Anyone still read this?

In case by chance anyone is still checking in to our blog, I thought I would post something since it has been far too long since I was able to do so.  The final weeks of wedding preparations took over and our blog was, unfortunately, the last thing on my mind.  I know many of our friends and family kept up with our plans through our posts, but I just couldn't keep up by the end.  Thankfully, Jack seems to balance an awful lot really well, so I am glad he kept the blog going while I was entrenched in the details.

In the end though, it all paid off.  We had a truly amazing wedding weekend!  The weather was fantastic, all of our family and friends got to and from Chicago safely (as far as I have heard), my brother was out of the hospital from his lung surgery that week in time to still be with us all day and it seemed all my nitty-gritty planning worked because our day went without a hitch!  Jack and I were so overwhelmed and excited to have our family and friends with us on this day. (And thanks to those that stuck around - you turned a great day into a great weekend)! 

And although it is the guests' duty to say nice things and extend congratulations to the bride and groom, I truly felt like I was in a room packed that people that could not be more genuinely excited for Jack and me.  I don't know that I could put into words what that felt like exactly, except to say that I felt surrounded by love and support.

I told Jack that now that the wedding is over, I want to keep blogging, so we are going to figure out a place for us to continue to post as we begin our married lives together.  If you do still check this, add a comment to let us know so that we can be sure to send a link to our new blogging spot (once we figure that out).  Until then, I'll try to keep posting here for a while.

We Did It!

Well, our wedding weekend has come and gone.  I don't think we could have asked for it to go much better than it did.  We had so much fun with everyone, and everything went so well.  Thank you to everyone who came to share in this amazing day with us. 

We've asked that anyone who took pictures please submit them on my photo sharing website, GPUDS.  If you don't have access to it and you took pictures, please let us know!  Once we get them all, I'll post a link for people to view them directly off of this site. 

I Think We're Ready

I'm sitting here at home, just waiting until it's time to get the ball rolling.  Most of our friends and family are in town or will be shortly.  The excitement of already seeing out-of-town friends has me almost bursting at the seams.  I cannot wait to see everyone tomorrow as Mary and I celebrate.  Thank you everyone, especially our parents, who have helped get us to this point! 

The Final Countdown

Yes, The Final Countdown.  And no, I don't mean the song by semi-famous '80s rock band, Europe.  I mean the final countdown until we get married!  This past weekend, Mary and I spent most of our time at Mary's parents house in Homer Glen finalizing all kinds of details.  Mary will pretty much be "camping out" there, as she says for the next couple of days.  At least she only has a two-day work week!

The details over the past few days have included the final guestlist, seating assignments, transportation logistics, photography details, place cards, menu cards, programs, and amongst all that, finishing cleaning out Mary's old apartment!  Just because we're planning a wedding, though, doesn't mean our normal activities have been put on hold.  I had to take Bentley in for a comprehensive check-up yesterday, go to the dry cleaners this morning, get a haircut tonight, and find time for Starbucks in and amongst all that.

With all the pressure we're feeling to get everything done, we fortunately have Mary's Aunt Lorrie to keep us entertained!  She came up with a really funny "what if" scenario.  What if Bentley got access to Mary and Jack's wedding blog.....?  Find out here!

Ceremony Programs

Mary and I had kind of been stressing a little about the ceremony programs.  Originally, we were going to do them ourselves, but since time is becoming rather limited in the homestretch, we opted to seek help.

My Mom has agreed to take on this challenge and enlisted the help of my sisters.  My Mom really hit the ground running, too!  I mentioned it to her last Friday night, and the next day she had bought samples of paper, artwork, designs and the like for us (mostly Mary) to look at.  We are just providing some creative insight and the copy for the programs, and they'll be handling the rest!

Not only is it one less thing to stress about, but after seeing both my sisters' programs and the rehearsal dinner invitations, I'm really excited to see the final product!