Location: Rose Court Garden, Grand Californian
Photography: Root Photography
Hair and Makeup: Tara Fontana for Fairytale Hair and Makeup
Our ceremony was held at the Rose Court Garden at the Disneyland Hotel at 11:30am, and our reception immediately followed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel in the Trillium Room. I hired Fairytale Hair and Makeup and they came to our hotel suite which was very convenient. I didn’t have a bridal party so I opted to just get ready in the hotel suite with my mom, and Tim’s mom and sister. We arranged for breakfast to be delivered via room service and we drank mimosas and chatted and laughed. Hanging out with Tara and Adri was like being with old friends. I was feeling nervous but they had me cracking up the whole morning.
We did a first look but my feminist side didn’t like how the groom always turned around to see the bride, so we did a reverse first look, where Tim came up behind me and I turned around to see him. This decision produced my favorite picture of the day, which shows me standing on the lawn alone. I had this couple minutes all by myself and this is the moment when everything really sunk in for me … I was getting married to my best friend. I was having the Disneyland wedding I had always dreamed of. Everything in that moment was perfect. This was my fairy tale coming true.
The garden gazebo was decorated with a floral arrangement, tulle, and beading through Disney. I DIY’d the rest of the floral, including my bouquet, using fabric. I spray painted mason jars and tied ribbon around them and placed the fabric floral arrangement inside. Our awesome Day-Of Coordinator Rebel Belle Weddings set everything up for us, including DIY programs that Walt Disney World bride Wendy helped design for us, and ribbon wands from Living A Fairytale that I won through a giveaway on Magical Day Weddings! Tim’s oldest friend, Rich, got ordained online and performed the ceremony, and he did a great job! We hired Ted the Harpist from www.yourharpist.com for the ceremony music, and he even learned a Mulan song for my walk down the aisle for no extra charge.
Our pre-reception was held in the Brisa Courtyard at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, which is a favorite spot of ours because the monorail zooms by overhead. Ted continued playing harp music for the hour, and we had a cheese and fruit platter and open bar for guests.
Our reception ballroom featured a mix of standard round tables and wood rectangle tables because I wanted a unique look. The centerpieces were again made with my fabric flowers and gold spray painted jars and bottles. The tables were named after our favorite TV shows. We made “cootie catcher” menus that also included fun trivia about us, which served to keep guests entertained when they first sat down and was also a nod to the TV show “Community,” which Tim works on as a writer. We couldn’t bring our beloved cat Walter to the wedding so a friend immortalized her in clay for our cake topper. The gazebo decor was moved over to our sweetheart table, which fit perfectly. The highlight of our reception was, of course, when Mickey and Minnie arrived. I also surprised Tim with Donald, who is his favorite Disney character. The guests went bonkers over them and they were so great interacting with everyone, especially my grandmothers.
Not pictured, but, our reception ended at 5pm so we wanted to do something special for our guests in the evening. We arranged to have our own version of the WDW “Dessert Party” at The Wedding Garden at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. We served ice cream sundaes, cotton candy pops, and mini churros. We also served glasses of Magicale, a yummy sparking wine that unfortunately is no longer available. I was beyond exhausted and left the Dessert Party early, but I was later told our guests raved about it!
So, overall, Best Day Ever.
