Cinderella's 75th Anniversary ✨

Today is the 75th Anniversary of Disney's Cinderella!!! 💖  

As many of you already know, Cinderella has meant so much to me through the years.  It's the first thing I think of when someone talks about your classic fairytale.  It's a story filled with wishes, dreams and ends with a fairytale romance.  Disney has produced many classic stories... but none of them have impacted me as much as Cinderella.

Fairy Godmother will forever remind me of my Nana and I'm not even sure why.  Nana meant so much to me.  She was like a second mother, but somewhere in my mind, that equated to a fairy godmother.  She was there when I needed her.  She listened when I needed someone to talk to.  She always knew how to make my day a bit brighter.  So maybe the reason they're the same in my mind is that my Nana was magic to me.

One of the main reasons that I always wanted to learn how to sew was from the scene with Cinderella's mice and bird friends making her pink dress.  I remember being in awe when my Nana showed me her sewing basket filled with stuff just like in the movie.  One day, my Grammie gave me my very own sewing basket filled with my first sewing supplies taken right off the store shelves of Dad's family's store.  I treasured that box... and to this day I've never used the supplies in it because they're so special.  Flash forward to today where both Eliot and I are taking adult ed sewing classes together.  I still haven't made myself a dress (yet) but it's on the list!  Hopefully someday... 

Eliot's and my Disney Wedding is obviously the pillar of my Cinderella dreams.  Our Disney Fairy Tale Wedding was literally that... a storybook fairytale come true.  There were so many little touches that we pulled from Cinderella- riding in the carriage, Major Domo with our wedding rings in the slipper, the pumpkin coach graphic, glass slipper place card holders, taking photos at Cinderella Castle... the entire thing was so magical and I’m forever grateful to have experienced my very own real life fairytale. ✨🏰✨ 

Finally, most recently 'A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes' has been extra special to me... especially the part where it says, "Have faith in your dreams and someday, Your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, If you keep on believing, The dream that you wish will come true." 🌈  It's no secret that the past few years haven't been that easy on me.  But this passage of the lyrics reminds me of all the hopes and dreams that I had as a little girl and all the ones I still have.  On the harder days, it always gives me the strength to keep dreaming and believing.

Happy 75th Cinderella.  Thank you for being so special to me.  °o°

Wedding Wednesday: My Cinderella Moments

It's Cinderella's 73rd Anniversary today so I thought I'd do a special edition of my Wedding Wednesday blog segment.  For our Disney Wedding, Cinderella was one of the themes organically due to the location and what Eliot and I decided to include in our wedding day.  As soon as I knew we were getting married at Walt Disney World, it seemed natural to go along with the Cinderella theme. 

I think every girl dreams of being a real life princess at one point or another during her lifetime.  For some of us, that dream never dies... and that's why so many couples get married at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani and the Disney Cruise Line.

I was blessed to have many what I like to call "Cinderella Moments" during Eliot's and my Disney Wedding experience.  Today, I thought I'd share a few of those with you!

Riding in the Carriage- One of the things that I was most excited about was riding over to our wedding ceremony in Cinderella's Carriage.  Riding in the coach is one of those things you think you'll never be able to do, but with Disney Weddings you can.  It was one of the more indulgent parts of our wedding day, but the cost was worth it.

I've talked about my carriage ride before, but I'll reiterate my favorite part.  When we were leaving the Grand Floridian and heading over to Disney's Wedding Pavilion, a bus had to stop to let us out onto the road.  I'll never forget all of the little girls popping their heads up in the windows to catch a glimpse of the "princess" riding in the glass carriage.  I'm sure that I'm in plenty of random people's Disney vacation photos, and it's such a wonderful memory.  To some of those little girls, I *was* Cinderella and if that's not a true princess moment, then I don't know what else is. 

I even got to go into it twice.  Right after our wedding, they had Eliot and I take a short trip up to the road and back so they could take photos and some video footage.  It was the first time after our wedding that we got a quiet minute to ourselves, and it was nice to be able to soak everything in together.  Plus, it made for a great photo op!

Major Domo- Obviously this wasn't a necessity, but when you get married at Disney, you might as well make it as magical as possible, right?  And honestly, I've said it before and I'll say it again, when Major Domo walked down the aisle of the Wedding Pavilion with the glass slipper holding Eliot's and my wedding rings, that's the exact moment when it hit me that we were *actually* getting married at Walt Disney World and our dream was coming true.  It came over me all at once and I got emotional... having him there was 100% magical and something that I'll never forget!

Fireworks- Ok, so fireworks themselves aren't really a Cinderella thing.  But the experience of going into the World Showcase to watch IllumiNations from the France Pavilion definitely had a princess vibe.  From walking through the World Showcase in front of park guests (many who stopped to notice the girl in the poofy white gown), to having our own private location to watch the show, to all of the yummy treats at our Dessert Party, to taking spectacular pictures during the show, to dancing to "Promise" our wedding song after the show was over... the entire evening was a magical memory.

Slipper Photos- A few days after our wedding, Eliot and I had our photo shoot at the Magic Kingdom.  This was another must have... I mean, what's the point of having a wedding at Disney if you can't take advantage of the beauty the resort has to offer? 

I brought along a bag with a few photo props: my "glass" slippers and one of my pink parasols that Stephanie, our wedding photographer, told me to bring along.  One of my favorite photos of the morning was at the Cinderella Fountain that's tucked behind the castle.  Most people walk right by it without even noticing it.  Stephanie used it as a photo location so it would look like Eliot was putting the glass slipper on my foot.  We used the fountain so I wouldn't have to sit in my dress, and I also wouldn't have to keep my foot and leg lifted so long.  I love how the photo came out and I was thrilled to recreate this Cinderella movie moment!

Cinderella Castle Photos- I was so excited about the castle photos.  For months leading up to our wedding, I would become really overwhelmed with emotion every time I thought about Eliot and I having our own photos in our wedding attire with Cinderella Castle.  Thankfully, we got quite a few of them!

Our photos on the lawn didn't come out as well as I'd hoped they would.  (I think it was still too dark out.)  But we got a bunch of other ones that I could only have dreamed of.

I'm so glad Stephanie had me bring the parasol with me.  This is one of my favorites.

Eliot and I were also able to go inside of Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for some photos.

My favorite moment though, was actually one that Eliot sat out of.  Stephanie had us go over to the walkway leading up to the castle where she and her assistant posed me with backlighting.  The result is something beautiful that I couldn't have imagined even in my wildest dreams.  It's the perfect princess moment... I felt like a real life Cinderella.

And to this day, I still have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that all of this actually happened.  Eliot's and my Disney Wedding really was a dream come true.  I am forever grateful to have had my own Cinderella Moments that I'll never forget.

Happy 73rd Anniversary Cinderella!!!  °o°

Fun Find: Disney Fairy Tale Weddings 2023 Fashion Show

Happy Fri-Yay!!!  And today is a big yay indeed.  This morning, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings had their annual Bridal Collection Fashion Show and it was live-streamed on YouTube.  I wasn't able to watch the live earlier, but I have watched the video and the collection is stunning.  As a Disney Bride who wore a licensed Disney wedding gown, seeing all of the new princess gown designs are always a highlight for me!

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Today, Disney Fairy Tale Weddings and Allure Bridals debuted 21 new wedding gowns inspired by Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Tiana and Rapunzel.  (I think that's also the order they had the girls walk down the runway if you want to skip ahead to see a particular princess.)

The backdrop of the fashion show was the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disneyland Resort.  She looked extra spectacular as the castle is currently decorated for the Disney100 celebration.  The lights and florals at the end of the runway also made the show magical and added an elegant touch.

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I was excited to see a few familiar faces.  I've followed Courtney Quinn on Instagram for a while now.  She was also accompanied by fellow content creators Karlie Place, Toni Bravo, Allison Bickerstaff and Janette Ok to host and model some of the gowns.

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And for the first time ever, they debuted a bridesmaid collection!  At the end of the show, four girls came out in the new Aurora inspired gowns in pink and blue.  We only saw these, but they will be making bridesmaid gowns for all nine fo the princesses.

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My favorite part of the fashion show was that they showcased girls of all sizes, shapes and colors.  I've always thought that inclusion matters.  For me, it was nice to see some girls with more curves in the show.  I was never very hung up with my weight or appearance when I tried on wedding gowns, but I've heard horror stories from some brides about trying to fit into the few gown sizes bridal boutiques have.  It's good to know that they thought of women of all sizes when they designed this collection!

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I love all of the new gowns and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite.  My gown didn't have lace details, but I'm totally loving those.  (The Snow White and Cinderella gowns stick out in my mind.)  I'm still a big fan of the poofy princess-y skirts too.  I don't need another wedding gown anytime soon.  But Eliot and I have talked about having a vow renewal someday... I'll definitely be keeping these gorgeous gowns in mind!  °o°

#tbt Our Wedding Reception in Maine

Today we're doing another special edition of Throwback Thursday, because exactly 10 years ago today... Eliot and I had our Wedding Reception in Maine!!!

As soon we decided that we were definitely having our wedding at Disney, we knew we wanted to have at home receptions to celebrate with everyone who wasn't able to travel down to Florida for the actual wedding.  Unfortunately, our California reception never took off the ground, but my parents and I were determined to have one in Maine.

You probably think that we're crazy for trying to plan a destination wedding and then a reception a month later... but that was just par for the course.  Over the summer of 2011, we went to scope out a potential location for our Maine location during one of Eliot's and my trips home to visit my parents in Trenton.  Thankfully, it was perfect and literally a five minute drive from their house.

A few days before the event, Eliot and I traveled the 5.5 hours from our apartment in Woburn, MA up to Trenton for our reception.  We were renting it for Saturday, October 20th, but they allowed us to go decorate the hall the day prior. 

We held our reception at a local campground's event center and it was very informal and more for fun.  We had a video of our wedding that we showed to our guests before we made our "grand entrance".  Eliot and I both dressed up for it.  (He wore a lime shirt, a pink tie and a black suit to match our wedding colors instead of renting a suit again.)  I wore my wedding gown again so my Grammie could see me in it.  

Katie D, Katie N and Kaitlin wore their bridesmaid dresses and BJ and Jeremy dressed up as well.  It was as close the real thing as we could make it feel.

We had Katie D and BJ make maid of honor and best man toasts.

BJ didn't give a toast at our wedding, so it was special to have him make one here.

Katie gave another wonderful toast at our Maine reception.

We also had a cake.  The girls really bailed me out on that.  They all arrived at Mom and Dad's house right about the same time I was having a breakdown.  Mom and I cooked the cake ourselves and I don't think I let it cool off long enough before I tried to ice it.  It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it worked and tasted good.

My cousin Luke agreed to be our DJ and unofficial "host" of the afternoon, so I gave him my laptop with a bunch of pre-selected songs in a folder that we also had played at our wedding reception in Disney.  Eliot and I recreated our first dance to "Promise".

Then, we also had another father/daughter dance.

Finally, Eliot and my Mom also did a mother-in-law and son-in-law dance.

We brought our wedding guest book for people to sign.

I also had some some fake leaves and a Vinylmation to sign.

We had copies of our invitations, wedding programs, wedding photos and a few other things on display for everyone to look at when they first entered the venue.

I put my Build a Bear plush in the windows along with a few other decorations.

Emery was quite taken with the display, especially the photos.  He pulled me over there and kept pointing me out in all of the photos.  It was adorable!

The best part of the Maine Wedding Reception event was having so many people who weren't able to make it to our Disney Wedding in Florida be there.

I was especially grateful to have my Grammie there.

We also made sure to take a photo with me wearing my wedding gown along with Mom, Grammie and Nana at my request.  (This photo is very special to me.)

I'm also really glad that Eliot and I took a photo with us and all of my grandparents... especially since 10 years later, Papa and Grammie are no longer with us.

Eliot's and my Maine Wedding Reception was a simple, yet very special event.  I'm so glad that we had one, even when planning for it and our wedding was a bit dicey at times.  The only regret I have is that we didn't hire a professional photographer for the event.  These photos are so precious to me and it would have been wonderful to have more of them.  However, I'm so grateful for what we did have.  It was a wonderful day celebrating Eliot's and my wedding that was filled with friends, family and love.  °o°

Wedding Wednesday: Maine Reception Preparations

Happy Wednesday friends!  Today, I'm doing a special edition of Wedding Wednesday, because not only has it been 10 years since our Disney Wedding... but it's also been ten years since we held our at home reception celebration back in Maine!

Planning a wedding and then an at home reception exactly a month later is not for the faint of heart.  Luckily for me, Eliot, my parents and I kept the Maine event pretty simple so I spent most of my time leading up to our wedding focusing on our actual wedding in Florida.  That meant things were a little bit dicey between the two events, but we managed and it turned out well considering everything we were juggling!

The most fun part of planning two events was that I could do different themes for each of them!  We had decided to go with a fall theme for our Maine reception since the event was in October.  Plus, I love the fall and if Eliot and I had gotten married in Maine, I would have wanted to do it in the fall with all of the changing leaves anyways!

Today, I thought I'd show you a sneak peek at the behind the scenes action of us pulling everything together the day before our Maine wedding reception event!

The first order of business was making some of the treats for the event.  I had taken a chocolate class recently, so I wanted to make a few things for it.

I ended up melting a bunch of chocolate and making pretzel sticks with leaf sprinkles.

Then, I also used the same stuff to make chocolate covered Oreos.  Yum!

I also separated the edible leaves and acorns for the cake we made.  I found the leaves and acorns on Etsy and I thought they'd be perfect to put on our cake!

The next order of business, and the biggest task, was decorating the venue where we held the event.  Thankfully, they let us in the night before so we were able to get everything set up for the most part!  We piled up all of our supplies and got to work!

We set it up like you normally would for a wedding reception.  We put the head table up on the stage at the front of the venue.  Then, we had tables set up all around for our guests.  Finally, there were a few extra tables for our guest book and other things to sign, one for the cake and another one for all of the food!

My favorite part of the reception decorations were all of the small details.  Eliot and I brought a few of our fall themed Build A Bear plush home and I dressed them in bride, groom, Cinderella and Prince Charming outfits.  They were really cute!

I also made sure to include plenty of photos from our wedding so everyone who wasn't able to attend could still feel like they experienced our wedding.  I created two separate photo boards using poster frames and scrapbook paper that matched our wedding colors.  I put photos from the Wedding Pavilion and our ceremony on the first one.

Then, on the second board I added a bunch of photos from our wedding reception at the Living Seas Salon and of our IllumiNations Dessert Party in Epcot.

Finally, before leaving the venue and calling it a night, we made sure to check and see if the computer and video was working.  I had spent quite a bit of time the day before working on a slide show to play at the reception, plus we also had the footage of our actual wedding ceremony.  So we wanted to make sure everything worked!

Check back tomorrow for a #tbt post all about our Maine Wedding Reception!!!  °o°