Ahhh, relax.....

The word John and I always referred to when asked about what we wanted our wedding to be is, "relaxed." I have told many people, "I don't want to be the center of attention" and often the response is an immediate strange look followed by, "but you're the BRIDE!" and this is exactly why we want a relaxed wedding.  So it will consist of just friends, family, music, candlelight, food and drinks. We decided to try to have a 'as small as possible' wedding meaning- limited invites and intimate ceremony. By intimate ceremony I am mostly referring to the bridal party and groomsmen..or should I say groomswoman? John and I decided that our sisters will be the only attendants in the wedding- Alyssa next to me and Mary next to John. There two reasons for this decision- first, we both have too many close friends that it would be impossible to choose between them and our wedding party would end up being pretty much the entire list of invites. Secondly, the area for the ceremony is relatively small. There will be about 30-40 chairs and the rest is standing room. There is a 'loft' area (I forgot the fancy word for it) where people can watch from above as well.

We also initially were going to register on a Honeymoon website but, instead we opted for the usual, Macy's and Bed Bath and Beyond. The first night, we went to Macy's- both of our excitement building we the lady slowly handed us the scanner. John took IMMEDIATE control the scanner and I was the "ooooooohh" and "ahhhhhh" and "what about this" person. There were many discussions on whether or not to replace our current items that were hand-me-downs from our great-great-grand-aunt's-second-cousin twice removed...and thankfully we were both on the same page!

Planning has been coming along all at once lately! My sister, Alyssa's friend Leanna will be our photographer, my brother-in-law Paul will be our officiant, we have the venue and food picked out, John and I have been cake testing at one place (so far) and I GOT MY DRESS!!!! (I'm not excited at all or anything...) I feel like we're finally getting some stuff done and it feels amazing...

As we get closer to the wedding, we'll be updating information about the Hood River area and things to do (wine-tasting and brew-pubs are common...along with snowboarding and skiing). Until then!!!!!