The Wedding Plans

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The Wedding Plans

Location: The wedding is on Oct. 3, 1998 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Patrick's Church in Colona, IL. The has been the Farrell family parish since our arrival in Geneseo when Cynthia was 5.

Rehearsal Dinner: The rehearsal dinner will be held at The Rustic Inn in a small town northeast of the cities - I'm drawing a blank on the name at the moment!

Bridal Gown: Cynthia's gown is an Alfred Angelo, A-line dress in ivory, with beading on the top half of the dress only. We got a great deal on the dress at Amy's Bridal Shop in Bloomington, MN. Click here to view the dress.

Bridesmaid Dresses: The dresses are made by Jordan. They're straight with a slit up the side, and have a taffeta drape off of each shoulder that ties in a half tie at the base of the back to flow down the middle of the lower half of the dress. The dresses, which will be in plum, were also ordered from Amy's Bridal.

Tuxes: We will be going with Skeffington's in Davenport, IA. We haven't decided on the tux yet, but have it narrowed down to a double-brested shawl, or a four-button duster. Everyone will be wearing vests, with the groomsmen in a lavender and black paisley pattern (it looks really cool), George in the same pattern but all ivory, and the dads in the same pattern but all black. Shirts will be in ivory, with an overlapping color with a large stud, rather than a tie.

Colors: Colors for the wedding are PLUM and ivory.

Flowers: Beth Magnuson will be doing the flowers, and she does incredible work. All of the flowers will be dried, and incorporated with grains such as wheat. The altar pieces will be in a vase made out of a birch tree trunk with a huge grapevine handle. The bride's bouquet will be mainly shades of plum, and fall in a cascading teardrop shape from waist to knee. The bridesmaid's bouquets will be mainly ivory shades, and be in a teardrop shape about 8 inches long.

Service Music: I have NO clue what to go with for the processional and recessional. My choir recently sang a great version of the Bach hymn "Now Thank We All Our God," with organ, which I think would be great for the recessional with a trumpet on the melody. Now to find a trumpeter... I'm also thinking about Canon in D for the processional. A good high school friend, Jami Green, will be playing clarinet before, during and after the ceremony. Two of the bridesmaids, the Erins, will be singing: one Ave Maria, and another a piece in French by Fauré.

Photographer: Our photographer is Robin Gary Photography in Moline, IL. We were VERY impressed with their photographs, and they were the only folks we had a good feeling about.

Reception: The reception is at Tanglewood Hall in Bettendorf, Iowa. Tanglewood was built by a man who couldn't find a decent hall for his daughter's reception... so he built one. Drinks start at 5 p.m., with dinner hopefully starting at 6 p.m., and the dance starting around 7:30. We have no idea what will be on the menu yet, but there WILL be an open bar with free beer and wine.

Reception Music: Music will be provided by Brian El Productions. I've been very impressed with the conversations myself and my parents have had with Brian so far. Our music will be a little unique: BoDeans and the like. The only "silly" piece we're having (so NO dollar dance, hokey-pokey) is the chicken dance for my dad. We're hoping to also get in some Irish tunes, older music from the 1st half of the century, and a little Bob Marley for those who like the Jamaican tunes!

Cake: Bonnie Myers will be making the cake, which I chose over Christmas. It will have four layers, with our anniversary layer and the main layer marble cake, one layer chocolate, and one layer white. The frosting is very classy and white with pearl beading. Inbetween the two lowest layers, which will be separated by pillars, will be a floral piece to go with the wedding flowers. George also wants an ice cream cake, so that will probably be the groom's cake.