We had split into two reservations for this meal, one under my name and one under Luke’s name. We arrived a bit late, but luckily my Dad was there on time so he was able to get them to hold our reservation.
I don’t know what everyone at Luke’s table ordered, and I don’t have pictures of anything, but I do know the chefs made Larissa a vegan dish that she loved.
At my table of eight, seven of us ordered the Le Cellier Signature Poutine – fresh-cut fries, Canadian Cheddar, truffles and red wine reduction, $10 (the current cost as of November 2021 is $14). I’ve had this before, and really enjoy it – but a few people complained that it was too salty. This is not like a traditional poutine we get as Canadians, it is definitely elevated with the truffles and red wine reduction (a bit of a step from the classic brown gravy typically used haha).
I also ordered a bowl of the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup – made with Moosehead Pale Ale and Neuske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, $11 (current cost as of November 2021 is $13). Again, I’ve had this before and Luke has even made it at home – we’re fans.
I wasn’t in an alcohol drinking mood, and just had a Root Beer, $3.49
Other dishes ordered at my table included the Mac and Cheese – provolone, fontina, asiago, parmesan, Laura Chanel goat cheese, $10 (I took this description from the current menu but I feel like it might have been slightly different at the time, I don’t know if the person who had this would order something with goat cheese…), a Seasonal Poutine, $13 (no idea what it was, I didn’t take a picture of the menu that day, but I think it’s the one you can see in the background of my picture above), the Wedge Salad – marinated toy box tomatoes, edamame, applewood-smoked bacon, Artesian blue cheese, buttermilk ranch, crispy onions, $14, a Meat Appetizer – I only have a picture of my receipt with no description, but I think this was a pork belly, $15 and the Maple Glazed Brussel Sprouts, $9.
I love the bread service here – the pretzel bread is fantastic! I could probably make a meal just out of that!
I ended up not being able to finish my meal – my eyes were bigger than my stomach! I missed eating at the same table as Luke, as we typically would have shared the two dishes I had ordered. If I was thinking, I probably should have shared with my Mom instead of both of us ordering a poutine. Oh well!
We had the bill for our table of eight put onto one bill, and then used my Tables in Wonderland card for a discount. The total for our table (including the 18% gratuity) was $179.04. We all pitched in and left more cash on the table for a tip, since we had all just ordered appetizers and the server could have had tables ordering steaks.
I have no idea what Luke had, but I did write down in my notes that the total for his meal was $31.95. I’m guessing he also ordered the soup and poutine, and probably an alcoholic drink of some kind? He didn’t take any pictures, and he was sitting on the other side of the restaurant so I have no idea.
Tables in Wonderland original cost: $150 Break Even Point Before this meal: $0 Savings this Meal: $34.70 Total Saved: Full cost of card + $125.99
Predicted food budget: $2631.67 (does not include tip) Estimated Cost of this meal: $83.08 Actual Cost: $20.86 (Fallon) + $31.95 (Luke) = $52.81 Over/Under: Under by $30.27 Remaining: $1093.09
My Mom had to wake up really early this day – she still had no luggage so she took an Uber to a nearby Walmart just to buy some clothes/toiletries. She was back to OKW, dropped off her stuff, showered and changed into new clothes, and was still standing in our room before Luke and I were ready for the day haha.
Everyone actually had an early start today, and we all met up at Animal Kingdom. Luke and I had also bought custom t-shirts for everyone, and this was the day we asked them to wear them. Plus – Luke’s youngest sister Callie and her daughter, our five month old niece Isabella, had arrived in Disney that morning (they were living in Cancun, Mexico at the time). We were very excited to see them! Luke and I ended up spending very little time together on this day, so I’ll do my best to detail his day. We actually don’t have a single picture together from this entire day haha.
When we left our room, we had just missed the bus, we watched it drive past us. Luckily, Steph, Lauren and Ryan were on that bus – and the girls were wearing shirts that said “Bridesmaid” on them. They told the bus driver he had just drove past the Bride and Groom, so he actually stopped and let us on haha.
When we arrived at Animal Kingdom, Luke led everyone over through the second entrance at Rainforest Cafe, while I went with my Mom to get her Canadian resident park tickets activated. Once we were good to go, we entered my Mom’s first Disney park ever!
I was messaging a few people, and pretty much everyone was in Pandora – so that’s where Mom and I headed. It was looking as beautiful as ever!
We had set up Fastpasses at either Flight of Passage or Navi River Journey for everyone in our group – for some, this would be their only chance to see Animal Kingdom, so they had FOP. For the rest, we had another AK day planned for later in the week with FOP Fastpasses that day, so today was for Navi River (remember – this was back in Pandora’s early days, it wasn’t even a year old and you could only reserve a Fastpass for one or the other).
I was in the Navi River group on this day – and it was actually my first time riding it! It was…underwhelming. The Shaman animatronic is extremely impressive, and the ride itself is really pretty – but it feels short and lacking a “wow” factor like Flight of Passage has. I also can’t really remember who was on this with me – Mom for sure…maybe Ashley and Mike?
Luke had a FOP fastpass, but he actually ended up giving his MagicBand to his sister Callie so she could go on it – we hadn’t planned on her coming to AK after her super early morning flight (I think her flight left Cancun at 5am) and had booked some Epcot FP+ for her later in the day.
We all just hung around Pandora for a bit, taking pictures and enjoying the anticipation of the week ahead. Our entire group of invited guests (minus my cousin who lived in Florida) were now here, and it was only two more days until the wedding! We were also excited to see the baby – Luke and I had only met her once before this. She was so cute in her Minnie Mouse outfit <3
I took some pictures with my Sister-in-Law, Callie –
And also got a few with my Mom in the same spot –
We decided to leave Pandora, but we found a Photopass Photographer on our way out so of course we had to stop!
Of course I needed more pictures with my Momma –
I think this is actually the first time I’ve mentioned the custom buttons we had made for our wedding! You can see it pinned to Mom’s sweater in the picture above, but everyone received one. I had mine on my backpack most days. They were nothing fancy, but they were cute – and I ordered way too many and have an impressive stack of them at home to this day haha –
Now back to the Photopass Pictures – Luke got some with his family – from left to right, that’s his sister Callie, his sister Jill, Luke (of course), his mom Laura and his aunt Cathy –
Our plan was to meet up in Africa, we all had a Fastpass for the Safari together. We had told/messaged everyone a time to meet up, and pointed them in the general direction. Devin and Larissa, and Ashley and Mike stopped for Photopass pictures on the bridge leading into Africa , which is such a great spot for pictures!
During our trip to WDW in January 2017, we ate at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ on our arrival night, and we both declared it as one of the best meals we’d ever ate. After Luke proposed and we started discussing the very real possibility of holding our wedding at Walt Disney World (and we had agreed that a Wishes Wedding – which includes a reception catered by Disney – was too far out of our budget), we decided we needed a reception venue. I almost immediately suggested Homecomin’, I remembered reading about another couple who had great things to say about hosting private functions there – and it didn’t take much convincing to get Luke on board!
The first thing we did to get the ball rolling was to go onto their website, http://www.homecominkitchen.com. At the bottom it mentioned Group Events, with an email to contact them for groups of 25 or more. At the time, we had no idea how many people we would have, but we used that anyways. We were also still a few months out from being able to lock in our date with Disney, but we wanted to see pricing so we could begin setting a budget.
I received an email back from Homecomin’ the next day – communication was excellent throughout the entire planning process for this! They sent us two options for menus – a $55/person one and $70/person one (this has since changed, and I’ve heard the cost is now dependent on the time of day you are holding your event). This is what the $55/person menu looked like:
The only difference between this one and the $70/person menu we were sent was the addition of one appetizer (three appetizers instead of two – which seemed like a lot of money for such a small difference).
We knew there would be more than enough food without the addition of another appetizer, so the $55 menu it was! I let my contact at Homecomin’ know our choices for dates for our wedding (first choice January 10th, second choice January 9th), and told her I would let her know as soon as I was able to confirm the date with Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings. Luckily, both of those dates were available at Homecomin’ – not a huge surprise since they were a Tuesday and Wednesday.
Once everything was confirmed, and we had our dates set, we set our menu and paid a 50% deposit. At the time, we still didn’t have final numbers, so we based it on 20 people total.
As our wedding day got closer and we had a better number, I contacted Homecomin’ again and updated our guest list to 21 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. We also added on one moonshine cocktail (or drink of choice) for everyone. Looking back now, I wish I had left off the drink for everyone, and just picked up the tab at the end of our reception- we had to pay $12/drink up front, but some people ordered $7 beer, some people didn’t drink at all, etc. Those who had more than one drink were brought a bill to pay the difference, and I really didn’t like that. The cost to add an open bar was insane, but I should have just had it all added to the bill Luke and I paid at the end of the night. They weren’t very clear on offering a bill on consumption bill – but that’s honestly my biggest complaint about the entire experience dealing with them.
Our guest list included 3 vegans and 1 vegan/gluten free – not the greatest food restriction when eating at Homecomin’. However, I contacted them and they sent me options. The day of the wedding I didn’t sit with any of the vegans so I didn’t see their food, but they told me it was delicious and they were all full. I believe they had a large salad specially made for them, and topped with a chopped up vegan patty – sorry I have no photos of it. They were also brought french fries I think? And possibly a few other things?
On the day of the wedding, we arrived a little bit early. They weren’t finished setting up, but they let me go out to the porch area since I had the centerpieces (I just never had time to drop them off in the days leading up to the wedding). Everyone was staring at me as I made my way through the restaurant in my wedding dress haha.
I handed over my little box that had the centerpieces, and they set them out for me. I kept it simple, and we used the bridesmaids paper bouquets to fill out the centerpieces. The rest of the sparkly things I had purchased from the Christmas section at Michael’s Craft Store, and the vases were plain ones that I wrapped a single strand of rhinestone ribbon around (you can kind of see the shimmer from the rhinestones towards the bottom). They fit our colourful, Up-theme perfectly, and they didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I can guarantee I’m the only one who even remembers what the centerpieces looked like that day – so save your money brides!
They also had an extra table for us to set up our guest book and Polaroid camera, and we set our Mickey balloons from our ceremony beside that. And yes – we had even bought Disney-themed Polaroid film!
We had the entire back part of the patio, with three tables to accommodate our guests. We also had two dedicated servers – they had no other tables in the restaurant and they were only there to assist the 20 of us – it was unbelievable service!
We all made our way to the tables, and shortly afterwards the food began to arrive! It was served family style, with a serving dish placed on each table.
First up was the Jasper Board – Assortment of pimento cheese, buttermilk crackers, smoked sausage, shaved ham, bread & butter pickles and candied pecans (and here’s a picture from my professional photographer of it – )
And here’s the picture I snapped of it quickly with my phone after it was already half-eaten –
This was slightly different than the description, as that stuff in the center was a fish dip, and I don’t remember any smoked sausage on there. I also didn’t eat much from here, I knew how many other delicious things were heading our way and I had to save room in my belly! I did try a small piece of ham and a candied pecan – and both were very tasty! I did find out afterwards that they would keep refilling this board as requested – the table that Luke’s family was sitting at went through three servings of pimento cheese haha – so it was clearly a big hit!
Our second choice for an appetizer was the Church Lady Deviled Eggs – Homecomin’ Kitchen style whole deviled eggs
These are always a hard pass for me, I don’t really like eggs at all. But Luke loves these, so this was a choice for him. Most people seemed to enjoy them though, and I don’t think there were any left by the end of the meal.
Next was the salad: Harvest Salad – mixed greens tossed with fire-roasted red peppers and corn, shredded white cheddar cheese, heirloom cherry tomatoes and house-made balsamic dressing. Topped with avocado and hushpuppy croutons.
I seem to remember this having more of a ranch-style dressing (like a house-made ice-box dressing) instead of balsamic – which would be much more up my alley. I ate a bit of this – I skipped the red peppers and tomatoes, but everything else was nice and fresh – and I always appreciate vegetables while at Disney since I never seem to eat enough of them!
On to the entrees! Three of the five offered involved seafood – which I don’t eat. So that made my decision easy – chicken (which was non-negotiable, it was always going to be part of our menu), and pork.
Art’s Fabulous Fried Chicken – buttermilk brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and garnished with fresh herbs
Right after the main entrees were brought out, the chef in charge of our meal came out to introduce himself and to personally ask if everything tasted fine – again, the service we received here was spectacular! I mentioned that I wouldn’t mind a few more pieces of white meat chicken, and he went into the kitchen and came back with a full platter of it! Obviously, we couldn’t eat it all so they packed it up for me to take with me at the end of the night 🙂
Chopped Barbecue Pork – dressed with HFK sweet and spicy barbecue sauce
This doesn’t come close to the fried chicken, but it’s very tasty pork! It’s tender and the sauce is clearly house-made. I’m pretty sure the platter that was placed on our table was polished off by the time everyone finished eating. The pickles and coleslaw were nice little touches too!
We also selected three side dishes. The first one was a no-brainer: Cheddar Drop Biscuits
I LOVE these things – they are so amazing here. Every single time we come to this restaurant, I must have these biscuits! I don’t know what it is about them, but they are the best ones I’ve ever had.
Our other two picks were: Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Southern Style Green Beans
Pretty straight forward, but I do love my mashed potatoes! We chose the green beans because we felt we needed a vegetable – and collard greens are gross.
Since we only had two underage guests – one was my gluten free/vegan cousin and the other was our five month old niece, we decided to go for the Shine Cake – an adult only buttercake soaked with moonshine syrup. We figured they would just bring out a slice for each person – and they did. But, the head chef working that day didn’t realize we were a wedding reception until we arrived (he just knew he had to prepare for a private function) – so he took it upon himself to bake an entire Shine cake just for Luke and I so we had something to cut! We were not expecting this, and it was such a nice gesture! Plus, look at how gorgeous this thing is!
After having a small slice each, they brought out a box and packed up the rest of the cake for us to take with us – and yes it made it all the way back to Canada! We froze it, and ate it over a year later and it still tasted awesome!
Obviously, this wasn’t going to work for the gluten free and vegans in our group, so I had called ahead and ordered a cake from Erin Mckenna’s Bakery in Disney Springs. It was the smallest size they offered – 6″ I think? But it was so thick and huge! I prepaid the $55 (I think?), and my cousin picked it up and brought it with her to Homecomin’ – the servers there took it and cut it and plated it nicely, which I thought was a really nice touch. I didn’t even get a picture of it, and I can’t remember what kind I even ordered for them… but just know I didn’t forgot about them!
After everyone was completely stuffed, we took a bit of time for speeches from my Maid of Honour, my best friend Ashley, and Luke’s Best Woman, his sister Jill (with an adorable little poem by his youngest sister, Callie)
By this point, we had long overstayed our welcome, and we still had one more wedding day event to get to! So we settled up the remaining balance we owed, we told the servers to keep the centerpieces (minus the bouquets – they were actually so excited and one of the ladies immediately shoved one of the glittery fake flower-looking things into her hair), we grabbed our boxed up food leftovers and off we went!
It was seriously an amazing experience – one that took me an entire novel to write about haha. The level of service we received was top notch, and we felt that it was worth every penny we paid. Plus, it was a slightly unique wedding reception menu with incredible food – and no one left hungry!
I don’t have the exact total cost for this, but it was built into our wedding budget (not our food budget for the trip) and we felt the price was comparable to a wedding reception menu anywhere at about $100/person (and that’s after adding a drink, tax, service charge, gratuity, etc). We also left a huge tip, since we were so impressed and our dedicated servers were fantastic! If you ever find yourself needing to book a Disney Springs restaurant for a private function, I can’t recommend this enough!
Every good story has to start somewhere, this one is no different.
This is the story of how I died. No, wait, that’s the beginning of Tangled. In the beginning, there was only ocean. Hmm, nope. That’s Moana. Wait, I think I got it!
Once upon a time, a couple of Canadian hockey fans named Fallon and Luke decided to be spontaneous and book a last minute trip to see the Winnipeg Jets battle the Anaheim Ducks during the first round of the 2015 NHL playoffs (April 2015). They decided to check out Disneyland; “might as well since we’re already here”; and a love was born. Within a few weeks of being back in Canada, a trip was booked to visit Walt Disney World for the first time, and a great 7 night trip occurred in January 2016. While on that trip that was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, they decided they would return to Orlando in January 2018, and go on a shorter/cheaper trip to Disneyland in 2017 to give them their Disney fix… Fast forward a month, to February 2016, and Luke wins a contest, sending them back to SoCal and allowing them to spend a day at Disneyland. Many discussions followed that trip before it was decided- they would be returning to Orlando in January 2017 for 9 nights, with the plan still in place for January 2018 as well. In the fall of 2016, a deposit was placed on a Disney Cruise for the 2018 trip, boarding the day after the full marathon.
Flash forward to the January 2017 trip, and this happens:
It didn’t take long to decide that a Disney Fairytale Wedding would be perfect- no matter what they decided for a wedding venue, most of their families would be required to travel. With that decision, the Disney Cruise was canceled, the 2018 trip extended and family and friends were invited along. What a trip this would be!
So now that you have the backstory, I’m sure you want to know a bit more. Here are the answers to the five W’s:
Who: I’m Fallon, I’ll be the main trip writer for this. I was 29 years old on this trip, and turned 30 on the day we flew home. This was my third trip to Walt Disney World, and 7th Disney trip overall (in addition to the trips mentioned above, we also went to Disneyland in January and November 2017 – where we did an engagement photo shoot as seen below).
My favourites:
Park: Animal Kingdom
Overall Ride: Expedition Everest (although my #1 Disney ride goes to Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout in California)
MK Ride: Big Thunder Mountain (although California’s is better….)
HS Ride: Toy Story Midway Mania (and my undefeated streak!)
Epcot Ride: Soarin’
AK Ride: Expedition Everest (Flight of Passage is incredible, but Everest still wins for me)
WDW Show: Happily Ever After (MK)
Table Service Restaurant: Homecomin’ Kitchen (DS)
Character Meal: 1900 Park Fare (GF)
Quick Service Restaurant: Crew’s Cup Lounge (Yacht Club)
Disney Snack: Werther’s Caramel Popcorn from Karamel Kuche
Disney Drink: Jenn’s Tattoo (Nomad Lounge – AK)
Hidden Gem: Olivia’s (OKW)
Luke, my (now) husband, and partner since May 2013. He loves Disney just as much as I do, although he sometimes tries to deny that fact (I’d like to point out that I told him I didn’t care what he wore for these engagement photos, and he went out and bought himself the Jack Skellington sweater you see below…but nope, he doesn’t love Disney as much as I do….).
His favourites:
Park: Animal Kingdom
Overall Ride: Expedition Everest (but his #1 Disney Ride is Radiator Springs or the Hyperspace Mountain overlay – both in California)
MK Ride: Haunted Mansion
HS Ride: Star Tours
Epcot Ride: Soarin’
AK Ride: Expedition Everest
WDW Show: Star Wars Galactic Spectacular (HS)
Table Service Restaurant: Homecomin’ Kitchen (DS)
Character Meal: Tusker House (AK)
Quick Service Restaurant: Earl of Sandwich (DS)
Disney Snack: Dole Whip or Carrot Cake Cookie
Disney Drink: Tipsy Ducks in Love (China Pavilion – Epcot)
Hidden Gem: Crew’s Cup Lounge (Yacht Club)
Together, we live in Alberta, Canada (although neither of us are from this province originally). We purchased a house together back in 2015, and adopted two dogs the same year.
Luke already had two cats when we met, and in the summer of 2017 we added two more cats to our family after rescuing a mother cat and 3 of her kittens (our neighbours adopted the Momma, another neighbour gave a kitten to a friend and we kept the two grey female kittens).
*No, the slow cooker is not plugged in – he’s just a goof and tried to prove if he fits, he sits*
We also own degus, a type of rodent related to guinea pigs (but smaller). For years, we had seven of them, but five of them have passed away between March 2017 and April 2018, leaving us with only two. It still makes for a full house!
There were quite a few others involved in the trip as well: my dad (Perry), my mom (Faith), Luke’s mom (Laura), both of Luke’s sisters (Jill and Callie), his 5.5 month old niece (Isabella), Luke’s aunt (Cathy), my cousin (Mandy), her boyfriend (Jeff – who was upgraded to husband status recently) and her son (Seb) and a group of our closest friends (Ashley, Mike, Steph, Ryan, Lauren, Lisa, Trevor, Larissa and Devin). You’ll hear more about them as the trip progresses. I should add – I made all the fastpasses and all the dining reservations for the entire group (and not all the same either, fastpasses were customized based on what each person liked – I enjoy planning!). This trip involved a lot of spreadsheets – I had a Fastpass spreadsheet for the entire group that I saved as a Google document and sent out a link to everyone.
What: a trip to Walt Disney World! Luke would be attempting his first full marathon, we would be running the 5k together, I would turn 30 and we would be celebrating our love by getting married!
When: December 30, 2017 – January 13, 2018, a full two weeks! The first week would be just Luke and I, everyone else would start trickling in on January 5th.
Where: 2 nights at Pop Century, 1 night at the Grand Floridian and 11 nights at Old Key West
Why: to get married in our favourite place with our favourite people!
Here are a few of the things we did during the two weeks, all of which I’ll go in depth on (besides getting married of course!):
Private Epcot dessert party on our wedding day
Highway in the Sky
Happily Ever After dessert party
Volunteering at Give Kids the World
Star Wars Galactic Spectacular dessert party
Marathon weekend – 5k and full
Dismeets
Staying at 3 different hotels
Eating meals at a total of 10 different Disney hotels (and inside every park of course)
Introducing WDW to friends and family, most of whom were first timers
11 Park days!
An NBA game
Warning: I’m sometimes slow at writing updates. I will finish this, it just might take some time…the wedding day was also near the end of the trip, so it might be awhile until I get to that part of the trip report. Here’s a few wedding pictures to hold you over until then 🙂
Also – this entire report won’t be a happy one. There was a death in my immediate family while we were in Florida, so it did affect a few of our days while I dealt with my grief. I’ll try to be as real as possible as I write about this trip.
Worth noting: I had every single person linked up to me as Friends and Family through the Disney website, and I’m the one with Photopass so I have everyone’s pictures- there were over 600 pictures before I even started adding frames, stickers, etc, plus I took close to a thousand pictures on my phone during the two weeks. Our wedding photographer gave us almost a thousand pictures from our wedding day as well – so I easily have over 2000 pictures to sort through for this trip report. Hope everyone enjoys lots of pictures!! I also have a tendency to be a bit wordy – so this could get long – this is your warning!
Now that we finally have our room block set up, anyone who was looking to reserve a room at a value resort can now do so for our reduced group rate!
Message me directly for the link to our room block website 🙂
Once you have the link from me, this is the first page you’ll see:
Click on the dropbox where it says “Select your guest type”. The two options are Accessible Room (which is for those with a wheelchair/limited mobility) or Attendee (which is what I selected for this tutorial).
You will now be taken to this page.
You can search the dates (where you can see our discounted group rates are valid from December 27th, 2017 until January 18th, 2018 – but you must check in by January 9th)
Another option is to click browse all hotels as a list. (see above picture). That will take you to this page. Ignore that $830/night Grand Floridian, no one wants to spend that much on a hotel!
There really isn’t much difference between All Star Music and Pop Century, although Pop is currently being renovated and most rooms will be completely refinished by the time this trip happens. The theming at both is over the top and really fun, go check out my information on the hotels page to read more.
I decided to go with Pop Century for this example. You can click anywhere in the box with the hotel name, and it will bring up the available room types which you can book. (For this one, it’s only the standard view room)
Now, click on the date you wish to check in. For this example, I clicked January 7th. As soon as you select a date, a green “select” button appears.
Now, select your check-out date. I clicked January 14th just for this example. Also – you can see that January 5th is not available – which more than likely means the hotel is sold out of standard rooms for that night. After selecting your dates, click the green “Next” button.
Before you click Next, you will see this along the side with your information – you will need to make sure you are booking your room for the correct number of people. Also – note that the price shown on this screen is subtotal only, taxes will be added (it works out to about $13/night in taxes)
It will now bring you to a page where you must fill out your personal information – name, address, email address, etc. Do this for each guest in your room. Click next, and you will be taken to another page to fill out your credit card information to book the room.
Once your credit card information is entered, and you’ve clicked accept on the terms and conditions, you will see a pop-up with your confirmation number on it! You should also receive an email within a few minutes with your confirmation.
Once you have your confirmation, it’s time to go set up your Disney account, which you can see a step-by-step guide here 🙂
Luke and I had discussed marriage a few times over the years, and we both knew it would happen eventually. However, I wanted to leave it completely up to him on when we would get engaged.
I had mentioned to him more than once that I did not want him spending crazy amounts of money on a ring. I’m not a big jewelry person, and I already had the ring I wanted. When my grandparents celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary, my Poppy gave my Nanny a new set of rings. A few years after Poppy died, Nanny gave the set to my mom. My mom wore it for years. Then, in 2015 my Mom handed the set down to me once she received her own from my now-step-dad. So, I had a ring that meant a lot to me, and I wore it everyday for quite awhile (just not on the proper finger). Then, around Halloween 2016 while we were cleaning out some pumpkins I took my ring off so it wouldn’t get covered in pumpkin guts, and placed it into a little dish we had bought in the Dominican a few years back. Then, I just left it sitting on our kitchen island. I thought about it a few times, and how I should put it back on, but I never did.
I had a bit of a suspicion that it would happen in Disney, since it just felt like us, but I had no idea when or how or even which trip it would happen on (we had plans in place to go to both Florida and California in January 2017, and we knew we’d be going back to Florida in January 2018). Before leaving work for Christmas break in December 2016 one of my co-workers was joking with me, “maybe we’ll both come back with new rings on our fingers!” (we were both taking the first two weeks of January off for vacation – I was heading to Florida for our Disney trip and he was off to Hawaii for his wedding). I laughed, but it was something I had considered…
As our trip went on, I pushed the idea farther into the back of my mind – it wasn’t going to happen on this trip. Then, on the second last day of our trip, it happened. We were walking along the pathway between Africa and Asia at Animal Kingdom, when Luke suggested we “go down here! Let’s check it out!”. I was not being very co-operative, I was dealing with a major psoriasis flare up (which I wasn’t diagnosed with for another month), and I was cranky because of my sore skin. I think I said something along the lines of “ugh, why?! There’s nothing down there!”, but I agreed because I love him. A photopass photographer was actually walking down ahead of us, just about to start his shift, so Luke suggested we get some pictures taken. I was so done with pictures at that point – I hadn’t been able to brush my hair in a few days due to the painful skin on my scalp, I was wearing a scarf to hide the rash on my neck (which I ended up on antibiotics for less than a week later), and I was tired (we were already a week deep in our trip). But, again, I agreed – after all, Luke agreed to the hundreds of other Photopass pictures I’d already made him take…
So, we got some cute pictures of the back-side of the Tree of Life. Luke was acting kind of weird, then he reached into his pocket, pulled something out and asked me if we should get more pictures taken with “these” and held out a Just Engaged button.
According to everything we’ve read, these buttons have been discontinued, and Luke knew that ahead of time. So he went on eBay and actually bought a set of them months and months prior to our trip (of course I didn’t find this out until afterwards).
Once my brain comprehended what was happening, Luke dropped to one knee and pulled out his Winnipeg Jets lanyard which had my grandmother’s ring attached – he had managed to get it out of the house and all the way to Florida without me noticing!
Of course I said yes! The Photopass Photographer had quickly realized what was happening, and had us move over slightly due to the sun affecting his photos. So, we don’t have the Tree in the background, but there’s also no glaring sun.
He took at least 20 pictures for us before being the first to congratulate us. Of course, I started checking my MDE app like crazy, waiting for the pictures to show up – and of course they hadn’t shown up 2 hours later, so we actually had to go to the Photopass store by the front gate at Animal Kingdom – we NEEDED those pictures haha. Of course once we explained to the cast members working at the Photopass store, they were so excited and were able to find out pictures right away. They even let us pick one of our favourites and they printed it off for us as a 5×7 – so nice!
I’m so happy Luke proposed in front of a photographer who was able to capture the entire thing <3
I don’t recall the exact moment I realized I was going to marry Fallon. But I’ve known for a long long time.
Since I can’t recall any specific instance – let’s post a photo of her here holding a Macho Nacho Helmet from Rexall Place.
See? Wouldn’t you marry the shit out of this woman?
All that said, I knew where we were going to get engaged since January of 2016. Walt Disney World. Shocker, right?
But how? There’s plenty of grand gesture opportunities. But none of them really seemed very us. While getting a rose and champagne with the ring at it at Be Our Guest does seem nifty, I can see how that would go.
Me: Nice night huh. How about that Grey Stuff? Delicious, right?
Fallon: Why are you so jittery and physically attractive tonight?
Me: You know. That’s how I do. You Know How I Do was a Taking Back Sunday song I think. Let’s get champagne!
Fallon: We never drink champagne. What’s going on.
Me: Explodes into a puddle of pure sweat on the floor
Fin
So on the Sunday of WDW Marathon Weekend, January of 2016, it all came together.
I’d just finished the 10k race 2 days prior. And we happened to head to Epcot on Marathon race day Sunday. I’ve been a runner on and off since 2012 and did a half marathon in 2013. But I’d never been THAT close to an actual finish line. The 10k had been far and away the best race I’ve ever run. Everything was so seamless and organized and exactly as you’d expect from that Disney brand of service. I shouldn’t have been surprised the full marathon seemed the same. The way the runners who were 42km deep by the time they hit Spaceship Earth were snaking through the open park. The way we as park goers moved through with minimal interruption was so cool. And the way when we were stopped we got to see how gruelling the run had been on the runners. How inspiring it was to see thousands upon thousands of people accomplishing a goal that they’d set out to achieve. How much I’d admired their ability to do all this while dressed like Chewbacca or Ursula the Sea Witch etc. It was all so amazing I was moved to tears. I can recall like 3 other times that happened to me as an adult. Once was a U2 show at Commonwealth Stadium when they went from one to With or Without You (this was an odd one since U2 are firmly in the like but not love column for me) in 2011, another was just a few weeks back when Frank Turner played The Way I Tend To Be and another time when I had a pretty good sandwich.
I knew 3 things that day. 1) I wanted to run this marathon. 2) I needed to run this marathon 3) I want and need to propose to Fallon HERE.
I think Fallon was feeling inspiration joy overdose with me that day. When I explained how I thought I could do it, but it’d take 2 years she was all in. Of course she was. She’s amazing. I should marry her. *ding* thing 3.
Truth be told I’d been certain I needed to propose to her for some time. But we’d just moved into our house that year and planning a wedding wasn’t practical. Ah, love. Such a practical thing, no?
It was such a great day. And we’d had such a great time in Florida, I knew this was the place to get engaged when the time was right.
So… where to start?
Buttons. That’s where.
Fallon had got one of those Happy Birthday buttons on this trip and wore it like 4 or 5 days. She made me get one too because I have a January birthday as well (Yup, loaded with greatness this guy is) and it wasn’t my thing. But she revelled in that extra pixie dust that accompanies wearing such a bauble. So why not those Just Engaged buttons? Other than they’re more or less discontinued 😐
I found that out via Reddit. They’re not in circulation anymore hey? Well to hell with that. This is 2016. I have eBay and a major credit card. I’mma gonna get me some of these.
So I ordered Just Engaged buttons off the internet and had them shipped to my work. Where they were hid in my desk drawer between some sauce packets and butterfly clips. Now – on to stage 2 of Operation Propose to Fallon the Hottie.
What was phase 2?
I dunno.
I dunno was the plan from March 2016-November 2016 or so.
I wasn’t completely void of an idea. I figured it’s best to get it done in front of a PhotoPass photographer. I mean – there’s literally people with DSLRs all over the place ready to capture moments galore. But… where?
Not the castle. That’s for damned sure. That’s as cliched as the stupid husband trope of tv shows and commercials that’s funny af you guys.
If not the castle… where?
Splash Mountain? But that’s for Hulkamania poses.
Spaceship Earth? But that’s for Hulkamania poses.
Get help from a face character? Anna would be game. But Elsa would be all “See sis! These 2 have known each other for YEARS! That’s how you get engaged!” and then I’d feel awkward cause I’m way more Team Anna. #finisheachotherssandwiches
Then it came to me. Why not Animal Kingdom? It’s her favourite park. Work up the courage with a Dole Whip + coconut rum or three then we’re all set.
I knew the spot.
The ring was easy. Or was it?
Fallon has this diamond ring she’d gotten from her grandmother. She’d said many times before that this is what she wanted to wear because it means so much to her. I’m pretty sure she’d often thought I wasn’t listening despite the not-so-subtle hints. But through all the phone-looking-at I had retained that knowledge.
Fortunately she’d taken it off around Halloween when we were gutting some pumpkins. Yes – they were Disney themed.
I was concerned she’d remember she took it off and put it back on before we headed back to the World. I’d had a Plan B where I took a photo – sent it to Lisa and had her obtain some fugazi costume jewellery version of it. Plus a Plan where I bought a ring from somewhere on property. As well as a Plan D where we used the Fuel Rod (these mammajammas are a frickin’ lifesaver and a half).
She didn’t put it back on from Halloween through New year’s Day though. On the morning we left for Florida this past January I hurried where the ring was hidden downstairs, attached it to a Winnipeg Jets lanyard (for easy transport and handy backpack access) and stowed it in my carry on. Along with the Just Engaged Buttons. And the Just Married ones because the eBay guy sold those together.
The initial plan was to propose on our first Animal Kingdom day. AK was a zoo. I mean… it is a zoo too. But that day. Woof. The busiest park day of the entire trip. The PhotoPass photographers in front of the tree of life were swamped. That’s fine. That wasn’t the spot anyhow.
We’d planned for 2 days at AK. With FP+ on day 1 for Everest, Dinosaur, and Festival of the Lion King. Plus a 10:45 at Tusker House. Tusker House BTW – best character meal hands down. The point of this paragraph is there wasn’t a plan to head to the Kilimanjaro Safaris and the spot was between Asia and Africa.
No matter what I tried to do that day we didn’t make our way to the spot. “Let’s go see the naked mole rats” “Wanna see the Gorillas?” “Hey, how about we go to this specific out of the way PhotoPass spot that gets the backside of the Tree of Life in the background for no apparent immediate reason?”
Ugh.
It just didn’t happen. I considered saying Eff it! and proposing at the photographer with Everest in the background. But it didn’t feel right. And there were so. many. people.
It wasn’t right. I wanted it to be and we had a great day. Fallon got to FaceTime her grandmother with Mickey Mouse at Tusker House, we had awesome seats for Festival of the Lion King, we got a better perspective on how it’s tough to be a bug. Solid day on the whole. But Tuesday. Tuesday I was gonna get it done. Three cheers to procrastination!!!
So Tuesday was kind of a blur. We entered the park through the Rainforest cafe because we know WTF is up. Then headed to the safaris because we were a little later arriving and had a fastpass. I remember being nervous, checking my pocket for the Jets lanyard several times. I remember being relieved to see a PhotoPass photographer approaching the spot just as we were getting there. He seemed grumpy but c’est la vie. So we get some shots all normal like and I reach into the pouch of my hoodie for the Just Engaged button. Time to piss or get off the porta-potty. I said something along the line of “How about we get some photos with these? I showed it to Fallon and could tell she was processing what was happening slower than she should have. She had no idea somehow. I say this because while my fiancee is a wonderful woman, she’s not much of an actress. She was shocked.
It’s funny how some of the most important moments of your life go by almost in fast-forward. I truly can’t remember what I said. I’m the emotional one in this duo who’s prone to babbling. But Fallon – waterworks. Like Igu…Igudal…The Falls from Soarin’. I just remember getting down on one knee and never being so sure of anything in my life.
We had some time before heading over to the safari. So we started sending the appropriate texts, making phone calls and changing the ol’ relationship status. Engagement Day is like winning the Facebook lottery. Holy cow. Who knew so many people were paying attention? FYI – once you have more than 200 likes – you can trade them for a medium pizza.
And that’s the story as I remember it right now. I’m the luckiest man I know.
Oh this is Luke by the way. Fallon’s blog. Featuring me right here right now. I love her. She’s the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. And now she’s an enemy of Bret the Hitman Hart. But she’s engaged too. To me. Muahahahahahaha!!!
Since we are still early in the planning stages, this is of course subject to change! If you don’t want to participate in any of these things, that’s your choice – I’m not going to force you to do anything.
December 30 – Luke and I arrive in Orlando. Check in to Pop Century. Head to MK to catch midnight fireworks. Late supper reservation at Tony’s at 9:20pm.
December 31 -Brunch at Narcoossee’s (11am), Volunteer at Give Kids the World (3-6:30). Supper at Homecomin’ 8:50pm.
January 1 – Volunteer at Give Kids the World (11am-2:30pm). Check in to the Grand Floridian. Supper at 1900 Park Fare at 6:30pm. Desserts/drinks at California Grill 8:50pm.
January 2 – Check in to Old Key West for the remainder of the trip :), Park day Animal Kingdom. Breakfast at Boma, lunch at Tiffins, supper at Saana.
January 3 – Breakfast at Trail’s End, Race Expo, Epcot – snacks in World Showcase (Karamel Kuche, France ice cream, etc). Supper at Crew’s Cup Lounge.
January 4 – 5k race (Luke and I), Capt’ Cooks breakfast (Polynesian), Magic Kingdom morning, afternoon nap, evening at Hollywood Studios. Supper at Mama Melrose’s.
January 5 – Trattoria Al Forno breakfast. Hollywood Studios morning, Magic Kingdom afternoon, Liberty Tree Tavern 4:15pm, Happily Ever After dessert party.
January 6 – Hollywood Studios (Luke and I), lunch at 50’s Prime Time, back to Old Key West to greet family arriving this day, supper at Olivia’s or Disney Springs (staggered, as people arrive). Early bedtime for Luke.
January 7 – Marathon day (Luke). Early morning Fastpasses at Epcot, then watch Luke finish the race (probably around 1pm?) The marathon finishes just past Epcot, so he will enter through the park around mile 25. Disney Springs to Earl of Sandwich? Free afternoon – hotel swimming, park hop to Animal Kingdom (or other), shopping in Disney Springs, etc. Late supper reservation at ‘Ohana (9:45pm) -a Hawaiian-themed all you can eat meal. They bring unlimited chicken wings, pot stickers, salad, noodles, veggies, pineapple-coconut bread, skewers of meat (chicken, shrimp and steak) and bread pudding for dessert. It’s a lot of food, but it’s all really delicious! Cost for that is ~$45USD. Maybe a stop at Trader Sam’s (a super fun tiki bar) after ‘Ohana?
January 8 – Perhaps an Animal Kingdom park open until noon or so? Then Epcot day for everyone! I’d like for everyone to join us for this. I’m thinking get to the park around noon. Head to Le Cellier for 12:35 reservation (they have a prix fixe lunch menu that costs $49USD, but is for a 3 course meal; you can also order off the regular menu – their poutine with truffles was amazing and only costs $10USD). Spend the afternoon/early evening checking out the World Showcase and trying some different drinks from around the world – I’d like this to be like the bachelor/bachelorette party. Use 3 Fastpasses at some point (maybe use these at AK in the morning?). Supper at Garden Grill at 7:05pm (a character meal that is all you can eat, brought directly to your table). The food has been fantastic both times we’ve ate there, and the character interaction is a lot of fun. Cost: $45USD. After this, head out of the park and over to Jellyrolls – a dueling piano bar on the Boardwalk (walking distance from Epcot), or just go back to Old Key West and relax/go to bed.
January 9 – Magic Kingdom day! I know a few people are only planning on purchasing 2-day park tickets, but you can’t go to Disney and NOT go to Magic Kingdom. It’s the quintessential Disney park. We won’t need to tour the park all together this day, but it would be nice to meet up for lunch and supper. Pre-park open breakfast at Crystal Palace at 8:15am. Lunch at Be Our Guest at 1pm, a Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant located inside the Beast’s castle. Cost would be ~$25USD for an entree, drink and dessert (supper prices are significantly higher). For supper – on your own, since there’s no shortage of things to eat, and no shortage of quick serve food options – yum Peco’s Bills! If you’d like, they offer a Happily Ever After dessert party for a reserved view of the fireworks ($59)
January 10 – Wedding Day! Ceremony at Sea Breeze Point at noon. Immediately following the ceremony would be a cake and champagne ceremony, followed by family pictures. From there, we would head over to the reception at Homecomin’ in Disney Springs. Start time for the reception is 3:30. Following the reception, we will head back to Epcot and go to a dessert party (you will NOT require a park ticket for this, Luke and I will be covering it). There will be a selection of sweets, and a private viewing area for the nighttime show – Illuminations (this is why we skipped watching this on January 8th). After Illuminations (it’ll be about 9:30pm), head out of the park and back to OKW to go to bed. I know this seems early, but it’ll be a long day.
January 11 – Anyone wishing to check out Universal Studios, this would be the best day for it. If you are interested in the Harry Potter World there, you will need a park-to-park ticket which costs $165USD. Anyone not going to Universal – our plan is to head to Animal Kingdom (my favourite park!) For those heading to Animal Kingdom, we will be doing brunch at Tusker House at 10:45am – one of our favourite restaurants on Disney property. Cost is $45USD, but it is a character buffet, and the food is delicious! We always leave stuffed, and barely eat anything else the rest of the day.
January 12 – Other option for a Universal Studios Day (depending on which Disney Park you want to go to – AK or DHS). Hollywood Studios day for those still around! Leave the park and head to Beaches and Cream for lunch at 1:15pm (most amazing ice cream sundaes ever, and possibly the best grilled cheese I’ve ever ate), and then Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party that evening (so worth the money – I think Luke and I had 12 alcoholic drinks between us, plus the food was all great, and the VIP reserved viewing area for the fireworks was incredible).
I met Ashley the first summer I spent in Fort McMurray, back in 2007. We were both working as summer students at Suncor, and we immediately bonded over our mutual love of 90’s boy bands. We were 19, dumb and made so many memories that summer that we decided to do it all over again the next summer! We even went and got matching Industrial piercings in our ears that second summer… Eventually, I made the permanent move to Alberta in April 2010, and we were both living back in Fort McMurray again when we decided to move to Edmonton together that summer – where we’ve both been ever since. I had the privilege of standing up as Ashley’s maid of honor at her wedding in 2015, so now it’s her turn to do the same for me!
Bridesmaid – Steph
I met Steph in our first year of university, back in 2006. We were living in the same residence – and would have had a bunch of classes together if I had actually went to class… I like to think I’m her “bad influence” friend – Steph held my hand while I got three out of four of my tattoos, and I held her hand when she got her second set of holes in her ears and her belly button pierced. We lived together (along with five guys) for eight months in 2008-2009 – and without her I would have never survived that experience…
Bridesmaid: Lauren
I first met Lauren in my second year of university, in 2007 – except I refused to believe her name was actually Lauren, and kept insisting it was Julia. We quickly became friends, and went on our fair share of adventures (all of which have photographic evidence, and are quite enjoyable to look through). I’m never bored when she’s around – Lauren can always come up with the best party themes! It’s just too bad our days as a songwriting duo never panned out…
*No, the slow cooker is not plugged in – he’s just a goof and tried to prove if he fits, he sits*
Halifax, 2014
Edmonton, 2012
Edmonton, 2011
Sackville, 2009
Fort McMurray, 2008
Prince Edward Island, 2008