*I'm Back!* We're getting married..at Disney World!!! Jeff & Kathy's PJ! UPDATE: Let's Party! (9/18)

[kanadar]

Hello and welcome to my DFTW PJ! I'm very excited to be starting my own planning journal! I've lurked on a few and decided since my 1 year mark is about a month away it would be a good time to start my own! First off, some introductions!

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DF is Jeff (29) he works at a meat and deli shop is Central Illinois where we live. He’s been working there for about 9 months now and has only cut himself once (YAY!!). He has only been to Disney twice, once when he was about 13 and about a year ago with my family and I. He loves sports, but especially soccer and football, and he loves to bowl. He’s bowled 3 official 300 games!

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And of course I’m Kathy (27). I recently got a job as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching assistant in a neighboring town. I absolutely LOVE Disney. My family and I go a lot so I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been. But since I’ve been dating DF (2 years on 9/29) I have been 4 times, with a 5th time coming at the end of the month. I grew up very close to the University of Illinois so I’m a big Illinois basketball fan.

How we met:

DF and I met when we were going to Illinois State University together. We were on the bowling team together for a year. At the time we were just friends. He actually asked me out after a while and I said no (and no he doesn’t let me live that one down!). I was in an on/off relationship with another guy at the time. A few years later, he broke up with his girlfriend at the time (who used to be a friend of mine) so we started talking a little bit. I was nosey about the break up haha! Then a few weeks later, my boyfriend at the time and I broke up. Jeff and I started talking a lot more. I had decided to spend the summer in Arizona (yes I decided summer in one of the hottest states) with my sister. Jeff and I hung out once before I left, and went on a date when I came home for a few days in July. Once I came back to Illinois, I went back to school at ISU, and he lived in a small town about 15 minutes away from Bloomington. We started officially dating shortly after.

Next up, our engagement story!

 

[elphie101]

Yay a new PJ!! Can't wait to hear about your engagement story and your plans!!

 

[mare1203]

I'm here!

 

[kanadar]

Yay a new PJ!! Can't wait to hear about your engagement story and your plans!!

Thanks! I'm actually in the process of reading you PJ right now! I'm not very far into it yet but I'm enjoying it so far! Your date is actually about 1 year before HOPEFULLY ours will be!

I'm here!

Yay!!!

 

[elphie101]

Awww I'm glad you like my PJ! It's quite the beast at this point I'm loving what our date will be, the perfect time at WDW and at home! (If only it wasn't during the holiday weekend - flights are a killer and definitely affected our guest count. Ah well, I'm way too in love with the even multiples to have ever thought of changing it up )

 

[kanadar]

Our Engagement Story!
Our Bridal Party!
Venues and Colors
Sneak Peek-Engagement Pics!
Wedding Planner
Engagement Pictures!
Save the Dates!
Photographer
I said yes to the dress!

Bridal Showcase Weekend TR
Will I ever get there?!
First night at Disney!
Breakfast of Champions!
Let the Showcase begin!
The Showcase Continued!
An Afternoon of Food and Wine
Dapper Day!
Hey, look! It's my girlfriends!
Our lunch with a view!
It's really not so scary!
3 parks, 1 day part 1!
3 parks, 1 day part 2!

 

[kanadar]

Our Engagement Story:

One night Jeff decided to watch a soccer game with a few of his friends after work. While they were watching the game he sent me a text that an old work buddy wanted to have dinner the next night. I thought nothing of this as we have met up with a few of his old work friends before. So he suggested a few nicer restaurants for us to go to. After Jeff got off work the next day he went back to his place to get ready for dinner and was going to pick me up after later. So about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet our friends for dinner, he sent me a text that he was there. I would usually just meet him downstairs so this wasn’t anything unusual either, but of course I was running a few minutes late, I had to fix my make up!

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A few minutes later I was downstairs to find him standing in the courtyard of my apartment complex waiting for me. At this point I just stop, confused. I figure something’s wrong because I didn’t think I took THAT long to get ready! (I only took about 5 minutes lol) He notices and says “They called and had to cancel on us”. I was like oh ok, but in my mind I was thinking “dang it I put on real clothes for no reason!”, after class I had gone back to my apartment and gotten comfortable. But then he says “I have something I want to ask you though”. And he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

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After saying yes, he gets up and tells me that his roommate was just across the courtyard taking pictures! Yes girls he was smart and had someone catch photos of the moment I was so impressed and excited!

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The ring is beautiful and very special. Now over Easter weekend, Jeff had told me that his mom had offered me her great great grandmothers ring to give to me. He was telling me this to see how I would feel about getting a ring like that. I told him it was up to him, that he knows what I like so if he saw it and thought I would like it I would love to have it. He had told me that she needed to find it and would send pictures to him of it. Well, this was a total lie! The ring was in the center console of the car the entire ride home! It means so much to me that his mother wanted me to have this ring.

So of course we went back up to the apartment and I called my dad and sister. Of course my dad was expecting the phone call at some point. A few days before was Memorial Day, and my dad and Jeff had gone golfing. While they were on their way back Jeff asked my dad for permission. I think this might have thrown my dad off a bit because ironically the night before at dinner we got on the topic of weddings. I was telling them how I wanted to get married at Disney World, and I knew where I wanted the ceremony to be and giving some details haha!

Our next decision to make was when, and make sure DF Jeff was good with a Disney Wedding I’d been dreaming about. We wanted to decide when quickly because I was going to a bridal shower for his cousin that weekend and we KNEW everyone's first question would be "Are we going to Disney?!" (it was), and their second question would be "When are we going?" (again, it was!)

After discussing with my dad and each other, we decided we wanted to have a wedding during Food and Wine Festival. Not only does my family love this time of year, but we took Jeff with us for F&W So this narrowed us down to September-November. We also knew it needed to be a weekend, as I am a teacher and have several friends who are teachers as well. We ended up deciding it would be fun to get married on 10/10/15. So we made our decision and realized it was Columbus Day Weekend. So once we'd our decision we THOUGHT we had another month to wait before we could contact DFTW, but a few days later I decided to call anyway. This is where we found out our math was off and we would be assigned a coordinator as it was already 16 months out! Yay!

Next up, I'll talk about our bridal party so stay tuned!

 

[elphie101]

Yay Columbus Day weekend brides!!! We have many anniversaries of MNSSHP and F&W ahead of us.

Your proposal story is so cute and sweet and on having photos of it!

 

[MiniMosca]

I`m also an assistant ESL teacher! Glad to see another one on the boards.

Your proposal story was super cute, and it was very thoughtful of your fiance to have his friend take pictures.

I`m also planning a wedding during the September to November time, but in 2017. I look forward to following your planning journal!

 

[kanadar]

Yay Columbus Day weekend brides!!! We have many anniversaries of MNSSHP and F&W ahead of us.

Your proposal story is so cute and sweet and on having photos of it!

Thank you! DF did a great job! All I knew was he had been offered the ring, but had no idea whether he had it or not. And I am SOOO looking forward to those anniversaries

I`m also an assistant ESL teacher! Glad to see another one on the boards.

Your proposal story was super cute, and it was very thoughtful of your fiance to have his friend take pictures.

I`m also planning a wedding during the September to November time, but in 2017. I look forward to following your planning journal!

Glad to see another ESL teacher on here too! Thank you! It was so nice of his friend to take pictures, unfortunately most of them are focused on the siding of the building and not us, but at least you can see us in the background! Hopefully this PJ is helpful to you!

 

[kanadar]

Today is the last day I have off before starting my new job tomorrow, so what better time than now to get an update (or 2 maybe) in! So without further ado...my bridal party!

Our Bridal Party:

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This is my Maid of Honor, and my sister Mary (29) mare1203 on the boards. She lives in Arizona now, but we still get to see each other quite a bit. She did the Disney College Program and even worked at Disney in Dinoland for a year. She decided she wanted to go back to school and went to Arizona State University to get her Master's in Higher Education Administration. After graduating she got a job at ASU and has been there ever since. I will actually be seeing her in 9 days at Disney (YAY!) for the Bridal Expo!

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This is my friend Katie (28). She lives in Texas but we have known each other since we were in first or second grade. She has lived in several different places but we have remained close friends. We don't get to see each other a lot, but when we do it's like nothing has changed! I will be seeing her in November, both of our families are running in the Wine and Dine half marathon!

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This is my friend Shelby (27). We have been friends since our freshman year of high school. We became really close our sophomore year and became almost inseparable! Last year she moved with her husband and children up to Minnesota, but with her parents still in Illinois we try to see each other when she's in town. (Anybody seeing a trend with my bridal party haha!).

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This is DF Jeff's sister Angie (28). I met her when Jeff and I started dating. We get along well and I wanted to make her a part of our wedding. She lives near Chicago with Jeff's mom. We try to make a trip up there about once a month to visit them.

I had spent several weeks trying to figure out a cute way to ask my girls to be in my wedding. I searched ideas on Pinterest and talking to some people to get ideas, mainly my sister to kinda get an idea of what she would or wouldn't want haha! Finally I came up with an idea I really liked, but it proved to be a little more difficult than I thought it would.

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The difficult part was getting those Mickey ears personalized! I looked on the website and they no longer did it. I tried calling and explaining what I wanted to do it for and that I didn't mind waiting for them but that didn't work either! So I resorted to a friend of my sister, who still works sometimes at Disney for help.

I also included a special personalized note for each of the girls. My dad, sister, and I went on an Adventures by Disney trip to Italy, and I knew that there were areas of Italy that were known for their stationary. So while we were there I set out to find some cards that I liked. I was able to find some and was very excited! Mary wrote a TR about it if anyones interested in ABD! Andiamo Adventurer's!

Each girl got a different box, this one was the one my sister received. I also made them each 2 mickey shaped rice krispy treats.

Now for the cuties!

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These are our ring bearers, Nathan and Patrick (6). They are my cousin's twin boys. When I spent the summer in Arizona with my sister, I was their nanny.

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This is our flower girl Lydia (2). She is actually my bridesmaid Shelby's little girl. She was only about 6 months old when Shelby moved away but loves to see me when we do get together.

Last night we started discussing the idea of asking someone to be our officiant instead of using one of Disney's, but we haven't decided yet. We think we know who we would want to ask but since we just started discussing it, we've decided to think about it a little first.

Next up: Our Venues and Colors.

 

[EpicBilynn]

Hi! I love the idea of the personalized Mickey Ears. I haven't seen them used in that way yet. It's awesome! Can't wait to see more!

 

[Disneybride2015]

Like Elphie said, yay for Columbus Day weekend wedding brides!! My DF and I are actually going for the day after yours, 10/11/15!! I just can't wait to hit the year mark and I bet you can't wait either!!! I just haven't gotten around to start a PJ yet....

 

[kanadar]

Hi! I love the idea of the personalized Mickey Ears. I haven't seen them used in that way yet. It's awesome! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks! I was really happy with how they turned out! I thought it was a cute way to tie in the Disney aspect too.

Like Elphie said, yay for Columbus Day weekend wedding brides!! My DF and I are actually going for the day after yours, 10/11/15!! I just can't wait to hit the year mark and I bet you can't wait either!!! I just haven't gotten around to start a PJ yet....

Oh how exciting! We'll be there at the same time! 10/11/15 is our second choice but hopefully we get our first! What are your venues?

 

[Disneybride2015]

We since we haven't been given our venue yet, I don't want to jinx it and put it on here

 

[kanadar]

I realize that I have talked about our date but I have forgotten to talk about venues!

So after deciding our date, the next decision to make was where we wanted to have the ceremony and reception. I knew already where I wanted to have the wedding so the real tough choice was reception venue. First, we knew that we would have a somewhat large guest count as I have a large extended family, so the smaller venues were out for us! I have wanted to get married at the Boardwalk on the Croquet Lawn so that was my first choice. Luckily Jeff liked the venue as well.

We looked on the DFTW site and my dad, sister, Jeff, and I liked the looks of the American Adventure Rotunda. It looked so gorgeous online that we had decided we wanted our reception there. After talking to my consultant, Michelle, she let us know that it is unavailable during F&W on Fridays and Saturdays. She also let us know that it requires the a 9:30 reception time. This was too late of a reception time for us so it was back to the website for us! After looking at all the options we decided we really liked the Atlantic Dance Hall. The two levels was really cool. Plus as DF Jeff had said, it would be more fun to be able to show our kids in the future this is where we got married, instead of saying we got married in a ballroom. Plus, it was just a short walk from our ceremony venue. So we were decided Croquet Lawn and Atlantic Dance Hall. We also decided for an afternoon ceremony and since it is a Saturday and the ADH receptions need to end at 8, we are looking at a 2:30 ceremony.

Another decision we made was our colors. While we were at Barnes and Noble I decided to look at the wedding planner books and flipped to the colors page. I pointed out the color that was close to what I wanted and DF Jeff agreed! Yay! Another decision we agreed on easily!

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After talking to my sister about the color I told her I was thinking a pink accent color because I love stargazer lilies. She found this picture online that is exactly what I was thinking color wise. Now the difficult part is finding this exact color. I’m not even sure what to call it as when I look for teal, or turquoise there are so many different shades.

We have a few other decisions made. We are getting our engagement pictures taken in a few weeks. One of my really good friends is in photography so she will be taking our pictures in October. I'm really looking forward to them. We'd been trying to figure out little ways to incorporate Disney into the pictures.

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Now I had this idea before, and I thought I had seen it on the boards. After a lot of searching the internet I finally found it on etsy. I was able to send her the inspiration picture and have her match the colors the best she could. I think it turned out very well!

Jeff's mom has been wanting to throw us a small engagement party but things have been pretty crazy since we got engaged, so we are looking at a weekend in October. That's about all I have for now. Next weekend when Mary and I are at the Bridal Expo I will have more to update on!

 

[kanadar]

Today was my first day of work, and it went well. Things are going to start out kinda slow but that's good because I have a trip coming up. I just wanted to share what was waiting for me when I got home though



DF Jeff had the day off work and surprised me with flowers when I got home. Such a sweetie, I think I'll keep him

8 days until I will be in the happiest place on Earth with my sister! I can't wait! Lots of wedding, food, and wine!

 

[elphie101]

Awww, your bridal party really is all over the place. Even though I only have one out of state BM, I've learned that not having them together makes the occasions when you can get them all in one room even more special!! And your little attendants are the cutest.

I love your colors, the pink pops so well with the teal!! I said when we first started looking at colors that the wedding world as the most ridiculous names - like 'Pool' and 'Morning Sunrise' instead of teal and yellow Once you pick bridesmaid dresses you can just use that color name/swatch I'm sure.

Yay ADH!! Of course I'm biased but I think you'll love it, and it will be such a nice stroll along the Boardwalk.

Enjoy Disney and the showcase! I'm so jealous you get to go (even though I'll be down in 3 weeks!)

 

[kanadar]

Awww, your bridal party really is all over the place. Even though I only have one out of state BM, I've learned that not having them together makes the occasions when you can get them all in one room even more special!! And your little attendants are the cutest.

I love your colors, the pink pops so well with the teal!! I said when we first started looking at colors that the wedding world as the most ridiculous names - like 'Pool' and 'Morning Sunrise' instead of teal and yellow Once you pick bridesmaid dresses you can just use that color name/swatch I'm sure.

Yay ADH!! Of course I'm biased but I think you'll love it, and it will be such a nice stroll along the Boardwalk.

Enjoy Disney and the showcase! I'm so jealous you get to go (even though I'll be down in 3 weeks!)

Yeah they are really all over the place! The closest is DF's sister and even she is 2 1/2 hours away. I'm not super worried about the color, I've already seen it as an option on the DFTW website, just makes pinterest ideas difficult to find!

I LOVE the Boardwalk so I'm really looking forward to getting married there. I'm so excited for the showcase. 7 days!!! and I get to see my sister!

 

[kanadar]

Tomorrow my sister and I will be in Disney! We are so excited to get there! We both get in in the morning, she gets in pretty early though. Since she's in AZ she takes the red eye. I get in around 10 so lots of park time, then the showcase Saturday!

As for some wedding new, 2 weeks until the 1 year mark so we're getting close! I e-mailed our consultant and right now 10/10/15 is still looking good! So hopefully nothing changes in the next 2 weeks! Fingers crossed!

I will update when Mary and I get back all about the showcase!