Music!

So, our DJ was fantastic.  We just gave him some suggestions for what to play, and he filled in all the rest on his own, perfectly.  He also heard Chris mention a duet that Mandy and I did, and was ready to throw microphones in our faces immediately after.  And everyone had a great time dancing.  Anyway, thought I'd share the wedding playlist.  Here we have timestamps, artists, and song titles.  I also put some notes in parentheses about the special songs.

 

5:33pm
00:00 Vitamin String Quartet - Portal - Still Alive

02:56 Vitamin String Quartet - Island in the Sun

06:12 Christophe Beck - Paperman

10:58 Continuo Consort, Maurice Steger & Naoki Kitaya - Il terzo libro delle sonate e arie: Aria sopra "La Bergamasca"

14:52 Vitamin String Quartet - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings - Concerning Hobbits

18:00 Vitamin String Quartet - Birdhouse in Your Soul

20:46 Christophe Beck - Paperman

25:27 Continuo Consort, Maurice Steger & Naoki Kitaya - Il terzo libro delle sonate e arie: Aria sopra "La Bergamasca"

6:01pm
28:32 The Canadian Brass - Canon

29:53 Canadian Brass - Air on the G String (from "Suite No. 3")  (Groom processional)

34:00 Zelda- Skyward Sword Music - Romance (Wedding party processional)

34:04 Vitamin String Quartet - Goin' to Carolina (Bride processional)

38:41 Vitamin String Quartet - The Princess Bride - Storybook Love (Recessional)

1:02:05 Zelda- Skyward Sword Music - Romance 

1:04:55 Michael Bublé - Feeling Good

1:08:52 Queen - Killer Queen

1:11:54 Cowboy Bebop - Yoko Kanno - Tank!

1:15:23 Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

1:20:41 John Mellencamp - Cherry Bomb

1:25:23 Bruce Hornsby - Every Little Kiss

7:04pm
1:31:01 Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere

1:34:37 Simon And Garfunkel - Cecilia

1:45:48 Daryl Hall & John Oates - You Make My Dreams

1:48:55 Queen - Bicycle Race

1:51:59 Aerosmith - Angel

1:52:21 Maroon 5 - Sunday Morning

1:56:25 Simon And Garfunkel - Me And Julio Down By The School Yard

1:59:14 Queen - Somebody To Love

2:04:07 Hall & Oates - Private Eyes

2:07:24 Michael Bublé - Haven't Met You Yet

2:09:20 Richard Cheese - Darth Vador Theme (Dan and Tina intro)

2:11:25 Doctor Who Theme 26 - Opening Theme (2007) (Greg and Alyssa intro)

2:12:04 Archer- Closing Theme ''The Killer'' (Kate and Jessie intro)

2:12:38 Zedd - The Legend Of Zelda (Original Mix) (Amy and Chris intro)

2:13:19 The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra - End Titles (From "Star Trek: The Motion Picture") (Josh and Mandy intro)

2:15:44 Michael Buble - Crazy Love

2:21:26 Michael Bublé - Moon Dance

2:25:30 Looking Glass - Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)

2:26:19 Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence

8:01pm
2:28:28 Michael Bublé - Home

2:30:32 Greenbaum, Norman - Spirit in the Sky

2:32:15 Cowboy Bebop - Yoko Kanno - Tank!

2:35:44 Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden

2:40:14 Eric Clapton - Father's Eyes

2:44:45 Eric Clapton - Change the World

2:48:40 CCR - Down On The Corner

2:51:25 Simon & Garfunkel - I Am A Rock

2:54:15 Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)

2:56:44 Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing

3:01:30 Frank Sinatra - For Once in My Life

3:04:21 Frank Sinatra - I Get A Kick Out Of You

3:07:15 Star Trek Original Series Intro (HQ)

3:08:14 Sting - Fields Of Gold

3:11:56 Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

3:13:38 Richard Cheese - Indiana Jones Theme

3:14:15 John Williams - Cantina Band

3:18:42 Richard Cheese - Indiana Jones Theme

3:20:32 John Williams - Cantina Band

9:05pm
3:31:49 Queen - Under Pressure (surprise duet)

3:37:37 Michael Bublé - Everything

3:40:19 Ellen Mclain - Still Alive (cake cutting)

3:41:39 Michael Bublé - The More I See You

3:46:10 Queen - Seaside Rendezvous (First dance)

3:47:59 Crosby, Stills & Nash - Teach Your Children Well (Father/Bride dance)

3:50:43 Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely (F/D) (Mother/Groom dance)

3:56:11 The Complete Jewish Party CD Disc 1 - Long Hora Medley (Instrumental)

4:01:50 Contours - Do You Love Me

4:05:04 Beatles - Twist And Shout

4:06:49 Aretha Franklin - Respect

4:09:02 Harry Belefonte - Jump In The Line (Shake Senora)

4:12:39 Earth, Wind & Fire - September

4:13:16 AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

4:16:17 Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer (Clean)

4:17:42 Walk The Moon - Shut Up And Dance (Radio Edit) XMIXR

4:21:49 The Killers - Somebody Told Me

4:24:24 KC & The Sunshine Band - Boogie Shoes

10:00pm
4:26:42 Earth, Wind & Fire - September

4:29:23 Weather Girls - It's Raining Men

4:35:33 Rocky Horror - Time Warp - Group

4:36:21 Meat Loaf - Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul

4:40:41 Weird Al Yankovic - White & Nerdy

4:44:37 Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

4:45:20 Sugarhill Gang - Apache

4:47:59 DJ Sammy - Heaven

4:49:53 Cascada - Everytime We Touch

4:53:16 Kernkraft 400 - Zombie Nation

4:56:09 Darude - Sandstorm

4:57:35 O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei (Mai Ai Hee, Numa Numa)

5:00:32 Eric Prydz - Call On Me

5:01:43 Psy - Gangnam Style

5:04:14 Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (XMiX Remix)

5:06:53 Captain Tractor - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

5:10:53 Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

5:14:45 Modern English - I Melt With You

5:17:36 Iron and Wine - Such Great Heights

5:22:35 Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light

5:26:09 Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love

11:07pm
5:34:00 Brian Setzer Orchestra - Jump, Jive & Wail

5:37:28 Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal

5:39:48 Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl

5:43:41 Kenny Loggins - Footloose

5:48:32 Daft Punk ft Pharrell & Nile Rogers - Get Lucky (Original MIx)

5:50:21 Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop This Feeling (Clean)

5:52:02 Tegan And Sara - Everything Is Awesome!!! (Feat. The Lonely Island)

5:55:12 Stan Rogers - 45 Years   (last dance)

-J

Ceremonial items

We're over two weeks past the wedding, and things have more or less settled into a normal routine.  We still have a huge pile of thank you notes to write, and we're still excitedly waiting for all the professional photos and videos to arrive, but we're back to working long hours.  There's still time to reminisce, though!

There were a number of symbolic items in our ceremony.  Most obvious was the chuppah.  This canopy under which the bride and groom stand is representative of the home we will build together.  We chose to ask our guests to add flowers to it on their way in, so that they could contribute (metaphorically) to our home.

The chuppah, along with us holding our kinyan bag, and me a slide rule.

The chuppah, along with us holding our kinyan bag, and me a slide rule.

We had a bag for "kinyan".  The idea is that our wedding ceremony is the creation of a partnership (Jewish weddings, depending on how traditional they are, sometimes are based on this, but often are based on the husband's family acquiring the wife, which we found to be weird).  To symbolize this, we put items into a bag to indicate that we are pooling our resources, and our possessions will be owned by us as partners in the future.  The bag itself was made by Katherine Barron-Hopkins, a dear friend of mine since college, who also served in my wedding party.  Into the bag we put our rings, and one other item from each of us.  Mandy chose an ink pen, and I chose my grandfather's slide rule.  We then held the bag up high as the partnership was made official.

Of course, one of the most well known parts of the Jewish wedding is the breaking of the glass.  We decided to be a little bit creative with this part.  Rather, I felt inspired and Mandy let me go and be a nerd.  I asked my Uncle Steve (who is big into radio equipment) if he could find a vacuum tube for us to stomp on as our glass breaking.  That is similar to a light bulb (a very popular choice, due to its ease of breaking and loud pop from air rushing into the vacuum), but way nerdier.  I initially thought of doing a photomultiplier tube, but those are too expensive.  An old, not-functioning-perfectly vacuum tube was ideal.

I wish I'd taken a photo of it before we stomped on it.  It was a nice-looking tube.  Well, here's what it looked like afterwards.

Now it is definitely non-functioning as a vacuum tube.

Now it is definitely non-functioning as a vacuum tube.

We also used kiddush (the Jewish wine blessing) cups with sentimental meaning.  Josh brought a kiddush cup from his parents' wedding.  Mandy's kiddush cup belonged to her great-grandmother.

The kiddush cups.

The kiddush cups.

There's one more important ceremonial item: the ketubah.  This marriage contract was custom designed for our wedding.  While having a couple of witnesses sign it is standard, we liked the idea of having everyone in attendance sign around the border, because they were all witnesses to our wedding.  We were also fans of the outer space theme.

The ketubah!

The ketubah!

Maybe this small description will help explain some of the things which our guests saw at the ceremony.  And, again, I couldn't be happier with how things went at our wedding!

J

roll credits!

Well, we did it.  We're married now.  It's as amazing as it sounds.

We're going to keep the web site going for a little while because it's a handy place to collect our memorabilia.

Also, there are a lot of people we need to thank, because a lot of people helped us pull off this amazing party for all our families and friends.  Should you be hosting your own wedding in Durham or the surrounding area in the future, we recommend every single one of these fine and professional people.  They have been nothing but terrific to work with and kept us feeling sane and secure throughout the entire process of doing a big thing we'd never done before.

Thank you, thank you all of you from the bottom of our h

So without further ado...

YOUR CAST AND CREW

You're all the best!

-M&

twenty-four hours

It's just about eight years since I walked into a cappella group practice and you had just gotten back from a work trip in Japan, the first time I ever met you,

Seven years since we decided it was worth taking a chance on each other,

Six years since you met my entire family at once, five and a half years since I met yours,

Five years since we had that anniversary date in some backwoods barely-town in North Carolina under a sky full of stars and it started to feel like maybe, just maybe this was something that might be permanent,

Four years since we got degrees of varying sorts and they took us across the country from each other, but we decided to keep going anyway (and it was a great excuse for a tour of America's giant holes),

Just under three years since we at least moved you back into my time zone,

Two years since just about everyone in our lives had begun asking me if we were ever going to get married,

A year and a half since you convinced me to "go on a walk" with you on the ice dunes of Lake Huron outside Lawrence's family beach house and all our friends (except Denis, poor Denis) gathered around the window because they knew what was going on before I did, and I had a terrible cold and we spent most of the day in airports but it was still such a wonderful day...

A year since we started planning this for real,

A month since we finally moved into the same place,

And twenty-four hours until we DO THIS THING.

(finally)

(for real, it's about time)

It has been a long, strange journey.  I'm really, really glad I get to be on it with you.

About the invitation

Well, all the invitations have been out for some time now, and we've been told by many people how much they like them!  Mandy and I have been thrilled with how they turned out.  There's actually a lot of symbolism in the invites, to the point that my mom asked for us to diagram it at the wedding.  I don't really know where we'd put it, so, why not put it here on the blog?

Well, to start with, here's the invitation!

Mandy came up with the idea for the save-the-dates, with the two of us under the stars and the Heart Nebula.  The medievalist going with an astrophysics theme.  I actually came up with the idea of making the invitation look like a medieval illuminated manuscript.  We both liked the idea, though making it happen would require a talented artist, and neither of us are really so big in the art department, at least not for drawing.

One of Mandy's first reactions was "it needs to have snails".  I was confused by this, but Mandy quickly taught me about snails in medieval manuscripts.  Smithsonian Magazine did a nice piece on this phenomenon in 2013.  Mandy's personal theory is that the snails were an inside joke between the illuminators.  The various other aspects of the invitation came together gradually, with ideas coming from Mandy and me, as well as from the artist.

The artist was Robin Swaby, recommended to us by one of our friends.  Obviously, she did a fantastic job.  She took our suggestion sketches and reference art and put together this beautiful work.  She also did the calligraphy.  You can find her signature underneath the singing snail.

Let's talk about the various things!  On the top left, we have the USS Enterprise.  We have another blog post about why that's in there.  Below that on the left, is Waggles.  Waggles was the beagle who lived with my family when I was growing up.  He was a beloved part of the family, though he finally had to be put to sleep a few years ago.  He was quite concerned with making sure my siblings and I didn't fight, and he always enjoyed lying down in the spot where the sun came in through the window.  He was passionate about his meals, always excited at the sound of the leash, and he was never even close to fast enough to catch any rabbits.

Across from him on the right (and a little above) is Duckie (Mandy is writing this paragraph).  Duckie is an airhead.  And a princess.  And a doofus.  And a good girl.  She knows that kisses get pettin's, but she doesn't know a whole lot else.  She warrants being preserved in art.

On the lower left is a snail playing a tuba.  I (Josh is writing again) play the tuba!  On the right is a manatee.  Mandy has been fond of Manatees since she was very small and saw one at Sea World.  Below that is a singing snail.  As you know, Mandy is quite the singer, and she and I met in an a cappella group.  "Much rejoicing" is, of course, a quote from the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I'll also say something about how they were printed.  We actually weren't sure how exactly we'd get them printed, until I was wandering in Pasadena looking for dinner (I was at a conference at Caltech) and noticed a printing place (they still exist!) open, well past the closing time listed on the door, and decided to go in and see whether this suspiciously convenient open door was auspicious.  Long story short: it was.  They also helped make the reply cards, and contributed to what seems to be an unexpected snail theme for our wedding.

All in all, the invitation is a work which combines so many things which make us who we are, all put together in a lovely, anachronistic way, and it also stands as an invitation for our closest friends to join us for our wedding.  We couldn't be happier with it!

J

About Star Trek

Huh, well, that's a change of pace.

In our many years together, Mandy and I have shared quite a few experiences together.  She made me watch the entirety of Babylon 5 (I suppose, more like she got me started watching it, and I happily went along with the rest).  We've played through some video games together (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword come to mind in particular), seen lots of movies together, explored far off places together... we really enjoy sharing experiences.

Anyway, one day, several years ago (perhaps Mandy will remember exactly when better than I), we were at my parents' house, and she saw a bumper sticker sitting on a kitchen cupboard.  It read:

When you're up to your ass in tribbles, it's difficult to remember that the objective was to poison the grain.

And so Mandy asks "What's a tribble?"

Needless to say, I immediately rectified this.  We watched The Trouble with Tribbles, and Mandy was introduced to Star Trek.

I'd grown up on Star Trek: The Next Generation, with a healthy dose of various other Trek series along the way.  Mom has a story about seeing Star Trek III.  I won't repeat it here.  Anyway, Mandy grew to really enjoy the original series (TOS, 1966-1969), greatly enjoying the alternating (and sometimes simultaneous) campiness and good stories.  She especially enjoyed the interplay between Spock and Bones, and their rivalry which could only lead to the most beautiful friendship.  When we were living apart from each other, we would simultaneously watch episodes of Star Trek, streaming to our computers, while chatting via instant messenger.  We made a spreadsheet to keep track of which episodes we had watched, and which ones we wanted to be sure we watched together, etc.  The spreadsheet also had the translated Japanese Titles for each episode.  Why watch "Day of the Dove" when you can watch "Mystery in Space! Eating Angry!?"?

I wasn't kidding about the spreadsheet, or the Japanese titles.

I wasn't kidding about the spreadsheet, or the Japanese titles.

We've gone on to watch a bunch of Star Trek: TNG together as well, as well as many other TV series, sci-fi and otherwise, but I think the original series is special to us because of how it became a way for us to share time together when we were still pretty new at the living apart thing.  Also, we really enjoy nerding out together.

Our bookshelves just after she moved in with me (for the Fall) in Bloomington.  Note in particular Star Trek Catan and the USS Enterprise she crocheted for me.

Our bookshelves just after she moved in with me (for the Fall) in Bloomington.  Note in particular Star Trek Catan and the USS Enterprise she crocheted for me.

J

About Josh

Well, I can't let Mandy be the only one introducing herself here.  I need to keep up!  Please enjoy this short bio I wrote about myself.

-J

Sometimes I moonlight as a roving space probe exploring the Gale Crater, but not as often as I'd like.  It really only happened that one Halloween.  

Skipping all the dinosaurs and getting to the good part of the story, Josh grew up in a little suburb of Philadelphia called Newtown Square, and had a childhood filled with music, sci-fi, and probably some other things.  Some highlights from high school include being president of the Astronomical Society, and, playing the role of Mr. T, punching out his English teacher on stage for talking about Jar Jar Binks.  And music.  Josh has played the tuba since he was in sixth grade, and he finds it to be a delightful hobby to this day.

Josh studied physics at Penn State University, where he spent some time in a lab working on a Bose-Einstein condensation experiment.  But, he spent most of his time doing other things, like playing Sousaphone in the marching band, eating ice cream outside in shorts in the snow, and being an active member (and eventually president) of the Penn State Monty Python Society.

After graduating, Josh immediately moved to Duke University to study physics.  There he (after some wavering) decided to study neutrinos, with the Super-Kamiokande and T2K experiments.  This involved a lot of travel back and forth to Japan, but working in a successful international collaboration was quite rewarding, in more ways than one.  Neutrinos, for those of you wondering, are very light, very weakly interacting particles which are so very difficult to detect, but which make up for their shyness by being plentiful and very interesting.  Read up, there will be a quiz later (not really).  Josh got his PhD with a dissertation on the indications of neutrinos changing from one type to another (oscillating) seen with the T2K experiment.

Josh then started a postdoctoral research position with Indiana University, working for the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) experiments.  Naturally, this meant he spent a year and a half at Stanford before moving to Bloomington, IN, where he lives now.  He's still studying neutrinos, just in different ways than before.  Josh is presently making an effort to keep this from turning into a bizarre third-person CV.

In his spare time, Josh enjoys board games, video games, and various musical endeavors, though mostly that involves tuba playing these days.  Picard was definitely the best of the captains, though the EMH was his favorite doctor.  Geordi LaForge was probably one of Josh's heroes growing up, and quite the inspiration, even if the fact that his visor can see neutrinos now really bothers Josh.  Josh's favorite food, and the one he first learned to make, is French toast.  Josh is actually rather bad at picking favorites among movies and the like.  Josh will happily eat the cheese that Mandy won't eat, as long as she eats the tomatoes so he doesn't have to.

About Mandy

Since some of our families and friends only really know one of us (and how well do you really know us?  Really?) we will use this space, since we have it, to introduce ourselves in a bit more detail.  I'm going first, because I happen to be logged in.  So here goes!  -M

***

This is me in Antwerp with some penguins.

This is me in Antwerp with some penguins.

 

Mandy originally hails from a combination of Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia.  After attending the performing-arts magnet of the Kentucky Nerdly Nerd High School for Nerdy Children, she ventured eastwards to attend Duke University, where she double-majored in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Theatre Studies and graduated magna cum laude.  Her crowning achievement at Duke was earning Highest Distinction for her honors thesis by convincing several of her very nice friends to put on a fifteenth-century play about the Virgin Mary.  Her other crowning achievement was setting her fraternity's official unofficial record for pogo stick jumps.  She was and is a proud brother of Psi Upsilon Fraternity.

Mandy is now a PhD candidate in Medieval Studies at Cornell University.  Her research focuses on fifteenth and sixteenth century Flemish drama, particularly the plays of Cornelis Everaert, who is featured prominently in a few of our engagement photos.  Sometimes, her work takes her to small archives in Belgium, and you should really not get her started on that unless you want your ear talked off for the next hour (Josh can attest to this).  She is also an instructor for the Cornell Prison Education Program.

In her spare time, Mandy plays bridge, and is a member of both the Bridge Club of Ithaca and the bridge team at Cornell.  She loves game shows and schlocky horror movies from the 70s and 80s, playing with her crochet hooks and spinning wheel, singing, board games, and open-water swimming.  Her favorite book is The Long Walk by Stephen King.  Her favorite TV show is Babylon 5.  Her favorite movie is The Wicker Man (the good one).  Her favorite medieval philosopher is Robert Grosseteste.  She loves manatees.  She does not like cheese.

How we met

I suppose it is natural that some of you might ask how we met.  Well, Mandy hasn't written about it yet, so I get to!

We met back in 2008, at Duke University.  We actually met due to a capella singing.  I was in a Jewish a capella group called Kol Kachol.  I had just gotten back from a trip to Japan (I did a lot of those back then), and I heard that, while I was gone, the group had auditioned a couple new members.  And then I met them, and, well, one of them was Mandy!

Gosh we look young....

Gosh we look young....

Well, turns out we actually sang pretty well together.  We did a couple songs where the two of us were co-soloists.  Duet-ists?  Shockingly, evidence of this still exists!

I think we sang pretty well together.  Keep in mind, all this stuff was from before we started dating.  That's a story for another day.

Anyway, we'd see each other at the various rehearsals, and we also eventually figured out that we had some mutual friends who liked playing board games and other such nerdy endeavors.  And we became good friends!

And I think I'll leave the other parts our story for another day.

J

About this blog

Turns out, planning a wedding requires a LOT of work.  And one of the things that is (more or less) required these days is having a website.  But we'd like to go a bit beyond the simple date, location, and registry information.  That's why we're putting a little blog here, where we can tell stories.  Some of these stories will be about the wedding planning process, but others will be about us.  How we met, some interesting adventures we've had together, things like that.  We hope to update this periodically as our wedding date approaches.  We hope you enjoy reading these!

J+M