We Were Started By A Mouse Too! by Kathy and Matthew Walker


Love and marriage ... Our lives continued pretty much the same after our engagement as before except that Matthew proudly called Kathy his fiancee and Kathy wore a diamond solitaire on her ring finger. Kathy had quit The Disney Store to become a teacher, which she is very good at being. Matthew stayed with the stores for a few more years before leaving to work in public relations. Yet the mouse was still to play a large part in our wedding plans. We didn't want our wedding to be too over the top but we knew we wanted to have our celebration at the Disneyland Hotel. Through Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, we were able to have our ceremony and reception at the Hotel while still keeping it a fairly traditional wedding. We would add some Disney touches here and there, of course. And looking back, it couldn't have been much better. We knew that we wanted to have a summer wedding, so we began to think of possible dates. It had to after Kathy finished teaching for the year, so July looked to be the best bet. We didn't want to marry on the Fourth of July, especially since Disneyland gets extremely busy. Matthew thought that the 17th would have been pretty special since it was the day Disneyland opened in 1955, but again we anticipated large crowds at the park. So we decided to go right in between and marry on the 10th. Everybody at the Disney Fairy Tale office was especially nice in helping us plan our big day. Unfortunately, with construction for the Disneyland Resort expansion, we weren't able to have the ceremony at the Rose Garden, a natural choice because of our Beauty and the Beast connection. But they did construct a lovely gazebo on the Sierra Lawn and it wound up being a fantastic site. Our reception followed at the Garden Room in the Bonita Tower. The Big Day ... After all of our planning and rehearsing, it came time for the walk down the aisle. Matthew was so nervous about everything, wanting and hoping for a perfect day. He tried to be all cool at breakfast but his mind was racing. At the hotel, there was a huge convention going on and parking was completely unavailable, even though we had paid for our guests to park there. And the conventioneers were everywhere - moving our chairs at our ceremony site, eating picnic lunches on the gazebo, being extremely loud - barely an hour before our ceremony. Matthew imagined the worst and was in near hysterics. Kathy didn't pay too much attention since she was busy getting ready in our suite. Matthew finally decided that there was nothing that could be done by worrying, so he went to go get ready. Disney Fairy Tale Weddings sprinkled some pixie dust over the ceremony site and completely decorated the area, arranged the seating and got everything in order. Whew! Matthew hadn't seen his bride all day and the wait was killing him. After being escorted down the aisle by his mother, he was smiling knowing that this day was finally upon us. Finally, Kathy began her walk down the aisle with her parents. She was so beautiful. Tears of joy poured down her face and while a Chesire Cat smile stretched across Matthew's. The ceremony was beautiful and we were happy to be able to share it with our family, friends and hotel guests who were watching from their rooms. Our guests were taken to the reception site for hors d'oeuvres while we had our photographs taken. When we were finished, we made our way over to the Garden Room for our introduction as husband and wife. Dinner tasted terrific, though we didn't get a great chance to sit and enjoy it. Matthew's best man, Chad, made a very memorable and heartfelt toast to the newly wed couple. We enjoyed our first dance together to Beauty and the Beast. The best part of the evening was dancing with our parents. With The Wind Beneath My Wings playing, Matthew danced with his mom while Kathy danced with her dad. Halfway through the song, we changed partners; Matthew dancing with Kathy's mom and Kathy dancing with Matthew's uncle, David. Kathy's grandma giving her a lei was also priceless with the both of them crying and laughing, laughing and crying. Our cake looked fantastic sitting in front of a display of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. And we didn't smash cake into each other's faces. Despite all of our worry, it was a perfect day.
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Love and marriage ...

I Do Our lives continued pretty much the same after our engagement as before except that Matthew proudly called Kathy his fiancee and Kathy wore a diamond solitaire on her ring finger. Kathy had quit The Disney Store to become a teacher, which she is very good at being. Matthew stayed with the stores for a few more years before leaving to work in public relations. Yet the mouse was still to play a large part in our wedding plans.

We didn't want our wedding to be too over the top but we knew we wanted to have our celebration at the Disneyland Hotel. Through Disney Fairy Tale Weddings, we were able to have our ceremony and reception at the Hotel while still keeping it a fairly traditional wedding. We would add some Disney touches here and there, of course. And looking back, it couldn't have been much better.

Glance of love We knew that we wanted to have a summer wedding, so we began to think of possible dates. It had to after Kathy finished teaching for the year, so July looked to be the best bet. We didn't want to marry on the Fourth of July, especially since Disneyland gets extremely busy. Matthew thought that the 17th would have been pretty special since it was the day Disneyland opened in 1955, but again we anticipated large crowds at the park. So we decided to go right in between and marry on the 10th.

Everybody at the Disney Fairy Tale office was especially nice in helping us plan our big day. Unfortunately, with construction for the Disneyland Resort expansion, we weren't able to have the ceremony at the Rose Garden, a natural choice because of our Beauty and the Beast connection. But they did construct a lovely gazebo on the Sierra Lawn and it wound up being a fantastic site. Our reception followed at the Garden Room in the Bonita Tower.

The Big Day ...

We Dance After all of our planning and rehearsing, it came time for the walk down the aisle. Matthew was so nervous about everything, wanting and hoping for a perfect day. He tried to be all cool at breakfast but his mind was racing. At the hotel, there was a huge convention going on and parking was completely unavailable, even though we had paid for our guests to park there. And the conventioneers were everywhere - moving our chairs at our ceremony site, eating picnic lunches on the gazebo, being extremely loud - barely an hour before our ceremony. Matthew imagined the worst and was in near hysterics. Kathy didn't pay too much attention since she was busy getting ready in our suite. Matthew finally decided that there was nothing that could be done by worrying, so he went to go get ready. Disney Fairy Tale Weddings sprinkled some pixie dust over the ceremony site and completely decorated the area, arranged the seating and got everything in order. Whew!

Matthew hadn't seen his bride all day and the wait was killing him. After being escorted down the aisle by his mother, he was smiling knowing that this day was finally upon us. Finally, Kathy began her walk down the aisle with her parents. She was so beautiful. Tears of joy poured down her face and while a Chesire Cat smile stretched across Matthew's. The ceremony was beautiful and we were happy to be able to share it with our family, friends and hotel guests who were watching from their rooms.

The kiss Our guests were taken to the reception site for hors d'oeuvres while we had our photographs taken. When we were finished, we made our way over to the Garden Room for our introduction as husband and wife. Dinner tasted terrific, though we didn't get a great chance to sit and enjoy it. Matthew's best man, Chad, made a very memorable and heartfelt toast to the newly wed couple. We enjoyed our first dance together to Beauty and the Beast. The best part of the evening was dancing with our parents. With The Wind Beneath My Wings playing, Matthew danced with his mom while Kathy danced with her dad. Halfway through the song, we changed partners; Matthew dancing with Kathy's mom and Kathy dancing with Matthew's uncle, David. Kathy's grandma giving her a lei was also priceless with the both of them crying and laughing, laughing and crying. Our cake looked fantastic sitting in front of a display of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. And we didn't smash cake into each other's faces. Despite all of our worry, it was a perfect day.

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