not_joanna_eggs' PJ - 1/24/2010 WP/CG: TR: MK/Epcot Photo shoot link posted

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Okay... so on with the TR...

So when we left off, the shoe jewels had been recovered, and it was time to wave good bye to the Poly and go to the WP.

By this time I notice I have 5 jewels left on my bouquet, so I say something to Amy (my WP’s assistant). She said okay, they would take care of it.

So we went into the car, and off to the WP we went.

Meanwhile, the boys were walking into the WP.

Once the boys were securely in the Groom’s Room

We arrived at the WP

And my dad was waiting for us.

Then we headed into the Orchid Room

I get into the Orchid Room, and more importantly the air conditioning. Ahhhh. Basically I just re-applied my shoe jewels, re-adjusted the torture device they called a bra, and chillaxed.

So as I’m in my purse to freshen up my lipstick and notice I still have the rings – I forgot to give them to Matt. So I handed them to Randy in the boxes and had her deliver them to Matt.

Notice that Matt is putting the boxes in his pocket….

Meanwhile, my guests that had been there for an hour; were listening to the harp music and waiting for us.

Then Maxine comes in and tells me we’re about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Seriously? Why have I been rushing around then? Grr. So my mom says “everyone’s here, why don’t we just start” So we decided to start about 5 minutes early.

Pardon this little rant...But my mom chooses this moment to pick a fight with me. Seriously? I had been wearing the jacket that Chris’s Grandma made for me for the pictures, and had planned on wearing it for the ceremony. My mom didn’t like that and proceeded to make me feel like crap, and got me worked up to the point of tears; then she left. I was fighting the tears back with every fiber of my being. I was hot, tired and really didn’t need to feel horrible and fat at that moment. My dad came in and tried to smooth it over, but the damage had been done. Thanks mom.

I managed to not cry and held myself together. However, I caved and didn’t wear the jacket and HATE all of my ceremony pictures because of my giant and discolored arms (I have a skin disorder on my upper arms).

So while my dad is cursing my mom trying to make me laugh and get over it, the ceremony started.

My mom and Greg were the first to go down the aisle.

Then Bob…

He was just totally overwhelmed with everything, he even forgot his stole in the room; which is why he looks kind of weird…

Then Chris walked down the aisle.

I didn’t see this part, but everyone was talking about it… So DF is walking down the aisle, and following Bob. All of the sudden he realizes he shouldn’t be up the steps yet, so he turns around and does a goofy duck-like walk back to where he’s supposed to be. It really lightened the mood for everyone – and set the tone. We’re just that couple. Too perfect wouldn’t have been us – there were a few moments that were just priceless-ly us.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture of this moment. Too bad.

So then it’s Matt’s turn…

Then Monica, who apparently ran down the aisle…

So Maxine comes in and brings my dad and I to the door, she re-adjusts me while explaining to my dad that girls have a code about these things again really helped lighten the mood even though I didn’t want that to even be an issue.

So, then I hear the fanfare and chimes start and all I can think is “NOOOOO I didn’t want that I took it off the BEO” Which is really so stupid, because it so doesn’t matter, but since I was already worked up because of my mom, I was tail-spinning.

My dad noticed the panic on my face, and started cracking jokes. So we start walking down the aisle and he leans to me and says. “Let’s stop and make ‘em wait. Posing for our public.

SMILE Okay go. Stop. Go. Don’t trip” the whole way down. It really helped me stay loose.

 

[princess22]

Great update! Sorry about your mom, mom's can be that way sometimes

Anyway, can't wait for the next update, keep it coming

 

[MsEsty]

You look beautiful!

 

[ZeitgeistDuck]

You look thinner without the jacket.

 

[padisneyfour]

You look beautiful!

I agree! enjoying your TR!!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Great update! Sorry about your mom, mom's can be that way sometimes

Anyway, can't wait for the next update, keep it coming

Thanks! It was definitely one of those "thanks mom" moments. Fortunately my dad was able to make me laugh, or it would have been a giant mess.

Fortunately for you, it's allergy season, and I haven't been able to leave the house all day and it's still clean from our party last week... which means another update is coming shortly!

You look beautiful!

Thanks Kerry!

You look thinner without the jacket.

Thanks. I also have a skin disorder that discolors the skin on my arms, which makes me really extra self conscious about them.

I agree! enjoying your TR!!

Thanks Tammy! Another update is on it's way!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

So, then my dad hands me off, to Chris and we start to walk up the stairs.

OOPS. I didn’t think about this. I had been doing fine in my dress and heels on flat ground. Stairs are a whole new ball game. I had a false sense of security. So I take the first step… right onto my dress. So I’m arm in arm with DF, and starting to pitch over because I’m standing on my dress. So DF goes up the next step and I try, but I just can’t or I’ll go down… So I stop and look at DF in panic for a minute and let go of his arm, and pick up my dress and take the rest of the stairs with my dress raised.

Again I think it really lightened the mood for everyone and got a laugh from everyone.

(Again, unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture of this… I guess I understand that most couples don’t want their dumbness caught on film, but in our case… it’s what makes us – us. So I was kind of bummed when I found these moments didn’t make our pictures, but oh well.)

So we get up to front of the WP and face our guests. My eyes go to my mom, and she’s crying… I can’t look there, so I look to the other side, and my eyes are immediately drawn to my childhood best friend’s mom, who is crying… bad. So I think to myself “just look at Matt” so that becomes my mantra whenever I felt my emotions getting the best of me, I would just say “just look at Matt.”

So, then the ceremony started…

Reading 1… my cousin Jamie

Reading 2… My sister

Then there was the Gospel (even though I specifically said I didn't want one ) and the Homily (which was way way way too long and not as personal as I'd hoped for ... but what can you do?)

See my sister taking a little nap..

Then we all came to the front to do the vows…

 

[TinkLoverSam]

You looked beautiful without the jacket and in all honesty I don't think any of your guests were looking at your arms! I know looking at you pictures I wasn't!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

So,We’re not real emotional lovey-dovey people, so while we’re saying our vows, I look at Chris’s face, and I have this uncontrollable urge to laugh. So I immediately look at Matt and calm down. But basically the whole time that we’re saying our vows, I had to look at Matt to keep from laughing.

Yes, there's something wrong with me.

So we get to the point where Chris needs my ring, and Matt is fumbling for the BOXES oy… So he pulls out Chris’s box so I stage whisper to him “wrong box” Apparently I kind of came off like I might kill him because several people commented later – oops. I really was just trying to help. So he hands Chris the box. So, Chris puts the box in his pocket and we get on with the vows…

So then it’s my turn, and Matt hands me the box. What am I going to do with this? So I look at him panicked for a moment, and then just open the box, take the ring out and hand it back to him.

I guess we should have been more specific about what “handing us the rings” meant. Oh well – again everyone laughed. (But again, we didn't get a picture. I guess I should have been specific - we're fools, and yes, we want that caught on film)

But in the confusion, I somehow got Chris’s right hand, and put the ring on it. It then got stuck and he couldn’t get it off until the next day. Oops!

After a short blessing, it was time for the Unity Candle...

Unity Candle

This is totally random, but I asked for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” to be played. I didn’t think about it, but they played it from the beginning. Which makes total sense... but I pictured just the refrain. So during the unity candle presentation, all I kept doing in my head was singing the words in my head to make sure that it was the right song. I’m such a nerd! But anyway, we never even got to the refrain – so I should have requested that. Oops.

Then there was one more blessing and we were pronounced husband and wife

And then, it was finally time for the long awaited kiss

So as we descended down the stairs, and I learned my lesson, and hiked up my skirt this time!

Then we headed out...

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

You looked beautiful without the jacket and in all honesty I don't think any of your guests were looking at your arms! I know looking at you pictures I wasn't!

Thanks! I don't want to admit the pictures look good, because then my mom wins

 

[padisneyfour]

Yeah for more pics..... can't wait for more.....

 

[Pooh's Corner]

Just wanted to pop in and say that you look beautiful and so happy! I love all the pics, keep 'em coming!

 

[princess22]

That is so funny about the ring!!! Your sister cracks me up, I love her face when she is walking back! You guys are hilarious!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Yeah for more pics..... can't wait for more.....

Thanks for reading Tammy! I'm loading more photos into photobucket as we speak...

Just wanted to pop ind and say that you look beautiful and so happy! I love all the pics, keep 'em coming!

Thanks There's so many pictures to go through, I'm trying to get through all of them... but I get sick of looking at myself

That is so funny about the ring!!! Your sister cracks me up, I love her face when she is walking back! You guys are hilarious!

Thanks Stacy (I'm so jealous that your leaving on a cruise soon btw...) The ring thing was hilarious. I never even thought I would have to explain it to him!

Yeah, my sister was mad that Randy kept stopping her to take her picture, so she started making faces.

We were all a bit punchy

 

[Bride-to-be]

I love all of your pictures!!!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

So when I left off we had exited the WP.

It was really strange, they had all our guests exit the WP and stand in the entry way while we took pictures. It was sort of like since we weren't doing a staged exit they didn't know what to do with us.

So we walked down to the vintage car to take some pictures.

When we get down there, Andy from DFTW frantically asked me if we had another DVD for our photoshow during the pre-reception. I was worried about this, since it didn't work on our DVD player at home, but I knew it worked on my computer, so I told him to tell my dad to grab my computer from our room and have them hook it up. Another crisis averted, and we took pictures.

Notice the clouds moving in...

Suddenly, Andy says "We need to move quickly, it's going to rain"

So Randy and Chris take off, but I was frozen. I had momentary panic. My feet were killing me in my heels, and there was no way I could be fast. They both stop and look back at me. In a stroke of pure genius, I kick off my shoes and proclaim "I can be quickly now" Which caused them both to laugh out loud

As soon as we got under the cover of the WP, it started pouring. So we all filed back in to the WP and got everyone together to take a group picture. My bouquet was taken away from me to be fixed, since I had now lost all my crystals...This was like trying to heard squirrels. Despite standing there for 15 minutes doing nothing, people decided they had to use the bathroom at that moment, and then others decided that we didn't want them in the picture. Which I totally don't understand the thought behind that, but whatever, we finally got everyone together. Of course, then I didn't have my bouquet, so we had to retrieve that and the squirrels tried to escape... but we eventually got our group picture...

Okay, it's been like 2 hours... who needs a drink?

So then we proceeded to take pictures with each of our guests. (which I'll spare you all of them, but still subject you to a few in the name of TR accuracy)

We used these pictures in our personalized Thank You cards to everyone.

(and yes, she is wearing cowboy boots and a huge sports watch)
Uncle Sarface and the weird ones with howdy-dippy

My parents headed out in the vintage car to get to the pre-reception before the guests...(which ended up being only by a few minutes)

As we took pictures with people, they would go out and wait for the one lone limo to take them to the cocktail hour. 8 at a time. Pictures went waaaaay faster than I anticipated.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Because the rain had stopped, and the sun was setting we took a quick intermission from our guests to smooch some more...

Then we went back and took some more pictures with our guests...

Then we we took a few more pictures of just us around the WP

So then we sat and waited for like 45 minutes while the rest of our guests got shuttled to the reception, and we just sat and waited.

This frustrated me as it was just dead time. We weren't taking pictures, we weren't at the reception, we weren't doing anything. It was ridiculous.

Finally there were just 8 of us left, so we all piled into the limo and made our way to the Contemporary...

 

[princess22]

More lovely pictures! You really got some great shots!!!

I can try hiding you in my luggage if you would like and you can come join us on our cruise! I think you need to book a Disney Cruise by the way

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I love all of your pictures!!!

Thanks Cassie

More lovely pictures! You really got some great shots!!!

I can try hiding you in my luggage if you would like and you can come join us on our cruise! I think you need to book a Disney Cruise by the way

Thanks Stacey! I'm short - I'm sure I'd fit in your suitcase We have two cruises planned in the next 12 months, but not on Disney It's definately on our list for late '11 though! I have my eyes peeled for any good deals sooner too!

I thought I had pictures loaded into photo bucket for the next piece, but I can't find them, so I must not have loaded them Hopefully I will get it up tonight!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

So, after waiting around doing nothing for 45 minutes, the last 8 people squash into the limo. Not at all how I had envisioned this going. I was the last one in the limo, so there was minimal squashing for me, but everyone else was pretty cozy.

It was kind of cool - the limo driver was from Milwaukee! Everyone thought I did that on purpose - even I couldn't plan that much detail…

So anyway, we pull up to the Contemporary, and I was expecting someone to greet us at the entrance. I had asked and asked about this as was ensured that there would be someone there. Well not so much. Maybe there was someone there for the other guests, but not for us. I was so hot and thirsty I had this "get out of my way" look on my face and charged up to the 2nd floor. Well okay, I charged to the elevator because I didn't think taking the escalator was a good idea. Then we had to wait for like 4 elevators until people stopped cutting us off and taking our elevator. Seriously - I was in a wedding dress - some people! We got to the 2nd floor, and the person manning the CG elevator let us right up.

We headed towards the Sonoma room and I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked at Monica and we both knew the dreaded time was upon us….

Potty break. Now why I didn't use the bathroom at the WP while we were waiting forever and no one was around is beyond me. Sometimes I'm a little kid like that. I need to wait for the most inopportune time to have to pee.

So we go into the bathroom, which was thankfully empty and cram ourselves into a stall. It actually wasn't too bad but we had a pretty hilarious commentary going. All of the sudden we hear someone 3 stalls down just laughing hysterically at us. Oh great. Fortunately it was our cousin Jamie who is used to us and was just cracking up and not some random stranger we scarred for life.

As we were leaving the bathroom, my sister informed me that she had done her part and would not be doing that again. Noted - can't pee anymore.

So we walk into the Sonoma Room. This was kind of awkward. Since we weren't being announced or anything, we just walked in. The Sonoma Room is a long narrow space, so I'm not sure what I expected, but there were tables on either side, and a gathering at the back of the room by the bar. At the front was the LCD screen playing our slideshow and the harpist. So there weren't many people at the front of the room. When we entered the door, everyone was looking at us and they all stopped talking. It was awkward, because I think they expected us to do or say something. But I just wanted to get to the bar!

So finally, we shook off the awkwardness and made our way to the bar at the back of the room. I ordered a coke and polished it off in 3 swigs. So refreshing. I was so so so hot and starting to fade at that point. I proceeded to have like 3 more before I remembered the no peeing rule and slowed down a bit.

We mingled in the room, and people watched the slide show and listened to the harpist.

There were also passed appetizers that were quite good - though a bit cold by the time we got there. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them. The flat breads and lobster beignets were my favorites.

This picture really shows the long-narrowness of the room… We entered where the guy in the white is standing…

We didn't get a good picture of them, but the centerpieces in the cocktail hour were glow cylinders with orchids in them.

I know that the room looks roomy in the pictures, but in real life - it was fairly snug - especially by the bar. I'm not sure we could have fit more people in there without getting rid of the LCD and the harp.

So then it was time to go into the Napa Room.

One thing I'm disappointed about is I didn't get a sneak peek at the room before people started charging in.

Fortunately, Randy did…

This was the seating assignments and the gift table - it was in the hallway between the two rooms.

Menus - we made and brought these, but they matched the tables quite well

Favors and Place Cards - we also made and brought these

The favors were a pain to assemble and the schlep around, but people were raving about them, and totally excited when they found out I got them from a bakery in Milwaukee.

We didn't really get a good picture of just the center pieces, but you can see them pretty well in this picture:

And then… the cake…

UGH!

That picture doesn't do the traffic-cone-ness of it justice…

Now before I say anything else. Let me tell you how delicious this cake was. Very yummy. All 3 (well allegedly, since I didn't get to try the middle layer, but more on that later..) layers were delicious, moist and better than I remembered.

But the color was just… well… off. I had gone back and forth like 10 times on what design I wanted on the Mad Hatter cake. Finally I stopped caring and just said "you have the colors - ask floral for swatches if you need them, and we just want something soft and swirly" The flowers are the correct colors and that part of the cake was the right color. But I'm not sure what happened with the actual color of the cake. It was traffic cone orange on the bottom, salmon in the middle and tie-dye at the top. Weird. Totally didn't go with the funky-elegant style we had going. It was very tropical and laid back looking. Obviously some kind of disconnect happened. I blame myself, because I was offered a meeting with the pastry chef, and I declined.

Was it the end of the world - hardly. In fact several of my guests thought I did it intentionally to match my sister's dress. Which the middle layer did. So maybe if it all had been the color of the middle layer I'd be singing a different tune. But It was definitely a "what the hell??" moment between my mom and I when we saw it.

Oh well…

So we all sat down and got ready for the toasts. My dad was going to do one, and that being the only one. Well, like 2 weeks before the wedding, my sister started talking about her toast. Okay whatever. I kind of forgot to tell our back-up best man that he'd have to do a speech, and after the ring debacle I figured he actually wasn't familiar with best-man duties, and I needed to ask him if he wanted to do a speech or not. I told him he didn't have to, but he said he wanted to… That was before my dad and sister started speaking.

As you've probably figured out by now, they're both total hams and quite hilarious.

My dad was first…

He started out "Those of you who know me, know this is a big day for me…" so I'm thinking he's going to say something sweet about his oldest daughter… well I should know my dad… silly me… "I have 4 sisters, 2 daughters and even the dog is female. But now today I can finally say I have a son."

His whole speech was really sweet and funny. And ended with "to Joanna and Chris… may your days be filled with happiness and the sarcasm thinly disguised as playfulness be at a minimum"

Then it was my sister's turn…

She started out all about her! About how her whole life, everything she's done and loved she's started because she was trying to one-up me. If you know my sister - this is 100% true.

It was hilarious, as she was going on and on about herself, people were starting to look at me like "we'll take her down, just give us the sign…"

Then she ended with how she was "mad" at me because with the wedding and everything I had set the bar so high.

Really funny and cute…

At about this time, Matt just has this panicked look on his face. I don't think he was expecting my dad and sister to be as "intense" as they were. So he gets up, and I'm worried because I don't want him to feel like he has to do something, it was great enough that he came and filled in at the last minute… so then he starts.

Um… Hi, I'm Matt. Most of you don't know me because they got me from 1-800-RENT-A-BEST MAN…

Classic.

His speech was quite funny too.

So now after 3 toasts we were starving.

So then Bob did the blessing

And then it was time to eat.

First up was the salad (we didn't get pictures of it, so just imagine a salad... I know you can do it... just try really really hard )

Then it was time for the sorbet…

Then it was almost time for Wishes…