Internet stalking? Or damn good planning? You be the judge! *smile*.

Comfy conversations on cabin weekends in New Hampshire quickly led to a 'trial' move-in with the cats to the condo and then a discussion of a ceremony in Spring 2012, which led to the 'we need to find a venue now because you are supposed to plan a year out!' discussion. Then, there was a frustrating few hours of searching the internet (really - someone needs to develop a database system where you enter your variables and it spits out appropriate sites - it's a business plan!). By happenstance, we were rock climbing at Redrock on Cape Ann that weekend and we were like, 'huh, we both like Cape Ann, and we could search for Cape Ann wedding sites', which led us here. A quick perusal, a phone call or two, and a conversation later, we had a site visit the next day (the week before Daniele presented to the Secretary General of the UN) and fell in love at first site! We're not sure if it was the egg-olive penquins, the cheese sculpture of the piano, or really just the incredible warmth of the staff and the lovely environment. After some hemming and hawing and realizing the venue didn't open in early spring (and talking to a wedding planner), the venue suggested October 2011, and we said 'huh, that is soon but that would work!' and told our families in short order and reserved our date. Then we said 'huh, we should organize save-the-date and this website'. And Voila, here we are!

I (Daniele) have to say that January 12th, 2010 and January 12th, 2011 rocked my world in *very* different ways, and I'm grateful to the universe for the wonderful side of the coin to balance the more painful side of that coin.

How do we RSVP?

Well, when we're less insane (really, that will never happen, but it will make it to the top of the to-do list), we'll send out real invites. Feel free to make our lives easier, and send an email to danieleandjeremy@earthlink.net now with the number estimated attending (or not - we understand busy lives!). Please see if you have rugrats and want to RSVP.

 

 

How did he ask her?

So, being the engineers we are, we had pretty much the whole thing planned out and in an Excel spreadsheet and the deposit paid before we got around the asking part. Somehow, we wanted to be traditional here (??) and so Jeremy wanted to do the asking and make it a surprise, so Daniele turned her brain off (it is possible) and just chilled out (that is possible too, although rare). So, time passes.. plans are made, save-the-date cards are prepared, and Daniele returns from a week in Haiti. She is *never* happy after transit back from Haiti - the whole day was roughly spent in bitching and moaning 'I hate transiting in Miami', 'I hate spoiled Americans', 'I got up at 4 am from my hotel the USG rented me that should have rented by the hour I paid too my money for and there were condom wrappers on the ground when I left', 'I hate Miami', 'Why am I flying American instead of Delta', 'I stink and I'm tired and I have bleach on my clothes from water quality testing and they are all stained'. Jeremy lovingly picked her up from Logan in Boston as she did this litany, and said 'What do you need?'. And she said 'food, shower, and cuddles - not sure what order'. It was determined sushi and wine first, which made her less crazy. Then she walked into the house and at the top of the stairs there was a row of rose petals on the floor, and a dozen roses on the table, a the house was spotless. Jeremy then got down on one knee at the top of the stairs. Being the not-unsmart girl that she is, Daniele immediately figured out what was going on, and her mood might have brightened a touch. He then said all sorts of romantic things about why he likes her (which didn't include she was smelly, grouchy, and full of bleach stains, but did include such things as funny, sweet, dirty, sarcastic, whip-smart, beautiful, silly, gave him lots of crap, watched his back, and was always good to him). Daniele, being much less eloquent than him, could only repeat (in her stinky bleach-stained way) Yes! Yes! Yes, yes,yes! And then there was just a bit of smooching. ;-)

 

 

Is he taking her name?

So, Jeremy has an established career, and a name that is known in the robotics world, and really, it would be hard for him to change from Jeremy Brown to Jeremy Lantagne (which sounds kinda weird anyhow, really, don't you think?). So we've talked about it, and thought, and really done a lot of deep soul searching on this issue, and decided to buck tradition (I know, different than the proposal thing) and well, he has decided, and I hope you're all OK with this, to keep his own name. The jury is still out on the name for (any potential) rugrats. Lantagne-Brown and Brown-Lantagne are OUT. But Lanbro? Eh. Brolan? Eh. We're thinking on it. Ideas/comments/opinions/teasing welcome.

 

 

Where are you registered and what should we bring?

Thank you so much, but, please, no thank you. We are requesting, kindly, no gifts - your presence is truly presents enough. In any case, have you seen our condo? It's 755 square feet (for the cats - Ruffner and Ajax), 555 square feet (for Daniele), and well, substantially smaller than that for Jeremy. But it has a fabulous back deck, from which we took our lovely save-the-date photo at the bottom in front of the crabapple tree (while Daniele was standing on a milk crate to even out the height - did your really think she was that tall, because she isn't! *smile*).

But please bring yourselves, of course! And musical instruments, if you are so inclined, to play at the fire pit after the reception ends.

 

 

What should we wear?

So we're getting married on October 22nd, in Massachusetts, near the ocean. Theoretically, this will be an idyllic fall day full of sun and ocean breezes and lovely fall foliage. But it's also New England, which means it could be scortching hot or we could have a freak snowstorm. The ceremony (except in dire circumstances) will be outdoors, so dress for the weather! Really, we're not formal. So this isn't black tie. Think 'wedding comfy' - which clearly should be an offical designation, but we're winging it here. The reception will be in a heated (if needed) or vented (if needed) tent - so bring comfy clothes for dancing and eating s'mores by the fire!

 

 

Are children welcome?

Yes! If we invited you, take it for granted that we invited your rugrats too. However, we need some information from you all (for our catering and babysitting service). We need to segment the rugrats into groups, including: 1) rugrats needing babysitting service (on-site in a lovely room); and, 2) rugrats who will eat at the reception. If you would like babysitting, please note the ages of the children on the RSVP card you'll get in the mail with the invite (when we get around to that!). If you would like your rugrat(s) at the reception, please just tell us how many 2-10 year olds will be eating with us (on that same RSVP card). Over 10 year olds please count as adults, and under 2's get a free pass! Yes, rugrats can both be babysat and at the reception. And a prize goes to the family who does the best matrix algebra on their RSVP card to explain all this!

 

 

What are you doing for your honeymoon?

We are planning to take our honeymoon on our one-year anniversary, destination to be determined. What this means is, we'll be around a few days before and after the wedding, and would love to see people.