Keep Calm and Carry On

Another adventurous and busy weekend in lovely Massachusetts! This was a quick one day/night trip for me to help Rick with a few wedding details. A massive storm system caused flights to be cancelled and delayed from Canada to Florida. My return flight was delayed 2 hours (does not include time sitting on the tarmac at Logan and Dulles). Nothing anyone can do about the weather though.

 I don't handle delays well, but at least this was weather and not a baggage handler bumping into and breaking off a pitot tube.

If you plan to stay overnight, which we encourage, and have not made reservations at a local hotel yet, check out the "Where You Can Stay" section of the blog. There are some nice hotels within walking distance of the Ashworth. The Ashworth has a block of rooms for our guests as well.


For those of you that have already made reservations, please send me or Rick the name of the hotel, address, and name that your room is booked under.

Also, we have decided to host a post wedding breakfast.  Would love to have you join us if you can.  We do need a headcount, so let us know if you plan to attend.

 They should add "karaoke" to the sign.

I brought my dress, shoes, and accessories up this weekend. This is the new dress. I have added an aqua-ish sash around the waist and have decided that my shoes should match the sash. This is a lousy picture:



 Awkward dress posing.

The bodice has very pretty beading that gives the dress some sparkle without being overly fussy. It was a bit long on me, so Rick is taking it to a local tailor to have it hemmed.

I will be up again this coming weekend to do the hair and makeup run through with the Soho Salon in Rye. We also plan to drop off my shoes to have them dyed while we're there.

We still need to find a barber for Rick. Anybody know of a place near Hampton Beach where a guy can get an old fashioned shave? That's going to be a tough one. There is a place in Concord, MA, but that's not practical.


I think we're both feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. It's amazing how all these little details add up to so much to do. I can't believe we're just a little over a month away from the big day either.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact either one of us if you have any questions and be sure to let one of us know the details on where you're staying.

EDIT:  Anybody else feel that earthquake today?  The epicenter was about 60 miles away from where I live.  Made my afternoon meeting far more interesting.

The Big List for the Big Day

You're going to love the way you look.

We're down to the last 2 months before the big day! We're looking forward to sharing this special day with all of you. We sincerely appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to come celebrate with us. A special thank you to those that are coming in from out of town.

We're working hard to check off the last few boxes on the list: photographer, Rick's suit, hair and makeup, seating charts, playlist for the DJ, finishing the centerpieces, writing our vows, making decisions about the actual ceremony, etc. The list has never seemed longer.

Rick wanted a linen suit. When he first brought it up all I could picture was Ricardo Montalban from Fantasy Island. He found the perfect linen suit at Men's Warehouse and we had a lot of fun picking out the tie and shirt in our wedding colors. The alterations were done in a week and Rick picked it up Friday night. I think most of you have seen the photo he posted on Facebook.

A close friend of Rick's family has generously given us the wonderful gift of being our officiate. We really wanted our ceremony and reception to be personal and reflect who we are and this makes it extra special.

We have completed our playlist for the DJ. Probably one of the most eclectic lists I've ever seen. We split it up into two categories: cocktail hour/dinner music and music for dancing. This was really hard because we started off with a lot of songs we just love, but had to cut them because you just can't dance to them.

I found a place in Rye that does wedding hair and makeup. I will be up the last weekend of August and hope to have a dry run with the salon.

When my Dads were here from Hawaii I wanted to show them the necklace I chose to go with my dress. I had chosen pearls in our wedding colors, but was disappointed to find that the length wasn't what I expected and that it couldn't be altered. Dad 2 has a fabulous eye and spotted an aqua chalcedony necklace at Na Hoku that was perfect. They were able to custom order the length I wanted and they had earrings to match. The picture doesn't do this lovely set justice.

On that note, with all the boxes we've checked off and planning we've done, we wouldn't be maintaining our sanity without help from our friends and family. Thank you.

Under Pressure

Wow folks, it has been a busy few weeks, wedding-wise.

Today I accomplished what seemed like an impossible task: securing the services of a top-quality DJ who was not only free for October 1st, but who also provides karaoke services. Andy and I are both very relieved to scratch this one off the to-do list, but we still have a lot to do, and not a lot of time left before the big day.

On her last visit here, Andy perfected her vision of our DIY centerpieces, and I paid close attention so that when the gigantic boxes of flowers, sand, seashells, and other assorted supplies finally stop arriving at my apartment, I will be able to assemble the rest and give her a much-needed break from wedding stuff. Here's a picture of the prototype, I think it came out looking amazing. I'm only sorry the photo is not of better quality (I took it in dark lighting so it would be more obvious that they were illuminated from within by LED lights):

I have ordered my wedding band, and have received my wedding shoes this week as well. I am very excited that things are coming together, but there are still a lot of little, tiny details that we are going to have to deal with. One thing at a time, I guess...

Red, White, & Lobstah

Happy 4th of July!

Rick and I attended Craig and Leah's absolutely beautiful wedding last weekend and I was convinced that we should have a karaoke machine at our wedding. I initially put my foot down, but Lura convinced me it would be fun. And fun is what we want to have, so there will be karaoke.

Rick has gone by the Ashworth recently and tells me that the renovation of the boardwalk area in front of the hotel is close to complete. The view is beautiful, so I really hope that is all done by October.

For those of you coming from out of town, be sure to check out our page on places to stay in Hampton Beach. Of course, the Ashworth has a block of rooms available for our guests too. It's a lovely and historic hotel and worth the splurge.

Don't hesitate to contact me or Rick if you have any questions.

More Details

Here's the menu (there will be a selection of Hors D'Oeuvres as well):

Fresh Fruit Cup with Sherbet

Iceburg lettuce wedge with bacon, bleu cheese, tomato confetti, and balsamic vinaigrette

Baked stuffed haddock with seafood stuffing and lobster sauce

Sole Florentine with spinach and seafood stuffing

Stuffed breast of chicken with supreme sauce

Bow tie pasta with shrimp, tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese

Roast prime ribs of beef au jus and horseradish cream

Seasonal vegetable

Rice pilaf

Herb roasted potatoes

The menu is subject to change, but this should be close. We chose something with a lot of variety so there would be something for everyone.

Unfortunately, I can't get the dress I ordered. That's the danger of having a small outfit make a dress. If just one seamstress quits, all bets are off. After a close call of becoming a panic stricken bride, I was able to find another one. First (and I'm sure it won't be the last) disaster averted.

Rick has ordered his special wedding shoes and has chosen a wedding band. Now he just has to decide what he's going to wear. He's looking to match our wedding colors, but is steering clear of the whole tuxedo thing. I'm sure whatever he chooses, he'll be a very handsome groom.

We still have to find a DJ and photographer. I also need to find a place close to Hampton Beach that can do wedding hair and makeup. If anyone has any recommendations, please let us know.

Favors, Menus, and Playlist. Oh My!

It's a busy wedding week for us. I'm working on favors and centerpieces and Rick is working on the invitations. We're both trying hard to come up with songs for our playlist, making final decisions on the reception menu, and choosing our rings. All of these little details put the pressure on and I am approaching panic mode. Thankfully Rick is the calm to my frantic. As usual, we make a great team. My advice to anybody planning a wedding is to approach the tremendous task at hand as a TEAM. Seriously, it's a sanity saver.

Rick and I just took a nice break from all of this over Memorial Day weekend. We spent a day in Boston shopping. Rick thought that a relaxing weekend being pampered at a hotel would do us both some good. He surprised me with making reservations for us to have a river view room at the Hotel Marlowe. We had a fabulous time.

Last call for those that would like to suggest songs for the playlist! Watch those mailboxes, we'll be sending the invitations out this week

Piece of Cake

After a few months with no real progress on our wedding plans, we have become productive once again. This past weekend, we were lucky enough to have picked an incredible bakery at which to schedule a cake-tasting and consultation, Frederick's Pastries in Amherst NH.



Having long known of the buzz and local prestige of the establishment, I was nervous that our meeting would result in disappointment-- a cake we couldn't afford, unreasonable terms, whatever. I simply assumed that although we were aiming high, we would eventually decide that we had to settle for a second-rate cake from a second-rate bakery.



However, our meeting went smoothly, quickly, and successfully. Our original idea of a two-tiered cake was thrown out the window, along with a few other details that we had envisioned, but for good reason: These guys are the best at what they do, and they know what they're talking about. Every suggestion made perfect sense to us.

The end result was our choice of a cake in the "Innocence" design (see picture), using blue frosting with brown ribbon.



Here's an example of an "Innocence" cake that Frederick's lists in their gallery.
It fit right in with our vision of smooth, relatively unfettered simplicity.



Our cake will also feature a decorative smattering of white chocolate seashells, and blue chocolate lobsters, with crushed graham cracker "sand" sprinkled along the cakeboard and the topper. Andy had the brilliant idea of adding some blue seaglass to the decoration, which Frederick's assured us would be no problem at all.

The tasting went incredibly well too. Although we were originally set on red velvet, we tasted their chocolate, golden vanilla, and almond cakes, with a variety of fruit and nut fillings. Our final decision was that each tier (starting with our anniversary top tier) will alternate between vanilla with strawberry filling, and chocolate with raspberry filling.

I am very excited and pleased at how well things went, and the price turned out to be considerably less than we had budgeted for. As you will notice, we were so taken with this bakery, Andy added Frederick's to our links list here at the blog.

I'm no big connoisseur of cakes or desserts, but this bakery and the whole experience just blew me away. Now I'm not sure I can wait 5 months to have dessert!

THE Dress

CANCELLED, , , ,

Not a setback I was preparded for, but the seamstress can't make my dress. So, I'm back to shopping for another one. I can just feel my bloodpressure rising. I was able to get the shoes and I am picky about shoes so that is a positive.

And THE shoes. . . .

Champagne swatch.

Bye bye. . .

Wedding Salute to Regretsy.com Part 5

Once again taking "til death do us part" too seriously. This is a ring bearer's box.

Elton John would be proud of any bride brave enough to wear these.

A bat groom that defies explanation. Unless you're Batman this shouldn't be part of your wedding decor.

Wedding Salute to Regretsy.com Part 4

Paint can champagne chiller. Really?


Here comes the. . .oh my god!

Another offering from the bizarre cake topper category. A twinkie and a bear? How is that supposed to work?

Bacon heart sculpture. Another item that you will not find on our registry. Rick would just eat it anyway (if The Boys didn't get to it first). Mmmm, bacony goodness.