Hive, this weekend I said goodbye to my beloved Hayley Paige Guindon dress. I searched far and wide, and went to unusual lengths to get her, but now it's time for her to move on and make another bride as happy as I was with her! Image via Just-Like.club
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Let's see, where was I? Oh yes! Mr. Llama and I had just finished our alone time to have fun with just each other, so we headed back to the Boardwalk, where our immediate family, bridal party, and my house party were awaiting us to take more pictures.
In the car ride over, our Disney planner contacted me to let us know that the weather forecast was not looking good, and we would likely be moved inside for our ceremony. ARGH. It was so beautiful out at the moment! We asked if we could hold off, and she did say we could prolong making the final call until later, but to prepare ourselves for that scenario. It was also at this time that we asked for a different backup location. The backup location they had assigned us was the conference room where we had had the rehearsal the night before, and we just weren't thrilled with it at all - especially considering we had purchased VERY little decor/floral for the ceremony, so we wouldn't be able to spruce it up much. We asked if there was anything she could get that had some natural light, and she said she'd work on it and get back to us. All photos by the wondrous Ashley Jane Photography Not only did Mr. Llama and I do a "first look," but we also set aside about two hours of time for us to hop around to a couple other resorts to take additional pictures. Our first stop was Wilderness Lodge. We had actually gotten the "ok" from Disney to go wherever we wanted - normally, they try and keep brides from seeing each other, so you are typically restricted to the hotel where your wedding is taking place. However, on this Monday in July, it sounded like we may have been the only ones getting married at Disney (at least at that time of day - there may have been some early-morning Epcot ones) that day, because my planner told us we could go wherever we wanted! Depending on the source, Disney supposedly throws ~1,500-3,000 weddings a year, so that's pretty surprising.
All photos by Ashley Jane Photography
So, as I mentioned before, one of the best decisions we made regarding our wedding day was to set aside time for a first look. I was so excited to leave the high-stress area of the hair & makeup room and see my soon-to-be husband! All photos by Ashley Jane Photography unless otherwise indicated While I and my other ladies were getting "prettified," theoretically, the guys were also doing something along the lines of "getting ready." Except leave it to a bunch of hams to do pretty much anything BUT get ready. Like...
Our photos finally came in! And you know what that means...recaps officially begin NOW!
We are SO pleased with our photos - all pictured here are courtesy of Ashley Jane Photography. Highly recommend her! Also, I'm a sucker for black & white version of photos, so you'll notice that a lot of the ones I use are B&W :) I woke up the morning of our wedding from a surprisingly good sleep - considering I don't sleep as well without Mr. Llama, I didn't expect to get as much sleep as I did, but I managed a healthy 7-ish hours! The hair/makeup team was coming at 10:00, and the dress steamer was coming to my parents' room (where the ladies would be getting ready) at 9:00. My dress was already there, so I didn't actually have to do anything, or even be there for the steaming - just show up for hair/makeup! So I enjoyed some leisurely quiet time in my room - had some coffee, took a shower, reviewed my vows - before showing up to my parents' room around 9:45. I also opened a lovely gift from Mr. Llama - he bought me a pretty hanger for my dress to get photographed on! It was one of those things I never got around to ordering, and now I'm so glad, because the one he gave me is perfect! He also wrote my a very sweet note, which made me even more excited to see him later. So one aspect of planning I never really got into was the rehearsal dinner. My in-laws kindly offered to pay for the festivities, but they generously left most of the planning and decision-making up to us. One of the things many Disney brides rave over are something called "Dessert Parties," which usually take place at Epcot. Essentially, a dessert buffet is set out for your guests to enjoy while you watch fireworks. What's not to love? I loved this idea, but didn't want my in-laws to break the bank. Also, while I felt completely comfortable offering only dessert, my father-in-law insisted on dinner, which definitely increased the cost of such an event. Image via Disney Food Blog
(I don't speak Spanish...so yes, I assume that's wrong, but it's cute.) Hello hive!! Guess what?? I'm a missus! I'm sure some of you are thinking...wait, what? You went from crafting to being back from your honey-(mini-)moon? And you left us COMPLETELY HANGING?? (Yup, that's right. I'm assuming you are all hanging on my every word.) You see, I wrote a blog post the night before our wedding. Yup, I sure did. I was so tired, but I thought to myself, "I'm NOT going to be one of those brides who goes MIA until after her wedding! I WILL do a night before/morning of post!" So I took the time and wrote it, goddamnit! Except I forgot to click "publish." WAH WAH. Blogger fail. I truthfully didn't give the blog two thoughts (sorry!) until a few days after my wedding, when I thought I'd check back in. That's when I realized that that cute little blog post was stuck in my "drafts" folder. Oops. Ah well! I thought about clicking publish now...but it just seems weird. So...you all will just have to deal with the timeline whiplash. ANYWAY! We had an absolutely INCREDIBLE time. Spending time with all (most) of our loved ones in our favorite place, both on the day of the wedding and the days surrounding it, was a treasure we will never forget. We also got a few days on the tail end of the trip that were spent with just the two of us, which we desperately needed (in fact, we tacked on an extra day at the last minute! We drove, so we had some flexibility.) We had such fun on the car ride home yesterday, dissecting and reliving all the amazing memories we made. Our photographer gave us a few "sneak peek" photos, so I will leave you with one - (okay, two!) Thanks for tuning in! Be back soon this time...I swear...
Hive, I have been done with teaching for just over a month, and I kid you not - I don't think I've stopped doing something for the wedding since that time. I mean, yes - I've had some plans to get together with friends & family here and there, or had appointments - but seriously, I HAVE NOT STOPPED crafting, ordering things online, going to Michael's (I might as well own the company by now), following up with vendors, and making lists. I get up at about 6:30 or 7:00 every morning, even though I could sleep in, and start working, because my brain is buzzing with a million things. (I finally took some NyQuil last night to help me sleep, and I got 9 hours! It was glorious!!) There has not been a single day where I just sat on the couch and watched a movie or read a book. Not a single one. I know that brides get really busy leading up to the wedding - but I had no idea that this is what it would be like. I don't even have a JOB!! How does anyone do it when you're working full-time?? I know it was my choice to take on a lot of these projects (they of course aren't essential), and I know many brides choose to, but I really don't know how anyone does it when they have anything else they need to be doing in the month leading up to their wedding. I cannot believe there's this much to do.
I had a little bit of an "a-ha" moment recently, and it has to do with wanting to be different.
The wedding industry wants us to simultaneously conform into the expected mold, while also "top" everything that has come before us by having the most unique wedding ever seen by mankind (or on Pinterest.) While I don't think I've generally succumbed to the pressures of the "industry," (or maybe I'm kidding myself there...) there are a few things that I realized I was overthinking, perhaps due to wanting to break free of the traditional expectations set upon brides. Number One? My wedding ring. |