It’s gotta be the shoes

We’ve set up a private MobileMe gallery to let you see pictures from the wedding… and upload your own!

K + H 5/15/2010

(click the link above to visit the photo gallery)

Access to this is PASSWORD PROTECTED; you will be able NEITHER to see NOR to upload anything unless you have the username / password that we’ll give you at the wedding (it’ll be in your gift box, so don’t throw it away).

For simplicity’s sake, everyone will share the SAME username and password: we kindly ask that you don’t give it out willy-nilly–we don’t want any jokers uploading inappropriate pictures. Thanks!

EASY INSTRUCTIONS

• Click the link above (or click here, same thing)
• Enter the username/password we gave you on the little piece of paper in your gift box. It looked like this…
  

  Wedding Pictures note

  E-mail us if you lost / forgot / ate this sheet of paper. We’re not putting the vital info on the site for obvious reasons.

• Once you get to the photos, the top of the page should look like this:

Top of K+H Photos page

• If you just want to look at pictures, that’s all you have to do!
• If you want to upload pictures that you took, click the “upload” icon you see at the top of the page. You’ll see a box pop up when you do this:

Upload pictures

• In this box, just follow the instructions as written: put your real name (“Hugh McNally”) and your e-mail address (someone@address.com). At this point, you don’t need (or want) to use the username / password we gave you (you’ve already logged into the photos at this point). This info is so we and everyone else can see who took the pictures.
• Click “Choose Files…” and select the files from your computer, i.e, the JPG files from your digital camera. If you need help with this, ask a 12-year-old (or someone else who’s good with a computer).

We can’t wait to see your pictures: the stuff that Roberta and Dave have already uploaded looks great!

“Ring Finger (K + H Nuptial Remix)”

Even though we got many compliments on our wedding not being “too loud” and that you “didn’t need to shout,” we spent a lot of time and effort choosing and delivering a nice musical experience.  We’ve ZIPped up all the MP3s for your downloading pleasure, almost 7 hours of music!  To access this, use the same username/password that we gave you to see pictures (we told you to keep that box, didn’t we?)

Download the enormous (almost 1GB) ZIP file of MP3 Music

Aside from the obvious ceremonial music, we used a lot of jazz/bossa nova to keep it relaxed during cocktail/dinner time, and mostly 1960s soul for the remainder.  And yes, “Ring Finger (K + H Nuptial Remix)” is included.  And just in case that’s the only thing you want, here it is:

The H-Kays / Ring Finger (K + H Nuptial Remix)

Thanks too goes to Brett, who ran the music flawlessly via the iPhone remote app both during the ceremony proper and at all other times.

Thank you all for being a part of our wedding! It was a great day, and an ideal way for us to kick off our life together. We got a lot of requests during the day to get a copy of our vows, so here’s the whole thing:

GREETING:

Who gives this woman away – mom and dad say I do/or dad says her mother and I do

(To the assembly; couple faces JP): Welcome to this marriage celebration, uniting Katherine and Hugh.  They have invited us to be here with them to be witnesses to their union.

(To the couple): You will soon be joined together in a sacred bond that is intended never to be broken.

Today, this day of your marriage, you stand somewhat apart from all other human beings. You stand within the charmed circle of your love, and this is how it should be. But love is not meant to be a possession, not even between two people. Rather, it needs to be a source of common energy, that when activated by two loving souls united, reaches out to touch the souls of others.

From this day onward, you must lead a life of love that will join you ever closer together. You are challenged to live a life in sickness and in health, for better and for worse. But at the same time your love must include the respect and the courage that allows each of you to stand alone, to make unique contributions to the world, to each other, and to yourselves.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (read by Best Man – Mike Shea)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

Treat Yourselves and Each Other with Respect (read by MoH – Liz Neary)

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at one time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.

In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives… remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

Love, Joy, Understanding… (read by Jim)

In joining your lives may God grant you both…

• Love… to afford each other a special quality of time together.
• Joy…in the accomplishments of one another.
• Understanding…that your interests and desires will not always be the same.
• Friendship…based on mutual trust.
• Courage…to speak of a misunderstanding and to work on a solution before the setting of the sun.
• Compassion…to comfort each other in pain and sorrow.
• Foresight…to realize rainbows follow rainy days.
• Imagination…to keep with you part of the child you used to be.
• Mirth…from your sense of humor.
• Awareness…to live each day with the knowledge that there is no promise of tomorrow.

May God bless you and keep you in the Palm of His hand.

Personalized vows (from Hugh)

Thank you for saving me, for having me, for keeping me, and for loving me.  You make the present something fun, and the future something to wish for.  I am truly the luckiest man in the world.  I thank God every day that you understood what was so funny about some 45-year old guy wearing a t-shirt singing “Soul Finger”, and for understanding the rest of me, too.  I’ll vanquish every spider you find, and I’ll only paint the house when you’re not home.  I’ll love you and cherish you forever.

Personalized vows (from Katherine)

From the first moment that I heard you sing “Soul Finger” with your goofy grin, I knew that you were someone I needed to know. What I didn’t know then is that you would become the soundtrack to my life. It started with that first fateful song and has blossomed to music-filled days and nights, from the Saturday rhythm review to Bootleg Xmas. Today I find total joy and peace in the knowledge that with you by my side, my life has become so much better than I have ever imagined. I cannot wait to grow old with you, my best friend, my morning orange juice deliveryman, my constant hand-holder, and my nightly sheet-warmer.

Formal Vows

Do you, Hugh, take this woman, Katherine, to be your lawful wedded wife, to love, honor, and cherish her, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, as long as you both shall live? (Response: I do.)

Do you, Katherine, take this man, Hugh, to be your lawful wedded husband, to love, honor, and cherish him, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, as long as you both shall live? (Response: I do.)

To the assembly:

Will all of you witnessing these vows do all in your power to support these two and their marriage? (Response: I will.)

Exchange of rings

Katherine, Take and wear this ring, as a sign of my love and fidelity. It is a symbol of my love and my honor for you, a circle that has no beginning and no end.

Hugh, Take and wear this ring, as a sign of my love and fidelity. It is a symbol of my love and my honor for you, a circle that has no beginning and no end.

JP:  What has been joined together here, let no one separate.

CLOSING:

You came here as two single people and leave as a married couple, united to each other by the binding contract you have just entered. Your individual concerns and your worries, your gifts and your joys, now belong to each other.

Therefore, before God, in accordance with the law of Connecticut and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of Connecticut, I do pronounce you husband and wife.

You may now kiss the bride.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. McNally.

Or, as Facebook puts it…

"Changed relationship status"

To paraphrase Austin Powers, “yeah, I did it again baby…” For all of our friends coming from NYC / Brooklyn / Queens / Long Island / NJ, or generally using the Merritt Parkway to come to the wedding:

This is a good way to get from the Merritt Parkway to the Redding Roadhouse: there are other ways to go (even different exits from the Merritt!), but, as Alan Ladd said in Shane, this is “as good as any and better than most.”

Here’s the Google map for all of y’all: can you dig it?  I knew that you could.

It is officially less than a week from our wedding, as this new countdown widget will tell you…

K + H got married
15 years, 7 months, 0 days, 21 hours, 9 minutes ago

See you all Saturday!

Bob and Kay Allen are the very happy parents of Katherine. They have been waiting a long 42 years for this day! OK, kidding aside, here’s a little scoop as to who they are.

Bob and Kay

Bob is a Jersey boy at heart, an Irish lad, an avid skier to this day, and you’d better like his Giants! (and maybe a little scotch?) He was a mortgage broker for his career, retired to Vermont and now they live in Hanover, New Hampshire where he has put down the paddle tennis racquet and picked up the Wii tennis controller.

Kay (aka Koppie) hails from Rockland County, NY, her Dutch heritage traces all the way back to original settlers in NY on the De Halve Mein. She worked in advertising in NYC in the early 60s, think Mad Men, and can still type a frightening number of words a minute. Kay has found herself a technology maven, with her iPhone, MacBook and Wii fit. (She’s better than she thinks she is!)

They have been devoted volunteers for many local NH organizations, most notedly the Upper Valley Hostel. President, nominating committee, treasurer (I think more than once): they like keeping busy, being involved with the community, and giving back as well.

They have a summer home on Lake George, NY (where this photo was taken) and spend many a peaceful, yet hard working month there. They have been married for 47 years this September.

They are definitely the best parents of all time – every one of my friends says so! (and I heartily agree).

If you’re coming from afar to be at our wedding, first of all, thanks–we really appreciate that you’re making the trip and all the effort involved.  Danbury is the closest big town to Redding, a place with its own hotels and its own Walmart; that’s why you’re staying there.

If you use Google Maps to look up directions from the hotel you’re staying at to get to the Redding Roadhouse (use this link to see the route), it seems pretty simple.  If you have a GPS, the trip might also seem to be a piece of cake.  So, why make this video?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Ek5KvCfLU

The Danbury town founders have made a bunch of “turns” in town more oblique than you might expect–indeed, one of the roads you’ll take to get to the Roadhouse is named “Triangle Street,” which pretty much says it all. The route goes through commercial parts of Danbury, which makes it good for landmarks, but bad for scenery.  At certain points, you might think you’re lost, but you’re not.

In the spirit of Yogi Berra’s, “when you see a fork in the road, take it,” we made a video tour of the route.  We hope it helps you get to the Roadhouse on time… bottom line here is give yourselves 30 minutes to get to the Roadhouse from the Danbury Walmart.

A DVD version of this is available on request.  No kidding.  Here’s the Google map, too:

I know that traditionally weddings have programs that spell out who is who, why these people are here and their connection to the bride and groom. But seeing as we are doing this 2010 style, paperless as much as possible, I’ll start by introducing you to my Matron of Honor, Elizabeth (Liz) Neary.

Katherine on the left, Liz on the right

I have known Liz the entirety of my memory-related life. Our families were similarly structured and we did things together most weekends while we were growing up. Our fathers worked together. On weekends, we went skiing, had homes on Lake George, went hiking and even went to the Olympics in 1980.

She has been married for 15 years to Tom, they have 2 fantastic kids, Patrick and Claire, and have created a life incredibly similar to the ones that we both knew as kids. We have tried to see each other most years, usually up at Lake George. Don’t be surprised if you hear her calling me “Kathy”, just like I have a hard time not calling her “Elizabeth”, old habits are hard to break.

I couldn’t imagine getting married without her being a part of this very important day.

♦

Best Man: Mike Shea

Mike and Hugh have known each other since 1977. They attended Fordham Prep and have been close friends ever since. They share a love of Raising Arizona, the non-sequitur, music that annoys their loved ones, cycling, and beer.

Best Man: Mike Shea

♦

Bridesmaids: Sharon Shea, Roberta Gigon and Junior Bridesmaid Lucy Shea

Sharon Shea is the Best-Man-Mike’s wife, and a powerhouse of a wedding coordinator!

Audrey Hepburn

Sharon Shea "fashionista"

Sharon hails from the English countryside, and don’t let her Audrey Hepburn-esque beauty misguide you, Sharon is my mentor (after my Mom) for family fun and down to earth realness. This shindig couldn’t have happened without her help! I mean it!! Sharon and Mike are the parents of Lucy and Angus, both of whom are also involved in the wedding, read on…

♦

Roberta Gigon is one of Hugh’s best friends, they go back 15 years or so to the Grolier days (pre-Scholastic takeover).

New Year's Eve Roberta and Katherine

Many members of the wedding guest list have ties to Hugh through those days. Roberta is my taste maven, the go-to gal for restaurants and trends of all things culinary. She and I have become good friends over the past almost 3 years and everyone can thank her for the good taste guidance of the “cake”. She has been married to Gerry for 10 years and the 4 of us have had many good times together. Roberta is also a cloud/grid computing genius, truly. I don’t know if I even understand what she does, I just know that she’s good at it!

♦

Lucy Shea, age 15, is Hugh’s goddaughter and the elder of the Shea children.

Lucy on the runway

Lucy has been wanting to plan Uncle Hugh’s wedding since she was 5! Sorry I took so long to come around, but doesn’t she look stunning in her purple dress! Lucy is involved with ROTC, takes after her father and godfather with her movie and music taste, and is an avid Rock Band player. She currently loves Milton (and his red stapler) from the movie Office Space.

I chose these amazing women to be with me on this very important day because they all have marriages that I truly admire and I wanted as much of their good marriage mojo as possible to be part of Hugh’s and my beginning.

♦

Ring keeper: Angus Shea

Angus is the younger Shea, age 11, and he is going to be in charge of the rings.

Mike and Angus

We have no worries: they are in good hands as he is a dedicated Boy Scout, a budding great skier, and a man who likes to fix things. I know, they have nothing to do with one another, I just like saying it!

So there’s the wedding party!

Sure, a lot of the people coming to our wedding are from the area, and the Redding Roadhouse is a pretty well-known establishment.  For anyone outside of the Danbury area though, finding the place isn’t like falling off a log (it’s not terribly hard, but still).  So, here’s a picture of the entrance taken facing south (in other words, if you’re coming from Danbury CT, this is likely to be what you see):

Redding Roadhouse (click for larger view)

The Redding Roadhouse entrance is on Route 53.  If you’re driving southbound and you go past it, you come to an intersection with a bunch of choices and signs.  If you reach that intersection… you guessed it, you’ve gone too far.

Since Google owns all things, here’s an interactive map for you:

Or, you can look at the Roadhouse’s old school directions on their web site (how quaint).

Postscript: picture taken about 3 minutes after acquiring marriage license!

Friends,

It appears that the Courtyard by Marriott is the winner in the race for the most wedding attendees booked. If anyone is still waiting on making arrangements, it looks like the Marriott has risen to the top.

We’d love it if you all had fun together while Hugh and I whisk ourselves away for the night.

Stay tuned, we are tinkering with a Sunday lunch gathering of those still in town who haven’t hit the roads/airways by then.

And yes, we are also focusing on the Friday night out-of-towners dinner gathering as well.