Larisa & Nick 7/18/09 - invitation voted best of 2009!!

[TinkAsh2001]

Sounds great so far! You have soooooo much more done than I do though!
I found a great site to get the 1/2 pint take out boxes with a handle on them. It was super cheap and reasonable even with shipping I thought. I will send it to you in a PM I dont know if I am allowed to post the site on here or not?!

[MegKate]

Larisa, you look super gorgeous in that dress! It looks like it was made for you.

And also I wanted to say how super talented you are - I love those engagement announcements. I can't wait to read (and see) more!

[WriteDisney]

Congrats on everything! I really enjoyed reading your trip report so far!

As a fellow Marylander, I'm very curious as to which David's Bridal you found your perfect dress in? (it sounded like the service was quite good) Would you recommend any local businesses in the area that you've used?

Thanks and congrats again!

[Boog's Mommy]

Originally Posted by nickandlarisa

Thanks for the warm welcome!

padisneyfour - congrats on your upcoming 20th anniversary!

tiffanova - I'm definitely open CSR, my only concern was that I've heard its a conference center resort, so I wasn't sure if it would feel too business-like? Did you get that vibe?

rachaelA - congrats to you, too! Our wedding is June 20th when is yours?

We stayed at Coronado Springs for our honeymoon in 1999 and it was really beautiful. They do have a convention hall, but that doesn't affect the resort themeing whatsoever. We had a pond outside of our room with pretty flowers and ducks, etc. At night when everything is lit up it was really nice as well. They have a bridge that leads over to the pool area, which we took some romantic pcitures on. They also have access to bike rentals and boat rentals. You can rent a boat and drive it down the river to Downtown Disney and back. My husband and I rented one for an hour and it was so relaxing and peaceful. It was just the 2 of us. We packed a little picnic lunch and went cruising. I also love the eatery, because it is themed after an outdoor market with wagons of food etc. I think you will definately enjoy it if you booked there.

[nickandlarisa]

Originally Posted by WriteDisney

Congrats on everything! I really enjoyed reading your trip report so far!

As a fellow Marylander, I'm very curious as to which David's Bridal you found your perfect dress in? (it sounded like the service was quite good) Would you recommend any local businesses in the area that you've used?

Thanks and congrats again!

I found my dress at the David's in Bowie. The service was very good, and much better than I expected. The David's I had been to in years past that was not so great (but maybe things have changed because its been awhile) was in Glen Burnie.

As far as local vendors/businesses, I'm on the Eastern Shore, so what's local for me might not be local for you. I do most of my shopping in Annapolis, though.

We love our photographer, Skip Faulkner, he did our engagement photos, too. Very excited for our bakery, "Peace of Cake" in Stevensville. Not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but my summer job throughout college was catering at a reception venue on Kent Island, (Kent Manor Inn), so I got a taste of weddings and some of the local vendors. Peace of Cake was always the BEST cake, not that we ate any of it in the back of course ... so I knew that's where I wanted to go for cake. As for stationery, I'm making everything. I work as a graphic designer, so I'm my own recommended vendor for invitations!

[nickandlarisa]

Originally Posted by Boog's Mommy

We stayed at Coronado Springs for our honeymoon in 1999 and it was really beautiful. They do have a convention hall, but that doesn't affect the resort themeing whatsoever. We had a pond outside of our room with pretty flowers and ducks, etc. At night when everything is lit up it was really nice as well. They have a bridge that leads over to the pool area, which we took some romantic pcitures on. They also have access to bike rentals and boat rentals. You can rent a boat and drive it down the river to Downtown Disney and back. My husband and I rented one for an hour and it was so relaxing and peaceful. It was just the 2 of us. We packed a little picnic lunch and went cruising. I also love the eatery, because it is themed after an outdoor market with wagons of food etc. I think you will definately enjoy it if you booked there.

Thanks for the insight! I'm definitely torn. I really like the looks of all the moderates. We are definitely going to stay at Riverside for the first part of our trip, because its sentimental for us. The second part is down to CBR or CSR. Ah, decisions decisions! Thank you though for the details of CSR, its helpful to hear from the perspective of honeymooners!

[nickandlarisa]

Hello there to anyone following along. I didn't have time for an in depth update this week. Nick was visiting for a long weekend, he was off for fall break. In case you didn't read before in our announcements, he is in grad school in upstate NY and I'm about 6.5 hours south in Maryland. So our weekends together are only about once a month, and we try to squeeze in at least a bit of wedding planning while we are together. So we went to interview a DJ which went well and I will fill you in on later. But for now, here is a quick peek at some of thing things we have already figured out but I haven't posted yet.

First, colors, of course on screen doesn't do some of these shades justice but you can get an idea. The main color is aqua or "tiffany blue" whatever you want to call it. The other shades are gold and variations of plum and blossom pink ...








Paper I plan to use with various wedding stationery ...





We have a wedding website which I mentioned before. If you want to take a look just PM and I will send you the password. Here is a screen shot from the page I thought most of you would appreciate! I paid for this site/template through a company called Wedding Pearl.



And one more detail to share for now, our toasting flutes.

[trudy88]

Everything is beautiful; and I LOVE that paper for stationery.
trudy <><

[29apr00]

Beautiful flutes!!

[bridetobe789]

Such a cute pic of the two of you!! The flutes are beautiful!

[nickandlarisa]

Originally Posted by trudy88

Everything is beautiful; and I LOVE that paper for stationery.
trudy <><

Thanks, I just added another paper I'm using. I got both from a company called Paper Mojo.

Originally Posted by 29apr00

Beautiful flutes!!

Even better cause they were a gift to us, every bit of savings helps!

Originally Posted by bridetobe789

Such a cute pic of the two of you!! The flutes are beautiful!

Thanks, Nick's mom surprised with a gift basket delivered to our room the day after we got engaged. It had wine, cheese, crackers, wine glasses, and the bride/groom ears. We wore the ears around the resort one evening but everyone assumed we were honeymooners and kept congratulating us! It was kind of funny, so we didn't wear them after that, but are saving them for our honeymoon for sure!

[nickandlarisa]

So I do have one more quick thing to share. I put together this little website last year after our engagement trip with a blog and photos if anyone is interested in checking it out. I'm a mac person, and I absolutely love how easy iWeb is to throw together a site like this! This site isn't password protected like our wedding site, so you can just click on the link below to see it.

http://web.me.com/lcherewko/disney

[keenercam]

Larisa -- I am so sorry I haven't posted in your PJ before. WOW!! You are so talented and have such a beautiful sense of style. First of all, that gown was made for you. Congratulations on finding "the one"! Second, Nick did great on the ring and the proposal. What a sweet romantic he is (well, all except for the desire for a video game for his wedding gift! ). Your Christmas card/ announcement and your stationery choices are just gorgeous and I love your engagement pics. I was especially excited to hear that you two met at UD. My DD20 goes there!

Can't wait to hear more!

[nickandlarisa]

So this isn't really an update, but a thing you can do on the Knot called my inner bride. If I fell down to Andalasia, this is what I would look like!! I thought my fellow brides might want to try it if you haven't seen this already.

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Originally Posted by nickandlarisa

So this isn't really an update, but a thing you can do on the Knot called my inner bride. If I fell down to Andalasia, this is what I would look like!! I thought my fellow brides might want to try it if you haven't seen this already.

I love your planning journal! My DF and I are planning a wedding at home and then a Disneymoon (and maybe a DCL cruise) for next October. You're journal has helped me with everything that I still need to do!

I'm going to The Knot right now to do this!!!!!

Could you tell me what you included in your bridesmaid packets? I was curious about those!

Can't wait to read more!!!