Tuesday

On our last full morning here at the chalet, I made a point of sitting out on the deck this morning with a cup of tea and enjoying the view and the dozens and dozens of birds chirping away.

Dave and I then started to take things down and put the chalet back to where it was when we arrived, which was kind of sad.

We stopped for some lunch, then headed up to visit with mom for a few more hours. Dave was thrilled to get into a geneology discussion with her and he learned some new things about our relatives and he was able to share some things with mom that she didn't know. I think they both could have gone on for hours, but we had a lot of work to do packing up the car to leave tomorrow. So, we said our goodbyes to Mom and headed out. I hate that part, but know she had a good time and spent a lot of energy with us...more than she should have. We pooped her out, but she did great. I ended up giving her my wedding bouquet.

Dori and Ian were coming over at 5:30 to pick up the things she had let us borrow and to help us out by taking a lot of the leftover soda, beer and food. We ended up throwing a lot of food out, but were also able to give some away.

We cooked out, but ended up eating inside as it was very cool and windy. We set Ian up with a DVD of Men in Black while we chatted. AND, because it was our last night here, we DID hit the hot tub one more time before they left. LOL

I'm so glad we were able to share the chalet and all it offered with our family and friends. I know Ian loved the air hockey game. Even got my mom to play against him.

The Day After

Needless to say, after drinking an entire bottle of Rosé wine myself yesterday, I wasn't feeling that great this morning. Dave was already up, cleaning things up and the Nancy's got up a short time later to make us breakfast.

Roger had an early flight to catch and I'm told he was in pretty bad shape too. Poor guy. He did make his flight back to Maine though. Dave made sure he was up to catch his flight, then proceeded to pickup the entire chalet. He did an amazing job. I was shocked!

After a rough couple of hours, I was able to eat the fantastic breakfast The Nancy's fixed for us again. We had a LOT of leftover food from the wedding and a lot of leftover fruit. I mean a LOT of leftover fruit. It was still muggy out today and the sun was poking through the clouds heating it up even more.

Today we had invited all of our guests back to join us for a cookout and just relax and unwind. To my surprise, almost everyone came back today. Hot dogs, hamburgers and leftovers were the meal for the day. Keeping it as simple for everyone as possible. We sat outside down stairs on the covered patio. There was a nice breeze, but it only cooled us off when it blew.

We had a lot of fun telling tales from yesterday and reliving moments. The only real unfortunate moment was when Gwen's husband Dan tripped and fell on the steps going down to the deck. They were very difficult to see and several other people almost fell until Patti put down band-aids and paper towels under clear shipping tape to outline the edge of the steps. Gwen said he may have broken a rib. We felt horrible.

Rhonda had brought her guitar back and Dori left hers, so they sang their song again and i joined in this time. Just too hot to boogie, but I enjoyed singing with them. I think if it had been cooler and we had more energy, we may have done more.

People started filtering out just as it started to rain heavily and thunder pretty good. Mom, Dori & Ian were the last two leave.

The Nancy's, Dave and I ate a light supper to a soundtrack of crashing thunder. It DID cool things off though, so it was very welcome. Nancy and Nancy need to pack for this trip to Niagara Falls tomorrow and Dave and I were off to bed early, but not before checking out our wedding vidoe that Roger took for us. Other than my fatness and large arms, I was pleased.

Wedding Trip - Day Two - 6/24/10

I didn't sleep much last night. Because I knew heavy rains and thunder were coming, I kind of kept myself awake, waiting for them so I could check all of the windows for rain coming in. As it turned out the windows weren't a problem, but the screen doors we left open were. Once I close them all again, it heated things up inside making it hard to get to sleep. Short night.

Dave and I explored the chalet some more. Figuring out which light switch goes to which light will take some time. We ate a quick breakfast, then headed into Little Valley.

Our first order of business this morning was to get our marriage license. I used to work with the town clerk, so we did a lot of catching up and everything went without a hitch.

Next, we were off to our florist to drop off some tartan ribbon for my bridal bouquet. Annette and I grew up together on the same street walking to and from school together for about 5 years. She then married my cousin Kevin and I was one of her bridesmaids. She opened a florist/gift shop in our home town a few years ago and I was thrilled to be including her in my wedding in some fashion.

Annette was able to show me the flowers for my wedding. They had arrived and were in her coolers soaking in buckets. PERFECT! The roses were exactly what I wanted and there were oodles of thistles and dark purple lisianthus. This is real! We're getting married. Marriage license and flowers for my wedding. Yep!

Dave and I then drove over to Mom's apartment. She looked great and I could tell very excited to not only see us, but for the wedding. We were going to meet Dori & Ian for lunch at The Elkdale Country Club golf course.

It was still pretty toasty and humid out, so we ate inside and enjoyed the AC. Lunch was yummy and the place mats and menus even matched our wedding colors. Now, that was odd! LOL

We dropped mom back at her apartment and chatted a bit more, then we had to get to the chalet to meet with our photographer for the first time. While we waited, we got to work starting to set up and unpack our wedding ceremony & reception items and I started to assemble some of the things that needed to be put together.

Coni, our photographer from On Location Photography in Olean, arrived right on time, having no problems finding the chalet, so that was a good sign others would.

We both liked Coni very much. It's a fear when planning a wedding long distance that the people you're conversing with either via email or even the phone, won't be what you had envisioned, but Coni was very personable, funny, and seemed to be very flexible with our photo requests. I was excited.

Next on our list was the rental equipment. We rented the chairs, tables, linens, silverware, glassware and other items from Cayas Canopies in Alleghany. Our wedding planner/rental agent and her husband offered to pick up our supplies for us so we could save on the delivery charge. They picked up everything today and dropped it off at the chalet. Dave and I helped them unload and just kind of stacked everything where we could in the chalet. Soooo appreciated them doing that. It helped out a great deal.

Then Dave and I were off to visit with my friend Gwen back in Little Valley. She had wanted us to stop by so we could rehearse our bit for the handfasting ceremony and she could give me the tea she offered to get us. Or that was the story I was being told! See next entry.....

Trip to NY 6/23/10

Dave & I finished packing up the car in the pouring rain, leaving JUST enough room to lay my wedding dress flat. I had to hold onto the kitties in their carrier on my lap in the front seat until we could drop them off.

The 11+ hour trip was uneventful and toastier when we got closer to Olean. Wow, was it humid. We met my sister Dori and nephew Ian at the Burger King outside Ellicottville and followed them up to the chalet since she had been there before. It was also nice having two extra pairs of hands to unload the car. Wow, did Dave pack a lot into it.

When we arrived, the photos of the chalet we had been seeing for almost 10 months began to come alive. The chalet turned out to be more than we had expected. A larger deck and more open and the photos didn't do the view justice. Dave and I were THRILLED and could finally see that the plans we had made might actually work!

Unfortunately, the house manager had discovered the air conditioning was not functioning properly and they were unable to fix it in time for our arrival. The owner graciously refunded us $200 because of that. I thought that was a nice gesture. Frankly, I would have rather had the AC!

There was also an issue with some bees around the bottom of the hot tub. They were still there. We'd have to see about doing something about that because I WAS going to use the hot tub at some point during our stay.

Once we opened up every single window in the place (and there were a LOT in this 3-story beauty), a nice breeze blew through and marginally cooled things off. Dave drove the entire way and we were both very tired...but thunderstorms and heavy rain were in the area. Day 1 of our wedding adventure is over.....

Ceremony Decor Idea #1

Since I'm not able to view any photos of any other weddings at the chalet, I'm just kind of winging it on decor ideas and how we could potentially decorate the "alter" area of the upper deck.

So, to give Dave and myself a better visual of that idea, I removed the furniture off the deck using Photoshop and added my own "touches" to the deck. Ironically, I found some flower pots with flowers that are in my color them in them!

Chalet Photos

Some photos that Dori took of the chalet that helped seal the deal on this one for Dave and I. Both links go to the same photo albums, just in different locations.

Chalet in My Gallery

Chalet in Picasa

Venue Chosen

We found the chalet where we'll be having our wedding and reception in Ellicottville, NY. With the help of a realtor and my sister Dori, we decided to tie the knot here. There's room not only for us, but for Dave's sister and her friend and for Dave's friend Roger, should he be in the country at the time. We'll be close enough to my family that they can simply drive over for the day.

I think this will work out great. There are two large deck areas to choose from and if the weather is bad, there is room inside for our small 20-person wedding & reception. More details to come, but if you want to take a look at the photos, click the link below.

Chalet