New and Improved Wedding Website

Check out our new wedding website where you can find all the details for the wedding!!
http://www.chick-lenoirwedding.com/

Happy Holidays!!

We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We are disappointed that we won't get to see everyone this Christmas -- splitting time between two families is really hard -- but we're working out a "rotation" to try and make it somewhat fair going forward. And... we're hoping once we have a bigger house (and possibly have some kids), maybe we can get both families to come to us, but it looks like that might be at least 2 years off, so for now, we'll have to make the best of the situation. We know that it's not perfect, but we appreciate our families' flexibility.

On a different note, I've been traveling quite a bit for work and was able to take a few pictures and thought I'd share them. The picture above was taken in NYC. I was there for a few days last week and also had a chance to spend some time with 2 of my favorite people (other than Ryan, of course) - Becky & Jordan. They took me to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and it was amazing!!

The week before that, I spent 2 days in Colorado and then a day in sunny California. The day I arrived in Colorado, it started snowing and didn't stop until the next day, and it was absolutely gorgeous but absolutely FREEZING! When we left for work, it was 9 degrees! I have included a few of the pictures from Colorado below. The first is the view from the office we were sitting in and the second is a picture that was taken outside the office when we got back from lunch.

From Colorado, I headed to sunny California for a day, where it was about 65 degrees and beautiful! I have included a picture below that I took while sitting in my rental car on my way to work in the morning. The roadsign in the middle of the picture is Huntington Blvd which is Historic Route 66. Although it was tiring, all in all, it was a nice trip, but I was happy to be home when it was over!

Meeting with the Deacon

Last weekend, we had a meeting with Deacon Bauerschmidt from Corpus Christi. We attended mass first so we can start becoming more familiar with the church. The mass was nice and spending some time in the church helped us to start thinking about our ceremony. I really wish I could have taken some pictures of the inside of the church so I could share how beautiful it is, but unfortunately, I think that would have been inappropriate to do during mass. After mass, we met with the deacon to get to know him (since we actually met with the priest the first time). During this meeting we found out that unless someone books a last-minute wedding, we might end up being the first wedding ceremony that he has performed, and we have every reason to believe that we'll have a perfect ceremony! After our short introductions, Ryan and I were split up so he could ask us the required questions to determine if we were both eligible for marriage. This was a little nerve-wracking for me because I had no idea what to expect, but we passed with flying colors and it looks like they are going to let us get married! The deacon also gave us a book that will help us plan the ceremony so we can discuss it at the next meeting which is scheduled for early August.

A Year of Being Engaged...

It was this day last year that Ryan was down on one knee asking me to marry him, and I was saying "Shut Up! Really? Are you sure??" I can hardly believe that we've been engaged for a year. The time has already gone by so fast and before we know it, we'll be walking down the aisle! What a great year it has been - it's so much fun to be engaged and wear a sparkling diamond! Our official wedding countdown clock tells me that we have 286 days to go! Pretty crazy!!

There really hasn't been too much wedding activity lately. We're meeting with the Deacon next Saturday to plan the ceremony. We have also sent in our registration for our Pre-Cana Marriage preparation classes that will take place in February. I have been getting a few questions about the hotel options so I thought I'd re-post the info for the hotels where we have a block of rooms.

Pier 5 Hotel http://www.harbormagic.com/Pier5/pier5_default.asp

Admiral Fell Inn http://www.harbormagic.com/AdmiralFell/admiral_fell_default.asp Brookshire Suites http://www.harbormagic.com/Brookshire/brookshire_default.asp

Rates are as follows:

Pier 5: 2 night minimum, $239/night;

Admiral Fell Inn: no minimum, $199/night;

Brookshire Suites: no minimum, $189/night, Breakfast is included
There is a free shuttle that runs between all 3 of these hotels. To make reservations, call 1-866-583-4162 and ask for the group rate for the Chick/LeNoir wedding.

Courtyard Baltimore Downtown/Inner Harbor, no minimum stay required, $199/night (see the link below to make reservations) - within walking distance (about 3-4 blocks from Pier 5)

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwidt-courtyard-baltimore-downtown-inner-harbor/?groupCode=CLWCLWA&app=resvlink

The following hotels are others in the area that are within walking distance of Pier 5, but we do not have a block of rooms (or a discounted rate):

Baltimore Marriott Waterfront: https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwiwf-baltimore-marriott-waterfront/

Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor: http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=GWJLLN0HYTSWQCSGBI12VCQ?ctyhocn=BWIIHGI

Homewood Suites by Hilton Baltimore: http://homewoodsuites1.hilton.com/en_US/hw/hotel/BALHWHW-Homewood-Suites-by-Hilton-Baltimore-Maryland/index.do?brand_id=HI&brand_directory=/en/hi/&xch=107758763,GWJLLN0HYTSWQCSGBI12VCQ

First Wedding Dance

Along with trying to convince Ryan to change his last name to Chick, I am also trying to convince him to do this for our first dance...

http://glumbert.com/media/weddingfirstdance
(Turn on your sound to get the full effect.)

A Happy Day...

Yesterday, Linda, Crystal and Becky came to Baltimore to go dress shopping with me. First, we made a stop at Pier 5 Hotel so that Crystal and Linda could see the reception space. Becky had already seen it, but of course she was a good sport and came to check it out too. After a quick lunch at Potbelly's in the Harbor, we headed to Francesca's Bridal in Parkville. I found Francesca's because they are in the same building as our photographer and videographer. We arrived right on time for our appointment and had a few minutes to kill while our salesperson (Jeri) finished up with another customer. We made ourselves comfortable and Becky and I started wandering around the salon to look at dresses. I found a dress that I liked and told Becky that I really wanted to try that one on. We met with Jeri and talked about the kind of dress I was looking for and my budget, and she started pulling dresses off the rack. Off we went to try them on, but the first dress I looked at with Becky was not included in the selections. I could not have been more nervous - it's not every day that I get to play dress-up with bridal gowns. Turns out as I was trying on the first gown, another bride grabbed the one that I liked so much and had it on for quite a long time. I tried on about 4 gowns, and each had aspects that I liked, but I had not found the ONE. As I was taking off the last gown, Becky came back to the dressing room with the gown that I was dying to try on. I tried it on, and it was THE ONE! When I walked out of the dressing room and looked in the mirrors, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. Jeri turned the lights down so there were little lights shining on the dress, and it was absolutely perfect. I was even more convinced that it was perfect when I saw and heard Linda, Crystal and Becky's reactions. Linda told me that the dress had been made for me, and then Becky says "Wendy, it's so beautiful, I want to marry you!" Before we knew it, we all were in tears. So... we bought it!!! I have a wedding dress!!! A big thank you to Linda, Crystal and Becky for giving up their Saturday to come dress shopping with me. I could not have done it without you all - It really meant the world to me to have you all there and I am really very lucky that you are a part of my life!!

If anyone knows someone who is looking for a wedding dress or bridemaid dresses, I highly recommend Francesca's Bridal. Our salesperson, Jeri, was amazing. She was wonderful! She really took the time to get to know me and understand what I liked and didn't like, and never once was she pushy. She also made a point to only show me dresses that fell below my budget. What a great experience!! 307 more days until I get to wear the dress!! I can't wait!!

A Sad Day....

For Wendy. We put our house on the market today. I can't believe we're actually doing it, but here goes. I've already cried a few times about the decision. Ryan, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited. Don't get me wrong... I'm excited about the prospect of a bigger house with a yard and a parking spot where drunk people don't graze my bumper when they try to pull out of their parking spot on the street, but I LOVE this house! It's so cute and it's our very first house together. What can I say, I get emotionally attached. I can't help it! At the very least, having the house on the market will be a true test to see how neat and clean we can keep everything - we even have to make our bed every day!! We have an awesome realtor, but if you know of anyone who wants to buy a cool house in Canton, send them our way!

On the wedding front, we booked the videographer this weekend. We decided to go with Perskie for this - should make the whole process of videos and photos that much smoother (we hope). We also found out that the rooms at the Courtyard Downtown are now available to be booked (since we're less than a year away). If you'd rather book a room online instead of calling Marriott, please let me know and I can send you the link. And.. more exciting news, the date is set for the first round of Dress Shopping -- November 17th! I can't wait!!

On a different note, we'll be doing the 1-mile walk for the Race for the Cure this weekend in honor of my brother-in-law's mother who would have celebrated her 60th birthday on Sunday. If you're interested in donating to the Susan G. Komen fund for our team (Team Betty Boop), click on the following link: https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=229427&lis=1&kntae229427=8BBA81FDA6FD418CB3992F8EACF652BA&supId=188821327