Welcome to Rachel and Michael’s wedding website! As the big day gets closer, we’ll be updating this site with how the plans are going, so check back occasionally. I (Rachel) will probably be doing most of the blogging, but maybe I can coax Mike into writing an entry or two. Leave a comment and let us know you visited!
My brain is currently involved in thinking about lots of lots of things, such as: finishing up the last minute wedding details, packing for the honeymoon, cleaning the apartment, and being sad that we must leave Lucy for a week. Unfortunately, that means that, even after spending 2 minutes attempting to do so, I am unable to come up with an interesting title to this blog. Oh well - you’re reading it anyway! (Or, the blog title was so uninteresting to you that you’re NOT reading, and are instead doing something more exciting - in which case, you are missing out.)
Last minute plans are going well. Mike keeps telling me “there’s not a lot left to get done!” but I think he’s saying it less because it’s true, and more because he wants me to believe his lies. But, either way, we will be married in less than 5 days, whether all the tiny little details get done or not!
I am so excited about the honeymoon! We have definitely earned having time to just relax and have people take care of us for a few days. No cooking or cleaning or entertaining for more than a week sounds pretty amazing!!
This will probably be the last entry that I write before the wedding. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to writing again in a few short weeks as a married lady! 
Let me start out this post by saying that I am SUPER excited about getting married. Not just about “getting married” - specifically, I am super excited about marrying my best friend, and taking that next step with Mike.
However, I would be lying if I did not say this: I am almost as excited about taking time off work. 2 weeks away from work!! YEAY!! Since I started my new job 1.5 years ago, I have not taken more than 4 days off in a row. Now, I’m going to get almost 2 weeks away. I am so excited, and I am definitely counting down the days.
The wedding is crazy crazy close now! In the last week, we have met with our caterer, our photographers and our florist, and later this week we are meeting with our cake baker and our officiant. This is just getting crazy! It’s become real to me that we have barely 2 weeks left. I’m so excited!!
It’s a little hard to believe that Mike and I are getting married 5 weeks from today! It seems like only yesterday we were passing the 100 day mark. And it seems like the day before THAT when we passed the 1 year mark! People told me from the beginning that the time would pass very quickly - I had no idea it would be this quickly!
As a quick reminder, there is only 1 more week to RSVP for the wedding. Of course, if you are reading this blog, then it is probably more likely that you have already RSVPed, so I’m not sure if this reminder will do any good, but oh well! The link to the online RSVP is located at the bottom of your reply card.
Also, please keep in mind that the room blocks for the hotels will expire soon. The Sheraton room block (which is the downtown hotel) will expire on April 20, and the Holiday Inn room block will expire on April 29. Please check out the hotel information page for more details on each hotel.
In the last few days, I’ve been asked a few times about one aspect of the wedding, so I figured this was a good place to address it. A few people have asked me about the “dress code” for our wedding. “Since it’s in a children’s museum, does that mean that it’s casual? Are jeans appropriate? Should we come ready to play in a playground?”
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), it won’t be quite that casual. We chose Marbles because of its bright colors and open atmosphere, and have planned (what we hope to be) a nice event for our wedding. Is it super formal? Certainly not. We definitely don’t expect you to wear tuxedos or anything of the sort (unless you’re Mike - no, you cannot wear your Apple shirt!) However, if you wear jeans, you might feel a little underdressed.
Despite all this, please know that there will be no “dress code police” at the door, and it is more important to Mike and me that our guests are comfortable, so you should wear whatever makes you happiest! However, I just wanted to mention it, since a few people have asked so far.
49 days and counting - woohoo!
Lucy has absolutely nothing to do with our wedding (despite the fact that I’ve been trying for a year to come up with a way to use Lucy in the ceremony), but I figured that you would probably like to see some adorable pictures of her, so here goes:
Lucy does not like it when Mike leaves:
We recently got Lucy something called a “Buster Cube” - we put her food in through a little hole, and she has to roll it around on the floor to get all her food out. This picture was from the first night we gave it to her. I think the look on her face can be translated as: “What exactly am I supposed to do with this?”
And lastly, a dog’s life can get pretty tough…
I am so happy to say that some of our invitations are finally in the mail! (The rest should be going out shortly) Mike and I picked up our invitations last weekend from our Invitation Designer Extraordinaire, also called Cindy, my future mother in law. I spent the last 4 nights assembling everything and sealing way too many envelopes (Mike did help - he sealed one envelope), and I’m so glad that they’ll be on the way to their destinations. I hope you like them!
Sunday marks the 2 month point to the wedding - wow-za! There’s still so much to do. Even weirder than that is that on Monday, we’ll have to start saying that our wedding is in ONE month and 30 days. Whoa! I don’t know if I can handle that.
Mike and I are starting to get really excited about everything that will be happening in the next few months. Also, we only have 2 free weekends between now and the wedding. Whoa. I am definitely looking forward to the honeymoon, because it means an entire week to sleep and not answer my cell phone or read emails. Woohoo!!
Recently, Mike and I were able to tour one of the hotels we’ve chosen for a room block, the Holiday Inn. This hotel is brand new, after opening just over a month ago. I must say, we were very impressed by what we saw!
The hotel rooms are very nice. They all feature a mini fridge and microwave, as well as a flat screen high def tv with CABLE (this is exciting to me, as I currently do not have cable). If you’re interested in a bit more space (especially if you’re traveling with a larger group), consider booking a “suite”, which has a couch and a small sitting area.
The rest of the hotel is very nice as well. There’s an indoor pool and a small fitness center, in case you want to work off some calories from wedding cake. The hotel also serves a large continental breakfast. I’m not sure of everything they serve, but I definitely saw a sign for “cinnamon rolls”. Awesome.
If you’re interested in staying somewhere in a quiet part of town (but still just a short drive away from the wedding venue), this will be a great place to stay. Visit our Hotel Information page for details on how to book a room. Please comment if you have any questions about the hotel, and I’ll make sure to get them answered for you!
(Regarding the Sheraton, Mike and I have not toured this hotel yet. We hope to do so, but in the mean time, know that it comes highly recommended from several of our friends!)
This weekend, Mike and I got to do one of the most enjoyable parts of wedding planning - registering for gifts! I must say: walking around a store with a scan gun is extremely tempting. I had an overwhelming urge to register for things that I never wanted to see again, just so I could hear the satisfying beep of the scanner. BEEP! What fun!
We wanted to register at a few different places, to make sure there was a convenient option for anyone who wants to get us a gift, so we are registered at Crate and Barrel, as well as Target. You can find links to our registries on our registry page.
Additionally, Mike and I are extremely grateful for the generosity of our friends and family. However, we know there are plenty of other good causes out there that are even more in need than we are. Because of that, Mike and I have each selected a charity that is near and dear to our heart, and we encourage any of our wedding guests to make donations to these charities, either in addition to or in place of a wedding gift for us. Links to these organizations can also be found on our registry page.
All of the sudden, the wedding planning has kicked into full speed again. As I mentioned before, I had my first dress fitting last week. Can I just say… I LOVE my dress! It’s absolutely perfect. I’m already a bit sad that I’m only actually going to be able to wear it for 6 hours of my life! But, c’est la vie.
Mike picked out his tux this weekend as well (and yes, Mike did pick it out - I let him make (almost) all the decisions!) He’s pretty excited about it. He and the groomsmen are going to look great!
Also, our invitation designer (also known as my future mother in law!) finished our invitation design, and they’re absolutely beautiful! I’m so excited about them. They’re absolutely perfect! I would post a picture here, but I still want them to be a surprise.
Counting down the days to the wedding, we are now in the single digits (95 days - but who’s counting?) I can’t believe how quickly the time is passing! I’m so glad we scheduled the wedding so far ahead in advance, and got so much of the planning done early. I don’t know how we would have done it otherwise.
One year ago tonight, Mike asked me to marry him! I can’t believe it’s been a year. We celebrated by braving the snowy roads and heading out to dinner at the same restaurant where he proposed. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend the night!
Wedding plans are going well well. Next weekend, I have my first dress fitting, and we also plan to go pick out Mike’s tuxedo. (Clearly, when I say “we” will be picking out Mike’s tuxedo, I mean that “I” will be picking out Mike’s tuxedo - there will be no powder blue ruffled tuxedos at our wedding!)
I hope you’re all getting as excited for our big day as we are. I can’t believe it’s only 110 days away! We still have rooms available in our hotel blocks, so please reserve your room ASAP. Be sure to let us know if you have any trouble getting a reservation!