Well, we’ve made a few more decisions in the past week. We signed a contract with our photographer (Jamie Sangar) and also decided on the group we would like for our string quartet. We actually “crashed” a wedding that the Lockerbie String Quartet was playing today. They sounded beautiful. We heard the trio play and decided that we are more interested in having the quartet play than the trio. Since the ceremony will be outside we are both in agreement that it would be nice to have the quartet play so that everyone will be able to hear the music well.

We haven’t decided on any hotels yet for out of town guest accommodations, but we are hoping to have some decisions made by the end of this week.

This is some crap! Apparently, Danny and I are crashing the Do-It-Best Party- unsuccessfully. There is a city-wide customer service conference the weekend of our wedding called the Do-It-Best Convention. We have been researching hotels for the weekend of the wedding and have been told “oh, sorry there is a city wide conference that weekend. We’re booked.” The first 5 times I heard this response I thought, no problem there are a million great hotels downtown. After the next 5 I thought, huh, this could start sucking. Then after the next 5 things got grim. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though… two hotels do have blocks of rooms available downtown. The unfortunate truth is that the price is less than desirable. There are countless hotels 10-15 minutes outside the city with GREAT rates however. Now the question is how do we get people from downtown to the hotel safely after the reception. What do you think… Price or Convenience?

We have been actively looking at photographers lately.  It is really important to me that we find the right person to document our day.  As you all know, I am a picture “freak.”   We have found some amazing photographers in Indy that fit the bill.  I want someone who shoots more candid shots and captures all the details and important moments in the day.  We met with a wonderful photographer this week and are seriously looking at booking her.  She has beautiful flush mount albums and you can buy the rights of the photos if you would like.  Which we do!  I want to know what you all think though.  Go to her webpage and let us know your thoughts…  you can see some of her work at http://www.jamiesangar.com.

I also booked my hair sylist today- my cousin Erica!  She is so talented and I think it will make the day even more special to have her there!   She was like a sister growing up!

Today we found out that we got Laurel Hall. This means, ladies and gentlemen… the date is set! Mark it on your calendars, Danny and Emily- May 16, 2009.

I can’t tell you how excited Danny and I are! We waited anxiously all weekend to find out if we got the space. Truly, we both checked our email obsessively! After we found out that we got the ceremony space we contacted the Rathskellar to let them know we wanted to book the reception space and then the pastor to confirm the date. We also checked to make sure the quartet and at least one of the photographers we are looking at are open for that date. It looks as if all things are a go! Check out the link to Laurel Hall. It is absolutely beautiful! We’ll update you as more decisions are made so check back soon!

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, but we’ve actually been quite busy. I have installed and configured a sweet photo gallery manager powered by ZenPhoto. Check it out by clicking on the Photos tab! I’ve posted some Indy 500 pictures in the first gallery.

On the wedding front, Em and I are anxiously waiting to hear whether or not our first choice ceremony site will be available on our first choice date. We should know very soon, and when we do, we’ll make sure to update both the blog and the webpage.

So yesterday I took a vacation day from work and headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to participate in the annual Carb Day festivities with some coworkers and friends. The weather didn’t want to cooperate, however, and we ended up standing under a tent drinking beer most of the day rather than watching cars and pit competitions. Stone Temple Pilots played later in the afternoon, which was a joy to see. I’ve posted a couple pictures from the day and even a video.

Chad and I enjoying a break in the rain

Below you’ll see a classic example of Indiana Pride. IMS is home to thousands of people like this.

This guy is in his element

I got an up-front view of the 2008 E85 pace cars featuring our own JDSU color shifting paint technology called ChromaFlair.

I wish I had this ‘vette

Finally, check out this video of a guy I affectionately call “The Stranger” (Big Lebowski reference). I’ve seen this guy around town several times now. He once claimed to be a fire inspector checking out the upper floors’ escape routes when me and some friends were at the Elbow Room one weekend. Most recently, I saw him rocking out at the Slippery Noodle. He’s a hoot!

Click on The Stranger to see him rock the air guitar

Today Danny and I visited Laurel Hall in Indianapolis. It was beautiful! I could imagine having our ceremony there. Everything about it just seemed to fit. We would hold the ceremony outdoors on the back terrace. I would walk along a stone walkway, past a cascading waterfall and down a staircase to the ceremony site. There is an on-site bridal and groom’s suite that are perfect. Some of you will find this interesting… Laurel Hall is not only one of the most sought after wedding locations in Indy, it is also the Phi Kappa Psi National Headquarters. (Danny is a Phi Psi!) I think we have found a front runner! Check out the pictures below and let us know what you think…

Laurel Hall from the front drive

The staircase that we would walk down to the ceremony site

Ceremony space with a beautiful natural backdrop

The cascading waterfall at the top of the hill

The walkway our guests would use to get to the ceremony site

Tonight, Em and I chose a website template and structure to try out. Let us know what you think! Eventually, we will probably make our own permanent pages linked from the homepage, but for now, I have nothing to publish so I’m not going to make a page. We’ll be making changes frequently for another week or two, so make sure to check back from time to time.

So I’ve always wanted to have a string quartet play at my wedding ceremony. After doing some research, we’ve found some quartets in Indy that play at wedding ceremonies for reasonable rates. One such is the d’Indy String Quartet. The only down side is that they will not travel to T-town if we choose to have the wedding there. Check out the .mp3 and let us know what you think!

d’Indy String Quartet Sample MP3

Welcome to our blog! We hope to use this site to keep everyone informed about our upcoming wedding… no we do not have a date set yet. Our best guess is May 16th or June 6th of 2009. We have been discussing our options and should know soon. We’ve also visited several places in Indy and know where we would have the reception and ceremony in Teutopolis. The question is now, Indy or T-Town? Check back soon to see what we’ve decided!