The Devil is in the Details

Details, Schmetails. The nit-picky stuff is the worst. By details, I mean clothes. I hate clothes. I hate clothes shopping. I hate trying to find stuff that looks right on my body type and with my skin tone. Now, try doing that for 4 people, none of whom are even in the same size range.

I have my dress. RJ has his outfit. The "maids" are going to wear black dresses of their choosing (minus micro-mini skirts). However, the men need some sort of comfy, not-too-formal shirt. Try finding that for a 2X Long guy, a L to XL tall guy, an average sized male, and a broad-shouldered woman. Yea. And they all need to be about the same color & style. Right.

Oh well. At least I have some other details worked out. If you are checking this blog, take a look to the right, and you will see a link to Details for Wedding Go-ers. This will give you the run down of times, places, directions, etc. We will add more later as things come up. But for now, this should give you a general idea of the run down. I highly recommend making a weekend out of it; the area is a treasure-trove of fun and games!

Decisions, Decisions...

So, after 3 days in Wisconsin, we have finally settled on a ceremony site: Amnicon Falls State Park, just East of Superior, WI. It is very easy to get to, and gorgeous for this kind of event. We looked at a number of sites: Pattison State Park (harder for out-of-towners to find and a little far from the reception site), Moon Lake (not pretty enough); Memorial Park (not private enough); Little Sand Bay National Lakeshore (not protected enough if the weather is less than amenable); and Dalrymple Park (a logistic nightmare for parking)--to name a few. Amnicon was the winner, hands down, despite being 40 minutes from Ashland.

I also have pretty much decided on a dress. Yes, I will actually be wearing a dress (for those of you who know me well, I can see your mouth gaping open in shock). Get over it. I have actually worn one before, you know...

Food has been decided, hotel room-blocks reserved, balloon decorations chosen, and many other things determined. We will be sending details via snail mail. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the Save the Date cards. I think you will get a handle on how cycling oriented this will be, once you see them...

Bridezilla I am NOT

So, I have noticed this trend among people who work with women who are getting married: they are freakishly placating. I can not even begin to tell you how many times I have heard "We can work with you to get what you want; this is your day, after all."

OK...wait a minute...isn't there at least one other person involved in this wedding?? I think his name is RJ. And he is the groom. So...is this not his day, too? It seems that these people are referring to "your" in the singular, not "your" in the plural. This leaves me to wonder what kind of woman these poor people are used to dealing with. I can take a guess:

The woman who is working 18 months in advance towards the wedding. She is looking for the perfect dress, with a long train and long veil ; her hair will be coiffed within an inch of its life, and she will spend two hours on her makeup to make her look as though she spent but two minutes on it, because it is so "natural." She will be walking down the aisle, 250 pair of eyes on her perfection, and there will be a perfect bower of flowers, filling the air with the perfume of a brothel. The reception hall will be decorated within an inch of its life, and a cake the size of a small car will take center stage. The soft music of a Baroque trio will fill the air during dinner, to be replaced by the upbeat rhythms of a professional DJ for the dance. She will throw her bouquet (but not the bouquet, because she wants to keep that to remember for all time, so there will be a back up for all the single ladies); the groom will toss the garter (but not the garter, because she wants to keep it to remember for all time, so this is just the spare). A professional photographer will have been posing people like voodoo dolls all day, and the videographer will be interviewing like Barbara Walters.

And then, when it is all over, and people have gone home drunk, saying how beautiful it was (but that is all they will say, because people will ask what was so lovely about it, and the answer will be a pause, followed by: "Well, it was just really pretty and the food was great."; and that will be all there is to say, because there really was nothing truly memorable about it to distinguish it from the other, similar weddings that have taken place all over town), the only thing that will be left to remember it all will be a bunch of wilting flowers, some cake in the freezer, a limp garter, and a $20,000 + debt to be paid off. See where I am going people...?

I mean, if that is what a person really wants, go for it. At the same time, that doesn't mean that, while planning, she has to put the people with whom she is working through half of Dante's levels of hell. So don't you all worry, both those of you who are helping me out, and honored guests. If you know me at all, you know this is so not the route this wedding will be going. This wedding...our wedding...not "my" wedding...is going to be about fun, celebration, and a good time for all. Promise.

RJ (top) and I (bottom), with each others' alter-ego (J/K)

A (not too terribly) long time ago...

...in a galaxy (not so very) far away, Andrea and RJ met through 6 degrees of separation (well, three, actually). Almost 5 years later, they started talking about this whole marriage thing. It turns out sooner just seems to work better than later. Everything is falling serendipitously into place: rings, ceremony site, reception venue, Wisport racing schedule. So, with no futher ado, and not a whole hell of a lot of formality, our intrepid lovebirds have decided to tie the proverbial knot.

Welcome to RJ & Andrea's Cycling Wedding blog. Here you wil find all the information you need: date, times, directions, etc. Of course, this will not take the place of the good old fashioned paper trail or snail mail. However, we figured we could try to step into the 21st century of wedding planning. Here's hoping we don't trip over it...

First order of business: The Rings (there can be only one...uh...ok...two). We are getting them from a very awesome couple who live far out in remote BC, Canada (9 hours north-ish of Vancouver). RJ can't have metal (Mr. Electrician), so though I will have a metal engagement ring, our bands are going to be wood. Check out this link! Beautiful work, and they are fabulous people to work with! http://www.touchwoodrings.com/