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

[tiggersam00]

All caught up too now Your honeymoon just looked fantastic, one of my cousins lives in HI and swears he will never leave, and I can see why! Talk about paradise!

I also love the instructions for your cake! I can't believe it tasted so fresh, and it looked good too! I will be stealing those directions for sure, although Dave doesn't eat cake and I asked if he could have a wedding sandwich (DFTW was confused by this one) but they said yes... not sure if I can freeze that though lol!

 

[figmentfan814]

That's a shame about the ferry. It seems like the perfect way to travel from island to island. Bummer. Thanks though.

I can't wait until I can post my TR, although, that would mean that it is over, not sure if I want that!

That's the hardest part because it is over so quickly after months and months of planning

All caught up too now Your honeymoon just looked fantastic, one of my cousins lives in HI and swears he will never leave, and I can see why! Talk about paradise!

I also love the instructions for your cake! I can't believe it tasted so fresh, and it looked good too! I will be stealing those directions for sure, although Dave doesn't eat cake and I asked if he could have a wedding sandwich (DFTW was confused by this one) but they said yes... not sure if I can freeze that though lol!

It really is unbelievable there, you really feel like you're at the end of the world because its such an isolated piece of paradise

That's too funny about the sandwich. What are you having on it? I'm sure if it was just the basic it should last that long. What about another type of dessert?


Thanks for being so patient ladies. On top of my laptop being out for repairs, our internet at home has been down for several days and the cable company won't be out to fix it for a few more days I promise to finish this last day soon, but it looks like it will probably be the first part of July before I can use the computer again.

 

[figmentfan814]

Okay, ladies I finally have the last leg of our Hawaiian honeymoon complete. My computer was out for repair and they found out the motherboard is fried (thankfully I have a warranty) and then on top of that I couldn't even use Kris' computer to post updates since our Internet was out at home for a week. Anyway, enough excuses here is my latest posting, it's a really long one, so stick around!

Once back at the hotel we loaded up the last few things we had lying around, took quick showers, and I packed a bag with essentials since we wouldn’t be back in Michigan for almost 24 hours. I wanted some clean clothes to change into once we reached LAX the next morning. Here is the view from our hotel room; it just overlooked the hills, we didn’t pay the extra for an ocean view since we were only there 2 nights.

Down in the lobby when we were checking out we wanted to use the business computers there to do online check-in. We ended up having to pay to do it, but it was worth it. We did the check-in for our flight from Maui to Honolulu and from there to LA. I took a few more pictures in the lobby on our way out to the car. I loved the open air feeling to it. I noticed the other day when I was looking at some DVC materials that this hotel is the one that you can use in the exchange program on Maui.

We were taking a whale-watching tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation at 1 p.m. that day and I was so excited. Since our original honeymoon destination was going to be Alaska, this was something that kind of brought Alaska to us since the humpback whales winter in Hawaii. It was the tail end of the season too, so I was glad that we were able to add it to our itinerary. Some shots I took along the way to the port which was about 30 minutes away from the hotel.

Once we arrived I went inside to check us in while Kris was parking. As soon as I headed towards the ticket counter I knew something was wrong. A bunch of people were standing around and I heard several people saying the word “refund.” I soon discovered that the swells of Tahiti had put yet another crinkle in our plans for the day. None of the ships were going out since the water was so rough. Kris came in around this time and could tell by the look on my face something was wrong. I told him that the ships weren’t going out because of the weather. At that point we waited in line to get a refund since we had bought our tickets online.

Afterwards I took a few minutes to glance through the gift shop and then we headed out. There is an aquarium right next to it which we thought about visiting, but then changed our mind. When we were in the car I asked Kris that if we ever come back to Hawaii that we make sure it is during whale season and schedule a tour earlier in the trip. He said of course! As we started to pull out of the parking lot I asked Kris to circle back to the building, so I could at least get a picture of the sign.

We grabbed a quick lunch (fast food again!) where I started rifling through my guidebooks to find something else to do that day since our flight wasn’t leaving until 9 p.m.

I found some interesting things towards the town of Wailuku, so we headed out towards the Iao Valley. The state park there was called the “Yellowstone of Hawaii” by Mark Twain my one guidebook said, so we figured it had to be pretty spectacular.

We had to go past the town where the airport was to make it to the state park. The highlight of the park is a peak called Iao Needle which rises up out of the valley. As we got closer we drove through some beautiful scenery winding through the mountains on a two lane road. When we arrived I went to use the restroom and there were huge spider webs across the ceiling. It was very scary and I kept praying that none of them fell on me- eek! You could definitely tell this was just a state park because the facilities were not that nice, I am honestly surprised its not a National Park. It really should become one because it is unbelievable. Here is a link telling about the valley with some interesting facts.

http://gohawaii.about.com/od/maui/ss/iao_valley_2.htm
Commonly called `Iao Needle, the traditional Hawaiian name for the 2,250 foot peak that dominates the valley is Kuka`emoku. This peak is known as the phallic stone of Kanaloa, Hawaiian god of the ocean.

During periods of warfare, the peak was used as a lookout by warriors. It was here that some Maui warriors retreated from the forces of Kamehameha I during the battle of Kepaniwai.

Right adjacent to the parking lot is a small garden area with paths coming off it, but we decided to head straight for the needle and planned to visit the other areas after we were done.

The needle off in the distance:

On our way up:

Its kind of anti-climatic when you get to the look out point because you are really just at the base of it looking towards it (its still a ways off in the distance). Its kind of an enclosure too, so you don’t have the greatest view. You have to climb some steps to get here, but nothing like Diamondhead!
Looking back towards the garden area on our way down from the needle.

Then we were off to explore the trails that came off of the main path. There is a beautiful stream which runs through the middle of the valley. The first one is looking down towards the stream in the distance.

The small botanical garden area had displays about the crops that were grown in the valley and showed the farming process for the La'ua plant.

A model of a farmer’s dwelling:

There were cats hiding everywhere in the park I tried to get a shot of them, but this was the best one.

 

[figmentfan814]

A few random shots from the garden.

After a short while we decided to head out for more exploring. We had spotted a Japanese temple in a park on the road to the Iao Needle, so we decided to check it out. This was one of the best finds of the trip. As we pulled in we discovered it was the Kepaniwai Park Heritage Gardens. This place was so beautiful and was absolutely amazing! It had separate gardens representing the different immigrant populations that had settled on Hawaii. These included a Japanese, Koreans, Portuguese, and Filipino area. This statue representing some of the farmers was near where we first got out of the car.

The pool as we headed towards the gardens:

Japanese garden:

There was a small path off to the side that was arched with bamboo plants on either side. Please note we didn’t cut the pieces in these shots, we found them on the ground already

I had to send a picture message to our friend on my phone when we saw this house since he was born in the Philippines. The Filipino structure:

 

[figmentfan814]

The next area was the Portuguese garden which was my favorite place in the park The archway leading to the garden:

The Korean garden was the last area that we visited.

There was a nice pavilion next to it that you could use for a picnic, family reunion, or another gathering. You can kind of see it in the background of this shot.

It really was such a fantastic place, from what I’ve read online it is one of the hidden gems that a lot of people miss on their way to the Iao Needle. I couldn’t believe it was free to walk around the grounds.

We decided to head into the town of Wailuku to track down a bakery that was in my guidebook which was suppose to be really yummy. When we got there it was after 3 p.m. and they were only open in the mornings. At that point Kris wanted to find a library to charge his IPod for the return trip home. Since we were having 2 layovers and would be traveling over 22 hours I didn’t blame him. I decided to drop him off and pulled out my scrapbooking magazine I had in my carry-on to look up a scrapbooking store I saw listed in its directory. I called them and discovered they were only about 5 minutes away, so I decided to check them out. If you are ever looking for any tropical themed papers I highly recommend them. They make their own papers and I got tons of great things that were specific to certain attractions in Hawaii like the Iao Needle, whale watching, etc. You can order a lot of stuff online, so definitely check them out http://islandpaperie.com/

This was the view as you were pulling into the scrapbooking store’s parking lot. Definitely a lot different than view of the Taco Bell/Long John Silvers across from the scrapbooking store that is closest to my house.

After about 30 minutes of rushed shopping I got a text from Kris asking where I was and if I was on my way back. I quickly finished up and headed out of the store. I swear on this trip all I bought was scrapbooking supplies and souvenir photos at places. But, honestly if you’re a scrapbooker you know that there was no way I was finding a Pearl Harbor kit, Dole Plantation kit, or stickers specific to the different sites we visited back in Michigan. All I would find at home would be hula girls and surfing stickers ~ lol.
When I pulled into the library there were a bunch of chickens running around the municipal buildings in the area which I thought was funny

 

[figmentfan814]

I went inside and got Kris and then we decided to head towards Kahului where we would be flying out of later that night. On the way I asked him to stop at the Maui Plantation which we had passed on the highway since I wanted to check about getting my pineapple that I missed out on at the Dole Plantation. We still had plenty of time since it was around 4:30 p.m.

The gardens at the plantation were beautiful too. They have a tour you can take of the entire grounds on trams, but we really didn’t have that much time. While we were walking around one of our friends from Michigan called because they thought we were flying back that night. It was starting to get pretty late at home, so I was surprised we got the call. It was nice to hear some familiar voices from home.

There was a monkey in a cage that kept following me as I walked around it. Kris teased me that he had a crush on me.

We also came across some cool colored ducks or at least they looked like they were related to ducks.

After a little exploring I went inside and bought the pineapple which was pre-inspected for air travel. I told Kris I would happily lug it around for the next day while we were traveling just to make a point! (As a reference we had a fight about the pineapple at the Dole Plantation on Oahu.)

We got back in the car and drove the short distance into Kahului.

Once we got into town we went into Kmart to buy some last minute souvenirs like candies and nuts for family back home. Kmart is the big thing in the islands, so we found tons of items at great prices. We then ventured into a Goodwill type shop where Kris found a shirt. He had this horrible shirt that I hated that said “Ship Shape” on it which was from a cruise line. It had gotten way too small (which he insisted was funny because of the words on the shirt) and I finally had him throw it out a few months before the wedding. Anyway, he found the exact same shirt there, only thankfully it was a much better fit. Honestly, what are the odds of that happening halfway across the world!

We still had several hours until it was time to check-in, so we went in search of somewhere to eat dinner. We wanted to get a nice meal since we wouldn’t be to LAX until the next morning. We drove around that town for 30 minutes before we found a small Italian restaurant in a strip mall. I swear all that we could find were KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other fast food varieties. Honestly, these people don’t know what they’re missing! The Italian place was okay, but I don’t even remember the name and wouldn’t go back if we were there again. Here is a shot of our ravioli.

When we were leaving there was a surf shop next store that I had Kris go into because he had been saying that he wanted to buy a sweatshirt as a souvenir. We didn’t really find anything in there (they had some, just not what he was hoping for in a shirt) and I was a little irritated that he hadn’t started looking earlier in the trip. Oh well, no big deal really.

Here we are turning in the rental car; I always take shots of the license plates for rental cars in other states

We had a flight from Maui back to Oahu where we would then fly out to LA. Holding my pineapple in the airport

We took a shot on every plane home to show the progression of our journey. Leaving Maui:

In Oahu, we had to grab all of our luggage and hike outside and walk over to the other terminal. Outside the airport:

Once there are bags had to go through the agricultural inspection before we entered security.

It was already starting to get pretty late in Hawaiian time and once we were through security Kris staked out a spot near our gate. There were a ton of people in there, so I decided to wander through the shops. I really contemplated buying an orchid or lei to take home, but thought “what’s the point.” I did purchase us some additional snacks for the flight since I knew we would be hungry at some point. I loved the signs at the restrooms and got some funny looks while I was taking these shots.

We were a little disappointed that our trip was over, but honestly a destination that far away made me really homesick compared to a trip to Disney for instance. Plus, we were officially going to be living in the same state after over 2 years. Waiting to get on the plane to LAX:

We watched some television once we got on the flight and after about an hour tried to take a nap. I think we slept about 3 hours before I woke up to catch the sunrise:

 

[figmentfan814]

After another hour we were landing in LA.

I really detest this airport. We had a 4 hour layover and we were trapped in the Northwest wing which is smaller than our little airport back home. I had packed us a back with toiletries and some fresh clothes, so we took turns freshening up in the restrooms.

Nothing like brushing your teeth with 50 strangers standing around you! I tried to talk Kris into venturing out like we did on our stop on the way to Hawaii, but he was tired at this point and wasn’t really interested in doing that so we sat at the Burger King there for like 2 ½ hours.

I gave my parents a call to let them know we were back on the mainland and after hours of waiting we finally got on the plane. We had a flight to Detroit where we then had another 2 hour layover before our 30 minute flight back to our hometown, Flint. We didn’t have this type of layover before all the changes with our flights when the airlines went out of business.

Waiting for the plane:

On the flight to Detroit; we were so tired at this point:

Thankfully we had an exit row!

We slept almost the entire flight to Detroit. I know at one point we bought some snacks because we were hungry, but we slept most of the way back to Michigan. I love the Detroit airport; the Northwest terminal is very nice with tons of cool shops. Here we are after we landed excited to almost be home:

Finally, after leaving Maui at 9 p.m. the night before (3 a.m. Michigan time) we arrived back in Flint after traveling for 18 hours at 8 p.m. the next night.

After we arrived home that night we ate some of the pineapple, it was so delicious! My dad cut it the way they used to serve it at O’hana’s.

I feel so blessed that we were able to spend a week at Walt Disney World with our families and then a fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii just 6 weeks later It was a great way to officially start our life together in the same location. We knew the next few weeks would be crazy since we were finishing renovations on the condo we had bought, so we would be staying with my parents temporarily. Then we also had only 4 weeks to finish things for our at-home reception which was going to be on June 1.

Stay tuned because I will post some shots from our at-home reception which had a red carpet theme since we would be premiering our wedding video and because we were engaged in a theater. It was a lot of fun and all of our guests loved it, so I can’t wait to share it with all of you wonderful ladies finally!

 

[teruterubouzu]

Great wrap on your honeymoon report! That pineapple looks very yummy. I'm looking forward to your report from your at home reception.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

What a dream honeymoon!

I am hoping to see pics from your ahr soon!!

 

[figmentfan814]

Great wrap on your honeymoon report! That pineapple looks very yummy. I'm looking forward to your report from your at home reception.

What a dream honeymoon!

I am hoping to see pics from your ahr soon!!

Thank you so much for reading along. Its funny because looking back at the report now that its finished at the time I never really realized how much we did while we were there until I saw it all written out. We really had an amazing time and I am so glad that we were able to go to Hawaii

I have the shots loaded in Photobucket for the AHR, so I should be able to get to that shortly after the holiday weekend

 

[Laura]

We still had several hours until it was time to check-in, so we went in search of somewhere to eat dinner. We wanted to get a nice meal since we wouldn’t be to LAX until the next morning. We drove around that town for 30 minutes before we found a small Italian restaurant in a strip mall. I swear all that we could find were KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other fast food varieties. Honestly, these people don’t know what they’re missing! The Italian place was okay, but I don’t even remember the name and wouldn’t go back if we were there again. Here is a shot of our ravioli.

I bet it was Marco's Grill and Deli. DH and I went to Maui on our honeymoon, too. When we flew to the Big Island for the second half of our trip, Marco's is where we stopped in Kahului for lunch before we got to the airport. They probably get a lot of business from people like us trying to find a decent lunch before a flight.

 

[figmentfan814]

I bet it was Marco's Grill and Deli. DH and I went to Maui on our honeymoon, too. When we flew to the Big Island for the second half of our trip, Marco's is where we stopped in Kahului for lunch before we got to the airport. They probably get a lot of business from people like us trying to find a decent lunch before a flight.

Yes, that's the place! I'm glad you knew the name, now I can add it to my scrapbook It really is so hard to find restaurants near the airport there!

 

[figmentfan814]

I am finally getting to the report of our at-home reception. It definitely won’t be as detailed as anything with the wedding, but still wanted to share some of it with all of you. We held our reception 3 months after the wedding on June 1. We did this for a couple of different reasons- 1) DH was moving to back to Michigan from Ohio, 2) we were going on our Hawaiian honeymoon in April/May, 3) we wanted to have our pictures and video back to share at the reception, 4) we wanted to ensure that we had nice weather and in Michigan you usually have to wait until June for that to happen! It was originally booked at a hall by Kris’ dad before he passed away about 3 months before our wedding. In the end after a few mishaps, we ended up moving the location, but thankfully it all worked out in the end. We just rented a basic hall and then decorated it to fit our theme.

We wanted to do something different and finally settled on a red carpet movie theme. DH had proposed on stage at the theater (completely private in the middle of the day, he had it opened just for us and sent me on a scavenger hunt including a stop at the spa to end up at Whiting Auditorium in Flint, MI) where we had our first date (we went to see the Opera, Barber of Seville). Here is a shot of the proposal and a link to my original PJ with the proposal story in it http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=18697747&postcount=1

The second reason we wanted to do a red carpet theme is that we wanted to “premiere” our wedding video at the party, so we thought this would be a great play on that idea. It took a while to find the invitations, but I finally came across these cute invites. They ended up coming in while we were in Hawaii, so my parents were kind enough to mail them out for us.

We ordered them from a company called Handy Kane that does custom themed items for weddings http://www.handykaneweddings.com/ They have everything from Cinderella to Western to Irish to Bikers to Victorian to Tropical and much more. It really is fun looking at all the unique themes they offer.

These are shots from the email draft, so they aren’t as great as a regular picture.

Inside of invitation:

I know it’s a little against etiquette, but we did not do formal RSVP cards instead we had people RSVP by email or phone. We still had the inserts, but saved money by not having anything mailed back to us. I was worried people would be offended, but no one complained. In fact, a few months later when my younger cousin eloped out of state and then had a reception at home in Michigan she did the same thing.

We used an image of us from our photoshoot at MGM (Hollywood Studios) in front of the Great Movie Ride to create custom labels for sealing the envelopes and for the address labels. It was so perfect that it was modeled off of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in LA.

One of the major things that we based a lot of the decorations off of was the idea of making our own movie posters and then using them for table names, etc. Here is the main one that we used. I found a site called Big Huge Photo Labs where you can design your own movie posters http://bighugelabs.com/poster.php For a fee you can have unlimited downloads and creations within a week, so that’s what I did. We then ordered the final prints from Sam’s Club photo lab which saved us a ton of money. This particular poster is hanging in our stairwell and I love seeing it every morning as I walk downstairs.

Most of our decorations were DYI and I was pleasantly surprised with the final products. First, I want to give a breakdown of our budget to help anyone else in their planning process.

Miscellaneous Expenses
Photography $475 which included all copyright and a few engagement shots
Hall rental $300
Invitations $185
Postage $48
Total: $1,008

Food
Catering $10 per person (no alcohol), final count 150
Total catering including gratuity was around $1,750
Beverages (2 liters of pop, ice, lemonade) $50
Cups $20
Cupcakes from Sam’s Club $50
Small layer cake for cutting $25
Total: $1,895

Snacks/Favors
Popcorn and oil $10
Chocolate candy for buffet (marked down after Valentine’s Day) $15
Mickey molds $12
Chocolate for molds and wrappings $20
Other miscellaneous candy $10
Glass Jars for candy buffet/concessions $40 Big Lots
Favor bags $15
Total: $122

Decorations
Mickey Statues $9
Playing cards, dice for guests $8
Miscellaneous printing (wish cards, table names, etc.) $10
Poster Printing $28 Sam’s Club
Poster frame $16
Decorations $19.98 Stumps, $59.76 Windy City Novelties, $40 Dollar Tree, Oriental Trading $35.55
Table Cloths $20 Great Party
Big Huge Photo Labs $10
Spray Paint $5
Christmas lights $15
Stars $5
Gossamer ribbon $10
Tissue Paper $5
Rose Centerpieces $19.88 Target
Mickey napkins $35 Invitations by Dawn
Total: $351.17

Grand Total: $3,376.17 for 150 guests

I thought the cost breakdown would be helpful for anyone who is trying to decide if they can afford to have an at-home reception. Some cost saving tips we followed - we held the event on a Sunday, so the rental and photographer were cheaper, we did the music ourselves and didn't hire a DJ, and we didn't have alcohol (although our families are not drinkers anyway). To me it was more important to hire a photographer, but you could easily have a DJ instead depending on your priorities.

More to come, so stay tuned....

 

[tiggersam00]

Ok, so I know you heard that I am using this PJ as a giant piece of bait to lure DF to Hawaii for a honeymoon in July lol, so thanks for writing such a wnderful resource for me and my plotting... I swear I am more like Lucielle Ball everyday with my schemes lol!

Anyways, Your at home receptions was a great cost saver huh! I cant wait to hear more about it but the pics you have posted in the past look great. How much it probably was for all your guests too, feeling like movie stars!

 

[dizneyfreak]

Ok, so first off I have to apologise for being MIA for awhile. Where does the time go??? Work takes it up...that's where it goes...n-e-ways...
I just caught up. I have to say that I have been waiting for this part of the report for a while now and the first bit was such a tease! I'm loving all of the ideas and I can't wait to see the pictures! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MOVIE POSTER YOU MADE....AMAZING!!! It is so beautiful! Promise to put up lots and lots and lots of pictures!
On the home front. Our two year anniversary is coming up in just over a month and we are seriously thinking about splurging on a second honeymoon at guess where??? Yea, you got it...the GRAND FLORIDIAN!!! We want to wear our hats and our just married pins again (is that wrong? ) and we thought a second honeymoon would be just the ticket! We might stay at the Boardwalk though because neither of us have ever stayed there and it is so close to the FAWF. I just had to share with you! Sorry for the off topic info girls, but I just had to tell Vanessa about our plans!

Anna Marie

 

[AbbyPan]

wow vanessa, I love the red carpet movie theme, especially because you could incorporate the GMR!!!

You just keep outdoing yourself!! Those Hawaii photos with you and Chris are so pretty (so jealous!!).

And i LOVE the pic of you too kissing, looks like you're in the clouds!

So nice to see your updates!!

 

[figmentfan814]

Ok, so I know you heard that I am using this PJ as a giant piece of bait to lure DF to Hawaii for a honeymoon in July lol, so thanks for writing such a wnderful resource for me and my plotting... I swear I am more like Lucielle Ball everyday with my schemes lol!

Anyways, Your at home receptions was a great cost saver huh! I cant wait to hear more about it but the pics you have posted in the past look great. How much it probably was for all your guests too, feeling like movie stars!

I was really surprised hwo well we were able to keep the costs down. The best part was that we had a lot of people say they had a blast and that it was the most fun they'd ever had at a reception. I think people like it because it was so different.

I definitely hope you get to go to Hawaii So, which islands are you looking at visiting?

Ok, so first off I have to apologise for being MIA for awhile. Where does the time go??? Work takes it up...that's where it goes...n-e-ways...
I just caught up. I have to say that I have been waiting for this part of the report for a while now and the first bit was such a tease! I'm loving all of the ideas and I can't wait to see the pictures! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MOVIE POSTER YOU MADE....AMAZING!!! It is so beautiful! Promise to put up lots and lots and lots of pictures!
On the home front. Our two year anniversary is coming up in just over a month and we are seriously thinking about splurging on a second honeymoon at guess where??? Yea, you got it...the GRAND FLORIDIAN!!! We want to wear our hats and our just married pins again (is that wrong? ) and we thought a second honeymoon would be just the ticket! We might stay at the Boardwalk though because neither of us have ever stayed there and it is so close to the FAWF. I just had to share with you! Sorry for the off topic info girls, but I just had to tell Vanessa about our plans!

Anna Marie

How cool, I'm totally excited for you!!! A second honeymoon would be so awesome and I've wanted to go to FAWF for a long time, you'll need to share some pictures. We started making plans for our 2nd anniversary too and I think its going to be more Kris' type of trip and not Disney this time It should still be fun though. We still need to hook up on Facebook or something.

I'm going to post some more of the movie posters after this posting, so I hope you like them too

wow vanessa, I love the red carpet movie theme, especially because you could incorporate the GMR!!!

You just keep outdoing yourself!! Those Hawaii photos with you and Chris are so pretty (so jealous!!).

And i LOVE the pic of you too kissing, looks like you're in the clouds!

So nice to see your updates!!

Abby, thanks so much for following along It was super cool that the GMR fit in so well. I really wanted to use more of the pictures from there, but alas the copyright CD was out of our budget until our 3rd anniversary. At least for some of the invite items the copies I had we were able to use since they were being printed small

Hawaii really was a once in a lifetime experience. I feel so blessed that we were able to take that trip after spending the time after our wedding at Disney too.

 

[figmentfan814]

Here are the rest of the movie posters we made to use at the reception:

My cousin was a musician with the band in Norway at Epcot and the two guys in the hats are my dad and other cousin:

These are from our engagement:

I found my dress after visiting 13 bridal shops:

 

[figmentfan814]

We made a lot of the decorations ourselves to save on costs. I went through a lot of prom catalogs looking for ideas. This was my main project that I undertook. Here is the one from the catalog which sold for over $300.

Thankfully, we had just gotten appliances for the condo we had recently bought, so I had large pieces of cardboard at my disposal. I just pieces from our refrigerator box to cut out the shapes. I made the outlines by hand and then used an exacto knife to cut the pieces out. After this we spray painted them black.

After leaving them to dry a few days, we punched holes along the sides and Kris used black wire ties to attach Christmas lights to the edge. They had the green wires and I thought we would need to paint those too, but once they were lit you couldn't really even tell.

I also bought some big red stars marked down at Great Party for a few dollars. I also purchased a package of gold punch out stars from Stumps. We probably could have cut them too, but this was much easier. I would say our total cost was around $35.

I made a second set that was smaller to match the ones in the original set in the catalog. The hardest thing was getting them to stand up. We ended up using other pieces of cardboard that we slide on to form a + on the base.

Next up, more decorations and other preparations leading up to the big day.

 

[dizneyfreak]

Are you freaking kidding me??? Those posters are outrageous!!! What fun! I still like the one of you two in the AAR the best, but I love the one in front of the city, and the Charlies Angels one, and the one one the beach in front of the WP, and....well really all of them. They are sooooo cool! You by the way are an artist. I sooooo could not have made those cut outs myself and yours look great. I can't wait to see more!

Anna Marie