Robin Hood & Maid Marian

Something that Girl Scout Fiancée and I both want to make sure of is that, even with a package wedding, we make our mark on the wedding in some way. This has led her to research options for dresses, flowers, and cakes, while I've been more focused on the constant stress of trying to figure out how to not look like a shambles at the wedding. It was during one of these attempts to find things to leave our mark on the wedding that I realized just how far around the bend we've gone when it comes to the wedding.

One of my favorite Disney animated movies is Robin Hood (possibly only edged out by Aladdin). I suggested that we look for a cake topper featuring Robin Hood and Maid Marian, since they get married at the end of the movie and we could probably find something wedding-themed. Plus, everyone does Mickey & Minnie, or even Donald & Daisy; something more obscure like this is also more likely to stand out. A quick search turned up just the thing we were looking for, a figurine featuring Robin and Marian in their wedding garb. That same search also turned up the price of said figurine, almost $200!

Heh. Furries.

Just so I'll remember later, the official name of the thing is the Walt Disney Classics Collection (WDCC) Disney Robin Hood & Maid Marian Merry Matrimony Figurine. I just want to step back and take a good, long look at the true insanity of wedding preparation. We're seriously considering dropping $200 on a figurine of anthropomorphic foxes in wedding costumes to use once on a wedding cake. Yes, it's true that the figurines will then go on our bookshelves where we display all of the other artifacts of our Relationship Quest, but the more terrifying part is how I didn't even bat an eyelash at the idea. Compared to some of the other wedding costs, something like that is a pittance.

Learning how to look good.

I am terrible at dressing myself, and one of the things that Girl Scout Fiancée wants me to do for the wedding is pick out my own clothes. We have some general guidelines (it's going to be late Spring/early Summer in Florida, so something lighter, cooler, and with a touch of whimsy, as she would say) and I have some vague ideas, but this is a huge problem for me, because I literally have no idea what looks good. I've dressed myself like a programmer for my whole adult life: lots of jeans and cargo shorts, t-shirts, maybe a button-up or polo shirt if I want to look nicer, but that's about the extent of it.

If a rumpled Black Sabbath t-shirt is good enough for Robert Downey Jr., it's good enough for me.

I've lost a lot of weight and was forced to go shopping for new clothes recently, as I was basically swimming in my old clothes (I wore some old khaki shorts until the point where even my belt wouldn't keep them from falling down my ankles) and realized just how deeply in trouble I am when it comes to dressing myself. I took Girl Scout Fiancée to the store and she picked out some shirts and jeans and shorts for me that, in the end, did look pretty good on me, but I have no way to gauge that for myself. I've accepted the fact that I have no fashion sense, and that it's a miracle that I can dress myself at all. Of course, when you work in an office full of gamers, just wearing a button-up shirt and slacks suddenly makes you the most well-dressed person there, but I've definitely been eying the kinds of things some of the executives in the office wear to try and get some kind of idea.

Lucky for me, mens' fashion is basically unchanging, but it's more a challenge for me to figure out what looks good on me.  Couple that with the pressure of having to look good on my wedding day for photos that we will be keeping close for the rest of our lives, and I'm mildly freaking out. So, I've decided to start small with some basic concepts, and then try and figure it out from there.

Ladies.

I am pretty sure I want to wear a light gray suit, which should go nicely with the more casual tone we want to set and is likely to be a lighter, cooler option in the Florida heat. Girl Scout Fiancée has suggested a yellow and green tie of some kind to match the other wedding colors, including the green that she is planning on using in her dress, but that's all I really know. I have no idea about style or designers, and there's no sense worrying about it until early next year when I've reached my weight goals. Still, it doesn't hurt to think ahead.

Of course, while a lighter suit is more casual, it doesn't by default say, "whimsy" in any way. I've seen lots of photos of guys wearing vests instead of jackets (not my style), suspenders and hipster glasses (despite my residence in Seattle, this is also a no-go for me), hats, etc. None of that really does it for me. The one thing I do think I want to try is some kind of saddle shoe; I've never been able to pull that off before without looking like a schmuck, but I think in the right outfit I might be able to look good.

I like the look of this, but maybe it's just the orange...

This is going to be a struggle for me, I can already tell. Trying to figure out how to look good, after fifteen years of not caring at all, is going to be tough, and frankly not something I am likely to enjoy. Still, I owe it to Girl Scout Fiancée (and myself) to look my best, and it would be nice for someone to look at our wedding photos and be able to say that I cut a handsome figure.

UPDATE: Girl Scout Fiancée liked my idea, and found a style that might work for me.

This is the Giorgio Brutini Trentt shoe.

Calling to Book the Wedding! Kind of...

Well, that was...huh.

Today is 8 months to the day from when we want to get married at Disney World. Despite Girl Scout Fiancée's grumpy early morning protestations, we got up at 5:25 AM to be able to call right when the phone lines open for Disney Weddings at 8:30 AM Eastern time (Girl Scout Fiancée actually made me wait until 8:35 to "give them time to turn on their computers," and I acquiesced). Is it early? Sure. But given that we're going with the Escape package, I wanted to call so someone having a more expensive wedding doesn't swoop in and grab the time and place we want for either the wedding or the dessert party.

We used our phones to do a three-way call and spoke to a very nice man named Cory (or Corey, or Korree, or however the kids are spelling it these days) who took our basic information and then told us that a Wedding Consultant would be in touch with us in two to three business days. Er, what? Everything I'd read up to this point indicated that we would be handed off to the Wedding Consultant and would need to call back within three days with confirmation of our resort stay (which we already have), but apparently now we end up having to wait for them to call us back? That could be awkward, given the time shift and the fact that I'm going to be at work most likely when they call back. Not to mention that I wanted Girl Scout Fiancée to be in on the call; what if they call back when she is unavailable?

I am really rooting for our Wedding Consultant to be named Topanga now.

In fact, I had to specifically ask if there was any way to put a reservation on the time and venue we want for the wedding, and though Cory took the information down and noted it in our file, he couldn't guarantee any kind of reservation. I asked if he wanted the reservation number for the resort, and he said he had no need of it.

All that said, Cory also indicated that we should be in good shape calling this far out to get the reservation we want, so there's that at least. I do feel sheepish getting up this early, because I could have made this call at noon and the outcome would have been the same.

Disney Infinity + Disney World = Sad Wallet

So, I just read this article that the MagicBand technology that I've been reading a lot about interacts with the new Disney Infinity game. I feel like someone at Disney is reaching inside my brain and pushing all the buttons that make me open my wallet and hand over my credit card.

Pictured: my eventual ruination.

It's actually pretty ingenious. Now, instead of the MagicBand that we'll be using throughout the duration of our honeymoon going in some forgotten box somewhere, I'll probably be keeping it with my video games and pulling it out from time to time to access its special Toy Box items periodically, which means that I'll in turn be remembering my awesome Disney honeymoon, which will make me want to go back, which, as you can tell by this blog, probably means I will go insane.

This just makes me all the more excited about the trip, but also brings up another question: What other Disney Infinity exclusives will be available at Disney World next April?

Post-Wedding Celebration: A Change of Plans

A few days ago I was doing my usual obsessive Disney honeymoon research when I came across a wedding blog that I can't believe I hadn't seen before. It was the chronicle of Carrie Hayward, the author of the very useful PassPorter's Disney Weddings & Honeymoons book, which has proven extremely useful for me in trying to keep our wedding budget up to date. I'm surprised I hadn't found her site before, but maybe that's because I'd been avoiding actual wedding websites up to this point, instead focusing on general Disney travel sites.

Anyways, after reading her lengthy tale, I got to thinking about the planned post-wedding dinner at the Yachtman Steakhouse, one of my favorite Disney World restaurants. I'm super excited to go back, but we've been facing a few logistical hurdles with the plan we're putting together, including the fact that the semi-private area at Yachtman only holds up to 18 people, when we will have the full 20 to invite. Additionally, since it's likely to be a dinner where we tell our guests to go nuts and order whatever they want (assuming Yachtman doesn't ask us to use a pre-determined menu), we were looking down the barrel of a $2,000 dinner when drinks, desserts, and gratuity were factored in. For Carrie's wedding, she hosted a brunch, but also did a special fireworks dessert party at Epcot during Illuminations.

Carrie's photo of amazing desserts had absolutely no influence on me whatsoever.

The more I started thinking about this, the more I liked the idea. After all, anyone can have a steak dinner, but how often does a person get to have a private party in a Disney theme park with prime viewing of a great fireworks show? It would definitely be a more unique experience, and something everyone is likely to remember long after the wedding is over. We're hoping to book a later wedding (the 5:30 spot is our target), and a dessert party would give our wedding guests time to refresh themselves and grab a bite of dinner before making their way over to the park, which is walking distance from the Boardwalk. Plus, even assuming we have to pay the $13 fee for park entrance for every guest and used the most expensive dessert menu offered, the dessert party would cost less, allowing us to spend the difference on extending our wedding photography hours to cover the dessert party event, too.

I floated the idea past Girl Scout Fiancée and she was very skeptical. I think it was probably more a change of our plans that made her reluctant more than the idea itself, but we went over all of the information we could find on the dessert parties, and she did some schedule-making of her own to satisfy her own concerns. Still, when we went to bed that night, I think she was more stressed out than before, largely because she couldn't figure out the timing of the wedding, then a dessert party two hours later. What are our guests going to do in the intervening time? What are we going to do?

There are definitely pros and cons to each; the Yachtsman would be simpler, closer, and more like a traditional reception dinner. Of course, the 18-person limit might be a problem, but then again it might not; some of our older guests might beg off of a dinner in a restaurant in favor of retiring early. The dessert party would be a unique experience that might afford us the chance to get some more photos, but there's likely more extensive planning and logistical work needed to pull it off.

This? This is what we decided wasn't good enough for us. What is wrong with us?

Yesterday when I got home, though, Girl Scout Fiancée seemed to be really excited about the dessert party idea! So, it looks like we're changing our plans to aim for a dessert party at Epcot following the wedding. Of course, until we book the actual wedding and dessert party, who knows what is going to happen, but this is the best we could piece together with the information we had available.

The Actual Starting Point for the Blog

If you started reading this blog from the first point, chronologically, you have probably noticed that everything up to this point has been a backdated post. That's because I'm just now actually starting this blog, but going forward I'll be updating it with things as they happen. In the interests of providing a more complete story about our journey from engagement through our honeymoon, and with the hopes that other grooms (and brides) might find something interesting and useful here, I'm going to create posts about all of the major milestones we've experienced up to this point.

I decided to start this blog for a few reasons. First, I'm a psychotic over-planner, which has made planning a Disney wedding both pleasant and challenging. It has been pleasant because Disney is going to handle a lot of the details; challenging because, without a lot of things to do, I'm going a little bit stir crazy. Second, I've found a lot of great resources online for Disney weddings, including blogs and podcasts, but I haven't seen very many of them from the groom's perspective. This is not shocking to me, and even in my relationship Girl Scout Fiancée is mostly in charge of the decision-making for the wedding proper. But I've been put in charge of the honeymoon, and I'm in charge of a lot of the finances and planning, so I've been a little sad at the lack of resources for me to draw upon specifically. It's my hope that any involved future grooms out there can learn from our experience. The third reason is that Girl Scout Fiancée is not going to do a blog based on our experiences, and I feel like documenting our process this way will be a nice thing for us to look back on, sort of like a wedding photo album, but with more words.

From here on, I'll be documenting our progress up through the end of our honeymoon. We are calling to book our wedding date in two days, so this seemed like a good time to start up the blog officially. There should also be quite a few more posts with thoughts, musings, and some actual personal content, as opposed to documenting the process, because I have no other way to get this kind of thing out of my system. And, of course, much of this will be coming from the perspective of a groom, so you can reasonably expect to see more posts about golf, suits, and honeymoon planning than flowers, music, and wedding dresses.

If you're thinking of getting married in Disney World, or have already started planning an Escape wedding, hopefully this blog will be of some use to you.

Wedding Dress Purchased!

Full Disclosure: This is a backdated post. I wrote it after the blog was created, but have written it in the style of an in-progress blog so that anyone reading from the beginning will get a more sensible narrative than time-jumping like Officer Max Walker through our wedding planning.

Today was a very special day for Girl Scout Fiancée. Her sister (younger by a whopping 14 years!) has been in town all week, and they had planned to go down to Tacoma to go wedding dress shopping. They took along the Guru's wife, plus another close friend of ours, and as fortune would have it she was able to find a wedding dress that she liked. They bought the dress at the Wedding Bell, and I have staunchly refused to see any pictures of it, though I don't know how realistic that will be in the coming months.

Now the pressure is on for me; I have to actually make some decisions about what I'm going to wear at the wedding, and what my brother (the Best Man) is going to wear. 

A Little Golf Interlude

Full Disclosure: This is a backdated post. I wrote it after the blog was created, but have written it in the style of an in-progress blog so that anyone reading from the beginning will get a more sensible narrative than time-jumping like Hiro Nakamura through our wedding planning.

It's been over seven months since I started taking golf lessons to get prepped for playing at Disney World, so it's time for an update. The Guru and I took lessons about twice a month up through June, and then, once the weather turned nice, our instructor suggested that we get out on the course and get some actual play in. One of the nice things about the course we play at is that, after about 5:30 PM, you can get twilight golf rates, which are cheaper by about half. The real advantage for us, though, is that there is hardly anyone else out on the course that late, so the two of us can whack away at the golf course without disturbing other people. Since the sun doesn't go down until 9:30 during the summer (one of the things I love about living in Seattle), we have no problem getting in nine holes with plenty of light to spare.

I have noticed a marked improvement this year over last year. I'm really hitting the ball well with my irons, and though I still struggle with the driver off of the tee I usually end up on the fairway. I'm actually fairly good at chipping, but putting is my Achilles' heel; on the green, I'm just terrible. If it weren't for my putting, I'd be getting close to par on some holes. I still don't have a ton of confidence, and I usually completely botch a shot about once every three holes, but I'm putting together a fair game, and am seeing my score get better every time.

The last time my parents were in Disney World (just a couple of months ago when they took my brother and his wife down with them) I asked my parents to send a few souvenirs for Girl Scout Fiancée, including a new Minnie Mouse antennae topper to replace the one that got destroyed. Apparently, my mother was extremely distraught at the idea of sending Girl Scout Fiancée souvenirs and not sending me anything, so they picked up a divot repair tool that came with three Disney character ball markers (Mickey, Goofy, and Donals) that magnetically stick to the divot repair tool. I finally remembered to stick it in my golf bag this weekend, and here's a photo of one of the ball markers in use on the course.

I made my golf partner use the Goofy ball marker, because he forgot a coin.

I still have a long way to go before I'm going to feel confident enough to play at Disney World, especially since the weather is about to turn again here in Seattle and I have no idea practically how many times I'm going to be able to hit the links this winter. I am going to try and schedule some more lessons for the winter to help me with my swing and consistency, but what I really need is more practical experience on the course!

Seattle Party: Now in Brunch Flavor!

Full Disclosure: This is a backdated post. I wrote it after the blog was created, but have written it in the style of an in-progress blog so that anyone reading from the beginning will get a more sensible narrative than time-jumping like James Cole through our wedding planning.

By and large, up to this point I have let Girl Scout Fiancée do the bulk of the pre-planning for the Seattle wedding celebration party. It's been her baby from the beginning, and other than my insistence on two key elements (fun, and Men's Room Red beer) and the occasional near-fainting episode when she mentions a cost to me, I've mostly been content to let her plan the local party. She has a vision, and my job is to make sure that vision happens in a way that is a win for me, her, and all of our guests.

I may need to invest in one of these. All this planning is giving me the vapors!

We got some pricing back from one of our first-choice food trucks and it was...well, it was ludicrous. Clearly their catering is geared more toward corporate events and mega-huge parties thrown by rich people. I believe my exact response to the e-mail was, "HAHAHAHAHAno." Fortunately, Girl Scout Fiancée is always thinking on her feet, and is about a million times better at thinking of things that are fun and unique, so today she came up with a counterproposal: instead of doing a lunch or dinner at the party, we move the start time up a couple of hours and have a brunch-themed party. I loved the idea, mostly because I'll pretty much do anything with the word "brunch" in it.

As she is prone to do, Girl Scout Fiancée  already had a replacement food truck in mind, the Seattle Biscuit Company food truck. I hit up the website, and immediately knew this was meant to be when I read the slogan: Southern Born, Northwest Raised. If that's not a fitting metaphor for my own life (born in Tennessee, moved to Seattle seven years ago), I don't know what is. Fortunately, today the food truck was up in a relatively accessible part of Seattle, so we drove up, grabbed Girl Scout Fiancée's friend (who visits once every few months after stints as an observer on Alaskan fishing vessels), heretofore known as the All-Seeing Eye, from her dorm in the city, and decided to do our own "tasting menu" experience (otherwise known as standing in line with the other customers and just buying food).

The Seattle Biscuit Company Menu

I got the Willie Lee, which is a pretty traditional breakfast biscuit. Girl Scout Fiancée and the All-Seeing Eye got the special, which was an egg with andouille sausage and jalapeño jelly. I also grabbed one of the honey-and-butter biscuits to have tomorrow for breakfast, and we got a side of the cheese grits as well. Of course, I needed coffee, and though it probably makes me a bad Seattle hipster only Starbucks would do, so we drove to the Safeway nearby, grabbed a Starbucks from the inside, and then headed to a nearby park. It was sunny, open, and there was a picnic table where we could enjoy our biscuits at our own pace.

This thing (the Willie Lee) is the size of a large double cheeseburger, for scale.

One of the best side dishes: cheese grits made with Beecher's cheese.

Totally. Worth. It. The biscuits were delicious (though I think I would have been fine not having jelly on my otherwise savory biscuit), and we were all stuffed by the end. Barring any kind of problems working out a contract or menu, I think we've found the food truck for our Seattle celebration!

Girl Scout Fiancée enjoying her biscuit.