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Wedding Plans and Details - in Progress |
For recent updates, please click on the date-specific links below. For additional information, including important dates, attire, and our thoughts on children at the wedding and reception, please check out the FAQ's at the bottom of the page.
Three weeks and counting and it's all starting to jell. We have finalized plans with the photographer, met with the florist, nailed down a main dish for the reception, established a few details about the wedding cake, and a few other things.
The Rehearsal dinner has been moved. Joe and Fate have graciously offered to cook yummy lasagna for everyone. This is incredibly convenient, considering that the rehearsal is also at their place. The meal for the reception will be Chicken Peanut Sate. If anyone is allergic to peanuts, we apologize, but you're going to have to go vegetarian for the evening. For everyone else, you can expect an amazing treat with this dish.
The flowers have been discussed with the florist and we are waiting for an estimate. The flowers for the ceremony will all be white lilies and something red. This may be roses or gladiolas, TBD.
I'd rather the wedding cake remain a surprise for most of you, but here's a little teaser: the baker found it necessary to secure the services of a steel sculptor to get the job done. Yes, Rob is having waaaay too much fun with this. *big grin*
After much harassing of the guests we have finalized a count. If more than 60 people show up to the wedding someone is going to have to stand (besides the Bride and Groom, that is *grin*. We have to stand anyway).
For those who care, Ryleh had her first hiccups this week. *grin* The whole "kicking the ribs" thing is starting to get a little old, so this was a nice change.
Over the past month we've been very busy ensuring the wedding plans progress smoothly. First, invitations went out on May 17th, only two days later than originally expected. For those of you who have already returned the RSVP cards, thank you. For those of you who haven't, the deadline for this is June 2nd, and we'd like to ask that you please, please return these. Those who do not RSVP will not be fed. *L* Seriously, we're using this number to plan for the reception feast, and our caterer will be none too happy if 10 (or 20 or 30...) hungry guests unexpectedly appear at the reception. So even if you happen to be part of the wedding party, we're going to get on your nerves if you fail to return your card (since we need to know if anyone else will be attending with you, obviously). *S*
Two other major milestones this month both occurred last week, and these
involved picking up the finished
wedding rings, which are pictured
at the top of this page (may we just say they are gorgeous and exactly
what we had in mind *G*) and selecting the groomsmen's tuxedos.
Dave and Rob will both be wearing outfits Maggie is making, and we've selected
black Mandarin-collar tuxes for the rest of the groomsmen and the ring
bearer. We even managed to meet up with two of the groomsmen for their
fittings. You'll notice Jed getting friendly with the staff during his
fitting, at right. *G* Only one groomsman needs to be fitted at this point,
so we're feeling pretty good about the state of the wedding outfits.
We also completed the shot list for the photographer this month, and we are in the process of making our final menu selections for the wedding feast. In addition, we've purchased most of the decorations for the wedding and reception site, and we're working on decorating the ring pillow and flower basket. We also finally found our black and white unity candle (at Paper Warehouse, of all unexpected places!), as well as the utensils to be used to cut and serve the cake (we still need to redecorate these, however). With some difficulty, we managed to track down small white candles which will be used at the close of the wedding ceremony, and these have been ordered. We're now in the process of finalizing the details of the wedding ceremony (including final selections of readings and readers), and we're compiling the play list for the reception. We even managed to choose the song for our first dance, just last night. *S*
Even with all of this accomplished, plenty remains to be done. We're still working on the flowers for the wedding and reception, and we need to purchase the materials for the table centerpieces. Most of the decorations still need to be assembled or prepared, and we need to follow up with our baker about the cake. And of course everyone wants to be paid this month, in advance, so we will be writing lots of big checks over the next few weeks. But hey, you can't throw an extravagant party without the proper output of funds, now can you? *G*
In the past few weeks we've made some notable progress in several areas of the planning, including getting a strong start on the wedding outfits. For the bridesmaids and bride, this involved submitting to mock-ups of old t-shirts and duct tape (yet another use for that handy stuff *G*). Cheryl proudly displays her mock-up here.
Our talented seamstress, Maggie, also measured the groom and best man for their suits (the other groomsmen and ring bearer will all wear matching tuxedos, as-yet-to-be-chosen). Maggie did a fabulous job sketching all of the wedding outfits, and accompanied the bridesmaids on their excursions to select the fabric for their dresses. This was somewhat of an adventure, given that each of the bridesmaid's dresses is different - the style and fabric of each dress is unique, though all the dresses are predominantly black and have bodices that lace for a flattering fit and somewhat consistent appearance.
We also gave our final sign-off on the wedding rings. An image of
the wax cutting appears to the left, and does a fairly nice job of showing
the infinity symbol that is cut into the rings and the ankh that is overlaid
at the center of the infinity symbol. What can't be seen is that the rings
will be made entirely of white gold, and are quite wide.
By the end of April we had determined all of the key individuals who will fill the major roles at the wedding and reception. We now have a caterer (menu still to be decided), photographer, two videographers and cameras and a florist. In addition, we rented the chairs for the wedding ceremony.
Another major accomplishment is that we've completed about 99% of the wedding invitations and will be mailing them out by the 17th of May. They would be 100% complete except that we're still hunting some of you down for your addresses. *S*
We also purchased an 80-lb.
bag of "popcorn salt", which is very finely ground salt. This will be used
by our baker to create the salt dough structure that will span the two
halves of the wedding cake and support the round cake at the top.
Just wait until you see this cake, designed by Rob...*G* While we actually
needed only about 10 lbs. of salt for this project, our choices were either
the 80-lb. bag or emptying an immense number of McDonald's salt packets.
Anyone need a pound - or five - of very fine salt???!
Our wedding date is June
30th, 2001.
Pre-wedding activities
begin at 6:00pm, while the actual ceremony begins at 6:30. The reception
will follow at approximately 7:45pm, with dinner at 8:00.
We have the reception
site until 1:00 am, but since we need to clean up before we leave, we'll
be winding down around 11:30 and the reception will officially end at midnight.
Of course, we'd love help with the clean-up, so we'll be looking for volunteers...
We'd really prefer you
didn't, for several reasons. First, the head count is really tight in terms
of the number of people we can seat at both the wedding and reception,
and in terms of the head count we gave our caterer. This number is based
on adults attending only, and if everyone we know (or even half
of the people we know) bring their children, several people are going to
have no place to sit. Second, we are only getting one chance to videotape
this, and are going to be somewhat upset if instead of hearing our vows,
the ceremony and the readings, we hear only a crying child. And third,
this is an adult party - probably the last one we will be throwing for
some time considering our baby is due in August. We'd like to enjoy this
celebration with other adults, and know we'll have plenty of opportunities
for other entire-family-oriented parties later. We appreciate your cooperation,
and hope to see only the flower girl and ring bearer at our wedding and
reception. *S*
The wedding rehearsal
will be the Friday evening prior to the wedding, June 29th, beginning at
5:30. We'll be using this time to set the chairs up and run through the
ceremony a couple-three times. The actual rehearsal will take place at
the wedding site, and the rehearsal dinner will follow at the same location
(many thanks to Fate and Joe on this one).
Yes, both, separately.
These are being organized by the best man and one of the bridesmaids, and
both are scheduled for the Saturday prior to the wedding, June 23rd. That's
right - no one gets to use these parties as an excuse for being hung over
the day of the wedding. *G*
We already did - one
of the bridesmaids, Kris, threw us a lovely couples' shower on April 21st.
This information, including
maps, is included in the wedding invitations, so you might wish to wait
until yours arrives in the mail to obtain this information (mail date for
invitations is May 17th). But if for some reason you lose/can't find/don't
want to look for it, please contact us. You can either give us a call or
shoot us an e-mail at rrapplean@qwest.net. FYI, the wedding and reception
are being held at different locations, but the two sites are only about
10-15 minutes apart. The wedding is being held outdoors while the reception
site (and back-up wedding site in the event of inclement weather) is indoors.
Yes. Dinner will be served
buffet-style, and both meat-eaters and vegetarians will find plenty to
eat.
We're serving four types
of beer and 25 types of wine (yes, 25; Rob had fun building an "instant
wine collection" *G*) at the reception. Champagne (one type) will also
be available for toasts. A bartender will be present, and the drinks are
free.
Yes - a "wedding out
of time." Okay, all of you who are easily sickened by Rob and Tiffany's
affection for one another should move on to the next question now. *G*
For those of you still reading the answer to this question, many of you
may be familiar with the concept of couples joining together for this and
all future lifetimes. Our theme assumes that we did that many lifetimes
ago, and we're doing it again in this lifetime, once more renewing our
vows. The wedding contains elements of several historical periods in terms
of the ceremony, dress and reception feast.
The main colors are cream
and wine, although the bridesmaids and groomsmen will be predominantly
in black. And no, the bride will not be wearing a black dress;
she did that last time. *G*
Whatever you wish. *S*
The wedding will take place outdoors, and on June 30th it is likely to
be fairly hot out. On the other hand, it could be relatively cool, so we
suggest you plan for the weather and dress accordingly. At least a few
individuals plan to wear one outfit to the wedding and change prior to
the reception (this includes the bride), so you are welcome to do this.
We are not by any means asking anyone to come in period costume or fancy
dress if it does not suit them. Guests are welcome regardless of attire.
Well, then, please e-mail
us your question and we'll answer it. *S* Send questions to rrapplean@qwest.net.
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