Rings!!!

By Aubrey

Two rings to rule them all

While it might not have had the reveal that Aubrey’s engagement ring did, Ryan found a wedding band! We shopped around and found the perfect ring. The sales  person was convinced Ryan’s name was Sean and completely got his ring size wrong. When we went to pick up the ring this weekend it slipped right off. After some adjustments though, it’s the perfect fit. Sorry Ry - you don’t get to wear it for another 2 months!

We’re working on the invites - be on the lookout!

East Coast showers and cake

By Ryan

Exactly 4 months before the wedding our BC family threw Aubrey another surprise shower. This one without the same glamorous make-up work. Instead I was lovingly decorated with the bows from all the generous gifts. You can see the shower and my final decorated state by clicking on the image below:

We also have other news that is closer to my heart, or to be more precise, stomach. We have found a bakery that doesn’t use any nuts. Blacker’s Bakery on Commonwealth Ave. will be making our wedding cake with my allergy and flavor needs in mind. I’ve lived most of my life in fear of cross-contamination at bakeries and restaurants, now I have no need to worry about the reception. And if their cake is anything like their cupcakes then I plan on being in a happy, frosting-induced coma by the end of the night.

Surprise!

By Aubrey

I went home to Seattle last week for the Our Lady of Guadalupe graduation, and it seems my family and friends had other plans! They threw me a surprise bridal shower! It was so nice to see everyone - two people came all the way from Spokane (that’s a 5 hour drive for those who are not familiar with West Coast travel), many OLG staff and two of my students were there, along with close family and friends. JoBear was there too! Not only did these loverly guests shower me with gifts, but they also gave me a makeover, complete with manicure, face makeup, and hairdo. Thank you…I think. To see more of the shenanigans, click here.

We also have an important addition to the wedding party - Aubrey and Ryan handmade by Emily. I only have one eye and Ryan has three, but keep in mind that I was her teacher in second grade. These two are awesome and will be given a place of honor at the wedding! Thanks Emily!

The Most Dapper Guys at the Wedding

By Aubrey

The Groomsgorilla and Bear of Honor

Since they have been such an important part of our lives, Andre (Ryan’s gorilla) and Orson (Aubrey’s teddy bear) will be carried down the aisle by our bear bearers (in lieu of flower girls). These two dapper guys are wearing custom barongs made in the Philippines (thanks to Margie). Barongs are the traditional formal wear in the Philippines. They are made of finely woven silk from banana leaves. The groom, groomsmen, the father of the bride, and Orson’s friend, JoBear, will be wearing barongs for the wedding - also custom made in the Philippines. Ryan will be wearing a barong made of Piña fabric, which is hand-loomed from pineapple leaf fibers. Since there are very few weavers in the Philippines, Piña fabric is used for only very formal occasions. Apparently the tailor had a difficult time making Andre’s barong, as not many have necks larger than their waists. He had to stay at the tailor for many adjustments.

Let’s hope these two dudes don’t take all the attention - which definitely won’t happen given our adorable bear bearers, Sofia and Frances.

Ryan’s Obsession on Every Table

By Ryan

Some of you may know that Ryan loves collecting film cameras. This addiction is fed quite nicely by Nanger’s estate/garage/yard sale prowess.  Here is a picture of the lot of them.

Ryan's many film Cameras

Not only does he have more film cameras than he possibly could use, but he also transforms the apartment bathroom into a black and white processing darkroom from time to time: rolling film onto reels in a dark bag and shaking his chemicals back and forth.

Some of these cameras are fun plastic toys that take multiple picrures on one frame, or professional level film cameras that cost an arm and a leg when they were state of the art. Now we’re putting them all to use. Not that we don’t trust our photographer, but we trust our guests to be there and click away at the right moment. So instead of going with the plastic disposable cameras everyone uses, and paying for all the processing, Ryan’s collection will be spread out on the tables and loaded with black and white film that he’ll develop and scan himself. We’ll get artistic picture goodness for a few cents worth of chemical a roll rather than sending them to a lab.

Some of the highlights for any camera junkies:
A YashicaMat 124 TLR loaded with medium format,
A Nikon N90s
A Lomo Oktomat that takes 8 shots on one frame
A Nikon N65 that Aubrey gave Ryan for Christmas
Cynthia’s Praktica Nova1B
A Yashica Electro35 rangefinder

Please take care of his cameras and have fun when you use them.

The Church

By Aubrey

One thing we haven’t told you about was actually one of the first decisions we made: the church. We debated for a while whether to have the wedding in Seattle or Boston, wanting the wedding at the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University or St. Ignatius Church at Boston College. Either way, St. Igy was going to be present.

We decided on Boston and discovered that you cannot plan a fall wedding at Boston College until the release of the football schedule…which isn’t released until April.  Yeah, we know. It does make sense though in a way - you don’t want tailgaters and people with paint all over their faces walking through your wedding pictures and it would be nice if people could actually get to the church and park. Still, this is a Jesuit university. You would think one of the seven holy sacraments would take precedence.

Stumped, we went to Father Joe, who will be marrying us and with whom I have worked since I started the program at BC. He suggested a church near the campus, Our Lady Help of Christians. It’s a beautiful church, despite the lack of St. Ignatius in its name. Right away there were two signs: when we walked in we were faced by the statue of St. Jude, one of Grandma Sullivan’s favorite saints, and at the front of the church is the statue of Mary that Grandpa Leo gave grandma when they were married. Plus, they were willing to let Father Joe preside over the wedding, so there will be a Jesuit present at the very least.

These photos were taken at 4 in the afternoon on a Friday, we entered through the rectory and there was no one there. Two sweet old ladies were confused about why there was no mass going on. “Are we late?” Actually the mass was the next day, on Saturday. “Oh, I should have known. I never get this good a parking spot.”