What's better than a honeymoon? TWO Honeymoons! 8/30 57 hours/13 months to go!

[Stefy]

Thats cool, will defo get you in the mood to visit when you go

Which book is your favourite?

 

[Joyciemc]

Thats cool, will defo get you in the mood to visit when you go

Which book is your favourite?

I like them all! But probably the Deathly Hallows, because it was nice to have things all wrapped up finally.


I'm determined to update this today, let's see if I can manage it...

 

[Joyciemc]

Holy cow, life has got a bit crazy around here. I keep wanting to write an update, but never have quite enough time.

Suddenly the wedding doesn't seem so far away anymore! Last weekend we had our food tasting and picked our menu. We're having a buffet (I think I'm supposed to say 'stations', cause I guess 'buffet' doesn't sound fancy enough. But I couldn't be any less fancy, so I call it a buffet) with a ton of yummy food!
During cocktail hour there will be some passed hor d’oeuvres:
Sesame chicken skewers, crab cakes, bruschetta with brie and pesto, stuffed mushrooms.
For the main meal:
Roast beef, salmon with pineapple salsa, chicken piccata, butternut squash ravioli, three cheese agnolotti with a creamy Alfredo sauce, roasted zucchini, garlic mashed potatoes.
There'll be a few more hor d'oeuvres passed while tables are waiting to go up for their meal:
spanikopita, spring rolls, goat cheese and roasted vegetable tartlets.

It is a ton of food and all very delicious. We stuffed ourselves silly at the tasting, which is probably a good thing because we may not eat any of it the day of the wedding!

The day after the tasting, I was totally surprised by MY SHOWER! I wasn't expecting it so early, and caught totally off guard. It was a lot of fun but very overwhelming. I'm pretty shy and that much attention focused on me was a lot to take. Luckily, Ben showed up part way through and was there to join in the fun.

This weekend, I went for my hair/makeup trial. It went well, but there are a few things I will change on the day of.

So I was happy with it, but my hair needs to be up a little higher on my head.
Make-up wise, there sure was a lot of it. The eyes were a bit too much, and my face ended up a bit dark. I am planning on spray tanning before the wedding, so that will hopefully come out looking ok.

I also need some kind of headpiece/tiara contraption.

You may have noticed that I did remember to get my veil! And when I went to pick it up, I got to see the bridesmaid dresses- they look great!

After the hair trial, Ben and I went out with some friends. I wiped a huge amount of the make-up off, and the hair stylist took the pins out of the hair, which left it looking like this:

And I kind of loved it (excuse the look on my face, I have no idea what I am reacting to there...) which left me wondering if I should wear it down for the wedding... sigh.

I also got my bridesmaid's gifts this week.

I'll also include something else specific for each girl, not quite sure on that yet.

Wow, that was one big wedding update! Sorry for boring you, and I understand if you skipped it!
I am also working on an actual trip related update, and will have it up soon

 

[Joyciemc]

Even though our Disneymoon is still a bit away, there is something coming up pretty soon... 180 days! I know you all know what that means... ADRs!
Which also means that we need to plan some kind of itinerary. I think it's very funny that meals dictate park time, but they really do. Until we learn how to teleport, we need to be relatively close to the place we're planning on eating. So the real trip planning starts with meal planning. And let's face it, eating is the best part of the trip, anyway. So, it all begins with this wish list.

The new places we want to try are:
Raglan Road
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Coral Reef
Le Cellier
The Wave
Sci Fi Dine-In (I've been here but Ben hasn't and it was a must-do for him)

We've been to the Polynesian restaurants before, and will be returning to them:
'Ohana
Kona Cafe (we are obsessed with Kona... Ben is already worried that one dinner there won't be enough. Don't be surprised if this takes the place of some others on the list...)

I am so excited about trying some new places! I've been in a table service rut when it comes to Disney trips for a long time, so I'm purposely trying to get to some new places. I hope they'll be delicious!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I LOVE this update!!! I've got lots to comment on, there's so many exciting things going on!

It sounds like you've got a great menu planned! Lots of good variety there for your guests to choose from

And I totally hear you about feeling a little overwhelmed and shy at the shower. I have a feeling I'll be the same way. I hate opening gifts in front of people. But it looks like you had fun, anyway! That picture of you and Ben is too funny.

Awww, you look SO pretty after your trial! I hear so many people say that they feel awkward afterwards because they aren't used to that much make up. But I think it looks great!

What a nice gift for your bridesmaids!

How exciting that it's almost time for ADRs! That's a great looking list! And I also plan my entire trip around my meals!

 

[Stefy]

Great updates. Your hair and make-up look lovely I agree on making the bun a bit high, as it always looks good with your tiara in place. Have you seen any you like yet?

Your hair down also looks awesome, I love touseled curls

Your menu sounds great, what desserts are you having?

Love the pic of you and DF

Cute bridesmaids gift, is the perfect gift for them and the specific gifts will be a nice touch when they open the bags

Your restaurant choices sound good and you can't go wrong with the Poly restaurants either

 

[Joyciemc]

I LOVE this update!!! I've got lots to comment on, there's so many exciting things going on!

It sounds like you've got a great menu planned! Lots of good variety there for your guests to choose from

And I totally hear you about feeling a little overwhelmed and shy at the shower. I have a feeling I'll be the same way. I hate opening gifts in front of people. But it looks like you had fun, anyway! That picture of you and Ben is too funny.

Awww, you look SO pretty after your trial! I hear so many people say that they feel awkward afterwards because they aren't used to that much make up. But I think it looks great!

What a nice gift for your bridesmaids!

How exciting that it's almost time for ADRs! That's a great looking list! And I also plan my entire trip around my meals!

Glad you're still reading! And I'm glad you're not bored with the wedding updates

The shower really was great, and my bridesmaids did a fantastic job planning it. It is just really hard for me to have that much attention. I felt like opening gifts took forever!

Thanks for your sweet words about my hair trial! I am happy with how it came out, and feel good about making the changes I want.

 

[Joyciemc]

Great updates. Your hair and make-up look lovely I agree on making the bun a bit high, as it always looks good with your tiara in place. Have you seen any you like yet?

Your hair down also looks awesome, I love touseled curls

Your menu sounds great, what desserts are you having?

Love the pic of you and DF

Cute bridesmaids gift, is the perfect gift for them and the specific gifts will be a nice touch when they open the bags

Your restaurant choices sound good and you can't go wrong with the Poly restaurants either

Thanks for sticking around!
I haven't really looked at tiaras yet... I want something sparkly but not to gaudy.

Our wedding cake is chocolate with chocolate mousse (can you tell I love chocolate?) Ben and I have carrot cake for our layer. I think we'll just have the cake as our dessert.

I am SO excited about our meals at Disney! I've been reading the menus to decide what to order already!

 

[Stefy]

You should look into a Disney tiara from Disney Bridal

http://www.disneybridal.com/collection/accessories/tiaras/tiaras.html?dressnumber=0

I like looking at the menus trying to decide what I might get, is half the fun

Your wedding cake sounds delish

 

[Joyciemc]

You should look into a Disney tiara from Disney Bridal

http://www.disneybridal.com/collection/accessories/tiaras/tiaras.html?dressnumber=0

I like looking at the menus trying to decide what I might get, is half the fun

Your wedding cake sounds delish

The Disney tiaras a beautiful! I really liked this one

and this one

and this one

that last one reminds me a bit of the details on my dress...

decisions, decisions...

 

[MainStMandy]

Oh I love all of those, but #1 is my fav!

 

[Joyciemc]

Exciting news for our Disneymoon: we booked our Universal hotel last night!
We splurged and went for the Portofino Bay Resort. We check in Thursday 9/2 (late-ish, but we haven't got plane tickets yet so I don't know for sure) and check out Sunday 9/5. We plan to spend most of Sunday at the Universal parks, then head over to the Poly at night. We'll be there till 9/12. Hurray hurray!

I am so excited to visit Universal and IOA, as they are completely new to us! I've read so much about the different attractions in other people's trip reports and I am pumped!
Even more exciting is following them up with a trip to my favorite place in the world... I still don't think it has sunk in that we are actually staying at the Poly. Would September just hurry up and get here, already? (Except of course for the last couple weeks in April, which I hope go buy nice and slow and would not dream of wishing away... there, did that make up for me looking way ahead past our wedding again? )

And because I have the day off, and I feel like it... here is some more rambling:
I was going through pictures recently (we got a digital frame and I have been loading it up) and came across pictures from our very first Disney experience together. Shortly after Ben and I started dating, we planned a trip to California. We flew into San Francisco and rented a car to drive down the coast, stopping at a few places. It was AMAZING- Big Sur, Carmel by the Sea, eventually San Diego. And I had a hidden agenda. I knew we would be in LA a few days staying with a friend (the whole point of the trip was to go to his company holiday party. They are based in LA, so we just extended the trip around that). And I had already decided that we would make it to Disneyland. I sneakily brought it up as a spur-of-the-moment thing, but Ben already knew at that point about my obsession with Disney Parks... I don't think he was surprised. Anyway, we planned on one day at DL, driving to and from LA to get there. We left really early in the morning and made great time to Anaheim. We ended up staying REALLY late and visiting both DL and California Adventure. On the way out we decided to find a hotel and stay the night so we could have some more time in the parks the next day... it was the most random Disney trip I had ever taken, but so much fun!

Walking in, we saw this:

and Ben's words were "aww, they have a cute little one!"

This was a random paparazzi shot, but it shows New Orleans Square all decked out for Christmas. I LOVED this section of the park- it is beautiful!

This was our photo from Splash Mountain. That face I was making became famous- as we were checking out ride photos, a guy next to us looked at me and said "there's the star of the show". I was mortified, but it was hilarious. Ben and I still use that line to this day.

Tower of Terror is my favorite ride, and I was happy to try out a different version. It was fun, but no where near as great as the Studios version. For a lot of reasons.

Space Mountain in DL was SO cool! We loved it. The WDW version has a special place in our hearts, but I think I preferred the DL.

and because I love this picture:

Corn dogs are one of my favorite foods. Look how purty it is!

And there is a random pre trip-report update. Eagle eyed readers (the few but fantastic ones there are) will notice that I am wearing the same sweater that I wore to my hair trial. That gives you some indication of how often I shop, I guess

I do have another exciting bit of information to share... but it will require a bit of a back story. Something to look forward to, right?

 

[Joyciemc]

Oh I love all of those, but #1 is my fav!

Haha, you posted this as I was in the middle of a very long, rambling update!

#1 is super pretty... I need to find a place were I can look at them in person and try them on, I think!

 

[MainStMandy]

Lol a cute little one...that's excactly what I said. I have been to Disneyland once and didn't care for it...however, I'm up for trying it again!!! I agree that Space Mountain was amazing!!!!!

 

[Stefy]

I like No. 1 the best. They are so awesome right? Have seen that there is a store in the UK that stocks Disney Bridal and cannot wait to go check it out, think I have to make an appointment though.

I also like this one

Love the "cute little one" comment.

Congrats on booking Portofino, it looks like a lovely hotel and you guys are gonna have a blast at US and IoA first and then WDW after

 

[PeytonSdiz]

Joining in! My comments as I was reading -

That is awesome that you work at an animal shelter. What all do you do there? I always wanted to do something like that. However, I'm horribly allergic to cats. I'm a huge dog lover and adopted one from a shelter a couple years ago.

Two honeymoons is a great idea!!

My first WDW trip was around 1st grade too.

Awesome that you're staying at the Poly. If there's one time in life to splurge...it's for a honeymoon! I think that would be pretty much the only way I'd get to a deluxe resort. LOL.

That room/resort in St. Lucia looks gorgeous! What month were you there and what was the weather like? Were the beaches/pools very crowded?

Cute wedding hair!!

It's funny...we don't really make ADRs so it's interesting to read people's trip reports where their itinerary is dictated so much by ADRs. We made a couple on our last trip and I really didn't like having to check my watch and worry about where we were. (Although Restaurant Marrakesh was really good!) We made three ADRs - skipped one, didn't like the food/service at one, and loved one.

I like the Belle tiara best.

Hooray for Disneyland! I love it there. What dates were those photos taken? I always wonder if I happened to be in the parks on the same days as anyone else here.

 

[redlight]

I've been bad at keeping up.

And I kind of loved it (excuse the look on my face, I have no idea what I am reacting to there...) which left me wondering if I should wear it down for the wedding... sigh.

You should. Your waves look so lovely.

 

[Joyciemc]

double post!

 

[Joyciemc]

Lol a cute little one...that's excactly what I said. I have been to Disneyland once and didn't care for it...however, I'm up for trying it again!!! I agree that Space Mountain was amazing!!!!!

That trip was my second to Disneyland... the first was a couple of years before that with some friends. It was ok, but I didn't love it. The visit with Ben was a whole different thing!
Give DL a second chance when you get to!

I like No. 1 the best. They are so awesome right? Have seen that there is a store in the UK that stocks Disney Bridal and cannot wait to go check it out, think I have to make an appointment though.

I also like this one

Love the "cute little one" comment.

Congrats on booking Portofino, it looks like a lovely hotel and you guys are gonna have a blast at US and IoA first and then WDW after

That's another lovely tiara!
We are so excited about Portofino, I've been checking out pictures like crazy. I love that the Universal hotels are close to the parks! (at least they look close on the map... are they?)

Joining in! My comments as I was reading -
Welcome! Happy to have you along!
That is awesome that you work at an animal shelter. What all do you do there? I always wanted to do something like that. However, I'm horribly allergic to cats. I'm a huge lover and adopted one from a shelter a couple years ago.
I'm the assistant manager, and do just about everything! Cleaning, animal care, intakes and adoptions on top of managing our staff (which is very small!) and volunteers. I love it, but it is an intense job! Maybe you could find a shelter to volunteer at that either doesn't have cats?
Two honeymoons is a great idea!!

My first WDW trip was around 1st grade too.

Awesome that you're staying at the Poly. If there's one time in life to splurge...it's for a honeymoon! I think that would be pretty much the only way I'd get to a deluxe resort. LOL.
Yeah, we are definitely using the 'once in a lifetime' reasoning for both of these upcoming trips! And I am excited about it!
That room/resort in St. Lucia looks gorgeous! What month were you there and what was the weather like? Were the beaches/pools very crowded?
We were there in November. It rained almost every day, but not the whole day. We got at least some sun time. And when it did rain, we just jumped in the pool and hung out at the swim up bar. It was busy, but not too crowded. Some days it was harder to get a good chair by the pool, but the beaches were always empty... in fact that is a story I am planing on sharing with you guys!
Cute wedding hair!!
Thanks!
It's funny...we don't really make ADRs so it's interesting to read people's trip reports where their itinerary is dicated so much by ADRs. We made a couple on our last trip and I really didn't like having to check my watch and worry about where we were. (Although Restaurant Marrakesh was really good!) We made three ADRs - skipped one, didn't like the food/service at one, and loved one.
I do think it's funny that we let ADRs determine our trip. But we are also pretty flexible once there and might cancel/try to add something. I like to make them just so I know we can go. I totally hear you about not rushing around to get to meals!
I like the Belle tiara best.

Hooray for Disneyland! I love it there. What dates were those photos taken? I always wonder if I happened to be in the parks on the same days as anyone else here.

That was December 2006, I think. We had a blast at Disneyland, and seeing how much Ben liked it helped me realize that there would be plenty of Disney trips in our future!

I've been bad at keeping up.



You should. Your waves look so lovely.

Awww, thanks! It would be easier than having a million pins in my head. And much easier to go to sleep at the end of the night!

 

[Joyciemc]

I got the best surprise yesterday, and I really want to share it! But for it to make sense, we need to have a flashback to the "engagementmoon" November 2008.

As with most engagements, the ring played a pretty heavy role in ours. But then it went to a whole new level.
Ben had very secretly bought a ring for me and then just as secretly traveled to St. Lucia with it. It was such a secret that he had no idea what ring size I wore (I never wear jewelery... especially since I spend most of my time working in the not-so-glamorous animal sheltering world. So he couldn't even sneak a ring out to have sized.) he went with the jeweler's suggestion of 'normal': a size 6 1/2.
He kept quiet until that first night, and then without saying anything, he gave me the ring:

I had no clue it was coming and we were both very happy and excited.
And we still had our whole vacation ahead of us! What could be better?

The next day wasn't the best weather-wise, so we left to explore another resort on the island. The ring came along with us- I was so excited to have it that I wanted to wear it... even though it was a whole size too big.
While out, this picture was taken:

and it is a very important photo. This is the only picture of me wearing the ring after the actual engagement. And that isn't because we stopped taking pictures. It's because we didn't have the ring much after this was taken.