Such great heights.

Things that nobody tells you when you're planning the biggest event of your life is that things really don't ever work out quite the way you want them to.


We wanted Elvis to marry us in Vegas and have a huge reception when we got back. That was quickly trumped by people who wanted to see us get married. Ugh. 


We wanted a small, 40 person wedding in the aquarium at the zoo then have a huge reception afterwards. The reception hall was too small.


We wanted to elope somewhere far, far, far from here then have a huge reception when we got back. We were already too far in to do that.


So now our wedding has turned into somewhat of a monstrosity. 
We're up to over 300 people attending the ceremony alone, and that doesn't even include the people who plus one. So we're talking big. Like. Way bigger then we ever wanted.


Here's my ideal wedding. And no, it has nothing to do with Elvis.


I want to go to Ireland and find an old, rustic castle. I want to have the ceremony, just us and the officiant, then spend the rest of the day exploring all the history in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.


However, to get married in Ireland you have to live there for 8 days before you can even apply for a marriage license, then you have a waiting period. Now I'm not beyond moving to Ireland for a few weeks... its just that my budget is fully against it.


So now we're having our rock n' roll wedding right here in the heart of the Midwest. Which is fine. We grew up here, our families are here, and we're excited. We just didn't factor in exactly how stressful it is to plan a day that feels like right now is mostly just to make other people happy. Like I said, I wanted Elvis. 


Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for having the opportunity for my family, friends, and just about anyone else who wants to come be a part of our day. We've had such an amazing amount of support from the people around us that it means the world to know that all of you will be there tearing up at our expense. We've been through so much in the past 4 years, and this day is a testament to how much you can suffer through and still come out on top. For those of you who believe, love truly never fails.


And at the end of the day I get to be married to my best friend. You can't really beat that.


Word.
Jana

From Bangkok to Calgary.

As I posted in an earlier episode, music is really important to us. 
So on my iPod (thanks mom!) I currently have a playlist oh-so cleverly named "Wedding." It consists of several songs we're using during the ceremony or important songs at the reception (first dance songs, father/daughter, etc.) It also consists of some really awesome love songs. Or songs that have some sort of importance to Steven and I. 


I thought I'd share my awesome, completely random playlist with you.


Baby, I'm Yours/ Arctic Monkeys (our first dance)
Christmas Canon Rock/ Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Walking in the Air/ Nightwish 
Magic/ Ben Folds
Until I Die/ Ben Kweller
Something/ The Beatles
I'll Follow you into the Dark/ Deathcab for Cutie
The Luckiest/ Ben Folds (wedding party processional)
Such Great Heights/ Iron and Wine (family seating)
Brightest/ Copeland (Current bride processional, though that seems to change frequently.)
I Want to Die/ Nuclear Rodeo
You Picked Me/ A Fine Frenzy
Beating Heart Baby/ Head Automatica
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head/ B.J. Thomas
'Til There was You/ The Beatles
I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor/ Arctic Monkeys




I'm sure to add more as the days pass. Keep checking for updates.

A numbers game.

I'm really bad at math. Anyone who knows me knows that I can barely count, let alone try to put together all the numbers that are added up in a wedding.

For example, putting together equations like this:

If our wedding venue has a floor that's 60' x 120' how many 5' round tables that seat 8 people each can we place on the floor if we're expecting 250 guests?

This blog is meant mostly for you to figure that out so I don't have to.

Email me.

Thanks!

Until the stars fall from the sky.

So, to those of you who know Steven and I, you know that we've lived together for quite a while. Whether or not you agree with that is not the issue, but it brought up a big problem when deciding what we'd like to put on our gift registry.

We were at a complete loss. The last 3 years we've accrued a lot of really nice things; Art, silverware, dishes, appliances, etc. So we decided that the easiest way to go about this is to just go to Target, get the scanner and go a little nuts.

Oh, were we wrong.

Upon our arrival the Target (I'd like it if in your head you pronounced that "Tar-jay") in Urbandale, we figured we'd find some cool stuff to fix our house up. For those of you who don't know, Steven and I were fortunate enough to stumble upon a really cool deal on a very nice house in West Des Moines. A physician I work with happened to have an extra house that no one was living in and had fallen into some.... disrepair. In return for fixing up the house, we get to live there. It's a great deal for us, since starting our married life out together in a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom split foyer in Suburbia is a hell of a lot better then the 2 bedroom apartment we're currently sharing with a roommate that isn't our biggest fan. Long story short, we're going to have to put a lot of work into this house, so we figured we'd start with home improvements and work our way out. We quickly learned that Target is NOT a good place for that. 

So an hour and a half later, we pretty much have your typical items: An iron, some nice solar lights for the garden in the front, and some towels. 

As well as some things that will come in super handy: CITY Lego Police Academy, 2 Nerf guns, a Super-Soaker and an industrial size bag of Iams dog food. 

Our justification for these items is simple. If all married people do is sit around and iron, garden and shower, it's going to be a very boring life. What married people should do is take time to appreciate the quirks about each other. Like the fact that Steven is so anal that he will build a Lego city from the ground up following every meticulous instruction in the manual. What that says to me is that since I'm ridiculously unorganized, Steven will always be there to pick up the pieces I leave in a disheveled mess behind me, literally and figuratively. And since married couples are bound to have a fight or two, what's a better way to solve the issue then with a Nerf gun war? You may think talking it out is the best solution, but trust me, until you've pelted someone with a Nerf gun you have no idea how much healing power they hold. Though I can assure you all that the fine china we get (along with any other valuables) will be placed out of harms way prior to said battle.

Anywho. If you got anything out of this post, hopefully it's that we're registered at Target and there are things on the list that don't include any kind of plastic artillery. 


Thanks for reading.
With love,
Jana

And the tree was happy.

Just remember, darling, you belong to me.

It seems as though the biggest debate thus far (aside from the fact that we wanted to do this in Vegas....) has been what music we want in the ceremony. Us both having very musical pasts, presents, and inevitably musical futures has made what music we choose crucial to the atmosphere we want to provide our guests with. Walking down the aisle to Pachelbel's "Canon in D" just wasn't cutting it, but I don't want to give the the previously mentioned conservative grandfather (as well as rest of our more elderly family members) a heart attack. It was also kind of a big deal that we had as much live music as physically possible.

So we contracted some of our amazingly talented friends and family to fill in some of the blanks. My wonderful brother, Josh, has willingly handed over the dibs he had on the song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds. He's also agreed to not only play this masterpiece, but to sing it while our wedding party is walking. That was one VERY big check off my list, because I couldn't very well have 10 of the most important people in my life walking to just anything. I don't know how we're going to get a baby grand into the venue, but we'll get it done. It may involve some Grand Theft Piano, which at that point I don't think many of us will be horribly opposed to. (Which reminds me, if you happen to have a baby grand piano lying around, call me.)

Also on this list is our amazing friend Jake, who so

graciously agreed to sing while I walk down the aisle. At this point, we're not sure to what, but his agreement to do so without asking any questions was an amazing test of character that he passed with flying colors. I am so excited to hear what him and Steven come up with, since Steven will be playing the guitar for him. Just to give you a little bit of a hint since I know you're just DYING to know what song will lead up to the most important 20 minutes of my life, we're looking at 2 different ones that I'm giving Jake and Steven the final say on. I'm pretty sure whatever they decide to do will make me bawl my head off. I suggest you pack plenty of tissues, my friends, this one's bound to be a tear jerker.

I'm pretty sure this wedding will be WAY more like a rock concert then a spiritual ceremony, and personally, I don't think either of us would have it any other way.

Until next time,

Jana

Baby, I'm yours.

So this all started a little over 4 years ago when a boy met a girl in a comic book store.

He said: "I hear people that play drums are stupid."

As a drummer, she wasn't sure whether to be offended, or amused.

She took the bait.

They've been in love ever since.

And in 4 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days, they're making that love official. Or in the words of Jana's wonderful grandpa George, "we will no longer be living in sin."

So in the spirit of being (close to) legit, we thought we'd let you in on all the fun we've been having putting this shindig together.

We hope you enjoy the journey as much as we have.

With love,

Steven and Jana