Disney re-useable bags- Goin' Green!

The Disney Store has started selling re-usable Disney bags. (much like the heavy canvas and cotton bags we use for our groceries.)

I'm very excited to see this addition- hopefully it will reduce the amount of plastic bags they use. I hope to find them in use in Walt Disney World, too.

I immediately bought the Wall-E version, I LOVE him and had to have it. I'm thinking these will make a great way to package gifts this holiday season, too.

A special gift

My boss and his family took a long family vacation to Disney this summer. He brought me back the perfect gift- a Mickey and Minnie wedding pin! I am trying to find a way to incorporate it in the wedding somehow, maybe have it on the cake table?

So CUTE!

To jewel or not to jewel

There are too many jewelry options for a bride. I need some help with this one! I've picked the dress, veil, tiara, and shoes. Whew! That's a ton of sparkly pretty stuff. Now, my Mom just asked me, "what jewelry are you going to wear?"

This is a difficult question! I already feel like I have a ton of stuff to put on- but I do need to balance out the dress and tiara with something...earring, a necklace, and/or a bracelet?!



I like a few of the pieces in the Kirstie Kelly line for Disney Bridal: http://www.disneybridal.com/



But how much is too much? And how do I know when enough is enough, and to stop adding bling? I think everyone will let me know if it gets out of hand. For now, I'm posting pictures of the jewelry I like the most.

The necklace at the top of the post, the choker, is my favorite so far...

Marching to the Tune of a Different Violinist...

We have virtually ignored the huge task of choosing our musical accompaniment for the Big Day. I am starting to stress about the things we haven't worked out- like the music. So this week I've been listening to the CD Disney provided us, and scouring the internet to see other people's music choices for their ceremony.

The Wedding Pavilion rental includes the organist, who can play a huge range of music for our ceremony. Disney sends in your planning packet, a CD of some of the most popular choices.


The choices are really fun. I have a few top choices that jump out at me, and are likely to be heard in the Pavilion on our wedding day..."Someday My Prince Will Come" (Snow White), "Bella Notte" (Lady and the Tramp), and, the Traditional Bridal Chorus Processional (Wagner).

Our reception list is a bit easier to figure out, we both have many favorite artists. We're saving money by creating a playlist on my iPod and setting up our iPod stereo in the Napa room. We didn't really want a DJ, and the room is a bit small for a band or live music. We also agree that the music is a good place to save money- there are other things that we consider a higher priority, like the food...and the carriage.

More dress shopping!

This Tuesday was Veteran's Day (a huge thank you to our Veterans), therefore my nieces had the day off from school. In the spirit of the holiday, we went dress shopping. (ha ha).

We started the day way down the AC expressway, at the Hamilton Mall. There is a sweet dress shop for children there, called Dress Me Up. We didn't see anything there that would be appropriate for Krystin to wear as a Jr. Bridesmaid, but there was a Flower Girl dress there I loved. Katie tried it on, and it looked great. It was white with a pink ribbon around the waist, and pink sequins splashed across the tulle...it might be the one. I really like the one at the top of the post, too.

Then we went to our local David's to look for Jr. Bridesmaid dresses. Krystin tried a handful of them on, and looked beautiful in all of them- but there was one, a light pink floor-length satin dress, that was just perfect.

We purchased it on the spot! One more dress down, two (the flower girls) to go!

the shoes...

I haven't been focusing on the wedding, with Halloween and celebrating the election, and lots of other things to distract me. So, this weekend I decided to get back on the ball- and my mom and I went to the mall to start shoe shopping. I was expecting a long, drawn-out search, especially since the dress shopping went so quickly and easily.

We parked at the Boscov's, and we figured we'd take a look there before heading into the mall. This Boscov's has a small shoe section, so I didn't think we'd find anything. The far back wall had just a few pairs of dressy heels. And, sure enough, there were THE shoes. They have a clear heel (pretty and Cinderella-ish), and are sparkle-y silver strappy shoes. Perfect! Best of all, they were on sale! Total Time: 5 minutes. Shoes accomplished!!!

Rehearsal Dinner Stress

The rehearsal dinner: I'm picturing a nice dinner, a time for funny stories and memories with my immediate family, and my immediate family-to-be. I'm excited to have my new in-laws spend some time with my family, and get to know each other better.

So, I've been planning on holding a dinner for the wedding party (our nieces and nephews!), my siblings, mom, and Ryan's parents and brother. We like so many of the restaurants at Disney, and went through the list a number of times before narrowing down the choices. My sister helped me to research the menus of each Disney restaurant, and my first choice is the captain's Grill. Our runner up is the Cape May Cafe, if we can't get a reservation at the Captain's Grill- and that's the fear...

See, there's a problem. It's a bit hard to follow: Disney isn't currently taking dining reservations for any meals after February 22nd, diners need to wait to call Disney Dining for reservations until after November 21st. Confused? Basically, the normal dining reservations system for Disney World would allow me to make our Rehearsal Dinner reservations now, for our reservation on February 28th, but, now I need to wait until November 21st. But, this is making me very nervous. I fear everyone will be calling to make reservations on Nov. 21st, and, it will be that much more difficult to make a reservation for such a large group (18 people!).

Let the nail biting ensue...

Custom Tees take two!

I went back to my Mac and worked on some tee shirt designs to wear on our honeymoon. I had grabbed a cool piece of clip art of Wall-E and Eve when I was working on the favors, and decided to use it for my tee.

I sized it to fit on a plain white shirt I bought at Target, then added text- "Stacy and Ryan" and "March 1, 2009", in a computer-y pixel-ly font. After flipping the image and printing on a transfer sheet, I braved the ironing on my own this time...perfect!