We have been married SIX MONTHS already! Wow, the time really has flown by. We’ve been busy traveling, camping and working on projects around the house. I thought this would be a good time to post a recap of my wedding blog entries. I definitely wrote them out of order originally - so I decided (for my sake) to write a recap post. Maybe someone else is interested too (and maybe not!).

Getting Engaged
* We’re ENGAGED!
* Engagement Brunch
* Engagement Photos

Pre-Wedding Planning
* Finding the perfect dress!
* Venue Hunting: Pt1, Pt2
* Selecting the Venue
* Creating a Guest List
* Hotels & Registry’s
* Choosing a Hotel & Guest Bags - Roseville Radisson
* Save the Date Cards
* Invitations!
* Flowers & Colors
* Finding an Officiant
* Looking for a DJ (we were happy with Instant Request)
* Checklist on 11.28.08
* Checklist on 12.3.08
* Checklist on 1.19.09
* Checklist on 3.4.09
* A wedding nightmare - 10.6.08
* The Candy Buffet!
* Researching Indoor Portrait Photo Options
* Escort Cards
* The Photobooth
* A Travel Theme

Pre-Wedding Parties
* Shower @ Jayne’s - 2.15.09
* Bachelorette Party - 3.7.09
* Couples Shower - 3.20.09

Wedding Weekend Festivities
* Friday Morning @ Aveda
* Rehearsal Dinner @ Barley John’s
* Wedding Traditions
* Pre-ceremony photos
* The Ceremony
* The Cake
* The Reception
* Day After Post

Minimoon & Honeymoon!
* Minimoon in Vegas - Venetian

We have our honeymoon scheduled for this winter. We’re going to COSTA RICA!!! It’s going to be amazing, we are really looking forward to it, and I’m sure you’ll find some photos of the trip right here on NikkiLynn.net when we get back!

I don’t really know what to say about our Reception except that I hope everyone had FUN! We really wanted to just have a big party with our family & friends to celebrate our love. Of course we had the photo booth and the candy buffet which were big hits, but we also did some dancing (with music by Matt from Instant Request)! Murzyn Hall was the perfect location for us…plenty of room to fit everyone, a great bar area separate from the dance floor and the flexibility to bring in whatever food & drinks we wanted!

Here are some photos from the reception:
Dinner from Buca’s

My sister’s super nice speech

My dad’s equally as nice speech

Father/Daughter and Mother/Son Dance


Photo booth - the line started immediately at 7!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing!






Is it 11 o’clock yet?!
Also known as, I think I snapped at my dad at least a couple times asking to see what time it was. Sorry Dad!

I think he forgave me, thank goodness!

PCHS Class of 1996 - Friends from WAY back

The end. It really, truly was a great day!

On Thursday afternoon Chris & I drove over to the UBS Forum at The Current Studios for a Policy & a Pint hosted by Steve Seel (one of the morning show djs). From the Citizens League website:

Policy and a Pint® is an event series co-sponsored by the Citizens League and 89.3 The Current, that engages young people in important conversations about public policy in Minnesota.

Neither of us had attended a Policy & a Pint event previously, but I’m pretty sure we’ll go to more because we really enjoyed it. Arriving at 5:30pm we checked in (be sure to get reservations because they do sell out) and paid our $10 each. We were then allowed upstairs where we were presented with a spread of really good food. We each got 2 drink tickets (I think when the event is at the Varsity you’re on your own for the ‘pint’ part of it) and enjoyed one beer with dinner and another during the session.

The subject for Policy & a Pint on 9/17 was the environment and what we can do individually to inspire others to make changes. The special guest was Colin Beavan, author of the Blog “No Impact Man”, the Book “No Impact Man” and the Documentary “No Impact Man.” I have followed his blog for a while and when I heard about this event I mentioned it to Chris and like I previously wrote, we’re both glad we went.

Colin, along with his wife and daughter, made drastic changes in their lives suddenly and without planning for it. They wanted to make zero impact on the environment as they lived their lives in Manhatten. That involved using no air conditioning, no elevators, no cars or public transportation and eating only locally grown food among other things that I’m sure I’ll learn about when reading the book. Now, some of those things were made easier by the fact that they lived in an area where walking to things was convenient (like the farmer’s market around the corner) but not using light bulbs at night would be a challenge no matter where you lived. I purchased the book that evening and am looking forward to learning more about what they did and how it affected their lives. Colin did tell us that they’ve started using the washing machine again (after an evening of his daughter getting sick on 2 sets of sheets!) but they still shop at consignment stores.

One thing Colin said really stuck out with me:

Make sure the resources you use are improving your quality of life.

Interesting way to think about it. Am I really enjoying the TV show or is the TV on just because? Does the air conditioning actually make me happier or would I be equally (or more) happy if I was outside sitting in the shade and enjoying a breeze? What if we turned off the lights tonight and enjoyed a nice conversation over candle light (and possibly a glass of wine)? I thought it was a pretty basic, yet very strong statement.

To listen to a recording of the session and check out other resources available, visit The Current by clicking here.

Week 8 had a couple technical difficulties and one burnt out runner, but otherwise I think it went pretty well!

On Sunday (9/13) I was scheduled to run 5 miles but just as I was starting my run, my iPod decided to freak out. It would stay on for less than a minute and then restart. Grrr. Since I was already at the lake I decided to go for a run anyway and see how it went not having music. Thankfully, I was able to complete the 3 miles okay and now I know I can run without music (although I don’t prefer it).

Tuesday September 15 I got up before work and completed a 5 mile run, thankfully WITH my fully functioning iPod. It felt so great, which was awesome because I was looking at my longest run ever later in the week!

Friday, September 18 was THE day. On Friday morning I ran EIGHT (yes…8!!) miles without walking! Wow. I would have never thought this was possible back in April when I started running again. Amazing. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy, but I took my time, focused (as much as possible) on one mile at a time and did it. My legs were pretty sore, but a lunchtime walk helped ease the pain a bit.

Also, I joined a challenge with some runners from around the world. I came across Running with E through a food blog I have in my Reader and decided that it wouldn’t hurt to have some other people to run with.

Chris & I entered a Wedding Photo Contest on Startribune.com and the time has finally come for the voting!! If you have some free time today, we’d love to get your vote(s).

Our ceremony was short & sweet and perfect for us. We found Rev George via an online search and after our first meeting we knew he was the guy for us. His company, Budget Weddings, has an online tool for putting together your vows with some sample texts to get you started and on the day of the ceremony he coordinated everything including wedding party, readers and the DJ. It was great.

After the welcome and us stating our intent to get married, we had a hand blessing ceremony which involved us crossing our arms and joining hands to make an infinity sign and some really nice words being read.

Then, Liz read Love by Roy Croft:

I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.

Then we said our vows!

I can’t find a copy of the vows but hopefully I will and then I’ll enter them here.

And, before it was over Jill read The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A Peterson:

In Marriage,
The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

And then, finally, it was time for our first kiss as husband and wife!!

The party started immediately following the ceremony with the drink and candy bars opening immediately and not closing down until 11pm!

What would a wedding day be without tons of photos? Probably less stressful, but I don’t know. I have REALLY enjoyed looking back through our wedding photos over the past (almost) six months!! Here is a sampling of some of them. Many more are available here for viewing in my gallery.
FAMILY @ Cowles Conservatory


JUST US @ Sculpture Gardens & St Anthony Falls



GOOFING AROUND
I loved how Chris looks SO happy during this series…

It was a lot of fun taking the photos and I got exactly what I wanted…some nice family portraits and a bunch of great photos of just Chris & Me!

It’s true. One of the things both Chris & I love is to travel to new places. We had both done quite a bit of traveling before we met, (in fact I traveled to China with my family about a month before we started dating) and we included travel in our lives shortly after we started dating. Our first (and second) road trip was down to St. Louis less than 6 weeks after we started dating! Since then we’ve been to Chi-ca-go, Nashville, Nassau, all over MN and of course our European adventure last fall.

So, we were out to dinner for a friend’s birthday a couple months after we got engaged and of course the wedding planning came up. I think the first idea I had was creating passport invites…and from that someone said ‘you should go with a travel theme!’ Chris wasn’t so sure about a themed wedding, but I ran with it. These are different parts of the wedding that were inspired by this theme idea:

Passport Photos: The photobooth was a perfect tool to incorporate within the theme. Don’t the black & white photobooth photos look a lot like grainy passport photos?!? I think so. My aunt Julie made the sign to hang outside the photobooth and it looked like this:

Check-In Table:
We wanted to make sure that everyone got to sit at a table with people they at least had something in common with…or who we thought might be able to enjoy a meal together, so we decided to do place cards. I wasn’t sure what would make sense for the Travel theme until I remembered something I had seen as a Save the Date - Boarding Passes! This worked as a 2 for 1 deal because we were also able to write up a little Thank You to our guests which normally would have been on the program (which we didn’t have). Here’s what they looked like:

And, then we had to figure out how to make sure everyone got theirs. Well, I decided that putting them in a suitcase would work perfectly and after a couple tries, we came up with this wonderful arrangement:

The two bottom suitcases belong to my Grandparents and actually have my Grandpa Chuck’s name on them still which was an unexpected way for him to ‘be’ at the wedding even though he passed away three years ago.

Table Decorations:
Each seat had a candy bar at it and the wrapper was our wedding program. There was a compass rose on the front of it and our family names on the back. Additionally, we created bags for the candy buffet and frames for the photobooth strips and those were set out in different trunks and pails.

We also had photo albums in the bar area of some of our vacations together and my dad worked Travel into his speech as well. It was really fun having a theme to go with and I think our guests enjoyed the details too!

Wow - It’s tough to believe that March 31, 2008 there were 162 games left at the Metrodome and suddenly on Sunday, September 13, 2009 we’re down to 9. However, two baseball seasons later, here we are!

Chris & I got tickets for Sunday’s game courtesy of the Group Organizer rewards and were there early enough for me to get my picture taken with the “team.”

Our seats were pretty good… near the top of Section 115. As you get closer to the field and/or closer to home plate the seats all face straight ahead instead of angled toward home, so I’m pretty happy with where we ended up. Besides, I don’t think I would complain about free tickets anyway.

The Twins won in fine fashion…the first three Twins batters of the game scored! They shut out the A’s and on top of that, Cuddy was playing 1st base!

We had the opportunity to go back into the dome following the game and “play ball on the field” but there was an hour between the end of the game and when we would have been let back into the dome so instead we just headed home and had a nice evening at home together.

On Sunday we took our time getting out of bed, but once we were ready to go we had an active day!

Before heading out on our adventure, Chris & I took a picnic lunch and walked to a park on Michigan Avenue. We found some shade and set up camp. It was warm but there was a breeze and it felt good to be outside.

After picking up Josh & Robyn at the hotel, we took the train up to Lincoln Park and walked over to the Zoo. It’s a free zoo and it covered more space than I realized. We saw deer, monkeys, zebras, poisonous frogs, snakes, polar bears and more!

From the zoo we walked to Goose Island to attend the Brewery Tour! Unfortunately, it started raining before we got to the brewery, but Josh flagged down a cab and we made it without being completely soaked.


I wrote about the tour and the beer in a different post, so I’ll leave it out of this one. We took the El home after dinner and ended up on a train with this advertisement in it. Are you kidding me?!?!

That about wraps up the trip. We got up Monday morning and drove home. It was uneventful and we made it back in time for dinner.

Read about the rest of our trip here: Friday & Saturday