Nikki & Travis' Disney Dream Cruise Wedding - 4/18/2016 -4/22/2016 - Dessert Party

Nikki, I'm all caught up on your journal! Congratulations! We are doing a Disney Dream cruise wedding in October, so it's so helpful to have so many active bride PJs!

First off, everything is gorgeous! Your invites are so cute and your dress is AMAZING!! So very cute! The bridesmaids dresses are all so great as well, all the girls look comfortable and ready to stun :)

Also, I have to say, I'm in Chicago too, so it's really fun to see an Illinois sister planning out her dream wedding. Congrats again and I can't wait to hear more as the big trip approaches!

Thank you so much for reading along!!
I love having another IL bride on the boards! and another DCL bride from IL makes my heart skip! :love:

Thank you so much for your kind words! I will definitely be posting more planning updates!
I've been so bad at posting recently!

And I cant wait to hear about your plans!! Have you started a planning journal yet!?

Love the engagement pics especially the last one you posted. Amazing!
I really love the dresses you picked. Love the colour. For the copper/rose coloured belts check out BHLDN. They have belts in the colours you are looking for.
Good luck!

Thank you so so much!
The engagement pictures turned out way better than I expected!
And thank you for the BHLDN suggestion! I forgot about checking there!
Hopefully I can find something! :goodvibes
 
Well it’s pretty safe to say that I’m the worst at updating my planning journal.

With all of the holidays and wedding planning drama, I totally forgot to update you all!
I’m so sorry! But here I am now, working backwards and giving you all that care the new details!

Since my last update we made a pretty big decision, we decided to have a pre-wedding mini-moon in Disney World! :earboy2:

Here’s a bit of the back story for this decision:

Because we are taking so much time off of work for our wedding, we didn’t want to shorten our honeymoon or sacrifice things we really wanted to do and experience. So, we decided to take our full length honeymoon on our one year anniversary.

With that being said, we still wanted to have something small to celebrate our marriage with just the two of us. We both thought experiencing Disney World together would be perfect! We’re both completely little kids at heart and what better place to be a little kid again?! We also haven’t been to Disney World since we were 8 years old so clearly this needed to change!

Now, why a pre-wedding trip instead of a post wedding trip? It’s actually all thanks to the disboards! I’ve read countless trip reports and tip threads that all suggested going to Disney World first then going on the Disney Cruise to really feel that relaxation.
Again, we are so far from a traditional couple that we decide a pre-wedding trip would just be the delicious icing on the cake of our non-traditional destination wedding!

Okay, moving on to the trip details!
We will be in Disney World from Wednesday, April 13th – Monday, April 18th
Enough days to FINALLY visit all of the parks!
I’ve only ever gone to Magic Kingdom.

When we first started planning the Disney World trip I was completely fine with staying at one of the moderate hotels. I wasn’t planning on spending much time at the hotel; I wanted to spend all of my time at the parks!
That was not the plan for my DF, Travis, though.
He said it was our wedding and we were going to have as many luxuries as possible, starting with the hotel. We legitimately argued about this for days until I caved and agreed to book our room at the Beach Club Resort. I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty happy with this decision now.

As soon as it was available, we made our dinner reservations.
Our reservations determined which days were for which parks.

Day one- Epcot
Dinner – Le Cellier Steakhouse

Day Two- Magic Kingdom
Lunch – BE OUR GUEST!!!!!!!!! (I’m so stupidly excited to finally be there!!!!)
Dinner – California Grill

Day Three – Animal Kingdom
Dinner – BE OUR GUEST!!!!!!! (Yep, a second time! DF surprised me with a second reservation!)

Day Four – Hollywood Studios
No specific reservations for this day. We were told we really didn’t need them for the restaurants we want to go to which are 50’s Prime Time Café and Si-Fi Dine In Theater.

Day Five – We wanted to keep open for anything we wanted to do again and maybe some family time since most of our families will be traveling to Florida that day and staying at Disney!


So here is where I need your help my beautiful, beautiful friends!
What are some things we have to do/see?
Like I said, we haven’t been to Disney World in so long and we are so excited to finally experience it!!
I know we won’t experience it all but what would you guys recommend for us?!

Lots and Lots of Love sent to you all! :love:
 
Aww I love that you are doing a disneymoon at WDW before that is so the way to go and your staying at beach club how awesome! I am really jealous you get two dinners at Be our Guest I have been wanting to try that place for so long and we are going this May and there were no open reservations :guilty: you will have to post lots of pictures so I can live through you :yay:

Your getting super close this last month is going to fly by!

Happy Planning
Melissa :goodvibes
 
Aww I love that you are doing a disneymoon at WDW before that is so the way to go and your staying at beach club how awesome! I am really jealous you get two dinners at Be our Guest I have been wanting to try that place for so long and we are going this May and there were no open reservations :guilty: you will have to post lots of pictures so I can live through you :yay:

Your getting super close this last month is going to fly by!

Happy Planning
Melissa :goodvibes

Aw! I'm sorry there were no open reservations left for your trip!
I heard getting a reservation there is a bit difficult.
I was so nervous we wouldn't be able to make a reservation so I had like 10 reminders set leading up to the 180 day mark!
I'll have loads of pictures and videos to share, no worries! :)

This year has been the fastest year of my life, I cant imagine how quickly this last month is going to go!
It's becoming so real!!!
 


AHH! Be Our Guest TWICE! That is really cool. You've got a great guy.

I haven't been to Disney World in about 3 years, but I'm always about riding the rides. Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios and the Yeti ride in Animal Kingdom were my two favorites.

Fantasmic, the nighttime show at Hollywood Studios was amazing to watch! I was very impressed. And other than that, the food :)

You are going to have so much fun. Great plan!!
 
What are some things we have to do/see?

First of all, yay Disney mini-moon!!!

As far as things to do/not to miss... I'll try to keep my list minimal, since you'll have limited time.

EPCOT:

-pastries from the Les Halles Boulangerie et Patisserie in France
-School bread from Norway
-Grand Marnier/Grey Goose slushies from France
-visit La Cava (tequila bar) in Mexico
-miniature trains in Germany
-Mission Space

MAGIC KINGDOM:

-play the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, it's fun and interactive!
-walk through the queue of Haunted Mansion

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS:

-eat at 50's Prime Time (I know this is on your list already) (we enjoyed Sci-Fi as well, but if I had to pick between the two, 50s wins my vote)
-Tower of Terror
-Rockin' Roller Coaster


ANIMAL KINGDOM:

-watch the Lion King show
-watch the Finding Nemo show
-grab a Pink Himalayan from the bar at the Yak & Yeti sit down restaurant
-try the buffalo chicken waffle slider from the Trilo-bites snack cart
-Expedition Everest

Non-park things to do:

-pool time at the hotel (especially since you are staying at the Beach Club!)
-wander Disney Springs
-visit other resorts (Animal Kingdom Lodge is beautiful and seeing the animals is fun, as well as speaking to the cultural representatives)

Non-park recommended restaurants:

-Cooke's of Dublin in Disney Springs (deep fried hamburgers and vintage Irish cheddar bacon dip)
-Raglan Road in Disney Springs
-Olivia's Cafe at Old Key West (our dinner was fantastic)
-Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village
-T-Rex is fun (albeit loud) and the food is good and nice sized portions
-Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge
-Beaches & Cream (at the very least get a No Way Jose sundae from the walk up window)

Hope this helps. :) I am so excited for you, you are getting so close!
 
AHH! Be Our Guest TWICE! That is really cool. You've got a great guy.

I haven't been to Disney World in about 3 years, but I'm always about riding the rides. Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios and the Yeti ride in Animal Kingdom were my two favorites.

Fantasmic, the nighttime show at Hollywood Studios was amazing to watch! I was very impressed. And other than that, the food :)

You are going to have so much fun. Great plan!!

Yay! Thank you!! I'm definitely putting Tower of Terror and Expedition Everest on our plans!!
and I totally forgot about Fantasmic!! I will make sure we watch that too!
 


First of all, yay Disney mini-moon!!!

As far as things to do/not to miss... I'll try to keep my list minimal, since you'll have limited time.

EPCOT:

-pastries from the Les Halles Boulangerie et Patisserie in France
-School bread from Norway
-Grand Marnier/Grey Goose slushies from France
-visit La Cava (tequila bar) in Mexico
-miniature trains in Germany
-Mission Space

MAGIC KINGDOM:

-play the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, it's fun and interactive!
-walk through the queue of Haunted Mansion

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS:

-eat at 50's Prime Time (I know this is on your list already) (we enjoyed Sci-Fi as well, but if I had to pick between the two, 50s wins my vote)
-Tower of Terror
-Rockin' Roller Coaster


ANIMAL KINGDOM:

-watch the Lion King show
-watch the Finding Nemo show
-grab a Pink Himalayan from the bar at the Yak & Yeti sit down restaurant
-try the buffalo chicken waffle slider from the Trilo-bites snack cart
-Expedition Everest

Non-park things to do:

-pool time at the hotel (especially since you are staying at the Beach Club!)
-wander Disney Springs
-visit other resorts (Animal Kingdom Lodge is beautiful and seeing the animals is fun, as well as speaking to the cultural representatives)

Non-park recommended restaurants:

-Cooke's of Dublin in Disney Springs (deep fried hamburgers and vintage Irish cheddar bacon dip)
-Raglan Road in Disney Springs
-Olivia's Cafe at Old Key West (our dinner was fantastic)
-Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village
-T-Rex is fun (albeit loud) and the food is good and nice sized portions
-Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge
-Beaches & Cream (at the very least get a No Way Jose sundae from the walk up window)

Hope this helps. :) I am so excited for you, you are getting so close!

This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you!!!!
I've definitely printed out the list and have it in my planner (I'm one of those people haha)

There are only 22 days left before we leave for Disney World and 29 days until the wedding!!!!
 
16 days until Disney World!
23 days until the wedding!
I can’t believe everything is happening so quickly!
There are only a few more things to do and I’m done!
As soon as I take my seat on the plane I will be shutting off my brain with all things wedding planning and just letting the chips fall where they may.
But until then I thought another wedding update is in order.

Hair and Makeup.

Being a licensed cosmetologist and makeup artist this part was extremely hard for me.
In all seriousness I’ve been trying to figure those two things out my entire year of planning.
Thankfully, everything kind of fell into place at the perfect time and I’m really happy with my decisions.


Hair Prep:
I will be getting my hair colored and trimmed two weeks prior to leaving for Disney World (this week).
I’m not doing anything crazy to my hair. It’ll be colored one solid brown color, my natural hair color.
The trim will be super tiny, just to clean up the ends.


Wedding Hairstyle:
Because of the detailed back of my wedding dress, I decided on an updo.
I definitely didn’t want anything to high or tight.
You know when you see someone with an updo and it looks super shiny and crunchy?
Yeah, that’s the look I’m avoiding!!
I wanted something modern, romantic and soft which lead to my final decision.
fdadb2936b22f855b9e25ae0347c7c19.jpg

(again sorry for the large pictures!)

Wedding Hair Accessory:
This, my friends, was such a splurge item. I had absolutely no intention of spending so much on my hair accessories for the wedding but once I saw this I fell in love. I compared everything to this and nothing compared! So, after discussing it with Trav we agreed we could afford it and I purchased it!

My hair accessory is called the Helen Halo from My Olivia Nelson on Etsy.
il_570xN.792061100_obbl.jpg
il_570xN.792061878_8b30.jpg

This is obviously a stock picture.
The one I ordered looks exactly like it only it's rose gold and silver and has clear beads and swarovski crystals instead of pearls
(Pearls are bad luck in Polish culture so I had to ax them or my family would freak)

Jaclyn, the shop owner, makes handmade pieces that are exquisite.
I highly recommend her items! The pictures just don’t do it any justice.
I can do a more in depth review if anyone wants that.


Makeup Prep:
I’ve begun to tan a little bit a few times a week. Trust me, this is the absolute last thing I wanted to do. I’m not a tanning bed kind of girl. I’m actually really against it! I would like to have cancer and wrinkle-free skin for as long as possible! but I had no other options if I wanted to avoid the following:
·Looking orange on wedding day ( If I spray tanned)
·Going to Florida pale and getting weird tan lines that would be visible on my wedding day.
·Having the wrong color foundation and concealer for my tan skin.

I tan extremely easily so I know these things would happen.
I know these seem so superficial but whatever. It’s my wedding day and I’d like to look bomb dot compixiedust:


The second thing for makeup prep is getting lash extensions! Those will be applied to my eyes the day before I leave for Florida.
Lash extensions can be super pricey but I decided I would splurge on them for two reasons:
1. One less thing I have to worry about having with and applying on the wedding day
2. They look a lot nicer and more natural (you know, besides your own actual lashes)


Wedding Makeup:
Since we’re getting married on Castaway Cay, I wanted a “Bronzed Goddess” kind of look.
a9a3bf2c320baa1fc723b4de90f9be0d.jpg

Simple and still looks like me but special. (Picture is not of me :smooth::rotfl:)


As always, let me know what you all think! I love reading your input and ideas!
 
Omg, it's so close!! I totally know what you mean about just letting go once you get on the plane. Time to breathe! popcorn::

Your headpiece is gorgeous!! I really like all that drapey goodness, and the hairstyle is great. You will look so beautiful and beachy...I love that braid going around the back. The makeup is perfect! I am still deciding on what the heck I'm gonna do...I'm going to have to really play with it this summer. Eyelash extensions are something I didn't even think about! Where are you getting them done? I might have to hit them up too.

YOU ARE GOING TO BE AMAZING!!! I am so excited for you:jumping1:
 
Omg, it's so close!! I totally know what you mean about just letting go once you get on the plane. Time to breathe! popcorn::

Your headpiece is gorgeous!! I really like all that drapey goodness, and the hairstyle is great. You will look so beautiful and beachy...I love that braid going around the back. The makeup is perfect! I am still deciding on what the heck I'm gonna do...I'm going to have to really play with it this summer. Eyelash extensions are something I didn't even think about! Where are you getting them done? I might have to hit them up too.

YOU ARE GOING TO BE AMAZING!!! I am so excited for you:jumping1:

Aw!! Thank you!!!
I'm definitely getting a little nervous now that everything is so soon!

I'm getting my Lashes done at a place called Amazing Lash Studio In Geneva but I know they have two other locations opening up soon.
They have a really good deal for new customers, $80, and they have really good reviews.
Every other place I've looked into was over $100!
 
You know when you see someone with an updo and it looks super shiny and crunchy?
Yeah, that’s the look I’m avoiding!!

Amen sister! I couldn't have put it better myself!

I seriously cannot wait to see all of your elements together, you are going to make such a stunning bride!!!!

Looking forward to hearing about (and seeing!) how everything turned out and your mini-moon and just everything! :jumping1:
 
OMG I love that hairstyle and headpiece its amazing! :love: I remember I had the same dilemma with the tanning issue and I did a few sessions with the bed to avoid tan lines, in hindsight I am glad I did it did make a difference later!

I can't believe how close you are getting! You have to be so excited! :hyper:
 
Amen sister! I couldn't have put it better myself!

I seriously cannot wait to see all of your elements together, you are going to make such a stunning bride!!!!

Looking forward to hearing about (and seeing!) how everything turned out and your mini-moon and just everything! :jumping1:

I can't wait to share everything!! Hopefully it all turns out well! Fingers crossed!!

OMG I love that hairstyle and headpiece its amazing! :love: I remember I had the same dilemma with the tanning issue and I did a few sessions with the bed to avoid tan lines, in hindsight I am glad I did it did make a difference later!

I can't believe how close you are getting! You have to be so excited! :hyper:

I'm so excited! and definitely a bit nervous! everything I've been planning for for the last year is about to happen!!!
 
I bet it is all going to go flawless! :thumbsup2 and your going to have such an amazing time just try to relax once your there ( I know easier said than doneo_O ) but you have been planning and it will all fall into place I can't wait to see your PJ go to a TR and see lots of pictures ! :yay::dogdance:
 
Gah, I’m running out of time for planning updates before I start a trip recap!

This update is pretty exciting for me!
I’ve been working on this since November!
It took WAY longer than we had anticipated (thanks to terrible customer service!!!) but it’s finally all done! We’re having a dessert party in Disney World the night before our sailing!! :woohoo:

Let me back-track a bit.
Since the planning process began we knew we wanted to do something special for our guests. They were all spending so much money to be there on our wedding day and we wanted to do something to show how much we appreciated it. We started looking into the more common things among DCL brides, a welcome cocktail party or paying for everyone’s drinks at dinner. We knew right away that paying for everyone’s drinks on the wedding night wasn’t special enough, so at this point the only option we were considering was the welcome cocktail party. Val had sent over the pricing and detailed information regarding the welcome party and to be honest, I wasn’t impressed. It was expensive for only an hour long party! Travis and I just didn’t feel like it was worth the money.

At this point we had already decided on our mini Disneymoon and almost all of our guests had also decided to stay at Disney the night before the sailing to prevent travel stress on embarkation day. I had already discovered Disney World dessert parties thanks to these amazing Disboard planning journals and thought it could be something we could do instead of the welcome party on the ship.

Everything started out great. We inquired about the party and had absolutely no push back and we were contacted by an event coordinator, Nikki (this was funny at first until things got a little sketchy). Nikki seemed great at first, nice and polite, but that changed extremely quickly. After the initial phone call we didn’t hear from her for three weeks. No location options, no food packages, no pricing. I started to get a bit concerned, I didn’t want the favorable locations with good views of the fireworks to be taken and I already had so much to worry about, I didn’t expect this to be so difficult. We had emailed her multiple times with not one single email back! Then, we called a few times and left messages to please follow up with us but still nothing. Two more weeks go by and she finally emails us, no apologize or anything, and gives us three location options. All three locations have obstructed views of the fireworks…. When I asked for the location I really wanted, UK Lochside, she told me that it was just booked a week prior!!!
I was extremely angry, like breathing fire angry!!! But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t change the fact that UK was already booked so I moved on and agreed to Canada Overlook.

The next day Nikki sent over the contract but with a different time than what was originally discussed.
I had emailed her back pointing out the mistake and asked for a revised contract before we would sign it or put the deposit down. She very quickly emailed me back a rebuttal that the timing didn’t matter but she would see if she could get approval on the time change….ummm….what? I was over this chick.

Fast forward another 5 weeks (yep…) and I still don’t have a revised contract. DF was livid and almost completely canceled the dessert party. We felt like we were begging them to take our money and they weren’t interested.

Finally DF calls and asks to speak with a manager (I know, we should have done this a long time ago but we just aren’t confrontational people and like to give people the benefit of the doubt). The manager, Cindy, was the complete opposite of Nikki. She was so apologetic and understood why we were so upset. She also didn’t seem surprised that we were complaining about Nikki. But Cindy took over our event planning and sent over the revised contract within minutes of our phone call. She then set us up with the catering manager, Sylvester, to work on the details and he’s absolutely wonderful! He was extremely patient with us while we tried to figure out what we wanted to serve at the dessert party and was super helpful when we asked what he recommended.

So our final menu is as follows:

  • Ice cream sundae and ice cream float bar
  • Chocolate fudge brownie bites
  • Assorted cookies
  • Fresh fruit salad
  • Fruit punch
  • Nacho Bar
  • Donald Duck cupcakes
  • Pre-bagged popcorn

We kind of went a little overboard with our menu but it’s our wedding so we felt it was okay to splurge and have our guests really feel the Disney magic.pixiedust:

In conclusion, ask for another planner if you get assigned to Nikki and yay for dessert parties! :laughing:
Let me know who you think about our menu decisions!
 
YUM! all of that sounds so good. I'm starving!:rotfl:

What a crazy amount of stress to go through, but I'm so glad Cindy pulled through. I know I would have been in the same boat--I hate to be "that customer" but sometimes you gotta put your foot down.

I totally know what you mean about wanting to do something special. We briefly thought about a welcome party on the boat, but I read/heard from another bride either here or on the wedding podcast about how crazy her first day was with embarkation, meeting the coordinator, running around dropping off bags and then the welcome party AND dinner...I'd be wiped and it's the night before the wedding! So anyway, yes, I think you did the right thing, since everyone's already there :flower:

I'm so excited for you, Nikki!! You are so close to the best trip ever!! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back.
:banana::jumping1::banana:
 
First of all congratulations. Everything looks amazing from your hair and makeup to the dessert party. What a fun idea! I'm following because you have some great insight and I am booked to be married on the Dream March 2017. So I can't wait to see what come next for you!!! It's so close. I am so excited for you, Nikki!!!! :flower1:
 

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