What to Wear to the Wedding

The big day is getting near! We've had many inquiries from our esteemed guests regarding proper attire. Don't forget, it's an outdoor wedding so you'll want to be comfortable. It's been fairly mild in Michigan lately with lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s. However, it could also get hot! Dress to dance and have fun!

Guys:
Business Casual, no tuxedos allowed, unless it looks like this.

Gals:
Be careful with heals. There will be a dance floor but you'll be walking in grass for much of the time.

Gift Registries

Now that you've all officially been invited to the wedding, you might be wondering where we are registered. If you want to give us something we will truly cherish, a donation to our honeymoon is the perfect gift (see below for honeymoon details). Checks travel well. However, if you are dying to give us something more tangible, there are a few items left on our registries.

Bed Bath and Beyond
Crate and Barrel
Lowes

Our Honeymoon Destination: South Africa!!!!

The results are in. By a close margin, guests have selected South Africa as our honeymoon destination. For those of you who want to give us a gift for our wedding, we are strongly recommending a donation to our honeymoon fund. As you may know, Amanda and I place a high value on travelling. We will think of you fondly as your gift will fund our whale watching excursion, African safari, and all of the other adventures we have planned. Our tentative itinerary, along with rough prices, are below.

*roundtrip plane tickets from Detroit to South Africa:

Departing: Detroit – Atlanta – Dakar – Cape Town

Returning: Johannesburg – Atlanta – Detroit: $1330.00 each

*Three night stay in Cape Town at the Daddy Long Legs boutique art hotel. $240.00.

*a night at Madame Zingara sit-down dinner show in Cape Town: $50.00

*A night of jazz and dining at the Marimba in Cape Town: $25.00

*A hike to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town: free.

*Mountain biking down table mountain for two $160.00

* a day of relaxation at the Clifton Beaches: $20.00

*one week Hertz Rental Car, $85.00

* A four day driving tour through the Route 62 wine country and Garden Route, east of Cape Town. $350.00

* Cage dive for two to view great white sharks. $320.oo

* Three nights stay at the Arabella Western cape Hotel and Spa in Hermanus. Thanks Millie and Leighton Sr.!

* Whale Watching Kayak tour for two $75.00

* A day at the Spa for two: $150.00

* Plane Tickets from Cape Town to Johannesburg: $85.00 each

* One week car rental from Johannesburg: $230.00

*Three nights at the Arathusacamp in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. $650.00 each

*Four nights at Kruger National Park with self-guided tours and bush walking for two: $490.00

Your gift to our honeymoon fund will be greatly appreciated on our wedding day.

Travel Logistics

Wether you're coming from California, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington, New York, Arizona, or any place in between, Amanda and I are incredibly grateful that all of you will be making the journey to Michigan this summer to celebrate with us. Preparations are well under way to make this a truly memorable weekend for all of you. In the meantime, here's some logistical information to help with your plans.


The Wedding will begin at 6PM on Saturday, August 1st. In addition, we'll be having a backyard breakfast on Sunday, August 2nd from 10AM-Noon for all of our out-of town guests.

1. Plan to fly into Detroit Metro/Wayne County Aiport (DTW).

2. The airport is about 45 minutes from Ann Arbor.

3. For those of you renting a car, rates average $45-$65 per day at the airport.

4. For those of you not renting a car, here are your best transportation options

Airport-Hotel-Airport:
Super Shuttle (a.k.a. "Metro Eddie")
734-507-9220 http://www.annarborshuttle.com/
$40 for a single person, $50 for 2-5 people

Metro Car Taxi
1-866-DTW-TAXI
$55-$65 for 1-4 people



Hotel-Backyard Wedding-Hotel
Free Shuttle!!! Drink all you want at the party.
The shuttle will run from 5-6 PM from the hotels to the backyard,
then again from 11PM-12:30 AM back to the hotels.

Around Town:
Taxis cost about $10 from the hotels to downtown Ann Arbor.

5. If you are driving, here are some rough travel times.
Chicago - Ann Arbor: 3.5-4 hrs
Rochester - Ann Arbor: 6.5 - 7 hrs
Tucson - Ann Arbor: 30 hrs with no breaks

6. Both hotels are located across the street from each other; about 10 minutes from the wedding and 10 minutes from downtown Ann Arbor.

We hope this helps with the planning. Look for your invitations sometime in June.

August 1, 2009

Here is the tentative schedule for the day of our wedding.

August 1, 2009.

5:00 PM Shuttle starts picking guests up from their hotel and taking them to the party.

5:30 Cocktails are served in the backyard

6:00 Ceremony Begins (We get married!)

6:30 Now that we're married, the party begins (also in the backyard)

7:15 Dinner is served. (The steak will be unforgettable)

8:00 Now that we're married, full, and tipsy, the band can start. (WATCH THE BAND)

10:30 Now we're married, tipsy, and just spent 2 hours dancing, time for a late night snack.

11:00 Shuttle service starts taking our happy, drunk, and tired guests to their hotel.

12:00AM The band stops playing. Where's the after party?

Introducing the Wedding Party

Russ Petran
He is 23 years old and still can't tie a tie. He works hard everyday making our nation eat healthier. He once killed a grizzly bear in Alaska with nothing more then an empty Pepsi can and a shoe lace. He is a dietician by trade. He once ate two sleeves of Oreo cookies in a single sitting. His favorite hobby is being your friend. He was last seen in Indianapolis where he is wanted for breaking the law against being so awesome. He loves his Sister. He is Leighton's Best Man.

Lisa Rockafellow
She is 24 years old and she can quote nearly 50,000 movies word for word. Her favorite hobby is making others look good. She has a dog named Zoey that is the most vicious in Hollywood. She speaks Spanish so well the authorities want to deport her. She lives in L.A. where she is working on a degree in Fashion Merchandising. She is a former Vagina Monologuer. She sold Paris Hilton 48% of her wardrobe. She loves her Brother. She is Amanda's Maid of Honor.

We're planning to rock your world

The holiday season is over. In addition to consuming enough species of cookies to comprise an entire cookie forest, we made huge strides in our wedding plans.

The massive dead tree in the backyard has finally fallen. After months of dismantling the tree branch by branch, the behemoth was dealt its final blow by Amanda’s dad. I was able to partake in some of the destruction just after the New Year with Amanda’s brother Russ and her cousin Billy. The yard is slowly being prepped for the greatest party it will ever know.

From the very beginning, Amanda and I decided this wedding had to have, above all else, great music and even better food. After all, this is a party for you, our friends and family. And you deserve the best.

After re-living their youth for a month of bar- hopping and clubbing to check out nearly every band Ann Arbor has to offer, Amanda’s parents Bob and Ruth handed us their final recommendations. From that short list, Amanda and I chose the band rated #1 for the Detroit area in 2007. Our guests will be shaking their money-makers all night long to the music of 50-Amp Fuse.

We also settled on a caterer. Christians Catering will be feeding our guests with his own style of Michigan specialties. Amanda and I had a chance to do a private tasting with Christian. His beef tenderloin melts in your mouth, and his salads taste like ice cream. If this doesn’t appeal to you blame it on the descriptions, not the food itself. I promise the food is so good it will bring you to tears.

The photographer has been booked as well! A Girl in Love Photography will be adding her artistic touch to the event.

If you haven’t already done so, please enroll your email address at the top left of this blog to automatically receive future updates.

We hope all of you are busy planning your trips to Michigan for our backyard wedding. Your first step should be those hotel rooms. They are booking up fast. Please see our previous posting for hotel information. By booking your room early the hotel will be able to release more rooms so all of our guests have a place to stay.