What a wonderful day!

As an old married woman (of nearly TWO months!), I still am glowing in the wonderful wedding day we had. Amazing, crazy, full of friends and family, utterly exhausting, full of love, and just absolutely wonderful.

Friends and family poured in from all over...the cousins from Ireland win the prize for furthest traveled, but we were amazed to have guests make the journey from Canada and 8 states outside Indiana. Thank you all so much!!

The festivities started on Friday, when all the wedding party girlies got together for girly fun stuff. Then off to the rehearsal and the best rehearsal dinner ever at the Milano Inn. Yum! Thanks to Doug's parents, Joy and Lorne, for a starting our wedding weekend off with fabulous meal for all the family that night.

For the girls, at least, the wedding day started crazy early. Valerie & I headed over to start getting our hair done at 6:30 am, and my sisters Erin & Deirdre, and Doug's sister Lynn Marie joined us soon after. Kudos to Art and Krystal at Mass Appeal for great job they did with the vintage hairstyles we asked for, and for opening up the salon for us so very early! And Sarah from MAC at Nordstrom also joined us at the salon to finish off my vintage look with an amazing makeup application that had me looking like a 1950s movie star.

Then we all rushed to get into our wedding duds. Doug and his groomsmen and groomsmaids were already at the church starting off with their photos. And I finally got to slip into the beautiful dress that my mother made for me. For months after we got engaged, I searched everywhere for *my* perfect dress. Most brides want the fairy tale floor length dress with a train...but not me...what I wanted was a dance dress. Tea-length and twirly. But, still able to make me feel like a princess. :) Sadly, these dresses are few and far between. But my mom is just amazing and created my perfect dress from a vintage Vogue pattern. And as an added perk, we used material in a stunning brocade that had dragons (which Doug loves!) in the pattern.

My sisters, Valerie and I just made it to the church before the downpour started. Rain on the wedding day is good luck, right? Well, luckily for us, St Mary Church is a beautiful place inside too, so we were dry and happy. After some more photos for me and my wonderful bridal party, I scampered up to the choir loft to hide away and watch as the church started to fill up with all of our friends and family. And then the music started. Wow.

Please keep in mind, that while I might be biased (since we picked the music and the musicians) the music was all I hoped for. When we started planning the wedding ceremony, I pulled out all the of the programs I've collected from the weddings I've sung for over the years. There were nearly a hundred of them...and more than half of them have probably been at Saint Mary's in the last 10 years. Joe Burrows was our pianist and made sure everything ran smoothly with all the unusual music I threw at him for our ceremony. Joe is an old friend, and has played many of those weddings I've sung at over the years, and he is a wonderful musician. Then there were the rest of the musicians--all friends and family. Our great friends, Jill on trumpet, David on banjo (yep, a banjo at the wedding!) and Priscilla, Garrett (nephew) and Tiernen (niece) on vocals. Tiernen didn't even blink an eye, two months before the wedding, when I dropped a stack of music on her and asked her to learn many new pieces of music. They all did an amazing job, especially pulling it all together for their first rehearsal at the night before the wedding.

Anyway, back to the wedding day. The prelude music. Wow. It was divine. And then the ceremony started. Four beautiful voices were singing "Panis Angelicus" as Doug and his parents walked down the aisle to start the procession, and as our mothers lit the candles at the front of the church. Then my three sisters, Siobhan, Erin and Deirdre walked down together, followed by our best friends Valerie & Darren, then Doug's brother Andrew, sister Lynn Marie, and cousin Carol. Finishing up the wedding party were my nephew Zachary and Doug's niece Emma, who stole the show as ringbearer and flower girl.

Then Jill played the trumpet fanfare of "Ode to Joy" and cousins Matt and David opened the big church doors one more time as my parents escorted me down the aisle. I was astounded by all the happy joyful faces of our family and friends. Then finally, I saw Doug, beaming and waiting for me at the front of the church. And then, of course, we sang. :) I will always think of the joy of that morning when I hear Beethoven's wonderful song.

If you've never been to St. Mary's church near downtown Indianapolis, it's well worth a visit. Beyond the beauty of the church building itself, it's a wonderful parish that I've been blessed to be a part of since I've lived here. Father Michael, the pastor, is a big part of the reason Doug and I chose to be married here. Michael allowed us to add many non-traditional elements to our ceremony, welcoming the blending our needs and beliefs, and family & religious traditions. Our friend Juliet opened the readings with a beautiful poem by Elliot Arnold called "Benediction of the Apaches". Then Tiernen led us in singing an old favorite hymn from Doug's family, "Unto the Hills".

And Renee, who has been my friend since we were four, did a reading from Ecclesiastes. Father Michael finished with a scripture reading from John. Doug and I actually were a bit surprised...this was a reading that we'd considered having in the wedding, but had decided on another. But this reading never got corrected in the program. Ooops! But thankfully, it was still one that we liked.

Michael gave a wonderful sermon. I've heard many of his wedding homilies over the years, and he didn't disappoint us. He referred to the author Kathleen Norris, and expanded on a quote from her book-- "The very nature of marriage means saying yes before you know what it will cost. Though you may say the ‘I do’ of the wedding ritual in all sincerity, it is the testing of that vow over time that makes you married." He continued speaking on the importance of affirming that 'I do' through our lives, and reminded us all that the are no "return policies" in marriage. Doug and I managed to ruin the solemnity of the moment by getting caught whispering to each other at this point, and causing great laughter as folks wondered what we were conspiring about!

And as many others have before us, we stood before all and exchanged our vows and our rings. And I could see how much Doug loved me, and I hope he could see how much I love him. Even though I put his ring on the wrong hand.

We lit our unity candle and heard Tiernen sing "Ave Maria". My dear friend Meredith lead the prayers of the faithful and after the final blessings, Michael finally exclaimed this wonderful sentence, "It is my privilege now to present to you for the very first time, Mr. & Mrs. Doug and Fiona Becker!"

And we kissed...

and kissed

and kissed

and kissed

and jumped

and then kissed some more!

And then the real party started! Well...technically we went to our house and took more photos, but then the party really did start!

There's a gem of a place, the Latvian Community Center, where we held our reception. Lots of grassy and tree lined grounds surround the building and we were the only ones there. And it was a big enough to have dinner and dancing and board games (and hula hoops). And we had wonderful friends who schlepped all the supplies there, decorated, set up table and sound equipment. Our dear friends Susan and Tony were organizers galore, and really made everything perfect for us that night. We will never be able to thank them enough. And the food by AlliCarte Catering was divine yumminess. Jamabalaya and Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Risotto. Wahoo! Allison and Daniel were a joy to work with. The wonderful Cindy Hawkins of Circle City Sweets made the heavenly wedding cake. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the gorgeous flowers were arranged by Meredith and Erica at Posh Petals in Broad Ripple, and they are also a joy to work with.

Then the speeches began. But before I get there, let me relate a funny story. My maid of honor, Valerie, wondered early on in the wedding planning, if we were going to force her to make a speech. And since public speaking is high on her list for utter terror and sleeplessness, of course we wouldn't. We'd like it if she could, but we were okay with no speeches at all. Which was a relief to Doug's best man, Andrew, who was also pleased to be relieved from public speaking duties. Fast forward to the night before the wedding, when Valerie tells us that she's be losing sleep at night, but she's ready to give her toast! What!?!? It seems that we were all confused, but dang it, if Valerie's worked this hard on a speech, she's going to give it!! Which led to the uncomfortable conversation with Andrew, who valiantly decided that he could also give a toast as well.


And Valerie and Andrew both were fantastic, despite their misgivings. Valerie's toast is something that I wish I could keep in a bottle and open whenever I've had a bad day. Two months later, the memory of that speech still fills my eyes with happy tears and the joy of the most amazing friendship ever. And Andrew opened with one of the funniest Doug stories that I've heard and finished with wonderful words of love and welcome to the Becker clan. And finally, my sister Siobhan spoke about about our families and our histories, the parallels between them, and of course, love. Beautiful words from all three of them. Thank you all so much!

And then there was dancing. Oh yes, there was DANCING!

And then everyone danced...

And then there was cake! And many many desserts...

And a lovely duet by David and Pri--a mashup of "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "I Can't Dance".

And MORE dancing!

And Zombies

And then it was over...and we were tired. :)

But we had all the family over for a lovely brunch in the garden the next day. And the sun shone. And we breathed. And then the house was empty.

And then we went on our honeymoon...but that is for another post!

So wow, our friends and family LOVE to take photos. And, our photographer, Daryl Hemmings took many of these photos and was just wonderful! All told, we ended up with more than 2000 to choose from. We've whittled those down to a mere 400ish favorites. They can be viewed in this album. If anyone would like higher resolution for prints, just let me know!

And, thank you one and all, to all of the wonderful people who made this amazing day happen--our wonderful parents, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.

A tale of two showers

For a very long time, I've know that I was blessed with a pretty amazing family. And now it seems that I am also lucky enough to be marrying into Doug's amazing family!
About a week after we got engaged last summer, I got a very fun phone call from Doug's sister, Lynn Marie. Their family's annual gathering was 3 weeks away, and it was going to be a perfect time to have a wedding shower! Seriously, who else is lucky enough to have their first wedding shower 3 weeks into her engagement?
Each summer Doug's family from his mother, Joy's side, gathers together at the Wonnacott family farm up in Ontario. There's hiking, swimming, singing, games, bonfires, plenty of great food, occasionally some dancing, and lots of great visiting and catching up done with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. In the midst of all this activity, Lynn Marie managed to pull together a wonderful bridal shower for me. There was a great game that involved interviewing Doug ahead of time, and then finding out if I could match his answers. Of course, I did this nearly flawlessly, except when Doug just plain answered wrong! Then there were the books! Since there were some space constraints on getting the gifts back home, Lynn Marie also craftily arranged for all the gifts to be books and the guest's favorite recipes. Definitely two of my all time favorite things! I was gifted lots of wonderful mysteries, cook books, and books about Canada and by Canadian authors. Oh and tea & punch and all sorts of tasty goodies!
And since all the menfolk were also at the Farm, they had a concurrent party hosted by Lynn Marie's husband John. Mostly it involved drinking mint julips, playing board games, and sitting around talking.
One of the other really sweet things about the day of the bridal shower, was that we also celebrated the fortieth wedding anniversary of Doug's Aunt Alma and Uncle Peter.
And last weekend, we travelled up to Chicago for the Solkowski family wedding shower. On my side of the family, it's become a tradition to invite (require) the future groom to attend the shower. I had pity on Doug and also invited Darren, one of his groomsman who just happens to be married to my maid of honor Valerie, to tag along for moral support. Darren and Valerie were sweet enough to drive up from Louisville for this party. They met us in Indianapolis, and then we all piled in the same car up to Chicago. At noon on Saturday, we were welcomed into a huge collection of my aunts and cousins at my sister Erin's house. Since Doug and I have just a bit of reputation for liking games, my sister Siobhan put together some fun ones for us. We played "Name that Spice", Fiona/Doug Boggle, and a group interactive "How well do you know me" questionnaire…Doug and I had to know (or guess) things about each other—but everyone else there had to decide whether we'd be right or wrong in our answers about the other. Lots of fun!

And wonderfully generous presents! Beautiful blue dishes, knives, potholders, a lamp, a lovely hand painted wineglass, camping gear, a special wedding home-brewed beer (dressed up as a bride and groom), an electric tea kettle, a theme present from Mom and Dad—Bailey Irish Cream, Polish Vodka, Canadian Whiskey and Chicago brewed Beer. There were also many wonderful cards and a keepsake box that immediately came in handy! I'm also forced to report that Doug somehow ended up with two pairs of underwear on his head during the opening of gifts. I'm not entirely sure how that happened. My niece Tiernen did a wonderful job as secretary, keeping track of all the gifts for us. There were also lots of great favorite recipes from all the guests.
My sisters and my mom did an amazing job cooking and organizing a wonderful party for us. And they had the fantastic help of 3 junior hostesses—my neice Zoe, and cousins Erica and Kate. They did a great job of keeping all the guests fed and tea and coffee cups full.
We also followed up a full day of partying (showering?) with a swing dance. I think this was the first time most of my family got to attend a dance event with me. It was great! My parents, all of my sisters, my brother-in-law Paul, my college roommate Andrea, Valerie & Darren, their friend Hannah, and Doug and I all headed out to hear an amazing 17 piece big band (the Outcast Jazz Band) that was playing at the Willowbrook Ballroom. We got just about everybody out on the dance floor. We also ran into a few swing dance gypsies there that we've danced with in other cities. Yay.
More photos from the Wedding Shower

Merry Christmas!

Superstars revisited!

Last Friday, we got to do a great small group performance at the Fountain Square Theater swing dance. There was all sorts of fun lindy hop craziness--jumps and drops and flips!
There were three couples dancing the routine, Jon and Sandy, Kathy and Aaron, and Doug and I. We've been working on this routine since early in the fall, managed not to mortally injure each other in the process and had a great time!

Kathy and Aaron are the same great dancers who taught the original "Superstars" performance class for us last year. In addition to teaching us all the whole routine, they also did the choreography for the second half of the dance.

Post by Fiona Becker.

How's this for wonderfully sweet?

For the past few months, I've been searching for my wedding dress (yay!). There will be a lot of dancing at our fabulous party, so I've been trying to find a great dress to dance in. Since I also have a fondness for great vintage swing dance clothes, it seemed like a great idea to try to find a 40s or 50s style dress...and hopefully one that I might be able to wear again for fancy swing dance events again!

But it turns out that there's a bazillion full-length wedding gowns with trains, but not so many that are tea-length. Sigh. I did actually find some gorgeous "short" wedding dresses by a designer named Stephanie James, but I am SO not spending $1700-3000 on a dress (even though I desperately want to!)

I also took a trip up to Chicago late last summer to spend the day dress hunting with my sisters and niece. Although we didn't actually count how many dresses I tried on that day (at least 30) the very last one I put on had some potential. The right length, kinda twirly, not super ridiculously expensive... Definitely the best of the bunch, but still not exactly what I was looking for.

My mom missed out on this little shopping expedition, but we took photos. She had also seen the great 50s style dresses I was longing for, and suggested that she could make my dress for me. I love my mom. She's great. :) We've both spent the last month looking for vintage style patterns, and I went home last weekend so we could decide on a pattern and start shopping for material.

So here's the really wonderfully sweet and sappy part of the story. It turns out my Mom has kept the pattern she used to make her dress 48ish years ago. And after really taking a look at it, it seemed pretty close to the style I want...so we decided to use it as the pattern for my wedding dress. Sweet, eh?

The other really cute part of this story, is that my mother still has the wedding dress she made for herself. Back when I was in junior high, she had decked it out for me to wear in two school musicals...Glinda in the Wizard of Oz and the fairy godmother in Cinderella. This weekend we pulled off all the sequins, puffed sleeves, and alterations. It still makes me smile that my mom let me use her wedding dress for school plays. I love my mom. She's awesome. :)

Eeeek! Running from Zombies!

Let me state from the beginning of this post, that running is for crazy people. And as it turns out, I must be crazy.

I am pretty sure that I never really liked running very much. I have some rather vague memories from grade school gym class that I was never a particularly fast runner either. And in the few sports that I played back then--volleyball and softball--I could pretty much get away without doing much running at all. :) I do know that in gym in high school, we had to run a 12 minute mile, but I'm pretty sure that it was just a one time thing. And with some pretty half-hearted attempts to jog through Fairview Park with my college roomie Jenni, I'm pretty sure that my feeble attempts at any sort of distance running ended at age 18.

Two years ago, I started blogging a little about my forays into the weird world of running. In fact, about this time of year in 2007, I completed my first 5k race. While my plan had been to walk that race, I ended up being shamed into running a portion of it by an adorable little 74 year old lady named Edna, whose slow but steady running pace was kicking my butt! I finished that first race with pace that I was pretty shocked and happy with...37:56...pretty close to a 12 minute mile.

Back then, running as consistent form of exercise seemed like such an insurmountable task for me. I was still really overweight and still recovering from my (3rd) knee surgery. Oh, and I really hated running. It made my knees ache, and my legs hurt, and gave me blisters, and pretty much left me feeling like I wanted to die. And really, running is for crazy people.

But wow, running was SO much better and faster at burning calories than all the other cardio I was doing. And I was feeling so satisfied with the fact that I COULD actually run. And by working at it, I was increasing my mileage and speed. So all through that winter, I worked on adding to my distance, and in April of 2008 I ran a 5 mile trail run. Well, mostly ran. It was crazy hilly, so there was a fair amount of trudging uphills, and running the rest of it.

Today is the two year anniversary of my reintroduction to running. There's been a bunch of races (listed on the left side of the blog) since then. So I celebrated by running the Fort Ben 5k again, that same 5k that started all of this craziness. And since the results just posted, I am pretty

happy about my finish time, 30:54.6. Wahoo! That's a 9:57 pace! And this was despite the change in the 5k route this year, which included a really friggin' evil long uphill. So I'm pretty thrilled all around.

So it seems that I've turned into one of those people. Those people who run. Sigh.

Anyway, let me get to the explanation about the zombies in the title of the post. A few months ago, I decided to try out the Nike+ gizmo--a sensor that goes in your shoe and records your pace & distance on your iPod. I'm all about figuring our ways to motivate myself into exercising, and this seemed like a great tool for that. My friend Jill had used it last year and it intrigued me enough to try it out. And now I'm totally hooked on it. During your runs and after, you get feedback through your iPod about your distance & pace, best run times, and congratulations on finishing your workouts. And all of your run information uploads to the Nike+ site, so you can track your progress, set goals, and join challenges with other Nike+ weirdos.

Doug, as a rule, doesn't really need too much motivation to run. In fact, he's usually been my motivation for running most days, but I've also lured him into the Nike+ fold. And in turn, we've also pulled our great friends Valerie and Darren into our insanity by challenging them to join us-- in running away from zombies! Val had mentioned that she was looking for motivation to add some more exercise into her daily routine...so we decided to create a challenge that was fun and silly.

Doug has been coming up with a pretty elaborate story segments about zombie uprisings that force us to run so many miles to escape the zombies--like 20 miles in 2 weeks. When we finish one segment of the challenge, we can see the next zombie story line and start the next mileage challenge. Doug sends us out the stories by email, along with some great zombie photos (a bunch of our other friends are helping out by sending in photos of themselves as zombies).

So far, this has been REALLY motivational. It turns out that we all might be just a wee bit competitive. The first week, my weekly mileage jumped from 10 miles to 20 miles, mostly because Valerie and Doug were catching up with me, and I didn't want to be left behind to be eaten by zombies!

Anyway...it turns out that you can become a born-again-runner. But, I will state for the record, that I still hate running. :) I love that I can do it, but it still is totally a crazy activity.

Thanks to everybody, for all the love & encouragement that I keep hearing from you--especially as my annoying shoes keep posting on Facebook. And smooches to Doug for being a fabulous motivator and to Darren and Valerie for joining us in our foolish games!

And now for the sparkly ring!

When Doug propsed, he sweetly gave me a Claddagh ring (it's in the picture in the last post). It's a traditional Irish ring, symbolizing love, friendship and loyalty. It was a wonderful choice!

He decided to give me the Claddagh during the proposal, but he wanted us to pick out a nice shiny sparkly ring together. Which we did. It's very shiny. And sparkly. We love it.

The photo doesn't do it justice, and the small stones in the band are sapphires. Pretty, eh?

Yay!