Save the Date (Almost)....

We have decided we are going with Marquette Mountain Ski Resort as our reception location (see previous post). We talked with Pastor Weber at Redeemer Lutheran Church this afternoon and will know in about a week if we can get married there. He has to speak with the Church Elders before we can say for sure. Pastor Weber has a conference to go to early next week but hopefully before next weekend we will have a date (finally!). It has been a long road to get to this point and we are so thankful that things seem to be finally working in our favor! The next post we'll announce the date for our wedding! Keep checking in!

Reception Site Inspection

The buffet and bar area.

Part of the reception area with a deck on the left side and the dance floor in the back.

Rest of the reception area with the gigantic wood beam that we will have
to find a way to work around. The head table is closest to the right.

Buffet Table: two lines and it takes around 25 minutes to get 150 people through.

Area behind the bar/buffet area for socializing.

Head Table: set for 18! Yikes!

There were four TVs around the room to use during the reception.

Ben and I went to our local ski resort, Marquette Mountain as a possible location for our reception. It was recommended by my co-worker because he had a great experience there when they got married. Overall, we were happy with it. There were a few issues that kind of bothered us but we'll work with it if needed be. There were two big wooden beams that made it difficult for everyone to see the head table. Also the chairs were quite small and plastic. They don't look very comfortable especially for the guests who may remain seated for most of the evening.

Some things we liked: we don't have to clean up! He will package everything up for us and we can pick it up on Monday. All we have to worry about is taking the gifts and the left-over food. In most cases we should be able to decorate the day before. So far only one date is chosen for the months of May and June which leaves a lot of options open. We can be penciled in for a date until we decide for sure if this is where we are going to hold the reception which is also a great option.

Overall, the guy who helped us was very accommodating. He made us feel that whatever we wanted to do he would find a way to make it work. He does alot of the work himself: cooks, set-up, take-down and helps us out during the decorating. We are going to do a little more researching and we'll let you all know soon what we decide!

Scene 2: Two most important questions of our lives!

A few weeks after we met Ben, his roommate and I went to a local "hotspot" called Little Presque Isle. We walked through Lake Superior to get to this island where the boys went cliff jumping. It was on the way back through the lake when I realized how much I liked Ben. I slipped on the rocks and Ben touched my back to balance me - needless to say I was filled with butterflies! It was this trip were Ben realized he liked me too! A few weeks passed and Ben asked me to be his girlfriend! Of course I said, yes! This question was such an important one but it doesn't top....


The BIG QUESTION!
Ben lived in Marquette this summer and I had to come up for the night to take an education exam at NMU. The night started off by hanging out in his room listening to music, I remember Ben playing this "great new song" with the line"I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night." Little did I know how good the night was going to be. Ben took me to HotPlate where we painted a mug and plate. Then out to eat at our favorite restaurant, Aubree's. Then we drove out to Little Presque Isle, "our spot." We explored a new part of the island and then I mentioned I was getting cold. We continued walking down the beach when all of a sudden Ben let go of my hand and stopped. When I turned around he was down on one knee sinking into the sand. He proposed with a ring box that he made out of the same material he used to make my jewlery box. After a few tears Ben asked me to marry him. More tears were shed all around and then I said yes! We spent some time together and watched the sunset at Presque Isle and then made a lot of phone calls to share the wonderful news! Now the fun of planning has begun!

Scene 1: The Meeting

I thought it would be fun to go into a bit of "our history," starting with how we met! I met Ben through his roommate. We were in a cluster of classes with the same classmates. There were about 15 of us who had every class together. We would all spend time together outside of class so when Ben's roommate told me he was going to be selling grilled cheese (a fundraiser) with his roommate I told him I'd stop by and visit them. He had been talking about his roommate, Ben, and how much he loved to watch the Tigers and eating oreos with peanut butter so I was interested to finally meet him. So my friend from high school and I wandered over to see the boys and to meet Ben. We planned on hanging out for a bit and keeping the boys company but that all changed!

My friend, Matt, and I each bought a grilled cheese from Ben's roommate. Then he introduced me to Ben. Ben was in charge of flipping the grilled cheese and he took about two seconds to look up and say hi. That's it! I was instantly left speechless (for anyone who knows me this is difficult to do). I got all tongue tied because Ben was so different then what I was expecting. The first thing I noticed was his pierced ears. What a surprise! Matt realized how nervous I got and made the move to say goodbye and walk away. So even though we planned on staying for awhile I had to leave. The whole way back to my dorm room we talked about Ben.

A few days later I received some treats from a family friend at home (Pat Wirtala) and I brought some over to Ben and his roommate. Instantly Ben and I struck up a conversation and it wasn't long until we found something we had in common, High School Stage Crew. We both could be found behind the scenes in our High School Plays. Ben did Peter Pan and I did West Side Story, South Pacific and Brigadoon. He then introduced me to peanut butter and oreos and the story only continues from there. We found ourselves spending every day together and staying up til 4am for numerous days in a row in order to be with each other.

Sharing the fun!

Since our families live so far from us we wanted to include them in all the fun that is taking place as we plan for our wedding! E-mails are great but this seemed like too much fun to pass up. We are looking forward to sharing all the details about our big day with our family and friends!