An Actual Wedding

Just when all this planning is threatening to consume our lives, it's nice to attend someone else's wedding. It reminds you that at some point all of these preacher visits, dress fittings, bow-tie-ordering phone calls and everything else will result in an actual wedding, where two people look really happy and everyone else cries because they're so happy the couple is happy. In this case, we took a trip up to Cape Cod to see Ben's old BrightHouse friend Matt get married in a lovely beachfront ceremony. 

At the airport, we made a last-minute decision to upgrade our rental car to a convertible Mini. Here, Eliza takes her turn. (The phrase "unsafe at any speed" comes to mind for some reason.)

The thing to eat in that part of the country is the lobster roll. Here we had a pretty good one.

But even better, dinner came with a free mug. Those New Englanders sure know how to treat an out-of-towner!

The mug fit snugly in the capacious trunk of our Mini.
Here we are just before the ceremony. Thanks to Eliza's mom for the blue tie she brought back from Italy. Those Italians sure know a thing or two about dressing sharp!

The happy couple, Matt and Steph.

Matt and Ben reminisce about the good old days. Ahh, simpler times.

We were very happy to catch up with a bunch of old Atlanta friends, including Amanda here, who apparently knew the lyrics to this particular number. Sing it Amanda! (That's Eliza down in the bottom left corner. You can't see it in this photo, but she was barefoot... Like a common hippie! And in such a classy place. Oh, the shame!)

July 4th Engagement Party

On July 4th weekend, Ben's parents gave us an engagement party in Fairfax. Eliza's parents and all of Ben's brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews made the trip up for the party. The weekend was a lot of fun. Ben's parents went all out, and we're very thankful for all of the work they put into the weekend. In fact, it would really be more accurate to say they threw us three parties: a July 4 burger grill-out, the actual engagement party, and a Sunday brunch.

Ben's newest nephew Clyde had a great time showing off his many skills for the family. Here he is doing a furniture inspection, watched over by Ben's dad.

Here he is showing Eliza how to open a box.

Lunch time.

Laughing with his dad-- Ben's brother Jon.

Here we are helping Mom and Dad with some last-minute shopping for the various feasts of the weekend. Don't just stand there, Eliza! Grab a tomato or something. Jeez!
One of Clyde's favorite activities is grabbing doorknobs. That's his mom Karen to the right.
This is one of our favorite shots of Clyde.

These doors are more your size, Clyde.
Here's Clyde showing us where his eyes are. (Just after this, he tried to crawl away while still covering the eyes. Didn't work out so well.)
Clyde and Karen.
Eliza helping prep the flowers.
Can't remember what Clyde was eating here. Looks like a pie crust or rocks or something like that. Bon appetit!
Ben showing off his "Texas for Obama" t-shirt.
Ben hoisting Clyde, and Clyde's not so sure about this move.
Doorknobs!
Doing some push-ups in preparation for the party.
This is where the actual party photos begin. Here's Eliza with her little friend Jessica, who lives in Bethesda.
Custom napkins. How could you have a party without these? Eliza was very excited.
Ben's dad in the middle of all the action.
Ben's nephew Miles giving Ben the stink-eye, with Lewis in the background.
Our neighbor Mr. Koplan, Eliza's dad, Ben's nephew Lewis and Ben's brother Billy manning the grill.
Ben's mom tells the camera to "talk to the hand" while she chats with Eliza's parents. She's become quite sassy since retiring.
Ben with his brothers Chris and Jon, all eating. Budding pyromaniac Lewis gets his hands on some sparklers.

Eliza helps with the cake.
Lewis and Miles share a brotherly moment. That's their mom Kathy in the back talking to Ben's mom's friend, Mrs. Jordan. On the far right is her husband, who Ben mainly knew as Santa Claus growing up. (He was very convicing.) Lewis looks on and samples the goods.

The next day, before dropping off Eliza's parents at National airport we stopped by the World War II memorial downtown, which overlooks (or maybe underlooks?) the Washington Monument.
It was pretty darn hot, so Patricia wisely cooled off in the pool.

Far Out

We thought Austin was supposed to be a slacker town.

This morning, we showed up at the Austin Motel at 8:30 to book our room block there for our more adventurous and/or budget-conscious wedding guests. (They only reserve blocks three months in advance.) We thought we were on the ball, arriving a half hour before they started booking room blocks, but there were already six people there waiting! We overheard one bride-to-be say that she had been there since 5:30. Apparently, some of these Austin slackers own alarm clocks.

Fortunately, we were smart and chose a non-football weekend for our wedding (unless you're a fan of Florida or Georgia-- sorry Todd and Amanda), so we were actually the first people there to book for our particular weekend.

While we waited for our turn, we got some delicious iced coffee from Jo's while Eliza planned out which particular rooms we wanted for our block.

While we were waiting in the motel lobby, we envied their well-rested cat.


Check out the "travel" page of our wedding web site for details on booking a room at the Austin Motel.

Hippie Hollow

There are some images you cannot shake from your mind no matter how hard you try. Today we visited Hippie Hollow, a clothing optional enclave on Lake Travis. Eliza's Statesboro friends Adam and Jon, Adam's wife Lauren, and Jon's roommate Tara convinced us that Hippie Hollow is the most beautiful spot on Lake Travis. They were right, the lake was gorgeous, but some of the other scenery will be forever seared into our memories, for better or for worse.

Afterwards, we had some dinner at the Iguana Grill.

Practice Round

Today, Ben had a trial bachelor party on Lake Travis. His friends Rob and Patrick were in town for another friend's bachelor party, and Ben joined the festivities for a day on the lake. Ben will surely be well-prepared for his own bachelor party later this summer.

Meanwhile, Eliza practiced hair and makeup and tried on her dress and veil. It all went splendidly. Eliza's genius seamstress, Laura, was even able to alter Eliza's mother's wedding veil so that it will work perfectly with Eliza's dress (which actually belongs to Eliza's friend Young who was married two years ago).

"Borrowed" and "old" are covered.

Get ready for... LINENS!

This was surely one of the more exciting parts of planning the wedding: renting linens. But we got it done.

Here's Eliza perusing the options.

Ben couldn't get enough! 
More excitement: the chair selection.

Hamilton Pool

We had some visitors this weekend. Eliza's friend Melinda, Melinda's boyfriend Mike and some of their friends drove from Nederland to Austin to see a band called Firewater at Emo's. On Friday, Mike (who used to live in Austin) and Melinda introduced us to an amazing corner of Austin we hadn't visited yet: Hamilton Pool. Hamilton Pool is one of Texas's best swimming holes, about 30 miles west of Austin. According to Texas Outside, the pool was formed "when the dome of an underground river collapsed due to massive erosion thousands of years ago." 

Craving tacos on the way home, we tried out Taqueria Chapala. Thanks to Taco Town, a very reliable guide to Austin's best tacos, for sharing this little gem. According to Taco Town, Taqueria Chapala is a Jalisco style taqueria. We stopped at their new location on South Congress Avenue, and while it doesn't look like much from the outside, this was some of the best pastor we've had anywhere. Eliza couldn't remember what she actually ordered but it was great, too.

The pastor and barbacoa plate.