Tip o' the Hat(s)

There have been a couple incarnations of Disney's bridal mouse ears over the years.  One set features a sparkly sequined headband with attached veil and a top hat with mouse ears and the other has the traditional beanie caps decorated for a wedding with a mini top hat and a tiara/veil combo.



Disney wedding couples seem to not like the newer set very much.  I like the bride one but the groom one is kind of cheesy.  The tiny top hat and the mock tux? Weird.  Either set provides the annoying combination of squished hair and no shade for the eyes. You can still generally find the older style bridal ears around but the top hat is nearly impossible to find, unless you want to spend $100, which is insane.  So I had a new set (that my wonderful sister gave me) and the old bride ears that I got on ebay. Still, we wanted a better option.

When we first started considering a Disney Wedding we became aware of one couple that is sort of the rock star couple of Disney Weddings.  I've mentioned Carrie Hayward before.  She literally wrote the book on Disney Weddings.  She was married in Epcot in February of 2008.  When I was looking at pictures of weddings, hers were among the first I saw and were certainly among the most memorable.  If you're a total Disney nut, like us, you'd love her trip reports on her blog.  Anyways, Carrie's husband, Patrick, got all crafty with his bad self and revamped the standard mouse ears by removing the ears and attaching them to Bride and Groom baseball caps.

Keeping the Kids Busy

I'm starting to tie up all of the little loose ends!

Today my munchkins had the day off from school (why?!?!?!?) so I was limited in what I could do with my day.  So I sat down at the computer to put together a little activity book for all of the kids who will be at the wedding.  While I am dreaming of dancing like a crazy person with all of our munchkins, doing every silly participation dance out there, I know that they will likely want some time at their table too.  So here's what I did.

I created this little beauty in PowerPoint, figuring that of the programs I have at home, it would be the easiest in which to manipulate images. There are a slew of Disney coloring pages out there on the web.  I was looking specifically for wedding images but I also included some that are just couples.  I also threw in some wedding themed games and puzzles.

The cover is in a font that Disney used to use in the 80s.  It's free and available to download.  It's called Florida Project.  On the back, I put the date and location of the wedding. The finished book will be a folded, stapled 4.5 x 8.5 booklet.  You know, half of a standard sheet of paper.  I was thinking I'd have the cover printed on red cardstock, but then the kids couldn't color the castle.


Click for a sneak preview (black and white line drawings!  Such exciting graphics!)

The Other Dress

On Saturday, I finally did something I'd been putting off for awhile.  I took Munchkin #2 shopping for a dress for the wedding and a day of hanging out together.  I'd wanted to hold off as long as possible so that we didn't have an issue where we bought a dress and by the time of the wedding, it didn't fit her.  I knew that finding a dress that fit, was flattering, age appropriate and also not too expensive was going to be an issue.

We woke up bright and early and drove to a large David's Bridal store just outside Philly.  I had a list of dresses that I wanted her to try on and asked the saleswoman for assistance with any dresses she thought would work. Ignore the Teva sandals, she'll be wearing Chucks for the actual wedding. She was a little confused when our sales associate brought over dresses in a rainbow of colors because I'd already told her that her dress was going to be red and no, she couldn't have the iridescent purple, ruffled, sparkly, short cocktail dress that was displayed at the front of the store.

Table Name Signs!

I spent most of yesterday in my basement craft room working on these four little signs for the dining tables at the wedding.  I always feel kinda bad when I go to a wedding and the tables are numbered and I'm at like Table 17.  The head table is usually table 1 and the parents of the couple are at 2 and 3... and then there's me, the cousin or the friend or whatever and I'm like the way afterthought.  I didn't want anyone to feel that way so instead of numbering our tables (we only have four so far!) so I'm naming them after Disney characters.

Prince Charming, the munchkins and I will be sitting at Mickey.  Duh.

There's also Minnie, Donald and Goofy.  I have Pluto and Daisy on reserve if we need them!

I made these using my Cricut and the Mickey & Friends and the Accent Essentials cartridges. The frames were easy once I worked out the sizes.  All of my time investment came from piecing together the tiny components of the characters after getting them to cut out properly.  I think I need to replace the blade on my machine.

Anyway, here they are:

For the record, Goofy, was the hardest.  His pieces were the most complicated to cut and the smallest to handle.  My fingertips were covered with glue when I was done!

Ribbon Wand Tutorial

No idea who this couple is! I copied this off the web years ago!

 I finally got around to some of the wedding crafts on my to-do list. Today, I put together most of my ribbon wands (before I ran out of ribbon)! These are for the "staged exit" as we leave the Wedding Pavilion after the ceremony, like that random couple above. They make for a prettier photo than bubbles, which can be hard to see and don't show up well in photos.  The ribbon wands also give the photographer a longer opportunity to shoot than rose petals, which are thrown and then fall to the ground really quickly. I love the photo above so I knew we were going to do this! Here's how I did it.

 

Happy Anniversary to the Disney's!

Eighty seven years ago today, Walt and Lillian Disney said I do. They were married at Lewiston's Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Idaho, where Lillian grew up. Lillian made her wedding dress herself and is reported to have giggled through the ceremony.

The Ever-Growing To-Do list...

Note:  I am not Patrick the Starfish.

I've been going through my notes for the wedding as we get closer and closer to the big day and my to-do list seems to be growing instead of shrinking!

Let's see, I've contacted and made deposits to the cosmetologist, the officiant, and the photographer.

Just in case you're interested, we're using
Beaute Speciale
Sensational Ceremonies
Jason Angelini Photography

I've contacted Kids' Nite Out for childcare assistance the day of the wedding. Kids' Nite Out is an AMAZING company that provides childcare services either in your resort room or as a mother's/father's helper.  Don't get me wrong, it's not a cheap service, but if you're on vacation and your little ones are going to conk out at 7 pm after a long day at the parks and you want to experience some of the possibilities of Disney night life, it's TOTALLY worth the price.  I recommend them to everyone planning a Disney trip with little kids.