Wedding Stuff

When Sparky proposed to me in the parking lot after buying the ring, I realized I needed to choose a location. My first thought was the dream I had developed upon my first trip to the happiest place on earth:

Do you know where I am? That is me in the pink outfit in the stroller, just over a year old. Do you need another hint?

This me the following year in a different area of the park. I thought about posting a picture of me in this same location every year of my life... but I haven't scanned in the old pictures past the year 1987 and it would be too much work to do right now.

If you haven't guessed by now, I originally thought I wanted to have my wedding in Disney World. They have a wedding pavilion at the Grand Floridian that looks over the Seven Seas Lagoon to Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom. Ahhh...what a dream.

 

If you look at the picture closely, you can see Cinderella's castle framed in the large window above the altar. So what happened? I went searching the internet to see how people liked their Disney weddings. Most people loved their experience but then I found just one blog... one horrible blog. No, they did not have a bad experience, that would be impossible on Disney grounds. They were horrible. They left all of their friends and family in England to travel half way around the world to be married in Disney World. They didn't have any guests at all. Oh wait, I am sorry, I almost forgot: they paid over $1,000 each to have Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Stitch attend their wedding. Then they had a "reception" at a pizza place in one of the parks. Ugh. It made me want to puke it was so pathetic and sad. Why would you leave all of your family and friends to travel around the world to be married with strangers dressed in mascot costumes as your witnesses?

Anyway, I decided to nix that idea and move onto plan b. The beach. I LOVE it.

Last school year there were about four snow days in a row where I pretty much couldn't leave my house. What better time to plan?! I started searching the internet for beach locations I have traveled to. I landed on Anna Maria Island off the coast of Sarasota, FL. I have been there several times before and it has very beautiful white beaches. I started searching photography websites to find a photographer first. I found Dara Caudill's website and fell in love with the photos. I also love that she posted the local vendors featured in each photo. I noticed several different photos from different weddings had some really cool backgrounds, then I realized that they were all taken at the same place... The Sandbar Restaurant. I wish I could post some of Dara's photos but they are all blocked from being copied since she wants people to pay for them. Obviously. Here is a picture she took of a random flower girl that I found on google images:

 

Anywho, I contacted the Sandbar to see what they had to offer for weddings. Basically they charge one fee and that gives me access to get married on the beach by the water, then they have these permanent roof-structure-things over the sand where they have a bar, tables, chairs, and a portable dance floor where I can have the reception. Here is a picture since they are hard to describe. The floor is sand but it is covered in case of rain. I have no idea who these people are but it is the best picture I could find:

 

Because it is a restaurant they will do the catering, also they move the chairs from the beach to the tables for the reception. So that meant I needed a DJ, florist, and an officiant. Well, Dara's (the photographer) husband is a DJ. I checked out his reviews and he got the job. Here he is:

 

Then I looked through Dara's photos to find the flowers I liked the best. It turns out they were done by Silvia's Flower Corner. During spring break this past year I went to the island of St. Peter to help out a family I have babysat for since I was 16. While I was there I took the drive across the Sunshine Skyway to meet with Silvia and discuss my flowers. It turns out that she is located across the street from The Sandbar Restaurant. How convenient! I also researched the officiants available in the area and decided I liked Reverend Charlie (he doesn't have a website). Here is a miniscule picture of him:

So in about four days I planned my wedding. Now I just have to wait for it to get here. I squeezed all of my parent-teacher conferences into the past two weeks so I can take off the official parent-teacher school day and leave on fall break early (next week). My mom and I are headed down to Anna Maria Island to see the flowers I selected with Silvia, to talk about music with Dara's husband, sign papers with Dara, and check out the hotel I have booked.

I have posted way too much, so that is all for now!