Wedding in 72 days

On July 25th, 2010 we are eloping in Las Vegas. Just a little ceremony and a nice honeymoon on the beaches of Orange County, CA. Second weddings, in my opinion shouldn't be a big production. We want to celebrate our family without punishing our friends by putting together a wedding in less than 3 months and expecting them to drop everything to be there. Here's the plan...

Tom divided up the responsibilities so we have a clear plan of action. He is in charge of travel, hotels and bikinis. I am in charge of the "ceremony and stuff."

Ceremony

Our wedding destination is the Seven Sisters in Valley of Fire state park. Princess couldn't fathom why we were not getting married in a church. I told her that millions of years ago that desert was part of the ocean. Over time it has seen all kinds of life, from dinosaurs and sharks to the bats and lizards that now call it home. All of those rocks were shaped over time and yet they still stand strong, just like Tom and myself. We've changed, adapted and we are stronger and smarter now than we were before. "Oh. Ok. Will you bring me back a rock?" she replied. And with that my wedding planner was on board with my idea.

I have the driver, photographer, videographer and minister lined up. I will have the video uploaded to the web within a couple of days so everyone can watch.

And stuff

With Princess's blessings, I have picked out a dress. I love this style and have ordered one in ivory. Hopefully it will be here by the end of the month so I can have any last minute alterations done when we have Tom's suit altered.

Yes, I realize that I would have to have at least two ribs removed in order to look that good, but fear not, I have been going to the gym 3 times a week.... and I photoshop.

Princess has been the BEST shopping guide ever. She was more than willing to give me her opinions and patiently waited while I tried a couple on. Then it was her turn.

And here is the flower girl dress she picked out. It is not by accident that her dress is similar to mine, hence the nickname "mini-me."

We've picked out the rings and are going to give them to the children for safe keeping until it is time for us to leave. They think it is so cool that they are the "guardians" of the rings. Let's hope that in their effort to protect the rings that they don't hide them where we can't find them.

Tom and I will also be presenting the kids with some gifts, small tokens to represent the new family we are forming. Princess and I are getting matching charm bracelets to mark the some of the milestones of our lives with room to celebrate those moments yet to come. We are not really sure what to get Prince. Tom is thinking maybe a ring since he was very drawn to one when we went ring shopping.

More stuff

The kids are going to stay in Memphis and as a special treat, we have Tom's niece, Kate, flying down in the middle of July. She will stay with us for a week so we can show her around Memphis and after this brief introduction it will be up to her to how she wants to blow out the last week of summer while we are gone. We've planned for trips to the pool, skate rink, park, movies, bowling and even the zoo. Trust me, living with Kate will be so cool that kids won't even notice that we're gone.

Even though we are eloping, we want this to be special for the kids, but they are not interested in standing around for a ceremony. They just want to party, so once we get back we are going to throw a small celebration at the house so the kids get to break the news to their friends. It's going to be a cross between "ya, my parents got married" and "the last weekend of summer extravaganza." The following weekend we are going to do some "family wedding portraits" because in our months of talking about this, we have discovered it's all about the pictures. The kids want to get really dressed up and have pictures with Tom and I in our wedding gear.

Slowly but surely everything is coming together.