G'n'R plans

Hi Folks

Alright, so for those of you not involved in the semi-dramatic madness, some decisions have been made regarding the wedding. Big decisions! Let me explain the course of our reasoning.

(1) I don't want a traditional wedding. I never have.
(2) Greg doesn't want a traditional wedding either.
(3) What we do want is a signficant event to mark our commitment to each other that is personal, private, and involves our immediate family and the people we love.

And the big one...
(4) We don't want to plan anything. We hate planning. We want to show up and have it all be easy and done without any stress

And the bigger one...
(5) When we do see our families, immediate and extended, we want to have time to spend with them. We want quality wedding time.



The G'n'R Elopement/Destination Wedding Plan:

We rent a villa in Italy for a week. Our family members fly out. We spend quality time together. We get married there. We go on our honeymoon after family members leave. Reception in CT to be held several months later (so as not to overburden peoples travel considerations in case they'd like to go to both)

I am way, way excited. This is the kind of wedding I can picture. This is what I really want. Greg and I are so relieved and happy and not stressed anymore to see it this way. We think it will be a truly special memory to create as a family (or, as two families that now have something to do with each other). Since our families haven't even ever met before, we want to spend some quality time together.

An example of some villas we are looking at:

http://www.villanova.se/photos.html
http://www.papaverorentals.com/property_detail.cfm?PropID=20030902232856&PropReferenceNo=UM38#photos
http://www.papaverorentals.com/property_detail.cfm?PropID=20030902232856&PropReferenceNo=UM38#photos

Anyway, a few ground rules.

We have decided the following:

- There is a budget. We will decide on that amount before deciding on a place. We will subsidize everybody's trip as much as possible. So whatever is not spent on the location will be spent on dinners out and etc. At a minimum, family members who choose to come will not be responsible for any lodging costs, and there will definitely be low cost food options available since the place we rent will have a great kitchen. I've priced it out and 7 days in Italy will not be significantly more expensive than 5 days in CT. By significantly, I mean the two costs will end up being within 2-300 dollars of each other at worst.

- We're deciding what villa we're booking. It's just that much less complicated. I invite suggestions of all sorts and appreciate input...but we will make decisions based on how we'd like the event to be ourselves.

- Every effort will be made to book something off season.

- Every effort will be made to accomodate those schedules of people who want to come. Don't let your schedule stop you from saying you want to come, because we'll work around it

- At some point soon a final count will be determined for the Family Villa. It's basically just Parents, Siblings, Grandparents + 1 friend apiece. But I do need you to think very seriously about whether you can come and on what days in spring and fall, because then I'll plan things around you.

- Other people not staying at the family villa are quite welcome to come to Italy to celebrate with us. I am happy to point people to lodging possibilities and help with travel arrangements. We'd love to have you there. We don't have any expectations that other people will come. We will have a reception in CT for those who'd prefer not to travel such a long distance.

Thanks for understanding guys. It means a lot to us.

R

P.S. Everybody's been asking what Greg looks like with short hair. I gave him another haircut:






















His shirt says "A D G. Now start a band" :D The deer in the headlights look is due to my nagging "Don't make funny faces at the camera"...