Christian and Mara's Wedding

Thank you, everybody!

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:24:51 -0500

We are so appreciative of everyone coming out and showing us your love and generousity (and while I will not be so vulgar as to name a figure, my, were you all collectively VERY generous) and spending Saturday the 25th of August with us as we embark on our life as a married couple! One thing that I want to clear up, however, is my married name. My married name is still going to be Mara Karapetian. I'm not going to be changing my last name to Daly. Christian does point out that no matter what I say, I'm still his property and that it doesn't matter if I change my name or not. Mr. James Andrews will eventually get back to us with photos and we'll post those up here when that time comes. Thank you again, everyone! We will, of course, do better than a blog entry and send cards out very soon. Much love, Mara (and Christian who is getting ready to do some errands in the other room).

For those asking where we're registered...

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 07:37:39 -0500

... it's at Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel.

Meet and Greet at Kowloon Restaurant

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:52:02 -0500

For those of you coming in from out of town, we decided to make reservations at Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus for the evening of Friday the 24th! In lieu of a rehearsal dinner, it's a chance to meet and mingle before Saturday afternoon at noon. First of all, what Kowloon lacks in quality it makes up for in glorious, campy atmosphere. It is located on Route 1 in Saugus. It's not terribly far from Logan Airport, actually... but also not terribly close. It is a temple of tacky, the whitest Chinese restaurant around, and it's the stuff made of legend... tiki torches, flaming drinks, the whole nine yards. You can look at their website, which includes a collection of photos featuring the various "famous" people who've dine there, at this URL: http://www.kowloonrestaurant.com/ The reservation is for 7PM and it's under the name Mara! We're booked for the main dining room, and we'll be having a set menu (Menu #4 on this page). Please let either me or Christian know if you'll be there!

We have favors!

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:40:19 -0500

Christian was supposed to post this, but instead he is snoring. Hey, does anyone actually, uh, you know, read this on a regular basis? I ask because I want to take a quick, informal poll of who's interested in a harbor cruise on Friday? I'm going to make a group reservation for 30, and will post more details here.

Introducing the Wedding Party!!!

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:37:43 -0500

Want to learn about the wedding party? Sure you do? Go on, read!

What to do in Boston

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:22:27 -0500

CNN says that you should go visit Spectacle Island, and I know that I sure wouldn't mind checking it out! http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/getaways/07/26/spectacle.island.ap/index.html

Flowers, take two!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:37:12 -0500

I revised my flower list for the wedding, opting instead for a more streamlined assortment of the following:

green and yellow cymbidium orchids
peach roses
jade roses
white gerberas with black centers
palest pink roses
Another white/ivory flower, but damned if I can remember what kind and I think I left the receipt in the car
green hypericum berries
wax flowers
a yellowy filler flower

Yay, flowers! I love flowers!

What Else Will I Do in the Boston Area?

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:50:53 -0500

First off - did you know that our wedding is going to start at noon? We realized that the time isn't printed on the invitations a while back, so I put the time on the reply card. I wanted to make sure that's clear. You have probably wondered what sort of thrills and excitement await you in our lovely city of Boston, Massachusetts. Well, wonder no more! While the Saturday of your visit will be spent indulging us two nerds in our sweet matrimonial goo, you will no doubt be antsy to get the hell away from us. Here is a handy list of things to do in the city that are guaranteed fun, as well as useful local information...

it's time to get a bigger boat

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 21:21:51 -0500

We've started receiving reply cards in the mail and we had to figure out a place to keep them so we don't lose VALUABLE USER DATA. Also, we can see fireworks purchased by our neighbors in the greater community outside the window of our home lighting the night sky EVERY NIGHT. It is rad.

Who is the printer of envelopes?

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:48:14 -0500

It's me! I am the printer of envelopes! It wasn't easy, either. Actually, it was not at all easy and it involved me receiving zero help from Hewlett-Packard tech support (who is suprised? Not me!) and then remembered that my people (on my mom's side) are a people of intuitive troubleshooting, a proud tradition that spans generations of Ukrainians on my mother's side. They are a people who will not settle for a barely-English response received from HP tech support! Not possible? Not supported? We seldom accept "no" as an answer. We dare to dream the impossible. We never give up! We will exhaust every possible solution to a problem until we find it! For example, we can try loading the envelopes in a different direction. Victory! As such, Christian and I printed about 40 envelopes this morning. We still need to get some more addresses together (mainly from Christian's friends, boo!) and then we can send these bastards out. We also need stamps. I'm hoping for rad Star Wars stamps.

invitations are done, need stamps and addresses printed on envelopes

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:09:01 -0500

We finally finished assembly on the invitations, so we'll be printing up addresses on envelopes and applying appropriate postage in the short term. We didn't take any pictures, but I'll try to remember to remedy that oversight. Also, I hope someone got a copy of the book that would be the greatest gift ever to give a person facing a marriage sentence before they'd all disappeared.

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

Sat, 26 May 2007 17:08:56 -0500

I am forbidden from discussing the financial details behind the wedding flowers, but I can at least tell about what kinds of flowers may be involved...

Yay! They will be coming from A Bella Mia, the florist I mentioned in an earlier post. They're a small family-run shop in Norwood and I highly, highly, highly recommend that you utilize their services! Marie is extremely nice and I cannot cannot cannot wait to see what she comes up with for me! I told her to feel free to take artistic liberties... I saw what she's done for other brides and I was delighted.

The Annikae

Fri, 11 May 2007 07:25:28 -0500

There are two Annikas, or perhaps Annikae, who will be flower girls at our wedding. Annika #1 is Annika Julien, 4-year-old daughter of our friends Doug and Miyoung. Annika is smart, beautiful, and a big girl! Annika #2 is my niece Annika Cooper, age (currently) 6 months! She's a very big baby for six months with big, curious blue eyes and a great deal of vocal projection. The Annikae shall be dressed in Us Angels: Style 228: Spaghetti strap dress with Silk bodice and embroidered Organza party skirt. Colors: Kiwi/Pink. We ordered them last night at Priscilla of Boston. You know, outfitters of famous brides such as Jackie Kennedy. They really do have some beautiful dresses. Some of their dresses look similar to the one that I chose, so I was happy. There was a beautiful veil on display - WAIT! This is about the Annikae! Okay, refocusing. The Annikae. Yes. Well, Niece Annika is still a little too little to walk, so she'll be pushed along in a stroller by my sister (if you couldn't figure it out, my sister is Annika's mother). Or maybe the other Annika could help her out? Hmmm... I didn't think about this. They'll have some manner of throwable thing to toss down on the floor at Byblos. You know, like petals! Hee! Imagine that! They'll also get to wield some manner of fresh flower, probably in the form of circlets worn on one's head.

Hotel booking information

Mon, 07 May 2007 10:30:04 -0500

Just got off the phone with the sales office at the Marriott. The weddin' room block is confirmed, as are the rates! I'd mentioned rates a while back, but if you missed them, here they are again: Courtyard by Marriott; Norwood, MA $89/night, king $109/night, two queen beds To book your reservation for the weddin', call Central Reservations 1-800-228-9290 for the Courtyard by Marriott in Norwood, MA. Just say that you're with the Karapetian/Daly wedding and you should get the special rate. Driving directions are here in terms of getting from the hotel to the ceremony/reception site. By the way, if a lot of people are planning to come together on the same flight, please let me know! I'll look into booking a group rate thing with your airline of choice. Also, in case I didn't mention, I recommend for those of you travelling by plane to fly into Logan Airport. Don't bother with Providence - it's a waste of your time and money. Sure, you'll save a couple of bucks, but it's a big pain in the ass to get to/from there. Whatever you save on airfare will be spent on extra travel time.

no promises about 'crocodile' dundee 3, however

Fri, 04 May 2007 09:58:53 -0500

I found a new source of Gocco supplies locally in Boston, but I'm not telling where because I don't want other aging hipsters to buy up the rest of the stash. I printed the new reply cards last night and we've still got to perforate them before we can work on assembly and mailing. Whose idea was this again?