JenLeoLIVE!

Starting to Plan the Honeymoon

Well, I finally ordered (and picked up) my thank yous so now I just have to do them. I might have to let go of my intentions to send them out with photos. Because it's getting so late that I just have to DO them. I don't care what the etiquette books say, over 2 months is ridiculous and lazy.

We're also starting to talk about the honeymoon. At first we were going to plan a trip to Bali and Australia around all of John's work obligations (in Oz) in December/January. But now we're not sure that's the way to go. It might feel like the honeymoon would be secondary to all the work. That said, the idea of last night was to do something cheaper and closer to home with the intent to put more money towards my flight to Australia while he's there for the Aussie Millions.

So, the question is, what's close to home, but still feels luxurious enough? He suggested Costa Rica, and I suggest Puerto Rico (which is considered domestic by Delta and we have a 2 for 1 coupon). Actually, I think his words were "Where do you want to go that's not an adventure like Africa?". I said Peru, but that wasn't really acknowledged. Brazil, Argentina, I think these could be considered.

Do you have any suggestions? Where would you honeymoon in December? Give us some ideas.

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: L.A. (Sept. 29)

7-7-7 Wedding pics: medley 2

Right now I'm at the mercy of friends sending in their photos. Here are a few that really struck me.

Here are the Leo men. This is what I'd been thinking about the most in the weeks leading up to the wedding. We haven't had a wedding in 30 some years. From left to right: Uncle Jon, brother Jason, my dad, Gung Gung (grandfather), my uncle Barry I call Dai Bok, and my cousin Josh. I know that this picture will make me cry in years to come.

Here are my goddaughters as flower girls. They looked beautiful. Saturday morning we got dressed in my suite. A bunch of friends came to have mimosas and pastries and just hang out while the hair and makeup ladies worked their magic. Berklee & Reilly got their hair done, too. They sat in the chair SO patient while Shannon applied curl after curl. That's Jonathan in the vintage ivory dinner jacket, Shig waiting to take a photo of the bride, and Lynn smiling so bright on the left. It was great that everyone got into the Rat Pack theme, all the dress up clothes really added to the atmosphere.

Mary Ladd got a nice shot of the champagne.  I barely drank at the  reception. Just this glass and a half a cosmo. John thinks he had some drinks at the reception, but he really can't remember and he's busy relaxing right now. Now he's thinking about it. He didn't drink until we got to the Rush bar at Golden Nugget afterwards.

The Golden Steer really did a bang up job. They served Alaskan king crab, jumbo shrimp, toasted raviolis, chicken in angels sauce, prime rib on toast with horseradish, chilled veggies, and stuffed mushrooms. But that was before dessert...

The room was perfect. Matt Lyons passed out our gifts before we got there which were our personal 777 playing cards. The main room of the Golden Steer is already so vintage we didn't need to decorate much. All we did was add a few framed old Vegas photos, vintage record albums, and I think there were assorted old swizzle sticks and Vegas matchbooks from hotels and casinos that have long since been imploded.

Mark Levine, our emcee, was the best. Some people are just born hosts. He made the last minute change of plans to have everyone seated for our entrance. That was a great call. I can't describe the feeling of walking in and seeing all your friends and family looking up at you, smiling and clapping for you. I didn't know what to do. I think I waved. But that moment lasted and lasted. It was truly something special.

But lets get back to talking about dessert...

Berklee & Reilly were SOOOO excited about the Bananas Foster. So were a lot of other people! We got lots and lots of compliments throughout the weekend, but one of my favorites was when a few people later told us how much they wanted to return to the Golden Steer for a full meal. It made me really happy that we could introduce this great Vegas legend to others who would've never thought of eating in a little strip mall a block off the Strip.

Please send in more photos so I can keep recounting the events of the weekend.

7-7-7 Wedding pics

I've just said goodbye to our last guests - now it's time to catch you up on the photos before the whole long lovely weekend becomes too much of a blur. Man oh man did we have a great time. More importantly, our guests had a blast. And that's all we wanted. Have a look! (I'll keep posting photos as they come in - if you took any, and you're reading this, send em over!)

Lynn Ferrin took this fun photo of James O'Reilly, Alison Wright and I (John Lyons in the back) on Fremont Street after Mark Levine's historical downtown tour ended.

Alison took this photo of me rushing to brush my teeth before heading down to the ceremony.

Alison took this photo on Saturday - 7-7-7! Here, the veil is on. But one of the best moments of the ceremony took place when it wasn't. The ceremony room was shut, our flower girls had gone down the aisle, the traditional wedding march song was on and the coordinator opened the door for me and my dad to enter. As the door opened I looked in and saw the packed room. "WAIT! CLOSE IT!" I yelled. The door slammed shut and I could hear all of our guests cracking up. They thought they had a runaway bride, but the truth was I just didn't want to walk down the aisle without my veil on. :-)

The groom surprised the bride by memorizing his vows. I was in total shock. We did a good job not having a blubberfest but I was really blown away by this unplanned gesture.

I love this picture. Another Alison candid. We got SO many compliments about Uncle Joe's lovely ceremony. He crafted it after asking John and I a bunch of questions about how we met, and what types of traits in other marriages we admire.

OK, more stories and photos coming soon.....I promise.

Pre-Wedding Pictures

For all those inquiring minds, here are the first photos of the bride to be - prior to the ceremony:

 

It's the BIG Day!

Today is Jen and Johns wedding day—7/7/7. In tribute to them, we will be guest blogging this morning to fill you all in on their special  day.

Everyone had arrived by last night and the festivities were started with a tour of Fremont Street and downtown, led by the masterful  Mark Levine. He led a group of about 50, starting at the Golden Nugget, wandering through the Fremont Street experience, heading into the Golden Gate Casino, one of the original s with their famous 99 cent shrimp cocktail (which is actually very good).  Then we headed off to Binions, original home of the World Series of Poker, and the place where our soon-to-be  wedded  couple met. We got the full history on the (in)famous Binions,  as well as the World Series. Mark did a superb job keeping us entertained, with heartfelt commentary from the groom at certain points. Then it was off to drink and/or gamble. Half the crew headed to the wedding suite (a two-story palace overlooking the pool) with John to drink and relax, and half headed off with Jennifer to the Golden Gate to get in some Blackjack and Craps. A fun (if losing) time was had by all.

This morning,  it is girl time in the suite. Jen is being attended to by a hair stylist and makeup artist (fake eyelashes and all), as well as a bevy of friends and relatives:  Leigh, Jenn, Michele,  Katie, Marcy, Katie, Natalie, Vivien, Dana and her two daughters (the flower girls), and,Susan. 

Some highlights:

• Uncle Jon sent up coffee, pastries, Krispy Kreme donuts, champagne and juice. (Yay!)
• Leigh brought up the wedding outfit on her baby stroller (handy little device).
• Warner Brothers cartoons are playing on the TV.
• There is a group putting together the wedding favors on the living room table.
• Jennifer is getting prettified – and I must say they are doing a great job. She looks absolutely gorgeous!
• The two flower girls are having their hair done in a similar style to the bride's.
• The photographer is holding up remarkably well, considering he is a man and there is a bevy of women to contend with.

Soon, all the girls will be getting dressed and the bride will don her wedding gown. I know their will be tears all around – as the dress is absolutely gorgeous and Jennifer is going to make the most beautiful bride.

I can't move and other things like Britney and Li-Lo

For the record, I will not be jalking 7.2 miles the week before the wedding. Your heroine just had to do Bay to Breakers and nearly busted her cheek smiling so much from the pure joy of being out amongst the people on Sunday. Yesterday after the race I walked a little funny, but today I'm full on hobbling around. What a wimp, eh? I ran the full first mile, then when it came to cross every mile marker, and then a good half of the rest of the way after we got to Golden Gate Park which was about three miles.

I'm momentarily hanging out in the lobby of the Millennium Biltmore in L.A.. This morning I spoke on a panel with the Managing Editor of AOL travel at a PRSA Travel & Tourism Conference. Man oh man do I love speaking on panels. Its pure juice to teach someone something. Especially when they appreciate it. I wonder if that's what it's like to be a teacher. One of the things we talked about was how to go about pitching us. I'd like to think that was helpful and I'll be chuffed if all the biz card exchanging we did results in some good Daily Travel Deal Blog leads. I've been having fun lately with posts about Britney and Lindsay.

As for our hero, he got out his cape for the tour d'fiancee in San Francisco. First off was the Brady's kicking cocktail party. More than 30 people turned out to meet John and give us some congrats. It was really fun, good practice for the reception, and yummalicious. The hit was Susan's wild boar sausages, followed closely by her own homemade sausage. And, the cake. Mmmm. Huge thanks, Bradys! The rest of the weekend was non stop hangage and more meetups with friends. John had almost as much fun as I did, not that it's a competition, and we moved on to separate cities.

Until the next time,

CURRENT: Los Angeles waiting for Limo
NEXT: Las Vegas waiting for Hyundai ;-)

Ceremony location - 2.5 choices

It's going to happen, just like we said it would. We found two chapels today that have openings at the same afternoon time that we were hoping for. Who says you can't get married on 7-7-7. And then we found another option, an even more desirable location, and John is looking into making that happen. But any way you look at it, we won't look like idiots at our party tomorrow night. We'll have a spot locked up by the afternoon.

CURRENT: Las Vegas, Baby!
NEXT: San Francisco, CA (Fri-Sun)

Not stressed about the wedding

People have been asking about the wedding plans. It's coming along, I'm not stressed. We're old, have no doubts, are very much in love.  We're just throwing an expensive party and have a lot of socializing to do. Hopefully the ceremony will come together so we don't have to cram into the restaurant's bar and have Uncle Joe do the formalities from atop the piano bench.

As people are letting us know they're coming, I'm starting to envision them there, all dressed up. And the thought of these very important life long friends in the same room as us makes me get teary. I'm going to be a fountain on July 7! Ladies! Please give me the brand of your favorite waterproof mascara, I want to start trying out different brands a head of time. Less than two months!

Wedding update:

War Photographer - check New!
Invitations - check New!
rings - check New!
flower girl dresses - check New!
hair stylist - check New!
Make up artist - check New!
Party menu - check New!

groom - check
officiant - check
dress - check
party location - check
cake - check
make up expert - check
flower girls - check
registry - partial
videographer - check
SF engagement party - check
SD bridal shower - check

Needed: Ceremony location!!!

legal documents
tuxes (we get a free one, June deadline)
flowers
table goodies
More registry
transportation (found a convertible caddie, have to book it)
guestbook

Boot Camp Begins at 6am

I got serious. 72 days before the wedding.
Tomorrow, I'm waking up at 5 a.m. and driving 30 minutes out to Henderson to get my ass kicked.

Fitness Training 4 Life — or at least for ten weeks.

I'll admit it, I'm scared. And I'm also very excited. I think this is going to be great.

Tangent: Earlier this week two separate fans suggested that I start video blogging. Man, I've been wanting to do that for a couple of years. Well before it got popular. Let me know if you have any camera recommendations. It's one of the 864 things I'll be thinking about while I'm trying my hardest not to give up on the running track.

CURRENT: Las Vegas
NEXT: San Francisco (May 18-20)

Wedding catch up

I'm playing major catch up tonight before I jet off to NYC tomorrow. We are a gazillion weeks behind sending out save-the-dates and will now have to just do email with website instead of actual cards. My bad. John doesn't mind.

Wedding update:
groom - check
officiant - check
dress - check
party location - check
cake - check
make up expert - check
flower girls - check
registry - partial
videographer - check
SF engagement party - check
SD bridal shower - check

Needed:
Ceremony location
Invitations
Photographer
legal documents
rings
flower girl dresses
hair stylist
tuxes
flowers
table goodies
More registry
transportation
guestbook

I'm sure if I consulted one of my many books here on the coffee table, I'd know what else I haven't done. These are just the things that are on my immediate list. I did thumb through one to-do list from a Vegas wedding magazine today and the one thing that caught my eye and that I couldn't get pass was "Groom's Gift". I had no idea I'm supposed to get John a gift. I'm pretty sure it's optional, but go ahead and tell me what kinds of presents you got your husbands. Are we talking new barbaque or new Rolex? I thought saying yes was the gift. Un-ending years of love and devotion. That's not enough? Come on - now!

And yes, I know I have to send out emails and addresses to two different ladies ASAP. I know this. Trust me, I'm getting to it.

CURRENT: Las Vegas, NV
NEXT: New York City (Thurs - Mon)