I am titling this one advice for a very good reason. These were things that I wish I had known, or know what they were, and lessons learned. I will be adding to this post as I go along and I hope that you will learn some things from my mishaps.
The Dress
1) An Organza overlay is not good for park weddings. My overlay took a real beating. My dress was not as dirty as I expected it to be with 3 park events, but the stitching and the beading at the bottom of the overlay took a huge hit, to where all you could do is trim off the loose strings.
2) If you have an overlay, ask alterations to tack it down so that it becomes part of the dress.
3) If you have a park or outside wedding, put tulle under your train so that that takes the brunt of the beating.
4) Do a French Bustle. Wish I had known what this meant. I am sure all of you knew...make sure that your bustle are ties and not buttons. Buttons break easy when your dress gets stepped on. And it will. More on this later. Hmmm foreshadowing....
5) Pad your alteration date by weeks!!! They had to redo my alterations past my supposed pick up time b/c it was wrong.
Sound Systems and Video
Make sure that your wedding coordinator knows beforehand that your video person is mic-ing the groom/ officiant. I am pretty sure that I mentioned this, but it became a problem later on. Make sure that this is tested beforehand no matter how late you are running. If you are paying for the sound system you want to get your money's worth.
Print Items
Make sure that you make sure that your fiancee approves the copy of the programs. Tie him down and make him do it.
Allow yourself at least 2 weeks to proof the final items (esp name cards) and all print items.
All in all pad all of your timeframes by at least 3 weeks more than you think you need to have the timeframe padded by. Things are always going to happen.
The Big Day
I was constantly running behind. Make sure that you allow yourself at least an extra hour more than you think. Allow at least 2 hours for yourself and then pad that by an hour. Even if you are done earlier than you think and you have to sit around that is better than missing out on the photos that you want!
Illuminations
Realize that you will not get to "watch" Illuminations, and if you get to eat any of you desserts you are one lucky girl. I don't think that I tasted anything.
Keys for the pictures:
1) Make sure that your face is toward the camera, especially if your husband -to-be is taller than you!
2) Make sure that when you two do all of the kissing (and there will be alot), you hold the kiss for 5-6 seconds which is totally unnatural. Just count it out in Mississippis.
Your EM
This person is your advocate and boy is he/she busy! I didn't realize how crazy their schedule really is. (Hi Diane!
) They are trying to make you happy and negotiate with the rest of Disney to get what you need done.
The best way to get ahold of them is to call and zero out for their assistant and make an appointment. That way you know that you have definate time with their undivided attention.
Keep an issues log. Probably not Diane's favorite thing, but I needed it to keep me in control. I shot a ton of emails at them, and I could not remember if the issues ever got addressed. This really helped keep me organized and made good use of my and her time.
Come to meetings with your EM with a list. Know the things that you want to talk with them about and hit those issues. Try to stay on track as much as you can. It really helps them and you with the time management and that way you don't forget something important.
Other Advice
This I can not stress enough. Make sure that you have one friend or family member that knows what is going on all during the day. Make sure that they are in on all of the "important" details. Basically, pick the things that you need to go right, and put that person in charge. I think I had a lot more interaction with my DJ and planner than anyone normally would, but I wish I had turned things over to my friend Lisa. She knew everything that was going on, and could have been my advocate that day. Lisa and I planned my wedding and her vow renewal together. More on Lisa later.....
Like I said I will be adding more and more to this as we go along and as I think of things.