Our reception date has been finalized. It is Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. We will be having it at the Decorah Elks Lodge, which is located on West Main Street, one block from downtown Decorah. There is a very small parking lot right next to the building, however there is parking on all the streets downtown, there are parking lots downtown every few blocks, etc., so parking shouldn't be a problem.

The dinner starts at 6 p.m., with the dance starting at 8 p.m. More than likely we'll be in town most of the day getting ready and decorating. Feel free to show up any time after 5 p.m.

For dinner, Lynch BBQ is catering. We will be having pork loin sandwiches, cheesy mashed potatoes and buttered green beans. We also will be having wedding cake from Pinter's. Choices are white, chocolate or red velvet, all with white frosting. Brent and I will have a small topper cake for us to cut as well. 

One of the reasons we chose Decorah for our reception was all the hotels. We have a block of rooms registered under our name at the Country Inn and Suites. When you call to make a reservation, mention you are with the Bissell/Achenbach party. Other hotels in town include the Hotel Winneshiek, Super 8, The Bluffs Inn and Quality Inn and Suites, as well as several bed and breakfasts. There are no major events going on at the college that weekend so there should be plenty of rooms but you might want to book in advance.

As far as the actual wedding, it's not too late to book a ticket. As we've said, anyone who wants to go can, you just have to find your own way there and a place to stay. Tickets out of Milwaukee have been running about $800 round trip. However prices do change all the time. If you are looking at booking a flight, you want to fly into Kahului Airport on Maui. 

Otherwise everything is still going smoothly. All the wedding day details have been finalized. We are almost done with the reception details, just a few things left with that. So far no real stress, but I'm sure that will change.

Just 8 weeks left!

Jennifer and Brent

So here's what's new...

We are flying to Maui Wednesday, Oct. 19, from Milwaukee, arriving in Maui around noon Wednesday. We are leaving late Monday night, Oct. 24, arriving in Milwaukee around noon Tuesday, Oct. 25. 

While we are in Maui, we have no plans right now. We have to get our marriage license Thursday morning and the wedding itself is Saturday at 3 p.m. Otherwise our plans are wide open as of now. After the wedding we are planning a small reception/part at our rental house. Nothing fancy, just food on the grill and probably swimming in the pool. 

As for our actual reception, we are having one back here. The plan right now is Saturday, Nov. 12, in Decorah. No time or location as of yet, but I will have that information soon. Nothing real fancy, but we're planning a light meal, dancing and of course cake. There are tons of hotels in Decorah, and it's about a 45-50 minute drive from Prairie du Chien. When we have the location and time all set, I'll post it, along with a list of hotels in the area. Also, we will be sending out invites.

 

That's all for now. Aloha!

 

Jenn and Brent

So it's been a while so I've been on here. Between work and everything else going on in my life, blogging about the wedding has been the furthest thing from my mind. But here's an update on things. The wedding itself is going to take play at the Maui Tropical Plantation, located it Waikapu. It's a 60 mile plantation that features some of Maui's native flowers and their agriculture. The wedding ceremony itself is going to take place at a gazebo, right next to a lagoon. Some of the native plants in the background include mangos, avacads, apples and bananas, macadamia nuts, guava and plumeria. For more information on the plantation you can go to http://www.mauitropicalplantation.com/default.lasso We've also rented a house. It's located five minutes from the beach near Kihei. The house has its own pool and hot tub, as well as room to house up to 10 people. We're going to use that as our "home base" of sorts, where our guests can relax, enjoy breakfast and just hang out. We don't have a lot of plans as yet. We'll be arrving sometime either Oct. 18-19, depending on travel arrangements. We ave an appointment with the marraige license agent at 10 am Thursday, Oct. 20. The rest of the time isn't really planned yet. We've talked about going snorkling, zip lining through the jungle, driving around the island to see everything, checking out volcanos, etc. The only thing we've really agreed to is that we're going to check out the plantation sometime before the ceremony. Other deisions we've made...our wedding party. Serving as best man is Jeremy Glasbrenner. Jeremy and Brent have been best friends for years and Jeremy is married to Brent's cousin Jessica. As a groomman is Kyle Reed, someone Brent met while working years ago. For the bridesmaids, Joy Barlean is the maid of honor. Joy and I met the first day of sixth grade and have been best friends ever since. Also standing up for me is Ashley Engelhardt. Ashley and I were roommates at the University of Iowa for three years and have maintained a strong friendship since graduating. Our colors are red and black. There probably won't be a wedding cake in Hawaii; however there will be one at our reception. And yes, we are having a reception. We don't have a date picked yet but it will be sometime in the spring, 2012. Likely sometime in the middle of March or April. And yes, I have my dress picked out and ordered. That's everything for now. If you're looking for places to stay, the cheapest route is likely going to be renting a condo or house for the week. The hotels are expensive, even with the off-season discount and with a house you can buy groceries and save money that way. Thanks everyone! Jenn (and Brent)

Hey everyone Welcome to our wedding blog. I'm not a big fan of blogging but I figured this would be the best way to get everyone information on travel arrangements, what our plans are, etc. As of now, here are the details of what we know. We are getting married on Maui Oct. 22, 2011 at 3 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the Maui Tropical Plantation, which is located in the central part of the island. As of now, we are planning on flying out Wednesday, Oct. 19, and returning sometime early the next week, depending on airline ticket prices. We've discovered it's cheaper to fly out of Chicago than other area airports because the other airline packages have you flying into Chicago as a connecting and thus there's an extra cost. We've found tickets for as cheap at $470, which includes all taxes, etc. However I've also seen them as much as $1000, without taxes. Doing research, it looks like the average is usually around $600 and if you can find them around $500, get them ASAP. I've also discovered that hotwire.com typically has tickets a little cheaper than other sites but I found the cheapest tickets so far on travelocity.com. Brent and I are planning on renting a house for us and our wedding party to stay. While we haven't rented a house yet, we are generally looking in the south/central portion of the island, around Kihei. We're going to use the house as a central meeting point, so we can grill out and have a place to cook, since eating out is expensive. Guests are welcome to hang out at the house and wil have several options as far as where they'd like to stay, in a hotel, rental house, use an all-inclusive package, etc. Once we rent our house, I will gladly compile information on closet hotels and houses for the best deals. Again, we'd like to thank everyone who is making the journey to Hawaii with us and can't wait!