Kristina and Paul's Disney Dream Celebration

[sorceressk]

About Us
Hello. We are Kristina and Paul, both 29 years old and planning a Dream celebration November 2-6, 2015 sailing to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral. We've been together 3 years and love Disney and especially love Disney Cruise Line. We recently became platinum castaway club members.

Why DCL?
Since we were both children, we have loved everything Disney! And so, one of our very first large purchases together was an annual pass to WDW. We live in Florida and are close enough to do a day trip to the world and then drive home that same night. Needless to say, Disney has been a staple for us during the course of our relationship. We just love it. We took our first Disney cruise on the Dream in 2012 and found out there was something we loved even more than WDW...THE DISNEY CRUISE! We just love the service, food, entertainment and the overall quality that no one else can provide like Disney. When I found out that DCL was an option as a DFTW, I was like "I love cruising DCL but there's no way I want to get married on a Disney cruise". Months passed. We were still looking into ideas for a Disney wedding. We were pretty set on an Animal Kingdom event and then one day it just hit me like a brick! I want to do this on the Disney cruise. When I told Paul, he was a tad confused, given my staunch opposition to a DCL event in the beginning. But what I think happened is that we went on more cruises and I just realized the Disney cruise is truly one of the best vacations I've ever been on and the intimate nature of a DCL wedding really started to appeal to me. So we started floating the idea amongst close family and friends to see if people were totally opposed to traveling for our event. Most of the time, it was well received. And the thing is, I wanted something personal and intimate to be shared with only our favorite people. So we figured, those who could be there will and for the rest, we will have a big party before setting sail.

At this point, we were well into this year and DCL still had not released the schedule for 2015 sailings. When they finally did...they only released the first half of the year! I was basically dying of impatience. I really wanted a November wedding. I love autumn in Florida and really, there's no better time to sail. It's not too hot, not too cold and the prices are reasonable. That said, I wanted it to be in the beginning of November as to not interfere with anyone's Thanksgiving plans. But oh the waiting! I just thought I'd keel over. And then finally! DCL releases the dates right before the beginning of summer. We happened to be taking the 9 night cruise to Alaska at the end of May and so we booked our wedding trip on board. We decided on the November 2-6, 2015 sailing on the Dream, our "home" ship. I really wanted one of the newer ships to show off to all my guests and we knew that a 7 day on the Fantasy would be pushing it with even those who love us most...so it was settled. We will leave Monday 11/2 and return Friday morning 11/6. Paul and I will stay over at WDW Friday night and then we will go back to sail on the Fantasy Saturday 11/7 for a week of alone time. =] We are so excited!! Two weeks on DCL! =]

 

[elphie101]

Hooray for a new PJ!! You sound like an adorable couple and I can't wait to hear about your plans so far

What itinerary is your Fantasy cruise? We're doing the Eastern for our honeymoon this October (St Maarten/St Thomas) - it'll be both of our first cruises on ANY line and we're so excited.

Do you have an idea how many people you hope to have? Are you thinking of doing it on the ship or on Castaway Cay?

 

[LadyD]

What a wonderful way to celebrate your wedding!! Hearing such positive reviews about the DCL experience really makes me want to try a Disney cruise! I can't wait to hear all the details

 

[sorceressk]

Hooray for a new PJ!! You sound like an adorable couple and I can't wait to hear about your plans so far What itinerary is your Fantasy cruise? We're doing the Eastern for our honeymoon this October (St Maarten/St Thomas) - it'll be both of our first cruises on ANY line and we're so excited. Do you have an idea how many people you hope to have? Are you thinking of doing it on the ship or on Castaway Cay?

Thanks! It's the eastern as well. We did the western last year. It was nice. Looking forward to a different itinerary with more sea days! I have no idea how many people will come. Probably in the 15-20 range. We are hoping for something smaller and intimate. It will be on board. I didn't want to interrupt anyone's day @ castaway cay and wasn't all that interested in a beach wedd anyway.

 

[sorceressk]

What a wonderful way to celebrate your wedding!! Hearing such positive reviews about the DCL experience really makes me want to try a Disney cruise! I can't wait to hear all the details

You TOTALLY SHOULD go on a Disney cruise ASAP! They are great.

Thanks for following along.

 

[Disneyducks12]

About Us
Hello. We are Kristina and Paul, both 29 years old and planning a Dream celebration November 2-6, 2015 sailing to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral. We've been together 3 years and love Disney and especially love Disney Cruise Line. We recently became platinum castaway club members.

Why DCL?
Since we were both children, we have loved everything Disney! And so, one of our very first large purchases together was an annual pass to WDW. We live in Florida and are close enough to do a day trip to the world and then drive home that same night. Needless to say, Disney has been a staple for us during the course of our relationship. We just love it. We took our first Disney cruise on the Dream in 2012 and found out there was something we loved even more than WDW...THE DISNEY CRUISE! We just love the service, food, entertainment and the overall quality that no one else can provide like Disney. When I found out that DCL was an option as a DFTW, I was like "I love cruising DCL but there's no way I want to get married on a Disney cruise". Months passed. We were still looking into ideas for a Disney wedding. We were pretty set on an Animal Kingdom event and then one day it just hit me like a brick! I want to do this on the Disney cruise. When I told Paul, he was a tad confused, given my staunch opposition to a DCL event in the beginning. But what I think happened is that we went on more cruises and I just realized the Disney cruise is truly one of the best vacations I've ever been on and the intimate nature of a DCL wedding really started to appeal to me. So we started floating the idea amongst close family and friends to see if people were totally opposed to traveling for our event. Most of the time, it was well received. And the thing is, I wanted something personal and intimate to be shared with only our favorite people. So we figured, those who could be there will and for the rest, we will have a big party before setting sail.

At this point, we were well into this year and DCL still had not released the schedule for 2015 sailings. When they finally did...they only released the first half of the year! I was basically dying of impatience. I really wanted a November wedding. I love autumn in Florida and really, there's no better time to sail. It's not too hot, not too cold and the prices are reasonable. That said, I wanted it to be in the beginning of November as to not interfere with anyone's Thanksgiving plans. But oh the waiting! I just thought I'd keel over. And then finally! DCL releases the dates right before the beginning of summer. We happened to be taking the 9 night cruise to Alaska at the end of May and so we booked our wedding trip on board. We decided on the November 2-6, 2015 sailing on the Dream, our "home" ship. I really wanted one of the newer ships to show off to all my guests and we knew that a 7 day on the Fantasy would be pushing it with even those who love us most...so it was settled. We will leave Monday 11/2 and return Friday morning 11/6. Paul and I will stay over at WDW Friday night and then we will go back to sail on the Fantasy Saturday 11/7 for a week of alone time. =] We are so excited!! Two weeks on DCL! =]

Yeyy you started a PJ how exciting and another DCL bride which is awesome I can't believe your platinum member I am so jealous I am barely becoming Gold

I can't wait to follow along with your planning our weddings are the same year so it will be fun to follow with someone going through the same things and the Dream is going to be so pretty and how much fun you are doing your honeymoon on the Fantasy (personally that's my favorite ship maybe because that's the one I am getting married on )

anywho I will be reading along!

 

[sorceressk]

Here's a picture of us on the newly reimagined magic last year. And also an ode to the days where I didn't know how to post pictures

 

[sorceressk]

Yeyy you started a PJ how exciting and another DCL bride which is awesome I can't believe your platinum member I am so jealous I am barely becoming Gold I can't wait to follow along with your planning our weddings are the same year so it will be fun to follow with someone going through the same things and the Dream is going to be so pretty and how much fun you are doing your honeymoon on the Fantasy (personally that's my favorite ship maybe because that's the one I am getting married on ) anywho I will be reading along!

Thanks for following along! It will be so fun to plan for the same year together =]
Yeah, we just became platinum. I am somewhat obsessed with cruising. Plus we get a lot of good deals living here local in Florida.

 

[sorceressk]

A new update ...

Stateroom Choice
After careful consideration, we decided to book a one bedroom suite. I'm quite thrilled about this and can't wait to see what the suites are like! We've NEVER even thought about staying in a suite prior to this trip. We're of the school of thought that would rather sail in the inside 4x a year than spring for 1 cruise in an awesome room...generally...but this is a different, special occasion. And so we just decided to go for it. Now the idea of a suite came along because I really was worried about WHERE AM I GOING TO GET READY...and WHERE WILL ALL MY WOMEN GO if we just have a teeny 300 square foot room!? So, as you can see, it is NECESSARY to have the bigger room. Hahaha.

Plans for the Trip
So far, I have thought about quite a few plans. The first is that I'd like to have a spa day with all the women who'd like to attend. It's important to me that we can spend quality time together relaxing. Plus I figure I will deserve some pamper time. So I am hopeful my wedding will not be on the first day. According to Kaity, the wedding planner, usually the on board ceremonies are on Nassau day (yuk...exactly what I do not want) which happens to be the first full day of the cruise. If it does fall on that day, I suppose we would have the night before or the morning of to go to the spa. I'll also have my hair done in the salon the day of the event.

Another plan I've been pondering: a special wedding guests-only Mixology class! I am pretty sure we can set this up so long as we have enough people to attend. Last year on our Fantasy cruise, someone from the DIS set up a class for DIS only guests and it was cool. So I thought that might be a fun thing for the adults to do together to loosen up and have some fun! It doesn't really matter to me what day this is, though I think the first night might be fun as an ice-breaker. Of course, I'm sure we will just have to work it in whenever DCL can fit us in, which is fine.

We are planning to treat everyone to Palo for dinner the night of our celebration so long as we are 14 people or under. If we are over that, then we had toyed with the idea of splitting it up-doing family only for dinner and then a friends brunch in Palo on the sea day.

So let me know what you all think. And happy almost Friday! =]

 

[Disneyducks12]

I wish they would do more cruises from Califonia because right now we only get to go once a year

and congrats on the SUITE! You will have to take lots of pictures I have always wanted to see what they look like we always do inside or the porthole never a suite but that will be perfect for getting ready!

I think that is so cool to offer a mixology class it will be a lot of fun and like you mentioned a great ice breaker! Also how awesome to take your guest to Palo they will love that!

Look forward to more plans

Melissa

 

[sorceressk]

Hi everyone.

We have finalized our invitations. I went around and around with "do we send save the dates and invitations"...blah blah blah. I just decided to send one invitation, as early as possible with as little information as possible and include the bulk of the information on the website. We had our invitation custom-designed on etsy by Jasmine Victoria Creations. She was so nice and helpful. Her turn around time for edits was really fast and her prices are very reasonable. I'd recommend her to anyone wanting a less expensive invitation but doesn't want to create one on your own. I will probably ask that she create something similar, with the same theme, for a welcome note and thank you cards. Here's our final design.



So I then created an order on shutterfly, with this as the picture on the front of a 5x7 card and on the back I put a picture of us and a note "love, Kristina and Paul". Simple and sweet. I then bought a really cute stamp from etsy to put on the back of the envelopes. It's so cute and sticks with our "adventure" theme.



We just self-addressed the envelopes and mailed them out. I did use a golden-sheer paper liner on the inside of the envelopes to make them a little fancier. I bought those in the scrap booking section at Michael's.


We also finalized our website! Since we did the Disney honeymoon registry, we figured we'd just use the free website too. Every little bit of savings helps for sure! =]

If you want to check it out, here it is:
http://disney.honeymoonwishes.com/KristinaAndPaul

It was a lot of work! But I'm happy with the final product. We wanted to be very detailed so that everyone was able to access information easily and so that they'd know what they are getting themselves into. With a destination wedding, I thought it was important to give as much information as possible so that everyone can make well informed decisions. So I hope it's helpful. Even though I still expect guests to just ask me questions when the answers are right on the website anyway. Ah well. What can you do.

 

[Linda67]

These look beautiful -really love the colours and style

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

Another Cruise pj I'm following along and can't wait to hear how your plans progress.

We holding a VR ceremony on the Disney Dream August 29th 2015!

 

[sorceressk]

These look beautiful -really love the colours and style

Thank you!! It was a lot of work to figure it all out because I wanted something Disney-cruise but not too cartoony. Then I wanted autumn colors but nothing too orange or with pumpkins. Lol! So jasmine did such a great job for us. We are real happy with the final product. =]

 

[sorceressk]

Another Cruise pj I'm following along and can't wait to hear how your plans progress.

We holding a VR ceremony on the Disney Dream August 29th 2015!

Thanks so much for following along! Will u be on the dream right after or before the dry dock??

 

[Mrs Hobbes]

Thanks so much for following along! Will u be on the dream right after or before the dry dock??

We're before the dry dock it's going into dock on September 25th so almost a month after our ceremony date.

 

[MrsMsDisneyFamily]

Congrats!! Excited to follow along! I'm getting married on the Dream on 09-25-15!