287 days?

Gary has a countdown clock on his new phone. He can tell you down to the second how long before we will be married. Or at least when we'll be at Vulcan and close to being married. I should know these things, but we're still doing so many other things... there's a lot in my brain right now. Plus I just remembered it's almost Christmas.
So anyway -- we picked out our wedding bands the day we went to pick up my engagement ring. That ring, in case you are curious, is a Scott Kay, Contemporary with knife edge band, palladium. (Scott Kay is impossible to link to something specific, so if you really want to see it, let me now, I'll send you the link from his site.) It's a lovely ring on it's own - but even more beautiful because it has history. My grandfather bought the diamond around 1950 and he wore it in his Masonic ring. When he died, my grandmother had it made into a solitaire that she then wore until she remarried. My mother then had it re-set, and she wore it after she remarried. For some reason she stopped wearing it, but I'm okay with that, because now it's on my finger.
Last week, Diamonds Direct was having a sale, the kind with a lot of people and beverages and music (and cleavage, but that's another story). We went in because pretty much everything in the store was 20% off. Angela, who had been helping us each time we were there, had written down the styles, all the specifics on the bands we had picked out. As we waited for her to finish up with another customer, one thing led to another, and we ended up picking out entirely different rings. That's a good thing, though. Both are now being custom made, and they were both less expensive as well (something about the recession being a good time to buy metal). But the coolest part is that they're custom - just for us, no other ones like them in the world - kind of like us. They are both palladium bands, Gary's with a little more detail than mine, and we're having stones hammered into each of them. Two diamonds that are my grandmother's will be hammered into my band. We also bought a few other stones for mine. (More on that later... like when you see it.) Gary's band, if I remember it right, is kind of a series of squares or maybe rectangles, with one diamond hammered into the center of one. I think they're both really going to be quite pretty - I'm very excited about them. And of course, I'm very excited about the wedding and seeing all of you. But I'm even more looking forward to being Gary's wife. I guess I really should set my own clock and start counting the days...

Once in Every Life

So, when we decided to move the wedding from Virginia Beach to Birmingham, what I felt the most was relief. There were a few things though that bothered me - one, that we weren't getting married in the place where we met and got engaged, and that we couldn't use the photographer I was so excited and enthusiastic about.

Paula Burgoon does not only have amazingly artistic vision and talent, she's one of those people that when you meet her, you feel like you've known her your whole life. Speaking with her is both comforting and inspiring. She's just good people - and a great photographer. Trying to fill those shoes was going to break my heart.

We started looking for someone in Birmingham - started at Google, where else would you look? After looking at Web sites - some good, some dreadful - dozens of portfolios, made calls, etc., we both came up with someone on our own whose style we liked. We had both chosen the same person. We got in touch with Emanuel Neiconi only to find out that he would be out of town the weekend of The Wedding (I also later found out he used to work at Luckie). He gave us a list of people to look into and we did, but nothing really struck us the same. So I went to the next logical place -- Craig's List.

I ran across a blog there, written by a woman who was part of a husband and wife team of wedding photographers. At also in the blog, was a link to Once in Every Life Photography.

I looked at the galleries, and looked again, and looked again. I loved April Kuhlmann's style. I loved her sense of color and her sense of whimsy. She's got a nice blend of traditional and totally out there - hmmm, sound like any couple you know? I also loved that she's got a page on her site that says she will take portraits of children with terminal illnesses at no charge. She has a good heart and she gives back. So I got in touch with her.

Gary and I met with April last night. It turns out she's also fun, funny, and affordable. Gary says she reminds him of Stacey (I couldn't link this, but go to Facebook and look at Stacey Klatt Brandon in my friends). I'm not sure I picked up on that, but like Stacey, she got both of our senses of humor right off the bat. (And Stace - she understood when I told her there would be a whole lot of "Christmas" at our wedding.) We both really liked her and her work. We booked her. She'll be bringing along a second photographer to make sure they don't miss anything. She warned us not to be put off by his age. He's only 16 (maybe he'll turn 17 before the wedding?). Who cares how old he is, as long as he's got talent. And how cool for us to be able to help him build his portfolio.

So Paula, I'm still sorry you're not going to be at The Wedding -- but April, welcome to this experience that will happen only once in our lives. I'm so excited that we found you - and we're very happy to have you along for the ride.

302 Days Until September 6th...

I really didn't know that off of the top of my head, I had to look it up. But we're almost less than 300, which seems a lot closer than it did a week ago... or something.

Anyway, so the date is set, for those of you who don't already know. Sunday, September 6th. For those of you coming in from out of town, it's a holiday weekend, so you have an extra day to travel back on Monday = all the more reason to make the trip.

I will update shortly with all kinds of details and more info, specifically how to get here from just about anywhere, where to stay once you're here, what to do when you're not hanging out with us and more. If you have specific questions, please ask. There are so many things going on in my brain right now, I'm sure I'll forget a lot.

For now, here's what we know:

The Wedding (Caps used intentionally. This is a big deal, after all.) will be, as I said, Sunday, September 6th. Time TBD, but it will be early afternoon - keep that in mind when you're planning attire. It's still pretty hot here in the beginning of September. The ceremony will be on the City Overlook at Vulcan Park. (Anyone who knows Gary should not be surprised by this. We have a picture of Vulcan on our kitchen table, Vulcan's spear in our living room, and a Vulcan snow globe on our mantel. I'll save the backstory for another day.)

The reception will be at Fleming's Steakhouse and Wine Bar - again, no real surprise there. We'd eat there every day if we could afford it. Take a look and you'll see why. Well, and we're big fans of the Operating Partner, Travis GO BULLS Grappo.

The site of the after-prom is still being debated. Have ideas? Bring 'em on, but remember, it's a Sunday night in Birmingham - not a lot is open.

After the wedding, we'll be vacationing in tropical paradise - really. We're going to Sandals Regency La Toc in Saint Lucia. They say the luxury is included (no, really, they do, that's their tagline) - but we still have to pay for it. Want to make a contribution to our couples massage, day of zip-lining in the Rain Forest, or candlelit dinner on the beach? Check out our registry and see how you can help with the honeymoon. There are a couple of other things there that we might enjoy as well...

There's your info for now - a whole lot more to come. I've got to get to the gym now - the girl who will be wearing my wedding dress will need to be in much better shape than the one who bought it.