Not sure if anyone is still reading this blog BUT if you are I wanted to let you know...

YES, we received your gift

YES, thank you notes are in the plan

BUT Jamie is REALLY bad at that whole actually mailing things. Sorry. It'll come soon!

Photos are up!!

OK everybody, the photos (all 2,000 of them) have finally been edited and posted online. Go here (the password is "Jennemann") to see our many, MANY wedding photos!

Happily Ever After... So Far!

Married life these past 19 days has been pretty wonderful. It's nice to finally be settling down in one place... it's even nicer to not have to leave every night! We had LOADS of fun at the wedding and reception and I know all of our guests had a great time too. I've posted some pictures below but there's LOTS more posted on Facebook. We'll get the professional pictures in the next week (hopefully) so watch for a link to view those soon!

Overlooking the Matanuska River and Pioneer Peak.

Same location with bridal party members-
Rob & Hannah

Philip & I with my college friends Hannah (left) and Julianna (right)

The bridesmaids & I in the street at church.

First Dance

"You may now kiss the bride..."

Philip & I with his groomsman, Justin, and his girlfriend, Erin

Half the Alaska DCEs
Larry was there too, just not in the pic
And Tia was taking care of Elliot in Fairbanks

Getting to/from all the places we've got y'all scheduled to go is pretty easy but here's a map with directions for you to follow. If you're staying at the hotel, you'll get a hard copy of this but just in case you want to have your own copy, here it is:

What to wear, what to wear...

So Jamie touched on this a little bit in the last post, but I'm still getting questions from folks regarding what to expect weather-wise, and what to wear.

Disclaimer: Both Jamie and I have been living here for a couple of years now, so "cold" is a relative term to both of us. It's been in the 40s and 50s here, and I'm still wearing sandals on a regular basis and breaking out the shorts occasionally.

Weather to expect: Pray for sun. It may happen, it may not. If it does, expect weather to be in the 50s and b-e-a-utiful. Possibly very windy, especially in Eagle River and Palmer (where you will spend the bulk of Thursday-Saturday), so bring a windbreak-layer.

It will probably rain at some point during your visit here. Rain here is not like rain in the South-- it very rarely pours (but it does do that too, every now and again). Expect drizzle/mist/yuck. Jeans are not good in rain.

What to wear: For your basic outdoorsy, touristy stuff, bring jeans and comfy walking shoes. If you plan on doing some hiking, bring sturdy shoes (hiking boots are preferable) and non-cotton pants (there's a saying up here, "Cotton kills," because once it gets wet, you get cold darn quick). Outer layer should be water-resistant and wind-proof. Wool socks will be a plus at night.

For the rehearsal- "Business casual"? I think?
Guys: Nice pants and collared shirt
Girls: ? (Jamie will have to fill in the blank here)

For "The Big Day"- The ceremony will be dressy, but not formal. Guys: Dress shirt and slacks, tie optional.
Girls: Whatever you would wear to a nice dinner out.

OK, that's it. If you have any other questions, email us!

The Cost of Milk... (Preparing for Your Trip)

As the weeks slip by, we hope all y'all are ready for your trip to Alaska! Whether it's your first time up here or your millionth it's always nice to get a bit of a heads up before you come. SO, I'm writing this blog entry to let you know about things to do & prices to expect.

• If you're planning on doing any site seeing, call to make reservations ASAP. "Tourist Season", as we lovingly refer to it, officially ends on September 15th. At that point most things either shut down completely or they offer less than they do during the summer. So before you assume lodges, tours and such will be open-- CALL!
  
• Check out the list to the RIGHT-- In the sidebar titled "Things To Do In Alaska", we've listed several options for places to go while here, but there's LOTS more. If you're interested in what to see, what to do, and where to go, I'd get online and order a "Milepost". It's an indispensible treasure especially if you're planning on doing any driving while here.
  
• To give you some $$ perspective-- Milk currently costs $3.99/gallon, gas is $4.50/gallon, and $1 menus here are actually $1.50 menus. Make you budget your trip accordingly.
  
• Weather to Expect-- We've had quite the wet & cool summer thus far and the experts are at odds as to what to expect for the Fall and Winter. As I'm writing this it's raining outside and in the high-50s/low-60s-- but you can check HERE for other current conditions. I'd definitely plan on bringing some sort of rain jacket/poncho and probably some warmer clothes too. Now, I'm not talking about fur coats and hats here people. I'm talking a sweatshirt, maybe a sweater or two, and jeans. I can wear sandals but really it's up to you if you can deal with the temperature change from your locale.

Keep in mind that we do have most of the comforts of home here-- grocery stores, movie theaters, malls, restaurants, etc.-- so it won't be unfamiliar. Ultimately, plan on having a good time and leaving some of your money here. There are LOTS of touristy shops in Downtown Anchorage where you can get the t-shirt, sweatshirt, artpiece of your choice.

Let us know (comment here or email us) when you'll be arriving and checking in to the hotel so we can do our best to meet you when you arrive.

Answers to Your FAQs

Yes, planning is going well.

Yes, we're excited.

Yes, we realize it's less than a month away.

It's funny to think that nearly 6 months have just flown by since Philip proposed. It seems like just yesterday the mountains were full of snow and he surprised me... But lots of planning has been happening and, now that my main youth events are over, assembling those plans have also begun. Right now an entire corner of my living room, as well as my bedroom, are dedicated to storing wedding & reception stuff. All my free time that used to be spent frivolously watching TV are now spent assembling bulletins and such... while watching TV. (I don't like to stretch myself too much y'know!)

We're both looking forward to seeing everyone who has said they're coming from Outside-- the first arriving in just 3 weeks from tomorrow! But we're still in the process of figuring out who is actually planning on coming. We've gotten less than 40 R.S.V.P.s for the 200-some-odd invitations sent out. So, if you haven't RSVPd yet (you know who you are!), please do so ASAP either via email (jamieandphilip@gmail.com), phone or in person. We'd love to hear from you so that you can be included in the final count for the all-important food and booze.

Other than that, things are going great. We'll try to keep you updated on the weather 'round these parts. It's been a crazy weird summer so there's no telling what September will bring. Right now it's in the low-60s always with the chance of rain-- it is after all State Fair time and it ALWAYS rains for the Fair!

Wedding Invitations= SENT!

OK, so if you're reading this thinking, Wait, I haven't gotten a wedding invitation yet, one of the following things may have happened:

1. We never got your mailing address (email jamieandphilip@gmail.com to send us that info)
2. We sent your invitation, but it was returned because we had the wrong address for you (again, send the correct info to jamieandphilip@gmail.com)
3. We don't like you. Go away. (No, we're kidding. ...Unless we're not.)

If you got one, it should have looked something like this:


10 points and a cookie to the first person to figure out what's wrong with this picture (and no, it's not the fact that Jamie is taller than Philip...)

If you have not yet RSVP'ed to jamieandphilip@gmail.com, please go ahead and take a moment to do so. We would like to know how many people are in your party, and if you are coming from out-of-town, we would love to know your travel info so we can know when you're coming into town and when you're leaving.

Remember, please RSVP by August 1st!

It's been a while...

Greetings Friends & Family!

It's been a few weeks since we last updated our wedding plans on the blog. Honestly, there hasn't been much to update y'all on anyway.

It's been a busy Alaskan summer. Philip & I took a trip down to California to visit my folks. We ended up spending most of our time in Napa & Sonoma tasting wine and not eating nearly enough for the consumed alcohol. The picture here was taken in the gondola on our way to Sterling Winery in Sonoma-- beautiful! If you ever have a chance to visit, Sterling has one of the best views and an automated tour.

After our California trip finished, Philip continued his Lower 48 jaunt by staying in Ashland, Oregon to begin his Master's program at the American Band College (ABC). He's been there for two weeks and has one more week to go. Meanwhile, I've been living in Eagle River taking care of the pups. I've officially decided that $70/tank is ridiculous especially when you spend that much at least once a week! Yikes. I survived a week of Vacation Bible School and am heading into a week called "Kaleidoscope" starting July 20th. It's busy but it's good.

Summer has been late to Alaska. Actually, lots of things have been late-- summer, fish, fireweed-- this is truly some weird stuff!

OFFICIAL WEDDING NEWS

I'm working on sending out our official invitations and getting deposits to our baker, caterer and florist. (SIDENOTE: I used to think planning weddings would be fun... maybe it's different when it's not your own!) Y'all should be getting your invites in the next week so be on the look out-- and REMEMBER: You need to RSVP to our email listed at the right! We need to make sure there's enough cake for everyone!! :)

Hotels

Well, it's been a productive week around these parts... it'll be even more productive this weekend with Philip gone to get him some halibut!

Anyway, I wanted to let y'all know that we finally made reservations for a block of rooms at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Anchorage. If you're coming (and we hope you are!) you'll need to make your reservations before August 31st.


Simply call 800-314-0783 and request rooms in the "Jennemann-Walters Wedding" block. Rates should be $92/night + 12% tax with both double and king rooms available from September 13-22.

Just behind the hotel is a movie theatre, to the left (of the photo) is an Outback Steakhouse, and within walking distance is a Wal-Mart. The hotel is about 45 minutes from our ceremony site in Palmer.

If you'd like a list of other hotel recommendations in the area, email us to let us know! See y'all very soon!

Engagement Photos Are Up!

OK, so they're not up HERE yet, but they are online. You can see them by clicking here.

They are password-protected; the password is Jamie's last name (Jennemann).

We've already picked our favorites, but tell us which ones you like the best!

Engagement Photos: The Weirdness and Anticipation

Tuesday, Jamie and I had an appointment to get engagement photos taken. Now, for two people who usually try to avoid having their pictures taken (me because I am usually the one taking the photos, Jamie because... well, because she just doesn't like having her photo taken, and will usually make really goofy faces to avoid having her picture taken), this was very strange.

Our photographer, Dan, from Chugach Peaks Photography, met us and took us to a favorite spot of his, high on Skyline Drive in Eagle River Valley. It was cold and a bit breezy, but the scenery was gorgeous! Dan put us at ease, laughing with us and trying to get us to loosen up (as both of us had never really done anything like this before and were standing there looking rather stiff and awkward). Eventually, we got into it and had a lot of fun. Dan shot over 150 photos (he took so many photos he had to start going back through his photos and deleting some of the "bad" ones to make room for more shots!) in the span of maybe an hour.

We're still waiting to get the photos back-- it should take another day or two-- but when we do, we'll post a few to give you a sampling. Stay tuned!

It's never too early...

...to start planning the party.

We have decided that we're going to go for the uber-expensive, super-high-tech version of music at our reception:

That's right. Our D.J. (or "deejay" as some people prefer to annoyingly spell it) will be none other than Mr. I. Pod himself.

Therefore, we need some tunes suggestions. As the bulk of Philip's iPod contains things like "Holst 1st Suite for Military Band" and "Symphony No. 354 in F## minor" and Jamie's iPod contains... well, nothing at all... we need some suggestions from you fine folks. What do you want to dance to? Feel free to name as few or as many songs as you would like.

"Save the Dates" have been sent!

Philip sent out Save-the-Date cards last night, so if you did not receive one and you think you should be receiving one (i.e. you are invited to our wedding), please email us to let us know that we missed you. We had email addresses for 98% of our guest list, so if you are part of the 2% that didn't receive one, please email us!

Then again... if you didn't receive one, you probably don't know to visit this website. So... yeah.

Also:
Something else to keep in mind along with airfare and lodging is the ever-important RENTAL CAR. As much as we love you, we will not be available to shuttle people to and from the airport, to and from the church, etc. etc. etc. Plus, it will be a lot more fun for you to have your own wheels so that you can go on your own little Alaskan adventure while we are running around with our hair on fire taking care of last-minute details!

We have all the major rental car companies up here (Philip is a big fan of Enterprise), and some not-so-major, including Denali Car Rental.

So, to summarize:

• If you didn't get a Save the Date, you probably won't be reading this, but you should email us if you think you SHOULD have gotten a Save-the-Date
• Rental car= love

TTFN.

Save the Date!

Yay!

Philip might be slightly excited about the festivities planned for September... geesh! Well, I'm excited too, especially now that all y'all get to see just how much it costs to travel to/from Alaska-- just be thankful we're not having a summer wedding!

Now that the date is set, the dress is bought, the reception lodge is booked and the church is reserved we can get on to more important things like sending Save-The-Dates, purchasing invites, perusing flowers and taste-testing cake!

As far as accomodations go, that's our job next week. We'll find a hotel where everyone can stay as close to both the reception lodge and church as possible. As soon as we know where we're blocking rooms, y'all will know. In the meantime, check out the links to the right for things to do in Alaska. Keep in mind that some lodges/attractions might be closed since Tourist Season ends September 15th so double check before you make lots of plans. Philip & I will also provide you with a list of things to do outside of the links listed here!

So stay tuned to the Wedding Blog!

Mark it on your calendars, folks!

It's official! September 20th is GO TIME!

We finally nailed down a reception site today, and so now we can start reserving everything else, sending out save-the-dates, etc. For those of you who have been asking us if you can buy airfare, the answer is YES! Do it! Check out these links from TravelZoo:

Washington, D.C. area folks

Atlanta area folks

St. Louis folks

We can't wait to see you guys!

Hold yer horses.

We'd love to tell you that we have nailed down a reception site, thus making our 99.5%-sure date of September 20th 100% sure, but we have not.

No, the reception gods are not smiling favorably upon us. Here's the status:
- Motherlode Lodge, though beautiful, is just too dang small. That's out.
- The State Fair building that we were going to use is a blue sheet-metal hangar. Uglier than sin. That's out.
- Alpenglow Lodge has a gorgeous view, and it's big enough, but it's expensive and will be difficult to decorate (thanks to an overwhelmingly purple paint theme inside).
- Settler's Bay Lodge looks like it would be nice, but they're undergoing a management change, so we won't know anything (availability or pricing) until April 15.
- Palmer Train Depot is good, it's cheap... but it's a bit small, and very close to the church, so uninvited party crashers might be a problem.

So we're going to continue to say the same thing we've been saying for the past two weeks (holy crap we've been engaged for two weeks already!): We will tell you as soon as we know. September 20th is almost almost almost definite... just not completely.

Welcome to our Wedding Blog!

So we're realizing that the best way to get all the info to you people is to make a website that serves our own purposes, so here 'tis.

Please check back regularly for updates regarding the preparation, the rehearsal, the ceremony, and the reception. We'll give you as much info as we can... once we know it ourselves.

We'll also be posting info about hotel rooms/accommodations, travel info, and useless trivia about Alaska in case you might want to come join us for our happy day!

Oh, and once you get an invite, RSVP using the email link listed on the right.