Awesome wedding gift!!!

Check out our latest wedding gift! Cuz Marcia and her hubby Brian made this for us! SO awesome. Its a perfect fit for our Vegas wedding!

13 days!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we will be sending out a mass e-mail with lots of pertinent info in the next few days.

The e-mail will have contact info (in case you have questions that arise in Vegas), a map of the Flamingo and ceremony location, a run down of Fri night activities, and some other good info. So be on the lookout for that, and I'll be asking people to forward it to those I don't have e-mail addresses for!

See everyone soon!

Mrs. Schmieding to be :-)

Three weeks!

Greetings!! The wedding is getting close, and we are so excited! Just to remind everyone, the wedding, dinner, and after-party will be at the Flamingo on Friday evening (beginning at 7pm). Most people are staying at the Flamingo, but feel free to stay at a cheaper hotel. The Imperial Palace and Bally's have better prices and you can still get the wedding discount.

Also, we've been getting some questions about wedding presents. If you are getting a gift from our Target registry, please have it sent to our house!

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

Ash & Brian

Hotels and flights!

Hey peeps,

So I've been doing a little bit of research and I've seen some good prices on sites like Expedia and Priceline. For example, a deal they have now from Portland to Las Vegas with four nights in a hotel room is ~$370 per person.

Bottom line: If you need to book a flight and a hotel room, be sure to check out the prices on some online travel companies first!

As always, e-mail or call us with questions!
Ash

Invites are out!

Greetings family and friends!

We have officially sent out our wedding invitations! We are hoping many of you are beginning to think of flight and hotel arrangements (but, as always, we understand if you aren't)!

As is stated on the invitations, please use the group discount code QFWED7 when booking your hotel rooms. You can use this 10% discount at any Harrah's family hotel, including: Flamingo (where the parentals and bridal party are staying), Harrahs, Ballys, Paris, Ceasar's Palace, Rio, or Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, you cannot use this code if you are booking your hotel through an outside company (through an airline or online travel agent, for example). However, feel free to compare prices to see if you can get a better room price by going with a package of some sort.

The dinner buffet is now officially booked, and it will begin at 8pm, immediately following the ceremony. We still haven't solidified the plans for the after-party, so I will keep everyone updated as we come closer to making a decision.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to call/e-mail me or Brian. Additionally, you can call the maid of honor, Brianna, or the best man, Matt, if you have any questions regarding the bachelorette/bachelor parties that will commence on Wednesday the 8th (ask us for their phone numbers/e-mail addresses if you don't have them).

Ok, peeps, its getting close! We are both incredibly ready and excited!

Love you all!

New goal: To update once a week!

Greetings, those who still check this mostly stagnant blog! My new goal is to update the blog once a week with new wedding plans. Not only will that allow me to convey updated information to all our beloved guests, but that will force Brian and I to actually actively plan this thing! We are always totally stoked to plan our party, but finding the time to do it is often an elusive goal.

Here are the plans so far (only the ceremony is finalized...the dinner and after-party are not yet so, so they could possibly change--if, for instance, we win the lottery or something :-):
Wednesday, April 8th: Fly in. Bachelor and Bachelorette parties will commence in the evening for those who will be there

Thursday, April 9th: Frisbee golf, sight-seeing, gambling, drinking, laying by the pool, possible spa day for the girls. In other words, this will be a full day of rest and recovery from the night before, as well as preparation for the big day! There will also be a dinner and ceremony rehearsal for the bridal party and parentals this night.

Friday, April 10th: Take a shot in the morning, do some gambling, get ready for the ceremony!
The ceremony is from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dinner will follow at the Garden Buffet inside the Flamingo (time to eat your hearts out). After-party will follow dinner, probably in a suite. This is where we will have cake, party beverages, celebrations, speeches, dancing, party beverages, fun, etc! After this, I'm thinking people can do whatever they want to do, but the bridal party will go out dancing and continue partying until the morning, and whoever wants to join is more than welcome! Remember, we want this to be a relaxing vacation and fun time for everyone! This isn't just about Brian and I. This is about everyone who has made our lives and relationship possible.

Rest of the days: Party, relax, do whatever you want to do! I'd like to get everyone together for a breakfast/brunch on Saturday or Sunday, but I'm not sure if funds will allow. I'd like to have one more get together before everyone goes their separate ways, even if it's just for coffee or something.

Ok, so on to a slightly different subject. We are going to have Brian's sister Kir take pictures of us on Thanksgiving for the invitations. Hopefully, we will have them ready to send out by Christmas at the latest. We really want to get them out early so people can plan their vacations accordingly!

Also, we have a 10% discount code for hotel rooms. You can get this discount at the Flamingo, Harrah's, Paris, Ceasar's Palace, and Imperial Palace. If we get 21+ rooms booked, we get an even better discount, but I'm not sure how much. So, I'm going to put a survey on the left hand side of the blog asking how many people would be interested in a hotel room so we can see how close we will come to the 21 rooms. For those with children or those who aren't interested in staying on the strip, check out vrbo.com for vacation houses. You can get a very nice house (that is 5 min from the strip) for ~$150-400 that will fit up to 12-15 people, so it's definitely a good deal for some people! I know my parents are getting one, especially since my nephs and niece will need a good place to stay outside of the craziness of the strip. Brian's parents are getting a hotel room, which will be awesome for them, so it's totally up to your personal preference.

Note: we are fully aware that a lot of people are not in the best financial situation right now. If you don't think you will be able to come, for any reason at all, please don't hesitate to tell us. We understand that planning a vacation/destination wedding is not at the top of people's priority list, and will not be offended if people can't make it!


On another note, Brian and I will be moving to my mom's house in less than a month. I'm graduating and will get a full-time job as a pharmacy technician until med school. Speaking of med school, I've interviewed at Oregon Health & Science University and New York Medical College, and have not heard back from either yet. I should here from OHSU by mid-December and NYMC by the beginning of January. You will all get a mass e-mail if I get accepted somewhere!

Brian will be transferring to MHCC and will likely be working as a personal trainer after moving. He is stoked to soon be starting his much-anticipated career!


That's the update! Brian and I already have our plane tickets, and so does my dad. We will be there for a week. So, I'll update everyone again in about a week. Oh, and don't forget to fill out the 3 surveys (I know that I've asked one or two of these questions before, but that was a while ago and I'd like to get a head count now that we are getting closer)!

Thanks, everyone!

UPDATE!!!!

Hey everyone, sorry it's been awhile since we've posted last. There hasn't really been any changes on the wedding front..until recently!

So, Brian and I booked our tickets on Sunday for Vegas. We fly in noonish on April 8th and we will stay a week. We are thinking most people will only stay through the weekend so that will give us a few days to be NEWLYWEDS!!! Yipee.

Also, I think we have a plan for the dinner/after party (aka reception). We think we are going to go ahead and have the dinner at the Garden Paradise Buffet at the Flamingo post-ceremony (there was some debate about this recently). After dinner, we will head to a house that either my parents or Brian's will rent for the after-party. The after party will include music, cake, dancing, and...boozing for those of ya'll that would enjoy it. Then those of us who want to pull an all-nighter can go back out to the strip! Let us know what you think if you are so inclined!

Also....I bought my dress! It needs to be fitted still, especially up near the top, but other than that it fits pretty darn well.

Oh, and if you are up for staying with friends/family and saving some moolah in Vegas, check out renting a house. You can get a really nice house for just as much (or less) for what you'd pay for a hotel. Plus you would have all the amenities, your own space, and room for more than a couple people. Check out vrbo.com, and make sure you stay within 5-10 minutes of the strip so you are easily accessible to us! :-)

Lets see...what else is new...well, off the wedding subject, I am almost done filling out secondary applications for medical school. Most require somewhere between 1-7 essays, so I've been spending my summer writing those while taking some summer classes.

Brian is studying for his ACSM exam to become a certified personal trainer! He is really stoked. He will also be taking classes this Fall term at the community college down here. When I graduate in December, we will be moving up to my moms where I will (hopefully) get a full-time job as a pharmacy technician (oh yeah, I have to start studying for that exam, too!)

Anyways, we will keep you posted as wedding plans move along. It's getting much closer! ;-)

Hope everyone is doing awesome!