Vanessa- figmentfan814 ~ Happily Ever Wedding & 10th Anniversary VR Brunch #1 Added 8-10

World Showcase Photos Before Ceremony

We had a few problems getting in backstage at Epcot. Our van driver got in the wrong line of cars and since it was so busy we had to turn around and wait quite a bit longer to get inside. Thankfully the bonus of a vow renewal is that you have more time to get photos together. We didn’t see each other in advance of our ceremony at our wedding, so it was nice to have lots of extra photos before our vow renewal.

When we got out behind the American Adventure we were greeted by our planner Carol and her assistant Elyse. Elyse had recently been promoted to be an Escape planner, but she still stayed on helping prep for our vow renewal and had her schedule rearranged to be able to be there with us that day. It was such a sweet gesture. They had both been so amazing helping throughout our planning process.

One request I made was to have photos in the American Adventure Rotunda since that’s where we were married in 2008. Our planner told us initially that if there was a wedding we obviously wouldn’t be able to get inside. There wasn’t a wedding planned, but we had to wait to ensure it wasn’t going to be one of the days where the floors were being waxed. We were given the go ahead for photos about two weeks in advance.

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Here are some of my favorite photos from inside.

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In the midst of getting these photos we had some drama with transportation. One thing to note, directions were in our welcome folders, Facebook group (multiple reminders including one that morning) and in person. Plus, 90% of our guests were also at our wedding and went through the same routine in 2008! First, the bus driver called our planner because she was at our first stop, Pop Century, and Kris’ mom wasn’t on the bus. No one could reach her, so we weren’t sure if she had overslept or something. Finally Kris was able to get through to her and it turned out she had taken an Epcot bus instead of waiting for our charter bus and was at the front of the park. Carol then sent someone up front to get her.

We also found out at the same time my friend and her family had taken an Epcot bus from Port Orleans-Riverside to the park instead of waiting for the charter. Most of our guests were at this resort and they had already talked to some of the other people who were there and then they disappeared. She ended up calling my mom asking where they were suppose to go and she told them to come back to get on the bus. Thankfully because it was delayed at Pop Century they were able to make it back in time. Around the same time, my cousin who lives locally also had to be redirected because he had went to French Quarter instead of Riverside. As anyone with an in-park wedding can attest to there’s bound to be drama with all the logistics!

Meanwhile we continued with our photos. I had mentioned to Randy about getting photos in the Hall of Flags. A few days after our wedding when we were going to see the American Adventure show I was sad when we came around the corner to go up to the second floor… I realized we should’ve gotten pictures in there. So, I was really hoping we could get them this time. We decided to not ask permission in case DFTW may say no. We just went that direction after we finished up in the rotunda itself. I love how the photos came out.

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I also brought quite a few photo props. I saw this on Pinterest and made one for us. I had to add 10 extra days on the count because it was March 13 not March 3 which is our actual anniversary.

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After we left the American Adventure we headed over to Italy to get some photos before our guests arrived. We ended up getting more here after our ceremony too.

It was so beautiful with all the topiaries. When we were married in 2008, the festival started later in the spring. We got photos with a lot of the flowers we are dog people and even built a dog park in our area. It was a huge project and a story for another time :-)




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Did I mention it was freezing that morning!!!! It was still in the upper 40s at this point; brrrrrrr.




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Another request I had made was for photos on the balcony in Italy. Our planner said that sometimes they are allowed and other times they are not. It all depends on who is the maintenance manager at that point in time. Thankfully we lucked out and were able to get some there.




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It was funny because when you looked to the backstage side there were trash cans and a bunch of cast members getting things ready for the day.




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We tried to recreate some of the same shots from our wedding day.




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Around this time we were taken into Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar to wait until the ceremony was going to start.



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At this time my cousin, who had been practicing with the guitarist, was brought in to wait with us along with Kris’ mom who had been ushered from the front of the park.




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We had so many great cast members take care of us that day. Here is our event guide Lorraine. One thing I really missed about not having a bridal party is that I had to carry everything around while we were taking photos. Thankfully Lorraine was a huge help.




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Up next our ceremony.
 
I was so excited to see you updated! Your photos are amazing! The pics in the rotunda taken from the balcony were my favorites. Looking forward to the ceremony update:)
 


I was so excited to see you updated! Your photos are amazing! The pics in the rotunda taken from the balcony were my favorites. Looking forward to the ceremony update:)
Thanking you for following along with me. Some of the photos in the rotunda were my favorite at our wedding too. It is such a dramatic backdrop for pictures. I hope to get the ceremony up by early next week. I had this post all done in another program and it crashed, so I had to start over again which took a lot of time otherwise I might have made it through part of the ceremony already :badpc:
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Vow Renewal Ceremony
While we were waiting in the wine cellar, my mom said she was asked to help distribute corsages. For our wedding our bridesmaids and the flowergirl each wore a different pastel color, so the four who returned for this ceremony received a corsage with their respective colors (pink, purple, blue and yellow). I originally had considered getting them the flowerwands, but the corsages were almost $20 less per flower.

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I also had our programs set up in old suitcase props we had rented from Disney Floral for $10 each. It worked great with our travel theme.

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In this area we also had a wedding photo set up along with the photo of my mom in her dress which of course is what my dress was made out of for the occasion.

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Right before we started the ceremony, Kris ran out to pass off his phone to my cousin’s husband who was going to do a Facebook live for us in our private group. It was great because several family and friends who couldn’t make it were able to watch live. We have a nice handle/grip that holds the phone which makes it easy to for extended periods of time. Once Kris came back we were ready to head out.
Here is Kris’ mom being escorted by one of the groomsmen from our wedding.

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Here are my parents:

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As we came around the corner we had quite a walk up to the raised portion in the center of the plaza where the ceremony would take place. We were able to face towards Spaceship Earth since we had a group that was less than 40 people. If you have a large group you must face towards Tutto Italia Ristorante. As you can see in this photo while we were walking out why people who have to face this way often pay to have bushes cover up “pizzeria.”

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I have a pet peeve about how people walk during weddings. I like the more formal walk where you move your right foot forward then step together, step your left foot forward then step together. I had all our bridal party do this for our wedding and had talked to Kris about having us do it again. When we came around the corner I realized how far it was down the aisle. And whispered for us to start after the trash can not noticing that there were two! Needless to say we started the walk with the first one and had quite a slow walk to the front. We all had a chuckle partway down and it offers some comic relief in the video.

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As we were walking down the aisle, I was so touched as I looked around at our closest family and friends. So many of them had been at our wedding in 2008, so it was so amazing to have them return to be with us again ten years later. On a side note, it was still freezing at this point and everyone was shivering and were bundled up in sweatshirts and jackets. A few guests had even ran to the outlets the night before to pick up some warmer outfits since they had packed lighter summer clothing for the ceremony. I was freezing still and in the video you can tell I was also shivering in several spots.

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So cold! :scared1:

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We had arranged for one of our close friends to perform the ceremony. We also had several family members who were ministers in attendance, so we had lots of options. Our friend Mark sang at our wedding, so it was nice to have him a part of the big day. I was able to piece together the ceremony from other vow renewal scripts that I found in a vow renewal facebook group.
The only thing I had to write from scratch was the sand ceremony portion. We decided to add to our existing sand ceremony container from our wedding since there was still plenty of space to fill in additional sand. All the vow renewal scripts I found included sections for kids. I did find some unity candle ones, but they also weren’t a good fit for us.

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See the text of what I wrote below: :surfweb:

On their wedding day, Kris and Vanessa took part in the sand ceremony which symbolized the joining of them as husband and wife. On that day, each of them held separate containers of sand, to represent their individual lives. The two containers of sand were then combined to represent their new life together.

Today they add sand together from two vessels one representing their life together over the last decade and one symbolizing their life together as they continue their journey moving forward. As the sand from each vessel unites with the sand from their wedding day, it represents their continued journey together as partners in life.


There was a bit of a mix-up with the sand before the ceremony. We already had light blue and white sand in it from our wedding. Since it was approximately half full the plan had been to add in dark blue and more white to mix inside.

When we were taking pictures I noticed the main container was empty and asked our planner what had happened to the sand! Well, after several phone calls our planner found out they had bagged up the previous sand and had it in a Ziploc bag back at Disney floral. Thankfully someone was able to run it over before our ceremony started. In the end, we didn’t end up with any dark blue sand. I think they just poured half of the existing sand in the main container and the remaining in one of our two small vases. The second small vase had some white sand in it.

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During our ceremony everything turned out well despite the chaos of tracking down the sand before we started. I was so worried they wouldn’t be able to find it. The funny part was that they had given us a little too much extra sand, so the vessel overflowed a little which gave us all a laugh.

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While we were finishing up the sand ceremony my cousin began singing. We had a Jim Brickman song from his Disney Songbook album sang at our wedding, so I wanted to include another one of his pieces this time around. The Disney songs didn’t quite fit, so we picked his song “Your Love.” Brooklyn was amazing! Some of the cast members who were working in the area, but not at our actual ceremony thought it was a CD. We were so blessed to have her sing for us. :rockband:

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Your Love
Jim Brickman

It's not the flowers, wrapped in fancy paper
It's not the ring, I wear around my finger
There's nothing in all the world I need
When I have you here beside me,
Here beside me
So you could give me wings to fly
And catch me if I fall
Or pull the stars down from the sky
So I could wish on them all
But I couldn't ask for more
'cause your love is the greatest gift of all
In your arms, I found a strength inside me
And in your eyes there's a light to guide me
I would be lost without you
And all that my heart could ever want
Has come true
So you could give me wings to fly
And catch me if I fall
Or pull the stars down from the sky
So I could wish on them all
But I couldn't ask for more
'Cause your love is the greatest gift of all
You could offer me the sun, the moon
And I would still believe
You gave me everything
When you gave your heart to me
So you could give me wings to fly
And catch me if I fall
Or pull the stars down from the sky
So I could wish on them all
But I couldn't ask for more
'Cause your love is the greatest gift of all
We kept the vows short and sweet. We had also decided just to do a “blessing of our rings” since we didn’t want new ones or “upgrades” to our existing rings. I absolutely love my sapphire and ring set and can’t imagine ever wearing anything else!

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After the vows were completed, we had Mark ask for all the married couples in the audience to stand up for a special reading and blessing. :love:

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“Vanessa and Kris have expressed how blessed they have been to enjoy 10 years of marriage. Their fondest wish is that all of the married couples here today, each of you very special friends or relatives, be a part of this ceremony celebrating love and marriage. We would like all married couples to please rise and stand alongside your spouse………………
At this time, we offer a special blessing upon all married couples celebrating with Kris and Vanessa here today.
May they be blessed with the guidance, strength, and direction to make their relationship grow and blossom in the years ahead. May their home be blessed with joy and happiness, and may they strive together to make their hopes and dreams come true.

Most of all, we ask that all couples be blessed by the love and support of family and friends as they continue life together as husband and wife.
And, from this day forth, may their worries be few, may their joys be many, and may their love grow more abundantly with each passing day. Amen.”


It was such a nice addition to the service and added a special touch with everyone. We had a super quick kiss and then it was over. Kris made it so short I was surprised they caught it in the pictures and the video. I think he was starting to feel a little embarrassed with all the attention which made it super cute. The entire service was less than 15 minutes!

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Our planner Carol then when to get everyone setup for a staged exit with our ribbon wands. I finally gave in and put on the stole wrap from our wedding. It was white and the lace from my mom’s dress was off-white, so I was afraid it would clash, but thankfully it looked pretty good in photos. My matron of honor’s aunt had made it for me, so it was special to be able to wear it again this time around.
Disney let us provide our own ribbon wands and I was able to purchase a really nice set of 30 on Amazon for around $40 compared to pay several dollars a piece through Disney. The wind was a huge help and most people just had to hold up the wands to let the wind do their magic.




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After the staged exit we went over towards the lagoon to take a group photo. I had saw a cute shot where a photographer arranged the guests around the bride and groom in the shape of a heart, so Randy recreated it for us. Despite the angle of where he had to stand to take the picture I still think they turned out pretty good. :lovestruc




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Once this shot was complete, the guests were sent off for the pre-reception and we took more pictures around the World Showcase before heading to Canada to join everyone.
 


I absolutely love your vow renewal!!! First of all, you are so very very lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people to celebrate your special day! I always enjoy vow renewal photos because the couple always looks so incredibly happy and relaxed...I think it's because the nervousness of making a huge change in your life is not there and it's so it's just an awesome celebration of the life you've already created together...no jitters...that definitely comes across in your stunning pictures! I love that your husband is also beaming with happiness! So sweet! I so :cloud9: wanted a Disney vow renewal myself, but instead we will do one here in our home state, so I'm living vicariously through yours! Can't wait to read more!! I'm looking forward to food pics too!!
 
I absolutely love your vow renewal!!! First of all, you are so very very lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people to celebrate your special day! I always enjoy vow renewal photos because the couple always looks so incredibly happy and relaxed...I think it's because the nervousness of making a huge change in your life is not there and it's so it's just an awesome celebration of the life you've already created together...no jitters...that definitely comes across in your stunning pictures! I love that your husband is also beaming with happiness! So sweet! I so :cloud9: wanted a Disney vow renewal myself, but instead we will do one here in our home state, so I'm living vicariously through yours! Can't wait to read more!! I'm looking forward to food pics too!!

Thank you so much for following along with our journey. :lovestruc I have my next segment of the report complete I just need to add in all the photos before posting. Hopefully I will get it up this weekend. :surfweb: It was definitely a lot less stressful this time around. Besides normal wedding stress, right before our wedding we had a lot of things happen (father-in-law passed away 3 months beforehand, I had a major car accident and was off work for over 2 months to name a few) so it was so nice to have all the stress and things removed this time around.

We had people travel from six other states besides our home state of Michigan which made having a destination vow renewal an easy choice. I'm sure if they would've all lived by us it would've been a harder sell - although who doesn't love an excuse to go to Disney ::MickeyMo::MinnieMo
I would love to hear your plans for your vow renewal. Do you have a date and place set yet or are you still in the early stages of planning?
 
Thank you so much for following along with our journey. :lovestruc I have my next segment of the report complete I just need to add in all the photos before posting. Hopefully I will get it up this weekend. :surfweb: It was definitely a lot less stressful this time around. Besides normal wedding stress, right before our wedding we had a lot of things happen (father-in-law passed away 3 months beforehand, I had a major car accident and was off work for over 2 months to name a few) so it was so nice to have all the stress and things removed this time around.

We had people travel from six other states besides our home state of Michigan which made having a destination vow renewal an easy choice. I'm sure if they would've all lived by us it would've been a harder sell - although who doesn't love an excuse to go to Disney ::MickeyMo::MinnieMo
I would love to hear your plans for your vow renewal. Do you have a date and place set yet or are you still in the early stages of planning?



I don't know how you got through those stressful events on top of normal wedding stress! From what I saw of your wedding it also turned out wonderful despite dealing with some pretty tragic events! Six other states! Wow thats really great, it must have been so great to see everyone together in one place for your vow renewal! I'm always looking for excuses to go to Disney, so I agree with you there!! We do have a date and place set but still early stages of planning! It's fun getting some ideas, so I love reading about vow renewals!
 
Just heard your podcast episode and am now following along! I wasn't around the DIS yet in 2008, but started lurking the DFTW PJs in 2013, then finally started my own wedding PJ in 2015 when I FINALLY got engaged :) We got married in 2016 and definitely would love to do a 10-year VR either at Aulani (where we honeymooned) or on DCL (where we got engaged). I LOVE that you used a Morrisey song as your entrance music!
 
Just heard your podcast episode and am now following along! I wasn't around the DIS yet in 2008, but started lurking the DFTW PJs in 2013, then finally started my own wedding PJ in 2015 when I FINALLY got engaged :) We got married in 2016 and definitely would love to do a 10-year VR either at Aulani (where we honeymooned) or on DCL (where we got engaged). I LOVE that you used a Morrisey song as your entrance music!
Thank you so much for coming to check out my trip report and for listening to the podcast. It was so much fun being a guest with Carrie. :music: I'll have to check out your TR this weekend. I love the idea for Aulani. They were building the resort when we honeymooned in Hawaii and haven't been back yet. My husband has to take credit for the Morrissey choice. His groomsmen walked into Suedehead at our wedding too :dancer: My next installment is coming up in just a few minutes. :surfweb:
 
After Ceremony & Brunch
Once the guests headed out we took a few more photos in Italy including a few on the bridge overlooking the lagoon and with some of the pavilion buildings behind us.

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Here are a few more shots with flowers set up for the festival. The parasol was from our wedding. I had ones for each of our bridesmaids and my flowergirl too.

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I love the angles on this shot.

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You can see how windy it is in this picture with my cape flying out to the side.

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After finishing up these shots we walked over to Germany to get a few photos reminiscent of ones we got after our wedding.

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I really like how some of these close-up shots turned out with the two of us looking at each other.

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From there it was time for us to head over to Canada Terrace because we had a special guest coming as a surprise for everyone. Before loading on the bus I had Randy take a few photos of the jewelry I was wearing from family members. The ring with the stone was left to me by my great aunt who had passed away a year after we were married. The band I borrowed from my mom and was my grandma’s wedding ring. The brooch also belonged to the same grandma who had passed away before I was born.

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The locket I borrowed and it belonged to my other grandma who had been at our wedding. She has since passed away, so it was nice to have something of her there this time too. I have some really great Disney memories with her. My favorite is on her first trip to WDW when she was in her early-80s and we got her first pair of Mickey ears. The beads behind it represented my other great aunt who was also at our wedding, but passed away last summer at the age of 94. She was known for making jewelry and there’s a backstory to them too. Each of these ladies holds a special place in my heart, so I was glad that I was able to incorporate something from each of them.

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We were taken over on the chartered bus since it had already dropped off our guests. Our bus driver was really nice and she said our guests had been a lot of fun. I was glad I had my dad pass along the tip to her already since I knew she had quite a few headaches at the beginning of the day when some of our guests had initially missed the bus.

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It was nice taking the huge bus over although I kind of wish we would’ve walked and grabbed a few more World Showcase photos in front of Japan, Morocco, France and the UK. We did get a few more countries that evening which I’ll get to later in my report.
 
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Since I knew we had a guest coming I went with a simple pre-reception menu. We had regular and Greek yogurt with all the fixings to make parfaits. The toppings included strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, almonds, dried fruit honey and granola. I didn’t get a chance to try any, but everyone else said it was really good.


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I kept our table numbers to the bare minimum to reduce the costs for centerpieces, etc. We had 36 guests and I planned for four tables with nine people each. I even seated us at one of the main tables. We used the numbers 10, 46, 47 and 50 for the tables. Ten was for our anniversary and the other three were related to our travel theme. We’re trying to go to all 50 states before we turn 40. Forty-six represents the number of states I have visited so far and forty-seven is the number of states Kris has visited.




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I wanted to add color to our tables and figured out that renting the colored overlays was cheaper than renting colored napkins.
For the centerpieces we had Disney floral buy cardboard suitcases to fill with the arrangements. Our floral manager allowed me to provide customize travel themed postcards (the fronts of thank you cards from Shutterfly), map flowers like the ones in my bouquet and travel-themed word picks (I had gotten these marked down at Target for 89 cents per pack). She also included small hidden Mickey beads inside some of the flowers. The little metal suitcases were our favors from our wedding, so it was fun to have them on the tables since they had our wedding date printed on it.



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In lieu of favors this time we were doing a ride mix-in, so I made FastPass tickets that was at each spot.


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We arrived without too much fanfare. I think I was suppose to ask our officiant to introduce us, but I completely forgot about it. The kids who were the last minute additions had been allowed to stay until after our guest.

We had just started talking with people and had visited with a few people. Shortly after we sat at our seats when I suddenly heard one of the kids yell, “Mickey!” The guitarist was suppose to play the Mickey Mouse Club March song. I didn’t notice it there, but I did hear it on the video later once we got it back from STVS Video. We had kept it a secret from everyone except my parents and one friend, so it was fun to see everyone’s reactions.

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Because our reception was outside in the park we had to have Mickey come before the World Showcase opened to the public at 11 a.m. We had it timed to have him come between 10:20 and 10:50 a.m.


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We had been able to request to have Mickey wear his blue tux which was from the Year of a Million Dreams which was the promotion that was running in 2008 when we got married. Every guest ended up getting a photo with Mickey. We only had seven kids there, so it was fun to see all the adults get into getting their pictures too.



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Here are all the members of our bridal party who were able to make the trip again. We were missing five of the originals, but I still think this was an amazing turnout.



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My flowergirl with her parasol from the wedding too. She is such a beautiful young lady. It’s hard to believe she was only 9 years old at our wedding.



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In this shot you can see the corsages I got for the girls with the different colors that represented the colors of their dresses from our wedding.

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Right before Mickey left we had group shots taken together.

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After the photos, the one family was whisked away on the bus. We had two seats available at brunch, but they decided to take the kids out together that afternoon. We had arranged for all of them to attend the dessert party that evening.

Then came one of the highlights of the day…. brunch! We had a menu that featured items to represent the countries around the World Showcase. I had asked floral about a menu board and was quoted over $200 since they were going to have to pay a graphic designer to do it. I asked if I could provide it instead even though I didn’t it would be possible since our reception was in the park. Miraculously she said yes as long as I rented the easel ($10) to hold the frame I could provide it to them. I designed it in Photoshop.

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  • America-Epcot: Build Your Own Salad with an array of toppings and several dressings. People raved about the Champagne Vinaigrette!
  • Canada-Epcot: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Beer Soup served with Mini Pretzel Rolls
  • Morocco-Epcot: Chicken Kabab with Taziki
  • France-Epcot: Quiche Lorraine and Crepes. There’s a story with the crepes. We had them at our wedding and wanted to do them with a twist this time. We have a local quiche restaurant who makes delicious monte cristo crepes, so we wanted these replicated. We had them at our menu tasting and had them added to our BEO. However, when our menu came back at over $30 over the minimum per person I asked for ways to cut and was told the crepes were $25 per person since they had to be made by hand! I of course decided to switch to basic crepes since I was told they would only be $5 per person and they offered to give us the Quiche Lorraine at no cost.
  • Japan: Beef Skewers with house made Teriyaki Sauce
  • Chilaquiles (Rancho de Zocalo) Disneyland, but picked to represent Mexico: build your own tortilla, scrambled eggs, refried beans, rice, taco beef and cilantro sour cream
  • Norway-Epcot: breakfast potato casserole (made with shredded potatoes)
  • Tutto Italia-Epcot: Tortino di Zucchine
  • Croissants and hard rolls with butter, jams and preserves - I kept asking about cutting these to save some money, but apparently these are just standard offerings.
  • Coffees, cocoa, iced tea and selection of hot teas
  • All together we paid $105 per person. I know we could’ve cut more to add the cake count towards the $100 brunch minimum for the Disney Catered Event, but we were willing to pay extra for our cake. Our cake at our wedding was beautiful, but didn’t have that Disney magic. More about our cake later.



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I love that all of your bridal party and flower girl were able to make it! So fun you had almost all the same people 10 years later! It is so neat to see your flower girl all grown up! Your food looks amazing! I love that you had food from all over the WS, what a great idea! This is making me very much want to do a VR in 10 years, but of course that all depends on where life takes us.
 
I love that all of your bridal party and flower girl were able to make it! So fun you had almost all the same people 10 years later! It is so neat to see your flower girl all grown up! Your food looks amazing! I love that you had food from all over the WS, what a great idea! This is making me very much want to do a VR in 10 years, but of course that all depends on where life takes us.
I was so touched and surprised that we had so many people who wanted to return. It was touching that so many of them wanted to return and were able to make the trip. The food was definitely one of the main highlights for the day. They did a great job with all the items and I especially liked how they did the special request crepes for us from the restaurant at home. I loved how our theme went through everything including the food. :woohoo: When we first got married we knew we wanted to have a vow renewal, but weren't sure when it would happen. The only advice I have is that when you have the means and the time to do it, take the plunge and do it - you definitely won't regret it :lovestruc
 
I am blown away by the celebration you guys had; the food looks so good, the decorations are gorgeous and everyone looks like they are having such a good time!
 

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