Half Way There

This week, Ry and I went down to the county clerks office and got ourselves a marriage licence... Licence in hand, we contemplated the chapel next door -- full at 9am with its own cast of characters -- but decided a big celebration is way more fun! We are half way there according to the State of NY! Crazy.

Attire Clarification

Hi again,

So the wedding is around the corner and we are starting to get wind of some confusion regarding the meaning of "Black Tie Optional."

Essentially this means: Tux Optional. If you own a tuxedo and would like to wear it, you should, and you will be dressed appropriately. Our LA friends think Tuxedos with Vans are all the rage-- so anything goes, feel free to bend "the rules" and embellish for a little more character and flair-- do it up. If you do not own a tuxedo, do not enjoy wearing a tuxedo, feel your tuxedo may not highlight your attributes, or would simply rather wear a suit, that's completely appropriate too! By no means should anybody feel the need to rent a tux. It really is totally optional. You won't be alone either way.....

As for the ladies, Black Tie, Black Tie optional and Formal as they relate to the young wedding circuit are all pretty much the same thing. Some ladies will be in shorter frocks and others prefer to wear long. It's totally flexible and up to you. Generally speaking, we expect it will be the same level of fancy as any other typical evening wedding. The most important thing is that you feel fabulous, festive and ready to dance (and eat--leave room ladies)!

Feel free to give us a call or an email if you have any questions. Also, I highly recommend these guys as well if you're having troubles.

Hope that clears things up! Can't wait....

Free Stuff Yay!

For those of you who are interested in catching some music while you are here, I stumbled across a few cool free events.

On Thursday night, Medeski, Martin & Wood are playing a free concert at the Prospect Park Bandshell. They start at around 9 pm.

For the early risers, a couple of the morning shows have outdoor performances at 7 am on Friday. Good Morning America has none other than Boyz II Men and the TODAY Show has Rhianna. Hopefully, you won't need to bring your Umberrrrrrella, because she will bring hers.

On Sunday, Naughty By Nature is playing for free at 7 pm at Queensbridge Park. This is in Queens, but it's just on the other side of the water, so it's really not far at all. Also, Yael Naim is playing for free at Central Park at 7 pm. The name probably doesn't ring a bell, but the song will. This is the woman behind that catchy tune on the Mac Notebook commercial.

Finally, here's a complete calendar of free stuff. Let us know if you have any questions or need directions to anything. And Jess and I also have a few extra tickets to the REM concert at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night if anyone is interested.

Bachelor/Bachelorette Party Recap

Ry and I returned from our respective Bachelor/Bachelorette parties unscatthed--well, with only minor injuries. Ryan is currently recovering from 4 days of amazing music, sun (a severe farmers tan) and bacheloring at Summer Camp music festival in preoria IL...while I spent the better part of last week recovering from a long weekend with my girls in Las Vegas. It was about Thursday before my boss declared I had my color back...

Let me just say here that all pain and suffering that follows such a weekend of partying is well worth it! I know Ry would agree...

I got to spend time with the most fantastic crew of ladies who made our time in sin city a memorable blast. The perfect combination of cheesy bachelorette activities, amazing shows (saw LOVE the most amazing production I have ever seen and The Thunder From Down Under--which was of "lesser quality" but memorable in its own right to say the least!) pool relaxing, clubbing, eating etc.

The cast of characters can be viewed in selected blog-appropriate pics below. (Ry will hopefully get pics from friends to include...I admit I banned him from bringing our camera on his RV extraveganza--as ryan, a beer and a music festival=lost camrea :)

Enjoy!

Five Weeks Is All...

There is not a whole lot of news to report just yet, so sorry for the lack of reading material. Jess is back from the big bachelorette party in Vegas this past weekend and we are heading out for the bachelor party over memorial day weekend. We're headed to a music festival in lovely Peoria, Illinois. Thankfully, the forecast is for mid 70s and sunny all weekend. Cross your fingers. We'll get some pictures up soon of both of the weekends very soon.

Also, I tried my best to leak the food menu, but Jessica shot that down immediately. Rightfully so, that should probably be a surprise. I will say that I think we nailed the menu. Between Jess's, her dad, mom, sis, and me, I think we have one of the strongest menus in the history of the world. I promise you that we will not disappoint.

You'll be the judge.

In the meantime, here are some more videos.

First up, I stumbled upon this one because I liked this song on a commercial. It turns out some guy used it to propose to his wife via a powerpoint presentation. A little weird, but it seemed appropriate.



Next, here are a few of the bands I'm excited to see this weekend.







We'll see you soon...

Sure We'll Come to Your Wedding

We saw these clowns last night. They didn't play together, but Mssrs. Anastasio, McConnell, and Fishman all graced the stage in various formats.


Also, I'm only doing this because my mom insisted that it is useful. We are registered at Crate and Barrell, Williams Sonoma, and Bloomingdales. You can find them all from this link at the Wedding Channel. Sorry if that's tacky, but I swear it was her idea. What we'd really like is matching pairs of those purple pants like the ones in the above picture.

Just in Case You Get in a Jam

As you may have heard, the Big Crapple can be a dangerous place. So, just in case you happen to find yourself in harm's way, our friends Maura and Pete have passed along an instructional video of what to do in case of emergency. Not only will this teach everyone exactly what to say in a pinch, but it also includes an inspired Casio groove and complementary aerobics routine.