Escape Wedding Summer 2015

[Saradactyl]

Hi,

I've been engaged for a year and a half now, but we are finally at a point academically and financially where we can start planning our wedding!

Story
We met online in 2007, met for the first time in person at Disneyland in 2010 and have been in a long distance relationship ever since. We completed the Disney College Program together in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom later that year. Alex proposed to me on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland in the scene where Captain Barbossa is in the middle of a cannon fight with the fort. (Because I love the marriage scene in the middle of a battle during At World's End ). We are both fans of the movies and the ride and make sure to start and end every trip with Pirates (with multiple stops in between)!

As you can see, a lot of our important relationship events have occurred at Disney, so naturally we said Disney wedding or no wedding!

Reluctant bride
I am very shy and don't like being the center attention. I've never wanted a big wedding (or a wedding at all!). I'd prefer to elope with a Memories wedding, but my fiancé and family weren't happy with that idea, so we have compromised with an immediate-family-only Escape wedding. I am still not entirely happy with the number of people that will be watching me (around 9-10 guests), but I do love planning things, so here I am!

Nice to meet you all!

 

[Saradactyl]

I was going to post some engagement photos, but apparently I need to have 10 posts first! Here are my vague plans instead:

Wedding Date: June 2015
Ceremony Location: SBP/WP
Ceremony Time: Morning
Reception: Lunch ADR at one of the resorts
Wedding Night: Dinner alone, we’re thinking Le Cellier at the moment
Bridal Party: None.
Accommodation: Boardwalk if we pick SBP, one of the MK resorts if we pick WP. We will most likely book two resorts if we end up the Boardwalk because we prefer being close to MK. The fiance is also dying to try out AKL, so we’ll see!
Honeymoon: I’m hoping to spend a 1-1.5 weeks at the parks after the ceremony
Budget: 10k including honeymoon. I will pay for everything myself, I’m not asking for any help from my parents. I’m hoping to save money by not upgrading anything.

Of course this is all speculative, so who knows how many times it will change in the next year!

 

[majix]

You sound a lot like me. I'm reluctant to be centre of attention. I think that's why I've decided on a Disney wedding. Fewer guests!

How many guests are you having/inviting?

 

[Saradactyl]

You sound a lot like me. I'm reluctant to be centre of attention. I think that's why I've decided on a Disney wedding. Fewer guests!

How many guests are you having/inviting?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one, haha! We are inviting immediate family only which unfortunately means there will still be 9-10 guests. Still more than I would like! I just found/subscribed to your PJ, and it sounds like your wedding will be a bit bigger than mine. I can't imagine 50!

 

[Saradactyl]

I had been hoping to save some money by ordering a cheaper, casual dress. So I purchased two dress from ModCloth to try out:

Adrift on a Cloud Dress ($99.99)

Simply Divine Dress in Ivory (149.99)

I loved the first one! The lace was cute; it wasn’t too formal; the fit was good. Unfortunately it was not made for somebody who is 5’7”. I wish it was just two inches longer! The second one was a little too big for me without alteration, and since I was not in love with it, I decided to send them both back.

Selfie

Next I will try out some local bridal shops.

 

[Aschenputtel]

Following along! I'm also keen on having a small wedding!
I also like your dress choices very much, I'm looking for a similar style myself, so I'm eager to see how your bridal look will turn out!!!

 

[Saradactyl]

Following along! I'm also keen on having a small wedding!
I also like your dress choices very much, I'm looking for a similar style myself, so I'm eager to see how your bridal look will turn out!!!

Awesome! Do you have a planning journal yet?

ModCloth has several cheaper dress options in different styles, if you haven't checked there yet. I'm not sure how expensive it is to have them shipped internationally though.

 

[Saradactyl]

I made my first official wedding purchase today! I've been wavering back and forth between a Pirates or Tangled theme, but I found this bow tie on etsy, and it sealed the deal.

Now I can start my expenses spreadsheet

I will add pics from my wedding dress shopping adventures later.

 

[Aschenputtel]

This bow tie is gorgeous!!! Love the idea of a Tangled theme.

Unfortunately we still have to wait until the actual planning begins (though I can't stop to plan and stalk the planning journals here). I'm learning for my final exams at the moment and since we are paying all for ourselves, there's still a lot of saving to do.

I will check out the designer soon, thanks for the tip!

 

[edeneye]

What a lovely proposal story, not only is it amazing how Disney has been so much a part of your relationship but it's great he knows you so well to pick that moment. Your plans so far are really intriguing, I admire your decision to completely fund the wedding yourself and the intimacy of the gathering will be really special. The dinner alone as husband and wife that evening will definitely be a highlight, I've heard so many people say their favourite part of their day is the moments they get to steal away where it's just the two of them.

I do love Sea Breeze Point as well - obviously - that's going to be a very interesting decision for you. We had exactly the same choice to make. It's such a picturesque and intimate space but it isn't terribly private! I understand you're reluctant to have a lot of guests watching the ceremony - how do you feel about strangers! I don't at all want to scare you away from it though, we actually picked it over the Pavilion because of our lower guest count and feeling like the WP would seem empty with only 15 people in it (which we were assured isn't actually the case at all!).

Congratulations on arriving at your theme too! You've got such beautiful colours to play with now, a striking bow tie to kick off the wedding attire and the very first line of your expenses spreadsheet! Coupled with the first page of your planning journal and being roughly 12 months out from the day itself, I'd say the planning has officially begun!

 

[Saradactyl]

Unfortunately we still have to wait until the actual planning begins (though I can't stop to plan and stalk the planning journals here). I'm learning for my final exams at the moment and since we are paying all for ourselves, there's still a lot of saving to do.

I know how you feel! We've been engaged for a year and a half, and we are just now able to start planning. I recently finished my masters degree, so I can finally start earning and saving money! (I am also living with my parents this year, so my expenses will be minimal.)

What a lovely proposal story, not only is it amazing how Disney has been so much a part of your relationship but it's great he knows you so well to pick that moment. Your plans so far are really intriguing, I admire your decision to completely fund the wedding yourself and the intimacy of the gathering will be really special. The dinner alone as husband and wife that evening will definitely be a highlight, I've heard so many people say their favourite part of their day is the moments they get to steal away where it's just the two of them.

I do love Sea Breeze Point as well - obviously - that's going to be a very interesting decision for you. We had exactly the same choice to make. It's such a picturesque and intimate space but it isn't terribly private! I understand you're reluctant to have a lot of guests watching the ceremony - how do you feel about strangers! I don't at all want to scare you away from it though, we actually picked it over the Pavilion because of our lower guest count and feeling like the WP would seem empty with only 15 people in it (which we were assured isn't actually the case at all!).

Thank you! We had been planning on SBP until visiting WDW last month. I hadn't realized how public the location was! Having random strangers watching is not something I am looking forward to! My fiance is not a fan of having the Swan & Dolphin in the back of our photos either. That being said, I still prefer the casual, more intimate setting of SBP. I agree the WP would feel quite empty with so few people in it, and may be a little too formal for the occasion. I think when it comes down to it, we'll probably end up going the cheaper route anyway Hopefully, I'll be too involved in the moment to notice any onlookers.

 

[Saradactyl]

When the ModCloth dresses didn't work out, I booked an appointment with BHLDN because I liked the look of one of their short, lace dresses online. The stylist I was worked with had me try on several dresses that were different from what I was looking for. I wasn't expecting to like them as much as I did! Here are our favorites from the trip:

(excuse all the derpy faces I'm making in these pictures)

Tessa Dress - $795
The lace dress I originally went in to try.

Laverne Gown - $1800
The back of this gown is beautiful.

Tamsin Gown - $1600
It's difficult to tell in certain lightings, but the skirt of this dress is pink! I'm not a huge fan of pink, but in this case I like it quite a lot.

I went to BHLDN with my mom and three sisters, and we were all in agreement about which dress was our favorite! Unfortunately, it was a lot more than I was planning to spend on a dress

So we headed to David's Bridal next to look for some cheaper options. Here are our two favorites from David's Bridal:

Swiss Dot Tulle Empire Waist Soft Wedding Gown - $349.00

Sweetheart Trumpet Beaded Applique Gown - $549.00

It was nice to find some cheaper options, but they didn't compare to the BHLDN dress. Since then, I've been wavering between two very different philosophies.

Philosophy 1: I'm only going to be wearing this dress for a few hours, our wedding is not very formal anyway, why spend so much money on it?
Philosophy 2: When else will I get a chance to wear such a pretty, expensive gown? YOLO.

I am currently working on an estimated budget with my fiance. Hopefully seeing everything in writing will help me make a decision.

Any opinions?

 

[Aschenputtel]

I'm torn between these two philosophies myself, but I have to tell you that (although you look stunning in all of these gowns), I really love the first three, especially the second one - it's so elegant!
But I totally understand if you don't want to go over budget with just one aspect of the wedding. That's a tough decision…

 

[golightly]

I really like that last trumpet gown, but honestly all of them look great. You're lucky enough to have a figure that will let you pull off almost any look.

You seem to like the more ethereal/vintage looks like the BHLDN styles.
If you go to the David's Bridal website & selected the "vintage inspired" gowns & then sort by price you can find some lovely things that have very reasonable prices. Like THIS ONE.

& I love your dress philosophies. I'm in the same boat I need to figure out what is a reasonable price for something I'm only wearing for 6 hours at most. But Those are supposed to be the happiest 6 hours of my life, so shouldn't I dress the part? Not to mention the photos of those 6 hours will follow you around for the rest of your life. It makes the process difficult, but also very exciting.
For now you've still got time to search- I'm sure you'll find your perfect dress!

 

[Saradactyl]

I'm torn between these two philosophies myself, but I have to tell you that (although you look stunning in all of these gowns), I really love the first three, especially the second one - it's so elegant!
But I totally understand if you don't want to go over budget with just one aspect of the wedding. That's a tough decision…

Thank you so much! It was a very difficult decision to make. We finished our estimated budget, and it's not looking good for staying under our $10k goal. Realistically, I know that splurging on one of the BHLDN gowns isn't a good idea. I doubt that I will look back in five years and wish I had spent MORE money on a dress.

I really like that last trumpet gown, but honestly all of them look great. You're lucky enough to have a figure that will let you pull off almost any look.

You seem to like the more ethereal/vintage looks like the BHLDN styles.
If you go to the David's Bridal website & selected the "vintage inspired" gowns & then sort by price you can find some lovely things that have very reasonable prices. Like THIS ONE.

& I love your dress philosophies. I'm in the same boat I need to figure out what is a reasonable price for something I'm only wearing for 6 hours at most. But Those are supposed to be the happiest 6 hours of my life, so shouldn't I dress the part? Not to mention the photos of those 6 hours will follow you around for the rest of your life. It makes the process difficult, but also very exciting.
For now you've still got time to search- I'm sure you'll find your perfect dress!

Thank you! You're right, I loved the BHLDN gowns and picking one of the David's Bridal gowns I tried on felt like settling. The dress you linked from David's Bridal looks very pretty though! I may need to stop in there again How is your search going?

 

[Saradactyl]

Budget
As mentioned before, we are hoping to keep our costs down to $10k. Unfortunately, when we finished calculating our estimated costs we were already at $13k. This made two things very clear:

1) SBP will be our ceremony venue
2) No Tamsin gown for me

If anyone wants to see what our budget looks like, let me know!

Dress
I bought my dress! After deciding the Tamsin gown I liked was definitely out, I went back to BHLDN to try on a different dress I had seen online. This dress is actually a bridesmaid dress, so it is cheaper, and comes in both blush and ivory.

Annabelle Dress - $260

I tried on the blush and liked it so much, I didn't even bother with the ivory. Unfortunately, I do not have a good pic of me wearing it.

The dress comes with several tulle ties that can be styled different ways (the stylist was showing us over the shoulder braid in the picture). I'm thinking I may just leave them down and go with a plain strapless look though.

I'm very happy to have found a dress I like for a reasonable price. I have a few more updates that will hopefully be coming in the next few days.

 

[MsKatie]

I love the tangled theme and the blush dress! We are also paying for everything ourselves and trying to stick to our budget so I look forward to reading more about your plans.

 

[edeneye]

It's a shame your budget ruled some things out but exciting that on the bright side you now have some big decisions made! Naturally I think Sea Breeze Point is a wonderful location and it lends itself so nicely to a more casual event. And it's great you got such a bargain on your dress, if you love it and it suits what you're doing then that only makes sense! The majority of my suit cost less than $50 so I can understand that principle absolutely. Now you have so much more left in your budget to make magic with AND a dress that will look wonderful on you. Win/Win.

 

[Saradactyl]

I haven't updated in quite a while, mostly because my new job is keeping me busy. A few things have happened on the wedding front though. I'll start with the one I am most excited about!

Celebration Pins

I know that Disney has free celebration pins, but I saw these on etsy and couldn't resist!

Celebrating My New Dream Buttons - 2 for $6.00

Shoes and Hair Accessories

I've known from the beginning I would wear flats; I don't do heels. I was hoping I could get away with tennis shoes, but my dress isn't quite poofy enough to hide them.

Twee and Easy Flat in Blush - $34.99
Occasion to Remember Headband - $11.99

The shoes are cute, but not very comfortable. I'm still not sure about the headband, but it was cheap anyway. I had been looking for one more like this, but I'm not too thrilled about the price. Any thoughts? g

Really close to the 8 month mark, so I should be making contact with DFTW soon!