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

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Hi! Loving your report! I think it's so amazing that you got married at Disney And I'm crazy over the back of your dress, especially in this photo...I hope you frame this one!!! (And photos look great to me, not grainy.)

 

[Raeven]

This one's for @Raeven...
Oh, we're not supposed to look awkwardly down at the camera?

I guess I'm not meant to be a wedding photographer because I love that one

You can't see anyone in these pictures, but there were people out and about and they mostly looked at us funny Though we did have one couple tell us congratulations.

That's so strange, it's not like you were doing anything weird. Like it should be obvious what's going on

Love the pictures!

 

[LMSulli1099]

Say WHAT!?? I'm right next door in NY and my Jersey friends have not told me this! Not my friends anymore Are there still any in North Jersey?
Reese's Pieces is my go-to, too

I'm in S Jersey and there are a TON of Friendly's around me.

 

[kastoney]

More great pictures! It's funny that you said people were milling about, because it looks like you had the entire resort all to yourselves. Can't wait to see what the boardwalk pics look like

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Since we got back from our December weekend Disney trip, it’s just been alternating weeks. 72 hours one week, 50-some hours the next.

Oh girl. That just sounds awful. It's official, margarita on me when we meet up.

Which I just realized will most likely be in the MK. Where they don't serve alcohol. But I will find some and sneak it in for you!

Our flight doesn’t land until 11:30pm,

You'll be landing in Orlando about the time we should be pulling into our hotel in GA. I agree with the being useless after a full day of work. And mine are only 9 hours.

We would never laugh and make jokes during serious photo time...

That's half the fun! Somewhere I have a photo of Joe licking my nose

Some of these photos look a little grainy to me... Do they to you?

A little. But, to be fair, I'm at work and we're still using Internet Explorer as our only browser, so......I don't have the most faith in it.

 

[amalone1013]

Oh my gosh! I don't blame you. I don't think I'd even be functioning at this point.

I'm hitting non-functioning point for sure.

Your Swolphin photos are so pretty! I like the ones where you're sharing a joke or a funny moment—they really show your awesome couple-personality. Keep 'em coming!

We got so many of them, apparently we make jokes a lot...

Definitely continue with them. They're like bloopers, but much more lovely.

Thanks! I think they're fun to see, but I know not everyone is interested always

I had the same concern with my wedding pictures in my TR for the same reason. They might be a little, but I really didn't notice at all until you mentioned it. It's hard to choose between compressed and GIANT.

Yes! I was like, is this really the social media size?? It is, and they're STILL giant!

I love the behind the scenes photos!!!! Don't stop. And man those are some hard work hours.

Enjoy your trip! i will keep an eye out for you in the airport...

Definitely! I will be watching for a happy family with adorable girls...

I always think those are fun photos because you're not 'on' for the camera

All your photos look great but I just picked some of my favorite ones for various reasons. I actually love the ones where you must be joking with each other the best since your smiles are so genuine. The are great! You two are just so cute and your happiness radiates through the photos.​

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Thanks

I am surprised more people did not congratulate you at the time. But I know in the past, when I have come across a wedding couple, I want to share my congratulations with them but at the time it seems like it might be a bad time since it looks like the photographers are telling the couple something. And I know how most photographers are only being paid for a short amount of time so I don't want to bother the couple. That might have been the same for other people there watching you.

And I am loving the photos. Keep them coming! Sorry to hear the long hours you have been putting in lately. Glad to hear you will be enjoining a much needed break soon.

I know what you mean, I hate to intrude on people when they're having a personal moment. We had a few people stop, but that's okay because I'm not a center of attention person so too much would have overwhelmed me

The countdown is on for the trip! Only 2 more work days (plus an hour )

Hi! Loving your report! I think it's so amazing that you got married at Disney And I'm crazy over the back of your dress, especially in this photo...I hope you frame this one!!! (And photos look great to me, not grainy.)

Thanks! This was just so us and perfect! And I love this shot I really liked the buttons down the back, and how it was cut... even though they were fake buttons, shh! But my mom's dress had the buttons down the back too

 

[amalone1013]

I guess I'm not meant to be a wedding photographer because I love that one

That's so strange, it's not like you were doing anything weird. Like it should be obvious what's going on

Love the pictures!

Thanks! People are funny, that is for sure

More great pictures! It's funny that you said people were milling about, because it looks like you had the entire resort all to yourselves. Can't wait to see what the boardwalk pics look like

It felt like there weren't too many, mostly along the causeway between Swan and Dolphin, probably heading to the boats. I'm glad it wasn't too busy because I would probably get a bit anxious if too many people tried to watch...

Oh girl. That just sounds awful. It's official, margarita on me when we meet up.

Which I just realized will most likely be in the MK. Where they don't serve alcohol. But I will find some and sneak it in for you!

Virgin margaritas are a thing, right?

Maybe I need to make an ADR and just have wine...

You'll be landing in Orlando about the time we should be pulling into our hotel in GA. I agree with the being useless after a full day of work. And mine are only 9 hours.

I was a lovely travel buddy going back for my cousin's wedding. It's just over 7 hours back home, but I worked 12 hours that day and we hit the road around 5pm. At least we gain an hour... But we (I) always stop at this town that's almost exactly halfway, so I can eat at a fast food place they only have in Nebraska. Zack was trying to wake me to make sure he got the right exit... He says I was grumbly and unresponsive. I don't buy it.

That's half the fun! Somewhere I have a photo of Joe licking my nose

It's true! We're not fancy schmancy serious people!

Also, I'd like to see that..

A little. But, to be fair, I'm at work and we're still using Internet Explorer as our only browser, so......I don't have the most faith in it.

Sometimes I have troubl with how a webpage is loading... and when I complain Zack asks, Have you tried it on Internet Explorer?

No, because I hate it!

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Maybe I need to make an ADR and just have wine...

Or there's always Top of the World!

He says I was grumbly and unresponsive. I don't buy it.

This is me when I'm tired. It got the to point when I was traveling for my old job, I hated that Joe would pick me up, because inevitably it'd be late and I'd be jetlagged.....and despite making this trip eighteen thousand times, Joe would need help getting home.

Luckily, I don't travel anymore. So I'm only tired on the way to Florida, which is partially negated by being on the way to Disney!

Also, I'd like to see that..

Only because I love you.....

No, because I hate it!

Same here. I'm solely a Chrome girl. Joe still maintains Firefox is the best. Either way, IE is our last resort!

 

[amalone1013]

We’re back! Again! I feel weird writing that out again so soon on here

I had my pictures all sorted for this post, and ran out of time to upload them before we left. And I’ve been fighting a cold since the tail end of our trip. All I want to do is sleep so it will go away, but life always seems to have other plans, doesn’t it? I went back in to work on Thursday and receieved good news and bad news… I was planning on working this weekend because it fit our current schedule, and I was planning on 12s because the person who’s been helping us out was going out of town. So the good news is we’re not working this weekend The bad news is, I drug my butt in at 3am today for the shutdown portion because the person helping us out was off starting this night. Fingers crossed it’s quick and quiet!

ETA: I accidentally linked all the ginormous sized photos but I'm too lazy to fix it, so... too bad

Boardwalk Photos

When we left off, we were headed over to the Boardwalk. I had looked at a lot of photos online and liked the ones in the area, and it seemed like a fun backdrop to me. Steve, one of our photographers, asked if we'd like to take a boat over, and we thought about it but were told it'd be 5-10 minutes before it would arrive so we decided to walk. I knew waiting for it would make me anxious about how we were doing on time. It would have gotten us farther down on the boardwalk without walking (as it was warming up at this point and kind of sunny) but I'm happy with the photos we took. At this point also the extent of my experience with the Boardwalk was walking to Big River Grille on Sunday night.

We started with a few photos walking down the boardwalk.

​

I only wish I had had Aly be in these pictures too. I just didn't think of it in the moment.

I let Michelle and Steve take the lead mostly, if they noticed something for a good shot. Much as I like to play amateur photographer on vacation or in the parks, I'm no expert So next they sent us over to the railing, where we got some more of my favorite photos.

I feel like there's a trend here, all my favorite photos are of our backs! I swear there's ones of our faces too!

Anyways, if you're familiar with the boardwalk, you know there's a dance hall there. So when you're in front of a dance hall, you dance, right?

While we were taking these photos, a great story happened.

I don't think I ever mentioned it on here, but I made my bouquets travel friendly.
Here's a photo for details.

The flowers were made with wire stems, which I stuck into a styrofoam ball I had covered with blue tissue paper. The stems were plastic straws wrapped in floral tape, which I then bundled together. I used white tulle from the skirt of my dress when I got it altered, to wrap the stems and then I pinned some up onto the styrofoam ball to hide the wires a bit from the bottom.

But wait, you might be saying? How are these travel friendly? Crazy girl, fragile paper flowers are not travel friendly!

Well, the stems were removable!

I was trying to figure out how best to attach them, when I realized I could do something non-permanent and they would be much easier to pack. Into the styrofoam ball I inserted 4 wooden skewers, and then slid the open ends of the straws at the top over the skewers. Ta-da!

It was actually quite secure as is. Even though these were very light compared to other traditional and non traditional options (no arm workouts here like @MeghanEmily!), those flowers weren't going anywhere...

Unless you held it upside down.

So we were taking our dancing pictures, and Steve ended up with my bouquet. He held it down by his side... and there it went!

Really, I didn't even notice it had happened at first, and it was fine, so it was just funny. His face! He was so worried and kept apologizing. I just stuck it back together, and Aly took it to hold. Aly just told me that she and B switched a couple flowers out with the BM bouquet. I didn't notice anything really when I reattached it, so I think they were mostly being overprotective about it, which is sweet. When it came to the bouquets, I was mostly just worried they would take away my skewers in security!

After that excitement, we had a new shot to try.

We make a few jokes about Zack dropping me...

Another story... as we headed back to the Dolphin, there was a Rolls Royce waiting for a wedding that was happening at Sea Breeze Point. If you get married through Disney, they will bring a car backstage like this and you get to ride it down the boardwalk. I recognized the car too, because Disney works with two companies in the Orlando area and I had been in touch with them for our wedding too.

The driver was a little ways off, watching down the access road for another wedding party. So N heads over to him and asks if we could take a few pictures by it Boys and their cars! The driver told us he didn't mind as long as we left before the other party showed up. So thanks to the other wedding for our photo prop...

This is mostly what Zack's face looks like because N kept making jokes about the car.

​

A few photos by the sign...

Another photo opportunity! I should put these up on social media with the hashtag

We gathered in the lobby, as it was almost time to leave! Aly and B ran up to the room to grab the ceremony stuff and tissues while Michelle got us some water.

And it was almost time!​

 

[amalone1013]

Behind the Scenes​

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​

Zack looks for alligators...

Steve snaps off a few photos, then was like, What are you all doing back there? Shoo!

Zack details his plan for stealing the car

Ok, irrational fear of getting caught in the escalator is kicking back in. No more being cute.

This was probably the most rational that fear has actually been!

These were really hard to get too, because we were lined up at the bottom waiting for photo and video to get set up. And then someone would walk right in front of us to get on the escalator. And we'd wait for them and they'd be most of the way up... and someone else would get on. If we had been back a ways, I totally get them not seeing us. But we were about two feet in front of it...

No we know Zack is no angel. He must have paid money for this shot.

Zack's dad calls this look, the eyeballs. As in, Ohhhh you're getting the eyballs! What'd you do??
​

 

[MeghanEmily]

When we left off, we were headed over to the Boardwalk. I had looked at a lot of photos online and liked the ones in the area, and it seemed like a fun backdrop to me.

I liked people's Boardwalk photos when I was doing my wedding research, too! Good choice!

I like these ones!!

The flowers were made with wire stems, which I stuck into a styrofoam ball I had covered with blue tissue paper. The stems were plastic straws wrapped in floral tape, which I then bundled together. I used white tulle from the skirt of my dress when I got it altered, to wrap the stems and then I pinned some up onto the styrofoam ball to hide the wires a bit from the bottom.

Your bouquet looked so nice!! What a smart idea how you made it travel-safe! Put I can only imagine how shocked he was when the top fell off!

no arm workouts here like @MeghanEmily!)

For this reason alone, your bouquet is an awesome idea! Flowers are HEAVY!

Oooh I just noticed your nails! I love them!

So thanks to the other wedding for our photo prop...

Funny how things work out sometimes! They probably never knew that they did you this favour

Another photo opportunity! I should put these up on social media with the hashtag

Haha you definitely should! This is cute though

No we know Zack is no angel. He must have paid money for this shot.

How conveniently this picture lined up!

 

[wrestlingchick26]

Amazing photos

 

[mdsouth]

Absolutely amazing photos! I just love seeing how happy you were. Love the close up one of you and your flowers. And I just love the ones of the two of you taking a dip and in front of the cool car.

Your photographer got lots of great shots. How long was your photo session?

 

[amalone1013]

I liked people's Boardwalk photos when I was doing my wedding research, too! Good choice!

I think the Boardwalk is just such a fun area for photos. I was a little concerned that we weren't staying at the Boardwalk, because it seemed like that was where everyone was with those photos... so we didn't make it down to the games/photobooth/bikes like I had seen a lot of, but I haven't seen too many shots similar to what we ended up with down on the Swolphin end.

I like these ones!!

I love how you can see Beach Club, and the lighthouse, and SBP, and Spaceship Earth...

Your bouquet looked so nice!! What a smart idea how you made it travel-safe! Put I can only imagine how shocked he was when the top fell off!

For this reason alone, your bouquet is an awesome idea! Flowers are HEAVY!

His face was priceless! I felt pretty dang clever when I came up with that idea.

When Aly picked up my bouquet, she was like wow! I wish I had had you do my flowers! I didn't pick her bouquet up at her wedding, but I did feel the flower girl basket and we were all concerned it was too heavy for her flower girl!

Oooh I just noticed your nails! I love them!

Thanks! Super fancy They had a white and silver accent nail too, I've got some photos coming up of close ups of me holding my bouquet. I remember Zack and I were at Walgreens just before we left CO, and I was like... how do I feel about this shade of blue, does it go with things? And then I was like, why am I stressing over this, I wanted to do all different shades of blue as our colors anyways!

How conveniently this picture lined up!

I still say he paid them off Also the balloons were such excellent photo props, both for cute photos and hilarious behind the scenes photos. I've got more to come!

Amazing photos

Aw thank you!

Absolutely amazing photos! I just love seeing how happy you were. Love the close up one of you and your flowers. And I just love the ones of the two of you taking a dip and in front of the cool car.

Your photographer got lots of great shots. How long was your photo session?

Thanks! I would say we probably had just over an hour. I know our goal was to do the first look at about 8:45am, and then head to Paradise Cove around 10:00am. We could have scheduled more time if we had wanted, but I wasn't too worried since we didn't have a big bridal party or anything. And we ended up getting tons at Paradise Cove, and all the family photos too.

Our photographers were a great team and I would recommend them in a heartbeat They do short anniversary and family sessions too and I'd like to do that with them sometime.

 

[kastoney]

Another round of amazing photos. Especially love you all taking on someone elses car Now hurry up and get married already. I'm sick of this engaged couple

 

[amalone1013]

Another round of amazing photos. Especially love you all taking on someone elses car Now hurry up and get married already. I'm sick of this engaged couple

Darn these photographers for taking all of these photos

 

[amalone1013]

Paradise Cove
Before the Ceremony
Part One​

When we left off, it was time to head to Paradise Cove! You may remember, I mentioned that I had been in contact with some of the wedding car places in Orlando. One of the companies had a lot of cars to choose from, and not just your typical Rolls Royce, etc. I was looking at this one company, which had...

This 1965 Mustang Convertible they called Ruby!​

Zack is big into Mustangs (and is actually working on restoring his mom's 1964 Mustang) so I had gotten into contact with this company. Between rates, fees, and driver tip, it was going to be around $600 to use it for three hours. I debated with myself because it felt like a lot for really just riding from the Dolphin to Paradise Cove, and then to Disney Springs. I did set up a teeny paycheck deposit into a separate account, because I was going to have it be a surprise for Zack. And then, when I decided to book it...

They didn't have it any more.

So my plan was foiled, and I looked/debated a bit at what else to do, and it fell by the wayside... and I said screw it, we could take premium Ubers for less than a car. So though I have no photo evidence of this, we were the cool people who used Uber for our wedding day, which is also what we set up for our guests to use with us covering their rides.

So we hopped in our premium Uber with B, Aly, and N. We had the site booked from 10am to Noon, and had 11am for the ceremony time. My original thought had been that we could take a few photos around the ceremony area before people showed up, so there'd be less to take afterwards, just family ones and such. But about half of our guests beat us to Paradise Cove (plus one to our awesome guests for being early ) and a few were standing right there as we pulled up. So at that point I wasn't really concerned with not being seen before the ceremony with our small group, and we knocked out most pictures beforehand. I'm not going to worry about putting these in order, for the most part.

We got a group photo, and also many variations as anyone who's been near wedding photos probably knows! Here's one of this group, let's add this person, let's take out these people, now they other side of the family, just the siblings, now add the SOs...

Some family photos

My cousin Al had picked my grandpa up and brought him along in his Uber. They had just been dropped off when we pulled up, so this was the first time my grandpa and I saw each other (actually since Labor Day weekend). He cried, which made me cry!

On a funny note, my grandpa cracked me up because he was all worried about what to wear. We had told everyone the wedding wasn't too formal, and that was what I told my grandpa. I didn't expect anyone to be in suit and tie since it would most likely be so hot. When I would talk to my grandpa on the phone leading up to the wedding, he would give me updates on what he was thinking. First he kept saying shirt and tie, then at one point he started telling me about some "dressy shorts" he had gotten at JCPenney's... I don't know what dressy shorts are, but I just kept telling him whatever was comfortable. Obviously he decided against the dressy shorts for whatever reason

I'm trying to avoid too many similar shots here but I had to include these, because I feel like my grandpa's face in the below picture...

Probably sums up what he was thinking when they were telling us to talk, laugh, etc to get the type of photo below

Paradise Cove has quite a few fun little areas and props for photos

We're very serious...

Ok, no we're not.

When we saw this photo, Zack was like, I bet Dr B had his sunglasses on because he blinks a lot in photos and was worried he was going to ruin them.

So obviously the solution is to wear sunglasses anytime your picture is taken

Someone must have made him take them off at some point

Everything was pretty cleaned up around the event areas, but we could only go so far down the dock here due to damage from the hurricane.

While we took some photos, the boys took a few and got ready for their entrance.

Zack got a Mickey tie clip through the Disney store (shopDisney... no...) and it came in this adorable box, so look, a ring box! And I'm glad it was basically free because these are the only photos of it, I'm pretty sure...

It was fun having two photographers, because while one took shots the other would take some from a different angle, which gets some extras, like these that were from the first few by the boat.

continued in next post...​

 

[amalone1013]

Paradise Cove
Before the Ceremony
Part Two​

After a few last photos, Aly, B, and along with Michelle (our photographer) headed into the little bridal room they have at Paradise Cove, to take a moment and also cool down (as it has AC ). Honestly, the weather was not too bad so far during the day. It was warm, but the most sun we had seen was on the way back to the Dolphin from the Boardwalk. Otherwise it was kind of overcast, so not only great lighting for photos but no baking in the sun

Somewhere in here is also where our only two hiccups came up for the day. One was taking a moment to straighten out how the ceremony would start/who walked with who... I'd gone over it in emails with the coordinator at PC, Jasmine, but it had been forgotten completely - but I gave them a pass on that because I'm pretty sure we about the first event after the hurricane. And it wasn't a big deal really. And Jasmine was super sweet both times we met her, executed everything perfectly, and put up with my gazillion questions via email.

Our other hiccup, as we sat for a moment in the bridal room (and I reread the ceremony script - this was the only time I was really nervous, and I was stressing over knowing when it was time to put the rings on each other's fingers... silly, but I wrote/adapted the script myself with Zack's input, so I think that was just what I focused my nerves on in the moment), was Jasmine came in and said... it's starting to rain a little... so we can wait a bit and see if it clears up. While we watched out the window as it rained a little, let off a bit, rained a little harder... she told us how all of our guests were so relaxed, and she had to go get them out of the rain because they were all just hanging out, not caring After a bit, she headed out to check on the weather.

I think people were concerned that I was going to freak out over the rain, because they kept asking me what I wanted to do. The longer we waited, my only concern that came up was that we wouldn't have much time after the ceremony for photos. We had PC until noon, and I had scheduled lunch to start at noon - at least for guest arrival. Not my brightest move, but I was trying to plan/coordinate a multi-location wedding from half a country away, with no one over seeing the entire day... I was more worried about leaving a gap, and not having anywhere for people to go...

We hopped over to where everyone was waiting out the rain. We had already lost the boys at this point (that will be explained... ) so I got a few more photos with some family and some of my favorites. There is a big covered pavilion for large events here, and we were all gathered underneath.

Ok wait... N was lagging, I guess? Or I'm out of order on photos...

I checked photo timestamps, and I lied.

These ones were taken before we waited out the rain in the bridal room, which felt like longer but was 10 minutes tops.

Anyways...

These next several I had trouble narrowing down, I'll freely admit. I feel very model-esque about them, which I can honestly say is not a feeling I've had before.

These ones also got some B&W and creative editing

I think these are neat with how the details of the dress, jewelry, headband stand out.

Now these next ones are the ones we actually took after our rain delay...

Zack's brothers

Zack's mom. We've gotten really close.

Zack's dad. He's so funny, he was so touched that we took a picture of just us.

And I show my grandpa the little charms on my bouquet.

I think mainly I was showing him that little pink and yellow bead, possibly the ring I have on there too. And hey, there's a good shot of my beautiful manicure
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I've touched slightly on this before, in random places, but for the backstory on the bead and ring...

Around 5 years ago, my mom and grandma passed away within 6 months of each other. It was unexpected, and it's always hard. We were all close, and I spent a lot of time with my grandma growing up too. I often hung out with her on weekends in high school. Golden Girls, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and shamrock shakes were our go-tos. The ring was my grandma's, it's a sapphire (her birthstone) with small diamonds around it.

I was also the oldest great-grandkid and only one really close to my great-grandma, she babysat me until I was 6 and fostered my loves of reading, drawing, and animals. We ate lots of applesauce together, baked, and she let me choose whatever I wanted for lunch that day (the basic rotation consisted of homemade mac and cheese, fish sticks, waffles, kix cereal...). And she let me keep my pacifier through kindergarten... She passed away when I was in high school.

I had saved roses from all three funerals, drying them to save. But I didn't always have them out since dried flowers are so fragile. When I first got on these boards, reading wedding TRs, I found one where the bride had sent petals from her bouquet into a company which made them into charms. So I finally had a safe way to save my roses. Though it was weird to pick the petals off, I sent some in and had them make the bouquet charm, where they put all three petals in, and also three charms for the Pandora bracelet Zack got me a few years ago. The site is Bellabeads. If you have petals to save, I would highly recommend them. They have lots of jewelry options for men and women, and will also work with cremains.

You can also probably understand now, why a bit of rain on my wedding day didn't bother me much. I even hoped for it.

And before anyone cries too much, here are some more photos from our series,

Behind the Scenes

Oh, is that button not done?

Don't do it... come with me and spend all your money on cars!

Actually, we're going to Vegas for a weekend soon to support N in a drag race.

Our officiant kindly tests the photo setup

When we got our photos back and were going through them, Zack's dad goes... he kept telling me not to look at him...

Where is everyone? Don't they know we're taking a group photo??

In this photo, not only can you see some wet spots on Zack, but see that tilt to the dock down there? Hurricanes...

Next up...

the Ceremony!

And @kastoney, I promise that soon we will no longer be engaged! ​

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

I love the beads! That's very sweet.

I had a locket that belonged to my grandmother that had a picture of her and my grandfather inside of it (the ones that missed the wedding because they were dead.....not the ones who missed by choice >.>). I'd worn it pinned to the inside of my dress for both high school and college graduations, and wore it as a necklace when I was baptized. I tied it around my bouquet for my wedding. There's also a whole long funny/weird story about my cousin from that side of the family dreaming I needed a family charm since it was tradition and arguing with her mom about it, and she had no idea I had the locket!

I love all the pictures!!!! Everything looks so beautiful and tropical and just downright happy.

And I agree, figuring out the timing was one of the most stressful parts. Especially with travel involved. You don't want to have guests just sitting around, but you don't want to be late for anything.....I'm glad I've done it and it's over with!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I debated with myself because it felt like a lot for really just riding from the Dolphin to Paradise Cove, and then to Disney Springs. I did set up a teeny paycheck deposit into a separate account, because I was going to have it be a surprise for Zack. And then, when I decided to book it...

They didn't have it any more.

Oh no! That's so disappointing. But I guess it made your decision for you. It would have been a great surprise, but an easy way to save money, too.

I said screw it, we could take premium Ubers for less than a car. So though I have no photo evidence of this, we were the cool people who used Uber for our wedding day, which is also what we set up for our guests to use with us covering their rides.

Love this!!

we knocked out most pictures beforehand.

Such a great idea!! Your photos are all so beautiful!

We got a group photo, and also many variations as anyone who's been near wedding photos probably knows! Here's one of this group, let's add this person, let's take out these people, now they other side of the family, just the siblings, now add the SOs...

Oh my goodness, yes!!! I get that these are huge moments and everyone wants to have the right picture to remember it...but I only ever look at about 5 of the photos we took with everyone. One with the bridal party, one with my whole family, one with my mom and grandmother, one with Nathan's whole family, and one with the whole group. We really didn't need every possible combination. "Okay, now let's get one with everyone from that group except..hmmm...eenie meenie miney moe! Okay, without uncle Dan!...good!....now Uncle Dan come back in, and Aunt Andrea can leave...okay, now let's take those two photos again, but everyone turn in the opposite direction and change your facial expression..." uggh. It's a process!

then at one point he started telling me about some "dressy shorts" he had gotten at JCPenney's...

Nathan's mom was like this, too. She was very particular about what to wear. I guess that makes sense because there are more traditions around what the bride and groom's mothers wear. But we told her just to be comfortable and wear something that made her feel good, and was cool for the weather. I really didn't care what shade of purple it ended up being. Glad your grandpa found something he was comfortable in!

it came in this adorable box, so look, a ring box! And I'm glad it was basically free because these are the only photos of it, I'm pretty sure...

This is soo cute!! And even better that it was free, because it looks like the kind of personalized thing you could have spent a lot on.

Otherwise it was kind of overcast, so not only great lighting for photos but no baking in the sun

As much as it looks pretty to have a nice bright blue sky in photos, it's actually much worse in terms of lighting on the subjects when the sun is out, so this probably worked out great in your favour! Direct sunlight can look really harsh (some of our wedding photos that weren't in the shade ended up looking like this, like some of the family photos and our first dance photos.) And overcast has the added benefit of nobody squinting in the pictures!

These ones are amazing!! You're a super model!

And hey, there's a good shot of my beautiful manicure

I've touched slightly on this before, in random places, but for the backstory on the bead and ring...

Oh, this is heartbreaking, Alyssa, but also so beautiful! How special that you could carry them with you on your wedding day. I'm sure it was a tough day without all those special women physically there with you, but you must have still felt their presence.

see that tilt to the dock down there? Hurricanes...

Wow!!