(updated 7/31/08)

(NOTE: If folks are looking for something to do prior to the wedding ceremony, check out the Hamburg Fair)

Wedding Ceremony Our wedding ceremony is scheduled at 2:30pm on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (see some photos). The reverend Rebecca Crosby will be marrying us. The Church is a beautiful old wood building & we feel lucky that we’ll be married in such a pretty place. You can find more details about the Church and our reverend at http://www.fccol.org/

The Church is located at 2 Ferry Rd (on the corner of McCurdy Rd) in Old Lyme, CT.
See maps & directions for directions to the church. NOTE that MapQuest & other GPS systems don't really work to get you there. There is some glitch with the address. The arial view below shows the intersection where the church is located.

Immediately following the ceremony there will be a receiving line to say howdy to the bride, groom, and parents. Then guests will have a chance to throw stuff at the bride and groom as they descend the church steps and make their way to the reception.

The Fête (aka Reception)

We’re planning some fun stuff for the reception, which will be outside under a tent at Julie’s grandparents’ house (photos). We’ve tried to stay in the frame of planning a party – versus all of the formalities (and expenses) that quickly creep in when you mention the word "wedding." In fact, we're trying to completely change the frame of the reception to a fête. Fête is a French word meaning festival - usually an outdoor show held on the village greens with a variety of loosely organized activities (raffles, games, shows). It will be formal but fun - expect anything.

Timing: The reception will be immediately following the ceremony. The ceremony, receiving line, etc will probably end at about 3:45. We encourage you to head directly to the reception site from the church if you can. Although "official" start time is 5 pm, we'll have lemonade available, fun stuff all around (including Carriage Rides), and the bar will be open starting at around 4:30 pm. The wedding party and immediate family will have some quick portraits taken at Grassy Hill between the ceremony and the reception.

Location:
The beautiful estate at 359 Grassy Hill Rd., Lyme, CT (map of the house, map for Saturday)
We'll try to clean up the horse poo from the field prior to the party.

Activities & Booths:
We've got a big tent, a big yard, and a group of fun and creative people. The possibilities are endless! We’re planning on having booths and activities set-up to encourage our guests to mingle in fun ways. Inspired by Open Source and D.I.Y. trends, we encourage you to organize a booth or activity in collaboration with your friends and family!

To give you an idea of what this will look, smell, and feel like - here is a current list of the booths we think we might have. We're hoping this list grows if more people get involved.

• Wedding advice video booth - One beautiful tradition of weddings is the passing of well-wishes and advice from one generation to the next. We want to invite all of our guests to step up in front of the camera and bestow upon us those nuggets of wisdom that will get us through the rest of our lives together (feel free to do the jig too).
• Ye olde-timey portrait station - We'll have a camera set-up on a tripod with some backgrounds, props, and a box of costume knick-knacks. It won't quite as elaborate as those old-time photo booths you see - but should be fun. Feel free to bring a few items to contribute to the costume box.
• Real-time photo slideshow - we'll have a computer hooked up to a projector and a card reader. Upload photos, as the night progresses, to a running slideshow with images from the festivities. (As an added bonus, this will also make sure we get a copy of your images. And don't forget about the contest for the best crowd-sourced photo - see below).
• Collaborative art project - mural or painting.
• Guess the horse's weight.
• Make your own centerpiece.
• Arts and crafts station for the kids (ages 0-100).

How you can help! ...Get those creative juices flowing, give it some thought, and let us know if you have an idea for a booth that you'd like to set-up. (You could also volunteer to help with one of the booths listed above). You don't need to "man" the booth for the evening - unless you'd like to for part of it (during cocktail hour for example). The best booths are probably those that can be self-regulated. Let us know your idea, how much space you'll need, and if you need a table or any other basic set-up (email is best - adam.menter@gmail.com, julie.medina@gmail.com). If you'd prefer it to be a surprise, no need to tell us your exact plans.

Attire:
You only get so many times per year to dress-up! We encourage you to have fun with it and make sure your personality shows through. Spruce up your formal garb with some piece of personal flair (“you do want to express yourself, don’t you?” - Office Space). Feel free to wear your item of flair to the church if appropriate!

Entertainment:
So, bucking wedding conventions, we've decided to not go with a DJ and not to have a formal Emcee. We're hoping it doesn't lead to chaos, but we think that with such a great group of folks getting together to have a good time, there's not much that can go wrong! We'll be spinning the tunes we love on our iPod and we are having a bluegrass band and some olde fashioned New England contra-dancing/ square dancing. It should be a fun mixer.

The band is Amy Gallatin & Stillwaters. We were fortunate to get in-touch with Amy through several random connections with friends and neighbors. You can get a sneak preview of their music online at: their MySpace page and YouTube.

Catering:
We ARE going to have some amazing food. We've lived in San Francisco so long that we can't compromise on the wedding fare. While we were in Connecticut prior to the wedding, we tasted a lot of the food we'll be having and it was scrumptious. It will be served buffet style so you'll get a chance to sample everything. Among the goodness will be chicken, salmon, veggie-pasta, tuna & beef hors d'oeuvres, and assorted desserts. Let us know if you have any dietary restrictions. Of course there's, also going to be an open bar with beer and wine (and sangria!).

Photography:
We are having some photos taken before and during the ceremony and some portraits afterward - but we're not having the photographer stick around during the reception. We are, however, encouraging all of you to take some sweet photos for us. We're even going to have a contest for the best crowd-sourced photograph. We're all about creating innovative business models here - saving us some dough on the full photography rigamarole and encouraging all of you to have fun and be creative.