Our wedding was February 25, 2017. We went with the House of Blues. We wrote about choosing our venue, HERE. I have to tell you, the team over at House of Blues in Disney Springs was ABSOLUTELT AMAZING!!!! We did a lot of work with Jaime Jylha and Kate Farmer and those two were seriously the sweetest! They went above and beyond to make sure the entire day was magical! I felt like they were friends!!! We got married in the Voo-Doo Room which overlooks the beautiful lake at Disney Springs. I had gotten sparkly red bows at the Dollar Tree at Christmastime and attached them to the chairs down the alter. They were the perfect Minnie Mouse shape!!!!
For our wedding colors, we chose red and yellow. It was another way to incorporate our love of Disney, as those are the Mickey Mouse colors! I originally saw a bridesmaid dress in a bridal shop that I loved, but it was expensive. Our bridesmaids were our daughters, so I couldnt see paying almost $200 for a dress that they couldnt wear for long. So I found a pattern I loved, and commissioned Jennifer from Once Upon Your Tshirt to make the girls dresses for me! They were EXACTLY what I wanted and she was amazing throughout the entire process!!!!! Red on top, yellow on bottom, a beautiful open heart on the back, and perfect for their ages! The bouquets I handmade myself out of Disney Pins! You can read HERE about how to do that.
For the boys, we ordered their suits on Amazon (those were about $50 for pants, vest, shirt, jacket, and a tie!). Jeremy we ended up buying his suit at Burlington Coat Factory! We found it was actually cheaper to buy him a suit then to rent a tuxedo!!! We added Disney touches by having my mom make the ties out of Disney Fabric. A good friend also bought Mickey socks off of Amazon! I handmade all of their boutonnieres using Disney Pins, a silk flower, and a boutonniere holder I got at Jo-Ann Fabrics! It was all about Hidden Mickey details with the guys!
I got my dress from Brides Across America, which is an organization dedicated to serving brides of military and first responder families (LOOK this up if it applies to you!). I wanted red shoes for a pop of color and to tie in the color and theming. I have very tiny feet (a size 4/5) so finding shoes that fit and dont look like kids shoes, are a challenge. I didnt want heels! I turned to Ebay and found my shoes from a dealer in China (which the shoes costs around $15 including shipping!). They even had a perfect bow that paid homage to Minnie Mouse! I also found some tights with Minnie Mouse on them that made another hidden detail. Beaute Speciale did my hair and they were AMAZING!!!!! The price was beyond reasonable, and not only was my hair exactly what I pictured but couldn't express, it held up the entire time!! I have very fine hair, so that is usually a challenge! They also can do your makeup if you are looking for that! I happen to also be a Younique Presenter, so I did my own makeup.
The morning of the wedding, I was very thankful to not only have my BEST BEST Friend, April, with me. But one of my very dear friends, Rachel, who also owns a company called BRIDESKICK came to help us out that morning too! Rachel thought of so many things I never would have! She was constantly on top of things and came to the rescue on more than one occasion! (Blog post coming soon about her, but in the meantime, go to her Facebook page and give her a like by clicking HERE)
Our amazing photographer, Randy Chapman, met us at our hotel to take pictures before the wedding and to do our first look pictures. (Click HERE to read a blog post about Randy!) We stayed at the B Resort in Disney Springs, which made for some gorgeous pictures. (We used Ohana Adventures Travel to book the rooms for ourselves and our guests!). I loved having Randy as our photographer!! He truly made me feel so relaxed and comfortable! I am usually very awkward feeling and dont like having my picture taken. I cant imagine anyone else being there! I will post all of his contact information at the end of this blog, he is the one that took every single one of these pictures!
We had not yet seen each other in these pictures!
The ceremony went on perfectly! Again, the House of Blues staff, I cant say enough good things about them! Our ceremony was very emotional and full of thought! My dad started crying before we even went down the aisle, which caught me off guard. We all walked out to 'I SEE THE LIGHT; from the movie, Tangled. Jeremy cried during the vows, again caught off guard. And some of the kids cried during family vows! Our pastor came and did our ceremony for us, and we were so blessed to have him! He also brought some laughter which was awesome!
I think one of our favorite things about our ceremony, was how much we included the children and made it about not just us joining together in marriage, but the kids joining us together as a blended family! We did a family unity sand ceremony. Each kid had their own bottle of sand, and the big bottle that we all poured into, had the word Ohana on it, which any true Disney fan knows from Lilo & Stitch means "Family, and Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten!" (we made this set ourselves from the glass section at Hobby Lobby)
After the sand ceremony, we gave the kids each a gift to forever symbolize this for them. We had Devin from TwoDoxieDesigns make this most beautiful glasses that each had their favorite Disney Character and name! Going through her was not only cheaper than getting them at the parks, it helped support her small business!! Check out her store by clicking HERE.
We also did family vows, which to us, was one of the most emotional parts of our whole ceremony! Because of the journeys we have all went on to get to that point, it just meant so very much! I really wanted to share our family vows that we put together with you because they were so special:
Officiant to the
Bride/Groom: Do you Jeremy and Tamara promise to be faithful, loving,
tender and nurturing parents, always there for Tyler, Lillie, Chloe, and Seth;
not only providing their physical needs, but their emotional needs as well, always a good
listener, a loving counselor and a friend?
Bride & Groom: We
do.
Officiant to the
Mother/Father (Speaking to the Child/Children): (Repeat
after me). _________, I want you to know that I love your mother/father very
much. I will not and cannot replace a mother/father loved by you, however I can
promise you that I will love you and care for you as if you were my own. I
promise to be a committed listener. I promise you my trust, to be fair, my
support, what knowledge I can share, to be your friend, to provide a shoulder
to cry on and arms to hug you. I promise to be available to you as I am to
your mother/father.
Officiant to
Child/Children: Do you accept the promises made by _________?
Child/Children: We do.
After the ceremony, we all left to 'SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPEALIDOCIOUS' (I sure hope I spelled that right LOL) from Mary Poppins. That song is the one song that will always cheer up any situation in our family and bring every single one of us to laughter! The younger two skipped down the aisle at the end, which they planned themselves and the guests LOVED!
After the ceremony, we thanked our guests for coming and took a few more wedding pictures outside on the lake. We signed our marriage certificate and let the older two sign as witnesses before heading into the family luncheon, also at the House of Blues!
The family luncheon is what we did in place of a reception. It was a blast!!!! We used the Lightning room at House of Blues and had them cater the food. We chose a buffet that had the following:
- Ceasar Salad
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Build your own tater tot bar with Tater Tots, Carnita, Cheese Sauce, and Jalapenos (THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!)
- Pulled Pork BBQ Sliders
- Assorted Cookies
For each table in the family luncheon, we let the children pick a favorite Disney Classic movie and that was the theme! We had Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tangled, and Lilo & Stitch. I made the centerpieces for each one and used square mirror bases to tie them in together. I also had Jennifer for JLB Papery make signs with quotes from that movie to help them all blend well. Her signs came out so pretty! (Be sure to check out her Facebook page HERE)
Our cake was a very tough decision for us! At the beginning, we were considering not even having a cake because they are so pricey and we were on a tight budget. But we decided it was too important not to have one. We knew we wanted three tiers, fondant, and hidden Mickey details, but kept hitting a wall with our budget. A friend of ours motioned Aunt Gingibread's Bakery in Apopka, FL so we looked them up. They had stellar reviews and their prices were VERY REASONABLE! We did a tasting and honestly liked them as much as my favorite bakery!!!! Click HERE to find their Facebook!
Our family luncheon had so many other fun Disney details and handmade details as well! It truly made it special not just for us, but our guests as well!
This was our Lilo & Stitch themed guest canvas we made. You can read the blog post on how we did it HERE.
We got our card box at a craft store and added the quote.
We handmade our ribbon wands for the exit. The sticks were painted red and yellow and had ribbons that also had polka dots for an extra Minnie Mouse touch!
After the luncheon we got to do something beyond special! We went with Randy Chapman (our photographer) and Rachel from Brideskick over to the Polynesian Resort for some very Disney Wedding pictures of just us two! I still get teared up seeing these pictures you guys! This was a very magical moment for us!!!! Before you start scrolling through all of these wonderful pictures, I want to make sure you all take a few minutes to check out all of Randy Chapman's work! If you ever need wedding pictures, family pictures, engagement pictures, senior pictures, or whatever, HE IS YOUR GUY!!!!! I promise you, it will be one of the best things you ever spend money on! We also got all of our pictures in digital format in both color and black & white! To contact him, you can visit his website by clicking HERE, his Facebook by clicking HERE, or follow him on Instagram @RandyChapmanPhotography.
We had A LOT of fun and laughter with these balloons!!!
That's right people! We had a DOLE WHIP in our wedding pictures! All thanks to Rachel at Brideskick too! It was EXACTLY what we needed after a long day too!
Aaaaannnnndddddd if your not sick of our wedding pictures, keep scrolling for some more that Randy Chapman took that I just had to share!!!
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Omg I just LOVE. Such a beautiful family. Congratulations and May God continue to bless you guys.
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