This is the 70th post I have posted since our engagement. Fittingly, this is our last post before the wedding.

I've included our most important blog postings below in case you missed a few. Enjoy!

Our Engagement Story

About my heirloom ring

Our reception site, The Hartness House Inn

Our ceremony site, The First Unitarian Parish of Chester

About our Wedding Party, Clayton and Kimberly

About gown shopping

About our florist and flowers

About the Chalice I made for our UU wedding ceremony

About our Hymn, "Let It Be A Dance"

About our honeymoon plans to Greece click here and here.

About our engagement photos


Thank all of you for being a part of our lovely union!

Love, Denise and Christopher

With just four days to go, I wanted to share a bit more about Chester.

The Chester Town hosts a fairly informative (but rarely updated) town site. Visit it here.

A good local spot is MacLaomainn's Scottish Pub. Alan, the owner, appears to be legitimately Scottish with a brogue. They have great beer and cider on tap, indoor/outdoor dining, an a friendly multi-generational atmosphere. You can read a review here.

"The Pub" is easy to find on Chester's Main Street, located near St. Joseph's Catholic Church. St. Joe's has a 10:30am Sunday Mass.

If you'd rather attend a Unitarian Universalist service, our church service begins at the First Unitarian Parish of Chester 9:30am. Chris will be attending the service, and I am sure he'd welcome the company :)

The Heritage Bakery and Deli, on Rt. 103, is a bit pricey... but they do have scrumptious baked goods and good coffee. Their website is here.

My Dad has requested information for the "best local bookstore." My favorite is Misty Valley Books, located right on the Chester Town Green. The Green has great shopping, including a wonderful celtic silver and giftshop and two bookstores. Misty Valley is the larger of the two locally owned shops. Their hours are Saturday 10 am -5 pm and Sunday 11 am - 4 pm. Their website is here.

A quick drive away, Springfield has the best local diner. The Springfield Royal Diner is a tasty spot, but Chris and I can only vouch for breakfast. They have a good, quick breakfast... including a mostly authentic biscuits and gravy. Chris enjoys their feta and spinach omlettes. You can view their menu and hours here.

Springfield also has a few tasty pizzareias. If you want a hearty meal, however, we'd direct you to Penelope's and McKinley's. On Main Street, they have recently opened after a devastating fire. Penelope's (upstairs) and McKinley's (the pub downstairs) are both local favorites. We'd advise you to avoid the 56 Main Street restaurant; they are tasty, but overpriced.

Most of the larger restaurants, chain shopping, and 24-hour pharmacies are located a thirty minute ride away in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. West Leb, a quick drive from our apartment, is a tax-free shopping oasis. It is a bit of an industrial eyesore, but well appreciated and useful.

Any other destinations you'd like to learn more about? Let us know!

In case you do not know the Italian,

"Wet Bride, Lucky Bride."

In Spanish, "Novia Mojada, Dicha Asegurada." In French, "Mariage Pluvieux, Mariage Heureux."

I'm not sure if you have seen the forcast for next weekend, but all of New England should be in for some rain. Well, a lot of rain.

According to tradition, I could pray to St. Clare to avoid the rain. Give one dozen fresh eggs to a local convent and pray the day away. Or, alternately, I could hang a rosary outside of my bedroom window to avoid a downpour. I do not mind rain, though. :)

Really, I like to believe in the "good oman" of a rainy wedding: good crops and healthy children.

In light of the current weather reports, I offer the following update on our Dress Code:

Please remember to bring an umbrella. Perhaps we should plan on packing solid shoes.

Hello again!

I've had a few family members ask about our dress code.

Our wedding dress code is non-existent. We welcome our friends and family to be comfortable.

I assume many of our guests will be wearing what is apparently now known as "Wedding Casual." Dressy, but not draped in emeralds. I sort of think of "Wedding Casual" as "Nice Sunday Church Clothing." Slacks, ties, jackets. Suits, skirts, or sweaters.

Our evenings have been quite chilly, and all guests should bring a sweater or a jacket. Sunday afternoons, even if sunny, can be quite breezy in late September. I am sure the weather will be cold after the reception.

Eight days until our ceremony, and six days until some of our family and friends arrive in Vermont!

We had our final meeting with our Pastor, Telos, last night. Our ceremony is finished. Yippie!

Chris and I have begun to finalize those little details.

He is picking out his outfit for the Rehearsal Dinner and looking through the hundred ties he owns to select two for the "wedding weekend." I am not exaggerating. He owns over a hundred ties, compliments of a fantastic Christmas present last year :) He is confident one of them must match.

I've been coordinating the last few phone calls, checks, and delivery details. With the exception of a few manageable tasks, we are almost done. I have a few phone calls still to make tonight, a few plans to drop off at the Hartness House, and a few friends to call back and shower with love for their support.

I am so very thankful to our family and friends for helping us to have what will be a very lovely, very fun wedding shindig.

Typically, autumn in Vermont breaks around my birthday. Our weather this summer is making our "fall foliage" progression a bit wonky. We may not be even in "early color" during the wedding. Once the color does break we will have very intense reds and oranges in our maples due to our rainy summer. We're going to have one heck of a pretty October.

I only learned recently why the leaves change colors. I did know this phenomena brings thousands of tourists to New England each fall. In case you are curious too, I've found this page from the Weather Channel. It explains the science behind fall foliage.

Kindergartners in Vermont learn about maple trees, the process of "tapping maples," and the fact that leaves change colors. It is in our educational state standards!

I hope a few trees will have burst into their fall colors for our wedding weekend.

Today I went to visit our friendly neighborhood florist, Morgan from Valley Flower Company, to turn in our last payment. Did I mention her shop is lovely? Flowers everywhere, the room smells wonderful, and she has great funky gifts in her shop.

You can peek at her designs at her blog, here. She has great photos from her summer weddings!

Chris's boutonniere will be something funky, too. It's going to have a fabric leaf, maybe like the ones below, and great non-floral elements. He could not imagine wearing a rose and I do not blame him. While his boutonniere is geometric, the Kim and I have more traditional arrangements. Kim's bouquet and my bouquet will be put in little vases I bought so they can double as arrangements during the reception.

We had a very successful "crafting weekend."

Chris was very good moral support and even wielded a corner rounder to help; Marsha and Don were excellent company, kept us laughing, and made delicious munchies.

We made signs for the ceremony and reception, 2/3 of our wedding programs, little "reserved" ribbon cards for our immediate family, and other assorted craftiness.

A bit of a preview:

Oh, the time is ticking away!

Chris and I peeked in the mail today and, to our surprise, our rings arrived on the same day!

You see, Chris' ring was made in Ohio... and my ring was made in Ireland. We could not believe they arrived together. Chris was particularly excited; he has never owned a ring, and he wanted to check that it fit! We kept them on long enough so we could make sure they were comfortable.

I had the inside of Chris' ring engraved. He tried his best not to peek...

We snapped two photos to share!

I purchased Christopher's wedding band from an craftsman named Andros.
We found him through the online marketplace Etsy. Etsy allows us to purchase handmade and handcrafted goods. It is like an enormous, online farmer's market.

Andros has created videos of him creating silver and gold rings. Chris was impressed with Andros' transparency as an artist and his skill. He makes all of his rings as custom orders.

If you'd like to see Andros' blog--and videos of him creating gorgeous rings--check out his blog.
You can see his shop--and browse his rings for sale--at his Etsy shop.

Chris decided the only thing he wants at our wedding is a candy buffet. Yum!



Oh, and he also wants a wedding ceremony. That is a vital component.

Ours will not be so... opulent... but ours will be tasty!

We stayed with Mark and Margaret at Days' Cottages over Labor Day Weekend in North Truro, Cape Cod. I absolutely understand why four generations of Warrens have stayed in those cottages!

The cottages--petite, charming 1950s anachronisms--are directly on the beach. North Truro is just four miles from downtown Provincetown, and the "Ocean side" is just a short bike ride away.

We spent our time catching up Mark and Margaret, playing with Benjamin, and relaxing. We've had a fairly stressful week*, and Chris needed to spend some time building sand castles with Benjamin, taking out the canoe, and wandering around Ptown.


I got a particular kick out of the fact that their cabin was called "Dahlia." As I've already blogged, I simply adore Dahlias. Chris thought that we may stay in that cabin, and he got a kick out of the coincidence as well.

We had a wonderful two days at Cape Cod. I've never been to Cape Cod and, much to my chagrin, I enjoy the beach at Cape Cod more than the Jersey Shore. The Shore is loud and crowded. It can, at times, be dirty. While the sand at Cape Cod is very coarse and pebbly, the beaches--even in Provincetown on a holiday weekend--are quiet, pristine, and calm. Also, there are SEALS. How cool is that?

We had to return on Monday to resume our daily lives, but I absolutely understand Christopher's Grammie and Grampie's love for Cape Cod. At their recent 50th Anniversary party, Christopher's aunt Denise crafted the most lovely centerpieces. She made mini cottages, painted to look like Days' Cottages, and paired them with crafted beach-themed candles. Cute!

*understatement of the year

It is 23 days, 19 hours, 48 minutes and 24 seconds until Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 3:30:00 PM (Montpelier time).

And we are absolutely feeling it! 23 days until the ceremony begins, and 21 days until family begins to arrive in Springfield!

EEEP! So much still to do!

I went for my hair trial last Sunday afternoon. Kim and Marsha came with me for moral support and to make sure I did not walk out of the salon looking like I belonged in the broadway show "Rock of Ages."

Jenn, the stylist, was a wizard. She turned my mostly unmanageable poofy hair into pretty, polished, soft curls.

I did, however, learn something very important during the trial. I thought I was just going to be able to see what my hair would look like... but I learned to take my delicate skin seriously. Allergies are serious business.

At the last moment, she sprayed me with her long-lasting hairspray... and I got hives. Weird, long-lasting, puffy hives on my cheeks from where the spray had landed.

I am so very thankful we learned this during the trial... and not on the actual wedding day. It's an easy solution--I'll just bring my own hairspray--but still, pretty funny in retrospect.

I am succumbing to a recent "bridal fad" to complete the hairstyle. A few decades ago, brides wore tiaras to accent their hairstyle. And then, large ornate hair bands. And then, a few years ago, they wore ornate hairpins. Last year, they wore 1920s "hair fascinators" and bird-cage veils. Recently, the fad has been the "big arse hair flower."

Our wedding is heavily featuring dahlias. They are my most favorite flower. We're having a single large dahlia decorate our otherwise simple buttercream cakes, and both Kim and I will have them in our bouquets.

I found an artist, through www.etsy.com, and she makes custom clay dahlia hair clips. She makes each petal by hand, without using a cookie cutter, and carefully textures, tints, and assembles the flower petal by petal. The dahlias for the hair clips contain 102+ petals... she stopped counting after she got to 102. They are lightweight, will never wilt in the Vermont humidity, and are extremely affordable.



She makes each dahlia by hand for each client; my flower will be white with a light pink center. She is so very good at her craft: I cannot even tell this is a fake flower! After the wedding, I'll be able to capitalize on the fad and sell it quickly through a second-hand bridal site, like BravoBride.

I'm sure you know the rest. :)

I want to share with you what I've gathered to participate in this old tradition.

Something Old
I have a silver claddagh anklet. My mother gave it to me when I was a teenager.

The claddagh is a powerful Irish symbol of love and friendship. In case you are not familiar with the story, I'll include the symbols and interpretation. According to IrishNation.com:

"The Claddagh Ring originated in the Claddagh fishing village near Galway City in the West of Ireland. The ring shows two hands (representing friendship) presenting a heart (representing love) adorned by a crown (representing loyalty) and it is thus the traditional Irish wedding band.

The motto associated with the ring is 'Let love and friendship reign'. "

I have always loved the symbolism of the Claddagh. I wear a silver Claddagh band as my "daily" engagement ring, so I do not harm the family ring Chris gave to me for our engagement.

Something New

Chris has told me, with a grin, that he has bought me a piece of jewelry as a birthday present. He wants me to wear it during the wedding. I've gathered that this is a necklace--because I am unable to wear most earrings--and assured that it will be "wedding appropriate." He told me he even tried the necklace on... to make sure it was the proper length. What a sweetheart!

Something Borrowed

I'm not sure what to borrow... or from whom!

Would you like to lend me something to wear during the wedding ceremony... or something I can sew into the seams of my dress? Please let me know :)

Also, I need to find a sixpence...

Something Blue

While I'm not a fan of the concept of the "garter toss," I did decide to go with tradition and wear a garter. I'll will be wearing the garter shown above. It is accented with pale blue... the same pale blue as included with our wedding invitations.

Where did the "bride's good fortune" rhyme originate?

The best answer I could find was from Ask.com:

"As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted, and many companies sell keepsake sixpences for weddings."