Why look at you! Aren't you just as pretty as a magnolia in May? - Charlotte, from "The Princess and the Frog"

Hi everyone, we have some good news as some of you might have read on Facebook, we have found "the dress"!  So today's entry (written by Jennie) will be dedicated to the search for this dress and explaining the look I was trying to achieve.  There will also be some vital information at the end of this entry for those people that are wanting to book their accommodation at any of the Walt Disney World resorts, sooner than later, so this is one of the more important of our entries!

Today, you get two blog entries for the price of one!!

In the very beginning I decided that if I was to be a Disney bride, I should at least look the part!  Disney have a whole hoard of princesses and one of the main things they seem to have in common is the shape of their dresses.  Many of them sport either a ballgown or A-line silhouette, which is iconic and recognizable the world over as that "Disney Princess-look".

The ballgown silhouette is the princess look that just screams "DISNEY"!!!!!!

It so happens that there are a range of Disney licensed gowns made by Alfred Angelo.  I was eager to try on one of these gowns but didn't really know much about the designer and I wanted to check the quality before I decided on what I wanted.  The first excursion that Tan and I took to see the gowns was a disaster!  You can read all about it here!

The second trip we took, I made a booking at a place called "Bridal Revival".  We had a small entourage of six people - Tan, my mum, Tan's mum, my bridesmaids, and me.  It was also an opportunity for Natalie and Corinne to try on the bridesmaids dresses as there is a chance the gowns we will use for the girls will be Alfred Angelo gowns.  They also have a huge range of colours and we can colour match everything in the wedding perfectly since nearly all the vendors have the AA colour swatches.

The lady was extremely helpful and the boutique was small but nicely presented.  Unfortunately I can't share any photos of myself in the gowns I tried at this boutique or any other for that matter, as they all had a "no photos" policy.

The first gown I tried was Alfred Angelo's "Cinderella" style 205 gown.  Everyone loved it, it was very pretty, sparkly and beautiful but the bodice was quite short so it didn't look right on my body type so I felt I needed to keep looking.

The 205 Cinderella gown by Alfred Angelo was very sparkly!!

The second gown I tried was the "Belle" style 206 gown.  This was much, much better!  The bodice was longer and it showed my figure well while still keeping that ballgown silhouette I was looking for.  I adored all the beading on it and the way it sculpted around the bodice.  There were still things that were bugging me about it unfortunately..  The front of the dress where the bodice is joined onto the skirt looked like it was tacked on, it had no shape to it, and just had a straight line across.  The skirt had a strange uplift to it on the front which I felt looked odd.  So I tried on another two dresses at this boutique.

The beaded detailing on the 206 Belle bodice of this one was stunning!

One of the final dresses I tried was the "Snow White" style 207 gown.  I really loved this gown, but it had the same flaws as the Cinderella gown, the waist was just too short for my body.  The floral bodice also lacked the glitter I felt would be perfect for a Disney wedding.

I loved the floral detailing on the 207 Snow White, but this gown wasn't right for me.

Although I didn't find my own gown at Bridal Revival, I was able to get a good idea of what would look right on me and I could continue my search with a clearer mind.  The girls had much more success and we were able to narrow down their gowns to two possibilities and we were able to check their colours against their individual skin colour.

Tan suggested that the bridesmaids should wear those dresses. I thought about it, but decided against it...

My next appointment was at a place very close to where we live.  It is a place called, "Nifi Bridal".  This boutique was adorable, it was extremely well presented and clean.  I had decided to try this place and leave the idea of getting an Alfred Angelo gown behind because I hadn't really liked the quality of the Alfred Angelo gowns, and I hadn't had much success in finding many of the gowns I was interested in to be able to try them on.

Nifi Bridal - a great little boutique!

I tried on a few dresses and they were all lovely, but none of them really stood out, except for one.  This dress was absolutely beautiful, and I think in another dimension it could have been my dress.  It just didn't quite have the grandeur that I was looking for, it felt like it was more A-line than ballgown, it had no train at all and the lace detailing on the front was sticking up a little and it was bugging both Tan and I.

Before I saw the Wendy Sullivan dress, I started thinking that a burlap sack might be the way to go.  I think the shoes go perfectly with this look!

The dress is the "Briony" by Wendy Sullivan, who is an Australian designer, and is Australian made.  The quality was exceptional.  It had the long waist I was looking for, it had the sparkle, and it was different to many gowns I've seen.  To be perfectly honest, I don't think the photo does the gown justice at all!  I could have finished then and still been happy, but I had an appointment at another boutique the following day and I felt like I could find better!

The Briony gown was extremely flattering and I felt for the first time like I could actually find a gown that would be perfect for me!

The next place I tried was the same place that my sister got her gown from.  It's a place called, "Fairytale Bridal Boutique", and they are one of the largest bridal boutiques in Melbourne.  They sell a stunning range of gowns and their boutique is amazing!  This is where I found my gown, but I'm not going to share that here.  I will share all about the experience at Fairytales in another blog post that will be published after the wedding!

My bridal boutique experiences went from horrible to amazing!  How nice is this boutique?!

As I mentioned earlier, this entry is a double update.  I'll be sharing the information for the room block for the Disney Resort locations that we have reserved in this update, so please feel free to bookmark this post as you may need it later!

We have set up four different hotels that have rooms already reserved for you to book.  These rooms are all available at a discounted rate and hopefully everyone will find them extremely convenient especially on the night before and the night of the wedding!

These rates are are exclusive of taxes, included taxes in brackets:

• Disney's Pop Century Resort (standard room) 
• $97 per room per night ($109.13 inc tax subject to change)
• Disney's Port Orleans Resort - Riverside (standard room)
• $154 per room per night ($173.25 inc tax subject to change)
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (savannah view room) 
• $309 per room per night ($347.63 inc tax subject to change)
• Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (garden view room) 
• $342 per room per night ($384.75 inc tax subject to change)

This is the type of view you can expect if you decide to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah View room.

To get these rates and ensure we also meet our minimum you need to book through Disney by calling them on 407-827-6799 then state that you're with the Knoll/Le wedding.  Otherwise you can book online or outside the room block, but the discount will not apply.  If you'd prefer to do it that way, but still wish to stay on Disney property, please pass on your reservation number to Tan or I so we're able to get those rooms counted towards our contracted minimums.

Don't risk staying here! Stay on property!

If you need more information on staying on Disney property, please refer to our previous blog post at:
http://jenandtanwedding.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/i-was-hiding-under-your-porch-because-i.html 
 

And Disney also have information on room allowances such as how many people can fit in various rooms and so on: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/

Please feel free to ask if you have any questions at all, Tan and I have stayed on property (and off) a couple of times so we have quite a bit of knowledge we can share.

Disney turns these drunkards into, "magically themed decorations"

Again, thank you for reading!  Our next update will hopefully be soon so we can get back on track.  We're very far behind!  Next blog update will be on the other awesome theme parks in the Orlando area, so much to do in Orlando and so very little time!!!!!

To your left is Hercules' villa. Next stop, the Pecs and Flex gift shop, where you can buy the great hero's new 30-minute workout scroll, "Buns of Bronze." - Tour Guide, from "Hercules"

Hi all,

Tan here.  Apologies for the lack of updates recently.  I was busily studying for my FINAL EXAM in my uni course.  That's right, after four years of going to class, writing assignments, studying for and sitting exams, I've finished!!

At least I hope I've finished.  Nothing is certain until I get my results, but I'm quite confident that I passed with flying colours.  Then I will be able to graduate, and not have to think about assignments for a long time.

Woo Hoo?

I will now also have more time to help Jennie with the wedding planning and of course, write blog entries!

I hope to have some help from my dog with future blogs (kinda looks like my dog, Merlin)

I think the Disney quote that I've used for the title of this blog entry captures what I am planning to do both short term and long term.

The, "Buns of Bronze", part of it is what I'm trying to accomplish short term so I can look great in a wedding dress, er I mean suit.  I am currently about eight kilos overweight since I haven't really exercised (or gotten out of my chair) since I started my course.

If I took a selfie right now, this is what it'd look like

That's me on the right (number 4).  I'm trying to be as active as I can!

Okay enough about my battle with books and flab.  The "shop", part is really what this entry is about.  Our last entry was about the places we like to eat when visiting Orlando.  This time, I'm writing about the places we like to shop at when in Orlando because let's face it...  I love to shop.  I blame my mother, who used to take me shopping every Friday after school as our family activity because we didn't live near anything fun.

I used to do this.  Jack still does it.

Up until early 2007, Jennie and I used to buy our clothes from Australia.  This was mainly because we live here.  We did this for all of our adult lives until we went to the US in 2007/08.  That's when we realised that clothes over in the US are about half the price of the EXACT SAME ITEM in Australia.

It costs a bit more in Australia (sorry about the formatting, the text was too small)

So now we don't bother buying any clothes in Australia (aside from the bare essentials and some bits and pieces here and there).  We prefer to wait until we're in the US or order stuff online.

There are three places we generally go to in the US.

1. The Orlando Premium Outlets (on Vineland) - This is where we get all of our clothes.  If you click on the link, you'll see the store listing.

My favourites are Nike (so much basketball gear, so little time), Adidas (I prefer their tracksuit pants), Burberry (last time Jennie picked up a beautiful coat for 10% of the ticketed price.  That's 90% off!!), Hugo Boss (so many suits, so little cost) and Coach (because we love getting people handbags).  The last time we were there, we had to buy additional suitcases just so we could carry home our purchases.

This is me outside the outlet malls

2. Walmart - Now our US based readers are probably reading this wondering why on earth we would list Walmart as a place of interest.  Well...

First and foremost, we don't have Walmart in Australia.  Secondly, it is very convenient.  It's a one-stop shop for everything from breakfast cereals to gaming consoles.  Whenever we're in the US and staying in a city for longer than a few days, we'll go there first to stock up on food and booze.  It's also very well priced as their business model is all about lean operations so they can pass on the savings to their customers (I wrote a paper on this and got a very good mark, so shut up).

Lastly, YOU CAN BUY FREAKING GUNS THERE!!  Us Australians aren't used to seeing guns apart from little handguns that our police carry around (and when I wear a sleeveless top).  Not that I condone firearms, it is more the novelty factor of being able to pick up some milk, cereal and a high powered rifle without having to move your vehicle.  VERY CONVENIENT!!

Two tickets to the gun show, baby!

Pampers? Check
Bread? Check
Shotgun...?

3. The Florida Mall - Okay, I'll admit it.  The only reason we decided to go here was because they have an M&M's shop there.  One of the fun things that Jennie and I like to do whenever we go overseas is get an M&M's dispenser.  It really is not practical given how fragile they are and how we need to be very careful when transporting them back home!  We've been quite lucky thus far - all of our dispensers are in tact!!

We love M&Ms.  This was taken in Vegas.
Jennie is trying to feed the poor M&M a packet of its friends.  That's really sick.

We quickly found that Florida Mall was more than just a place to get chocolate covered in a candy shell that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.  Florida Mall has more places to shop than the outlets and has more variety given that they're not trying to sell factory seconds.

It might be a little on the expensive side to our US readers, but the prices are still so much cheaper than that of Australia!

Jennie and I will be taking a day or two to go shopping when we're in Orlando in February and maybe (if time permits) after our wedding.

Speaking of our wedding, we've gone a little off-topic recently, but next week, we'll be writing about our latest trip to a bridal salon.  This time, it wasn't a complete fail!

Thanks for reading!!

If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff. - Remy, from "Ratatoullie"

Hi guys, it's Jennie again this time!

Last week in Tan's blog update he started discussing the many, many, many things there are to do in Orlando besides going to Walt Disney World.  In the coming weeks we'll be expanding on that, and today I'll be discussing the best part.. FOOD!

Anyone that knows Tan and I well know that we both love our food... sometimes a little too much.  There are plenty of great places to eat in and around WDW, that are in short "AMAZING"!  But we'll get to that soon.  Firstly I want to share some of our experiences on eating "off property", for a couple of reasons but mainly because it's so gosh darn expensive to eat within the park.

One of our favourite places to go and let me be clear on this.. it's not because the food is good, it's not because it's cheap, it's not because it's even clean or unhealthy.  It's for all of those reasons and so much more.. it's IHOP!

True story.  Sure the pancakes are great, but so is everything else!  Grab a steak!

The place also known as the "International House of Pancakes" is most likely well known among our US readers.  It's where you go to get cheap decent food, your money buys you huge servings and you can get it any time of the day or night.  Want a 2am steak?  IHOP will provide!  Want a 4am breakfast?  IHOP is your answer!

It's disgustingly decadent, heart-stoppingly good, wholesome western cuisine at it's best (or worst).  It's one of those places where you're either greeted by someone that had their soul sucked out of them working there for the past 5 years or someone that reminds you of an old family friend.

I'm not kidding.  IHOP quite possibly boasts the title for the most "wrong" food ever with its "Horton Hears a Who pancakes".

The last time we went to Orlando and stopped there for breakfast right after getting off the plane we were lucky enough to have a lovely old "very southern" lady greet us with the warmth that only a southerner could!  She loved the fact we were Australian, and it seemed to make her even more passionate about making our experience a memorable one!

We ordered ridiculous amounts of food and ate almost all of it!  We both ordered a Breakfast Sampler each, not only does it come with two eggs, two crispy bacon strips, two pork sausages, two pieces of ham, and two hash browns, it also comes with two buttermilk pancakes!  We also had two bottomless orange juices and something else, I don't remember because I have food amnesia.. after all that we walked out with food babies.

After searching for IHOP images, I'm kinda hungry again and I only just ate dinner!

What is a food baby?  A food baby is when you eat so much food in one sitting that you have a baby bump that wasn't there before you started eating.  You start going rosy in the cheeks and get that "expecting" look about you.  Sometimes you get so emotional you even start coming up with names for the little one.

This guy clearly has a food baby.  He probably ate at IHOP.

One of our personal favourite places to eat while in Orlando is a place we fell in love with first in Australia, the place I'm talking about is Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon!  Why do we love Lone Star so much?  Mainly because of the steak!  The steak there is pretty good and they generally cook it to your likeness, but we don't only love it because of the steak I'm sure you can get much better steak elsewhere.

At Lone Star they serve all round good wholesome "home-style" food, you can get side servings of good backyard style garden salads, baked sweet potatoes or beer chips.  I personally love to have a mudslide (so yummy!) before my meal is served while munching on the famous Lone Star peanuts and watching the line dancing done by the waiters every half-hour.

Steak glorious, steak!  Hot potatoes and peanuts!

The main reason we eat Lone Star in the US rather than Australia is because even though we supported Lone Star, apparently no one else in Australia did and they shut their doors about 10 years ago, and we miss it so very much.. :'(

There are so many places to eat outside the park area, and so many various cuisines as well!  If you're after some good ideas on eating out I'd suggest trying TripAdvisor or Urbanspoon.  If you're more interested in cooking your own food, probably one of the better places to buy your produce from is the Whole Foods Market, which is a little more expensive than your regular supermarket but the quality is fantastic!

At the Whole Foods Market, you can put your diet back on track.  Such good looking and healthy food!

While I'm sure there are some great places to eat around the Orlando area, traveling outside the park to eat every day can take quite a while, so we didn't get to explore as much as we really wanted to.  We love eating at Downtown Disney because it's close to where we stay and we can generally find a good meal at Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe or T-Rex.

Rainforest Cafe is so awesome for kids!  Even better for the slightly larger, more immature kids..

There are so many food options at DTD it's nuts!  DTD and other Disney food options as well as saving time and money are something I want to expand on, but there is so much tell you its really something that will have to wait until another time.

One place we've been meaning to go to each time we go to Orlando is the Medieval Times Dinner Show, which apparently is pretty fun!  I mean, how can you go wrong with Medieval style dining and jousting and swordplay?!  You can't, that's how!!  The camp value alone makes this place a clear winner!

Medieval Times is your standard dinner show, you get fed and while you eat you watch a show.  It's apparently hugely popular among tourists, and a great place to take a big crowd of people.  Which brings me to an idea I had, I want to know how many of our guests would be interested in coming with us to Medieval Times as one of our nights out???  It would be fun, we get fed, we get a show and we can have a chat and a few drinks!

If you're interested in Medieval Times, please go ahead and let Tan or myself know so we can add as part of our optional itinerary!

How awesome does this place look?!  I can't believe we haven't been here yet...

I hope that gives you some ideas on where to eat if you're outside the Disney area and you have the munchies.  Next week, shopping!

Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. - Mufasa, from "The Lion King"

Hi everybody, it's Tan here with this entry.

One of the most frequently asked questions (also known as a 'FAQ' for those cool peeps) is, "Tan, how do you stay so ridiculously good looking?"  The answer to that is that I don't know.  I was just born like this.

Another FAQ is, "So is there anything else to do in Orlando other than go to Disney theme parks, getting eaten by alligators or throwing oranges at old people?"

Stuff to do in Orlando...

Well you're in luck!  Jennie and I have been to Orlando TWICE now and have discovered that there's plenty to do other than Disney, Alligators and tossing oranges.  We're not sure why you'd want to do anything else, but we're going to humour you...

I googled, "old guy getting hit in face with orange", and this came up...

The next few posts are based on our experiences in Orlando and surrounding areas.  If you want to know the full array of stuff to do in Orlando, you can google, "Stuff to do in Orlando" or go here.

This week we're covering sporting events because I like sports.

When Jennie and I were last in Orlando in 2011, I dragged, forced, convinced, bribed Jennie to go to two sporting events with me.  The first was a hockey match in Tampa between the Tampa Bay Lightning (Jennie's team because they sold pink hoodies) and the Phoenix Coyotes.

St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay.

I've always enjoyed hockey.  Maybe because it is a combination of balance, speed and skill.  Maybe because it requires a certain type of toughness (which I obviously do not possess) to play.  Or maybe it is because they're allowed to beat the SNOT out of each other and not be penalised?  Jennie says, "all of the above", and I think I agree with her.

Hockey fights - a victimless crime...

The NHL season starts in mid-September, so you should be able to catch a game after our wedding (not before!!)  Florida has two hockey teams, the Tampa Bay Lightning, based out of Tampa Bay (duh!) and the Florida Panthers, based out of Miami.

We chose to see the Lightning because the drive from Orlando to Tampa is a lot shorter than the drive to Miami.  Also, the Lightning don't suck as much as the Panthers.

Woohoo - pink hoodies!!

The drive from Orlando is about 90 minutes to Tampa compared to the 3.5 hour trek from Orlando to Miami.  This made it a no-brainer for us to decide.  3.5 hours each way plus the 3 hours for the hockey match means that your entire day is dedicated to one event.

We drove to Tampa about three hours before game time, arriving one hour before puck down, to ensure we could find the arena and get parking.  I didn't realise how beautiful Tampa is.  Had I known, I probably would have left a little earlier so we could explore the city.  The arena is a short walk from the beach - it is an amazingly beautiful beach!!

The beach at Tampa Bay - OMG awesome!!

The entertainment around the arena before the game was so much fun.  People had BBQ's, bars, dancing, music and games set up for the kids (and adults, but don't tell anyone) to enjoy.  It really was a festive atmosphere.

We got our tickets, some merchandise (just in case we were going to get shot because we were wearing the wrong gang colours) and some food (which was awesome for a sporting arena).  The thing that amazed us was that we could get mojitos for $5 each!  They weren't the best we had ever had, but for five bucks, they were amazing!  I could only have one because I was driving, but Jennie got her money's worth!!

The game itself was a non-event as the Lightning demolished the Coyotes 8 goals to 3, but it was a lot of fun.  If you get a chance, make sure you get down and catch the hockey!!

Apparently this dude is their victory cigar.  Please don't ask me to smoke him.

A few days later we went to the basketball.  The NBA season doesn't start until late October, so I doubt you'll be able to catch a basketball game, unless you plan on spending a few weeks in Orlando.  In light of this, I'm not going to write anything about it.  Here are some pictures of us enjoying ourselves at the game...

Us at the Amway Arena - the newest NBA arena and quite possibly the best.

Player introductions.  Dwight Howard was playing for them back then.  Dwight = LOL.

Tip-off.

Other sporting events include:
 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Football).  This also reminds me of a joke.  Q: What is a buccaneer?  A: The things that are on the sides of your buccan-head...  Geddit??? :D
 - Tampa Bay Rays (Baseball)
 - A few other teams in Miami (Dolphins - NFL, Marlins - MLB, Heat - NBA)
 - Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)

Thanks to everyone for reading.  Next week: other activities for you to do while you're in Orlando!

Excuse me, I think the word you're searching for is "Space Ranger". - Buzz, from "Toy Story"

Hello again everyone!  You're reading yet another blog entry created by Jennie, and this time I'm going to talk about (and I guess in a way introduce you all to) someone that has an extremely important part to play in our wedding.  I'm talking of course about the person that will actually be marrying us!  Our wonderful, lovely and spectacularly brilliant officiant, Renee Silverman (come on down)!

Renee is the one in the middle, she performs the ceremonies rather than participates in all of them.

Before I get into details about why Renee is the perfect person to marry us, I'll take a moment to explain basically what an officiant does to those living in Australia that probably have never heard that word before (yes I've had some really weird looks from people when I tell them we already have our officiant).

An officiant more or less does the same thing a celebrant does in Australia.  Having said that, all ministers are officiants, but not all officiants are ministers (if that makes sense).  Renee doesn't do religious ceremonies as she's a Notary Public, which is perfect for us as we're not after a religious ceremony.  I'm pretty sure Renee can explain all that 100 times better than I can and probably correct me if I got any of that wrong, as we're not religious the things that ministers do confuse the crap out of both of us!

Contrary to popular belief, this guy will not be officiating our ceremony.

We found Renee through the Disney Wedding Podcast by Carrie Hayward (which has been absolutely invaluable to us by the way).  Renee explained all about the types of things she does and types of personalization she can include and just about everything she spoke about in the podcast we found we could relate to.

From the podcast we contacted Renee and set up a nice and late (I think it was about 11pm-1am ish) meet and greet over Skype which all happened a couple of months ago.  We all instantly clicked and Tan and I knew we had found the perfect person to officiate our ceremony!

For more than 35 years Renee has been officiating weddings!  So you could say she has a little bit of experience with it.  Although she isn't yet on Disney's official wedding officiant list, she does do a number of Disney weddings and vow renewals.  Hopefully she can inch her way onto that list soon, she's been apparently waiting 6 years (since 2007) to get on that list and not one place has opened up since!

Hopefully our ceremony will look half as awesome as this one, with the only difference being us standing next to Renee, not this handsome couple!

Renee offers a personalized service as well as the more traditional ceremony, so we can actually go ahead with some crazy ideas that we were just toying with and didn't think we'd actually find someone willing to do them!

Having been in the profession for so many years, you can tell how dedicated and passionate Renee is to her job by just talking to her and reading her blog entries.  She is extremely personal and has already taken the time to connect with both Tan and I on a more personal level, even sharing our distaste of the final episode of Dexter.. seriously, what were they thinking?!

Why Dexter, WHY?!?!?

We are both super excited to start working on the details of our wedding with her and including in it things that are special to us that we can share with our friends and family.  We plan to make sure that people are as excited and interested in the ceremony as they are in the reception and celebrations to follow.

This dude is clearly not attending one of Renee's ceremonies!

After all, the ceremony is really the reason we are celebrating!

Renee's website is: http://www.lovelyceremony.com/

She also has a blog located at: http://lovelyceremony.blogspot.com.au/

For those that are interested in listening to the podcast that  helped us find Renee, the link is:
http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/2013/08/07/vendor-spotlight-officiant-renee-silverman/

Thanks again for reading, and please stop by again next week!

Don't think, and don't worry. When the time comes, you'll know what to do - Mrs. Incredible, from "The Incredibles"

Hi everyone, it's Tan here.  Apologies for the lack of updates - in the last month of my degree, and it's kicking my ass.

Speaking of getting my ass kicked, I thought I'd better post about who I will be having as my groomsmen and some of the (many) reasons why I chose them to be by my side on this special day, otherwise I might get beat up.

My Best Man: Jack Le

Jack says this photo epitomises our relationship.  I tell him that he should stop wearing that sailor suit.

Someone once described to me the role of the Best Man as, "to be someone you can boss around all day and do your bidding as you see fit."  If you understand my relationship with my brother, you will see why he will make the perfect Best Man for me (based on that description).  He has many years of experience in that role, so it won't be too difficult for him...

How very 1988.  Jack still wears that outfit to bed.

Jack was purchased born seven years after I was, but he's probably more mature than I am.  Jack and I are very similar people in some regards; we share the same interests, have a similar sense of humour and harbour similar ambitions.  We are also very different people with different approaches to life.

LOL - Tracksuits...

I always did what I could to get him into trouble or to annoy him as much as possible when we were growing up together.  It always helped that I was older and stronger than him.

He's probably crying because I did something to him

Looking through these photos that I'm posting on this blog has made me realise how inseparable we were when growing up.  Almost every photo of me in these albums features Jack, and those photos of Jack without me have him crying in them.  Proof that no matter how hard I tried to get rid of him, he'd keep following me around until I would beat him up.

Oh yeah, I forgot - Jack was a chubby kid

I've got to give him credit - I made life difficult for him growing up, and we've had our differences, but there's always one constant...  He's always been there for me, and not because I forced him to!  I so proud of him and I couldn't think of a better person (other than Batman) to have as my Best Man.

I'm still taller

When I first told Jack (yeah, that's right, I didn't ask. I told him) that he would be my Best Man, his first reaction was, "Crap.  Does this mean I have to give a speech?"  I know he has nothing to worry about.  He's going to do a fantastic job.

Jack, in the words of Mrs. Incredible, "Don't think, and don't worry.  When the time comes, you'll know what to do"

See how Disney gives great advice??

So proud of him when he graduated.
Also, isn't this funny?  I'm still wearing a suit, and he's still got on an outfit that looks like a sailor suit...

My Second Best Man: Khoi Van Ho

Whenever Khoi's name comes up around my parents, their first comment is almost always, "You followed Khoi around like a little puppy dog when you were little", quickly followed by, "one time you got so mad at Khoi, you bit his belly so hard that you drew blood."

Khoi in Vietnam

Neither statement surprises me.  I hate to admit it, but as a child I was a biter.

Let's quickly move on to the statement that's relevant to this post...  I did follow Khoi around as a child, and I can understand why.  Khoi is the most genuine, kind and caring person you could ever wish to meet.  Khoi and I were separated when our respective families had to leave Vietnam after Darth Vader blew up Alderaan with the Super Laser on the Deathstar* and we thought Vietnam was next.

*That was something from Star Wars.  This is a happy blog, so if you want to know why people left Vietnam in droves, Google it :)

Fun times in DC

 It would be 26 years before we saw each other again at the wedding of one of my favourite cousins.  Even after 26 years, it didn't take too long for us to pick up where we left off!  I am constantly amazed at how similar I am to Khoi even though we grew up on opposite sides of the planet.  He's like the brother that Jack never had and always wanted.

More fun times in DC

I must admit, I was a little worried before I asked Khoi to be my second best man that he would say no.  I was even more nervous when I called him and couldn't get through to him using the phone numbers I was given.

After speaking to Khoi's lovely partner (who I had a nice chat to - I think JC is awesome), and my Uncle (who made me realise that my Vietnamese sucks) I was finally given his work number.  It wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be - quite the opposite.  I asked.  He agreed.  It was simple and awesome.

Khoi and I with my sister, Natalie, and my cousin, Carolyn

I feel so honoured to have two such wonderful people as my groomsmen.  I can't wait to get them together for our special day.

My Best Men!

Thanks for reading!