22 October 2011

The Wedding Party

After we made the announcement to cancel or postpone the wedding, my gut feeling was telling me to go for it - get on with it!  The economy is so bad, getting to the point where it's about to go as bad as the Great Depression.  People get married anyway and make do with what they have - out of love for each other and for the family.  It's all about faith and it takes work to make a wonderful wedding.  We all have heard of these wedding vows that goes something like this... "For richer or poor, for better or worse, in sickness and in health..."  We ain't rich, but we aren't in the worst situation and we've got our health.  We don't have lots of of money to throw around for every little thing we want to happen with the wedding.  But I've gotten creative!

We know that we do have family and friends who loves us as much as we love them - I am absolutely positive that each one of you would be willing to help out and make this a successful wedding!  I've pulled out some ideas out of my head and there will be some cool projects for you to work on.  I will schedule a get-together soon and we're gonna have lots of fun!!!

Having an outdoor wedding in August is risky - rain, rain and more rain!  August is usually unpredictable and I'm dancing around the idea of having this wedding in June.  Josh's mom, Amy, and I will be checking out some halls in the Toledo area and announce the availability as soon as we can before the end of next week.

For now, I want to introduce each one of our guys and gals in our wedding.  I've robbed some of those photos just to put the fun in planning for this wedding.  ENJOY!

Here are the ladies of the bride...

Jennifer Buckman-Rivera, the Matron of Honor.
~ Mexico, Missouri
My wing woman, we've practically been like sisters since college.  We could only thank our teacher in Freshman Seminar who randomly fixed us up for a group project.  I loved having her hanging out with me and my roommates, watching movies every weekend.  I would practically be doing all of the cooking for our friends - rarely ordered pizza.  In September of '99, we adopted Marco and Polo.  Tabby kittens of the same litter from a farm out in Maryland.  While watching them grow and get into all sorts of trouble, Marco made his way into my heart and Polo demanded attention with Jennifer and Luis, her boyfriend at the time.  When we moved apart, Marco stayed with me and Polo moved with them.  Our babies are now 12 years old.  We also spent a lot of time at church, Bible studies, doing Sunday School services and munching at potluck.  I was her Matron of Honor for her wedding with Luis in December 2003 and did some of the wedding plans for her.  **Evil laughter**  It's her turn to return the favor!  ;-)

Morgan Conn, Honorary Bridesmaid.
~ Columbus, Ohio
My crazy little sister.  She's so darn cute as a mouse!  When I first met her, she was the cutest and most precious little baby I've ever seen with those oh-so-adorable curls and bright blue eyes!  Adorable or not, I was terrified of her.  Trust me, she's harmless.  It's that I was afraid of holding her and drop her, even hug her - she looked totally fragile like a porcelain doll - too perfect!  If I were to poke her in the arm, she would make a screaming fit and I'd have my ass beaten.  Now trouble is her middle name and she's a funny klutz.  Probably not as innocent as she seems to be (just kidding sis).  Although I am proud of her, she's all grown up and it's fun to converse in sign language when our mom has no idea what we're talking about.

Lisa Claridge-Barnhart, Bridesmaid.
~ St. Petersburg, Florida
During my time in Florida, I've known Lisa's husband, Matt for some time before Lisa came into the picture from Michigan.  She's such a little darling with a huge heart!  Always the right person to talk to whenever you need it and she gives the best hugs.  We had some crazy nights and partied like a rock star.  Whooooo!  Little did I know that she went to the same school with Josh up in Ida, Michigan - such a small world!  She did play cupid by encouraging Josh to take me out on a date - smart girl and I'm forever grateful to her.


Stefanie Kohler-Gensler, Bridesmaid.
~ Toledo, Ohio
Man...  What can I say?  We've been through thick and thin.  She's probably the sanest woman I know who tries to keep it together - when I need something, she's absolutely there to help.  She opened her home to me when I moved to Toledo.  Stef's beautiful smile and laughter lights up a room so bright you're gonna need sunglasses.  Having three intelligent kids and she's gorgeous as ever!  I'm proud of her for doing something for herself by taking up interest in photography and taking part time classes while being a full time mom.  Keep it up Stef!  You rock!


Jennifer Cameron, Bridesmaid.
~ Toledo, Ohio
Josh's baby sister.  Its fun to see the sibling rivalry is still there!  Not too long ago, I was picking on her by asking a bunch of questions and I was up to no good.  "What's your favorite TV show?  Who's your favorite actor?  What's your fave movie?  What's your favorite color?"  She was really annoyed and I swore I was gonna take a beating in the arm.  When she answered purple as her fave color, I said, "That's perfect!  It'll be a good fit for you."  Jen looked confused for a moment and I asked her to be in our wedding.  Her answer was, "WHAT?!?!"  Duh, I know she's not deaf!  Since she's "in" she got no idea what she signed up for. *Hee hee hee!!!*


Men of the groom...

Andrew Pease, Best Man.
~ Lambertville, MI
 My best friend, my evil pupil, my brother from another mother?  We have known each other since kindergarten.  As kids, we only lived less than a mile apart.   During our elementary school years, we got into loads of trouble.  I feel responsible for making him the mischievous, funniest, crazy person he is today.  (Okay, he is not crazy, just a boatload of fun!) After leaving Ida Elementary School around 1988, I lost all contact with everyone.  Even though I hadn't seen him after I moved away in middle school, we've been close no matter what.  When the prodigal son (me) returned to his roots in 2008 after what seemed like a 15-year "banishment", Andrew and I hit it off as if nothing had changed.  He's there for me when I needed a job, a place to stay, a gym and running partner or a wing man for total party-time!  As of the time of this post, Andrew is single.  To all the female wedding guests, beware, this guy is wickedly handsome and has a way of unintentionally putting you under a crush spell! :-D


Alex Northup, Honorary Groomsman
~ Maumee, Ohio
My big brother!  Believe it or not, he's the most sane, rationally-thinking family member I know.  Although, we had a big sibling rivalry as children, fought like it was World War III, the fighting ceased when he went on to high school.  Seeing his little brother getting bullied in school (we were just 3 years apart), he's manned up and been looking after number two (me) since.  He was there through all my worst times, through thick and thin. He's been one of my life mentors, along with his great wife (Joy) of 14 years leading by example.  Alex and Joy have two wonderful kids, and five furry "kids" as well, making him the "richest" man I know because he is rich in love!


Jeff Eischen,Jr., Groomsman
~Troy, MI
He's my other best friend, and like Andrew, very mischievous!  Known him since kindergarten, our parents were advocates for deaf rights.  He lived just a few miles down the road from my house as well.  Andrew, Jeff and I were like the rat pack in our elementary school days.  (The stories you may hear about our nutty and lewd behavior on the school bus...)  We were roommates during our college days and had some great times.  Jeff is married to a wonderful wife, Jamie Eischen.  His son was born in recently, in Fall of 2011, Jeff Eischen, III.  Look out for this tall, dashing dude, he's one of the smartest and funniest guys I know!


Chris Tiefel, Groomsman
~ Toledo, OH
Comedian, talking-head, intellect, extreme-gamer and beer connoisseur !  This infectious guy is hilarious once you get to know him.  I met Chris back in 2004 when I was doing contract work for his former employer, Ritter Associates.  He was my route manager and we first hit it off with instant messages.  After a handful of socials, many beers followed by forgotten rowdiness, Chris and I developed a bond that is everlasting.  One of Chris' qualities is he can really be loud.  I think he'd be perfect as the next Michael Buffer  (the famous ring announcer in boxing) because his voice can really carry over!  Ladies, this  PURE gentleman is SINGLE.  He can make you laugh and cry. (hint hint..)

Ben Ferris, Groomsman
~ Temperance, MI
This daredevil and big stud is our current roommate.  He's been a great friend that we got to know him well.  The picture to the left is an example of how funny Ben could be.  He had this huge Afro-like hair and decided to trim it off himself.  Elisha took a picture of him doing it!  We laughed until it hurt!  Ben is also one sneaky prankster.  When Andrew sent a hilarious prank letter to Ben's house, Ben investigated it for a bit. When he could not figure out who sent the prank letter, with a straight and serious face he told me the police were on the way over to arrest the guy with the fingerprints on the prank letter.  Concerned for Andrew, I confessed it to Ben and he gave off this huge grin!  Boy, was I duped!  If you ever try to prank Ben, be sure he does not have an opportunity to return the favor!  Ben is really smart, sometimes.. a lot smarter than me! But he has stubborn and stupid moments like being the daredevil and attempting dangerous stunts such as making flips and jumps while water skiing, BMX bike riding, crotch rocket or dirt bike riding.  He suffered plenty of injuries and he still thinks he is this invincible Evil Knievel!  Tsk tsk.  Please do  not attempt ANY stunts at my wedding....haha.


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