We Did It! Our Fairytale Wedding...

Chip & I are finally married! We cannot believe it! It seems like the day would never come. It has been such a whirlwind.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support during this special time in our lives. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family like you! 

Dennis Becker, our wedding day photographer, already posted a couple of photos from the wedding on Facebook and I posted them below for people to see. Dennis Becker did an amazing job! The pictures look like a dream! 😍 🍾

Below are photos by Dennis Becker of our fairytale wedding:

Love always,

Chip & Whitney

Wedding Weekend Schedule and Reception Shuttle Info

Hello everyone! The time is drawing near!

For everyone's information, we are posting a general schedule for the Wedding Weekend below. For those of you that are also playing a part in the Ceremony, please check under the "Other Parties" tab for info on the Ceremony Rehearsal and the Rehearsal Dinner.

RECEPTION SHUTTLE INFORMATION

A Shuttle Service will be provided from Minerals Resort & Spa to the Reception at Perona farms. We are asking everyone to provide their own transportation to the Ceremony. (Making friends and carpooling is always encouraged.) Then after the Ceremony, please return to Minerals Resort & Spa to catch the shuttle.  The shuttles will leave at 5:10 and 5:20pm, so you will have plenty of time to return to your hotel, relax and/or freshen up, and then board the shuttle. The shuttles will return to Minerals Resort & Spa at the conclusion of the Reception.

Those of you not staying at Minerals Resort & Spa are also welcome to utilize the shuttle if it is convenient, just let us know. If you anticipate any difficulty with travel between venues, let us know as soon as possible. 

Additional information about the shuttle will be available at the Meet & Greet.  Chip's Uncle John and Aunt Margie will be in charge of Shuttle logistics on Saturday and we will introduce them at the Meet & Greet.  If you will not be attending the Meet & Greet, please ask about the shuttle for the "Field/Roberts Wedding" at the front desk, or ask a friend or family member that was there.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17TH

Meet & Greet at 8:00pm

Minerals Resort & Spa, Moonshine Bar

1 Stonehill Dr., Vernon Twp., NJ 07462

Casual Attire

SATURDAY, JUNE 18TH

Wedding Ceremony at 2:00pm

Immaculate Conception Church

75 Church St. Franklin, NJ 07416

Formal Attire

…After the Ceremony, please return to Minerals Resort & Spa if you wish to utilize the provided Shuttle Service to the Reception…

(More shuttle info to be announced at Meet & Greet.  If you cannot attend Meet & Greet, check with front desk or family member!)

Shuttle 1 – 5:10pm

Shuttle 2 – 5:20pm

Wedding Reception at 6:00pm

Perona Farms

350 Andover Sparta Rd., Andover, NJ 07821

Formal Attire

A Shuttle Service returning to the Minerals Resort & Spa will be provided following the Reception (Meet outside of Perona Farms)

SUNDAY, JUNE 19TH

Post Wedding Breakfast at 8:30am

Minerals Resort & Spa, Quartz Room

Hotel Information Update

HOTEL INFO UPDATE!! (5/4/2016)

To our knowledge the hotel block at Minerals Resort & Spa is now closed for Saturday night. However, based on feedback I had from a couple of people, you might still be able to call them and get a room, but we cannot guarantee the group rate. There are still rooms available for Friday night and the group rate will be honored.

If you still looking to book a hotel, call Minerals Resort & Spa first and give it a try!

If you don't have any luck with Minerals, it might be worth it to book for Friday night and get on a waiting list for Saturday to see if something opens up.  If you would like to be put on a waiting list, you need to let us know and we will contact the hotel for you.  With the activities we have planned and the shuttle to and from the reception, we think it is worth the effort to try to get into this hotel.

Sorry of this seems a bit confusing.  We too are confused by the varying reports we have received from the hotel versus what some people have told us that booked a room in the last few days.


If Minerals is really no longer available, the options for hotels for the weekend are:

1)  The next best option is the Appalachian Hotel:

http://www.mountaincreek.com/lodging/lodging-options/

200 NJ-94, Vernon Township, NJ 07462

Phone:(973) 827-2000

It is right up the road from Minerals Resort & Spa.  It is in the same hotel family as Minerals and that means there is a free shuttle between the Appalachian and Minerals which will be very useful for attending events.  We are also looking into making the Appalachian a stop for the reception shuttle.

Please be aware that the Appalachian has hotel rooms and  condos.  The condos will require a a 2 night stay and a deposit, the hotel does not.

2)  Book a room at any of the hotels in the surrounding area.  We will do our best to help you out with utilizing the shuttle, but do understand that it becomes logistically more difficult.

Let us know where you book your room if you are not at Minerals Resort & Spa.  We will do everything we can to help out with your travel between events.

Engagement Party Details

Welcome to our wedding blog!  On this blog/website, you should be able to find most of the information you need for the up-coming Engagement Party on Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Ann Arbor, MI.  I know that some of you have probably already checked this site out (special shout-out to Bill, Steve, Paul, Cheri and Sandy!! Woot woot!) and are probably already familiar with this site/blog; but, if you have not been to this website before, then this blog post and the tab at the top titled “Other Parties” should contain all the information and details you need for the party. 

Just for a little bit of background, we created the Engagement Party as a fun and informal way to celebrate with our co-workers and my family in Michigan (…and, because Mom wanted excuse to party. Hahaha).  We probably could have been more creative with the name since Chip and I have been engaged for about eight (8) months now…but who really cares as long as there’s a party, right?! lol!

If you received this invitation, you probably already got “the run down.” But in case you have not received “the run down” ;), then here it is (also, for more details see photos and comments below):

Date: Saturday, April 16, 2016
Time: 7:00pm - 11:00pm
Invited: Everyone and their family!
Attire: Casual
Food: Hor'doeuvres only (see photo)
Drinks: Non-Alcoholic beverages, beer, wine, and champagne (more details below).
Other: Music for dancing by a DJ.
Location: Chapel Hill Clubhouse, 3350 Burbank Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (also see photos below).
Directions: After you make a right on to Burbank Dr, go over the first speed bump and park along the curb or in an UNNUMBERED parking spot.  Then go to the very end of Court N (past the pool on the right), make a right and walk up the sidewalk until you reach the double doors entrance of the club house which will be on your right.

The wine we will have at the party is Robert Mondovi Cabernet Sauvignon (red), Merlot (red), Pino Grigio (white), and Chardonnay (white).

The family had a small Champagne tasting party at Mom’s house (Yay!!!)) to choose the champagne (see photo above) ...and below is the aftermath... Hahaha:

We chose Martini & Rossi Asti and R.S.V.P. Brut. 

The beer we will have is shown in the photo above. There will also be Sam Adams Cold Snap bottles (not shown above).

 Hor d’oeuvre notes from the caterer with love... 😍 YUM!!

Chapel Hill: The venue is Ok, but has sentimental value as so many friends and family events have taken place here…it has a special place in our hearts.

We are REALLY looking forward to celebrating, partying and hanging out with everyone!!  See you there!! 😃😃😃

Cake Tasting Time!! (woot woot!!!) ;)

Palermo's Bakery, Pastry Shop; Ridgefield Park, NJ

Chip & I have been looking forward to our "cake planning" meeting at Palermo's Bakery for a while! When we first arrived at Palermo Bakery's Ridgefield Park shop, we were confronted with a wall of incredibly fantastic cakes.  Some looked like Louis Vuitton & Chanel bags, others like Cinderella's castle, all the way down to the most extravagant wedding cakes with rhinestones and feathers....it was amazing! After we picked our jaws up off the floor, we got down to business. *wink wink*  Our first task: decide on a cake design.

We looked through a ton of designs.  Eventually, we decided on one that would match the feel and style of the wedding.  The one we picked (see photo below) is traditional and elegant.  Instead of the cream background with white trim, we will have a white background with light blue trim (we avoided dark blue to avoid blue tongues at the wedding! haha). The flowers will be white and light blue with green leaves to match the blue and green color theme of the wedding, as well.

After the design came the hard part: taste testing!!! Woot woot! The part we were looking forward to the most!  For the cake tasting they served us ten (10) pieces of cake.  Five (5) were vanilla and 5 were chocolate cake, each filled with different things. I could only imagine that this was how Charlie must have felt in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! :). It was SO great!  The owner of Perona Farms (the reception venue owner) told us that all we needed to do was to try all 10 pieces, then tell them that "we didn't like any of cake we tried" and then have them bring out 10 more! Hahaha Well, we tried, but after 10 pieces of cake we couldn't eat any more.  Instead of Charlie in the Chocolate factory, I felt more like the blueberry girl that blew-up and had to be roll-out of the store. hahaha

Anyways, enough with Willy Wonka! hahaha  After we tried all 10 pieces, we decided on the vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting on the outside and French Cream with fresh raspberries between the layers on the inside... It should taste perfectly refreshing and sunny in June.

Below are pictures of our cake design and the tasting.... Mmmm! :)

Palermo's Bakery Store Front, Ridgefield Park, NJ

Palermo's impressive wall of cakes!
(I forgot to take pictures of the Louis Vuitton/Chanel bags & Cinderella cakes. :(  )

Cake Tasting Time!!
(Our cake will look like the vanilla piece in the center of the front row. Only we have replaced the raspberry preserves, with fresh raspberries. Yum!)

We couldn't eat all 10 pieces of cake!! So we brought the chocolate pieces home for Chip's family to try.
John devoured the chocolate Oreo cake piece in one fell swoop! lol! Reminds me of another brother I know ... :D

Our wedding cake design ...only not the correct color (except for the leaves)...

Let me know if you love cake like we do!!

Tah tah for now...

Immaculate Conception Mass

Inside Immaculate Conception Church, before Mass, decorated with Christmas cheer!

Over the Winter Holiday break, I went to visit Chip & his family in New Jersey.  I always love visiting and hanging out with his whole family.  While there, Chip and I had a chance to attend Sunday Mass at Immaculate Conception church (the church where Chip & I will be married).  It was just two (2) days after Christmas when we attended and was still decorated with Christmas cheer.  It was gorgeous!  The red in the decorations really brought-out the red in the stained glass windows. The  church was built in1902 & has the most beautiful stained glass. I cannot wait for everyone to see it when you come to take part in our wedding day.

Here are the pictures We took... It's too bad Christmas  decorations do not stay up all year!

Father Bogie (our Priest for the wedding) preparing communion.

Stay tuned for more! :)!!!

Tuxedos & Martinis

This weekend Chip & I went to the Men's Wearhouse to pick out tuxedos for everyone.  We were introduced to Shannon who helped us pick which combinations and styles would look best in the wedding.  She dressed and undressed (whoo hoo!) the dummies - adding vests, ties, shirts, "pocket stuffers," fabric boutonnieres, etc... as we picked out ensembles for the Groom, Best-Men, and Families.

Finally, after the table was littered with all kinds of garments, we had our looks! The best part?! They have coattails!  Below are the tuxedos we picked and how they proceeded to torment Chip afterwards in order to get his sizes (lol!):

ps.  If you are a groomsman or family and would like more, please scroll down to the end of this post where we have provided more information.

Grooms Tuxedo Combinations.  Which one do you think Chip picked?! :)

The tuxedo combination Chip's groomsmen & family will wear.

Green/Gem will be the color Whitney's Family will wear.

Tux swatches: White, Gem & Marine.

Chip looks so sophisticated!!! I just love it!!!...but his face is saying "What are you doing to me?!" lol!

If you will be renting a tuxedo from the Men's Wearhouse for our wedding, you will need to be fitted before the end of January (2016). Please find the closest Men's Wearhouse and walk-in to be fitted (no appointment is necessary). 

For the closest store to you, please click here and enter your zipcode: http://www.menswearhouse.com/store-locator

The cost includes everything down to the shoes, suspenders and cufflinks (but not socks,  underwear, or undershirts).  It can be picked-up at the mall near the wedding in New Jersey.  Chip will drop it off after the wedding to make it easier for everyone. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Chip or I.

And now...time for a martini! :)