A Disney Destination Wedding

It’s been over two years since my wedding, and I’ve never blogged it! Isn’t that crazy?! I am planning an upcoming blog series where I’ll be sharing each of our past weddings, some to be narrated by the actual bride! This will be a fun way for current brides to get advice on planning their wedding floral & decor, or give them new ideas – so I’m looking forward to our readers getting to know each wedding and why we made the flower and color selections that we did!

Melissa Arlena traveled all the way to Florida to shoot our big day, here it is!!

Our wedding was at Disney World on October 25th, 2011, on a TUESDAY of all days! Tuesday, you say?! Yes, we figured since it was going to be a destination wedding for everyone, that the day of the week didn’t entirely matter . Plus, weekdays were less expensive and the only date left near Halloween that our venues were available. I luuuuhrve Halloween at Disney World, partly because it feels a little more Tim Burton-esque to me – the spooky sounds and music at Magic Kingdom at night. But also because it’s a less crowded time of year and the weather is usually about 75′-80′, sunny and relatively low humidity. The bonus was that it would be at the end of wedding season, and wouldn’t interfere with my new, growing wedding business!

To really TAKE YOU there to the wedding day, you must start by watching our wedding video (by the AMAZING Starfruit Productions – and yes they travel all over!)

Amanda and Robby from StarFruit Productions on Vimeo.

Robby and I had been engaged for two and a half years (after dating for seven and a half!!), but for some reason I couldn’t decide on the colors and theme of the wedding! I actually changed the wedding colors a few times, so it was hard to decide on flower types. Originally we had planned a wedding in the Bahamas and were going to do something very simple, casual and tropical in color scheme. So, when we changed our theme it was hard to decide what new colors to do! When we switched to being at Disney World, we chose water based locations – I guess because we were missing the Bahamas ideas so much…?! We chose an outdoor ceremony location in an open-air covered pavilion, Sea Breeze Point, at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn Resort because it was right by the water and the sounds of the boats passing was just so beautiful! The reception location was the Living Seas Salon at Disney’s Epcot, which is basically a private lounge with surrounding tanks at the aquarium. Then, we had what Disney calls an ‘Illuminations Dessert Party’ in the United Kingdom pavilion where our guests could eat desserts and have a private front row show of the fireworks!

We went for our first big Planning Session earlier that year, but pretty much all the decor we chose ended up changing later because of my indecisiveness! The floral planner actually mentioned to me that we could have actors at our reception. As soon as I heard this, it helped me to narrow down the theme! We decided that we’d had a pirate themed wedding, and have the pirates be the entertainment for our 30 guest wedding (since a DJ would have been a bit of an overkill for 30 people!) … you’re laughing, aren’t you?! HAH! :D It does sound pretty tacky, I know. But, in my head, it was super fun, but still wedding appropriate!

Because of this pirate feast feel that I was trying to give to our guests, I themed the decor items around this. I hand made the invitations and programs with cotton paper (to feel like someone hand made the paper) with a cool colonial-ish font. We had funky spanish details like lanterns and a spanish guitarist. We were aiming for a flamenca-ish type sound – or something that sounded like the Pirates of the Carribbean soundtrack! haha! Because we were in the Entertainment capitol of the world (IMO), I thought it would be fun to give our guests a feel of what we love so much about Disney, and the comedians definitely gave our guests that experience! The flowers were simply dark, rich reds and purples and the centerpieces had drippy bits of hanging amaranthus. The bouquets I personally designed (the day before our wedding in our hotel room!) in gold holders I wanted it to feel like a pirate ship royal feast! We chose rich textures in the linens and napkins to fit the vibe – mainly velvet in dark purple and red and lots of gold accents!Can you believe my makeup artists name was Rosie?! How fitting! … and I had no idea she would be my MUA! This view relaxed me when I was so nervous that morning!We stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Resort – a GORGEOUS, tropical themed backdrop for getting ready! (Sage & Grady of Starfruit Productions helped with this veil shot! :D ) The most painful shoes everrrrr – I didn’t even bring a backup pair – who does that?!

Don’t they look like the wedding mafia? haha! (a mix of groomsmen and other guests-friends that traveled to our wedding!)I love all sorts of flowers, but I always default to phalaenopsis orchids, garden roses and soft fluffy things. I chose to do a somewhat cascaded bouquet because I’d been so used to designing round bouquets, that I wanted something different!

my hand made invites, complete with wax seal HAH!! So, SOMEBODY got their tears and nervousness out the morning of the wedding, and I was sobbing walking down the aisle — and I’m not a happy crier at ALL! So, my aisle pics are pretty ….awkward HAH! But, Robby is cute :D (yes, mohawks were totally welcome in our bridal party!)getting some water so I don’t pass out reading my vows! :Dtotally busted, dad! (I was the fourth and final daughter to get married – so tears were in order!!)

Can’t take a serious picture… haha! :D

The “WE ARE FINALLY MARRIED” moment…. TEN YEARS, YOU GUYS!

The reception location, Living Seas Salon at Epcot

Melissa shot this photo of Rebecca’s escort card, then a year later – she got married in Disney World – how exciting!FULL DISCLOSURE: I wanted to show you the centerpiece setup I created the concept for, but need to explain and properly credit that the centerpieces were provided and crafted by Disney Floral. Anthomanic/I did not provide or design the reception centerpieces. I didn’t dare attempt DIY – I wanted to enjoy my wedding day, not work! I simply chose the flowers, colors and design scheme for the table and told Disney Floral what to order for me! I however, DID design the bridal bouquets – because it was a small task …. and because… well, I’m particular! Roses, lisianthus, dahlias, stock flowers, hydrangea, red ti leaves and lots of tropical foliage! I provided Disney with the ‘pirate’-rum  bottles that had names of the different ports that we named our tables!We wanted entertainment everywhere – even in the food!This is ‘Tentacles’, he took requests and had a ‘piano bar’ type feel to the music we played – sing alongs, etc.! He got in character and also dressed up like a pirate. You can imagine the suggestive jokes the comedian/pirate-actors had for his name.

The pirate actors were named  Rosetta Stone and honestly, the other guy, they kept calling him all sorts of names, so I really don’t remember… but he claimed he was Captain Morgan’s brother or something.. :D They were HILARIOUS! Most of the time we all sat around and had belly laughs and made jokes about each other back and forth — very piano bar/comedy club-esque. If you’d ever been to Adventurer’s Club in Downtown Disney (now closed) you know what type of vibe we had!My mommy & daddy having a moment! I had my three sisters do the ‘MOH’ speech – since they are are my MOH’s :D

We had a whole dessert spread with other cakes, cookies and treats and only thirty guests, so we only did a textured butter cream one tier to cut. I still get tiered cake envy at the weddings we do! One of my anniversaries, you better believe I’ll have a tiered cake! haha! We were a little too kind to each other with the cake!

Also published on Disney’s Ever After Blog

Vendors

Photographer: Melissa Arlena

Videographer: Starfruit Productions

Wedding Planner: Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings (Jamie Betz & Jessica Rawlings)

Cake, Reception Floral, Catering, Linen Rentals, Actors, Pianist, Guitarist: Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings

Getting Ready Location: Disney’s Polynesian Resort

Ceremony: Disney’s BoardWalk Inn Resort

Reception: Living Seas Salon at Disney’s Epcot

Dessert Party: UK Pavilion at Disney’s Epcot

Gown: Rivini – Rouge  (Jeanette’s Bridal)

MUA/Hair: Rosie with Beaute Speciale

Invitations & Programs, Table Numbers with Bottles: DIY

Guest Book: NFL.com

Shoes: Badgley Mischka

Bridesmaid Gowns: Red/David’s Bridal, Black & Champagne/BCBG

Groom & Groomsmen Attire: mixture of black suits from their very own closets – with coordinated ties from Men’s Warehouse