Monty Python Cheese Shop

La Costa Amalfitana

A video of the second part of our honeymoon -- on the Amalfi Coast.

Amalfi Coast

Missing your cell phone?

Hey, the folks at St. Ann Church found a cellphone in the pews after our service. Anybody lose one? It's an older model Nokia, with Verizon service. Let us know if you're the person who lost it.

Thanks everybody

What a great day we had!

Thanks to each and everyone of you for coming to our wedding, for showing us such immense love, and for making our big event one that we will remember forever as an incredible day, just perfect in every way.

And in case you missed it, here's the news:

Julianne Reynolds - Gordon Anderson
The New York Times

Click here for story

Update on Lodging

Still haven't booked a room? For those of you who haven't, take a look at our lodging page, which we have updated.

Due to a cancellation, the "Cozy Room" at the Gateways Inn is available as of 4/28. Otherwise, the Gateways Inn and Hampton Terrace are fully booked, but there are still plenty of options, from intimate inns, to full-service motels up Route 7, to luxury resorts just outside of town.

For those of you travelling with children, we realize your options are more limited. Just wanted to let you know that the Yankee Inn, a motel/hotel a few miles north of town volunteered that they are kid-friendly, include a free continental breakfast, and have a pool and fitness center.

More importantly, when they heard about our wedding (the news is spreading fast in Lenox), they told us that if at least 10 rooms are booked by our wedding guests (i.e., rooms with 2 queen or 1 king bed), they will discount the room rate from $129 to $105/night. As of today, our wedding guests have booked 4 rooms at the Yankee Inn. So if a motel is what you're looking for, check it out.

Of course, it's entirely possible we won't end up with 10 rooms booked at Yankee Inn. Then again, once the paparazzi get wind of this wedding, the whole town might be booked solid!

Church Music

We are starting to make some progress here at Wedding Central. It's getting hot, and we're cooking with gas!

On the music front, we've finally found the perfect classical trio to perform during the services at the church.

They're called Con Fuoco, out of Boston. I think they're going to be terrific. And a note -- which I'm sure I'll repeat between now and May 5 -- get to the church early. Con Fuoco will be playing for a bit before the ceremony starts, so you'll want to listen to them.

Also, getting there early will give you more opportunity to watch me sweat, because I believe that in the moments before the bride arrives, all a groom does is stand around and try to pretend he isn't nervous.

Anyway, here is a link to Con Fuoco's homepage, where you'll find snippets of some of the beautiful music they make. We haven't chosen which pieces they'll play yet. (Details, details.)

Show Times

For those of you who may have lost, misplaced, or mangled your invites, here's some important logistical information:

At 1:30 pm, the wedding ceremony is to take place at St. Ann's (on Main Street, smack in the center of Lenox). Get there early, so you can enjoy all the festivities.

Then, following the service, there will be a break in the action. This will give you time to freshen up, wander about town, or just reflect on how much fun you are having.

At 5 p.m. the reception starts, just up the hill (1/2 mile or so from the church) at the Belvoir Terrace.

If you are geographically curious, here is a map we made, which contains markers for a few of the significant places in Lenox (church, inns, reception). Since it's just a Google map, you can add any place of your own to it. Get directions from anyplace on the planet, for example.

Follow this link to a Map of Lenox, with pointers.

The joint will be swinging

It's April 5th. One month away. Wooh hooh!

To get you In the Mood, check out the Web site of our band, Swing Cafe. There are some tunes to listen to there, which will get your toes a-tappin' and your hips a-rockin'.

To see more about Swing Cafe, click here. The band's recordings can be found right beneath its picture on that page.

As you'll see, their repertoire is pretty vast, including jazz, swing, rockabilly and more. We've also hired a clarinetist/sax player and a female vocalist, so we're hopeful that we'll hear some Benny Goodman and Patsy Cline covers.

We're very psyched for Swing Cafe, and hope all of you are, too.

Carpooling

We're barely more than a month away, and starting to pani... er, focus.

Travel arrangements keep coming up in conversations and emails with various guests. In particular, we're trying to see if there might be ride-sharing opportunities from airports to Lenox.

So, if you're planning to fly into Albany, Hartford, or Boston, arriving on Friday, let Julie know. Some other folks have been inquiring about rides.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Responses

We're starting to get acceptances (yay!) in the mail. Also, sadly, a few declines. But the wave of new responses is making the arrival of the mail the highlight of our day.

It's fun to see how each invitee responds. Some do their best Joe Friday ("just the facts, ma'am"), letting a simple yes or no suffice. Others have written really nice notes to us, or in some other way expressed their excitement about our excitement about our Big Day.

I'm even becoming fond of the exclamation mark, which during normal times is my least favorite piece of punctuation. Somehow, when you see one on a reply card, it just brightens your day. (Of course, I'm not sure that would be the case if someone wrote "NO!!!!!!!")

My nephew, Ethan, sent a funny one, which listed all the reasons he is still skeptical that this wedding is for real. Thankfully, he's willing to play along and attend.

Pictured on this page is another response, from the Strumph family. Young Celia provided some lovely artwork to illustrate the card. It's great to open the envelopes and see such creativity.

In any event, as they say in show biz: Keep those cards and letters coming!

Invitations

Our invitations are ready, with help from the nice people at Crane & Co. That's the venerable Berkshires-based paper company that makes the paper in U.S. currency. They also make swell wedding stationery.

Julie has been busy, busy, busy doing the envelope addressing. So watch your mailboxes for the formal invitations, which should start arriving next week.

Then send back all those "yes, I'll attend" cards. It's going to be quite the to-do. (Or should that be quite the I-do?)

February 26, 1955

Ok, so it's been awhile since we've posted anything new. That's because we've been back East (in the snow). And up in Lake Tahoe (in even more snow). And generally, well, we've had nothing to say.

But this little tidbit is worthy of note: Today marks 52 years of marriage for Betty & Len (aka, Gordon's parents).

Now normally, we shy away from using this space to acknowledge things like birthdays and bar mitzvahs. Since this is a blog about a wedding, however, a little anniversary shout-out seems ok.

So happy anniversary, folks! And for readers of this blog who may want to send along a congratulatory note of their own, Betty & Len's email address is trees@rnetworx.com

La Festa di San Valentino

Happy Valentine's Day. Here's what you may be celebrating, according to the History Channel:

Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to another legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that this Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure.

Artistic dance party

Sometimes, we get a little bored with all this wedding planning. So here is a short film, starring Julie and her Maid of Honor, Julia.

Make sure you have your computer's speakers turned on when you play the clip, or it won't make much sense. Even then, it may not make much sense, but at least you'll hear a catchy tune.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Carpooling, anyone?

It's great to hear from so many of you that you are going to travel from far and away to be with us in May.

If you have already found flights to Albany, Boston, or NYC on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, but now still need to rent a car for the trek to the Berkshires, maybe you want to carpool.

For those of you like us who enjoy a little extra company on road trips, let us know and we'll see if there's anyone else who's arriving at the same airport around the same time who'd like to share a ride.

So if you're interested in carpooling -- from an airport, train station, or your home -- post a note in the comments section of this blog, or tell Julie that you're looking for a ride or offering one.

Andernolds or Reyderson?

Is name-blending an idea whose time has come? Apparently, even more modern than the bride keeping her name is the notion that upon getting married, a couple would create a new name for both of them to assume.

Odd, yes. But that's why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream, as Grandma Louise used to say.

Are newlyweds blending their surnames? Click here for the story.

Oh, and just for the record: I'm going to keep mine.

Cinco de Mayo

It may not have escaped your notice that our wedding date falls on Cinco de Mayo.

For those of you who have not had occasion to celebrate this up-and-coming holiday (at least as far as American celebrations go), Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is a national holiday in Mexico, which has been growing in popularity in the United States in recent years. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza over the French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Now we may not be of Mexican ancestry, nor are our Spanish-language skills too impressive, but we do like a good holiday. So don't be surprised if you see a little Latino flavor in our wedding festivities.

After all, who doesn't like an excuse to throw back a little tequila?

Click here to learn more about Cinco de Mayo.

Where to stay

Julie has compiled a long list of places in and around Lenox. There are a number of quaint little inns around town, as well as a few economical motels nearby. Follow the link below to a page of choices.

Note that Lenox is pretty small, so no matter where you stay, you'll be close to it all. Hope you find just the right place for a fun weekend getaway in the Berkshire hills.

Click here to see the page of lodging choices. If you make a reservation somewhere, let us know -- we're trying to keep loose track of where everyone is staying.

Airport information

Are you planning to fly in to come see us? Then you may want to check this page out before you make all your arrangements.

Click here for all the info you need on getting to the Berkshires by air.

It's Greek to me

Someone sent me this quotation today. Makes me wonder what Mrs. Socrates had to say about things.

"By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."

-- Socrates

On Language

Many moons ago, Stephen Gutkin (brother of our pal Bruce Gutkin) scored a high literary honor: a mention by William Safire in his On Language column. A reprint here seems appropriate.

The piece originally appeared in the March 25, 1990 edition of the New York Times Magazine. Back then, the divorce of Donald and Ivana Trump was in the news, in part because of the terms of their separation.

MARRIAGE LINES
By William Safire
THIS DEPARTMENT tries to stay on top of the proper pronunciation of words in the news. In the gossip arena, the word most often mangled is nuptial.

''After the tumult surrounding the playing of the celebrated Trump,'' writes Stephen Gutkin of Jersey City, ''I've yet to descry your voice on the subject of prenuptial, namely, 'Whence the pronunciation prenup-chewal?'''

There may be bite but no chew in prenuptial agreement.

The word nuptial is from the past participle of the Latin verb nubere, ''to marry,'' which is also the root of nubile, ''marriageable,'' or at least ''apparently fully developed sexually,'' which is not the same thing. Use the plural to refer to a wedding ceremony, as in ''I cannot make it to the nuptials, but I hope to be at the festive signing of the first postnuptial agreement.''

Pronounce nuptial NUP-shul, just as you pronounce the warlike martial MAR-shul. They are not NUP-chill or MAR-chill, and they are certainly not pronounced as if spelled ''nuptual'' or ''martual.'' (On the other hand, you can pronounce victuals VIT-els, because this synonym for food is used only in dialect form.)

Comments welcome

I got some complaints that in order to comment on any one of these posts, you previously had to be a registered Google user. I turned off that feature, so anyone should now be able to leave comments.

In case you're unfamiliar with how blogs work: To write something, simply click on the Comments button that appears at the bottom of each post.

Show times

It's been drawn to our attention that while we've mentioned the date, we have not said the time.

That's because we don't know for 100% sure. However, it looks likely that we will do an afternoon Wedding Mass (at about 1:30), followed by a little break in the action, followed by a reception that starts early in the evening (5-ish, or perhaps 6-ish).

That means that New Yorkers and Bostonians who are driving up on Saturday will want to leave their homes by 9 or 9:30 a.m. Lenox is about a 3-hour drive from Manhattan, and maybe 2:45 from Back Bay. Traffic, naturally, is the ever-present variable.

During the break between Mass and reception, people will be able to do many things: nap; drive golf balls; take in high tea at one of the local inns. If you ask nicely, they might give you a little Maker's Mark with your Earl Grey, too.

It's official: May 5

We signed the papers. Not the marriage papers, but the papers that obligate us to hold a big party at a big house in Lenox.

So SAVE THE DATE: May 5, 2007. Cinco de Mayo. In Italiano, that's Cinque di Maggio. Of course, the date has no meaning in Italian, but my accent is better.

Anyway, be there or be square.

Belvoir Terrace

The reception is going to be held in this fantastic, 19th century mansion called the Belvoir Terrace.

It was built by a robber baron named Morris K. Jesup (more on him, perhaps, in a later post), who made his money in railroads. He's also the guy who funded the Museum of Natural History in NYC.

Extending the Gotham link, the grounds on the property were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame.

Going to the Chapel

We've set a date and picked the place. May 5, 2007. The nuptials will be at St. Ann Church in Lenox, Mass. Reception just up the road at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox.

Many, many more details to follow.