This wedding is the result of a blind fix up that almost wasn't (twice) and the amazingly uncommon result of it.
Before I ever met Matt, I met Matt's older brother Billy. I was a flashlight technician for Billy's album cover-shoot. (Don't we both sound so important! Well, at least one of us?) We had to wait for the sun to go down (for the sake of the flashlights) and went to dinner to waste time until dark. At dinner, Jason (photographer) made a funny little comment about how he predicted that I would meet my husband through work. His exact words were, "You'll meet a cool client and he'll set you up with his brother or something." Ya right I thought, that's never going to happen. Well, it turned out that Billy wasn't exactly short on brothers. He came into the office a few weeks later with Rachelle and Cartney and offered to set me up with Matt. I initially declined but then later accepted. Matt and I agreed to meet out at a bar with friends so it wouldn't be too "blind-datey." Come the day of the meeting, I decided that it was probably going to be a waste of my time and I begged Shannon to let me ditch the date. What was going to happen anyways? Was I going to meet my future husband? I don't think so...
So, we all met at the Library Pub, hung out, talked, realized that we didn't hate each other and made plans to go out the next night. Matt and I had the perfect first date: Nintendo, arts and crafts and a midnight showing of Wizard of Oz. Since the theater was behind my apartment, Matt didn't have the opportunity to open the car door for me to prove he was a gentleman. He did however give me a piggyback ride through the alley if that counts for anything. (Awwww!) And for the record he does open the door for me. Every single time!
So that's that. We hit it off over 50 cent beers at a dirt bar and a night of playing Mario. About four days later we were both off the market and it's been great ever since.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Postman Never Rings Twice, So You Better Do It Right the First Time
So far I've received two RSVP cards back in the mail... and three returned invitations with incorrect addresses on them. Humm. Those odds aren't good. If it continues on in this pattern, 40% of our guests will make it to the wedding, and 60% will never even know they were invited.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
FAQ of the Day
Today's question is from Cathy:
Why the Beatles theme?
That's an excellent question Cathy. I'm sure a few people are wondering why we've decided to dedicate our wedding to The Beatles. Matthew and his brothers were raised on The Beatles. The McGuigans' dad was a huge fan of the Fab Four and he instilled that love in his sons. Matthew and his brothers love the band so much that they have memorized almost the entire Beatles catalog and perform an interactive show of their music around the country.
Matt converted Christine to a classic rock lover when they started dating, and now the music of The Beatles rules their lives. (We even named the dog Ringo.) We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of who we are and what we like. We want it to be fun and memorable for everyone. For us, that meant taking our love of music to a creepy height and making decor out of pictures of John, Paul, George and Ringo - instead of ourselves. (Please, don't tell Yoko we did that.) That crazy engagement picture you all received is even inspired by our song, "Two of Us" by The Beatles (of course). There will also be a few Beatles inspired surprises at the wedding, but you have to come to find out what they are!
I hope that answers your question Cathy. I'm a little surprised that you didn't already know the answer to that, but thanks for bringing it up for the sake of everyone else.
Sincerely,
Matthew and Christine
P.S. Even though we're diehard Beatles lovers, Stones fans are still welcome to come enjoy the festivities. Monkees fans are on their own though.
Why the Beatles theme?
That's an excellent question Cathy. I'm sure a few people are wondering why we've decided to dedicate our wedding to The Beatles. Matthew and his brothers were raised on The Beatles. The McGuigans' dad was a huge fan of the Fab Four and he instilled that love in his sons. Matthew and his brothers love the band so much that they have memorized almost the entire Beatles catalog and perform an interactive show of their music around the country.
Matt converted Christine to a classic rock lover when they started dating, and now the music of The Beatles rules their lives. (We even named the dog Ringo.) We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of who we are and what we like. We want it to be fun and memorable for everyone. For us, that meant taking our love of music to a creepy height and making decor out of pictures of John, Paul, George and Ringo - instead of ourselves. (Please, don't tell Yoko we did that.) That crazy engagement picture you all received is even inspired by our song, "Two of Us" by The Beatles (of course). There will also be a few Beatles inspired surprises at the wedding, but you have to come to find out what they are!
I hope that answers your question Cathy. I'm a little surprised that you didn't already know the answer to that, but thanks for bringing it up for the sake of everyone else.
Sincerely,
Matthew and Christine
P.S. Even though we're diehard Beatles lovers, Stones fans are still welcome to come enjoy the festivities. Monkees fans are on their own though.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
FYI About Comments
I enabled the comments feature on this blog to allow anyone to leave a comment without having to log in to anything. All you have to do is click on the comment counter at the bottom of the post and type type type your heart out. Currently all the comment counts are ZERO. Aww shucks...
FAQs
I know I didn't answer everyone's question with this post, and I know I probably answered some questions that no one actually asked me. So, if there's anything else you would like to know please email it to me at: cburright at gmail.com. (My email address is typed out like that because of phishing losers.) I'll probably respond with something funny to say and then post it here to show everyone how clever I am.
Kidding!
Not really!
And on to the questions:
Where should I stay?
In the event that no one in Omaha offered up their guest bedroom or couch to you (what jerks!), we suggest making a reservation at the Holiday Inn on 72nd and Center. We did not reserve a block of rooms, but this particular hotel is close to the wedding site and easy on the pocketbook.
Holiday Inn and Convention Center
3321 S. 72nd Street
Omaha, NE 68124
402-393-3950
Where is the reception?
It's in the same place as the wedding! In fact, you don't even have to get out of your seat to go from the ceremony to the reception. The party comes to you!
What should I wear?
Well, the wedding and reception are in a tent, so you'll be outdoors in September, in Nebraska. That means it's either going to be 100 degrees outside or it's going to snow. (Maybe you should wear something casual-dress for warm weather and leave a parka in the car just in case?) Go ahead and skip the formal, just come as yourself. And if "yourself" happens to be daisy dukes and an NFL jersey, well that's just fine with us.
What weather can we expect?
Again, sweltering heat or snow are both options you might want to consider. In all actuality though, it will probably be quite warm during the day and a little cooler at night. But that's not a guarantee. Nebraska is known for wacky temperatures so just check out the morning's forecast when you get here. Pack a light jacket if you're coming from out of town and you should be good.
What's for dinner?
The wedding starts at 6:00, dinner might not be until 6:30 or 6:45 just to let you know. You will be fed though, don't you worry about that. Vegetarian options will be served. (Vegetarians still eat yak meat, right?) Don't forget to save room for desert.
Are you two registered somewhere?
We would never expect anyone to bring us a gift. We're just thrilled that you're going to come celebrate with us. However, we went ahead an assumed that everyone would still want to shower us with expensive presents and we registered at Target.
Where are you going on your honeymoon?
Why? Do you want to come too? We're going to San Francisco! We went there in February for a couple of days and fell in love with the city. It was warm and sunny, full of museums and record stores, and had good food to eat on every corner. It was Mecca for us.
Can I request you play a certain song at the reception?
No way! Who do you think you are???
I'm kidding!!! Will your hubby only dance to Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts"? Well, that's totally weird but we'll still play it for you. Just let us know if there's something you want to hear. This is going to be an iPod wedding so email your song request ahead of time so we can not-illegally-but-maybe-kind-of-illegally download it. (send to: cburright at gmail.com) The only song that we will veto is "The Chicken Dance" for obvious reasons.
Is Ringo going to be there?
Sadly, no. Ringo will be sitting this one out. That's too bad because he already got himself a tux...
Kidding!
Not really!
And on to the questions:
Where should I stay?
In the event that no one in Omaha offered up their guest bedroom or couch to you (what jerks!), we suggest making a reservation at the Holiday Inn on 72nd and Center. We did not reserve a block of rooms, but this particular hotel is close to the wedding site and easy on the pocketbook.
Holiday Inn and Convention Center
3321 S. 72nd Street
Omaha, NE 68124
402-393-3950
Where is the reception?
It's in the same place as the wedding! In fact, you don't even have to get out of your seat to go from the ceremony to the reception. The party comes to you!
What should I wear?
Well, the wedding and reception are in a tent, so you'll be outdoors in September, in Nebraska. That means it's either going to be 100 degrees outside or it's going to snow. (Maybe you should wear something casual-dress for warm weather and leave a parka in the car just in case?) Go ahead and skip the formal, just come as yourself. And if "yourself" happens to be daisy dukes and an NFL jersey, well that's just fine with us.
What weather can we expect?
Again, sweltering heat or snow are both options you might want to consider. In all actuality though, it will probably be quite warm during the day and a little cooler at night. But that's not a guarantee. Nebraska is known for wacky temperatures so just check out the morning's forecast when you get here. Pack a light jacket if you're coming from out of town and you should be good.
What's for dinner?
The wedding starts at 6:00, dinner might not be until 6:30 or 6:45 just to let you know. You will be fed though, don't you worry about that. Vegetarian options will be served. (Vegetarians still eat yak meat, right?) Don't forget to save room for desert.
Are you two registered somewhere?
We would never expect anyone to bring us a gift. We're just thrilled that you're going to come celebrate with us. However, we went ahead an assumed that everyone would still want to shower us with expensive presents and we registered at Target.
Where are you going on your honeymoon?
Why? Do you want to come too? We're going to San Francisco! We went there in February for a couple of days and fell in love with the city. It was warm and sunny, full of museums and record stores, and had good food to eat on every corner. It was Mecca for us.
Can I request you play a certain song at the reception?
No way! Who do you think you are???
I'm kidding!!! Will your hubby only dance to Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts"? Well, that's totally weird but we'll still play it for you. Just let us know if there's something you want to hear. This is going to be an iPod wedding so email your song request ahead of time so we can not-illegally-but-maybe-kind-of-illegally download it. (send to: cburright at gmail.com) The only song that we will veto is "The Chicken Dance" for obvious reasons.
Is Ringo going to be there?
Sadly, no. Ringo will be sitting this one out. That's too bad because he already got himself a tux...
Family Fun Night! Right? Right guys??
Invitations are done! Mom, Pam and Cathy came over last night to help stuff envelopes. Dad came over too, but he came to take a look at our broken garage door - not to do wedding related chores. (In case you're wondering, the garage needs a new cable.) Surprisingly, only one envelope was ruined by me dropping pizza on it. I was expecting much worse from myself.
The invites are in a box ready to be dropped off at the post office today. I was going to put them in the out-going mail bin at work but that's no fun.
We also tackled the job of putting together the wedding favors. Production was delayed for a little while when we realized that the bags I bought to put the favors in were too small. We made an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby and then everything was back on track. The original bags were way cuter and I still want to find a use for them, so if anyone has any suggestions as to a fun way to use 200 clear plastic treat bags please let me know. As an added bonus, the pile of supplies for the favors is much smaller now. Looks like Joe won't have to sleep on top of a pile of Folger's boxes when he stays in the guest room.
The favors turned out to be absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, my entire ribbon stash got cleaned out. We probably used twelve spools of ribbon. I've been hoarding polka dot ribbons for months with the intention of using them for the wedding, but all the while secretly hoping that I wouldn't have to use them and I could keep them. I have a problem with wanting to buy craft supplies and then not wanting to use them once I have them. (I like to keep things feeling new so I hate to open the packages.) Every time Mom would get to the end of the spool I'd tell her, "I'll go see if I can find another roll... But this is absolutely it this time! I don't have ANY more!" I think I said that at least seven times. I kept pulling more out of the closet, out of the basement, out of the office...
I did eventually really run out of ribbon. Well, that's not entirely true. But we ran out of coffee bags so it didn't matter anyways. I need to work on my division skills because I ended up buying cases of supplies that totaled: 126 bags of coffee, 188 pairs of coffee creamer and 200 bags. I never claimed to be good at math.
Check out how great those look! The sacrifice of my ribbon collection was well worth it. And now I have an excuse to replenish my cache with a trip to the fabric store!
The invites are in a box ready to be dropped off at the post office today. I was going to put them in the out-going mail bin at work but that's no fun.
We also tackled the job of putting together the wedding favors. Production was delayed for a little while when we realized that the bags I bought to put the favors in were too small. We made an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby and then everything was back on track. The original bags were way cuter and I still want to find a use for them, so if anyone has any suggestions as to a fun way to use 200 clear plastic treat bags please let me know. As an added bonus, the pile of supplies for the favors is much smaller now. Looks like Joe won't have to sleep on top of a pile of Folger's boxes when he stays in the guest room.
The favors turned out to be absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, my entire ribbon stash got cleaned out. We probably used twelve spools of ribbon. I've been hoarding polka dot ribbons for months with the intention of using them for the wedding, but all the while secretly hoping that I wouldn't have to use them and I could keep them. I have a problem with wanting to buy craft supplies and then not wanting to use them once I have them. (I like to keep things feeling new so I hate to open the packages.) Every time Mom would get to the end of the spool I'd tell her, "I'll go see if I can find another roll... But this is absolutely it this time! I don't have ANY more!" I think I said that at least seven times. I kept pulling more out of the closet, out of the basement, out of the office...
I did eventually really run out of ribbon. Well, that's not entirely true. But we ran out of coffee bags so it didn't matter anyways. I need to work on my division skills because I ended up buying cases of supplies that totaled: 126 bags of coffee, 188 pairs of coffee creamer and 200 bags. I never claimed to be good at math.
Check out how great those look! The sacrifice of my ribbon collection was well worth it. And now I have an excuse to replenish my cache with a trip to the fabric store!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
My New Partner in Crime
Jeff informed me that he has hydrangea bushes behind his house! Umm, hello Jeffrey! Why didn't you tell me this earlier??? He agreed to pluck and dry his beautiful flowers in sacrifice of my wedding. (It was actually his idea! No pleading was involved!) So, after he farms two months worth of them we're going to make a topiary for the wedding!
Someone new to feed my wedding craft addiction! Yay!
Someone new to feed my wedding craft addiction! Yay!
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