making a list, checking it twice.

"On with the dance! let joy be unconfined; / No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet/ To chase the glowing hours with flying feet." -- Lord Byron

On Sunday afternoon Alphonse and I sat down for dinner with our parents. Several hours later our bellies were full and our guestlist was nearly complete. When we were trying to decide who to invite we started naming family and close friends that were absolute musts-- people who were involved in our lives since before we could remember and others who showed up much later but played an important role in one way or another. And then there were friends: classmates from elementary school through college, and even current colleagues. Half way through, the task of narrowing our list down to 200 people or less seemed somewhat daunting. At the end of it, there were, of course, countless more people we wanted to invite, but we realized we couldn't-- weddings are expensive! Still, we want to share this whole experience (from the engagement through the marriage) with as many people as possible. To do so, we were initially planning to just invite everyone to the engagement parties, however, some sources say that doing so is poor etiquette. So instead, we'll hold a few casual get-togethers for everyone to meet both of our families and still take part in this adventure of ours, even though we wish we could invite everyone to the actual wedding!

"May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness— an abundance of grain and new wine." -- Genesis 27:28