Freeform's Weekend Fairy Tale Programming To Celebrate Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings Premiere (on May 7)

Press release:

In anticipation of the premiere of "Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings," FreeForm (part of the Disney/ABC Television Group) invites you to relive all of your favorite love stories during the network's weekend programming event starting SATURDAY, MAY 6 and continuing through SUNDAY, MAY 7. Follow along as Tiana kisses a few frogs to find her prince while Snow White patiently waits for true love's kiss, then cheer on Cinderella as she gets ready for the ball.

The highlights are:

Saturday, May 6

(8:00 - 10:00a.m. EDT) A CINDERELLA STORY: IF THE SHOE FITS (live action movie with Sofia Carson)

(10:00a.m. - 12:35p.m. EDT) THE PRINCE & ME (live action movie with Julia Stiles)

(12:35 - 2:40p.m. EDT) DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (feature animation)

(2:40 - 4:45p.m. EDT) DISNEY'S THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (feature animation) - repeats on Sunday, May 7, at 9:05a.m. EDT.

(4:45 - 6:50 p.m. EDT) DISNEY/PIXAR'S BRAVE (feature animation) - repeats on Sunday, May 7, at 11:10 a.m. EDT.

(6:50 - 9:00 p.m. EDT) DISNEY'S TANGLED (feature animation) - repeats on Sunday, May 7, at 3:20p.m. EDT.

(9:00 - 11:30 p.m. EDT) DISNEY'S FROZEN (feature animation) -  repeats on Sunday, May 7, at 5:30p.m. EDT.

(11:30p.m. - 1:30 a.m. EDT) DISNEY'S ALADDIN (feature animation) - repeats on Sunday, May 7, at 1:15 p.m. EDT.

Sunday, May 7

(8:00 - 9:30 p.m. EDT) DISNEY'S FAIRY TALE WEDDINGS - FreeForm PREMIERE

Getting married is one of the most special days of your life and one you will never forget. For three exceptional couples, their weddings will include some Disney magic and elegance, as well as a few surprises thrown in, to give them the wedding they always dreamed of and more. And while three couples are entering wedded bliss, one lucky couple is just about to start their wedding journey with a proposal of a lifetime. Hosted by "The Bachelor" alums Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell, "Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings" will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the one-of-a-kind weddings, including a surprise performance by the multiplatinum-selling a cappella group Pentatonix and magical engagements that take place at Disney Destinations around the globe.

* All dresses pictured are from Disney Bridal

Note: we're not sure why Frozen is being featured - there's no wedding in that movie!

Once Upon A Musical! (The OUAT Musical Episode Fans Have Been Wishing For Airs This Weekend)

It's a fairytale wedding in true Disney style: magic, mayhem and many songs. (And dancing!)

This coming weekend, the whole cast of the Enchanted Forest of ABC's Once Upon A Time breaks into song for their musical episode, titled 'The Song In Your Heart'.

So how does this happen? Someone makes a wish, of course. (Or is it a curse? We'll have to wait and find out!)

In flashback, Snow and Charming make a special wish that Emma will be protected. The result of their wish has the whole kingdom bursting into song which infuriates the Evil Queen. ... (The) wish to help save their family from her. "I wish we have magic to keep them all stay happy," (Snow) wishes. (In the promo the Evil Queen can be heard lamenting) "They cast a spell so everyone breaks into song."  

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, the Black Fairy announces her plans to unleash another curse on the town while Emma and Hook prepare for their wedding, on "Once Upon a Time". (aceshowbiz)

Here's the promotional trailer to get a taste of all the singing and dancing to come:

Many of the cast apparently have musical theater backgrounds and all are reported as saying they love musical theater so were keen to do an episode as a 'fairytale musical'.

It seems the idea appealed, not only to fans but to the Disney legacy this show has continued and paid homage to ever since it began. The creators clearly have a typical idea of what a fairy tale is: magic, sparkles, happy endings, villains and heroes and also, as it turns out, musicals as being a 'natural fit' with fairy tales. It's definitely a Disney-driven POV on fairy tales, but being an American production, and with Disney as ABC's parent company, that makes complete sense. Staying close to this popular idea of fairy tales, and playing with the tropes, is what keeps fans coming back - they get their 'grown-up Disney fairy tale', and a little more too. Clearly, the tactic works!

The US used to be known as 'the land of the musical', the place where you could walk down the street and not be surprised to find yourself in the middle of a spontaneous musical number, and Disney's fairy tales haven't ever been without songs, so it's inevitable OUAT would delve into this territory, though perhaps using more originality than fans might have expected.

Although at least one cast member assumed that if this day came, Once Upon a Time would recycle famous Disney tunes, that was never the plan. Instead, series creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis last summer sat down with songwriters (and Once fans) Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner to hash out the grand plan, which would lead to seven original tunes being penned. “After we let the cast know [about the musical episode],” says Horowitz, “they got together with the composers, to tailor all the songs to each actor and their character specifically.” (TVline)

Right now, by employing a little 'google-fu', you can hear snippets of some of the songs and Oh My Disney released most of the Evil Queen's 'rock song' 'Love Doesn't Stand A Chance', (we'll let you track those down if you're keen) which has some nice touches, such as her observation of other inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest singing happily in their homes (and stories), and there are definitely Disney homages in the lyrics, the set-ups, some of the phrases and other places to find - always great for fans (and drinking games!).

No doubt there will be many Easter eggs and call backs to earlier OUAT moments, throughout the episode, so this is expected to be a real treat for Oncers in particular.

There will be eight songs whose titles might be considered somewhat spoiler-y, so consider yourself warned before reading the list in the blue box to the right. (Click to enlarge for reading.)

As a bonus, you can see an extended featurette in which the cast and crew talk about preparing for the episode - how it came about, how they prepared and what it was like to approach Once Upon A Time from this perspective, HERE. From all reports, the cast had a lot of fun, so chances are high this will be enjoyable to watch too.

Musicals are definitely in vogue right now, so the timing for this double whammy (wedding + musical) is perfect for the show and should very much boost its recently lagging ratings. While we don't expect it will have the wit and musical dexterity of Galavant, we're sure there will be memorable moments.

The Once Upon A Time musical episode airs on May 7th at 8/7c, on ABC.

Rapunzel Themed Wedding Photography

This lovely and unusual wedding photo shoot was a creative project to showcase the talents of the team at Connection Photography.

The wood setting is lovely and their custom built tree house adds that extra whimsy that makes this "wedding photography" unique and fun.

There are many (many!) more photos from this shoot which you can see HERE and a lot more beautiful and lovely themed shoots to see on the Connection Photography blog HERE. Just be aware that the blog is very image heavy and can take quite a while to load. It also has auto-play music but at least the player is easily visible at the head so you can turn it off straight away. Other than these little things there is a lot to enjoy there, especially if you like vintage-style photography.

Alfredo Angelo Launches 2012 Disney Princess Bridal Collection

 

In October, Designer Alfredo Angelo released the 2012 Disney bridal collection, his second 'princess' collaboration, with an additional gown inspired by Rapunzel.

I was hoping for a more inspired photo shoot for these gowns to show you but at least the Disney-tale connection is made clear.

In case you missed it, here is the 1st collection from early this year and a short promotional video to go with it.

You can find the details for the most recent collection HERE.

Wedding with Fire Breathing Snail Carriage

I'm rarely envious of what other people do for their weddings (we were married at the LA Zoo between the giraffes and the chimps - it was a hoot!) but Justin & Jordana, who were married in Oakland on October 11th, have tweaked my "I-wish-I-had-done-that" meter.

A fairy tale setting in a redwood forest and a steampunk fantasy carriage (shaped like a snail and breathing fire) = AWESOME!As a complete girly aside - did you notice her dress? Gorgeous!

You can see even more lovely pics HERE.

This must be the only street legal snail in the world - let alone the only fire-breathing street legal snail. The unique vehicle is called The Golden Mean and you can find out more information about it HERE.

Here's a night picture of The Golden Mean at the Fire Arts Festival so you can see the flaming antennae in all their glory.Makes you want one of your own, doesn't it? Well, for those motivated souls, here's an 'Instructables' tutorial so you can construct your own:

Snail Art Car The Golden Mean - More cool how to projects

You can hire the The Golden Mean and other fiery accessories HERE.