When You Wish Upon A Star...

Dreams do come true and fairy tales can really happen! Pete and I were engaged on May 28, 2011 at Walt Disney World’s, Magic Kingdom. It was an amazing and magical engagement and something I felt could only happen in a dream! Here are the details for all to read, starting with the actual engagement but followed by some events leading up to the engagement.

May 28, 2011
Pete and I started our day at The Magic Kingdom around 9am on Saturday morning. Bette (Pete’s Mom’s College Best Friend) and her husband George picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the park. Bette came into the park with us “to ensure we got in ok with her employee passes”. I did not think anything of Bette coming into the park with us, as she and Pete have been planning this vacation for us together since Bette works at Walt Disney World. Little did I know, there was a lot more than “planning a vacation” going on and also that Bette was in the park that day to help make my engagement the most amazing event in my life. Pete and I spent from about 9am until 4:30pm riding all the rides at the Magic Kingdom and enjoying our time together. I told him multiple times during the day, “this is the greatest trip ever; I am having so much fun”. He would just smile and say “it’s not over yet”! We got tired in the afternoon heat and had rode almost everything, so I suggested we go ride the monorail one time around to have some seat time. (Side Note: I have always loved the monorail since I was a little girl). We decided to stop at the Polynesian Resort for a “Frozen Drink” because we were hot and tired. From there we went over to Epcot to see what we could ride there. Pete was all for the Epcot plan but was adamant that we return back to the Magic Kingdom before 9pm because we had reservations at the “Wishes Dessert Party” at the Tomorrow Land Terrace for the evening fireworks.

Evening May 28th – The Actual Engagement
We got in line for the “Dessert Party” around 9:10pm and were shown to our seat. I didn’t think anything of it, but we were sat in the front row of the terrace with the best view of Cinderella’s Castle. Pete went to the bathroom as we had been drinking tons of water all day and returned. Pete said “we sure needed to thank Bette for getting us such great seats”, I agreed! We got in line for our desserts, at which point Pete says “I think we should only get a few things and try them to see what we like because we can always come back for more”. I didn’t listen to a word he said, I got everything I wanted and proceeded to eat them all when we got back to our seat! Right about the 5 minute “warning” telling us the fireworks would be beginning, my engagement began! The manager, Daniel, of the Tomorrow Land Terrace came around from behind me with a pillow made from flowers, lace, ribbon, and pearls. On this “pillow” was Cinderella’s Glass Slipper, a Princess Tiara and attached to it was a card that read “Miss Jami Moss”. At this point I did what I never thought I would, I started bawling hysterically! I said over and over “Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God”! Pete asked me a couple of times to “open the card” and I kept saying, “I can’t, I’m trying, Oh My God”! I think Pete got tired of waiting because at this point he got down on one knee and said “Will You Marry Me?”, I of course screamed “YES!” and he proceeded to put the ring on my finger. After what felt like forever, I was able to calm down enough to open the card; it read on the front cover “You’ve Been Your Parents Princess for 28 Years…” and on the inside read “And Now…” and this is the part where he was going to ask me to be his princess but I ruined that little speech! The entire terrace clapped for us when I said “yes”! During all of this, we had a Disney Photographer taking pictures, so there are many shots coming of my hysterical face. They then brought us a “Special Dessert Platter” with our names Jami & Peter in chocolate syrup, two crème brulee’s, many chocolate covered strawberries, and chocolate Cinderella slippers. The manager brought us special “Wedding Themed” Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ears! I opened the bag that came with the flowers and in it was a photo of Mickey and Minnie congratulating us on our engagement. I forgot to mention above I had forgotten my cell phone in the hotel on Saturday so I was unable to call anyone to tell them that “I was engaged” but that was ok because Pete had already taken care of most of the people who hadn’t already known for months! I did call my parents though to tell them, “I feel SO special, that is was the BEST day of my life, and that the proposal was something you see in the movies”! The fireworks started about the time that all of this was really sinking in and we were able to sit there and enjoy the moment. After the fireworks presentation the photographer had waited around to take more photos of us in front of the castle. Bette was still in the park and joined us at this point to give us “Just Engaged” pins so we headed to watch the Spectra Magic Electric Parade with her. Since Pete and I were both wearing our “Just Engaged” Pins and Mouse Ears, many of the characters riding on the floats noticed and congratulated us on our engagement! I truly felt like the most special person for a while! It was the greatest day of my life and I could not have asked for a more romantic and perfect way to be asked to marry the love of my life and my best friend! Pete’s mom came into town and we were able to celebrate with her all day Sunday!

May 28, 2011 will always and forever be very special to us both. I grew up going to Disney World almost every year with my family. As a little girl this engagement was something I always thought I could only dream of but my dreams and wishes came true. Disney World is my favorite place on earth and it was so special to me that Pete would ask me to spend the rest of my life with him there. We will be able to take our children to Disney and point at the terrace and say “That’s where Daddy asked Mommy to marry him”. I truly am living a Fairytale and I have found my Prince Charming. I have never felt so special in my life! Getting engaged has to be one of the most exhilarating feelings I have ever felt. I wake up happy, spend the day grinning, and when I do sleep, I go to sleep happy! I am excited about my future with Pete; I know we will be more than happy.

Many have asked if I knew I was going to get engaged at Disney World. Let me ensure you that had I known I was getting engaged I definitely would not have been wearing a Baseball Hat and a Polo Shirt! My outfit was border line awful! I also had about 13 hours of sweat on my body…I was a “Hot Mess”. Good thing Pete loves me for me! Pete did drop a few subtle hints that I obviously never picked up on, he asked about 2 weeks ago if I really planned on wearing a hat, at which I responded “Yes! It takes me way too long to do my hair”. Pete also gave me a gift card to go shopping for Disney Outfits and I bought myself nothing but did buy him two outfits! He tried, I didn’t pick up on his hints, and thus I will always laugh when I look at our pictures. Oh well, at least I can plan to look gorgeous on our wedding day!

Pete has been planning this engagement since January with Bette. A lot of time and thought went into the engagement and I am very lucky to have someone as romantic as him. It was funny to learn he asked my parents and also bought the ring back in February. I swore he still had not bought it last week and just knew I would know when he did finally buy it. My parents have had the ring in their safe since then so I would not come across it. A lot of other people also knew this was going to happen and never once let on while talking to me that they had the slightest clue! I have some good “Secret Keeping” friends! I am very glad I didn’t know I feel like it made it all the more special!

I am really looking forward to planning our wedding. Pete has already mentioned some ideas and things he’d like so I am overly thrilled that he seems to be excited as well! We do not have a date as of now. We do know that we plan on getting married on the water in the Destin area. We decided we will set a date this summer after I receive all of my school schedules. The event will be casual and very fun! For now, I plan on enjoying my engagement as I do not see the happiness and smile fading from my face anytime soon. I have been truly blessed with an amazing fiancé and look forward to spending the rest of my life with him. I could not ask for more.

My Dreams Came True…
I am Living a Fairytale…

Now from Pete’s perspective and what he had been doing the last months. Since he decided we were going to Disney he knew this was when it was going to happen. First thing, ask the parents. He asked my parents in February and then on to the next thing. The ring. He bought the ring without me knowing it and only saw it for a brief moment at the store before he had my parents pick it up and put it in the safety deposit box. He started planning with Bette in mid January so all details were complete as he is detailed oriented. Bette and Pete tossed around ideas and he knew he wanted to do it by the fireworks so chose the option at the terrace. Hotel was booked, reservations were made for fireworks and now he needed something as a theme for the proposal. He came up with the princess theme and Bette helped him find some options. He picked the arrangement from Disney Floral as it would give him the princess theme and lead into the actual proposal. He exchanged probably 75 emails with Bette over the months and had her help paint the picture since he couldn’t really remember the last time he was at Disney. Bette took pictures from where you enter the park all the way to where the terrace is and the view of the castle. He picked out where we needed to sit to have the best view and be the farthest from where they would come when bringing the arrangement. This would ensure I would not see it coming. As the trip came closer Pete asked my mom to help throw me off even more and put things in my mind that it really wasn’t going to happen. He had her casually bring up that I had not asked for their permission and that really annoyed me. Time to leave for the trip and Pete made sure that since he could not get away to make sure everything fell into place he would have Bette follow up. The arrangement would be delivered from Disney Floral to the Magic Kingdom but they would not deliver it to the terrace so Bette was in charge of the delivery. She went to where it was to be delivered at noon and they said it would not be ready till 5pm. She went to the terrace area to speak with the manager for all Pete’s requests and he would not be in until 5pm. Pete checked his phone throughout the day and also texted Mandi, Ang and Meg Leb the news since I left my phone and was cut off from the world. At this point, most people knew and I still had no idea. Bette checked in with Pete at 5:30pm on our way to Epcot and Pete just made it sound like his mom arrived. The arrangement was ready and Bette said it looked even better in person and that the manager was on board and would do everything he can to make it special. The manager said they would put a photo pass photographer in the area to make it look normal and when it happened she would be solely for us. We made it back from Epcot at 8:15pm and were able to ride one final ride before our reservations. Before we checked in I went to the bathroom as Pete spoke to Bette on the phone warning her that I was headed her way. Pete was to meet Bette at the bathrooms to get the ring and any final info. We checked in and sat down. That’s when Pete went to the bathroom. He met with Bette and spoke to Daniel the manager to ensure everyone was on the same page and get the ring from Bette. And then it happened.

From both of us, we will never be able to thank Bette for the hard work and time she put into this amazing proposal but we hope she knows how much she truly means to us and how thankful we truly are. We hope someday to be able to repay her for everything; she’s truly touched our lives.

The fairytale is not over yet…more to come!!!