Hey y’all! Welcome back to my blog! I know my posts haven’t been as regular the past few weeks. With traveling to Pittsburgh and back, it’s been a bit crazy. However, today I’m sharing some highly requested information with y’all. Since I got engaged back in October, I’ve constantly been getting questions about our wedding and all that goes along with it. I’m starting this “series” to somewhat document things for myself as well as keep y’all up to date!
I have so much to share with y’all, and I may even end up writing a few of these within the next few weeks. We already have formally asked all of our bridesmaids/groomsmen to be a part of our special day, so that will be in a post in itself. But let’s get into the basics that everyone wants to know – Q&A style! Thanks to those of you who asked questions on my Instagram.
How did he ask?
Grant planned a scavenger hunt at Animal Kingdom – my favorite Disney theme park. He asked me to marry him in front of the Tree of Life (the big tree at Animal Kingdom).
Where’s your ring from?
My ring is from Tiffany & Co. It’s the Tiffany Soleste cushion-cut double halo. You can click the link to Tiffany’s website to see a close up of what my ring looks like. We haven’t gotten any professional pictures done yet, so I don’t have a great photo.
What’s the first thing you did after your engagement?
I’m assuming this means in terms of planning! We have a bit of a different planning process since we are going to have a Disney World wedding. We can’t really jump into planning specific things yet, due to the planning timeline Disney uses. However, it’s great that we get the holiday season to relax.
But here’s what we have done so far:
– Got “ask gifts” and formally asked our wedding party to be a part of our day.
– Bought tickets to attend Disney’s Fairy Tale Wedding Showcase in March 2020. I am super excited about that! It’s a great chance to talk to wedding planners and see a wide selection of florals, decorations, venues, etc. that are available.
– Purchased a wedding monogram & picked a color scheme (more info below).
– Independent research on Disney Weddings to at least get an outline of what we want. I highly recommend Fairytale Weddings Guide.
Are you going to have a Disney wedding?
Yes! That’s the plan.
What’s the date?
If you’re familiar with Disney weddings, you know it’s a tedious process. You can’t talk to someone from Disney until 16 months out… at 14 months you can be “penciled in,” and 12 months out you can formally reserve your date/time/location & pay a down payment. Needless to say, you need to plan pretty far out in order to *attempt* to get everything you want. We are aiming to get May 4, 2021. I want a May wedding because I want peonies and the 4th is preferable because Grant loves Star Wars and it is a Tuesday, which is a cheaper day to get married at Disney World.
How many people will be invited?
We are planning to keep it extremely small, which not many people are aware of at this point. My sister had a larger destination wedding (around 80 people) and she had a 500 person reception back home. While her wedding was a great time, that is not what we want lol. We are doing immediate family only (siblings & parents, plus nieces/nephews) and a select group of friends. We’re going to keep it around 30 people or less. Grant and I both have large extended families and if we were to add aunts/uncles/cousins/their kids we would have at least 75 people. That’s just too many people for our liking. While we’d love to invite everyone, financially it just isn’t feasible (Disney weddings start at around $160 a plate, not including venue fees, floral, music, etc). So we’d just prefer to keep it small and intimate in order to have the wedding of our dreams. However, next summer we will be having a casual engagement party to celebrate with everyone.
Where at Disney is it going to be?
Our first choice (for the ceremony) is the Wedding Pavilion at The Grand Floridian. Air conditioned, controlled lighting, shelter from unpredictable rain, plus the interior is beautiful! We haven’t completely decided on our second choice or our choices for the reception. There is so much to consider, including construction happening at Disney Parks that may effect venues. But if y’all have any suggestions, let me know!
Do you have a color scheme in mind?
Yes! Pantone Navy Peony, Pantone Rose Quartz, and Gold (couldn’t find a Pantone to match what we wanted but feel free to Google #beaa6d to see the shade we’re going for, it will be metallic of course). This doesn’t have much to do with the color scheme, but we did buy a monogram on Small Business Saturday from Shuler Studio. I’m super excited to use it in many aspects of our wedding and beyond! This is the specific one we purchased.
Who’s in your wedding party?
My big sister, Tiffany, is my Matron of Honor. My high school/college bestie Addie is my Maid of Honor, and my bestie Gabby is my Bridesmaid. Grant has his brother, Bryce, as his Best Man. Our friend Vinnie (Gabby’s boyfriend) & my Brother-in-Law Mike are his Groomsmen. Percy, my sister’s son, is our Ring Bearer. One of my other friends is currently pregnant and I’m praying she has a girl so I can have a flower girl. Otherwise, we’ll have two ring bearers lol.
How are you staying organized?
Good question! As of right now, I’m not lol. However, I am a very organized person. So maybe I should look into some sort of bride planner…? I’m not sure of how much organizing I’ll actually need to do, considering most things will be done/organized by Disney and my wedding planner on that end. But we’ll see!
What part of the wedding planning are you most excited about?
Honestly, I’m pretty excited about almost everything! I think that’s only because I don’t have to find a venue, vendors, and all of that by myself. Having it at Disney makes it more of a one stop shop. If I was planning the wedding to be in Pittsburgh, I would definitely be more stressed out. I feel like I’m most anxious of picking out dresses for my bridesmaids & getting the guys’ suits in order… I will say I’m really excited about an engagement party and bridal shower!
Final thoughts?
There are so many details that go into a wedding, and that’s part of the reason why we’re choosing to have it at Disney. I know that they’ll take care of so much of it, and do it perfectly. I haven’t even started considering dresses for myself or for the girls, invitations, save the dates, engagement photos, or anything that I didn’t mention above. Most of that will come with the new year! And since we are 18 months out we have a bit of time before we have to go all in. I will be doing a blog post within the next week or so about our “ask gifts” for our wedding party.
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Let me know what else y’all would be interested in seeing/hearing about! I might even do a blog post with dress inspiration for myself and my bridal party. I am so excited for this time in my life and Grant and I’s relationship. So much to do and think about!
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Jayme
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