Boston Massachusetts, October 17th 2009
By Ryan
After negotiating rush hour traffic to get to the Arlington City Clerk’s Office after work, we can now be married in the eyes of Massachusetts. That’s right, a piece of paper has been stamped and cleared by a state official and we are good to go! The clerk even drew a tiny heart on the receipt and wished us luck.
There were 2 other couples applying for their licenses because Arlington licenses cost $30. It is $50 in Boston and $35 in Brookline. There are rumors of a town in Massachusetts where it only costs $4, but we couldn’t find it. It also seemed appropriate to get the license where we were holding the reception.
Check out the Sights to See for some updates on things to do while in the Boston area and the Directions link to get info on where the ceremony and reception are being held.
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!
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.
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!
By Aubrey
Look at these handsome guys!!!
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.
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.
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.”
By Ryan
So the search for a caterer is over and it is just nice to check things off of the list of things to do and decisions to make. We have gone with a caterer from Worcester County, bringing a little bit of hometown cooking to the reception in a couple of ways. For those that don’t know, Ryan grew up in Worcester, the second largest city in New England. It is just 40 minutes outside of Boston, the home of Holy Cross College and where every true train diner car was manufactured.
Pepper’s Fine Food Catering made a lechon kawali that actually had Nanger and Margie and me talking about it long after the tasting. Their interpretation of Filipino food recipes which we provided them is sublime! It was obvious that they not only enjoy catering, but enjoy the creative aspects of making incredible food.
Crispy skin, and melt in your mouth tenderness served with a sweet and sour banana ketchup and a banana and sweet-potato mash. I wanted to ask for seconds at the tasting. 
They were one of the few that took my food allergies seriously. One caterer we were almost ready to go with, kept putting peanuts, fresh-water fish, and peas onto their menu. We gave them a chance to revise it in case it was an honest mistake and they replaced it with a different freshwater fish, nut and kept the peas. Is it that difficult to not poison the groom?!?
I’m really looking forward to introducing everyone to the lumpia shanghai, the pancit bihon and the other delicious Pepper’s dishes. Anyone have any special requests?
By Ryan
Welcome all Save the Date visitors! Kamusta? Join the Discussion Board and drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you. Here’s a sneak peek at the place where we will be partying the night away. After searching for the right place, we found that the least expensive one was actually our favorite.
Welcome to the Arlington Town Hall. It is 20 minutes away from the church and has an amazing great hall. (where people vote and hold town meetings) There is a garden and fountain outside and a cool old “hearing room” and balcony upstairs where people can watch the dance floor from a safe distance.
Aubrey’s friend Anne actually found the place for us, after we all vented about how difficult it was to find an inexpensive but nice reception venue that wasn’t a sterile and impersonal wedding factory. We walked in and Patsy gave us a tour and Aubrey and I looked at each other with the “I think this is the place look.” Tell us what you think. I personally like the old Victorian guy with a top hat in the hearing room.
By Ryan
It was Aubrey’s birthday and instead of making the typical cake I decided to make things a little more personal. Grandpa Scheopner used to call them his “fat pills” and Grandma Sullivan always used to have them at her house. Maple Bars apparently can be found easily at your local Safeway, but not so easily here in the North East. I went to google and found out that in the east they are called maple “long johns.” To me “long johns” meant thermal underwear, and while enough maple bars can keep you warm on an autumn night, I was unable to even find a maple “long john” anywhere nearby. Vermont, the land of maple syrup just to the north, didn’t have any.
The only thing left to do was bake them myself. The frosting was too thin, but still tasted amazing. Happy Birthday sweetie, I hope you enjoyed your “cake.”
We are getting married in the fall of 2009 and are very excited. Thank you for visiting.
