11 Years and Counting

Eleven years ago I married the love of my life. It seems like just yesterday that we said "I do"...but I guess that means that time really DOES fly when you're having fun.

And we've had a lot of fun over the last decade plus one. Granted, we've also had some "not so much fun" times too, but I'm focusing on the positive today.

It's hard to see from the photos..but damn we looked so young. (OK, yes we were young-ish...I was 29 and Kevin was 35). He had more hair and less of it was gray. I actually had a real waist line! And no gray hair!

Seriously happy. I mean honestly, we're like stupid happy in this picture. And yes, I think my face did hurt from smiling so much on that day.

More smiling, happy people. That would be my mom and dad. And it's one of my favorite wedding day pictures.

Check out the train on the dress. I was totally rocking the cathedral train. I figured I'm only doing this once so the dress had to be amazing. I think it took almost forever to bustle too. And, I do remember that I "blew out" my hoop skirt underneath the dress. Too much dancing I suppose.

This is one of my absolute, all-time favorite pictures of us. I just love it for so many reasons. But mostly because it's so "us."

And this one? Well the photographer said "look casual" ... because you know, that's so easy to do in a huge wedding dress and a tuxedo. It almost looks like Kevin is trying out his best "pick up" lines. Which makes me smile.

The cake. Really, what were we thinking? This thing was EIGHT tiers. All different flavors. All heart-shaped. Because everything in the wedding was heart shaped, of course. (Really, it was). And yes, those are real roses on the cake. And staircases to the other tiers. And I loved it.

This is another favorite picture. I had NO idea that my darling husband was going to smash cake in my face. You see that white dot on my nose? That is frosting. It was UP my nose. I got my sweet revenge ... the next photo (which I don't have handy right now) shows me smashing cake in his face. All's fair in love and wedding cake.

So there's our wedding day (abridged) in photos.

Happy anniversary to my loving, patient, handsome, (did I mention patient?), wonderful, amazing husband. Here's to many, many more years of happiness.

Wordless Wednesday - Anniversary

Happy Anniversary, honey.
I love you.

Magical weddings, a party on the beach,and 'pinch me...are we really here?!?"

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend Disney's Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort. This was the second year I attended the event and it was even more magical than last year's event!

The event was all about social media - but because it IS Disney, there was magic added in at every turn. Our first day was no exception.

After checking in at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (and spending half the day at the Magic Kingdom), we all headed to Disney's Wedding Pavilion... just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Grand Floridian...for the first event - the Platinum Soiree to celebrate Disney Weddings' 20 years of planning magical weddings!

We all received Minnie Mouse bridal ears and then we were greeted by Franck (yes...THAT Franck from Father of the Bride) and Edna (from The Incredibles)! And then we saw the candy buffet tables. Oh my, the candy. With 'carry out' boxes. To fill to the brim with all that candy! (At this point I was thinking "this would have been so neat at MY wedding!").

I ventured inside Franck's and immediately decided that I NEEDED a Disney wedding. Yes, I'm already married. But my 10 year anniversary is next year and well....wishful thinking, I know.

After mingling for a bit, catching up with friends, and enjoying some "bubbly" ... we all headed over to the Wedding Pavilion for more surprises! Along the way we had a chance to see some of the Disney Fairy Tale Weddings gowns by Alfred Angelo - so amazing!

The Pavilion itself is breathtaking. I've seen it so many times as we whiz by on the Monorail, but to be inside and (maybe) imagine a wedding (vow renewal) ceremony taking place....um, wow! Of course, at this point it was filled with about 150 moms in Minnie Mouse ears so that took it to a whole new level of fun!


One of the 'special guests' at the event was Michael Shettell, the designer behind the Disney Fairytale dresses at Alfred Angelo and he had a surprise for us! The newest dress, the Platinum Collection Cinderella gown was revealed. And oh my .... the dress is amazing.

Other 'guests' included Carley Roney with The Knot and celebrity wedding planner and host of My Fair Wedding, David Tutera. A few 'take aways' from these speakers:
- Your audience is everything!
- Social media is a cocktail party. Be clever and interesting.
- Create a trend!

And then....well, it got even more magical. We were introduced to a couple who had been married at Disney a few years ago. They told their story and then Franck whisked them away...only to have them return a bit later to RENEW THEIR VOWS! I think my tweet at that moment was "Oh my gosh! Surprise vow renewal!" It was such an amazing event to witness - the "wedding party" danced down the aisle and I think many of us were crying happy tears for this lovely couple!

After the vow renewal we headed back to Franck's Bridal Studio for one more surprise...Cinderella's carriage arrived to carry the bride and groom to their reception. Oh, and there were fireworks. Because no wedding is complete without fireworks!

And, I had my photo taken with Franck. Looking fierce!


And then it was time for US to party.
On the beach. At the Grand Floridian.
Did I mention how amazing the day was?
It was even more amazing once the party started.

This tweet summed it up:
Beautiful weather. amazing event. Incredible people! #DisneySMMoms

A couple of my favorite pictures from the night:




Throughout the evening many of us kept repeating "Oh my gosh! Are we really here?!? I can't believe we're actually HERE!" And that was a theme that repeated again and again during the weekend.

If this first day was THIS magical, what could the next few days bring?


Disclosure: While I paid my way for this event, we were given an incredible deal by Disney. The conference fee included three nights at the Grand Floridian, 7-day park hopper tickets, the conference, most meals, several special events, and other 'goodies' to take home. All opinions expressed in these posts are mine. Disney did not ask that we blog about the event. But as a lifelong, dedicated Disney fan, I am more than happy to share my experiences with you.