Sccrmnky2005
Already Earned My Ears ;)
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
Yay!! I'm glad your back again 
Can't wait to hear more about your wedding day
Can't wait to hear more about your wedding day
Michelle and Andy's Fairy Tale Wedding, 9/13/2010 - An introduction
- Thread starter EllieBride
- Start date
EllieBride
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 13, 2010
Wish I Did:
I wish I had requested a different wedding planner. There, I said it.
So here it is in a nutshell we just didnt hit it off from the very beginning. For starters, she was really pessimistic about the menu items we requested for our tasting (see earlier post about our menu). I didnt let this bother me too much, not realizing it was a sign of what was to come...
I arrived at our Planning Session super-excited to meet her and begin the process. Im sure some of you can relate to that feeling that you dont get to do any planning with DFTW until the planning session takes place, so this was a big deal! Well, she was about 45 minutes late showing up for our planning session. Considering you only get 4 hours to plan everything, this was a big chunk of our time. Also, as a result of her tardiness, we were late for our appointment with the florist. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we were re-assigned to Elizabeth Sutton (loved her!!!).
But back to the planner During the session, I inquired about something I had heard about on the DISboards. She immediately called me out for having heard about this on the boards and she seemed really put out by it. I sensed that every time a new topic hits the boards, they must get 100 requests about it, but so what if they do? Its free advertising for them, right? And furthermore, the DFTW website sure doesnt do a very good job of giving you all of the options available. I learned so much more from the boards than I did from any other source.
Also during the session, Andy asked her if she had figured out that I am an event planner. She said that she had figured it out immediately and she didnt seem very happy about it. I dont see why it would make a difference, but maybe she prefers to work with clients who dont ask many questions.
The final straw from the planning session occurred as we were leaving. I realized that we had neglected to talk about chargers. Her response was to tell me that I was already over my stated budget and not to bother even look at the chargers. Seriously? Isnt that my call to make? I found it insulting.
My frustrations continued to grow throughout the summer, including major drama surrounding the cake. But even as my frustrations grew, I kept telling myself to be patient, that she would get back to me when she could, etc. I did not want to ask for a new planner and risk being viewed as an impossible-to-please bridezilla. In hindsight, I wish I had just asked for someone else.
The planning process is my only disappointment about the entire wedding. I really expected that she would be our advocate making helpful suggestions, following through on special requests, bringing our vision into reality, and in general, showing some enthusiasm about the biggest day of our lives. Instead, she just caused me a lot of stress. When we still didnt have a cake design less than two weeks before the wedding, I was ready to lose it.
About a week before the wedding, I was starting to get really nervous about how she and I would get along once I arrived in Florida. Meanwhile, I had also read some concerning posts on the boards about my planner that had me thinking I wasnt the only one who was having problems with her So I decided to call her and request an emergency phone meeting a couple of days before the wedding. I laid out all of my concerns and frustrations. We worked through the last of the outstanding issues, which helped alleviate some of the stress.
During this call, I told her again how upset I was about the way she handled the cake and her response was shocking to me. She told me that the Grand Floridian Bakery just isnt very good at doing original designs and she didnt feel comfortable having them designing a cake for me. This was after I had sent numerous inspiration pictures and detailed descriptions of what I was envisioning. I was shocked by her response, given all of the amazing and unique pictures Ive seen of other Disney wedding cakes. Awesome cakes are what they are known for, what they market on their Facebook page, and what they feature on practically every culinary show on TV. To this day, I still feel like we got cheated out of having a unique Disney wedding cake and it makes me sad each time I see another fabulous cake posted on the boards. I ended up loving our cake, but it wasnt the cake I had dreamt of. In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty minor and it certainly doesnt spoil my memories of the day, but I still don't understand the breakdown.
To her credit, our planner was definitely friendlier with me once we arrived in Florida even going so far as to give me a hug at our rehearsal. I saw very little of her on wedding day, but she seemed to do her job and everything went off perfectly. Ive since heard that she is no longer working in DFTW department, which is why I didnt feel the need to mention her by name.
Does anyone else wish that you could work directly with the Grand Floridian Bakery on cake design? I think that would have made things so much simpler!
I wish I had requested a different wedding planner. There, I said it.
So here it is in a nutshell we just didnt hit it off from the very beginning. For starters, she was really pessimistic about the menu items we requested for our tasting (see earlier post about our menu). I didnt let this bother me too much, not realizing it was a sign of what was to come...
I arrived at our Planning Session super-excited to meet her and begin the process. Im sure some of you can relate to that feeling that you dont get to do any planning with DFTW until the planning session takes place, so this was a big deal! Well, she was about 45 minutes late showing up for our planning session. Considering you only get 4 hours to plan everything, this was a big chunk of our time. Also, as a result of her tardiness, we were late for our appointment with the florist. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we were re-assigned to Elizabeth Sutton (loved her!!!).
But back to the planner During the session, I inquired about something I had heard about on the DISboards. She immediately called me out for having heard about this on the boards and she seemed really put out by it. I sensed that every time a new topic hits the boards, they must get 100 requests about it, but so what if they do? Its free advertising for them, right? And furthermore, the DFTW website sure doesnt do a very good job of giving you all of the options available. I learned so much more from the boards than I did from any other source.
Also during the session, Andy asked her if she had figured out that I am an event planner. She said that she had figured it out immediately and she didnt seem very happy about it. I dont see why it would make a difference, but maybe she prefers to work with clients who dont ask many questions.
The final straw from the planning session occurred as we were leaving. I realized that we had neglected to talk about chargers. Her response was to tell me that I was already over my stated budget and not to bother even look at the chargers. Seriously? Isnt that my call to make? I found it insulting.
My frustrations continued to grow throughout the summer, including major drama surrounding the cake. But even as my frustrations grew, I kept telling myself to be patient, that she would get back to me when she could, etc. I did not want to ask for a new planner and risk being viewed as an impossible-to-please bridezilla. In hindsight, I wish I had just asked for someone else.
The planning process is my only disappointment about the entire wedding. I really expected that she would be our advocate making helpful suggestions, following through on special requests, bringing our vision into reality, and in general, showing some enthusiasm about the biggest day of our lives. Instead, she just caused me a lot of stress. When we still didnt have a cake design less than two weeks before the wedding, I was ready to lose it.
About a week before the wedding, I was starting to get really nervous about how she and I would get along once I arrived in Florida. Meanwhile, I had also read some concerning posts on the boards about my planner that had me thinking I wasnt the only one who was having problems with her So I decided to call her and request an emergency phone meeting a couple of days before the wedding. I laid out all of my concerns and frustrations. We worked through the last of the outstanding issues, which helped alleviate some of the stress.
During this call, I told her again how upset I was about the way she handled the cake and her response was shocking to me. She told me that the Grand Floridian Bakery just isnt very good at doing original designs and she didnt feel comfortable having them designing a cake for me. This was after I had sent numerous inspiration pictures and detailed descriptions of what I was envisioning. I was shocked by her response, given all of the amazing and unique pictures Ive seen of other Disney wedding cakes. Awesome cakes are what they are known for, what they market on their Facebook page, and what they feature on practically every culinary show on TV. To this day, I still feel like we got cheated out of having a unique Disney wedding cake and it makes me sad each time I see another fabulous cake posted on the boards. I ended up loving our cake, but it wasnt the cake I had dreamt of. In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty minor and it certainly doesnt spoil my memories of the day, but I still don't understand the breakdown.
To her credit, our planner was definitely friendlier with me once we arrived in Florida even going so far as to give me a hug at our rehearsal. I saw very little of her on wedding day, but she seemed to do her job and everything went off perfectly. Ive since heard that she is no longer working in DFTW department, which is why I didnt feel the need to mention her by name.
Does anyone else wish that you could work directly with the Grand Floridian Bakery on cake design? I think that would have made things so much simpler!
princess_chloee
do you believe in magic?
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2009
Just tuned in to your WR. First, you're beautiful! Second, so happy for you. Keep the posts coming!
EllieBride
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 13, 2010
I'm having one of those days, feeling kind of blue, so I decided to cheer myself up with a little wedding nostalgia. I realized that I never posted our at-home e-pics, which were taken by my talented friend, Edda http://www.eddaphotography.com/
Here are a couple of my favorites...
Here are a couple of my favorites...
EllieBride
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 13, 2010
A couple more... Enjoy!
(We spent our honeymoon in Santorini, Greece... our own version of Paradise Falls...)
(We spent our honeymoon in Santorini, Greece... our own version of Paradise Falls...)
Sccrmnky2005
Already Earned My Ears ;)
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
I LOVE THESE 
I'm doing a Disneyland escape wedding with 4 and a half months of engagement and planning, so I'm glad to see it can be done!
EllieBride
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 13, 2010
We were married one year ago today at the Wedding Pavilion. It was the best day of my life.
How I wish we were at WDW right now to celebrate and do it all over again.
Last night, we defrosted the top tier of our amaretto and almond wedding cake. So delicious! Tonight, we are going out to dinner, then having more cake when we get home.
I still can't believe I married my prince at the most magical place on earth
How I wish we were at WDW right now to celebrate and do it all over again.
Last night, we defrosted the top tier of our amaretto and almond wedding cake. So delicious! Tonight, we are going out to dinner, then having more cake when we get home.
I still can't believe I married my prince at the most magical place on earth
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