Moran-Gagnon Wedding at nimlas.org

Pre-Cana April 4, 2008

So this past weekend Fred and I went to Yarmouth NS for Pre-Cana (or pre-marriage prep as the Sister running the program called it in her emails).  It was supposed to be two days, a few hours of introduction Friday night and then a full day on Saturday.

Calling in advance I secured the last room available in Yarmouth earlier in the week.  It seems that there was a Hockey Tournament, a Volley Ball Tournament and a Bridge Tournament in town that weekend.

Driving down we hit some snow and sleet, it was manageable but got a bit nasty 20 minutes outside Yarmouth, we passed a truck that went right off the road and into a highway sign.   It was pretty sick looking.  We got our room, ate supper rather quickly only to find that the Friday night portion was canceled due to weather.  That was slightly irritating.  Granted Fred wanted to go early into the room it was being hosted before supper to check things out, I said we would just find an empty room.  I was wrong, should have checked.  Oh well.

So we had a night of a rushed meal, went to the movies and just relaxed the rest of the night.

Saturday morning we went in, were the first to arrive and discovered that not only were we on the older curve of the couples there, but that there were about 30 other couples there.

It wasn’t bad, we covered a lot of things Fred and I have either handled or dealt with already.  There were some things we hadn’t done, like the talk from the lawyer.  Our sponsor couples were pretty neat, a little emotional but good.  It wasn’t a bad experience, it wasn’t a great experience, but it was nice.  As Fred says, it was a lot like his PLQ, something to go through, covering topics mostly you have covered before, if you are committed to it you will walk away with something positive from the experience and just one more thing to tick off the list as you prepare for the next step.  Which is good.

No, we did not get excommunicated, as Fred kept joking about beforehand.  It was much more lay style then religious.  Yes it is a catholic thing, yeah we met with a priest while there, yeah there was a little bit of scripture being read, but on the most part, church was pretty much missing.

There seemed to be a big focus on blending families (second marriages, kids from previous relationships) and mixed faith marriages, and this surprised me a little, but made me happy to see.

Next up, invitations, getting addresses has not been easy, and I know, this should have been done already.

Oh, and another note, Fred and I took out a line of credit to pay for the wedding so I can actually make purchases which will help move things along.  So once the credit cards are in and activated things will move along there.

Originally Posted in my LJ on February 01, 2008 February 18, 2008

• Honeymoon – booked! we will be staying at vacation village in the berkshires for the week after the wedding.  It is swank and laid back all at the same time.  It is a mini honeymoon since Fred and I plan to still go to europe in March but getting to europe in the summer and right after the wedding seems a bit much to us, and not ideal.  (the resort is our wedding present from my sister and BiL,it is a time share thing so we could pick out from anywhere, it is really cool)
• Church – booked! That was done already, Our Lady of Grace RC Church, Babylon NY, 2pm July 26 2008
• Pre Cana – booked! March 28-29 in Yarmoth NS, better pre-cana dates and it is over 200 bucks cheaper then doing it in NY, so odd that.
• Reception – close to settled found a place in Babylon, the Ancient Order of Hibernians they can accommodate the right amount of ppeople, the price is right and they have a caterer who is in the right price too.  All that needs to be done is for me to one see the place which I am going to do next week when I go down to NY and two check out the caterer to make sure the food is not yuck.
• Flowers – need to check out the shop when I go to NY next week
• Cake – Need to stop in the ice cream store and discuss that again when I am in NY next week
• Music – We are going with an iPod and speakers, Fred says he is going to ask our friend Greg who DJs to help create some playlists, also ask Greg to MC the wedding cause well, when doesn’t Greg want an opportunity to have a mic?
• Dress – Not much farther on this but I have an idea what I want and who can do it for me.  Butsy and I will go to the shop next week when I am in NY
• Transportation – No limos or BS like that, will ask Butsy to cart me around on the day and bring us back to the hotel after the reception
• Hotel – Got a good price at the Hampton inn, it is a nice place and a good location.  Sadly there are no real Hotels in Babylon or close by, but it is better to drive a few extra miles to stay someplace nice then to chance it at one of those bad and scary motels.  I will try and see what we can get for a group discount but I would need to know who and how many are actually coming first I think.
• Photography – This has been set for years.  Fr. Vin (yes the priest who will be marrying us) will be the official photographer, which is good because a pet peeve of mine is flashbulbs going off during a mass and photographers getting in the way and being distracting.  Also it is nice having someone who knows who my family is so I don’t have to deal with what my sister Brigid did who kept trying to kick my brother and his kids out of “family only” pictures *eye roll* and tried to force my parents to take a picture together and looking into each other’s eyes *vomit* not good when your folks are not only divorced but one has a new wife now.
• Invitations – need to get them ordered, but I have the wording written and know what I want.  I am still gathering addresses and such, my mother nor his mother has gotten me anything, which is kinda annoying because I am not sure how else to get these contacts.
• Hair/Make-up- On the morning of I am going to Anthony at Salon EOS, I need to make an appointment for it but I don’t think it will be a problem.  I need to find out who else wants to get their hair done there too.  I know my mother will, his mother will too, but then Butsy might want to also and his sister might too (but I can’t ask yet because his sister is still all about not coming to the wedding because her baby will be too young to travel… at at least six months… OK)  and my make up I will ask my sister Brigid to do.
• Rehearsal Dinner – planned! Thank you peapod.  I will be having everything delivered to my mother’s house that day, it will be all done and made for us, after the rehearsal we go back to momacita’s and chow down.  Looking like there will be 30-36 people there. (26 of which are my immediate family & kids)
  
• Centerpieces/Favors – planned! got everything I need, just have to place the order, I don’t quite have access to all the funds yet  so I can’t order to quick.
• Rings – I called the place we found that has the ring we like, found out that yes they can get them made special for us in white gold, so w00t, it is slightly more then I originally planned but not too bad.
• Shower – well since I don’t have bridesmaids or a maid of honor this is a odd thing.  My baby sister Butsy I have dubbed the “it girl” to help me with planning, but not the hard stuff (Hannah has done all of that, and quite the exceptional job at that) but the fun stuff like the dress and things like that.  I think I said the shower but well she hasn’t said anything about it and it is odd.  Does a person throw herself a shower?  That isn’t how it is done, but if you don’t have a bridal party… then what?
• Funds – Fred and I are taking out a line of credit to pay for this, we need to get that into place before we start putting deposits on things… tricky tricky.  No, my parents are not paying for this.  No his folks are not paying for this.  My wedding is going to be completely tame in comparison to what most people think of a wedding, in NY it is going to look a little odd.  It is what I want, regardless of the price this is what I want, something laid back and comfortable, a party, not a “wedding reception”  If I won the lotto or somehow got a nice payload of money tomorrow I really wouldn’t change much.  I might change one or two things, but basically the feel and everything else would be done the same way.  I might hire someone to do all this for me, but the details would remain the same.  This is not tame in comparison to what I have seen where Fred is from (well the price at least) but it will be on the “lower” end.  I am sure his parents would scoff at how much we are paying for some of the stuff but honestly there is no other option.  NY is just plain more expensive.  I am 30, Fred is almost 30, our parents SHOULD not be paying for this.  I always said if I couldn’t afford to pay for my own wedding then I wouldn’t do it.  If I coundn’t afford, or my tastes for a wedding was beyond my means then clearly I had my priorities switched around.  So I am pleased that not only is this going to be something we could afford but that it is something WE both want.  🙂
• Gift Registry – You can find it HERE I/We have only put a few items on there so far, mostly knives, but I will try and add to it soon.  I am trying to think of what to register for.  I mean the whole place setting and silver and gravyboat thing just kinda makes me wonder.  As for pots and cooking items, other then some really good knives and a mix master between the two of us Fred and I have a lot.  Perhaps I should put a vacuum cleaner on there, we use a small shop vac which is awesome but not meant for normal household cleaning.. more for industrial right?(yeah see me rambling here, this is what I do when I look at the registry)