OK – before I get to the reception, I failed to write about
one of the most awesome aspects of our ceremony. I honestly cannot believe that I skipped over
such a crucial detail! So much to write!
In addition to the coach, we had Major Domo be part of our
ceremony! The only person who knew about
it was my mom, so she was in on the surprise.
When Renee got to the ring exchange, she asked my mom for the rings, who
said she didn't have them. The two of
them did such a convincing job with little ruse that some of our guests looked
genuinely concerned about the whereabouts of the rings! After about a minute, a heralding trumpet
sounded, the chapel doors opened, and Major Domo entered. He came down the aisle and presented the
rings to Renee in a glass slipper.
SOOOOOOO magical!!!!!!!!!
Here's a glimpse for now – we were taking a group picture
and Renee snapped this one – you can only see the back of Major Domo, but here
he is. As if everything didn't already
feel like a fairy tale! Major Domo
delivering our rings in a glass slipper was just perfection. Thank you to Renee and my mom for
orchestrating everything!
On to the reception!
We exited the coach and entered the Grand Floridian
Convention Center where our family and friends were already enjoy cocktail hour
out on the patio outside of Whitehall Room where are reception was being held. The first thing we saw
as we walked down the hall was something I'd been looking forward to for what
seemed like forever.
Let me back up for a minute.
I've written about going to Jellyrolls on several occasions, and those
who have endured my verbal trip reports would probably tell you that I talk
about going to Jellyrolls an awful lot.
I love it. There are many reasons
– the staff is great, the pianists are amazing, etc. – but I have one thing
that keeps me coming back. His name is
Scotty.
We first saw Scotty during a trip in June of 2003 and it was
love at first sight. Don't get any weird
ideas…this is a completely innocent, yet all-encompassing MUSICAL crush. I could just sit in a room and listen to him sing
and play piano for every moment of the rest of my life. And C feels the same way. Before Facebook provided a place for
Jellyrolls to post their calendar of who is performing each night, I would call
to see if Scotty would be playing. If he
was, we went. If he wasn't, we
didn't. Absolutely no disrespect to any
of the other pianists, because as I said, they are all amazing, but Scotty is
our favorite.
So when we were planning our vow renewal, Jamie asked us
what we were hoping for, and I said that my biggest wish was to have "Scotty
from Jellyrolls" play at our reception. C
insists that I said my #1 wish was the coach and #2 was Scotty, but let's not
split hairs. Scotty was up there! Jamie said she'd look into it for us and
waiting to hear whether or not we could hire him was nerve-wracking. When we finally got word that it was a done
deal, I was ecstatic!
The problem was that Scotty had no idea who we were or that
I'd been a ridiculous fan girl for over a decade. When we went to WDW in early December, of
course we went to Jellyrolls. It was
there that I wrote a crazy note (in red Sharpie, no less – so it would stand
out) about how we were the ones who had hired him for our reception. I was a complete lunatic trying to decide
whether to take it up to his piano or not, with C strongly discouraging me in
case things went south and I ended up being embarrassed by being called out in
front of the crowd or something. The
pianists switch off after every hour, so I knew I only had so much time before
he would leave the stage for a break. I
decided to throw caution to the wind and took the note up to his piano. I then obsessively watched in the mirrors
above the stage to see if I could tell if he had read it or not because the
pianos are littered with requests scrawled on napkins and I didn't want it to
get buried and lost. When it was time
for the pianists to switch, the four of them performed a song together (don't
ask me what it was – I had my eye on my note the whole time), and I saw him
take the note with him. He walked off
stage and toward the entrance, where he stood speaking to some friends. I figured it was do-or-die time, so C and I
went up to him and I said, "I don't mean to interrupt, but we're the ones
who wrote you that note." He
immediately started chatting with us about our reception and he is just as nice
of a person as I imagined he would be. I
tried to keep it together while we were talking, but inside I was like a
preteen girl meeting her boy-band idol – nervous and excited and awkwardly
giddy. When we finished talking, I could
not believe he'd be at our reception three weeks later.
So when we walked down the hall toward Whitehall Patio and I
saw him sitting at the piano, I almost lost it.
You have to realize that I was feeling euphoric – the ceremony was done
and I was ready to just have fun with family and friends. I tried to remain somewhat dignified by not
running right at him, but I did go up to him and give him a hug. His piano playing was perfect and C and I got
a lot of compliments about his performance during the cocktail hour.
We were able to enjoy the cocktail hour on the patio for
only a few minutes before Jamie took us to see the room before anyone else
did. Let me say that the room was
already gorgeous to begin with. But when
I saw it decorated with so many huge, colorful balloons, perfect lighting, and
perfectly set tables, I was speechless.
Everything was exactly as I had hoped.
Exactly. For linens, we had black
tablecloths, rainbow rose centerpieces, and a rainbow of napkins at each table, creating a color wheel effect. Our sweetheart table had
a Paradise Falls jar on it – which was beyond perfect because I gave a similar
jar to C for Valentine's Day one year and it sits on the island in our kitchen. You may also
remember that we spotted a similar jar in Trader Sam's at Disneyland last year.
It was then that we saw the cake. Love, love, love, love, love! It was designed to be similar to Carl and
Ellie's Adventure Book without looking too cartoonish. The "spine" of the lower layer had
our names and a Mickey silhouette, while the "spine" of the top layer
had the words "Our Adventure Continues" on it. And the photos on the top of the cake? All five Disney Park castles from around the
world (three of which we've been to, with the other two on our bucket list) – a
nod to our love of travel and our love of Disney. The fact that the cake was a book? My nerd self rejoiced! This cake was AWESOME. I'm sorry this photo does not do it
justice! I hope I'll have a good photo
to share in a few weeks.
After we oohed and ahhed over the cake, we met the DJ for
the first time. Let me admit upfront
that I had not put a lot of thought into the music because I had been so
obsessed with hiring Scotty. Our DJ,
Steve, had sent us paperwork to fill our regarding our music preferences, and I
completely dropped the ball – we only sent everything to him the day before the
reception. That should tell you how far
off my radar the music was.
Keep in mind that at this point, I was so incredibly happy
that I didn't have a care in the world.
So when Steve was going over the paperwork with us, I basically told him
to do whatever he wanted. I'm so glad I
just let him do his thing, because clearly he knows what he's doing and he
proved to be amazingly fantastic throughout the night. He was incredible! Weeks later, I still have family and friends
commenting on how fun he was!
After this introduction, we headed back out to the patio for
a brief time with our guests before they were taken into the room for
dinner. C and I had a few minutes to
actually eat something while everyone was getting settled in there and I snapped
a few photos of the food cards so I would remember everything! The Mickey-shaped mac and cheese was one of
the best things I have ever eaten.
Seriously, it was so good! I
hadn't eaten much throughout the day, so I was really hungry, and I ate
countless spring rolls while we were waiting.
Absolutely delicious! As you can see, I also took pictures of some of the balloons out on the patio, which I loved so much! During this
time, we chatted with Major Domo, who asked about the readings we chose for our ceremony. He was an incredibly sweet man and that
little conversation is something I will treasure for a long time.
Finally it was time for C and I to make our entrance; we
waited outside the room while inside, Major Domo announced our names to our family and friends. The doors swung open and we got to see these
wonderful people we adore so much in this amazing room and I felt completely
overcome with love. We did our first
dance – and it may surprise people that it was not a Disney song – to
"It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I am not really a fan of country music, but I
am always a fan of beautiful music, and this song is just lovely. Of all the decisions we had to make for this
day, the first-dance song was probably the most difficult because we have so
many songs that mean something to us for one reason or another. And frankly, there were just too many Disney
songs to choose from!
After our first dance, my brother J gave a warm welcome to
everyone and then my brother G gave the toast, which was funny and heartfelt
and perfect. Have I mentioned how much I
love these two?!?
Dinner began, which was a buffet. I haven't explicitly stated so, but all of
our food, both at the Welcome Dinner and at the reception, was completely
vegetarian. And it was soooooo
good! Even our omnivore guests found
everything delicious! Once everyone had
their food, a grand piano was wheeled onto the dance floor and Scotty took
over.
Of course he was amazing.
Phenomenal. Incredible. Fabulous.
I could go on and on. He is so
talented that I don't have enough words in my vocabulary to describe how
talented he is. He played all kinds of great
songs, both Disney and non-Disney, and despite the fact that I was supposed to
be eating dinner, I could not help but sing along. I like to think people followed my lead
because after a few songs, the room was filled with many voices singing along
and I loved every second of it. Even
though he had come with a list of songs to play, he did ask if anyone had any
requests, and I as I mentioned, I love Taylor Swift, so I called out, "Shake It Off!" Being the
humble person he is, he made a comment about not knowing it very well and then
he proceeded to entertain us with what is now my favorite version of
"Shake It Off." But he didn't
stop there; he followed that up with one of my other favorite Taylor Swift
songs, "Mean," and thought, "Is this really my life right
now? Sitting here with Scotty playing
this song for me? Does life get any
better than this?"
Scotty finished up his set as people were finishing dinner
and I was very sad to say goodbye to him.
I wish he could have stayed forever – but I do realize the man has a
life outside of my fantasy that he sing and play piano for me for the rest of
my life.
Steve was responsible for the fun for the remainder of the
evening and he did not disappoint! Soon
after Scotty left, he got everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – up on the dance
floor to do some fun group dances with him.
Not sure if I have said this already, but there were a total of 24
people, including the two of us – 22 adults and 2 kids – and it was a perfect
number of people to still be intimate where I was able to actually speak to or
dance with everyone, but a large enough group to be really fun.
My brother J and my sister-in-law R are known for their
incredible swing dancing. They are
awesome together and it was a highlight of their wedding in May when they
performed for everyone. So I am not sure
why I am surprised that they were also so good during these group dances! Steve led us through a long list of dances
spanning about six decades, from The Twist to Gangnam Style, and J & R
nailed every single one of them and looked like they'd been doing them for
years. I was so impressed! What you may not know about them is that they
generally have quiet, thoughtful, and reserved personalities, except when they
are on the dance floor. They are beyond adorable!
After the group dance, everyone danced and mingled both in
the reception room and out on the patio for a while, and then the photographers
gathered everyone on the dance floor for a group photo. Unbeknownst to our guests, this was a bit of
a set-up, because it forced everyone into the room together so the doors could
be closed. I don't remember if it was
Steve or Chris who said something to the effect of, "Wait! Someone's missing!" which prompted
everyone to look around at each. Then the doors opened and in came Minnie,
Mickey, and Pluto!!!!!!!!
The time with the characters was fantastic!!! First they danced with everyone and my
brother G managed to capture some very entertaining video on his phone of our dad dancing with
Minnie – absolutely priceless. And I
can't tell you how great it was to see my both of our moms dancing with Mickey
and my dad's wife dancing with Pluto! I
know the picture quality is not great, but I love these photos!
After dancing with the characters, it was time for cake
cutting. Let me apologize for this next
photo, because it is really not good, but the characters cut the cake with us
and Mickey was hilarious pretending to call Pluto over by bending over and
slapping his thighs, the way you would do with a real dog. Very funny!
As far as the actual cake goes, one layer was yellow cake with chocolate
mousse and the other layer was chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse. It was, as I like to say, SO YUM. Yes, this is how I typically describe
delicious food!
After cake cutting, the characters went out into the hall
and were available for individual and family photos. I can't wait to see all of these photos with
the characters and all these people I love so much! Once the photos with the characters were
completed, Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto unfortunately had to leave us, but the
dancing and merriment continued back in the reception room!
Let me pause here and tell the story of my hair. I mentioned that it was in a fishtail
braid. And it was rainy and humid. This is not a good combination for my long,
thick, curly hair. Add to that all of
the dancing and jumping around I was doing, and I finally had had enough with
my hair making me hot. Out came the
braid and up went the hair into my go-to messy bun. That worked for a while, but more dancing and
jumping around caused my bun to loosen, and when I went to put my hair up
again, the elastic snapped. Did I have
another elastic? Nope.
My hero of the day rescued me. One of our photographers, Dean, saw my
predicament and quickly offered to go and find me a hair elastic. I told him I was just planning on taking one
of the long pieces of tulle from my skirt and using it as a ribbon to tie up my
hair. He told me he had a knife in his
pocket and so he cut a piece off my skirt for me. He saved the day and I don't know what I
would have done without him! As you can
see in the photo below, the ribbon worked out very well! Thank you, Dean!
So after much dancing and laughing and cake eating, we were
all guided out to the patio for yet another surprise. We had a view of the Holiday Wishes fireworks
show in MK over Cinderella Castle! It
worked out so perfectly because they we doing special Fantasy in the Sky
fireworks show at 11:50 that night to kick off their New Year's Eve
celebration, so they had moved up their regular fireworks show by a few hours
and it was on during our reception!
Some people might call that a coincidence, but I call it Disney Magic!
The fireworks alone would have been enough, but we also had
the soundtrack piped in so we could hear the music while viewing the
fireworks. This photo of C and I is one
my mom snapped with her phone while we were watching the fireworks. I can think of only one word: bliss.
After the fireworks, we went back into the reception room
for more group dancing to wrap up the party.
Steve had everyone in a semi-circle singing and dancing and it was amazingly
fun. At one point, he asked for people
who had seen "Frozen" too many times to step forward, so naturally I went to the
center of the dance floor, as did my seven-year old godson, N. What did Steve play? Yep!
"Love is an Open Door!"
So N and I sang the duet to one another!
Could this night be any more awesome and can my godson be any more charming?!? He knew all the words! Love!
When Steve announced that it was time for the last dance, he
had C and I start it off, and then invited everyone else to join us. The song was "When You Wish Upon a
Star" and it was the perfect choice for the last dance.
Our final surprise was that just as the song was ended we
had a confetti cannon shower all of us with rainbow confetti! Even though I knew it was going to happen, it still startled me! I love seeing all
of that confetti raining down on all of us!
And so it was time to head back to the resort, but not
before our photographers gathered all of the balloons together and I snapped a
photo with my phone. To me, it looked
just like the balloons from "Up" and I was deliriously happy!!!!!
Here's to the next 20 magical years!
Next post: Disney Quilt
Happy Tails to you!
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