The Faint Chiming of Wedding Bells

I haven't really thought about it, but I think there are four months, five days, seventeen hours, three minutes, and eight seconds until I get married. And every time I say this I realize I am already several seconds closer than I was when I began that sentence.

Of course, I welcome this date with open arms!

Since everyone reading this will likely be coming, I feel it's quite appropriate to provide an update to our wedding plans. I know that I've talked to just about everyone out there individually, but God only knows what details I've told each one of you (and left out for others). So it's time to set the record straight. :)

First, the wedding will be held on March 12, 4:30 p.m. at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. It is a beautiful church that holds approximately 200 people--we will have around 120 at our wedding, depending on the quality of Christmas gifts we receive from those we're not sure about. Because it will be technically held in winter, we expect that the service will begin just before twilight and end around sunset. From here, everyone will head over to the Sheraton Chapel Hill for a cozy reception, complete with DJ and a sit-down dinner. I flirted with the idea of just having Josh (my best man) perform DJ services, since that's all he ever did in our dorm room through the first two years of college, but ended up thinking better of it. I'd much rather see him dancing instead.

At any rate, here we'll have a wonderful array of events such as "Pin the Corsage on the Donkey", "Bobbing For Bruschetta", and the ever-popular grandparents game of Limbo. For this last, we will begin taking bets starting Friday, November 19.

Some additional (and slightly more authentic) details on the wedding itself include the wedding party, which are as follows:

• Matron of Honor - Lauren Ramshur
• Bridesmaid - Michele Blackstone
• Bridesmaid - Emily Bower
• Bridesmaid - Beth Chalmers
• Bridesmaid - Kate Rihm
  
  
• Best Man - Joshua Lovett
• Groomsman - Drew Land
• Groomsman - Kevin Popoli
• Groomsman - Dirk Singer

Kelly and I are absolutely honored to have each of these kind souls in our wedding party. We also want to give a special thanks to Kevin and Lauren, who are the only ones we didn't have to bribe. :)

Rounding out the update, we have already completed arrangements for the following: DJ, reception, photographer, church, wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, organist, pastor, and wedding director. Most of the work is done for the flowers and wedding cake(s), and we have made headway on the invitations as well. Still left to do are: rehearsal dinner arrangements (my responsibility), tux selection (yep, mine too), wedding program design (me again), and numerous other odds and ends. The honeymoon will take us to Whitehouse, Jamaica, to a brand new Sandals resort opening in February. Unbelievably, this will be the first time I've spent a night outside the U.S. or Canada. It will also be the first time I've travelled anywhere with a wife.

Okay, I suppose that will wrap it up for now...hopefully everyone has learned something in this exposition! Seriously, thanks to each and every one of you for helping to make this event very special to us--along with it being a day of celebration between Kelly and I, seeing all of you is such a great source of excitement for both of us. We eagerly await this day as it grows nearer.

Only four months, five days, sixteen hours, forty-two minutes, and nineteen seconds now.