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Vanessa and I are very excited about getting married. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes, and for taking part!
The wedding went magnificently; thanks again to everyone who contributed!
This page has information about the ceremony.
Post-Wedding
Photos
Wedding photos by Chris Boylan:
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Pre-ceremony. |
Ceremony. |
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Formal shots. |
Details. |
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Reception.
| Dancing. | Full-size images (all in one directory) |
Additional photos from friends and family:
If you have some photos you would like to share, please let us know!
Mementos
Here is a copy of the program in PDF format.Background about the ceremony from Rory
The first reading comprised two poems written by my father, the late William C. Sayres. My dad had been a writer (among other things), publishing two novels and a number of poems in literary journals. Before going to college, I'd found an unpublished manuscript of poetry among my father's papers. Kelli, my sister who performed the reading, went through the poems and selected two ("Fitting" and "Plateau") to read during the ceremony. I think she made a great choice.
The string quartet played an arrangement of "Air Shanty"
by Ramon and Jessica .
Here
is a video of the song on YouTube. Many thanks to Dina and the
Andiamo String Quartet for transcribing and arranging the song, respectively.
About Rory and Vanessa
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Rory and Vanessa met on a hike to Mount Tamalpais , organized by their friend Sundeep. Vanessa rode in Rory's car; he took the opportunity to impress her with his swank CD collection. After the hike, when everyone was headed towards a dinner in San Francisco, he steered her towards a classy sushi place in Palo Alto so he could get her to himself. (There may have been other folks in the car; accounts differ.) After being politely rejected from the sushi place because of their filthy and Dickensian appearance, they went across the street to a taqueria and love was forged amidst ranchera sauce and flan.
Rory just finished his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at Stanford University . He studies visual perception in the labs of Kalanit Grill-Spector and Brian Wandell , and spends unreasonable amounts of time coding things in MATLAB.
Vanessa's a Supply Chain Management Consultant at IBM . She plays euphonium in the San Jose Wind Symphony ensemble. The consulting and music are really a backdrop to her true calling, though, which is puppets:
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Registries
We have set up several registries for the wedding, each with a few
things on them. We have a number of registries for items to help
us start off our household, as well as a honeymoon registry to help
cover our lodging during our honeymoon in Europe.
Honeymoon Registry
We are also saving up for a honeymoon in Western Europe from September 17 - 29. We will gladly welcome gifts in the form of contributions to hotel stays on our trip. We have worked to create a honeymoon registry where you can contribute to a specific gift, covering our lodging for one night of our honeymoon. Please consider contributing to this; it will really help us a lot!
Here's how it works: Vanessa's Matron of Honor, Nicole, is also acting as Honeymoon Coordinator for us (many thanks Nicole!) You can click on the above link, browse the registry page, and if you see a night / hotel for which you'd like to contribute, you can click on the link to email Nicole and arrange payment. She will provide a (very nicely designed, specialized) certificate which will be provided to us on our wedding day, illutrating what the gift has gone towards. We (Rory and Vanessa) will not see what has been purchased until the wedding.
http://white.stanford.edu/~sayres/honeymoon_registry.html
"Stuff" Registries
We have a number of registries set up via the Wedding Channel network
of registries:
Main Wedding Channel Registry Page
Crate and Barrel Registry Page
REI registry page
Macy's Registry
We will be adding more items in the coming weeks.
Location
The wedding will take place at The English Inn , in Eaton Rapids, MI. This is approximately in the center of michigan, about 90 minutes drive west of Detroit.Vanessa took some photos of the Inn while another wedding was being set up; these photos give a sense of the grounds, and what our setup will look like:
Getting There
The nearest large aiport to the wedding is Detroit Metro airport (DTW), about 90 minutes from Eaton Rapids.
Here are Directions to The English Inn from DTW Detroit Airport
There are some closer small airports, such as Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo airport, but there are fewer direct flights available.
Shuttle from DTW to Lansing
Shuttle service is also available between the Detroit Airport and the Lansing Area. Grandma Rogers likes the Michigan Flyer Service:The pickup/dropoff location in Lansing - 3000 Dunckel Road - is approx 5 miles away from the Comfort Inn.
Hotels
The English Inn has rooms, but they are in short supply. Therefore, we've also reserved a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn in Lansing:Comfort Inn, 2187 University Park Drive, Okemos, MI 48864
If you'd like to reserve a room, please let them know it's one of the rooms booked under our last names (either Rogers or Sayres). We negotiated a rate of $115 per night for a double room (1 king or 2 double beds). You will need to book the room by three weeks before the wedding -- this is Saturday, August 25. It looks like Michigan State University is having a home game the day of the wedding, so hotels may book up early; it's a good idea to book ahead!
We are also looking into having some friends and family help shuttling out-of-town
guests from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the English Inn.
Schedule of Events
When Should I fly out?
The wedding date is set for Saturday, September 15, 2007 , in the afternoon. People flying out for the ceremony only should probably have hotel rooms booked for Friday and Saturday nights. People taking part in the rehearsal dinner may also want to arrive Thursday night (and would need a hotel for Thursday through Saturday nights), though you could also arrive Fri morning since the rehearsal's in the evening.Friday, September 14, 2007: Rehearsal
6:30 PM: Ceremony RehearsalLocation: The English Inn
7:45 PM: Rehearsal Dinner
Location: TBA
Saturday, September 15, 2007: The Big Day
6:00 PM : CeremonyLocation: The English Inn
If there is no rain, we will be out in the garden behind the Inn; if it rains we will be in the Medovue Hall.
7:30 PM : Reception
Location: The English Inn, Medovue Hall
Bridal Shower
The bridal shower took place on Saturday, July 14, 2007, and was hosted by Vanessa's Aunt Jane and Aunt Sarah. Many thanks to both of you for organizing! Some photos of the event are available:
Thanks to everyone for coming!
Out-of-town Reception?
After considering hosting one large reception for folks who couldn't make it to the wedding, we've decided it makes more sense to meet up with each of you guys individually and have a bunch of small celebrations. This way we don't limit it to people who can make it out to one particular place at a particular time. If you expressed interest in the reception, we'll be getting in touch with you soon. We should be in the NYC area in late December, and will plan a get-together out there too.