Forever Could Even Start Today, Wedding & Disneymoon Sept 17 update 10/1: Last Day, Budget recap

[amalone1013]

Ugh! I got my photos in yesterday, which was a day later than I was expecting when I paid a few bucks extra for two day shipping I ordered them Thursday midday, I understand they need a day or so of processing, so I was pretty excited when I got an email that they shipped out Friday afternoon! And then, according to the tracking info, they sat in Kentucky from 2:30pm Saturday until 4:30pm Monday...

But a bunch are terrible! Like, grainy, bad print job, putting weird patterns or a plaid pattern on Zack's clothes... I even found one so far that is cropped Not all of them are bad, but it's quite a few so far, probably 80% of the ceremony ones... And the weird thing is they're not in order... so it's not like part of the order got printed on a bad machine, you're going along and it's like, several good ones, bad one, lots of good ones, run of bad ones...

I went with this place because their sale price was about 1/3rd cheaper than other places, including Walgreens. You'll probably think I'm crazy here, but that was important because I ended up ordering over 400 photos... Scrapbooking is a process! I narrow them down on the computer, order, narrow them down some more, then when I actually do the pages I end up with still more I don't use. It's just hard to tell until you're doing the layouts. I sent a small order to Walgreens this morning... hopefully they print well. Then I have to figure out if I can mix and match those with the ones that are salvageable from the first order... but I'm worried the colors will be off or something and I'll end up reordering the whole thing. Then I need to send an email to the first company to let them know what I think of my order. I used them a few years ago for vacation photos with no issues, so I don't know what the deal is. I haven't really printed many photos in the last few years since I've been busy with the wedding and work and such, I haven't done much scrapbooking.

In other fun news, we got Zack's suit for his brother's wedding in April... covering this cost was not something we cared about, or were offended we had to or anything, but I'm a bit grumpy about how it went down. BIL's not 100% at fault, I'll explain, but probably at least 75%. The only info we got from BIL was their group number at the store. That's it. No pricing, no info about renting, not what it looks like... Nada. In my opinion, these are all things that should be communicated by the couple to the bridal party. They haven't been good about sharing information with us anyways, so it really should have been no surprise. At this point, Zack should have taken a little initiative and asked, but didn't. Boys So instead we got to go in blind, awkwardly ask the sales girl if renting was an option (it's not) and then not even know what all she was picking out from the list. And we walked out with shirt/jacket ordered, pants left there to be hemmed, and took home the shoes (is that really necessary? ) and tie... to the tune of $450 after tax. Pray the jacket/shirt don't need any tailoring. We have savings to cover it, but a little warning would have been nice

Such a sweet ceremony! I didn't even know there were special offbeat bride ceremonies online; if I ever get married I'll have to search for some!

Thank you! I really liked their site, they have fun DIY decor/food/ceremony/everything ideas! And they have lots of articles of ways to incorporate things like Disney, Harry Potter, Dr Who... anything you can imagine!

Amazing ceremony. And what a way for the guys to arrive.

Thanks! It was a hit!

Yay! What a beautiful ceremony! Sounds like it fit your personality as a couple perfectly

I was so happy when I found it, months before we even actually worked on the ceremony stuff

I love this.

What a sweetheart! I love your grandpa!

This is the best thing!! At least someone got pictures for him.

The whole day it was like, Grandpa stop saying things, you're making me cry! He's never been the sentimental type. I left out that when we arrived at Paradise Cove in our Uber Chariot, he and my cousin had just gotten out of their's (my cousin picked him up, thank goodness) and he started to cry when he saw me.

This is sweet! I love the prominently displayed magic band, too.

They took some really nice photos in Epcot this day too, still dressed up. I swear their photopass pictures might be better than all of our wedding photos

Such a beautiful and sweet ceremony! I love the boat entrance

Thank you! It's pretty funny to watch with the music too

First off, those were amazing posts on the wedding!

They do, they look like little boys! Love it. Looks like money well spent!

Congrats again! It looked like a perfect ceremony! Thanks for sharing it all with us!

Aw thanks! I'm glad everyone here is interested in reading about it

I'm so happy with all of our photos, and glad they got that shot of them with those big grins, since I couldn't see it in person. I feel like, how could you not add that for that price?

 

[MeghanEmily]

But a bunch are terrible! Like, grainy, bad print job, putting weird patterns or a plaid pattern on Zack's clothes... I even found one so far that is cropped Not all of them are bad, but it's quite a few so far, probably 80% of the ceremony ones...

Oh man. I'd be requesting a refund. That's not cool!

In other fun news, we got Zack's suit for his brother's wedding in April... covering this cost was not something we cared about, or were offended we had to or anything, but I'm a bit grumpy about how it went down. BIL's not 100% at fault, I'll explain, but probably at least 75%. The only info we got from BIL was their group number at the store. That's it. No pricing, no info about renting, not what it looks like... Nada. In my opinion, these are all things that should be communicated by the couple to the bridal party.

Another frustration! I agree that these things should definitely be discussed in advance prior to ordering. It's just common courtesy. I know it's a slightly different dynamic with bridesmaid dresses, but we made our bridesmaid decisions together with the girls and made sure they were onboard and cool with everything. And Nathan and his best man went shopping together for their duds and discussed them. I know not everyone does it that way, but I thought it worked really well for our group.

The whole day it was like, Grandpa stop saying things, you're making me cry! He's never been the sentimental type. I left out that when we arrived at Paradise Cove in our Uber Chariot, he and my cousin had just gotten out of their's (my cousin picked him up, thank goodness) and he started to cry when he saw me.

Bless his heart! Weddings bring out the emotional side of people. He was obviously very proud of you guys!

They took some really nice photos in Epcot this day too, still dressed up. I swear their photopass pictures might be better than all of our wedding photos

You never know whether to love or hate these kind of people.

 

[amalone1013]

Another frustration! I agree that these things should definitely be discussed in advance prior to ordering. It's just common courtesy. I know it's a slightly different dynamic with bridesmaid dresses, but we made our bridesmaid decisions together with the girls and made sure they were onboard and cool with everything. And Nathan and his best man went shopping together for their duds and discussed them. I know not everyone does it that way, but I thought it worked really well for our group.

I feel like that's the best way! I'm not super experienced since I've only been in one wedding, when my dad remarried... and my stepmom took me and my sister to David's Bridal and already knew what styles she wanted us to get (all different styles in same color). But we weren't paying. When we were still looking at a big wedding, I just planned on telling everyone blue dress, just make sure it's blue and not aqua/teal, and maybe no jersey knit... and I made a pinterest board for some inspiration... I didn't want the pressure of trying to pick something for everyone because they all had very different body types and I can't even pick things for my own body most of the time So B and Aly picked out their own dresses (and I really should have made a third bouquet, that's one regret for the day) and we just told N blue shirt and dress pants/shoes.

You never know whether to love or hate these kind of people.

Oh man. I'd be requesting a refund. That's not cool!

It's so bad! I should post comparison photos if the Walgreens one's come out okay.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I was just saying to DH that it is getting really hard to get good prints made. I printed some at Target (for a poster for Gwen for school, so it didn't have to be good quality) But the were terrible. They look like they came off a personal printer! Blek.

I would def complain and have them reprint all of them!

 

[Raeven]

I hope you can get them printed right! I used to make scrapbooks of our trips (but kind of gave up because we've gone on so many trips it seemed silly to keep making one each time ) And I have had problems with them being cropped weird occasionally, but I use an app called Freeprints when I want real prints. You get a certain amount free every month (like 80), then you pay for the rest. (I do think anything that's not 4x6 costs a little more though). You only pay shipping if you only get the 80 so it's like $10. I thought their prices were better than when I used to do them through CVS. Plus it's all on your phone, and you can see if it'll look bad before it prints usually.

 

[amalone1013]

I know you're all in terrible suspense, so...

Walgreens on the bottom. Much better than the online ones, but still not that great. I'm going to order them from somewhere else... I was hoping to place the order tonight but it's taking forever to upload the pictures.
​

I was just saying to DH that it is getting really hard to get good prints made. I printed some at Target (for a poster for Gwen for school, so it didn't have to be good quality) But the were terrible. They look like they came off a personal printer! Blek.

I would def complain and have them reprint all of them!

Ugh. I'm going to push for a refund, because I am on a schedule and wasted time to go with them because of their pricing, and now I'm pretty much up a creek and will have to pay for rush shipping on the new order, and I don't know if that will even leave me enough time.

I hope you can get them printed right! I used to make scrapbooks of our trips (but kind of gave up because we've gone on so many trips it seemed silly to keep making one each time ) And I have had problems with them being cropped weird occasionally, but I use an app called Freeprints when I want real prints. You get a certain amount free every month (like 80), then you pay for the rest. (I do think anything that's not 4x6 costs a little more though). You only pay shipping if you only get the 80 so it's like $10. I thought their prices were better than when I used to do them through CVS. Plus it's all on your phone, and you can see if it'll look bad before it prints usually.

I'll have to check that out! I've been scrapbooking for a long time. I did one for our first trip to Disneyland, but I totally get it seeming silly to keep doing it I'll do a wedding one, and a honeymoon one... But any pictures from the rest of the year will go in my relationship scrapbook... I don't know what else to call it But I put all the ticket stubs, mini golf score cards, whatever I've picked up for the year in a scrapbook, with some pictures of us from the year and a little notecard that lists some of the big things we did. Each year gets a couple pages. Then I keep things like Birthday and Valentine's cards behind the pages. Beyond that, I might do a couple pages for a trip in a regular scrapbook, like one that I just add pages to as things happen... but I'd actually have to start a new one of those to do that I haven't scrapbooked in maybe two years, we've been so busy!

 

[Raeven]

I'll have to check that out! I've been scrapbooking for a long time. I did one for our first trip to Disneyland, but I totally get it seeming silly to keep doing it I'll do a wedding one, and a honeymoon one... But any pictures from the rest of the year will go in my relationship scrapbook... I don't know what else to call it But I put all the ticket stubs, mini golf score cards, whatever I've picked up for the year in a scrapbook, with some pictures of us from the year and a little notecard that lists some of the big things we did. Each year gets a couple pages. Then I keep things like Birthday and Valentine's cards behind the pages. Beyond that, I might do a couple pages for a trip in a regular scrapbook, like one that I just add pages to as things happen... but I'd actually have to start a new one of those to do that I haven't scrapbooked in maybe two years, we've been so busy!

Yeah, it was kind of hard to keep up I guess I was doing 1 for every trip, and after May last year it was just too much to keep up on. I felt like it was getting pricey (buying the prints and photo albums each time) when we don't usually end up looking at them again, and it was taking up a lot of space on our bookshelf. I also bought a photo album from Disney once, and the pages are terrible! I had to put reinforcements in every one of them, and I can barely turn the pages if I ever did want to look at it again I have very neatly organized albums on my phone that I end up looking at and using a lot more often so I've just kind of stayed with that since those take time to organize and put together too. I do still keep little things from the trip (like just about every paper item like maps, ticket stubs etc) but right now they're in an expanding file with all my important papers. I actually have saved just about every movie stub, concert ticket, etc since I was a kid and they're all in there too so I guess I don't really need to move them anywhere

And yes I know what you mean! The other thing I was doing the first few years we dated was relationship scrapbooks. I used to put the ticket stubs and stuff in there along with pictures, but now I just keep cards and love letters in a little heart shaped box. With the relationship ones I ran into the issue of once we started doing separate scrapbooks for the trips there wasn't a lot to put in the regular ones so once I finished the one from 2016 I stopped making those too.

 

[MermaidFantasia]

Lovely wedding, breathtaking (and I mean that!) bride! I cried, which is the measure of a good report to me

 

[mdsouth]

What a wonderful ceremony. I just love how you shared it too with some photographs and then some actual quotes from the ceremony and comments on what took place. It made me feel like I was actually in attendance!

Loved the grand entrance for the guys! I am sure it was super fun for them to go all James Bond and arrive in style!

Again, I have to say you had a wonderful photographer and super sweet to also take photos with your grandpa's camera! What a nice gesture.

The photographer did a fantastic job of capturing the sweet moments and looks the two of you shared! Just from the photos and your description of how things went, Zach seems like such a jovial, sweet, kind and funny guy to be around. I am happy that the two of you discovered each other.

I want to offer my congratulations on your wedding and may it be filled throughout the years with blessings and love!

 

[amalone1013]

A Few More Photos...
​

I know this will come as a complete surprise, but after the ceremony... we took more pictures You're all probably thinking, we're tired of seeing a zillion pictures of all these people we don't know! I don't have a whole lot for this post, and I tried to just pull out a few favorites here.

More family photos...

The Bridal Party

We had a good laugh about why N was so far away from us

Then Aly had an idea...

I like how Zack's brother is Vanna White-ing my shoes there.

After a bunch more photos with different family configurations... B and Aly did up my bustle. It was a bit of a struggle It was a 3 point one, and they were having trouble finding the buttons the loops on the skirt hooked to because they were tucked under the ribbon detail at the waist of my dress.

So while they did that, we got a few bouquet pictures.

I'm not sure when this one was from, since you can see both bouquets here... You're probably tired of bouquet pictures too I'm just so happy about how it turned out!

This pictures also showcases one of the pearl hidden mickeys I made for the bouquets.

Then we took a few photos under the ceremony arch. More favorites

And a couple with B's dad. When you blow this picture up, Zack's smile looks super cheesy There's a couple like that, he was so stressed about being photographed all day.

I don't have many behind the scenes type pictures this round, so I just included them here. We went to take archway photos...

Don't worry, they waved




And then Zack said something silly...

And Steve goes, don't worry, I got that.


Then it was time to head out for lunch!

I think I was requesting an Uber here... while juggling the flowers and a water bottle haha. And apparently someone got Zack something to wipe his face - it was getting warm! But not as bad as it would have been had the sun come out to play.

Next up, lunch!​

 

[wrestlingchick26]

I just got my wedding photos back today so I totally understand the posting of lots of pics.
Loving all the ones you have posted.

 

[kastoney]

Oh Alyssa, what a beautiful day and ceremony. I loved all the special touches you added and especially Zack's mission impossible entrance. Perfection! Thanks for letting us feel like we were there with you. Now get me some lunch already

 

[MeghanEmily]

Love this! What a gorgeous family!

This is a great photo! Showcases your rings nicely, as well as your bouquet.

 

[pepperandchips]

You're all probably thinking, we're tired of seeing a zillion pictures of all these people we don't know!

1.) Nope. Loving all the photo spam!
2.) you do realize we're all internet weirdo strangers who have come together over our shared love of Disney, right? I love looking at all of the wedding and vacation photos of dozens of Disers... errrr... people I don't really know!!!

I like how Zack's brother is Vanna White-ing my shoes there.

Love it! I expect him to be "Vanna" in future reports.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We had a good laugh about why N was so far away from us

I thought the same thing...

Love it!

Great photos again!

 

[amalone1013]

Lunch Reception at House of Blues
​

After we all called our Uber chariots, we headed to Disney Springs for lunch!

Everyone seemed to get dropped off at Disney Springs in different places, and tried to make their way to HOB since it was the first time most people had been to the Springs. Luckily ours dropped us off at the HOB end, in the Strawberry Lot.

We set up a lunch in a private room at House of Blues with a 3 course menu. Originally we were also going to have a photo booth here, because it was included in our video package, but Irma intervened... when Mike, our videographer, got into where he stores the stuff, his backgrounds had been ruined... And his assistant, who would have set it up while we were at Paradise Cove, had gone south to help family... So I just told him not to worry about it. It was a freebie for booking, and we would have gone with the package we did anyways, and no one missed it.

I probably over stressed about the lunch worrying that it might be a little to crazy or clash with our colors or what would we do for decor? And guess what? None of that mattered! At some point I decided that it was silly to worry about decor... though I did give serious thought to using this as an excuse to buy more Jim Shore Disney figurines. They gave us a few options for table layouts, and we ended up doing one long table for our group and a 4-top for our vendors. You'll see a curtain behind us in the photos... this is a long room with a curtain divider, that can be opened up for larger parties.

We were running a little late getting here due to our rain delay, and I did ask Aly to send the coordinator a text to let her know. They seemed fine/unconcerned with it. I think we were around 15ish minutes late getting here, and stayed about 30 minutes past our event time, but we didn't get any dreaded charges for running over.

When we arrived, the event manager and our coordinator for our event greeted us on the porch. This room has a separate entrance off the porch to the left of the regular restaurant doors, which was nice. They had little menus printed up and I only regret I forgot to have Aly throw one in her bag to keep

This was our guest book. Another thing I stressed too much over. I found it at Hallmark. It's got little love quotes and Disney characters on each page.

After everyone was settled in and had given their drink and entree orders, N gave a toast. We had decided we wouldn't require anyone to do that just if they wanted to, and if I'm remembering right Zack only told me on Sunday or Monday N had written something.

​

It was really sweet and funny. He's a good guy. Zack's nickname for him is Fluffy, because he's a big ol' teddy bear N has promised to send me his toast, because I'd like to put it in my scrapbook, but I haven't gotten it yet. Perhaps when it comes I will come back and add part of it to this post... For the time being, I will tell you that he started off saying he wasn't going to use all of the cheesy phrases like finding your princess/prince charming, happily every after, etc... and then he finished off with all of those
​

After that we thanked everyone for coming... I mainly let Zack handle that

And what you're most interested in...
the food!
​

HOB was really reasonably priced for a private lunch. We did a set menu where people could choose from two entrees for $24pp or 3 entrees for $30pp. It was a three course menu that included a salad or cup of gumbo to start, the entree, and a dessert (they had several choices to choose from, and then everyone would get the same one). When we signed our contract, we weren't sure if we would bring in a cake, which was allowed, so we swapped out the included dessert for a family style appetizer.

We had:

Steamin' Tot Mess - tater tots topped with tender carnitas, cheddar cheese sauce and pickled jalapeno

Chicken Gumbo - dark and savory with chicken, andouille sausage, bell pepper, okra, onion and gumbo file

Entree Choices:

Philly Cheesesteak - shaved prime beef sauteed with onions, peppers and mushrooms, served on a hoagie bun with House of Blues cheese wiz

Pulled Pork Sandwich - slow smoked pulled pork, topped with Kansas City BBQ sauce, served on a brioche bun with housemade coleslaw

Steak Salad - Marinated steak served over romaine lettuce and field greens, roasted pearl onions, blistered tomato, marinated Yukon Gold potatoes, grilled asparagus, cornbread croutons and horseradish vinaigrette
​

I think we had one person order the salad... We also had one vegetarian in our group and they let her order off of the regular menu. All of our beverages were charged as they would for a regular meal, ie one time charge for soda with unlimited refills, alcohol was just charged regular menu prices, etc. We ended up deciding to skip dessert here, since we were having a dessert party in the evening. I was partly worried over logistics, and partly worried about stuffing people because this afternoon in Epcot was the only time some people would have for Food and Wine.

We had a nice, leisurely lunch with everyone. My grandpa talked Zack's dad's ear off and kept telling me how cool everything had been so far The food was a hit, especially the tots. Seriously, I could go back to HOB and just eat those as my entree. Wait a minute... *wheels start turning in head for April trip... isn't there a HOB at Downtown Disney at Disneyland?* It started pouring during lunch. Around when it was time for us to be finished, the event manager came in and gave me a large beach umbrella from their lost and found to keep, in case it was still raining when we left, but told me we could take our time. It stopped by the time we left. Most people headed back to their hotels to change out of their fancy duds, and we stuck around for just a few more photos...

​

 

[amalone1013]

Lovely wedding, breathtaking (and I mean that!) bride! I cried, which is the measure of a good report to me

Aw thank you

What a wonderful ceremony. I just love how you shared it too with some photographs and then some actual quotes from the ceremony and comments on what took place. It made me feel like I was actually in attendance!

Loved the grand entrance for the guys! I am sure it was super fun for them to go all James Bond and arrive in style!

Again, I have to say you had a wonderful photographer and super sweet to also take photos with your grandpa's camera! What a nice gesture.

The photographer did a fantastic job of capturing the sweet moments and looks the two of you shared! Just from the photos and your description of how things went, Zach seems like such a jovial, sweet, kind and funny guy to be around. I am happy that the two of you discovered each other.

I want to offer my congratulations on your wedding and may it be filled throughout the years with blessings and love!

Thank you so much, that is so sweet!

I'm glad you're enjoying. I've been trying to make it a little more than just, here are 8 million photos of us.. Our photographers were great, I was so happy we found them since it was all done via internet.

I just got my wedding photos back today so I totally understand the posting of lots of pics.
Loving all the ones you have posted.

Don't you just want to be like, THESE ARE ALL MY FAVORITES, EVERYONE LOOK!!
Thanks for reading!

Oh Alyssa, what a beautiful day and ceremony. I loved all the special touches you added and especially Zack's mission impossible entrance. Perfection! Thanks for letting us feel like we were there with you. Now get me some lunch already

Thanks! He was pretty proud of his song choice

I promise my food photos will pick up from this point on!

Love this! What a gorgeous family!







This is a great photo! Showcases your rings nicely, as well as your bouquet.

Thank you!

1.) Nope. Loving all the photo spam!
2.) you do realize we're all internet weirdo strangers who have come together over our shared love of Disney, right? I love looking at all of the wedding and vacation photos of dozens of Disers... errrr... people I don't really know!!!


Love it! I expect him to be "Vanna" in future reports.

Shh, we are all friends here already Zack's brother won't be along for awhile, though we just booked a family cruise trip for next summer (shh, it's a surprise for the in-laws!) so maybe I'll have to have him Vanna things all over the ship

I thought the same thing...


Love it!

Great photos again!

Thanks! It was pretty funny

 

[amalone1013]

Small Life Update

We're off to my hometown for the weekend because Al and Aly are hosting a party for us so we can share photos and video with the rest of my friends and family. Hope to get a few updates in next week, and maybe a few pictures from the party. After much debate, I decided screw it, I'm going to wear my dress. How often do you get to wear it again...? And hopefully people will enjoy/appreciate getting to see it, since they were not able to attend.​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Steamin' Tot Mess - tater tots topped with tender carnitas, cheddar cheese sauce and pickled jalapeno

This looks amazing! Actually all of the food looked great.

After much debate, I decided screw it, I'm going to wear my dress.

Do it!

 

[DLmama]

We had a nice, leisurely lunch with everyone. My grandpa talked Zack's dad's ear off and kept telling me how cool everything had been so far The food was a hit, especially the tots. Seriously, I could go back to HOB and just eat those as my entree. Wait a minute... *wheels start turning in head for April trip... isn't there a HOB at Downtown Disney at Disneyland?* It started pouring during lunch. Around when it was time for us to be finished, the event manager came in and gave me a large beach umbrella from their lost and found to keep, in case it was still raining when we left, but told me we could take our time. It stopped by the time we left. Most people headed back to their hotels to change out of their fancy duds, and we stuck around for just a few more photos...

​

I've been reading your TR and just have to say you had a beautiful wedding! Love all the pics!

About the HOB, it's no longer in DtD at Disneyland. They moved it to the Gardenwalk across the street. You can still walk to it, but they ended up putting a Splitsville in DtD where it used to be.