Natalie and Joe's TR/PJ- 6/16/07 WP/GF

[disneychic]

Great TR! Looking forward to reading more

 

[DisBride23]

Sorry guys. I just fell of the face of the planet, didn't I?

Bought a house, had some serious health issues, recovered, and I'm back! I finished writing everything so I'm just going to start posting it all! Hope you enjoy and thanks for coming back to read it!

Natalie

 

[DisBride23]

The band was pretty darn good too. I’d have to say that the 2 best things were the food and the band. DH and I really wanted to avoid having a contemporary band. I know that this is the standard and contemporary bands do a good job. But, it’s not us. We’re a little old fashioned. We like Sinatra, Dean, the big band stuff. Not swing- most of our guests are not professional dancers- big band. The Disney staff had a real hard time with this one. Despite the fact that the wish book online featured a swing band, they didn’t actually have one. So, they defiantly didn’t have a big band. After months of them looking, they couldn’t find anything. I decided to take matters into my own hand. I went to my old trusty friend, Google.

And I found a band! In Orlando! Only problem was that they were not a wedding band. They were a big time band. They did gigs in Vegas, the White House, and they were the Rainbow Room band in NY for a couple of years. They probably didn’t do small time stuff. But, it was late at night, and I was starting to lose it out of desperation.

I’m still not quite sure why they even answered my email. Maybe they sensed my desperation? But, they agreed!!! The price was really high, but they worked to bring it down a bit. But, there were funny things that I had to deal with that most people don’t have to when dealing with “wedding bands.” For example, they had a rider, which included provisions such as event insurance, the ability to sell their CDs at my event, an assortment of coffee and teas, 2 full sized mirrors in their dressing room (dressing room??), salad with their meal, cake for dessert, etc. Clearly, this was not meant for my type of event. They gave up on the insurance and the ability to promote themselves, and I gave in on the food and dressing room. They even offered to set up their own stuff, which saved me the $600 it would have cost to hire their regular guys. The only, tiny detail, was that they kept the right to not do our wedding if something for film or TV came up, even if at last minute. I was so scared that I was going to have this huge wedding, and have to dance to my iPod selections!

We also negotiated so that they would play our music during their breaks. They played Italian music during the first break (for DH’s family) and Arabic during the second (for mine). The band was amazing. The singer/leader was one of the most genuine, honestly nice people I have ever met. Here was this big time guy, telling me how much fun he had at my wedding, thanking us for letting him be a part of it. I fully recommend the Michael Andrews Band for anything you might need! Their contact person was less than responsible; nice, but not responsible. She ended up picking up our ethnic music right before my rehearsal dinner! Talk about making me nervous! But, it was all good in the end!

 

[DisBride23]

The Music
For those of you who have had your weddings already, were you like me? Did you play that stupid CD of songs that they can play in the WP over and over again? No? Just me? Oh, ok then…Here’s what we picked:

I love the movie in the France pavilion don’t you? That moment when you come upon the grand estate, as if you are on a small boat in the river surrounded by trees, they play Aquarium. I love that piece because it always brings me back to that moment in the film. So I asked that it be played while our guests were being seated. They also played a variety of other classical music.

Our grandparents and my MIL were seated to Ave Maria. My mother got a special song. Her favorite movie of all is “Somewhere in Time.” Well, the Disney music CD just happened to have the theme song on it. When we listened to the CD, she started to well up, and I knew that was her song.
The guys walked in to a piece that DH loves. I forget who it’s by. Sonato II is all I have for ya. Sorry! There was a song titled “Cinderella at the Palace” on the CD that we used for the ladies’ entrance. And I went with the traditional entrance and recessional.

For the reception, our band played our favorite kind of music: big band. DH has terrible, TERRIBLE taste in music! I mean, I love the 80’s as much as the next gal, but who here has a husband that wanted their first dance to be to the tunes of the Bangles?!? Seriously! He suggested Eternal Flame. As a true lover of music, I could not allow that to happen. Instead, I introduced him to the wonders of Van Morrison. Moondance is one of my favorite songs, and the band played it a little more upbeat-perfect first dance!

 

[DisBride23]

Photography

I had a bit of a hard time picking a photographer. I thought I could save a bit of money by hiring an outside vendor. At this point, a few of the photographers that were popular on the DIS were booked. But, they were nice enough to send me the names of a few other photographers they knew in the area. And so, I called each of those photographers, got more names, and so on. I whittled it down to 2 photographers. My parents and I (again, the hubby was in school) took a quick day trip up to Disney to meet with them.

The first guy was really nice. His website was impressive, but small. We met in Downtown Disney (he didn’t have meeting space close enough) with him and his wife. Turns out, they were recently married at WDW themselves! So, of course, that gave me a great feeling. His wife assisted him as his second photographer. Their prices were very reasonable, but they didn’t have much to show us. But, I was really comfortable with them.

The second photographer was definitely a pro. We went and met him at his offices, where he had tons and tons of samples of his work. He was more expensive-pretty much the same as Disney charges. His work was just as lovely, but not necessarily better. But, there was one thing that I noticed: he was really pushy. Every time I opened my mouth, he’d tell me what I like best… um, didn’t we just meet?!?! I could not imagine having to spend a whole day with this guy!

Needless to say, I went with the first guy. Christopher Patrick Photography did a fantastic job. I mean really, really great. I would recommend him, hands down, for anything at all. He and his wife were so sweet and gracious. They were with us the whole entire day. I never felt as if they were intruding on us or anything. They understood when/where they were needed, and when they should excuse themselves.

By having the two of them, both sides of the wedding party were able to be photographed the whole time. We have over 1,500 pictures from our wedding, with full rights at no additional cost. After the wedding, our pics were available almost immediately on their website, and proofs were sent to us shortly. DH and I took quite awhile trying to pick out our pictures for our album. We kept increasing the number of pics to be included!

The end result is breathtaking. Everyone who sees our album looks through it at least twice. Even people (read: guys) who normally wouldn’t care at all about my wedding album can’t help but compliment its stunning design. After the wedding, I found the Mrs. on the DIS boards. I’ll give you a hint: she works at Disney as her regular day job. But, I won’t give her away in case she’s trying to be incognito! If you need a photographer, give them a chance. You’ll be glad you did.

Video

A few things to say about the videographer: We went with Disney on this one. They have the special cameras in the WP and all, so they did their thing. I was disappointed with the outcome. First of all, I had the videographer skip us getting ready so that we’d have the whole entire reception on film. Well, I guess he was tired or something, because he left early. Yup, our last song (which is special to us) is missing. Great. Also, we have the Arabic portion of the reception on film, but the Italian part is also missing. I guess that’s when he took his break. Needless to say, that went over well with one side of the family.

The other thing was the band. Our videographer actually came up to us and thanked us for letting him be there to see our band. Apparently, he has been a fan for some time. Great! Yea, except that our wedding video looks more like a music video for our band. Seriously. There would be about 2 minutes of us/guests for every 10 of the band. At one point, the video is of band members, who aren’t even playing!!!! I understand that they were good and all. And I’m happy that the band was captured on film, but come on!! I’d like a little of us, please! Since they could not find the last dance, the video just ends abruptly. The last scene is of the dance floor, where DH and I are not even dancing together. Oh, and a music speaker is between the camera and the dance floor. I cried when I saw the video, it was that bad.

So, I called the video people and expressed my frustration with the video. I told them that they were going to re-do it, or I was going to lose it. Luckily, they re-did it, for free. But, it took another 2 months. And of course the missing footage was never found. The end result was nice; they did a good job on the montage and everything. I just wish they would have had our last dance. The reception portion was not worth the money, but the ceremony part was. The built in cameras allowed them to zoom into our faces. You can see the little looks we steal at each other the whole time. It’s sweet.

 

[DisBride23]

Sheesh. This was a bad experience. Let me just start off by saying that I know that I have complicated hair. I’ve dealt with it all my life. I have very, very thick curly hair. It just does what it wants. You can’t fight it; you have to just go with it. Oh, and my hair is like a stress-o-meter. The more stressed I get, the poofier my hair gets. Luckily, NO ONE is stressed on their wedding day, right?

In everyday life, my hair is either half up or in a ponytail. That’s the way DH sees me. So, on my wedding day, I wanted to look like myself. Dramatic updo’s are beautiful- don’t get me wrong. They are just not me. I wanted him to see me coming down that aisle. Well, apparently no one agreed with me. No one who does hair, anyways.

After developing a list of people based on the DIS Board comments (thanks again guys!) I started calling around. A few actually told me that they don’t DO curly hair (as if it were beneath them ). Um, ok. A few more told me that they wouldn’t be willing to try me unless I was willing to straighten it for the wedding. Hello??? Can I look anymore different? Plus, there’s no way my hair would stay straight in June! If I even thought about sweating, boing!

Finally I got it down to two. The first was Lisa from Lisa’s Magical Weddings. My mom and I drove up one day to have a hair trial. She kept convincing me that she was so experienced with curly hair. First she straightened it, and then she tried to curl it with an iron so that the curls would be even. Well, once you straighten it, it’s too late. It won’t go how you want it to go. Next she tried curlers. Again, no help. After 2 bottles of hairspray, I looked like the bride of Frankenstein. And the makeup…..Whoa! I said natural, thinking browns and peaches and stuff. I realize that I need more makeup than usual for the cameras and all, but again I wanted to look like myself. In the end my makeup looked great, if I had my own show on MTV. Since I was going for demure bride, rather than punk chick, this wasn’t working. I cried for a good portion of the ride home.(Let me say here that I am in no way bashing Lisa; she was very sweet and I know that many of you have had great luck with her. It just didn’t work that way with me. But she was a very nice person!) I had underestimated how hard it was to plan some of the things from afar. I don’t know how you UK brides do it, but my hat is off to you!!!

I scheduled a second hair trial with Janet Mednick, with On Site Beauty. This time, my friend went with me. She was much nicer. She seemed to listen to my tips. *Seemed* But, as soon as she brought out the flat iron, my hopes fell. In the end, she did an ok job, but not great. But, I could tell that she would do an amazing job on everyone else in my party, who all have regular hair. So, I booked her. She gave me some tips on how to deep condition my hair (as it desperately needed it) and what not. I figured it would all work out in the end. Except that it got soooo much worse.

A week before my wedding, I realized that in the rush of things, I had forgotten to get the trim she had insisted on. My usual stylist was on my bad list because she lopped off 6 ½ inches (instead of 2) on my last visit. I spent most of my engagement period growing my hair back out. So, I clearly wasn’t going to her. One of my BM told me about her stylist (this girl has awesome styles all the time). So, I went to her. I stressed how little I wanted cut off: 1 inch at most. So, I lost about 5. She even blow dried it with a diffuser, so it shrunk up and poofed. Lastly, she swooped a piece across my head ala Flock of Seagulls. Looking back, it was hilarious!! But at the time, it was terrible. I started sobbing as soon as I got into the car. I literally sobbed and sobbed for over an hour before I could drive home, still crying. I called DH and told him it was really, really bad. I told him that we couldn’t go on a honeymoon; I needed the money for extensions. It was that bad. (I’m actually still growing out the cut, over a year later!)

My cousin’s girlfriend (a hairdresser and guest at our wedding) heard about it and took over. She had me come over to her shop a few days later to fix the cut itself. She then designed a look that we both loved and ordered me to let her do my hair for my wedding. I accepted, although I felt terrible having a guest working. She came and did a fantastic job. I was really happy, and most of all, I looked like me. The rest of the party had their hair and makeup done by Janet and she did my makeup as well. So, it all worked out in the end. But is was a rough journey.

 

[DisBride23]

Dress Steamers
I booked Carolyn Allen’s to come steam our dresses. I knew that even though I rented a van to drive our wedding stuff to WDW, there was still a chance of wrinkling the dress. The BM all insisted that they wouldn’t need steaming. Good thing I made the executive decision! Most of them ended up needing it! The ladies from Carolyn Allen’s arrived at 7:30 on the nose and moved with serious speed. Wonderful job, very polite and helpful. Fully recommended.

Purse/Basket
When we had our planning session, I was shown some Mickey-themed flower girl baskets. I LOVED this one and was so happy to find out that they also had matching bridal purse! See the little crystal mickey heads on it? I know it was silly, but I had to have it! So my purse matched her basket:

 

[DisBride23]

Sigh…the food. The food was amazing, and not just because it was my wedding. It was amazing. For the cocktail hour we had a huge antipasto display as well as fruit and veggies.
For the reception, our menu was:

Risotto Cake topped with Warm Buffalo Mozzarella, Roasted Garlic and Thinly Sliced Prosciutto Served with Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Caesar Salad served tableside with Croutons and Shredded Asagio Cheese

Champagne Sorbet served in a martini glass

Beef Filet Mignon Served with Cabernet Sauce, Lobster Tail, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato, Asparagus & Baby Carrots

Wedding Cake​

We also had some vegan/vegetarian guests so their menu was:

Mushroom-filled Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Fennel, Leeks and Shallots

The same Caesar Salad, without Cheese

Champagne Sorbet

Polenta Tower with Tomato Basil Sauce and Wilted Spinach, Porcini Mushroom and Vidalia Onion Risotto, Grilled Asparagus and Caramelized Baby Carrots

Wedding Cake​

I have to say that the filet was the single best steak I have ever had . And other people have told me the same for them! People still talk about the food. It was that good. Of course, the appetizers at the cocktail hour were nice, but the dinner was top notch. We ended up having a few people change their minds at the table going from vegan to regular or vice versa. The chefs handled it immediately. They were amazing!

 

[DisBride23]

I'm going to pause here to finish uploading the rest of my pictures. I PROMISE to post the rest of my PJ very soon. Then...my Wedding Trip Report! Stay tuned!

[/IMG]

 

[virtuous girl]

nice pic