The Wedding Weekend

I promised I would write about the wedding. :)

It's December, so of course, I had to work Saturday. I worked until noon, then headed home to find Ed and the boys packed and my dress ready to go. I just had to throw a few things into the bags and we would be on our way. We did have to head back to the house because we forgot meds for oldest son.

We had reservations for one night at our favorite resort, the Polynesian, as we couldn't get two nights at anything but a Deluxe resort(thanks to hectic retail schedule, I didn't make reservations early enough). However, reservations made through CRO have a 48 hour cancellation window. On the way there, I called CRO and found a room at Port Orleans Riverside for two nights. That worked-the rooms sleep 5. Jane was kind enough to watch the boys through all these events-otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to go.

We were told to meet at the Poly for the bus to the dessert party, so we headed over a little early to view the decorations. First, I wanted a Kona coffee (damn, I was tired) and then a fruity drink at Tambu lounge, but we were worried that we would miss the bus. Had we known that the wedding party was dining in 'Ohana, we would have had that drink! We waited out front and boarded the bus that would take us over to Epcot.

After hearing of the couples friends and relations for years, it was cool to finally put faces to the names. Even met a kindred spirit on the bus-the best man's wife seems to be cut from the same chronic issue cloth (it's like we were twins separated at birth). It was also amusing to spend time with people who aren't into Disney at all and were just there because that was the wedding destination!

We were ferried to the party location at the lower French Isle in Epcot. The location is on the lagoon and is the perfect location for viewing IllumiNations, Epcot's nightly fireworks program. My favorite fireworks, if you must know. Once at the location, we found chocolate fondue heaven. There were three kinds of chocolate fondues, coffee, teas and sodas. The choices of dipping items was great-fortunately, someone noticed the strawberries and had them removed-the bride is severely allergic.

The next hour and a half was spent mixing and mingling with people who'd I'd heard about and knew peripheral things about. One of the groomsmen and his new bride honeymooned around the world, Disney style. Ed and I would have loved spending the whole evening talking to him about it-he's a great guy with a passion for Disney. It's cool to see him married and with a job that's perfect for him (I'd love his job, to give you an idea). The fireworks were awesome. The time spent with friends was far too brief. We got back to the hotel room and found Jane with sleeping children. She went walkabout, and we feel asleep pretty quickly.

The next morning, we awoke and headed to breakfast. No sooner were we back to the room that Jane took the boys and headed off to Epcot. It sure feels strange to not have the kids around-this happens about once every five years. We had some items to get (a shirt for Ed, gauze for my foot) and we found a brandy new WalMart right by property. We got dressed and headed over to the Contemporary. The reception would be held there-transportation was from this resort, and it made sense for our car to be there for afterwards.

Once on the bus, we found that it'd already picked up passengers-one of whom that was kinda rude to the bus driver. As the ride went on, I was getting a weird sense of deja vu-he was acting like my ex (a fact that Ed concurred with later). Now that I'm on the other side of it, I ask myself what I saw in that behavior!

We arrive at the Wedding Pavillion and it is gorgeous. The weather is perfect, and the view around the lagoon is one I don't tire of soaking in. Inside the pavillion, the architectural details subtly show Mickey heads, hearts and two rings joined together. Very nice. I could totally go for a vow renewal there.

The ceremony itself was very touching. As the bride and groom come from different faiths, it was nice to witness vows that express the important points of a marriage without the bride and groom having to jump through hoops to get wed in the other's church/temple. The musical selections were Disney based-the bride entered to a Sant Saen's piece used in "Impressions de France" and the recessional was from a Christmas parade. The bride's dress was very similar to Belle's ball gown in white.

Everyone in attendance was gathered on the beach for a group photo and then all but the bridal party were shuttled over to the California Grill for the reception. This is the restaurant atop the Contemporary Resort that has an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom. As we were in the Napa Room, the wines were plentiful. We each got a glass of Cabernet, then Ed overhears someone getting his favorite beer, Anchor Steam. I told him I'd finish his glass of wine, but he was enjoying it too much. This is about the time that we discover that they are bottomless glasses of wine. :) Can't complain about that-and the more I had of the cabernet, the more I liked it. Yes, we are entering the realm of drier red, lol.

As befitting a Disney Wedding, the tables had names like "Wish", "Imagine", "Dream" and "Believe". It was a more intimate wedding that I'd expected-I fully expected 80 to 100. It was flattering to know that we were in the small group that was invited. At our table was the Best Man and his wife, and we chatted throughout the night-great people. The meal was incredible-filet so tender it could be cut with a fork.

At the close of the reception, we all went out onto the walkway at the top of the hotel to view Holiday Wishes, the Magic Kingdom's fireworks show. All in all, a great day.

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