't much on my Target registry, and it is all very cheap stuff. That leads to my next problem:
Deciding which items to keep on the registry. When I first made these registries, I put everything on them. Everything I wanted to buy and everything I'd love to have in my new home. However, when I totaled up the values of the registries, it was over $10,000.
Since family members are always stingier than you originally anticipate, I knew that the value had to be brought down to a more reasonable number. In order to achieve this I went through and eliminated the items that were cheap enough that I would be able to buy it at the next sale I happen upon.
Next, I went through and deleted all of the items that were either too strangely-shaped or too large for me to be able to store before I find a new home.
Now, I think that I finally have two wedding registries that I am confident about putting out there for guests to select wedding gifts from: the one with Kohl's, and the one with Sears. The one with Target may just have to be a private shopping list since the items on it are just too cheap for it to be great for guests to pick from.
I don't know if my hypotheses will turn out to be correct, but, we shall see what sort of turn-out I manage to get based on what I've reasoned.
The first thing I asked myself was: Do I actually need a wedding registry?
The answer for me was that I do indeed need one. Since I have been accumulating appliances and other home goods for the past several months, the likelihood of some of our guests buying something for us that we already have is much higher. I don't know about you, but I really would hate to get a bunch of chores to run on my wedding night - you know, having to go and exchange things at various stores.
Of course, when you do decide to make a wedding registry, you have to be concerned about two things: people being really cheap, and asking for too much.
If you put a bunch of really cheap things on your lists along with the more expensive things, then you are more likely to only get the cheap things on your list. Also, if you ask for a whole bunch of stuff on your registry list, you are more likely to not get as much of it. Sites often suggest a number of gifts to include on your registry depending on the number of guests attending your wedding, and that's great and all, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll get all of those things.
Especially since we are in a recession (and a really bad one at that), everyone must put their minds to the priorities as well as the cost. Fine china is really nice to own, but how practical is that? All you're doing is covering your plate with food, so you really shouldn't be looking at it (if you're hosting your social event right, anyway, your guests shouldn't be bored enough to stare at their plates). It's much more practical to get a dining set that you would actually use for events other than the super fancy dinners you're imagining you might have in the future (you know, the ones that aren't actually going to happen).
Looking for a site that has most of what I want and having those things at a price that doesn't floor me is really freaking hard. Like any other person with dignity, I will not even consider Wal-mart for my wedding registry. But where else? Sonoma is a nice store, but they are way too pricey for it to be reasonable to expect that I would even get a majority of what I ask for from there. Even Macy's was just too expensive for certain things that I just thought was just not reasonable.
I ended up going with Sears, since they have a lot of the pieces of furniture that I want at a price that I think is reasonable. On the other hand, Sears did not have everything that I wanted at a price that I liked, so I looked elsewhere, and found that Kohl's filled in a lot of those gaps. Kohl's seems to overprice the items that Sears offers at a more reasonable price and vice versa. For all of the cheap stuff that both sites overprice, Target offers at a liveable price.
Three registries. Is that bad? Probably not. Since Target offers things at such a cheap price, and I happen to have had a very bad experience with Target-bought furniture (and thus, will not get anymore furniture from Target), there isn't much on my Target registry, and it is all very cheap stuff. That leads to my next problem:
Deciding which items to keep on the registry. When I first made these registries, I put everything on them. Everything I wanted to buy and everything I'd love to have in my new home. However, when I totaled up the values of the registries, it was over $10,000.
Since family members are always stingier than you originally anticipate, I knew that the value had to be brought down to a more reasonable number. In order to achieve this I went through and eliminated the items that were cheap enough that I would be able to buy it at the next sale I happen upon.
Next, I went through and deleted all of the items that were either too strangely-shaped or too large for me to be able to store before I find a new home.
Now, I think that I finally have two wedding registries that I am confident about putting out there for guests to select wedding gifts from: the one with Kohl's, and the one with Sears. The one with Target may just have to be a private shopping list since the items on it are just too cheap for it to be great for guests to pick from.
I don't know if my hypotheses will turn out to be correct, but, we shall see what sort of turn-out I manage to get based on what I've reasoned.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Major Road Bumps - Plans are a-changing
Of course, it's taking longer to make this post because of the absolutely heartbreaking changes that have been forced upon us. After talking to Disney, we have discovered just how inflexible their packages are. Despite us not needed the limousine that is a part of the Escape package, we would be paying for it anyway, so we had better find a use for it.
That really annoys me since the package is so skimpy on photography that you'd have to spend more money to get enough pictures for people like me (photo-obsessed people) to be satisfied. I was hoping to ditch the limo and use that $300 something toward just paying for more pictures. You get 20 by default, and I was hoping that the limo money would at least score me 15 more photos of the ceremony and reception. Or, even better, if I could ditch their photography, get more flowers in the package, and just bring along my own photographer (which, for me, would be drastically cheaper than hiring a Disney photographer). Well, none of that will work out.
My fiance was asking why we couldn't just have the two photographers at the ceremony and reception, and well, though I don't have anything against it (other than it being generally retarded), I have gotten a lot of complaints from his parents. They have been complaining about the cost of things (since they have offered to pay for the event) as well as the necessity of things.
Of course, my argument was, well, a wedding is not a necessity at all, actually, the whole thing is totally unnecessary. It's not like you have to hold any sort of wedding event in order for your marriage to be legally recognized by the State. You hold the event for fun, to bring the two families together to build fond (and perhaps first) memories of each other. The wedding event is symbolic of bringing two families together by this union recognized by society, perhaps a religious society too, and by the law (unless you're gay, in which case, the law part only applies for the 5 cool states in the Union). Soooo... If you don't like paying for it, then we won't do it.
It kept them quiet for a little while, but then the complaining came back with a vengence. Of course, they wait for my fiance to not be around before they complain about things. It's extremely annoying and makes me want to call the whole thing off.
To top it off, since we have been engaged, my fiance's grandmother has been giving me some serious cold shouldering. Whereas before, she was so happy that her grandson was with "sucha looker" like myself, as she has said on a few occasions, and despite her usually greeting me (and everyone else) with pleasant "Hello!"s and hugs, she now doesn't even look me in the eye when we come over for a visit, or when she comes to visit. She greets everyone enthusiastically and then completely ignores me. She hasn't said one damned thing about the engagement or about the wedding. I trully do not know what sort of stick has become lodged firmly in her buttocks, but something weird is going on.
Clearly, our engagement is only a happy thing for a select few.
But, I digress... The Disney wedding is just not worth it. If people are going to be sulking, bitchy, and annoying, then we may as well give them reason to be and keep them the hell out of the "Happiest place on Earth". Seeing as Maryland is an extraordinarily undesirable state due to the unpredictable weather, the large amounts of pollution in and around the Chesapeake Bay, the architecture that just doesn't look quite right, and the complete and utter disarray of road and parking layout. You can be married on a ship out in the Bay. What a nice view you will have. You get to see how strange the water looks and how many factories there are all along the Inner Harbor.
To make up for a less than impressive wedding, we want to extend our honeymoon from 1 week to 2 weeks, thus forcing the wedding date to be earlier than anticipated.
We meet this Thursday with a rabbi who is quite active with our university to discuss... well... whatever we have to talk about.
Let the stress commense!
That really annoys me since the package is so skimpy on photography that you'd have to spend more money to get enough pictures for people like me (photo-obsessed people) to be satisfied. I was hoping to ditch the limo and use that $300 something toward just paying for more pictures. You get 20 by default, and I was hoping that the limo money would at least score me 15 more photos of the ceremony and reception. Or, even better, if I could ditch their photography, get more flowers in the package, and just bring along my own photographer (which, for me, would be drastically cheaper than hiring a Disney photographer). Well, none of that will work out.
My fiance was asking why we couldn't just have the two photographers at the ceremony and reception, and well, though I don't have anything against it (other than it being generally retarded), I have gotten a lot of complaints from his parents. They have been complaining about the cost of things (since they have offered to pay for the event) as well as the necessity of things.
Of course, my argument was, well, a wedding is not a necessity at all, actually, the whole thing is totally unnecessary. It's not like you have to hold any sort of wedding event in order for your marriage to be legally recognized by the State. You hold the event for fun, to bring the two families together to build fond (and perhaps first) memories of each other. The wedding event is symbolic of bringing two families together by this union recognized by society, perhaps a religious society too, and by the law (unless you're gay, in which case, the law part only applies for the 5 cool states in the Union). Soooo... If you don't like paying for it, then we won't do it.
It kept them quiet for a little while, but then the complaining came back with a vengence. Of course, they wait for my fiance to not be around before they complain about things. It's extremely annoying and makes me want to call the whole thing off.
To top it off, since we have been engaged, my fiance's grandmother has been giving me some serious cold shouldering. Whereas before, she was so happy that her grandson was with "sucha looker" like myself, as she has said on a few occasions, and despite her usually greeting me (and everyone else) with pleasant "Hello!"s and hugs, she now doesn't even look me in the eye when we come over for a visit, or when she comes to visit. She greets everyone enthusiastically and then completely ignores me. She hasn't said one damned thing about the engagement or about the wedding. I trully do not know what sort of stick has become lodged firmly in her buttocks, but something weird is going on.
Clearly, our engagement is only a happy thing for a select few.
But, I digress... The Disney wedding is just not worth it. If people are going to be sulking, bitchy, and annoying, then we may as well give them reason to be and keep them the hell out of the "Happiest place on Earth". Seeing as Maryland is an extraordinarily undesirable state due to the unpredictable weather, the large amounts of pollution in and around the Chesapeake Bay, the architecture that just doesn't look quite right, and the complete and utter disarray of road and parking layout. You can be married on a ship out in the Bay. What a nice view you will have. You get to see how strange the water looks and how many factories there are all along the Inner Harbor.
To make up for a less than impressive wedding, we want to extend our honeymoon from 1 week to 2 weeks, thus forcing the wedding date to be earlier than anticipated.
We meet this Thursday with a rabbi who is quite active with our university to discuss... well... whatever we have to talk about.
Let the stress commense!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wedding favors!
My fiance came up with a very cute idea for what we could give our guests as wedding favors (in addition to possibly getting a hand-made wedding program, which will be very beautiful!). On our very first date, he gave me three Milky Way bars as a way to impress me(he was 17 at the time, so not exactly a smooth operator). What was hilarious was he then told me why he got three of them "they were on sale at the gas station for three for a dollar". It was so adorable and awkward that it makes me tear up (from laughing so hard). So, in honor of our first date, we will put three mini Milky Way bites into little gift bags along with a note describing the relevance of the candy. It will definitely be a very cute little gift since it has a lot of sentimental meaning for us, and I think that's how wedding favors should be (plus, it's Milky Way, and most people, at the very least, do not dislike Milky Way).
Obviously, we will not be purchasing the Milky Ways from the gas station, nor will we be doing it any time soon (though feeding our guests candy that has been sitting around for nearly a year would be kind of funny).
Obviously, we will not be purchasing the Milky Ways from the gas station, nor will we be doing it any time soon (though feeding our guests candy that has been sitting around for nearly a year would be kind of funny).
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Invitations, programs, and other calligraphy items
So, my fiance and I have started thinking about invitations and that whole situation. I don't really see the need to send out invitations really since we will have to work closely with the people who are coming to arrange airfare, hotel stays, and Disney tickets. I imagine that everyone will want to book only after everything about the discounts is known. Since I am the calligraphist for this whole event (since my fiance and I both agree that doing hand-written things for a small event adds a very classy touch, especially since I have done wedding calligraphy before), I would definitely appreciate not having to do the invitations. I will already have to do the Thank-You cards, the wedding programs, and whatever else needs to be done.
I think it will be very cute to add some paper punch designs to the wedding programs with the classic Disney designs, like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella's Castle. I am hoping that I will only need to make 20 of these (or else, I'll have to start tomorrow in order to finish them on time!). I definitely think these would make very unique little keepsakes for all of our guests, that they will hopefully appreciate! If I do decide to make the programs by hand, I may as well just add the name of the guest who will receive the program (you know, to make them feel more obliged to keep and cherish my hand-made masterpiece). Who knows what we will ultimately do, but it is definitely a nice thought. :)
I think it will be very cute to add some paper punch designs to the wedding programs with the classic Disney designs, like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella's Castle. I am hoping that I will only need to make 20 of these (or else, I'll have to start tomorrow in order to finish them on time!). I definitely think these would make very unique little keepsakes for all of our guests, that they will hopefully appreciate! If I do decide to make the programs by hand, I may as well just add the name of the guest who will receive the program (you know, to make them feel more obliged to keep and cherish my hand-made masterpiece). Who knows what we will ultimately do, but it is definitely a nice thought. :)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Bridal Jewlery!!
I was poking around online to see some prices for pearl jewelry to wear on my wedding day, and I found this really nice-looking necklace. After a little more research and comparing some prices online, I snatched this up! I'm not too concerned about something happening to the necklace, like me not liking it or anything since I saw that I could return it. That makes me very happy :D. I went ahead and found some earrings and bracelets to go along with the necklace. I even got a couple of bracelets for my bridesmaids! I'm sure they will love them :). What better jewelery to wear to a beach-themed wedding than pearls?! I considered doing something seashell-y like the person who owns this site does, but in the end, this lady just has to have her pearls!
I was sort of playing around the with the idea of getting something with Mickey Mouse on it since that would just be too cute. I could still attach a little Mickey charm to my bracelet or something if I want to do so later on.
All I need now is...well... everything else!
I was sort of playing around the with the idea of getting something with Mickey Mouse on it since that would just be too cute. I could still attach a little Mickey charm to my bracelet or something if I want to do so later on.
All I need now is...well... everything else!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Still waiting
Actually getting started on the planning, so far, seems to be the hardest part of the whole thing. We still don't know how many guests we will have! Of course, I can't even reserve a date if I don't even know if I'm going to have fewer than 20 guests or more than 20 guests.
While I'm just sitting around and waiting for everyone to hurry up and make up their mind, I'm deciding what colors to go with, and what style dress I should shop for. I've been reading plenty of guides on what kind of dress would look best on my kind of figure (tall, slim, not exactly voluptuous). What I have been finding along the way is just how ugly wedding dresses can be. I mean, seriously, some of these dresses put the Top 5 Sluttiest Wedding Dresses of 2009 to shame. On the other hand, I find it ridiculous to spend a fortune on a dress that I will be wearing for about 3 or 4 hours on one day.
I really like the princess-style dresses. You know, the kind of dress that is so poofy that no one can touch you (image from iVillage):
However, my fiance and I will most likely be doing a water-side wedding at Disney, perhaps at Yacht Club or Boardwalk, so that kind of dress may look slightly ridiculous for that setting.
Instead, I might go with either an A-line dress, or a romantic beach style dress (images from Bridal wave, and Dressinsexywoman respectively)
What I found very entertaining to look at was this site with Disney-themed wedding dresses. I have no idea what they cost, but it's probably a fortune.
Oh, well, happy hunting, right?
While I'm just sitting around and waiting for everyone to hurry up and make up their mind, I'm deciding what colors to go with, and what style dress I should shop for. I've been reading plenty of guides on what kind of dress would look best on my kind of figure (tall, slim, not exactly voluptuous). What I have been finding along the way is just how ugly wedding dresses can be. I mean, seriously, some of these dresses put the Top 5 Sluttiest Wedding Dresses of 2009 to shame. On the other hand, I find it ridiculous to spend a fortune on a dress that I will be wearing for about 3 or 4 hours on one day.
I really like the princess-style dresses. You know, the kind of dress that is so poofy that no one can touch you (image from iVillage):
However, my fiance and I will most likely be doing a water-side wedding at Disney, perhaps at Yacht Club or Boardwalk, so that kind of dress may look slightly ridiculous for that setting.
Instead, I might go with either an A-line dress, or a romantic beach style dress (images from Bridal wave, and Dressinsexywoman respectively)
What I found very entertaining to look at was this site with Disney-themed wedding dresses. I have no idea what they cost, but it's probably a fortune.
Oh, well, happy hunting, right?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Aggravations abound!
I think my fiance and I have finally made up our minds between a Wishes and an Escape wedding. We definitely prefer the intimacy of the Escape wedding, especially since there are a few people we wouldn't necessarily mind not having there. Escape weddings are much more simple than Wishes weddings, thus they are also quite a bit cheaper. Of course, the downside is that there is no reception included in the Escape package. That, however, does not bother neither myself nor my fiance. We figure that we can do the wedding, then the cake cutting reception (Disney will have the slices of cake boxed up and ready to be eaten after your lunch or dinner reception, so there's no problem there), and then we can go to a Disney restaurant to enjoy some food after a wonderful ceremony.
However, my fiance has a large family, one which his father does not want to exclude. So he is daintily asking each one if they would like to come and if they'd be able to pay for their airfare and hotel for them, their spouses, and their kids (we will be damned if we are paying for their airfare and hotel). This is slowing the whole process down and driving me insane. The attendance of the non-essential family members will be what bumps the size from Escape wedding to a Wishes wedding. We would have maybe 16-20 guests if these non-essential family members came (20 being the maximum number of guests allowed at the Wedding Pavilion, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk locations). If they all decide to come, the minimum number suddenly jumps to 30-35. This jump basically means that the price increases from roughly $7,500 (including the ceremony, extra photography, reception at a restaurant, service charges, and tax) to a minimum of $13,500 (including service charges, and tax). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think that non-essential family members are worth $6,000.
To top it off, I have even fewer family members going than I had originally anticipated. My family and friends are dropping off the invitation list like flies, which will result in the ceremony and reception being held for my fiance's family. Personally, I would love to have people I know and cherish to be there to witness such an important event, but as things are.... Argh!
However, my fiance has a large family, one which his father does not want to exclude. So he is daintily asking each one if they would like to come and if they'd be able to pay for their airfare and hotel for them, their spouses, and their kids (we will be damned if we are paying for their airfare and hotel). This is slowing the whole process down and driving me insane. The attendance of the non-essential family members will be what bumps the size from Escape wedding to a Wishes wedding. We would have maybe 16-20 guests if these non-essential family members came (20 being the maximum number of guests allowed at the Wedding Pavilion, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk locations). If they all decide to come, the minimum number suddenly jumps to 30-35. This jump basically means that the price increases from roughly $7,500 (including the ceremony, extra photography, reception at a restaurant, service charges, and tax) to a minimum of $13,500 (including service charges, and tax). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think that non-essential family members are worth $6,000.
To top it off, I have even fewer family members going than I had originally anticipated. My family and friends are dropping off the invitation list like flies, which will result in the ceremony and reception being held for my fiance's family. Personally, I would love to have people I know and cherish to be there to witness such an important event, but as things are.... Argh!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Beginning the planning
So, my fiance and I have decided that we absolutely want to have a Disney Fairy Tale wedding. We aren't sure about anything to do with details, so we've been doing a lot of reading into the subject. We've only just started discussing budgets and costs with his parents and mine and working out a very rough guest list.
The main thing that my fiance and I are trying to do with this wedding is to have an event that our guests will really enjoy. We are both the kind of people who don't have a good time unless everyone around us is happy and at ease, so our goal is really just that - to have everyone at ease so that we can enjoy ourselves (selfish in a weird way?). We would love to have our two families mingle for the first time in a happy, eased, and enjoyable setting. What better place than Disney World, am I right? Additionally, Disney does basically all of the planning, setting up, cleaning up, and worrying for you, so we would be free to focus on quelling any family drama that will inevitably pop up between now and next Spring.
Today, I actually got the chance to talk to someone from Disney to learn about any of the rules, regulations, and benefits that come along with doing a Disney wedding. It was actually very relieving to get to talk to an actual person today after trying to navigate Disney's site for information for so long. The man on the phone was very pleasant, very eager to help me, and was able to answer most of the questions I had (as is expected of anyone employed by Disney).
So, Disney has two main wedding package types to choose from: Escape and Wishes. Escape weddings are usually cheaper, allow for fewer guests (18 or fewer, but at certain sites, such as the Polynesian Resort and Wilderness Resort, you have a maximum of 10 guests). Wishes weddings have a minimum expenditure that you have to meet, and this minimum price depends on the day of the week you're planning on doing the wedding, as well as the season you're going for. (http://disneyweddings.go.com/site/wed/cus/wed_guide/com_quest.jsp see "What is a Disney wedding going to cost?").
The other thing about Wishes weddings, you have to guarantee a certain number of nights (depending on the number of guests) at Disney operated hotels. Based on what I can see in my Wishbook (Disney's free-to-use wedding planning tool) for between 10 and 40 guests, you must guarantee 25 hotel room nights (so, if your party booked 5 rooms at various resorts for 5 nights each, you'd be good to go). For 41 to 75 guests, you have to guarantee 50 nights. For 76 or more guests, you have to guarantee at least 75 nights.
Since we will likely have fewer than 41 guests, we would be booking 25 hotel nights for everyone. What we weren't sure about is which hotels we could use. I asked the gentleman on the phone today that question, and fortunately, he said any Disney hotel, whether it be a value, moderate, or deluxe resort, will satisfy the requirement. Additionally, what's really nice is that the man also told me that Disney Vacation Club timeshares will also count toward the requirement.
The other nice thing is that the bride and groom each get an annual pass to the parks. This is true for the Escape collection, and as far as I can tell, is also true for the Wishes collection. Additionally, your guests get discounts on hotel rooms and park tickets.
What we are still unsure about is what kind of food we could have at the reception. I am personally leaning toward brunch, but my fiance's parents seem to like the lunch idea better.
For a brunch, the minimum food expenditure is $75 per person, with the Tinkerbell brunch option used as a sample of their food menus costing $55 per person. What I gather from reading the various guides on Disney's website is that the rest of the money, the $20 per person, goes toward desserts, the cake, and beverages. The site also seems to suggest that you can put more toward food to supply your guests with more options to choose from. Personally, I kind of liked the idea of forcing all of my guests to eat lochs and gruel with V8 to wash it down, but I guess options aren't such a bad thing either.
The lunch option is a minimum of $100 per person, with the sample menu, "Tony's Town Lunch" costing $79 per person. Since alcohol is expensive, and neither me nor my fiance actually drinks at all, we'll save some money there by having only non-alcoholic beverages at the reception. If anyone complains, we are planning on hiring Goofy to rough them up (outside the sight of children, of course).
We are hoping to solidify an actual wedding date soon, after discussing the latest updates with family and friends!
The main thing that my fiance and I are trying to do with this wedding is to have an event that our guests will really enjoy. We are both the kind of people who don't have a good time unless everyone around us is happy and at ease, so our goal is really just that - to have everyone at ease so that we can enjoy ourselves (selfish in a weird way?). We would love to have our two families mingle for the first time in a happy, eased, and enjoyable setting. What better place than Disney World, am I right? Additionally, Disney does basically all of the planning, setting up, cleaning up, and worrying for you, so we would be free to focus on quelling any family drama that will inevitably pop up between now and next Spring.
Today, I actually got the chance to talk to someone from Disney to learn about any of the rules, regulations, and benefits that come along with doing a Disney wedding. It was actually very relieving to get to talk to an actual person today after trying to navigate Disney's site for information for so long. The man on the phone was very pleasant, very eager to help me, and was able to answer most of the questions I had (as is expected of anyone employed by Disney).
So, Disney has two main wedding package types to choose from: Escape and Wishes. Escape weddings are usually cheaper, allow for fewer guests (18 or fewer, but at certain sites, such as the Polynesian Resort and Wilderness Resort, you have a maximum of 10 guests). Wishes weddings have a minimum expenditure that you have to meet, and this minimum price depends on the day of the week you're planning on doing the wedding, as well as the season you're going for. (http://disneyweddings.go.com/site/wed/cus/wed_guide/com_quest.jsp see "What is a Disney wedding going to cost?").
The other thing about Wishes weddings, you have to guarantee a certain number of nights (depending on the number of guests) at Disney operated hotels. Based on what I can see in my Wishbook (Disney's free-to-use wedding planning tool) for between 10 and 40 guests, you must guarantee 25 hotel room nights (so, if your party booked 5 rooms at various resorts for 5 nights each, you'd be good to go). For 41 to 75 guests, you have to guarantee 50 nights. For 76 or more guests, you have to guarantee at least 75 nights.
Since we will likely have fewer than 41 guests, we would be booking 25 hotel nights for everyone. What we weren't sure about is which hotels we could use. I asked the gentleman on the phone today that question, and fortunately, he said any Disney hotel, whether it be a value, moderate, or deluxe resort, will satisfy the requirement. Additionally, what's really nice is that the man also told me that Disney Vacation Club timeshares will also count toward the requirement.
The other nice thing is that the bride and groom each get an annual pass to the parks. This is true for the Escape collection, and as far as I can tell, is also true for the Wishes collection. Additionally, your guests get discounts on hotel rooms and park tickets.
What we are still unsure about is what kind of food we could have at the reception. I am personally leaning toward brunch, but my fiance's parents seem to like the lunch idea better.
For a brunch, the minimum food expenditure is $75 per person, with the Tinkerbell brunch option used as a sample of their food menus costing $55 per person. What I gather from reading the various guides on Disney's website is that the rest of the money, the $20 per person, goes toward desserts, the cake, and beverages. The site also seems to suggest that you can put more toward food to supply your guests with more options to choose from. Personally, I kind of liked the idea of forcing all of my guests to eat lochs and gruel with V8 to wash it down, but I guess options aren't such a bad thing either.
The lunch option is a minimum of $100 per person, with the sample menu, "Tony's Town Lunch" costing $79 per person. Since alcohol is expensive, and neither me nor my fiance actually drinks at all, we'll save some money there by having only non-alcoholic beverages at the reception. If anyone complains, we are planning on hiring Goofy to rough them up (outside the sight of children, of course).
We are hoping to solidify an actual wedding date soon, after discussing the latest updates with family and friends!
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