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The first night after all of us (minus Brudder #2) landed, we went to celebrate my mother's 51st birthday at The Flying Fish Cafe over at Disney's Boardwalk. Mori and I consider ourselves semi-foodies, we will eat anything, but we appreciate good food and presentation. I was a bit concerned that my family would prefer chicken nuggets and hamburgers instead of the FFC but luckily everyone enjoyed their meals. Who wouldn't? just look at those delicious pictures! Brudder, Seester 1, and my step dad ordered bacon martinis - yuk, while my mom and I shared some zinfandel because she doesn't like real wine.
The servers were wonderful, and my mother who is allergic to everything (she claims even the color yellow), was pleased when the chef came out to speak to her and offer her suggestions. We all sang happy birthday with the server and I think Mom enjoyed it all.
I made the silly mistake of booking a dinner at the Boardwalk instead of Downtown Disney - I forgot that they are not one in the same. So after dinner we took a bus to downtown so my family could get their souvenirs.
I believe I went to Disney in January before they started producing all their Star Wars souvenirs. They have now Disney-fied Star Wars and the cutesy stuff is all over :(. We had a lot of fun taking pictures outside the Rainforest Cafe and looking through all the fun shops. Everyone was tired from traveling, so we took the bus back and passed out at the hotel till 10AM!
NON DISNEY STUFFSo my first time posting about wedding planning! It has been a back and forth conversation even before we were engaged about what we wanted out of a wedding. Neither of our parents that we are currently speaking to are well off to help us 100% with the wedding, not even 10%. I've been saving for the past 6 months and have saved 50% of what I originally expected the wedding to cost. After sending out feeler emails to venues and caterers I liked, I realized my estimated cost was not even close, it was MUCH MUCH more.
We toyed with the idea of a destination wedding, but getting our siblings to the destination would be a huge burden on our parents and if we helped with their travel expenses (all are in high school/ college and none have jobs yet) we would be in the same financial position if we had the wedding at home.
We also entertained the idea of a courthouse ceremony with a small dinner reception after. This is still a nice option.... but I guess I'm selfish and want a "traditional" wedding. I want it to be a bit bigger and more magical than going to a courthouse and dinner.
My budget was extremely unrealistic for the area, and the one venue Mori and I loved doesn't rent out in the summer which is the only window of time we have between tax seasons and school. We have since found and spoken to another venue that has our dates, has the feel we both want, BUT to stick within my strict budget we would have to have a brunch wedding reception.
Neither of us, nor our parents, have been to a brunch reception and don't know what to expect from it. Mori and I love the idea of a brunch buffet with eggs benedict, french toast, and other yummy breakfast goodies. The place has unlimited bacon and sausage at the buffet - can that be beat? The slot is for four hours for both ceremony and reception, and has a premium open bar throughout with mimosa punch! If we commit, we are also going to negotiate for bloody mary mix at the bar.
It is well within my budget, and fits the criteria we want, but the unknown of it is a little scary. If we start the ceremony at 11am and then wrap up by 3pm, we want an after party at our house for close friends and family. Mori loves the idea of ordering BBQ platters or pizza for later in the evening and having a couple kegs at our place - the brunch would be more "me" and the after party would be more "him/us".
Fears cross my mind when thinking about it - what if no one wants to dance that early in the morning - should we bother with a DJ or just get a violinist? Will people want to come to a brunch reception? Will people be able to make it that early in the morning? Our furthest guests would be traveling from Texas and could get there the night before. We have many family members 6+ hours away that could either fly or drive in. These would probably be my same fears in an evening reception anyways.
Any thoughts? Have y'all ever been to a brunch reception or an early wedding?
