the wedding

On December 30, 2010, Bree and Chris will marry themselves and their families together in a small family ceremony on a beach in Panama City, Florida.  Presiding over the ceremony will be the Honorable Gloria Pipkin, who was Bree's legendary 6th grade English teacher and lifelong mentor. The best man will be the dashing Bradley Eide and the Maid of Honor will be the smashing Belle Dusseault.

There will be three wedding receptions with friends and extended family to follow throughout the upcoming year.  The first will be in Panama City in February; followed by Seattle-area in July, and in New York this fall. Please stay tuned for actual dates.

Bree is just so excited, she wanted me to say. I am too.

registries

We would like to stress that we do not expect gifts from family or friends, and for those friends who will be attending our Florida, Seattle, or New York wedding parties we've already gotten the best gift of all - your presence! However, we have also had requests for traditional registries, so we have signed up for a few different options.

Our honeymoon will be to the islands off of the coast of Brazil, to the place where I bought Bree's pendant (see "story of the rings part 1"), and we've been saving up for it. If you'd like to support any portion of this pilgrimage, check out: http://www.travelersjoy.com/crispnbreezy

We have also registered at Macy's and Bed, Bath, and Beyond for the rest of the things that we actually need:

www1.macys.com/registry/wedding/guest/?registryId=327086

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regGiftRegistry.asp?wrn=%2D1891371921&

the story of the rings (part 2)

There is a man who lives with his wife and four dogs in a gingerbread house in the Central District of Seattle who makes fine jewelery in his backyard yurt. Through the gate and through the house, we stepped into the yurt and took a spot on the floor. Amused by his personality and extensive record collection, we told him our story. A month later, we have a perfect replica of my great-grandmother's wedding ring made from gold and diamonds from the rings of our grandparents.  My band is also made of that admixture and gold from Bree's grandmother's wedding ring is in a band that curls around the inside of the ring. The goal was to wed our two families as well as ourselves and Joel Olsen was able to perform that feat in his yurt.