June 6, 1998
Disclaimer:
This page was thrown together quickly using Microsoft FrontPage Express and touched up with the GeoCities Advanced HTML editor to give those not fortunate enough to be able to witness "the blessed event" in person a glimpse of the day's festivities. I'm sure you'll be relieved that there are no silly Java-enabled widgets to screw up your browser here! ;-)
This was also my first encounter with the Kodak DC40 digital camera. (Courtesy of my friend Bob Hogan of Hogan's Internet Services - Thanks, Bob!) Capable of taking 48 700x500 hi-color images without having to "download", this little gem is living proof that by taking sheer numbers of pictures, just about anyone can luck out and get some decent snapshots!
Thank goodness for the free, downloadable 30-day trial version of Microsoft PictureIt! photo enhancing software, with lots of special effects (image cropping, color correction, brightness/contrast enhancement, etc.) to counteract my decided lack of photography skills! If anyone is interested, I can send you any of the full-size images used to build this page (and even some that didn't make the cut for various reasons that had nothing to do with image quality! ;-) Drop me a line, okay?
If you have a moment, please sign the guestbook, or take a look at who else may have signed in, ok? Thanks!
Enough of This!!! On With the Good Stuff!!!
The festivities began at St. Joseph's in Lincoln at 11:00AM. You couldn't ask for better weather for a wedding! If anything, the wind made things almost a bit chilly. One of the groomsmen commented to me in the receiving line after the service that he was glad that he had his jacket and vest, otherwise he would've been too cold!
The flowers in the church were a beautiful variety of white and near-white blooms and greenery:
Although they were more than a little nervous, the ring-bearer (Matthew Sliwkowski) and flower girl (Alexandra, Matthew's sister) performed their roles in memorable fashion!
This picture of Marybeth Fletcher and J.P. Lee (Bob's younger brother) shows just how lovely the bridegrooms' and bridesmaids' attire and flowers were:
The wedding mass was about an hour long, with some beautiful music (does anyone know who the singer and organist were?)
Ave Maria - Mothers' Entrance
Wagner's Bridal March - Processional
On Eagle's Wings - Communion
Scripture:
Tobit 8:4-9 (Prayer of the New Spouses), read by Tammie Kanich (Bob's sister),
Psalm 33:12 && 18 (The Goodness of the Lord),
I Corinthians 12:31-13:8a (The Greatest of These is Love), read by Joseph Sliwkowski Jr. (Kat's oldest brother), and
John 2:1-11 (The Marriage Feast of Cana).
The priest's homily was a touching interpretation of the I Corinthians passage on Love - the Three Spellings of "LOVE" (Love, Give, Time)
After Bob and Kat took their first communion as husband and wife, there was a reception line out in front of the church:
From here, the celebration moved on to a lovely farm not too far down the road, called the Codman house:
Kat and Bob traveled there in style in a beautiful horse-drawn carriage (sorry, no pictures of that - yet). The reception was held in what used to be the house's stable, with the dining tables located in a tent just outside the stable's door:
Everywhere one looked there were lovely arrangements of wildflowers in baskets, watering cans, etc. Many of these arrangements were designed by Kat's mom:
The food was great, with a little something for everyone, including Bob who got his wish when the caterers brought him the lasagne that he had wanted when they first selected their reception menu! (that's Bob's dad to the right):
The band was fantastic, playing all sorts of great music from all eras - It isn't very often that a wallflower such as myself becomes compelled to jump out of the dinner line with his honey and start dancing! ;-) The saxophone/clarinet/flute/etc. player, shown below, was especially talented!
The cake was gorgeous - Covered with matte white frosting and adorned with real rosebuds and greenery, an elegant work of art that almost looked like it was made of unglazed porcelain:
If any of you were hoping to see footage of a great cake fight, then I guess you'll be disappointed to see that the Lees were quite civil (the cake was too good to waste in a fight, if you ask me! ;-)
After dessert and some more dancing, the bouquet was tossed - twice. The first toss, shown here, was a bit too high, bouncing off of the ceiling of the room and back into Kat's hands. On the 2nd attempt, the flowers were caught by my girlfriend, Kelley Lester, to many a shout of "JOELLL!!!!" In typical numbered-days-bachelor fashion, I was too surprised to get a picture of her with this camera - sorry, Kelley! (perhaps someone else has a picture they could donate?)
The reception pretty much broke up at the Codman House around 5:00pm, after which friends and family took the party over to the "Sliwkowski Compound", where things kept jumping until (according to the groom) 3:00AM Sunday!
(Sorry, decorum doesn't permit display of photos from that part of the party - besides, Kelley and I were under the weather and turned in early that night, so we weren't there to take any pictures... Oh well, somebody else had a video camera, perhaps you could persuade Kat & Bob to send you a copy...
Bob and Kat stayed at the Holiday Inn at Logan Airport on Sunday to get some much-needed rest before they left on Monday morning for their honeymoon in (I believe) the British Virgin Islands. We wish them the best and hope they're enjoying their first trip out into the world as husband and wife!
Well, for those of you who aren't friends of the groom from his high school and college days in Delaware, this probably wraps up what you're interested in, if you haven't already done so, please take a moment to sign the guestbook, thanks for coming by!!!
Cheers!
Joel Garrett
Shameless (and unsolicited) Plug:
Kelley and I stayed at this Bed and Breakfast in Concord while visiting for the wedding:
The Colonel Roger Brown House
Located at the west end of Main St. in Concord, the rooms were very comfortable, reasonably priced and had private bathrooms (evidently not many B&B's do!). The place was very peaceful and the service provided by the innkeeper, Lauri Berlied, was fantastic. The house isn't really even that far away from the center of Concord, where you could take the "T" into Boston for a lot less money and hassle than it would be to drive into town yourself (take it from one who now knows firsthand!) :-(
So, if you're ever going to be in the Concord or Boston area on business or pleasure, please give Lauri a call at (800) 292-1369 (out of state), or (978) 369-9119 (in Massachusetts)
So, Who are These "Boozehounds" Anyway?
I've known Bob and a lot of his friends from the old neighborhood in Melody Meadows (Glasgow, DE) since we were both in high school and college (1983 and on) and it was a rare occasion for those of us who had the good fortune to be able to make it to the celebration to all be in the same place at the same time. Here are some pictures of those who did make it for the sake of those who really wanted to, but just couldn't get there.
If it weren't for Bob's grandfather, Keith and Toni French, from Redmond WA, would've most likely won the title for "travelled farthest" - it was good to see them again. Keith said that it was great to be someplace where the sun was actually shining some and it wasn't raining - this has been a pretty bad winter/spring for that sort of thing in the Northwest this year!
Here's a great picture of Tim Paraskewich, Jack McCartan and his girlfriend Valerie. Dig those nappy 'dos on the guys!!! - Man, complete with neckties and everything! Valerie looks great, too!
(Bob & Rodney: Sorry, I SWEAR that I took a picture of you, too but for some reason the camera didn't even record it! Maybe the batteries were starting to get low... Go figure!)
Here's Bob's best man, Brad Fox, with Keith French's wife Toni:
And now for the moment we've all been waiting for:
The Boozehounds' Summer '98 Team Photo!
(Standing) Joel Garrett, Rodney Van Eiken, Keith French, Tim Paraskewich, Joe Smith
(Kneeling) Brad Fox, Bob Lee, Jack McCartan, Bob Baylis
(not pictured) Bruce Zenel, Roger Chapman
(Guys, I know you were crazy busy in NYC and Hawaii, respectively, but we all really missed you. Sorry you couldn't make it!)
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