Monday, August 31, 2009

Tuxedo Measurements

My Father, Brother, and Michael were measured Friday night for their tuxedos. Michael's Sister's Husband's Father (whew) owns a Tailor/Menswear shop in Gloversville, NY. Here is Ralph measuring my brother Greg:

Friday, August 28, 2009

Hello Gentlemen

The groom has chosen this tuxedo. I think it's very stylish and suitable for our wedding. Mike, the five groomsmen, and my Father will all be donned in this beauty:

Calvin Klein: Infinity

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bridal Shower: √ (check) !

My Bridesmaids threw me a wonderful Bridal Shower. It was, as Veruca Salt (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) would say, a "bean-feast"! Check out the awesome sugary spread:It was at the lovely home of my Matron of Honor, Katie. There were 23 ladies in attendance, total. I received so many great gifts. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Just because most of the presents were not a surprise (since they were off our registries), doesn't mean I didn't have an absolute blast opening and receiving them! Thank you to everyone who helped out, cooked/baked something, provided their house, brought something, attended, cleaned-up, and made the afternoon memorable and fun. Here is a photo of me and the wedding party in attendance:

Camping Vacation

Michael and I went on a 4-night camping trip to Letchworth State Park last week. We choose to camp at Letchworth because it is close to Geneseo (my alma mater) and since I had spent so much time there in college running the trails (Geneseo's home cross country course is there), I wanted to fully experience the rest of the park. Unfortunately, all the sites at Letchworth have electric hook-up, which means it's an ideal place for people with campers and RVs. We were practically the only tent campers in our loop. It's okay, we made the best of it and "tented our hearts out". It was very hot last week and we slept with the rain fly off for two nights and could watch the stars. There was a 'boil water advisory' the whole time we were at the park from the Village of Perry who supplies the campground's water. Let me tell you, buying bottled water at the camp store was not cheap and with 90-degree heat, an unexpected expense. We were saving a pack of delicious bacon to cook over a campfire on our last morning. On our last night, I woke up just in time to see a raccoon snatching the bacon from our cooler. He took some ground beef too. Of course he left the fruits and vegetables and beer. We went to a diner in Dansville for breakfast instead. Overall, our trip was a nice break from it all.

Invitations Mailed: √ (check) !

Phew, that was a close one. Yes, I did wait until the last minute. I thought I could finish assembling everything before Mike and I left for our vacation last week. But, no such luck. The invitations just had to wait until we returned. Well, the post office received them yesterday and they are in motion. Even with everything printed and purchased, it still took approximately 8 hours for assembly. Thank you Bridesmaid Kelly and my Parents for helping in the daunting assembly/postage calculation process. Because the invitations contain vintage stamps, and the stamps are in several different denominations, it took some time to calculate and divide the proper postage. I left that job to my Philatelist Father and he was stellar. Here's a sneak peek at the vintage postage stamps:

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Milligan & Miller Wedding

Last month was the wedding of Kristi Milligan and Liam Miller in Saratoga, NY. It was a perfect day, warm and sunny. The ceremony and reception were both held at Longfellows. Here is a photo of the first time we all met Kristi, when Liam brought her on a rafting/camping weekend in the Adirondack's. (Yes, we all loved her!) We rafted down the Indian and Hudson Rivers and camped at Lake Durant in the Adirondack's. That was in 2006.

Oh, how far we have come.


Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Miller! We can't wait to hear about your honeymoon in Aruba.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Honeymoon Postponed

The stars finally aligned for a bit of good luck regarding our honeymoon. Back story: A few months ago, when we became a primarily one-income household, we were forced to spend the money we had saved-up for our Belize honeymoon. Now that Mike is going back to school, and will be a full-time student this fall, it would not be good for him to miss 2 full weeks of classes. So, we decided to postpone our honeymoon until January 2010. Mike will be on a school break and hopefully we will have some money saved by then. Cancelling or changing a flight is an expensive ordeal, especially when you purchase tickets through a third-party website, such as http://www.cheaptickets.com/, like we did. However, when I finally sucked-it-up and called them yesterday, the outcome was surprisingly good. We were given a full refund on our tickets! The reason for this is because one of the airlines made a flight change after our initial booking that would have resulted in us missing a connecting flight. Because the airline initiated a change like that, they could (and should) (AND DID) offer the option of a refund instead of just a flight change. The agent at cheaptickets.com was extremely helpful and even called the airline for me to obtain the refund. If that scenario had not played out, we would have owed an extra $500 in fees plus the fare difference (which is probably higher around the holidays). Now we wait for 45 days for the refund to process. Then we can start from scratch and book a new trip. Two thumbs-up to cheaptickets.com too!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Shacking-up?

The bride and groom have chosen a hotel for out-of-town guests and anyone else who may want the convenience of not driving after the reception. We have arranged for a shuttle to bring people to and from the wedding/reception, which is 5 minutes away. We have reserved a block of 20 rooms at the Best Western Albany Airport Inn for Friday and Saturday nights of the wedding weekend. You must call to make your own reservation and make sure to tell them it's for our wedding so that you get our fixed rate. They will only hold the rooms until the first weekend in September, so don't delay!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Registry Links and Info

Here is our wedding registry information.

Bed Bath & Beyond

Under the "Give A Gift" category, enter either my or Mike's first and last names. If you enter my first and last name, our registry will come up as the only option. If you enter Mike's first and last name, you will get nine choices. Of course select ours with the NY location and the correct wedding date.

Macy's

Under the "Give" section, enter either my or Mike's first and last names. If you enter my first and last name, our registry will come up as the only option. If you enter Mike's first and last name, you will get five choices. Of course select ours with the NY location and the correct wedding date.