Honey! Where's my super-suit? - Frozone, from "The Incredibles"

We were nearing the end of our trip and suddenly it hit me...  I didn't have a suit to wear for my wedding.  That's right, through all of our wedding planning, dress shopping and cake selection, I hadn't figured out what on earth I was wearing on our big day!

I had come to this realisation when picking up the rental car to meet our officiant, Renee Silverman.  It was not particularly a warm Orlando's day but I started to sweat and panic about this oversight.  I turned to Jennie and sheepishly asked, "what were we doing about the suits for the boys and me?"

She responded quite calmly, "we're going to Carolyn Allen's.  You know, the tuxedo rental place..."

Once again, Jennie had it all under control.  What would I ever do without you, Jennie?

I'm so forgetful.
Dory and I have a lot in common.  I don't remember what...

It's Tan here (duh), and this post is about our excellent adventure to meet our officiant, as well as the tuxedo selection.

Jennie had arranged for us to meet our officiant in a part of Florida that was about a forty minute drive from Disney World.  I was surprised that there existed parts of Florida that were not part of Disney World!

It was a non-theme park (whose name I cannot recall) that Renee had described to us as, "the real Florida".  A place where you could sit down in open space and not hear the the shrill screams of people strapped to a metal contraption that flings them up and down at ridiculous speeds.

Our officiant, Renee Silverman.

Renee, I'm sorry I ripped this from your website without your consent.  Please do not sue me.

We arrived about ten minutes before Renee did, (I'd like to take a moment to give a shout out to Google Maps for getting us there on time), so while we were waiting, I started chasing squirrels, then found a swing set, so I abandoned my squirrel chase to swing, then I almost fell off, and then Renee arrived, so I jumped off the swing and almost broke my ankle.  True story - just ask Jennie.

I was chasing this little dude around for a while.  They really are rats with cuter outfits!!

Renee arrived and was probably asking herself, "what on earth have I agreed to??", when she saw us on the swing set.  If she was, she didn't let it show.  What a professional!  She also forgave me for calling her "Ren-ay", and not "Ree-nee" the whole time on Skype before we finally met her in person.  How embarrassing!

She then proceeded to take us for a tour around this park and I must admit, it was such a beautiful place.

How's the serenity?  So much serenity...

It was so quiet and peaceful, not a roller coaster in sight or within earshot.  Just the sound of birds, and the occasional hum of a plane flying overhead.  The centrepiece of the park was a huge lake.  It looked like it would be very inviting on a hot summer's day.  If it were ten degrees hotter, I wouldn't blame someone for wanting to jump in sans clothing.  I mentioned this to Renee (except for the sans clothing bit) and she told me it wouldn't be a good idea.  For beneath these calm and inviting waters, lurks an alligator.  A big one.  One that bites.  Yep, this was definitely the real Florida she had promised.

This sign is very, very necessary.

We all found a nice place to sit down and discuss the wedding ceremony.  Jennie had her ideas (good ones), I had mine (it seems like we cannot get Katy Perry to sing at our wedding, or have Batman as our security).  We discussed these with Renee and came up with what we feel will be a fun and whimsical ceremony that captures our personalities to the fullest.

Shameless plug:  For anyone looking to have a wedding in Orlando, may I suggest you contact Renee (click here).  She has been fantastic throughout this whole process, and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for us on our big day.

We chatted a bit longer about all kinds of things (I cannot disclose this, as it may give away some of the surprises we have planned), and then we left after I chased a few more squirrels.

Sadly, I can relate to this...

Next up was the tuxedo shopping/rental.  Jennie and I had heard of Carolyn Allen's Bridals and Tuxedos on one of the Disney Weddings podcasts we listen to.  They seemed quite friendly and professional, so we decided to give them a try.

We went in there with a few thoughts on what we'd like to have at our wedding, but didn't have our hearts set on anything in particular.  We walked in and were greeted by the owner of the shop, Keith.  He was a very friendly guy with a sense of humour not too dissimilar to mine.  I think Jennie sensed this, which explained her involuntary face palm almost as soon as we walked through the door.

Poor Jennie...

One of my ideas was to wear a full top hat and tails ensemble.  Keith suggested that it wouldn't be a good idea given how hot it is in Orlando during September, but was kind enough to humour me as I tried on the outfit.

I look like a butler.  Call me, "Jeeves".  Then ask me anything you want...

This was the moment I knew that I shouldn't be wearing this outfit.

So there we were, changing jackets, pants, shoes, ties, underpants (okay, we didn't change underpants), and vests.  After about an hour of trying on all the things, I finally made up my mind (with a lot of help from Jennie).  I picked out a grey three piece tuxedo for my grooms men and I, with the tie being the differentiator.  I get ivory, Khoi gets fuchsia, and Jack gets purple.  This will mean that the ties match the outfit of the corresponding bride/bridesmaid - another nice touch by Jennie!

This is the look I'll be wearing on my wedding day (ignore my facial expression - I'll be smiling a lot more in September). 

It was such a busy day, but we got through it, and had a lot of fun along the way.

Thanks for reading!!

Take it from an old spectator. Life’s not a spectator sport. If watchin’ is all you’re gonna do, then you’re gonna watch your life go by without ya. - Laverne, from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

OMG a blog entry!

It's been a while since we last posted, and we're sorry about that.

Hi, I'm Tan Le, you may remember me from such things as this wedding blog and LAT VEGAT...

The last time I posted, it was from our lovely hotel room in Orlando and we were reflecting on an action-packed couple of days that included our planning day and accidental passing out at a bus terminal.

The remainder of our trip was just as action-packed and eventful.  So much so, that we ended up getting very sick as we chose to forsake sleep and warm clothes to ensure we could pack in as much as we could regardless of the torrential rain and horribly cold weather in Orlando.  That polar vortex was so cold that we felt some of its wrath in Central Florida!

This is just how we felt...

Our sickness manifested itself in the form of the flu which took me out of work for a whole week.  Under normal circumstances this would be good, but I had an Everest-sized mountain of work to get through.  I think I'm up to date now.

It took a little bit longer for Jennie's to kick in, but it really hit her hard.  As I post this, she is still recovering.  The scariest moment was when she collapsed in front of me after getting up too quickly (most likely due to low blood pressure).  Luckily I caught her so she didn't hurt herself, but it was quite worrying.  She's okay now and we're keeping an eye on her, but she's tough.

This is what she looked like passed out.  It's funny now because she's okay.

Back to the rest of our trip - I won't list everything we did, but will talk about the things that pertain specifically to our wedding.  After all, this is a blog about our big day!

We took some time out of our park visits and shopping at the outlet malls (Huong has already told me that the outlet malls are her theme parks - who am I to argue?  I love shopping!) to visit the rooms that were on our room block.

We were most impressed by the Grand Floridian - a Victorian themed hotel and spa.  It is known as Disney's flagship and most opulent resort, inspired by the late 19th and early 20th century America.  For those who watch the TV show, "Boardwalk Empire", it kinda reminded us of that, but without the gratuitous violence and coitus.

This vintage Rolls Royce was the same as what Walt Disney used to have.
It is on display in front of the Grand Floridian

We had a little spare time between the cake tasting and the food tasting, so we went over to the hotel to see if we could get a tour of the rooms.  The staff there were like normal Disney cast members, but with an extra 30% happiness and cheer.  They were happy to give us a tour of one of the rooms, and they didn't rub it in that we couldn't afford to stay there.  It's the little touches...

A chandelier in the lobby of the Grand Floridian 

Such a hotel comes with an equivalent price tag; rack rate for a standard room is in excess of US$600 plus tax.  If you want to experience this opulence for a night, our room block gives you the great price of US$342 plus tax.  I'm just glad that we get one night included as part of our wedding package, so we can experience what it's like.  If any of our guests are staying there, please let me know - I wanna crash there!

We also visited Animal Kingdom Lodge to eat at Boma, a highly rated African restaurant.  We also took the opportunity to have another look at a Savannah room.  We stayed in one the last time we went to WDW and it was still as great as how we remembered it.  It's a great place to relax and watch animals doing animal things.  I won't go into too much detail, but just know that it's great!

Boma was a fantastic restaurant, serving "authentic" African meals (I know nothing about African food, all I know is what I like, and I liked this!) in an African themed setting.  We made sure we dined at as many Disney restaurants as we could so that if we found a food we liked, we could add it to our wedding menu.  In Boma, we found a wonderful dessert called, "Zebra domes".  They are coffee-kahlua flavoured parcels of happiness.  They're now part of our dessert menu!

Zebra Domes.  OM NOM NOM NOM NOM

The last resort we visited (intentionally) was Port Orleans Riverside.  It is a resort that captures the Louisiana Bayou.  At least that's what we've been led to believe.  What would I know?  I've never been to Louisiana, let alone the Bayou.  The main thing was that we like it.  So much so, we decided that we will be staying here for the duration of our visit to Orlando (except for the nights we'll be staying near our wedding venue).

It is close to the parks, has excellent facilities (the most important a very good bar and restaurant in the lobby).  Why do these blog entries always invariably come back to being about food and alcohol?  I think we have a problem that needs to be addressed!

UPDATE FOR ALL OUR GUESTS:  The wedding invitations have been ordered and will be sent out in May.

Thanks for reading!