UPDATE: Here are a few courtesy of Rob Wagner:
This first batch is courtesy of Tim Nolan:
Showing posts with label Wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wedding. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Wedding Diaries: Pictures
I'll update this post with interesting pictures as I get them. As always, click to enlarge...
UPDATE: Here are a few courtesy of Rob Wagner:
This first batch is courtesy of Tim Nolan:
UPDATE: Here are a few courtesy of Rob Wagner:
This first batch is courtesy of Tim Nolan:
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wedding Diaries: The Final Report
The big day has come and gone. Everything went incredibly well, far better than we had any right to expect. The weather was perfect. There weren't any glitches worth mentioning. The food was great. The cake was incredible. The guys looked sharp and the gals looked amazing. The band rocked the roof off the place. It was perfect.
Things started on Thursday with rehearsal and dinner. We picked Grazie's in Fargo, an Italian place. The food was wonderful and even my brother Andy -- who isn't high on Italian -- was impressed.
Friday was bachelor's and bachelorette's night out. Not together because that would defeat the purpose. The ladies went out for Mexican food while the boys went out for steaks. A huge sigh of relief came out of me when my ribeye at Redford's (formerly Norman's, home of the Best Steak I've Ever Had) lived up to the standard I've come to expect. Afterwards we went to a Buffalo Wild Wings near the hotel, one because it was close and, two because I wanted to see the manager. He bought us a round so, yeah, be sure to book BWW as your liquor caterer at you next event. Yes, I am a cheap whore. The ladies showed up and no one at all made any inappropriate remarks or did anything embarrassing so there's no need to talk about it anymore.
Saturday I actually coached MJ's soccer game. I know, I know. But I had no responsibilities until 1:00 and the game was at 9:00 AM. The family got to watch MJ play. She scored the first goal of the match and Team America won 3-2, so that was pretty perfect.
Donna had bride things to do, so MJ and I grabbed lunch and headed out to the venue. With pictures at 3:00 I began hoping that someone would show up soon with a six-pack but it was not to be. We had only one minor glitch: we didn't have MJ's bridesmaid dress. Luckily Donna's brother Ryan was volunteered to be her errand boy, so he fixed that issue.
Pictures/dressing/waiting.etc....
Donna and I are not traditional wedding types. With that in mind, we wanted the ceremony to be short and too the point. The kids marched in, Donna came down the path, the officiant said some things, we said some things, there were rings involved, someone tolled a bell, then we got the hell out of there and started to party. It was exactly what we wanted. The guy running the music and sound told me it was by far a record for shortest ceremony at their venue. I told him that I didn't want to know if anyone ever broke it.
I have some good news and some bad news. What's that? You want the good news first? Okay. The good news is that we hired Dave at Milestones Photography to do the pictures. He's the best there is at what he does, so our pictures will be amazing when we get them.
The bad news is that Shanna, a friend of Donna's, agreed to use our little point and shoot throughout the night to get us some candids. Well, that's not the bad news. The bad news is that neither of the batteries I had for that camera would hold a charge. Of course, I found this out after the wedding, so I don't really have anything to share at the moment. I've put out a call to friends and family to send all photos, but as of right this moment, I have no visual evidence that this event ever happened.
No photographic evidence anyway. I also brought my little video camera. My friend Tim did an excellent job filming the ceremony and getting some candid shots of the aftermath:
Then, of course, there was the big surprise for Donna at the reception. A special guest vocalist came to honor her with song. We had a band made up of Microsoft employees who worked incredibly hard to put on a great show for us (which they did). The twist was that the band would allow anyone to come up and sing any song in the set list. It was basically karaoke with a live band. Imagine Donna's surprise when this happened:
All in all it was tons of fun and exactly what Donna and I wanted. Quick ceremony, great food, all our friends together, a live band playing anything except traditional wedding music, and a reception that was more party than wedding dance. One of the most fun nights I've ever had.
Things started on Thursday with rehearsal and dinner. We picked Grazie's in Fargo, an Italian place. The food was wonderful and even my brother Andy -- who isn't high on Italian -- was impressed.
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| My niece Aubrey. |
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| The meeting of the Winkis and Marshall clans. It is hoped our union will bring an end to decades of war. |
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| OFF THE MARKET |
Friday was bachelor's and bachelorette's night out. Not together because that would defeat the purpose. The ladies went out for Mexican food while the boys went out for steaks. A huge sigh of relief came out of me when my ribeye at Redford's (formerly Norman's, home of the Best Steak I've Ever Had) lived up to the standard I've come to expect. Afterwards we went to a Buffalo Wild Wings near the hotel, one because it was close and, two because I wanted to see the manager. He bought us a round so, yeah, be sure to book BWW as your liquor caterer at you next event. Yes, I am a cheap whore. The ladies showed up and no one at all made any inappropriate remarks or did anything embarrassing so there's no need to talk about it anymore.
Saturday I actually coached MJ's soccer game. I know, I know. But I had no responsibilities until 1:00 and the game was at 9:00 AM. The family got to watch MJ play. She scored the first goal of the match and Team America won 3-2, so that was pretty perfect.
Donna had bride things to do, so MJ and I grabbed lunch and headed out to the venue. With pictures at 3:00 I began hoping that someone would show up soon with a six-pack but it was not to be. We had only one minor glitch: we didn't have MJ's bridesmaid dress. Luckily Donna's brother Ryan was volunteered to be her errand boy, so he fixed that issue.
Pictures/dressing/waiting.etc....
Donna and I are not traditional wedding types. With that in mind, we wanted the ceremony to be short and too the point. The kids marched in, Donna came down the path, the officiant said some things, we said some things, there were rings involved, someone tolled a bell, then we got the hell out of there and started to party. It was exactly what we wanted. The guy running the music and sound told me it was by far a record for shortest ceremony at their venue. I told him that I didn't want to know if anyone ever broke it.
I have some good news and some bad news. What's that? You want the good news first? Okay. The good news is that we hired Dave at Milestones Photography to do the pictures. He's the best there is at what he does, so our pictures will be amazing when we get them.
The bad news is that Shanna, a friend of Donna's, agreed to use our little point and shoot throughout the night to get us some candids. Well, that's not the bad news. The bad news is that neither of the batteries I had for that camera would hold a charge. Of course, I found this out after the wedding, so I don't really have anything to share at the moment. I've put out a call to friends and family to send all photos, but as of right this moment, I have no visual evidence that this event ever happened.
No photographic evidence anyway. I also brought my little video camera. My friend Tim did an excellent job filming the ceremony and getting some candid shots of the aftermath:
Then, of course, there was the big surprise for Donna at the reception. A special guest vocalist came to honor her with song. We had a band made up of Microsoft employees who worked incredibly hard to put on a great show for us (which they did). The twist was that the band would allow anyone to come up and sing any song in the set list. It was basically karaoke with a live band. Imagine Donna's surprise when this happened:
All in all it was tons of fun and exactly what Donna and I wanted. Quick ceremony, great food, all our friends together, a live band playing anything except traditional wedding music, and a reception that was more party than wedding dance. One of the most fun nights I've ever had.
Friday, May 6, 2011
It's All Part of My Rock -n- Roll Fantasy
D-Frag had its first rehearsal in preparation for the Greatest Wedding Reception EverTM last night. The band sounds awesome, especially considering their long layoff. I even got to bang the rust off the old pipes for a tune I will be performing rocking the %&@! out of in September. Band member Kevin Racer is in the process of renovating a very cool studio, which is what the band is using as a practice room. When not reliving my heavy metal youth, I took some photos.
You can view the rest of the photos at the wedding website.
You can view the rest of the photos at the wedding website.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
3 Rings
I took some pictures of our rings for all to see. For all things wedding-related, be sure to check out our website.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Wedding Diaries (Part 3): Engagement Photos!
We got our engagement proofs from Milestones Photography and you can view a few selections on our wedding site. Here's a sneak peak:
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Wedding Diaries (Part 2): Outsourcing
I intend to blog here about all the stupid/crazy/maddening/interesting/fun things that happen on the road to making this wedding come off. However, in the interest of making things easier for all our friends/family/potential guests, I thought it would be a good idea to have a central clearinghouse for wedding-related information. With that in mind I have created a website that will be used to communicate useful and important tidbits like who is doing the flowers, what's on the menu, whether we decide to go with black-tie or a beach theme for the ceremony, etc.
Check there for the bricks and stones that make up the latest wedding related news. Keep reading here for all the mortar that both holds those bricks together and makes building the house interesting.
Check there for the bricks and stones that make up the latest wedding related news. Keep reading here for all the mortar that both holds those bricks together and makes building the house interesting.
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Wedding Diaries (Part I): In Which A Date Is Selected
As you may be aware, there are impending nuptials in the new year. No, not Prince William and Kate Middleton. No, not whoever Jennifer Aniston is trying to marry this week. I'm talking about the other big wedding slated for 2011: Donna and I.
A lot goes into a wedding, even one which is, as compared to some, a relatively simple affair. Cakes, dresses, flowers, food, guest lists, invitations, music, not to mention a budget to rein all this in. But the one thing that must be sorted out first, the decision from which all other decisions must flow, is a date. This necessarily means picking a venue.
We had a few places on our list, through it got whittled down fast. One place is already booked for the dates we wanted (and backed up with a long waitlist for each date) despite our being told that bookings couldn't be taken until January 1st. This means that either hundreds of people started dialling the phone at midnight as the ball dropped, or this place is full of crap and lets "special people" (read: friends) book whenever they want and tells other people to go screw themselves.
At any rate, it has come to pass that ourpublic shackling special day will be...
Saturday, September 24th 2011 at a friend's house. (Cue trumpets)
Oh, I should also point out that "a friend's house" is actually "A Friend's House", a rentable venue for such events, and not someone's back yard. It's a beautiful place with a little church that apparently gets around more than I do. Check out the website to get the historical info.
This venue has everything we wanted: an outdoor option (with the ability to take it indoors if necessary), a large play area for kids, the ability to host a barn dance, plenty of parking. The only drawback we saw was its location; it's not exactly in the heart of downtown Fargo. Oh well, you can't have everything I guess.
Anyway, anouncements will be going out in the next couple of months, and I'll be adding posts here as the planning progresses. We already have a few other decisions made, but I'll keep those for another day.
A lot goes into a wedding, even one which is, as compared to some, a relatively simple affair. Cakes, dresses, flowers, food, guest lists, invitations, music, not to mention a budget to rein all this in. But the one thing that must be sorted out first, the decision from which all other decisions must flow, is a date. This necessarily means picking a venue.
We had a few places on our list, through it got whittled down fast. One place is already booked for the dates we wanted (and backed up with a long waitlist for each date) despite our being told that bookings couldn't be taken until January 1st. This means that either hundreds of people started dialling the phone at midnight as the ball dropped, or this place is full of crap and lets "special people" (read: friends) book whenever they want and tells other people to go screw themselves.
At any rate, it has come to pass that our
Saturday, September 24th 2011 at a friend's house. (Cue trumpets)
Oh, I should also point out that "a friend's house" is actually "A Friend's House", a rentable venue for such events, and not someone's back yard. It's a beautiful place with a little church that apparently gets around more than I do. Check out the website to get the historical info.
This venue has everything we wanted: an outdoor option (with the ability to take it indoors if necessary), a large play area for kids, the ability to host a barn dance, plenty of parking. The only drawback we saw was its location; it's not exactly in the heart of downtown Fargo. Oh well, you can't have everything I guess.
Anyway, anouncements will be going out in the next couple of months, and I'll be adding posts here as the planning progresses. We already have a few other decisions made, but I'll keep those for another day.
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