Last time I left off, I was waiting for the date to come to book my wedding. Every girl has dreamed of this day. Well, that day arrived for me a couple weeks ago. I woke up at 7:45 a.m. on the day 8 months before my potential wedding date. I called my Disney agent who was booking the wedding for me at 8:05, 5 minutes after the offices opened. She didn´t answer. I left a message with my potential wedding date, my name, and a phone number to call me back at. Then I waited.

I waited for about 30 minutes and then she called me back. Unfortunately, my potential day was already booked. I was disappointed, but asked if the day before was available. It was already booked too. However, my agent was very helpful and told me she would take all my information from me, and book the wedding the next morning for me when the next day became available. I happily agreed, but since I had already set up my profile with Disney Weddings that included my name, address, wedding date, groom´s name, groom´s information, I didn´t really have any information to give. I thanked her and hung up the phone. Now, I had to wait another 24 hours!

The next morning I woke up and waited for the call. I received the call shortly after 8:30 a.m. My agent was cheerful, and informed me that I had gotten my wedding date! I also had received my first option for time! Intimate (now called Escape weddings) can be booked Monday through Thursday with ceremonies starting at 10 a.m., Noon, 2:30 p. m., or 5 p. m. My first choice was noon, which was what I received. I thanked her and then went on to the next step. She informed me I had three days to book four-nights in a Disney-owned and operated resort. I immediately hung up and called the reservation center.

So where would I be staying before the wedding and on my honeymoon? My number one choice, Disney´s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, is luckily, where I got my nights booked. I booked one night for me and two friends the night before the wedding. I requested a magic kingdom view with two queen size beds. The night was easily booked, and I put down the deposit (which was the entire cost of the room since it was only one night). Then I booked a separate reservation for my future husband and me for our honeymoon. We wanted to spend three nights in the Honeymoon Suites at the Grand Floridian. However, they were all booked. While I was disappointed, I was offered a standard concierge room, which was okay with me. It would save almost $1,000 off of our room, and since we are trying to be economical I did not mind. The agent I talked to said she would put in our reservation that it is our honeymoon, and the hotel would hopefully surprise us with something. I requested one king size bed instead of two queens, but she said it is not guaranteed. So hopefully we get it! Once I made the reservations, which took about 45 minutes to get all the details and put down the second deposit, I called my Wedding agent back to give her the reservation numbers.

My agent laughed and said I work faster than most brides. I gave her the numbers, and she told me she´d immediately draw up the contract. I received the contract within an hour emailed to me. The wedding contract basically outlines your day, time, and all the policies about food, flowers, cancellations, and their policies. I read through the contract, initialed every page, and once my future husband and me had both signed it, I mailed it back to Disney that very afternoon. Along with the contract, brides must send in a credit authorization to Disney which gives Disney permission to charge your credit card for the deposit and any other charges that are acquired throughout the process.

The contract was a basic contract that just stated that we would pay for all the charges for the wedding. It also outlined the basic cost of the Intimate or Escape wedding ($3,900) and that any other enhancements we want were extra. We have to pay for the full wedding one month in advance. The cancellation policy was basic in that the closer to the wedding you cancel, the more money you lose. If a bride wants to use outside services, Disney will charge them. There were a lot of little details, but all were standard and fair.

My agent called me the next day to let me know she had received my contract. I asked her about booking a Magic Kingdom portrait session, since I have heard that they book up quickly. She agreed to book one for me, even though she is not my official wedding coordinator. The Magic Kingdom Portrait takes place at Cinderella´s Castle and the Carousel at around 6 a. m. before the park opens. I´ve heard it is an absolutely amazing experience. Definitely one that I had to have! However, the 6 a.m. portrait session was already booked for the morning of our wedding, so I agreed to a 5 a.m. session!

I am now waiting to be assigned an official coordinator. Once I have my coordinator, I will work with her for the rest of the process. In other news, my dress has arrived, and is up in Wisconsin waiting for either my parents or I to transport it to Florida sometime this summer. I also have my shoes and tiara picked out, but I have to order both. I have been reviewing different hair and makeup stylists that will come to your room the morning of your wedding to do your make-up and hair for you. Once I find one that I want, I am going to book the reservation to hold an appointment for me. I also have our reception in Wisconsin booked. Our reception is going to be in April of 2008. The reception is four months later than the wedding, because we want to have a massive reception with all of our friends and family where we grew up. I found a very nice hotel and convention center called Brookfield Suites. They do receptions a bit differently. They feature a cocktail hour for the first hour of the reception, once the hour is done, the reception moves into their grand ballroom. It is an extremely nice hotel and we will be the only event going on our day. I have a personal wedding coordinator that will be there throughout our wedding, and I will work with her throughout the entire process. I am really excited! I also ordered a second dress to wear partially in Florida and partially at our Reception in Wisconsin. My wedding dress is by a designer called Alfred Angelo. My dress is ivory and robin´s egg blue. I ordered a bridesmaid dress in the exact same colors to change into. I picked a comfortable yet still elegant dress that will work with my shoes!

My fiancé and I have also started working on our registries. Right now, we have registered at the Disney World Honeymoon Registry. Since we are living in Florida, and we will have most of our personal items for our house by our wedding, at our showers, we are asking people to buy us an experience or donate money toward an experience on our honeymoon. The registry was a lot of fun, and I recommend it to any bride who is having a Disney World honeymoon! It can really cut your honeymoon costs down (as long as people buy off of it!)

So far, the planning process has been fairly easy. I have great friends helping me out and amazing people supporting me. I feel very blessed, and hope the rest of the process continues to be just as easy because it is the start to my happily ever after.