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!

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!

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!

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!

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.