T Minus Five Days

Five days and counting. All the details are now coming together, thanks to my lovely wife to be (she's looking over my shoulder). I have a new suit, Nancy has a beautiful dress I have yet to see (though I'm told it's purple paisley), the cats have their tuxedos, and Max has a new catcher's mitt. Really, the rehearsal dinner is ready to go, we shopped and bought oodles of food for the party, and the flowers are being made by little children in a back room as we write this. My family starts to arrive tomorrow (yikes), and Nancy's on Thursday. We'll have pizza night Thursday and rehearsal on Friday. Nancy's interpretive dance is coming together well, though it seems a bit practiced now to be really interpretive. I have also finally nailed the cartwheels and front flips, which I will use to enter the sanctuary.

By the way, World Cup Soccer should be over on Saturday by the time the wedding starts, but small TVs are welcome if not, just mute them.

Write if you have any questions about directions, though we have a post on the blog that gives out directions from all ends of the earth.

PS: Did I mention we registered at REI?

Counting down the days...

We haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would write a little something. We are getting all the last details firmed up for the big event. I moved the more fun but less informative posts down to the bottom of the blog so that the important stuff (the map, the party details) are at the top. The RSVP cards are coming in, and we love getting them with your little notes on them! Greg still hasn't figured out what he's going to wear, but it looks like he's thinking about something like this:



Or maybe this:



Any thoughts?

Wedding Ceremony and Reception

Our wedding will take place on Saturday, July 1 at 4pm at Unity Church-Unitarian at 732 Holly Avenue in St. Paul. Following the ceremony in the main sanctuaryl, there will be a reception in the church hall.

When you arrive at the church, please use the entrance doors at Portland Avenue and Grotto Street. There is parking in the lot on St. Albans and Portland. Here's a helpful map.

Post-Reception Party!

Following the reception, there will be an informal gathering at our house at 659 Hague Avenue in St. Paul. Our house is just a few blocks from the church. Here's another helpful map.

Gifts and Donations

OK, we caved and registered. We were informed that, if we did not register, we would receive about three dozen wooden frames painted with the words "Love 4 Ever" in gold leaf. So, we considered registering at Volvo and CitiBank. Finally, we settled on Target, Crate and Barrel and REI.

Lest we be accused of rash consumerism, in lieu of a gifts we would love to hear of donations to some of these fine organizations:

1. Gesundheit Institute
2. Lymphoma Research Foundation
3. The Marrow Foundation, which supports the work of the National Marrow Donor Program.

And, there is the real and genuine option of nothing at all. Really. Greg won't show up at your door three weeks later, head tilted, saying "yo, like, what's up with the no gift deal."

Food and Comestibles

Nancy really really wanted to have Arby's cater the affair, largely because of the "five for five" deal and also because she's a big fan of Horsey Sauce. Plus, this was a locally owned business in Northfield. Alas, we settled for a small and snooty bistro five blocks from us in St. Paul, with some French sounding name like Bon Vie or something. Despite Nancy's predilection for curly fries and the Bacon Beef 'n Cheddar monstrich, we opted for Bon Vie and its caramelized onions. It was a bit more neutral, though the menu does have its own Arby's influence, such as "sliced beef tenderloin on spring greens with horseradish sauce, served on homemade buns." Seriously.

Here's the rest of the food, though we are working to get more vegetarian options:

Chicken satay on skewers with peanut sauce
Vegetarian stuffed mushrooms
Southwestern cheesecake served with blue chips
Caramelized onion & bacon tartlets
Shrimp cocktail with cocktail sauce and aoili
Vegetable crudite with bleu cheese dip
Caesar penne salad with fresh parmesan and homemade dressing
Smoked salmon platter (with red onion, hard-boiled eggs, capers)

We are still thinking about the cake(s). Visit the bakery site and let us know what cake/frosting combo you'd like.

Directions to Everything

Here's how to get to our wedding ceremony, from virtually anywhere in the world.

From Northfield, Minnesota: Take Highway 19 to Interstate 35. Follow I-35 North, taking the 35E split to St. Paul. Follow 35E to the Grand Avenue exit, which is Exit 106A. Stay in the left lane and turn left at the stoplight. Cross over 35E and proceed straight up the Summit Avenue hill. Turn left at the top of the hill, which will place you on Summit Avenue. The first light you will come to is Dale Street. Go past Dale Street two blocks to Grotto Street. Turn right and Unity Church is on the second block in, between Portland and Holly.

From Dallas, Texas. Take Highway 35 North about 906 miles to Exit 69, which is the turn-off for Northfield, Minnesota. Hitch a ride with the folks from Northfield coming up, or follow the directions they are following.

From Brisbane, Australia. Take the Southeastern Expressway across Captain Cook Bridge and past Vulture Street until you hit the Pacific Highway. Go about 50 miles --oops, 80 kilometers--to the Gold Coast. Hitch a ride on a sailing schooner going east, or charter a boat going in roughly an easterly direction--Whitsunday Yacht Charters is pretty decent. DO NOT go southwest, as you could end up going around the southern coast of Australia and then swept into the dangerous Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. Rather, travel by boat about 7,692 nautical miles--alright, alright, about 14,150 kilometers--through the Panama Canal, then turn left and go north up to the Port of Houston, about another 2,836 kilometers. Take a cab or train to the nearest Hertz location and then, with your rental car, travel north on I-45 to Dallas. From there, hook up with the Dallas folks or follow the Dallas directions. Round trip, this is about 34,000 kilometers, but well worth it.

From Chicago, Illinois. You gotta be kidding. Any right-minded person would take Amtrak, leaving Union Station at 2:15 p.m. and arriving St. Paul at 10:31 p.m., though knowing Amtrak it will get in around midnight. We'll pick you up.

From Martha's Vineyard. You know the drill. Take the Steamship Authority ferry to Woods Hole and charter a boat that can take you around the southern tip of Florida, then to the Port of Houston, where you can meet up with the Brisbane folks and go from there. Or, a simple Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole to Logan Airport to Minneapolis route. Either route is fine.

From Tulsa, Oklahoma. Isn't this near Dallas? Close enough. You've got two choices. Either drive west on I-44 to Oklahoma City, where I-44 meets I-35. Hang out on the overpass nearby and look for a dark sedan-like Hertz rental car with people from Brisbane and Martha's Vineyard inside. Hold a sign that says "Thompson Luce Wedding" and they will be looking for you. Hop in and follow the directions from Dallas. Or, drive north on Highway 169 to Kansas City and either meet the Dallas folks there or hop an Amtrak train to Chicago to meet the Chicago folks on Train 27, the Empire Builder going West.