[janiebird66]

How cool to get married at WDW
Hope your Nona made it in ok.
Can't wait to read more!

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Day 4: (Sun May 20th): Rehearsal Day!

Mike and I decided we were going to sleep in today and laze around stormalong (finally!) until it was time for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

We slept until noon! Wow, it's amazing what the complete darkenss of a hotel room will do when you don't set an alarm or wake up call.

Seeing as we still hadn't written our speeches for the rehearsal (we both ended up admitting this the night before - lol, we contemplated skipping stormalong. But NAH! We wanted to swim that baby before it was too late!

Well, we managed an abbreviated swim (I love the whirlpool section!) and went back to the room. Mike had his shower and a nap and I wrote my speech. I got teary eyed writing it, because the words just flowed from my mind so easily and I had so much to be thankful for. It was a nice quiet moment before the next day and a half which would be crazy.

After I finished getting ready, my wedding party and immediate family arrived at the hotel and we walke over to Seabreeze point to meet our wedding coordinator and our reverend.

[Princessbaby]

BIG Cats!! So funny! Glad your feeling better!!

[MickeyMcFizzle]

It was really exciting to arrive at Seabreeze Point and see this on the announcement board at the entrance:



And seeing Seabreeze point itself again today had a bit of a magical feeling to it, knowing what we'd be doing there tomorrow



The rehearsal itself was really short and simple. The reverend was quite funny, and the walkthrough was easy as pie.
I felt a little surreal going through the motions, and at this point, I really started getting nervous/anxious and this carried through pretty much until I walked down the aisle on the wedding day.

A few pics from the rehearsal:

The guys



The girls



Michael and I

[MickeyMcFizzle]

After the rehearsal it was over to O'Hana for the rehearsal dinner.
There were supposed to be 18 for the rehearsal dinner - wedding party, siblings, parents, grandmothers, and significant others of all of the above.

Jill, my maid of honour, insisted I wear the wedding mouse ears she bought me on this day, even to dinner. No complaints from this Disney lover!

At this time, my Nona still hadn't arrived. I was pretty worried but trying not to freak out. Her flight was supposed to get in at 3 pm and it was now almost 6 and no one had heard from her. My dad was a basket case. I called the airline and confirmed the plane had landed.

My theory was that Nona had gone to my uncle's vacation house with them (they rented a home off-site) once they landed before getting dropped off at the Coronado to check in. Chances are they were tired and hungry, and with 4 kids/teens on board they probably wanted to get them settled before dropping her off.

But my dad just wouldn't stop thinking the worst, and my mom gets grumpy when my dad's anxious, and it kind of put a damper on the dinner. I don't blame him for being worried, I was worried too, but I know that she landed fine because I checked that her flight arrived, and she was with family. I was a bit upset about it, because my parents barely spoke a word through the entire dinner and were acting a bit miserable.

Love my parents to pieces, and they are the most generous and wonderful people, but once they've got their mind on one thing, they can't focus on anything else.

In fact, the worry Michael and I had about the trip in the entire planning process was that my parents would get so caught up in what everybody else was doing, and in being a host to our guests all week, that they would place us as last priority. I know it sounds terrible, and I don't mean that they wouldn't be there for us, but I guess I was worried thir minds would be elsewhere.

In this case I decided that wasn't what was happening, it was natural worry, and I shouldn't get upset. I was determined to make the best of the dinner regardless of my worry about my Nona and my parents less-than social attitude.

O'Hana was better than I expected, as I had heard a number of not-so great reviews lately, and I was worried. But the food was excellent, the drinks were delicious, and the entertainment was really fun. My friends and family really enjoyed the unique dining experience and raved about it the entire trip!

A few pics from dinner:


Mike and I


My friends


My parents (See? Grouchy!)


My brother and Melissa, my dad, and grandmother


Mike and I dancing during the wedding/anniversary dance. Mike HATES dancing and I'm pretty sure he did this to cheer me up - lol.

[Cosmicwaves]

aww...so cute...he danced to cheer you up! He's a keeper!

[MickeyMcFizzle]

After dinner we wanted to take some pics downstairs by the pretty flowers with the group. But my parents wanted to leave to go check on the Nona situation. So, after a bit of a minor moment of me getting upset, I went downstairs with Mike's family and my friends to get some beautiful Poly pictures of the group.


The whole group (minus my family)


Michael, his mom, brother, and sister


My two sister-in-laws, mother-in-law, and me


Me and my bridesmaids


Brotherly love

[MissDisney]

Originally Posted by MickeyMcFizzle

After I finished getting ready, my wedding party and immediate family arrived at the hotel and we walke over to Seabreeze point to meet our wedding coordinator and our reverend.

I gotta guess that "Seabreeze Point" is the white wooden trellised area between International Gateway and Boardwalk? I have always thought that would be a perfect spot for a wedding, but I have never seen one there! Beautiful!!! Oh I hope that's it!

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Mike and I said our goodbyes at this point until the big day tomorrow. We decided to be traditional and spend our pre-wedding night apart. My 3 ladies would be spending the night with me at the Beach Club, and Mike was staying with his brother.

I called my parents, and surprise! Nona was there. She just stopped at the vacation house with my uncle to rest and have a bite before coming over to the Coronado. Hmm... I wonder who was suggesting this all day?!

She didn't understand why everyone was so freaked out. And she was upset that she missed my rehearsal dinner, but even more upset that my parents ran out of it so quickly. Sigh... at least she's safe and sound.

I was exhausted and really just felt like chilling all night, but the ladies woud hear none of it! They insisted on going out for a few drinks, so we put our comfies on and strolled along the boardwalk over to Jellyrolls. I had never been and heard it was fun, so I chose it.

Boy was I glad I did!!! Talk about fun! The dueling pianists were awesome, the music was classics and sing-along tunes like Billy Joel, Tom Petty, etc... we just had a great time! It reminded me of this guy who used to play in my university pub and everyone drank a bit too much and sang along. A really down to earth place.

Obviously I only had 2 drinks because I didn't want to be in bad form for the big day (plus I'm a lightweight and can't hold more than a few without becoming a big silly). But we stayed until well past midnight and sang our way down the boardwalk back to the Beach Club.






Singing along to "The Piano Man" by Billy Joel, a personal fave of mine



It was off to bed for these little ladies cuz tomorrow is a mighty big day...

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Originally Posted by MissDisney

I gotta guess that "Seabreeze Point" is the white wooden trellised area between International Gateway and Boardwalk? I have always thought that would be a perfect spot for a wedding, but I have never seen one there! Beautiful!!!

Yep, that's the place. It really was breathtaking for a wedding

[MickeyMcFizzle]

I'll be doing day 5 of my TR tomorrow - the wedding day!

[unamadreditre]

yeah, pictures! It must have been wonderful to have a Disney wedding and been able to have so many family and friends to share it with.

[Dopey]

Mrs. McFizzle, did that weird uncle who invited strangers to your wedding ever show up? I don't want to wait until tomorrow, just say yes or no, k?

[LAURENGOLD]

Great report and pictures!!! What fun!!!

I have a question about the cake....we just ordered a chocolate cake and I choose no filling....was the peanut butter cup good???? That sounds delicious to me!!! Maybe I'll call back??? Would you recommend it??

Can't wait to hear about the wedding day!

[cinderbella]

Originally Posted by Dopey

Mrs. McFizzle, did that weird uncle who invited strangers to your wedding ever show up? I don't want to wait until tomorrow, just say yes or no, k?

Is it bad I was wondering that same thing??


Anyways, I am glad your Nona made it there OK! I was worried for a few minutes..and I am also sorry that your mom and dad were a bit of a grouchy-pants...that picture with your caption was hilarious though i felt bad for laughing..but it made my day. Along with the picture of the Dole Whip Ready2go posted first thing this morning..but I digress...I can't wait to read your installment tommorrow!!! If you get bored and want to start writing it tonight that will be OK!