ONE BRIDE'S DREAM. Carol & Iain's wedding 5/8/08 SBP, Chefs Domaine, wishes. COMPLETE

[Maddiesmum03]

After the Honeymoon shoot we wandered back under the rope and headed for the Rose & Crown as we'd arranged to meet everyone outside. We were hoping for a drink, but it was barely 11am and it wasn't even open........we weren't the only ones hoping for a bit of refreshment either. Fancy Disney not cashing in on a chance to sell us something
We spent a good while in Epcot, but we were looking forward to a bit of "us" time that evening as SIL & BIL were babysitting while we went to the Flying Fish.
This turned out to be a lovely meal, and we got the only bit of pixie dust to come our way in there. We had just decided that we couldn't possibly eat a desert, when our waiter came out with a celebration desert for us, it was a kind of creme brulee with berries and a lit candle. Of course between us, we found room for it

On Saturday, it was our turn to babysit as SIL and BIL went off for their balloon flight. When they got back they said they had a great time but the balloon landed in a gated community and no one would unlock the gate to let them out
We had arranged to take everyone to the Luau over at the poly as one of our "thankyou" meals. Iains dad ended up not comming, but they don't give refunds ( so we made sure we at least drank his share of beers ) I'm posting a few photos of this, because I know it's a popular choice and when we booked it, I had no idea of what sort of area it takes place in etc.
The area with long tables is covered, but the area in front of the stage isn't. Im not sure if they cancel if the weather is bad, I would guess so. We booked this the very first day we could, 180 days +10 and we booked the highest value seats. I know they allocate the tables in the order they receive bookings, and we got the very centre table at the front. It was a great view, but had it rained then we would have got drenched. Luckily, it was a beautiful evening. The food was good and the entertainment a little cheesey in places, but entertaining. The fire eater was amazing. Of course, I've never been to a real Luau, I'll let you all know how it compares when I get back from Hawaii

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You can see how good our view of the stage is from this photo

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Our little hula girl ( in the turquoise top ) doing her stuff

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After the Luau finished we wandered back to the monorail station via the beach area and the Kids cooled off a bit. Of course they weren't dressed for the beach and Maddie managed to dip not only her bottom in the water, but her homemade Lanyard that had said "if my parents get lost you can phone them on....". The ink ran and it got crusted with sand, so that was the last time she wore it. A good idea while it lasted!( but the photos are funny!)

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The rest of our Boardwalk stay was uneventful really, we just tried to get as much of the parks done as we could. With all the wedding activities and having family with us, we felt that we really didn't get much park time this vacation. We'll just have to come back again maybe we won't do so much decorating next time!!!!

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We checked out of the Boardwalk on Wednesday ( six days post wedding ) and headed off to Vero beach for a relaxing week before comming home.We had arranged with Randy to pick up our photos from him en route to Vero.We headed to HS one last time and we had PS's for Maddies favourite "Play and dine and Hollywood & vine". We did this buffet twice on our last visit and knew with 3 preschoolers it was a must do, the foods not half bad either! You get regular visits to the table by Leo and June from the Little Einsteins and Jojo and Goliath from Jojo's circus. The kids ( and me ) get to dance around too, I managed to get some great video footage of our little star dancing with Goliath.

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Then it was time to say goodbye to the parks and get the boat back to the Boardwalk on last time. I think I got teary when I saw Sea Breeze Point.
Then a funny thing happened when we were waiting at the front of the hotel for Iain to drive up with our car. A limo pulls up and a bride gets out, followed by a photographer.....who happened to be Randy! When he saw me he came over and gave me a hug and told me he'd left our Photos with the dentist next to his shop because Linda had to go out. It was such a coincidence bumping into him like that, and a great chance to say thankyou.

Just a couple of random photos to finish this bit off.
Heres Iain and Maddie on the Boardwalk, with SBP behind. It really was the perfect location for us, we love the ambiance of the Boardwalk and it really does seem like a "home away from home"

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even the ducks love it......

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and finally, remember that cute little basket Maddie had full of petals?
well, it wasn't many hours after the wedding before it morphed into a DOG BASKET

Fifi's new home

 

[micandminforever]

Thanks for sharing your wedding memories. Have a great time in Hawaii.

 

[dalepool]

we own a condo on waikiki beach --not timeshare so as much as I sould like I dont have the adavantage to trade hawaii for orlando -- boo-who. But here are some things I tell everyone to do

1. polynesian cultural center. If time is issue do to do this or a luau. So this one and get the added feast. See the night show -- I can not tell you how wonderful this is * the serve a desert at intermission that is a pineapple boat that will feet 2-3 ppl easy. It is good and refreshing. The PCC center does a short program at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center--- Center stage. I think this is held every othe night. 5-6 pm hawaii time.

2. Once a month there is a street fair -- I think it is sat and sunday -- might be Just sundays now-- there is entertainment- food and it is free . Hope you are there then. there is also a movie on the beach every Friday and Sat night. bring a blaket or beach chair and enjoy. there are food and drink vendors

3. There is a lighting of the toruches each night near dukes statue. There is a program prefromed by locals. It is fun -- bring your camera.

4. The zoo is one of the best buys in Honolulu it is steps from the famous Kuhio and Waikiki beachs. We would buy an annual pass and husband would take daughter everyday after a morning at beach. The annual pass is a good buy as it lets you also use in most mainland zoos. Check it out. There are activities like sleep in the zoo if you are an annual pass holder -- there are some other activities like that also but I can not think of how they work. sorry.

5. Sealife park-- It is much like seal world but on a much smaller scale. We did enroll my daughter and a gf she invited one year in to the dolpin university. It was an hour of great memories--- it is very spendy.

6 There are stands that sell items to take home -- called Dukes Lane It is next door to Beach comber Hotel. Now let me stress this -- no prices-- so much like mexico-- do not buy at firest stand -- walk around and get better prices as you go ----- also early in the week and late in month prices seem to be lower. Guess they have a quota to .

7. International Market place Much like Dukes lane. Fun place to shop-- but remember you have to dicker.

8. Tour the tow Hotels that have the most history. Royal Hawaiian and the Moana--the Queen.

9. Do not go to China town late in afternoon. China town I am sad to say needs to have a face lift-- and can be scarey for younger children. (Drunks can be sleeping in the doorways). I do not recomend this to anyone now days-- Honolulu needs to clean up area to bring tpurists back.

10. Use a bag similar to what you would use at Disney-- keep track of your belongings-- yes sad but true some
ppl will follow you to try to get at your belongings.

11 Do get a base tan before you travel. Nothing can ruin a trip to Hawaii like a sun burn.

12. Look like a tourist . after 20 + years I still do.

13. The "BUS" has been voted best bus service in the United States. And trust me it is. Key thing si when using get a transfer so yuo do not have to pay again.. There is also a 4 day pass.

14. Take a tour. It is best when someone else tells u about the island. and no driving for me.

15. There is a free hula show at the Kodak statium. Fun and gives u dance and music of locals.

16. A must is to go to Pearl Harbor. Take a flower lei and toss in water from the memorial as a tribute to the lost sailors.

17 18 19 20. I have so many ideas for u but will stop for now -- dont want to bore you. If you want some more information jsut pm me.

aloha
Patty

 

[Lynn5700]

You guys are the cutest family!

How awesome you got to run into Randy!!!!!

 

[lov2b@disney]

Thank you for sharing! Your honeymoon pictures are beautiful--funny you mentioned the hair , I slept my wedding night with my hair, pins and all intact for my MK shoot the next day--couldnt wait to wash it-

my DS2 liked the play and dine breakfast too!

Have a great trip to Hawaii

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Lovely installment! The pics of Maddie on the beach and at Hollywood & vine are so cute

 

[Maddiesmum03]

Thanks for sharing your wedding memories. Have a great time in Hawaii.

Thank you ....we intend to!

we own a condo on waikiki beach --not timeshare so as much as I sould like I dont have the adavantage to trade hawaii for orlando -- boo-who. But here are some things I tell everyone to do

1. polynesian cultural center. If time is issue do to do this or a luau. So this one and get the added feast. See the night show -- I can not tell you how wonderful this is * the serve a desert at intermission that is a pineapple boat that will feet 2-3 ppl easy. It is good and refreshing. The PCC center does a short program at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center--- Center stage. I think this is held every othe night. 5-6 pm hawaii time.

2. Once a month there is a street fair -- I think it is sat and sunday -- might be Just sundays now-- there is entertainment- food and it is free . Hope you are there then. there is also a movie on the beach every Friday and Sat night. bring a blaket or beach chair and enjoy. there are food and drink vendors

3. There is a lighting of the toruches each night near dukes statue. There is a program prefromed by locals. It is fun -- bring your camera.

4. The zoo is one of the best buys in Honolulu it is steps from the famous Kuhio and Waikiki beachs. We would buy an annual pass and husband would take daughter everyday after a morning at beach. The annual pass is a good buy as it lets you also use in most mainland zoos. Check it out. There are activities like sleep in the zoo if you are an annual pass holder -- there are some other activities like that also but I can not think of how they work. sorry.

5. Sealife park-- It is much like seal world but on a much smaller scale. We did enroll my daughter and a gf she invited one year in to the dolpin university. It was an hour of great memories--- it is very spendy.

6 There are stands that sell items to take home -- called Dukes Lane It is next door to Beach comber Hotel. Now let me stress this -- no prices-- so much like mexico-- do not buy at firest stand -- walk around and get better prices as you go ----- also early in the week and late in month prices seem to be lower. Guess they have a quota to .

7. International Market place Much like Dukes lane. Fun place to shop-- but remember you have to dicker.

8. Tour the tow Hotels that have the most history. Royal Hawaiian and the Moana--the Queen.

9. Do not go to China town late in afternoon. China town I am sad to say needs to have a face lift-- and can be scarey for younger children. (Drunks can be sleeping in the doorways). I do not recomend this to anyone now days-- Honolulu needs to clean up area to bring tpurists back.

10. Use a bag similar to what you would use at Disney-- keep track of your belongings-- yes sad but true some
ppl will follow you to try to get at your belongings.

11 Do get a base tan before you travel. Nothing can ruin a trip to Hawaii like a sun burn.

12. Look like a tourist . after 20 + years I still do.

13. The "BUS" has been voted best bus service in the United States. And trust me it is. Key thing si when using get a transfer so yuo do not have to pay again.. There is also a 4 day pass.

14. Take a tour. It is best when someone else tells u about the island. and no driving for me.

15. There is a free hula show at the Kodak statium. Fun and gives u dance and music of locals.

16. A must is to go to Pearl Harbor. Take a flower lei and toss in water from the memorial as a tribute to the lost sailors.

17 18 19 20. I have so many ideas for u but will stop for now -- dont want to bore you. If you want some more information jsut pm me.

aloha
Patty

Wow, Patty....such a lot of ideas! Thank you soo much. We have already planned to do the zoo, we have annual passes for Brevard zoo, near vero beach and we get free entry into this one too. We also have Maddie signed up for some dolphin encounter at the sealife park ( that she doesn't know about... she will be so excited! ). Other must dos for us include hiking up Diamond head, early in the morning, snorkelling Hanauma bay, the dole plantgation to do the maze with Maddie, and touring each shoreline and hitting a couple of nice beaches. We will also NEED to shop at some point

You guys are the cutest family!

How awesome you got to run into Randy!!!!!

Thanks Lynn, Yes it was great running into Randy. You know how it is, after spending a whole day with him for the wedding it was like bumping into a friend!

Thank you for sharing! Your honeymoon pictures are beautiful--funny you mentioned the hair , I slept my wedding night with my hair, pins and all intact for my MK shoot the next day--couldnt wait to wash it-

my DS2 liked the play and dine breakfast too!

Have a great trip to Hawaii

You managed to keep your hair intact? thats really good! I couldn't wait to get back from Epcot so I could wash my hair, I just wish I had got up earlier that morning and realised what it was like. I hope it doesn't look too bad in the honeymoon photos!
Play and Dine is great isn't it? The first time we went was last year, for an early breakfast and there wasnt many people in there. We got so many interactions with the characters. At one point Jojo sat down at our table and did some colouring with Maddie, I have some great shots of that!

Lovely installment! The pics of Maddie on the beach and at Hollywood & vine are so cute

Thank you. Yes I like these photos, it's funny, in real life she seems to be laughing all the time, but when I click the camera, I never seem to catch a smile very often, so when I do it makes the photos all the more special


Thank you everyone for your kind words, good wishes and brilliant ideas for our upcomming honeymoon

 

[figmentfan814]

Patty had some great ideas for your honeymoon, I wish I would have had some of her tips during our trip there in May. I totally agree about the Polynesian Cultural Center; it is worth the trip and the evening show is amazing!!!! We also added the dinner show prior to it; the food was fantastic!

Hiking up Diamond Head is so worth it. Although, it is much longer of a hike than we expected Also, I'm sure Maddie will love the Dole Plantation; they have a ton of great stuff for kids! Don't forget to get a pineapple whip here too, it brought back fond Disney memories for us

 

[29apr00]

the Doggie basket! Too cute!!

The laua looks great, i'd really like to do that next time! Was the food good? did they have apprioate food for the kids? Were they a bit freaked out by the fire breather?

 

[Maddiesmum03]

the Doggie basket! Too cute!!

The laua looks great, i'd really like to do that next time! Was the food good? did they have apprioate food for the kids? Were they a bit freaked out by the fire breather?

Oooh......first of all sorry for the delay in this reply, but we are now back from Hawaii and Las Vegas and well and truely back to reality. After months of planning and celebrating it's quite nice to have absolutely nothing planned (except Maddies 5yh birthday party, but that will be really low key!)

Hawaii was great except for the major travelling involved, with flight delays and having to be re routed it took us something like 26 hours to reach San Francisco and then a 5 hour flight a day later to finally reach Ohau. I may get round to doing a TR over on the California & the west board one of these days!!!

Having now done real Hawaiian Luaus several times, I can honestly say the entertainment is quite authentic, with the dancing and fire breather.... with a very Disney esque story line thrown in to pad it all out. The food was good and plentiful. This is the menu, searved "family style"

Tropical Mixed Greens with Mango Poppy Seed Dressing
Pineapple-coconut Bread
Sweet Golden Pineapple

Island Barbecued Pork Ribs
Lanai Roasted Chicken
Polynesian Rice
Fresh Seasonal Vegetables

Tropical Beverages

All you can drink:
Bud and Bud Light Draft Beer
Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay
Tea, Coffee, Milk, Pink Lemonade, Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke
Hot or Iced Tea and Milk

Dessert - Kilauea Volcano Delight

There was also the usual mac and cheese and hot dog type kiddie menu, but ours ate from the adult selection and loved it. I'm glad we did it, and I'm expecially glad we booked so far ahead and managed to grab the very best table. The only problem with booking for a party is you need to pay up front, unlike other disney dining reservations. At nearly $60 each, thats a lot to pay out bearing in mind they DONT give refunds. ( Iain's dad didn't make it to our meal and we were told we couldn't get any money back)


Anyhow from one Luau to another, I'm not going to go off topic and post loads of pictures of our at home Luau reception. It went really well and we had around 70 people here. Luckily it was one of the few beautiful days we have had here this summer and most people spent the entire evening outside. I was determined to make my own wedding cake for this party and I wanted it to have a tropical feel. I spent hours making an Icing Mickey and Minnie in Hawaiian dress to go on top, but they were too big and I wasn't sure, then Minne fell over and her grass skirt got wrecked so I just went with flowers instead. Perhaps having ONE cake with Mickey and Minnie is enough anyhow

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And that is just about it. I want to thank EVERYONE who has made nice comments about our photos and ideas. As I said on the very first page I loved everything about our Disney wedding, if I had to plan it all over again I wouldn't change a thing. If you are a bride to be reading this I think the majority of the past Disney brides out there would agree with me in saying Disney weddings are the best. They are individual, romantic, entertaining and FUN. They are whatever you want them to be. Ours really was the best day of our lives.
Carol xx

 

[keenercam]

Carol -- You did a fabulous job on your at-home cake. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your wedding with us. It has been so much fun to read everything and to see all the pictures!
Happy birthday to Maddie!

 

[Maddiesmum03]

Carol -- You did a fabulous job on your at-home cake. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your wedding with us. It has been so much fun to read everything and to see all the pictures!
Happy birthday to Maddie!

Thanks Keenercam! I'd better not put off getting back on my diet until after Maddies birthday.......TWO vacations and a party inbetween has really started to show still, at least the wedding photos will always look good

 

[29apr00]

Carol - OMG your cake!! Those flowers are so beautiful, you did a great job!! Totally blew my flowers out of the water, and I'm supposed to teach people to do that!!

 

[Maddiesmum03]

Carol - OMG your cake!! Those flowers are so beautiful, you did a great job!! Totally blew my flowers out of the water, and I'm supposed to teach people to do that!!

You teach cake decorating? how cool !
Thank you for your praise, I've made cakes for years now and I have done wedding cakes for other people. I always said that if I got married again I would make a cake for each table, but of course our wedding didn't turn out that way!!!!!
I made it as fruit cake so I wouldn't have to stress about decorating it just before the party when I had everything else to do. Although I cut up one of the bottom tiers at the Luau, We still have cake to eat!

perhaps I ought to redecorate the top tier for Maddies birthday!!!!! ( only joking, but my birthday is in January and I still remember my mum not letting anyone cut the christmas cake because she wanted to re ice it for me )

 

[Maddiesmum03]

Hello Mods! if you are reading this please move my thread to the completed section, it may be more help to future brides there.
Carol