Wish I did / Glad I didn't do

I feel it is my civic duty, as a "veteran" Disney Bride, to share with you my honest opinion on what I wish I did and what I was glad I didn't do. Sometimes we have this vision of what things should look like. We get it into our heads that without certain things the whole "look" will be thrown off or that it'll be missed. Adam and I were working on a strict budget and sometimes I would have "wedding envy". I would see pictures of centerpieces, or Cinderella 's coach, or Minnie and Mickey at a reception and I would be sad that I couldn't afford them. I started finding little ways to try and save extra money to include these "extras" into our wedding day.  In the end things needed to be cut and I had to decide what was most important to me.  Before I start with my list let me just say that I in no way regret the decisions I made. I loved me wedding day. This post is just to try and help future brides, whether Disney or not.

Wish I did :
- I wish I tried on more wedding gowns.
I say this because I bought my wedding gown online. (Ebay to be exact) Being on a strict budget I couldn't see spending thousands of dollars on a dress I'd be wearing once. I did love my dress but I stressed over my decision A LOT! I wish I'd tried on more to make sure I knew what type of dress looked best on me before I committed to the one I bought.

- I wish I'd started saving sooner.
Adam and I got engaged 1 year and 11 months before our wedding day. I didn't start saving until a year ahead of time. I should have started sooner not to spend more, but to make myself feel better. We really didn't have ANY wiggle room on our budget so it caused stress on us in the final months. My advice... start saving the day you get engaged!

- I wish I didn't sweat the small stuff and realized that "less is more"
I'm using this "I wish I..." to segway into my "Glad I didn't do" section. I really worried that because I didn't have a big budget that my Disney wedding wouldn't and couldn't compare with the big ones! I wish I had seen beyond all of the materialistic stuff and realized earlier that the simple weddings can be just as elegant.

Glad I didn't do :
- I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money on a custom wedding cake
With the Disney "escape" wedding package you get to pick one of 5 different cake designs. They were all pretty generic and I had it in my head that I wanted the Madd Hatter cake. It would be an extra 150$ to have a madd hatter cake. Adam decided it wasn't worth it and asked if we could cut it and I caved in. I told my wedding planner to just give us the "rose and drapes" cake and I could tell she knew i was bummed out. She told me that to make the cake alittle more unique I could customize the colors of the roses and drapes. I had the drapes changed to a navy blue to match the bridesmaid dresses and the roses were a bright pink to match our flowers. I LOVED our cake! I'm so glad we didn't waste the money to upgrade the cake.

- I'm glad I didn't splurge on decorations
Both of our locations were outdoors and both were filled with character. Originally I wanted big centerpieces on the reception table, and I wanted all kinds of crazy decorations at Sea Breeze pointe. I am so glad Adam talked me out of it!!! This is where the "Less is more" comes into play.  I look at our reception pictures and looking at the table and how we were seated I think a big centerpiece would have been distracting. All we had were some rose petals and a few tea candles. It was romantic and didn't take away from the location at all. The same goes for Sea Breeze Pointe. My personal opinion is to let the locations be the decorations.

- I'm glad I didn't spend money on a videographer
Adam and I couldn't afford a videographer and we talked ourselves into thinking that we'd be fine with just the professional pictures. A week before we left for Disney I started panicking and decided we needed video. I did some research and decided that we should get an IFlip. If you can't afford a videographer I fully recommend this! It cost us 150$ and we use it all the time. We asked Adams dad if he minded videoing the ceremony and he was excited to do it for us! It is great quality for a little video camera and we have awesome footage of the ceremony, reception, and the honeymoon. So glad we have it.

This is just my opinion. I hope it helps anyone second guessing their decisions about where to spend their money on their wedding day. One more piece of advice that I want to extend is this... It's not about how much money was spent, or how much decoration you had, or even how big your guest list is. Its about the couple and their commitment to each other.

<3

Pre Ceremony "First Look" and Fantastic Flowers!

We left off with me at the entrance to the bridge. Randy had me hold off so that he could position himself just right to get Adam's reaction. I was so nervous that I swear I could feel my knees knocking together under my dress. After what felt like an eternity Randy said he was ready and I began walking towards Adam. If I could have run out to him without tripping over my veil or my train I would have! I could hear Adam giggling waiting for me to get closer to him. When I was close enough to touch him I reached out and tapped Adam's shoulder. He started turning around ever so slowly and this was his reaction.




After the AWESOME reaction I got from him I couldn't stop laughing. I threw my arms around him and gave him the biggest hug I possibly could.



After our much needed hug, we stepped back to check each other out. He cleans up so nice! :)

Disney floral had arrived just in time with our flowers. I could hardly contain myself! I was so excited to see my bouquet. My sisters and Adam's brothers were given their bouquets and boutonnieres and then it was time for the other big reveal of the day... my bridal bouquet! As I said before in my vendor review, Rosie at Disney floral promised me that my bouquet would look just like the picture I sent her and that I would love it! These next pictures can sum up my reaction better than I could ever write.




After my thorough inspection, my bouquet got the "thumbs up" Katie seal of approval!


Next was Adam's turn


After we all received out amazing flowers it was time for pre-ceremony bridal party pictures.

First up were the boys...

Adam and Jared

Adam and Jake


Girl time!


Me and Jacqui

Me and Tori (my mini-me)


Just the Bride and Groom


This next picture is my favorite because it's "us"

I love that I'm laughing and he's smirking :)

Group Picture!!



After pictures Randy checked his watch and informed us that it was time to go. I gathered up my veil and train in one arm and led the way to the elevators. When the elevator doors opened we gave one WDW vacationing family quite a shock. I mean how many times do you get off of an elevator expecting to see a bride and her entire entourage? The little girl just stared at me and her mom said "Look! she's a bride!" I said hello to her but she just kept staring at me with her mouth hung open. The parents just laughed and said "Congratulations".

On our way to the limo Randy wanted to get one silhouette picture in front of the look out window. All the cast members were congratulating us and I even saw a family taking pictures of us. I couldn't believe how much attention we were getting! It was amazing! I felt so special and, again really cliche, like a princess!


One last kiss before heading to the Ceremony!


There are so many other pictures I could be posting. This is taking me so long because I'm trying to figure out which ones to include! I wish this post had more content other than pictures, but in all honesty it was all posing and picture taking. There wasn't much happening during this part of the day. The next post will be fun though, I promise! :)