We were so happy to celebrate our recent engagement with our friends and family on November 7, 2009.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Engagement Party
We were so happy to celebrate our recent engagement with our friends and family on November 7, 2009.
Dress Shopping
Kristen, her mom, and her maid of honor Alexis braved the stores to go shopping for a dress, and after over 25 dresses and three days of searching, they found the one!
Our Wedding Party
Our wedding party is the bomb.com. They're great: it's an eclectic mix of our friends and family from different parts of our lives, blended together to help us celebrate our happy day.
Flower girl:
Chloe: Chloe is full of "no, no" and "more my dogs!" and will be the cutest flower girl ever to walk down the isle at our wedding. She is James' Cousin's daugher, and we can't wait to have her as part of our wedding.
Our special friends: Candle lighters and readers:
Elaine: Elaine and Kristen became friends long, long, ago. Between learning to scuba drive, learning to drive, and learning to navigate the high school hallways, Elaine has been one of Kristen's long time best friends and she's so happy to have Elaine as a special part of our ceremony.
Roni: Dating back to the days of high school, Roni has been a great friend to Kristen and a light in her life. Kristen is thankful to have Roni as a friend and as part of our special day.
The Bridesmaids:
Alexis: the maid of honor. Kristen and Alexis met during undergrad before school started. Initially, they were a little wary of each other, but quickly became very close. They were roommates for three years during college, until Alexis got married during their senior year, in which Kristen was a bridesmaid.
Kanani: Kristen and Alexis were looking for a suitemate to share their dorm with, and Kanani happened to need suitemates too! The three became suitemates and helped lead different bible studies during college.
Shannon: During junior year of college, the three roommates needed a fourth, and Shannon joined the bunch. Kristen, Alexis, Shannon and Kanani became the girls of A-4, and Shannon and Kristen became partners in crime. Kristen will also be Shannon's maid of honor in Shannon's wedding in November.
Becky: Kristen and Becky became good friends in high school, and both moved down to LA after graduation. The two became inseparable the first year they lived down there, as they explored LA, Hollywood, and got used to Southern California living until she moved back up to Northern California and got married, where Kristen served as one of her bridesmaids.
Siena: Siena and Kristen became friends freshman year of high school and were in the choirs together. Like sisters, Siena lived with Kristen's family on and off, and Kristen was her maid of honor last March.
The Groomsmen:
Brian: The best man
Blake:
Ryan:
Erik:
Kyle:
Beau:
Flower girl:
Chloe: Chloe is full of "no, no" and "more my dogs!" and will be the cutest flower girl ever to walk down the isle at our wedding. She is James' Cousin's daugher, and we can't wait to have her as part of our wedding.
Our special friends: Candle lighters and readers:
Elaine: Elaine and Kristen became friends long, long, ago. Between learning to scuba drive, learning to drive, and learning to navigate the high school hallways, Elaine has been one of Kristen's long time best friends and she's so happy to have Elaine as a special part of our ceremony.
Roni: Dating back to the days of high school, Roni has been a great friend to Kristen and a light in her life. Kristen is thankful to have Roni as a friend and as part of our special day.
The Bridesmaids:
Alexis: the maid of honor. Kristen and Alexis met during undergrad before school started. Initially, they were a little wary of each other, but quickly became very close. They were roommates for three years during college, until Alexis got married during their senior year, in which Kristen was a bridesmaid.
Kanani: Kristen and Alexis were looking for a suitemate to share their dorm with, and Kanani happened to need suitemates too! The three became suitemates and helped lead different bible studies during college.
Shannon: During junior year of college, the three roommates needed a fourth, and Shannon joined the bunch. Kristen, Alexis, Shannon and Kanani became the girls of A-4, and Shannon and Kristen became partners in crime. Kristen will also be Shannon's maid of honor in Shannon's wedding in November.
Becky: Kristen and Becky became good friends in high school, and both moved down to LA after graduation. The two became inseparable the first year they lived down there, as they explored LA, Hollywood, and got used to Southern California living until she moved back up to Northern California and got married, where Kristen served as one of her bridesmaids.
Siena: Siena and Kristen became friends freshman year of high school and were in the choirs together. Like sisters, Siena lived with Kristen's family on and off, and Kristen was her maid of honor last March.
The Groomsmen:
Brian: The best man
Blake:
Ryan:
Erik:
Kyle:
Beau:
Reception Sites
Searching for the perfect reception site was HARD. Indoors? Outdoors? Nearby? Far away? Too big? Too small? Catered? Not catered?
We had NO idea how hard it would be. But it sure was fun looking around! We fell in love with a couple of places, but the place we picked is perfect for us. We decided on having an intimate, closed reception for our close family and friends and are very excited for it.
Plus, it overlooks most of the county, and there will be a spectacular fireworks display!
We had NO idea how hard it would be. But it sure was fun looking around! We fell in love with a couple of places, but the place we picked is perfect for us. We decided on having an intimate, closed reception for our close family and friends and are very excited for it.
Plus, it overlooks most of the county, and there will be a spectacular fireworks display!
Ceremony Sites
After debating on whether to get married in Kristen's hometown or in the area we currently live in, we decided to get married down south. It would be too hard for certain family members to travel, and those people were important to us to be there. Also, since both of us are in school, it made it a little easier planning when things are close by.
James and Kristen are part of the Disciples of Christ (DOC) and United Church of Christ (UCC) Churches. We've been attending a DOC church for about two years now (three for James). We had tossed around the idea of getting married outside, but with our date being in July, we opted for indoors, since neither of us like the heat.
We decided on July 17th because it was smack dab in the middle of summer. The weekend before was Shannon's birthday (we promised we wouldn't get married on her birthday) and the weekend after was James' mom's birthday, so we figured July 17th was perfect for us, because it was just enough time after school got out to have time to relax and plan, and just enough time after to be able to enjoy being newlyweds before school started again.
In the end, the best choice for us was getting married at our church - it's perfect: it's pretty, woodsy, right around the corner from our house, and just the right size.
So we'll have an open ceremony here, at our church!
James and Kristen are part of the Disciples of Christ (DOC) and United Church of Christ (UCC) Churches. We've been attending a DOC church for about two years now (three for James). We had tossed around the idea of getting married outside, but with our date being in July, we opted for indoors, since neither of us like the heat.
We decided on July 17th because it was smack dab in the middle of summer. The weekend before was Shannon's birthday (we promised we wouldn't get married on her birthday) and the weekend after was James' mom's birthday, so we figured July 17th was perfect for us, because it was just enough time after school got out to have time to relax and plan, and just enough time after to be able to enjoy being newlyweds before school started again.
In the end, the best choice for us was getting married at our church - it's perfect: it's pretty, woodsy, right around the corner from our house, and just the right size.
So we'll have an open ceremony here, at our church!
Engaged!
On August 4, 2009, James proposed to Kristen!
We were on vacation in Montana, when James totally surprised Kristen.
Here's his version of the story:
At the beginning of our trip to Montana in August 2009 I spent a lot of time showing Kristen around the beautiful city of Helena. The first full day there we took the Tour Train, which is a trolly that tours Helena's capitol complex, historic mansion district, and downtown. I also drove her around myself showing her all the Queen City of the Rockies has to offer.
The next day, I knew I was going to propose because it was our 14 month anniversary. We started out by going downtown and then walking around the Cathedral. Kristen thought it was another day of being shown around and finding things to do. Then I suggested we go out to see Clancy which is a small town with abundant mountain scenery about 20 minutes south of Helena. After turning onto a dirt road I assured Kristen I knew where I was going and that I used to come here all the time to go fishing. We parked on a bridge over the Prickly Pear Creek and I suggested we go over the fence and walk around. Kristen asked me if that was trespassing and I said something about it being Montana and also that Montana law allows recreation access to water. Kristen and I take a lot of photos with the two of us so I suggested we put the camera on the fence post and use the timer. While she was getting in place I kept telling her to scoot back so she did not realize what I was doing. I had the ring hidden in a box of granola bars I knew she didn't like so she wouldn't look in there. I got the ring out of the box in my backpack, pushed the button, and ran. While I was getting on one knee she still didn't quite know what was happening and the camera captured the look on her face just as she started to realize what I had done.
I said with shakey hands, "Kristen (last name), I love you so much, will you marry me?" And she exclaimed, "absolutely yes!" The ring fit perfectly on her finger and then we kissed and hugged and I explained that the big diamond is from her grandmother's wedding ring and I had it put in a new setting (Kristen's parents had given me her Grandma's ring when I asked for their permission to marry her). We took plenty of pictures and stayed for a while in the meadow taking in the beautiful wild flowers and the mountain scenery.
Afterwards we had the afternoon to ourselves and went on the Gates of the Mountains boat tour before calling any friends or family. That night the Larsens who we stayed with treated us to a wonderful dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza. Then we called our families to tell them about our exciting day.
We were on vacation in Montana, when James totally surprised Kristen.
Here's his version of the story:
At the beginning of our trip to Montana in August 2009 I spent a lot of time showing Kristen around the beautiful city of Helena. The first full day there we took the Tour Train, which is a trolly that tours Helena's capitol complex, historic mansion district, and downtown. I also drove her around myself showing her all the Queen City of the Rockies has to offer.
The next day, I knew I was going to propose because it was our 14 month anniversary. We started out by going downtown and then walking around the Cathedral. Kristen thought it was another day of being shown around and finding things to do. Then I suggested we go out to see Clancy which is a small town with abundant mountain scenery about 20 minutes south of Helena. After turning onto a dirt road I assured Kristen I knew where I was going and that I used to come here all the time to go fishing. We parked on a bridge over the Prickly Pear Creek and I suggested we go over the fence and walk around. Kristen asked me if that was trespassing and I said something about it being Montana and also that Montana law allows recreation access to water. Kristen and I take a lot of photos with the two of us so I suggested we put the camera on the fence post and use the timer. While she was getting in place I kept telling her to scoot back so she did not realize what I was doing. I had the ring hidden in a box of granola bars I knew she didn't like so she wouldn't look in there. I got the ring out of the box in my backpack, pushed the button, and ran. While I was getting on one knee she still didn't quite know what was happening and the camera captured the look on her face just as she started to realize what I had done.
I said with shakey hands, "Kristen (last name), I love you so much, will you marry me?" And she exclaimed, "absolutely yes!" The ring fit perfectly on her finger and then we kissed and hugged and I explained that the big diamond is from her grandmother's wedding ring and I had it put in a new setting (Kristen's parents had given me her Grandma's ring when I asked for their permission to marry her). We took plenty of pictures and stayed for a while in the meadow taking in the beautiful wild flowers and the mountain scenery.
Afterwards we had the afternoon to ourselves and went on the Gates of the Mountains boat tour before calling any friends or family. That night the Larsens who we stayed with treated us to a wonderful dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza. Then we called our families to tell them about our exciting day.
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