People starting to arrive, grills getting fired up.
Sean the grillmeister.
George serves up tritip for Jasmine and Samantha.
The Lowe boys grilling up some fish.
Joe and Lindi.
I don't think this is how it is supposed to be done.
Jean and Joe cut the cake.
The bride with cake in her face.
Janet's speech.
Sean's speech.
Sean toasts the couple.
Ballplaying in full swing.
The Aftermath
Barbeque supplies return to our house.
John and Tric look exhausted.
Sean and Stace after the reception.
There was much amber left over. This really hurt Joe.
Joe plays with his new toy, which comes complete with safety
glasses.
The view through the special safety/laser glasses.
August 17, 2004
Here are some wedding photos, courtesy of Stace. We will have more
to post, but it will take a little longer. I'm missing a photo
of Jennifer and John walking down the aisle but have some to scan
in, and I saw one in there. We also have prints of guests, and more
photos being sent to us, so stay tuned.
The weekend was hectic, but it all went off well. The wedding day
was cool, the weather perfectly beautiful.
On Friday afternoon we had the rehearsal at the park, followed with
the rehearsal dinner at Buca di Beppos. We had Italian food
coming out of our ears! There is still tiramisu in the fridge
(think its safe to eat?)! Afterwards the festivities migrated
to our house. Photos of that pending.
On Saturday morning the girls got together at about six to start
getting ready. Nails were painted, hair curled, makeup applied,
breakfast snarfed, and coffee cautiously sipped. We hopped
into the limo at 9:30, and rode over to the park. Our chauffer
was a very interesting chic (the word describes her well).
She had black fingernail polish on and funky shades. She made
the nerve-wracking ride and brief delay much easier (as did the
bottle of champaigne she provided). The guys were apparently
running a little behind as well, as Stace recorded with her photo
of Joe below. They were up bright and early to set up the
park with benches, fabric, and BUBBLES. Joe had a heck of
a time getting his buttons buttoned and had to enlist Stace's help.
The ceremony started at around 10:30. The wind blew a breeze
off the river, over the guests and bridal party, adding a kind of
cool cacophony to the ceremony. I just hope everyone could
hear. There was laughter, there were tears, and did I mention
there were BUBBLES.
The reception was also a little late getting started, but we ended
up with soooo much food, and soooo much beer, that I'm confident
no one went home hungry or sober unless they chose to. I have some
interesting next day photos related to the beer that I will post
in an entry tomorrow. It was a lot of fun (minus the uninvited,
famished "meat bees"). Who knew there were such
creatures, and who knew they liked lox? The brides vs. grooms
softball game actually was a grooms bat-it-around game. The
bride's family was busy catching up, and the friends were busy decorating
the honeymoon suite. Roses, strawberries, champaigne, and
unmentionables. It was a wonderful surprise.
Joe and I had a great time, and hope everyone else did. Again, thank
you for everything!
Rehearsal
Kenny, Rev. Jeri Murphy, Ken Lowe, Jean, and Joe.
Ken, Brianna, Karenza, Janet, Jean, Rev., Joe, Sean, and
Linda C.
Rehearsal Dinner
Ken, Janice, Jennifer, Janet, and Joe at Buca di Beppos.
Jennifer, Janet, the Pope, Joe, Jean, and Brianna at Beppos.
Joe making last minute plans.
We chased down dinner with tiramisu and
cheesecake.
Kenny, Janice, John, Ken, Jody, Jennifer,
and Jean.
Guys get ready for the ceremony
Joe and Sean put a back on the last bench Friday night.
The guys carry benches to the park Saturday morning.
Ten benches. One with a back. Boom.
Stace helps Joe get ready.
Stace and Joe, ready to go.
Joe, with his foot on the pedal to make it to the park on
time.
The ceremony
Brianna; junior bridesmaid.
Sean and Janet; Best Man and
Maid of Honor.
Paul and Karenza.
Father of the Bride, and the bride.
The ceremony and guests.
It was very windy.
The ceremony.
Making promises. Whats up there Sean?
The "bubble walk".
After the ceremony
Jenny Way caught the bouquet.
John, Janet, Jennifer, Paul, Joe, Jean,
and Karenza.
Sean, Joe, Janet, Jean, and Brianna.
Paul, Sean, Joe, John, Jennifer, Jean, Janet, Brianna,
and Karenza.
Aunt Rena laced up the back of
this dress. It reminded me of an
old corset. "Okay, brace yourself".
Sean and Joe get cozy.
The mothers; Linda C. and Linda L.
The men; John, Paul, Sean, and Joe.
August 8, 2004
We've got a few things for you today. The first is directions
from the airport. The second is this.
The third is a reminder to Bridesmaids,
Groomsmen, Kenny and parents: Please be at the parkno later than 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon for the rehearsal.
Entry into the park is $4. If you come to our house by
3:00 we can have people carpool. Same folks, bring your appetite
at 5:00 p.m. to Buca Di Beppos (1249 Howe Ave.). Bucas
is on Howe Ave., one block south of Arden Way, at Hurley Way on
the southwest corner. Mmmmm
freeeee foooood...
Oh, in case we haven't mentioned it yet, the wedding
will commence on Saturday at 10:00 am in the park.
On Saturday we'll have free
parking at the park (everyone needs to make sure and contact
me upon arrival about their parking pass). Your parking pass will
get you into the park for the wedding and may be worth it's weight
in olive oil in Venice (that's a secret).
You will receive a ticket
from the park ranger (or whatever) when you hand in that parking
pass. Please keep that ticket
so that you can get back into the park for the barbeque which will
start at 4:00.
The TICKET
is good for parking all day.
Bring your softball
glove if you have one!! If you have more than one, please please
bring it for someone to borrow! If you want to play softball, etc.,
bring shorts! And you Alaskans, bring sunscreen!!! Not kidding (Alaskan,
features obscured to protect identity)!! Ouch.
P.S. First "#$@&" of the wedding planning -
they didn't ship all the favors we ordered. Joe gets to cuss
someone out tomorrow. He's excited. UPDATE 8/9: No cussing
needed, they callled first thing this morning (responding to my
desperate email from last night) and will have the rest to me by
tomorrow.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen and Parentals! We have a time set for
the rehearsal, and for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal will
start at 3:30 pm on Friday at the park. The rehearsal dinner will
commence at 5:00 at Bucca di Beppos, nearby. More information will
follow, so stay tuned.
July 19, 2004
We have flowers ordered, cake ordered, reverend
(a very cool lady), dresses, tuxes and shoes lined up, and marriage
license in hand! I think Joe contacted all the groomsmen about
tuxes, but if you need info, email
him. We are working on seating, and need your help. Please read
this entry, and then give
us your preference. Oh, on a sidenote, Joe said to tell you all
I'm pretty. He's good like that. =) We also have directions
and a map to the park! Email
us if you have questions.
July 5, 2004
Today we picked out bands!! Very fun!
July 2, 2004
As many of you know, Joe and I have decided to move up our wedding
date to August 14, 2004.
It will be held here in Sacramento, near the old
McClellan Airforce Base. We have decided to hold both the ceremony
and the reception at the William
B. Pond Recreation Area. All of you planning to attend
should plan on flying into Sacramento airport Friday night, and
leaving Sunday, unless you want to stay longer. Sacramento will
be hot this time of year, so we've decided to try to beat the heat
by having the wedding in the morning around 10:30 (tentative),
and the reception in the afternoon around 4:00 (tentative).
Our reception will begin early evening (stay tuned for updates)
with a barbeque followed by a softball game (bride's team vs. groom's
team so bring your glove) and general cavorting. Wear clothes
you can get messy in! Please RSVP and provide us your
meal choices by filling out the
RSVP form. If you provide your email address,
we can send out wedding bulletins (exciting!) or follow up with
you if we have questions. We will not share that information
with other vendors (wink). We will soon have available a list of
adventures for the restless to undertake during the break (like
touring Old Town Sacramento).
We will also post a list of hotels and prices in the next couple
of days. Tentatively we have the Lionsgate
Hotel (about $79/night) practically on our doorstep, the Motel
6 (about $62/night), the Travel
Lodge (about $60/night), and the Days
Inn (about $52/night, address 3425 Orange Grove Ave.) within
five minutes of the recreation area. I'm going to look into
a group rate somewhere nearby, so I'll post that if successful.
Moving up the date of the wedding has meant that we're making a
lot of the plans on the fly. I'm trying to get everything together
as quickly as possible, but if you have questions about anything
in particular, please don't hesitate to email me at webmaster@bananagravy.com.
Oh, as people have been asking, we finally registered (twist our
arms), so you can find that info on www.bedbathandbeyond.com
(thanks Boards staff for the inspiration). We went crazy
with the hand-held whadda-want radar thingy, so there are lots of
options.
