Family reunion

I’ve had the pleasure to attend the past two Weber family reunions, last year in Indianapolis, IN and most recently, Cherry Valley Lodge. Alex’s Grandfather, Justin Weber founded the family business Batesville Products Inc., and the Weber family plans an reunion surrounding the annual BPI shareholder meeting.

Located slightly east of Columbus, Cherry Valley is an excellent location for meetings and conferences, with accommodations, bike trails, restaurants and even a spa located right on site. We even saw a beautiful wedding take place outside in the garden, so for any of those brides-to-be, you might want to consider this location for your wedding! More photos.

This was the 15th anniversary of the Weber reunion, which falls on the weekend of Grandma Rita and Grandpa Justin’s wedding anniversary. Before Saturday night’s dinner, Alex’s father proposed a toast in honor of marriage:
to Rita and Justin’s marriage,
to married couples among us and
to couples planning to get married.
Needless to say, it was very touching!

My immediate family started doing a similar reunion trip and we call it Prengerfest. Since our family reunion normally takes place in early November, we are post-poning this year’s event due to the wedding. I feel guilty we are doing that but I hope we continue our annual reunions in the future. As my siblings and I get older, we truly value our limited time together and look forward to these weekend get aways!

I have to admit, I’ve been a little spoiled the past month to attend two Weber vacations! Thanks again for welcoming me into the family!

He “popped” the question

Over the weekend we received a super cute invitation in the mail to a family party in honor our of engagement. The invitation read:

He “POPPED” the question…and she said YES!
His & Her Family Celebration..and then went on with the date, location, etc.

The creative part is that the invitation was wrapped around a package of microwave POPCORN! How clever!

Thank you Aunt Kim & Uncle Barry (Alex’s Aunt & Godfather) in advance for hosting this party! We are looking forward to seeing everyone!

4 month countdown

Time is flying!

Limo is booked, passport will be in the mail TH, honeymoon options are being compared, engagement photos are scheduled and invitation design is almost ready for the family to review. I’m checking things off the list left and right!

Currently I’m brainstorming some additional ideas to really communicate the importance and excitement of getting married on our ten year anniversary. My bridesmaids are also coming up with some really creative ideas! Three examples include using multiples of 10 when ever possible, such as 10 flowers in my bouquet, 10 candles on the dinner tables and highlighting that we have “10″ groomsmen and “10″ bridesmaids (including flower girl/ring bearer). Another option highlighted the time line of events (of our relationship) over the 10 years. We’ll see where we go with it…not really sure right now.

Everyone’s advice on the last few posts have been very helpful! Thanks so much for visiting!

Passport

Yes, that is my task of the week. We are hoping to honeymoon in Mexico so I need to secure these as soon as possible. We need to find out the post offices or other locations that can take our photos and then I need to mail in all our information. I would greatly appreciate any tips or suggestions from anyone that has recently went through this process. Thanks!

Meet the Weber Family

Then…and now.

What a beautiful and wonderful family! Awww…Alex was such a cute little kid (top right)! Check out that adorable smile!

Alex’s is the son of Bonni and Rick and his siblings are Aaron, Justine, Perry and Molly.
Thank you for always making me feel welcomed into the family!

Stationary inspiration

Love these!

Countdown Clock

Wow! The big day is sneaking up on us!

5 month countdown

EEK! Where did the past month go? I feel like I just wrote the six month countdown post yesterday. Yikes!

So, there is this website called www.TheKnot.com which has been helping me organize our wedding “to-do” list and currently it says we have a few things over due.

Oops.

* Announce engagement in newspaper
Do couples still do that in Cincinnati? I know they do in my hometown.

* Book ceremony musicians
I did meet with the church music director and we tentatively selected the songs/musicians for our ceremony. I would love to have a trumpet play “Trumpet Voluntary” as Dad escorts me down the aisle, just like all the weddings back in Minster (St. Augustine Church). We’ll see…

* Finalize invitations
Alex is working on the design and I am focused on the wording. Both are more difficult than one would think!

* Reserve Limo/Bus
Not all limousine companies have limos that seat 26 adults. Got any ideas? I heard A Savannah Nite limousine rentals might be able to help.

*Engagement photos
We are scheduling those for July, probably up in Mt. Adams or downtown, as both are locations that are extra special to us.

* Groom selects tuxedos
Finally, a task that doesn’t really involve me! :o)

So, that’s where we are this week. I have a few other “secret projects” that I am working on and we’ll share those with you on the big day! (I can’t reveal everything about the wedding online! What fun would that be?!)

Daddy’s Little Girl

I received a heart filled call last week from my Dad, requesting that we get to spend some quality time together this Father’s Day. He sounded a little sad and mentioned how this would be his last father’s day with me “before I have a new husband and new family” and what he implied, someone else to take care of me and who I will turn to first in times of need. I was painfully amazed that he thought he is losing his little girl. See, in my mind, I’m 30 years old…not really going anywhere…and I feel like not too much is really go to change when I get married, but in his world, everything is changing.

I kindly reminded him that I’ll always be his daughter. It kind of choked me up. Still does as I write this.

Thank you Dad for caring and being so proud of us, and our life together. Happy Father’s Day.

Call for prayers

I’ve been a little distracted from the wedding planning due to some family health concerns. In the past week, my brother David had neck surgery, my Mom had a chemically induced stress test and my brother-in-law Dale was diagnosed with two ruptured disks in his neck. Then I found out Stephanie, one of my best friends from high school, was in a serious car wreck along with her husband, one year old son and two dogs (car flipped multiple times).

I thought bad things come in 3’s, not fours. These recent events kind of helped put some reality back in my life about what is important…and what is not. I said from the beginning that this blog would be a diary of the “joys and challenges” along the course of our engagement, and I have been blessed to only report the “joys” until now…Please keep our loved ones in your prayers.

Happy Home Recipe

In my last post, I mentioned my favorite gift from the bridal shower was a cookbook the Weber aunts created. Tonight,  I wanted to try out one of the recipes and this was the first one listed. Let me know what you think.

Happy Home Recipe:

4 cups love
2 cups loyalty
4 quarts faith
2 spoonfuls of tenderness
4 spoons kindness
4 spoons understanding
3 cups forgiveness
1 cup friendship
5 spoons of hope
1 barrel of laughter

Take love and loyalty and mix it thoroughly with faith.
Blend it with tenderness, kindness, and understanding and forgiveness.
Add friendship and hope.
Sprinkle abundantly with laughter.
Bake it with sunshine.
Serve daily with generous helpings.

I think this recipe might call for two cooks in the kitchen. :o)

Thanks everyone!

Six month countdown

Yup, the wedding is six months from today.

My married friends all said the engagement goes by so quickly and I honestly didn’t believe them at first. Once Alex and I set our date, we thought November was so far away. Boy was I wrong!

I’m trying not to let the wedding consume my life but rather stay involved in social activities such as co-ed softball and training for a triathlon with friends. However, I must admit, planning a wedding is very time consuming and it has cut into my triathlon training.

In regards to planning a wedding, I think my cousin Tina said it the best…”the devil is in the details”. :o)

I think what I am looking forward to the most is the reunion with friends and extended family. It’s been exciting to hear how so many people are making plans to attend our wedding or rearranging their Thanksgiving plans to stay/come into town.

I just want to say thanks!

First bridal shower

This past weekend was my first bridal shower with Alex’s Weber side of the family. His Aunt Wendy (Godmother) and Aunt Barb hosted the garden themed shower, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect party. I can’t thank the family enough for all their time planning and generous gifts.

I hate to pick favorites, but I would say the most thoughtful and creative gift was a cookbook created by all ten Weber aunts. Each aunt submitted a few family recipes to pass down to the next generation of cooks, including recipes from Grandma Rita. Alex’s cousins (Lauren, Kelly, Jessica and Maria) all received this same book at their bridal showers, so I sort of knew it was coming. However, this gift symbolizes that I have been welcomed (hopefully) into the Weber family…and of course…I cried upon receiving.
Many thanks to everyone!

Can’t go back now

So, the conversation today went something like this:

Michelle: So, are you sure we want to do this?
Alex: Absolutely. Go ahead.

And with that said, the first wave of Save-the-Date cards were placed in the mail (to out of town guests)..and the bridesmaid dresses ordered. :o)

It’s finally hitting me.
We’re getting married!

Puppy Tuxedo

I thought I had found Archie the perfect outfit…

until I found this!

Something old, something new…

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

I did some research and found out each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. “Something old” symbolizes continuity with the bride’s family and past. “Something new”means optimism and hope for the bride’s new life ahead. “Something borrowed” is usually and item from a happily married family member or friend, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride she can depend on her friends and family. “Something blue” is a tradition that has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. “A silver sixpence” in the brides left shoe represents wealth and financial security. Since a silver sixpence are rare to find these days, typically a dime or penny is substituted.

If anyone has any creative ideas for these customs that I can use on my wedding day, please send them my way. Thanks!

Through the years - A Decade in Review

I still need to add photos from 1998 - 2000 but you get the gist.

Those were the “pre-digital camera” days.

We are compatible!

Yes, we passed the church FOCUS test with flying colors! We scored extremely high in all categories (especially Communication, Personality Match, Religion, Family Values and Life Style Expectations).

My favorite opened ended question on the test was: “What might be a reason someone would give for us to wait before we marry?” and both of us basically responded with a similar answer…that after dating 9 years, we couldn’t honestly think of any reason for us to wait any longer.

Too funny.

I bought a dress!

YES! No more nightmares about waking up on my wedding day and not having a dress to wear. I have had this same nightmare for about a year now (and yes, I have only been engaged for about three months…but thats a minor detail). My dream always involves me frantically searching for a last minute gown, but not in a bridal store like one would think, but rather…more like thrift stores and neighbor’s attics! It was horrible! In each case, I still went down the aisle in some sort of horrible 1970’s or 80’s gown that was totally not my style and didn’t fit properly.

The dress I bought is totally me and I am so excited! I betcha want to know what it looks like, eh? Guess you will just have to wait and see! :o)

Break Tradition?

The recent challenge we are facing is the physical location of the wedding. Traditionally, weddings are held in the brides home town, but what do you do if over 75% of the guest are from the Groom’s hometown (which is where we currently reside). It’s been a logistical nightmare trying to find the best option for both sets of families and friends. Minster weddings are more about the extended reception, partying and dancing from 8 until midnight, whereas Cincinnati weddings focus more on the banquet dinner and elegant evening decor. I’m torn on what I want and how we’ll be able to integrate both traditions to make it “our” special day.