Practice Makes Perfect

And a picture from the rehearsal. Everything ran smoothly except when Trevor was hiding out in the photocopy room and missed his cue to be at the altar. At least he was right on Saturday, though. A dinner was held at the Joslyn Castle immediately following the ceremony rehearsal. More details to come on the fun night later!


Meghan, Dr. Bowers, Wendy, Trevor and Kory at the altar

Sometimes You Just Have to Jam

Thanks to everyone who kicked off the wedding weekend at the Bridal Lunch and thanks to Wendy's mom for hosting such a nice lunch and for the cute PJ pants.

While the girls were dining at Jams American Grill, the boys were enjoying themselves at Old Chicago. The lunches were the beginning of a wonderful weekend.

Be sure to keep visiting the blog to read more about the wedding and for more pictures. And speaking of pics, we'd LOVE to see any pictures you all took over the weekend. If you wouldn't mind sharing, please send them to wfitch@beap.com. We'd love to add them to our album.



The girls at the Bridal Lunch at Jams American Grill

Happy Five Year and Four Day Anniversary

December 1 was our five-year anniversary. For those of you who don't know the story, we met our first day of college, back in 1998, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wendy was moving into Sandoz Residence Hall with her roommate, Michelle Larkin (now Seger). Michelle ran into a fellow soccer teammate of hers, Jaclyn DiGiacomo, in the lobby of the dorm. Two of Jaclyn's friend were helping move her in, and one of them was Trevor. We met then and realized Trevor was a Lambda Chi with all of Wendy's guy friends from high school.

We went to nearly every date party together as friends freshman year. May we reiterate as friends. We began dating two years later during Junior year after we realized maybe we liked each other a little more than friends, and the rest is history...

Happy (Hour) Shower

Tonight some of Wendy’s mom’s friends threw a shower for the bride-to-be at Clancy’s. Whoah are those some fuuuun ladies! We had a great time socializing and the ladies were very generous. We received several China settings and serving pieces from Borsheim’s. It was a great way to unwind from some of the last-minute wedding planning stresses. Thanks to everyone who attended and contributed!

Almost Official

We’ve heard lots of horror stories about getting your marriage licenses. Not sure where we heard them, but for some reason we anticipated this being a time-consuming task. We decided to go today because we had a meeting at Church this evening and thought bringing the license to the meeting would save us a trip. We were going to go over lunch but the timing did not work out. Instead we decided to head out around 4 p.m.

Turns out we left Wendy’s parent’s house at 4:29 p.m. Anyone familiar with Omaha knows getting from 168th and Fort to 18th and Farnam at rush hour takes some time- a lot of time- especially when it’s snowing out. Pretty sure Trevor counted down every minute that ticked by. We ended up pulling into the courthouse (or whatever building it was) at 4:58 p.m. Office closed at 5. Trevor threw the car in park and didn’t even blink an eye at the parking meter (sorry police friends). We RAN in and made it on time. I’m sure the people working didn’t appreciate us too much, but hey, at least a time consuming wedding fiasco was averted.

Happy Honeymoon

We're thrilled to be going on a cruise for our honeymoon. We're going on the Carnival Pride. We cruise in and out of Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera, stopping in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. We leave January 15th. We didn't want to leave immediately after the wedding because we didn't want to miss all of the holiday festivities. Now we'll have the wedding, move into our home, celebrate Christmas and New Year's and then go on the honeymoon. Most fun month ever!

We're super excited about the trip. And, check this out. Our ship was in the news today.

Family Sues Carnival Cruise Line After Wisconsin Woman Disappears
POSTED: 10:28 am CST November 22, 2005
The family of a Wisconsin woman who disappeared from a cruise ship last year is suing Carnival Corp.
Annette Mizener disappeared from the Carnival Pride Dec. 4.
The Waukesha woman's purse was found not far from where a covered surveillance camera was located.
Mizener's family said the crew's failure to monitor the camera delayed the search efforts.
The 37-year-old's body was never found.
She is presumed dead.


ZOINKS-A-RAMA!

Pictures Are In

We got our engagement pictures back. They're swell. Here's one of many poses...

The Pig Says 20 Days Til Wedded Bliss

Wendy’s currently living with her aunt and uncle in Kansas City. They have a ceramic pig holding a chalkboard on their kitchen table and each day Aunt Bev writes down the number of days until wedded bliss. It’s very cute. Come to think of it, we need a picture of it. Anywho, the pig says it’s 20 days away. Yes, we’re three weeks out, which of course comes with tons of things to do.

This weekend was a productive one. Friday night, Joyce, Roger, Wendy and Trevor figured out details on the rehearsal dinner. Saturday started off with a great shower at the Upstream. Wendy’s aunt Mary hosted the event. Several of Wendy’s great aunts and friends of the family came, as well as Mary & Joyce who have made it to every shower thus far. We had a great time and munched on yummy appetizers. Thanks again Aunt Mary!

After the shower, Wendy and mom went to Nobbie’s, The Engravery and Wal-Mart to pick up some essentials. That evening we had a meeting with the videographer to go over the wedding day’s order of events. Lizzie was a rockstar and came with us so the videographers knew who they would work with the day of the event. Thanks again for coming over and for your help, Lizzie. After the appointment, Michelle, Brian, Denise and Mike came over help out as well. The boys assisted Ronnie in getting down all of the wedding decorations that have been stored in the attic, and the girls helped assemble bells that will be at each table. We knocked it all out that night! It was a big help—thanks, friends!

Sunday morning was fantastic. We vistied our new home and realized our house is nearly finished! We’re closing December 12. And, to keep you up to speed, we’re no longer renting Wendy’s cousin’s home. If Wendy had to move one more time, she would have poked her eyeballs out. Anywho, our new home is coming along great and we’re very excited about it.


Almost done!

More errands were completed Sunday afternoon and the day wrapped at 11 p.m. by going through the RSVPs once again :-).

Stay tuned. That pig’s still counting down and there’s a lot of exciting things happening!

The Road to Love

We thought many of you would appreciate some directions for the wedding weekend, especially those of you from out of town.

From Kansas City to Embassy Suites:
Take I-29 North. Veer to the left at the Omaha, Sioux City split in Council Bluffs (just past the Bass Pro Shop, baby). After crossing over the bridge into Omaha, get in the right lane and take the 480 exit toward downtown. Take the Dodge/Harney Street exit. Exit on Harney. Take Harney to 10th Street. Take a right on 10th. The hotel will be on the left hand side.

From Eppley Airfield to Embassy Suites:
Exit Airport, turning left on Abbott Drive. Continue Abbott Drive approximately 2 miles to 10th Street and turn left. Follow 10th Street for 6 blocks to the hotel which is located on the left (east) side of the street at 10th and Howard.

From Embassy Suites to Dundee Presbyterian:
Leaving the hotel main entrance take a right onto 10th Street so you are heading North. Turn left onto Dodge Street. Turn right onto N 52nd Street and then left onto Underwood Avenue. Total drive time is approximately 15 minutes.

From West Omaha to Dundee Presbyterian:
Take Dodge Street East, taking a slight right onto Farnam Street. Turn slighty left onto Happy Hollow Boulevard. Turn left on Underwood Avenue. Church is on the right (north) side of the street.

Hopefully that will get you where you need to go. We’ll have directions from Dundee Presbyterian to Embassy Suites in the wedding program. If you need other directions, let us know or use MapQuest.

Parking:
Parking for the ceremony is available on the street and in the Brownell-Talbot parking lot across the street. Handicap parking and entrance is on the West side of the church.

At the hotel, overnight guests receive complimentary self-parking in hotel lot- 10th and Jackson. Valet parking is also available ofr overnight guests for $12 per day. Non-overnight guests can use the valet parking option for $10 per visit, self-parking at city lots within one block of hotel (11th and Jackson & 10th and Harney), or use any available street-side parking meters.

Stay tuned. The next post will be about all of the fun things to do in Omaha if you're planning on coming to town early or staying a few extra days.

Oh What a Night

That Fankie Valli put it best when he said, “Oh what a night.” Although, he was referring to late December back in ’63. We’re talkin’ bout November 5, 2005, also known as the evening of our bachelor and bachelorette parties.

What the girls did:
The girlies took a trip down memory lane by reliving college life in Lincoln. A group of about 16 ventured to Nebraska’s state capitol for an evening of fun. The gang started out at the Holiday Inn downtown for drinks, appetizers and a game featuring old pictures of Wendy. They all had to guess the age at the time in the pictures. Special thanks to Meghan for requesting Mary and Ron dig out the mullet pictures. We then opened gifts. The final gift of the night was an awesome scrapbook. Each invitee made their own page with pictures and stories about Wendy. There were tears and laughs involved while reading them aloud. Thanks everyone for the time and effort. It’s a wonderful keepsake. The chicas then ventured to the Downtown where we had cake and a few (several) drinks before heading to The Bar where even more fun was to be had. This is getting to be a very long entry, and could be even longer, but let’s just say the rest of the evening involved a rickshaw, lots of Lazzaris pizza (thanks, Vrzal!), jumping on the beds and the worm. It was absolutely fabulous. Pictures will be posted upon receipt.

What the dudes did:
Not many details here. We remember it involved football, beer, a school bus, more beer and ham sandwiches. Trevor did not get a cute scrapbook.

Best weekend ever:
The weekend was even more spectacular for a few reasons:
1. Megan (McGargill) Miller surprised everyone by flying in from San Diego for the weekend!
2. Great friends Mike Shearer and Denise Passmore got engaged Friday night, the evening we were also surprised with Megan’s presence. The night kind of turned into a pre-bach/bachelorette party celebration. It was awesome.
3. Dear friend Kristi Hawkins from Denver took the time to drive in. It’s been forever since we’ve seen her and it was awesome to hang out.

Thanks everyone who joined us Saturday night. For those of you who weren’t able to be there, we missed you. And special thanks to Wendy’s bridesmaids and the fellas that planned both extravaganzas. Thanks for organizing such a memorable night.

We’ll remember what a night…

Fun Game, Fun Game!

We had another wonderful shower today, this one hosted by Trevor’s Aunt Ann and cousin Deana. The brunch started off with a very fun game…one so fun we want all of you to play. Rules are simple. We’re going to list off the last names of famous television couples and you have to guess the husband and wife’s first names. Answers will be at the bottom this post. Good luck!

1. Simpson
2. Jetson
3. Brady
4. Bing
5. Taylor
6. Petrie
7. Huxtable
8. Constanza
9. Jefferson
10. Bunker
11. Munster
12. Bundy

The rest of the shower was awesome. We had a tasty meal, yummy desserts and we got some great gifts, including our duvet cover, bed skirt, shams and pillows. Thanks everyone for taking the time and skipping the Husker game to attend. We’re glad you could be there!

And now for the moment you’ve been waiting for: The Answers

1. Marge and Homer (The Simpsons)
2. George and Judy (The Jetsons)
3. Mike and Carol (The Brady Bunch)
4. Chandler and Monica (Friends)
5. Tim and Jill (Home Improvement)
6. Rob and Laura (The Dick Van Dyke Show)
7. Clair and Cliff (The Cosby Show)
8. Frank and Estelle (Seinfeld)
9. George and Louise (The Jeffersons)
10. Archie and Edith (All in the Family)
11. Herman and Lily (The Munsters)
12. Al and Peg (Married…with Children)

From the Musical Soundtrack Rent

So really this posting has nothing to do with Broadway plays.

Remember that blog posting a few months ago when we were excited about our moving into our new home? Well, we’re still excited to move in. And that excitement gets to linger for two additional months. See, our original closing date was October 15. Now we’ll be closing December 12. Hooray!?!? In the meantime, we are going to rent the home Wendy’s cousins are selling. They’ve already moved into their new pad, and their old place is vacant while on the market (insert subliminal sales pitch: if anyone's looking to buy a spuer cute house, let us know. We have the perfect one).

Now here’s where the irony sets in. If any of you have met the Hicks’, you’ll know they are synonymous with “rentals.” Ron and Mary have a house-building fetish and Wendy, Kalin and Lindsey have lived in two rental homes, two apartments and two hotels in their short lives while waiting for houses to be finished. When Emilie found out we were renting Karli and Greg’s house for a bit, her comment was priceless. We just have to share:

“…Good deal about the rental though. It is in TRUE Hicks' fashion that youwould start your married life in a rental. I almost think of it as agood omen.”

Rent on.

Celebrating Marriage all Year Long

Today we were thrilled to have a “Month of the Year” shower, hosted by Wendy’s Aunt Deanna, Aunt Bev and cousin Karli. It was a marvelous event, and the hostesses definitely went all out. Each area of the house was themed for a season: gifts were opened in the autumnal living room, the kitchen, housing the yummy food and hot coffee, was a winter wonderland, the hallway brought back the warmth of summer with hanging sunshines, margaritas and umbrellas with fruit and the dining room offered a touch of spring with a cake that read, “Love is in Bloom.” And of course, as you can see by the picture, the shower would not have been complete without the bride and groom cardboard cutouts with our faces in it.

Our guests did an excellent job of giving gifts for their given months. They’re so creative, we just have to share:

January: Down comforter
February: Heart-shaped Le Creuset pan, “It Starts at the Heart” Peggy Karr plate, rosebud Bundt pan, SMITTENS and more
March: Hand painted margarita glasses and matching chip & salsa serving piece
April: Gardening tools, including hose, gloves, nozzles and rain gauge
May: A May Day basket with a “Red plate” (The Hicks family had one of these and it was used on special occasions. It will become a fun tradition for our family as well)
June: The summer necessities-a cooler and lawnchairs
July: Picnic basket & Lemonade pitcher
August: BBQ tools
September: Chip and dip set with some of Rita’s fave recipes—perfect for tailgating parties
October: Halloween decorations and cookies cutters
November: Leaf plates and one-of-a-kind pilgrim candles
December: Cookie decorating kit

Thanks everyone for taking the time to attend the shower and again to Karli, Bev and Deanna. It means a lot!



Mackenzie and Jack practicing for thier upcoming roles and Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

Need a Room?

We’ve reserved a group of rooms at the Old Market Embassy Suites at a discounted rate of $119 per night. The block’s filling up fast, so if you are interested, call 402.346.9000 and reference the Hicks/Fitch wedding to reserve a room at this rate.

Keep checking www.decembertenth2005.blogspot.com for more wedding weekend details, such as directions and fun things to do in Omaha for those of you visiting for the first time. We're looking forward to celebrating with all of you!

Six Helping Hands

Earlier this week, Emilie, Melissa and Meghan helped get our invitations ready to go. We had an assembly line which included cutting RSVP cards and placing stamps on them, and then stuffing, sealing and stamping the invitation envelopes. It was a fun get together and helped tremendously to get the invitations out on time. Thanks again for being wonderful friends and bridesmaids.

Fa la la la la la

We have Wedding Singers! Today we asked two of Wendy’s colleagues, Mrs. Sun Dee Larson (newly married so it's really fun to call her Mrs. Larson) and April Reins to sing during our ceremony. We’re thrilled to have familiar faces up there with us. They are picking the song; however, Sun Dee’s already eagerly suggested one of her originals:

(sing to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:)
Trevor, Trevor, Trevor and Wendy
Together forever today
Marrying, marrying, marrying, marrying
Please don't snow us in

What do you all think?

Anyway, thanks again Sun Dee and April for sharing your talent with us. We’re very excited!

Our Write Hand Woman

Many, many, many, many thanks to Rachel Bullock for enduring hours of hand cramping to address all 250+ of our invitations. Rachel has the best penmanship around and graciously agreed to the favor. The invites look awesome and we cannot thank her enough! RB rocks!

Say Cheese

Something to cross off the list: engagement pictures. Last week we smiled and posed for two hours during our engagement picture session. We took a few pictures inside and then a majority of them at Elmwood Park. Trevor finally warmed up to the idea 120 minutes into it. He didn't realize the fun that was to be had. Like when we had to touch foreheads and we thought each other looked like a Cyclops because we were so close. Then there was the time Trevor had to give Wendy a piggyback ride. We kind of thought it was a joke. It wasn't. Trevor may deny it, but we had fun.

The proofs are back already and they're great. Surely you'll all be seeing them at some point. In the meantime, check out our photographer. He does a wonderful job.

Tuxes are from Mars, Wedding Dresses are from Venus

Trevor picked out the guys’ tuxes today. It was unbelievable. Seriously! How does it take women 10 months to find a dress and while guys can pick out wedding attire in 10 minutes? Not once did Trevor worry if it was pulling too much here or if it was gapping there. He didn’t think twice about which style flattered his body type or if he wanted pearls, crystals or both.

But some stunning tuxes were picked out at Men’s Wearhouse. And the fellas scored a heck of a deal because Joyce went to a bridal fair and locked in a great rate. They’re sure to look just dapper.

We Remember

In the year we’ve been planning our wedding, several friends and family members have passed away. We’d like to remember those who have went before us, both recently and in years past. You are all in our thoughts.

Grazie!

Lidia’s Italy in Kansas City was the venue for a “Marital Mayhem” get together last night. The celebration was in honor of us, as well as Wendy’s co-worker, Sun Dee, and her fiancé, Matt, who are tying the knot on Saturday.

Most of Barkley Evergreen & Partners Public Relations’ finest were able to make it to the extravaganza, despite an hour start time delay due to a little car trouble (that being Trevor driving through an enormous pothole on I-29 near St. Joe and completely ruining two tires). We were surrounded by great company, tasty appetizers and received fabulous gifts including barware from Pottery Barn and a keepsake featuring each of Wendy’s co-workers’ own recipe for a successful marriage.

Thanks to Lindsey, April and Rachel for planning the event, and for everyone who was able to come to Lidia’s. Those of you who weren’t able to make it, you were missed. And for the record, Trevor made it back to Omaha with all four tires in tact, but he did have another incident with the Missouri Highway Patrol for speeding. Luckily, he only received a warning.


Matt, Sun Dee, Wendy and Trevor

Home Sweet Home

As many of you know, we are new homeowners. What a scary thought. Just kidding…we are very excited!

Anyway, it’s just a little guy but is a perfect first home. It’s located at 156th and Fort in Omaha…really close to our friends’ and even closer to Tanner’s.

Here’s a picture of the house in it’s current stage. The finished product is expected to be ours in mid-October just in time for the trick-or-treaters.


15255 Armstong Street

One Year Ago Today

It’s hard to believe we’ve been planning a wedding for 365 days already. How the time has flown by. Today was spent celebrating Wendy’s car insurance rates dropping (Happy Birthday, Wendy) and was also spent driving around the Old Market looking for a bridal luncheon venue. The fact we were in the Old Market was awfully ironic because just one year from today, almost to the hour, the two of us were at Ted & Wally’s, walking around the Heartland of America Park, just getting engaged.

This weekend was more wedding-productive than just the bridal luncheon. We met with Embassy Suites and figured out a lot of details for the reception. Invitations were ordered, the rehearsal dinner guest list was nearly finalized and we also started working on the flower girl dress which Trevor’s mom, Joyce, is making. All in all it was a great Labor Day weekend and One Year of Engagement Anniversary.

A Little Anecdote From the Father of the Bride

From: Ron Hicks [mailto:ronnieh@cmaomaha.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 4:26 PM
To: wendy hicks
Subject: FW:


All eyes were on the radiant bride as her father escorted her down the aisle. They reached the altar and the waiting groom: the bride kissed her father and placed something in his hand. The guests in the front pews responded with ripples of laughter. Even the priest smiled broadly. As her father gave her away in marriage, the bride gave him back his credit card.

Funny Ha Ha

Do you know about the two TV antennas that got married? The wedding was terrible but the reception was terrific.

So Many Thanks

Thanks to everyone who attended the "Every Room of the House" Shower on Saturday. We appreciate everyone taking the time to be there, and we missed those of you who were unable to attend. Many, many thanks also for the wonderful gifts. You all went above and beyond.

Special thanks to Michelle Seger, Kathy Larkin, Meghan Slattery, Debbie Slattery, Emilie Shannon and Lisa Shannon for hosting such a fantastic shower. It was wonderful!


Some of the girls (and Berkley the dog) after the shower

Wedding Talk

If anyone doesn't receive Daily Candy e-mails, you should. They are daily newsletters announcing fun new products, services and ideas. Wendy's "I Love Nick and Jessica" tote bag would not have been found without this genius of a Web site. Anywho, today's newsletter was so good and so appropriate, it must be shared. Wedding lingo...

altarcation n. A heated, angry dispute between the couple regarding the details of the ceremony. (Honey, no, we did not discuss letting your Uncle Larry, a.k.a. "The Stuttering Wonder," do a reading.)

bridesmaid, revisited n. A woman who's been a bridesmaid so often she refers to the month of June as "the wedding circuit."

brilton n. A 3 a.m. Vegas wedding. (Thank you, Britney and Nicky.)

ca-toast-trophic adj. Used to describe a completely horrifying toast.

child bride n. The flower girl forced to wear a miniature version of the bridal gown, complete with veil and train.

debauchelor n. A groom whose bachelor party is particularly bacchanalian.

dowdification n. The process by which brides ensure they aren't upstaged by their bridesmaids. (Damn, if that maid of honor wasn't dowdified!)

groompaloompa n. Bridezilla's counterpart.

maid of dishonor n. The wedding attendant who alters her dress to show lots o' cleavage, then sleeps with the best man.

nuptualpalooza n. A wedding weekend that's as action-packed as a three-ring circus.

OVD n. Obsessive Vicarious Disorder. A condition that afflicts mothers of the bride.

rockafella n. A groom who picks a ring for its size and ostentation. (Sure, she's marrying for love. But it doesn't hurt that Joe's a rockafella.)

Vera-cious adj. Used to describe the bird-like appetite of a bride hoping to fit into a Vera Wang sample-size dress.

Bored at Home Depot

Wendy? Often. Trevor? Never. Never until the weekend of July 4th when we registered. Home Depot was the last stop of a three-store registering spree and it was the only time Trevor has ever proactively wanted to leave his DeWalt and Klein toys. Registering at Home Depot was a little tedious because we had to write down the SKUs for each item we wanted; they don’t have the fun guns Pottery Barn and Bed, Bath & Beyond had. All in all, the registries are started and nearly complete, except for Borsheim’s where we are registering for China. And by we, we mean Wendy and her mom. Trevor’s passed the joy of registering on.


Trevor testing out brooms

They’re Baaaaaccckkkk

The wedding nightmares, that is.

Back in September after the engagement, a good night’s sleep was rare. I tossed and turned about everything. Where should we have the wedding? How can we make this guest list smaller? Would the smokers hate me if they went outside to puff and it was snowing? And the reasons for no sleep didn’t stop there, as the dreams piled on. There was one when the bridesmaids, who were to be wearing gloves with their dresses, showed up in red, stretchy gloves. You know, the $.99 Target special. The mismatched gloves you wear two pair of because they are so thin they really don’t keep your hands warm. Yeah—not really what I envisioned in my wedding. And there was the one when my dad went to pick-up my dress from being steamed but it came back wrinklier than before but pictures were starting and there was nothing I could do about it (note: I really like my clothes to be pressed. One time Melissa busted me for ironing my pajamas. Hence, you can see how this dream really disturbed me).

There were more and I finally decided I needed to quit reading wedding magazines before I went to bed. And so I did. But for some reason last night, the wedding nightmares reoccurred. This time, none of my wedding party showed up except Shannon Hite (thanks, Shan). I was a little upset, but no biggie. I was a lot upset when I put my dress on (by myself because no one was there to help me) and it was a navy blue velvet bottom and maroonish, chiffonishy long-sleeved top with a large bow tied around the waist. Downright hideous. Gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. Luckily I was saved by the alarm clock and the ugliest wedding dress of all time vanished into dreamland.

I'm thinking, and hoping, they'll stop. Yeah, in my dreams.

** This posting is from Wendy only. Trevor has normal, un-wedding related dreams. Wendy is jealous.

Eye Do

Typically when one thinks of his or her wedding, they think of whether or not they’ll be bawling all the way down the aisle, not whether or not they’ll be squinting all the way down the aisle. Well for Wendy, she was nervous about both, but has solved dilemma number two.

For anyone that knows Wendy, you might have noticed when she’s trying to read or see something far away her eyes get tiny, her nose krinkles and she says “it’s blurry.” Most of the time it’s harmless (unless you’re in the passenger seat and she’s behind the wheel). However, she was really nervous that, although uninvited to the wedding, the blurriness would decide to show up as the doors of Dundee Presbyterian Church open on December 10 and that she wouldn’t be able to see her groom standing at the end of the aisle. So, after a lovely optometrist appointment earlier in the week, Wendy is now a proud contact wearer. It’s been rather painless, thanks to Melissa and Rachel’s moral support and Contact 101 lessons. Seems odd to figure optical expenses into a wedding budget but it’s all a part of saying the “Eye dos.”

Pencil It In

It’s such a relief our Save the Dates are out! Hopefully by now most of you have received them in the mail. If you didn’t:

1. You stumbled upon our blog accidentally and aren’t invited to the wedding. Admit it…you have no idea who we are.

2. The envelope was destroyed in the mail. You may be thinking “lame excuse” but it’s the truth. Hand canceling or not, those pencils do not ship well and we have three damaged envelopes, Save the Dates and apology letters from the United States Postal Service to prove it. Hopefully the indestructible envelopes we resorted to held strong.

3. You moved and forgot to change your address. Click here and we’ll help you out.

4. Save the Dates were not sent to everyone. If we've provided you with this blog address, consider yourself invited.

Special thanks to Lizzie Fraser for staying in on a Friday night to help cut, tie and assemble many Save the Dates. And thanks to Mama Hicks for checking and double checking the finished pile so that no one received two or was overlooked, and thanks to Papa Hicks for hand delivering the pile to the post office.

Long Time, No Post

Sorry we haven’t written in a while--we’ve been away at an awards ceremony. Yep, we won the “Worst Bloggers of the Year Award” for our consistent lack of posts.

Actually, while there has been a lot going on in wedding planning world, there isn’t anything too exciting to report. After countless nights of handwriting Save the Date envelopes, Wendy’s right hand fell off. Other than that, the girls got their bridesmaid dresses ordered and Wendy’s dress came in! Hope everyone is doing well—can’t wait to see you all in seven months and two days!

Two things

First and foremost we'd like to add Wendy's Uncle Mahlon and Aunt Bev and Trevor's Aunt Ann to the wedding party. Did we wait long enough to ask or what? Thanks for being our newest host and hostesses!

Secondly: it's address collecting time! Yep, we're getting started on this daunting task early (this also lets us know who's checking out the blog). Therefore, if you wouldn't mind either posting your address in a comment or e-mailing it to trevorfitch@hotmail.com it would be much appreciated.

April Fool's Day

Trevor played a good one on Wendy this year. He sent her an e-mail, which is pasted verbatim below. To really get the funny part of the prank, you need to call the number.

some lady just left a message on my phone (why does she have my number) asking about our wedding cake. the message she left was actually for you, but i cant understand parts of what she said (she kept coughing or growling or something). she asked that you call her back. she said her name was mrs. lyon, her number is 402-733-8400. she sounded kind of crazy

Dear Abby

Wendy swears she didn't submit this to Abby--but she does think it's funny. Just a forward from Wendy's work friend, Sun Dee:

DEAR ABBY: I just became engaged to my boyfriend of two years. We plan to be married in October. My boyfriend and I have agreed to have an old-fashioned church wedding and, of course, a white wedding dress. But our wedding will be in October and Labor Day is in September, and I never wear white after Labor Day.

My boyfriend insists I should wear white. He says there is an exception to every rule, but I disagree, and we don't want to change our wedding date. Can you tell me what to do?
-- BRIDE WITH NO DRESS IN ILLINOIS

DEAR BRIDE: Please do not be concerned about breaking a fashion rule. A white wedding dress signifies that it is the bride's first marriage. Because you have not been married before, you may wear a white bridal gown regardless of what time of year your wedding is held. The sales people at your local bridal shop will be happy to guide you in making your selection.

Nine Months From Today

we'll be married!!!!!

Welcome To Our Blog

Thanks for checking out our wedding blog! For those of you who don't know, a blog is essentially an online journal...technically it's defined as an "easy-to-use web site where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people and more." That is if we can figure the thing out.

You may be wondering why we’ve been engaged for exactly six months (holy cow can you believe it’s been that long!?!) and you’re just hearing of our blog. It’s because the idea to capture our wedding details this way just came about…and Jen Norman is actually to thank for the idea. She wrote an e-mail asking about wedding plans and if we had a Web site she could check out. We didn’t, but ‘how cool if we did?’ we thought. So, with a little help from blog-guru friends (including but not limited to Mike Shearer, Andy Woolard and the blogmaster himself Jeff Risley) this was born. Please visit often over the next nine months. It’s our intent to update habitually for your reading pleasure and so you know what’s going on in our wedding planning world. And since we are a little late to the blog game, we’ve posted past bloggentary (thanks to the handy-dandy wedding journal Wendy’s mama, Mary, gave to her) which should bring everyone up to speed on major wedding initiatives thus far.