Sam and Dennis' Wedding

Pictures!

2010-02-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of the paparazzi that attended the wedding and shared their pictures with us. They are wonderful reminders of the the awesome week we had with everyone and hopefully will be nice to look at as we continue through this cold, snowy winter.

I've taken all of the ones that I have so far and put them into a couple of different slide shows for your viewing pleasure. And if you have other pictures from that week, please send them to me so I can add them to our collection!!!

Professional photog pictures to come soon - we're still working through them to figure out which ones we like (he took over 700 pictures!).

love,

Sam & Dennis

Wedding Week Photos

Rehearsal Dinner Photos

Wedding Day Photos

Honeymoon Photos

Directions To Footprints On The Beach Villa

2010-01-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you staying at Grace Bay Suites, the villa is a mile from the villa - Dennis and I just did a run on the beach this morning and confirmed it!

But just in case, here is a link to the driving directions on Google Docs.

Wedding Week Is Here!

2010-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

The Lee and O'Connor Families and select friends are officially in Providenciales as of today to kick off our wedding week!!

For the rest of you, some important information before you arrive - first and foremost, here are some important dates and times to remember:

Thursday, January 28th

3:30: Bridal party rehearsal at Footprints On The Beach Villa

4:30pm: Taxis leaving from Footprints On The Beach Villa to Rehearsal Dinner at Da Conch Shack (Lee/O'Connor Reservation) for $20/person. If you are planning to travel separately, we are planning on arriving at Da Conch Shack at 5pm.

Friday, January 29th

10:00am: Bridal party to be at Footprints On The Beach Villa

4:30pm: Guest arrive at Footprints On The Beach Villa

5:00pm: Sunset ceremony and reception

Another Map Of The Island

2009-08-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is a great map to see the whole island and where many landmarks (including most of the resorts) are. You can even see Flamingo Lane, where Footprints on the beach is located - near Pelican Bight on the Leeward side of the island.

Interactive Map of the Island

2009-07-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've attached a link below that gives helpful reference to hotels and their proximity to Footprints on the Beach Villa.

http://www.wheretostay.com/caribbean/turks_and_caicos/map-s198-Providenciales.html?property_id=2233

05.29.09 Hotel Update

2009-05-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some current rates for hotels on the islands that you may like. If you stay the full week, the Ocean Club may be the best value for quality, but talk amongst yourselves....

Where we are staying!

It is important to remember that we are on the east side of the island. Grace Bay, where most of the hotels are, runs 12 miles long, so you may want to think about renting a car if you are not going to choose a hotel close to the festivities.

Comfort Suites: 131 Average Daily Rate (ADR) All major sites are offering this rate. Furthest from the wedding venue, but in the center of everything.

Ocean Club Resort (not ocean club west) 214.29 ADR (www.hotel.com)

Grace Bay Suites 165.00 ADR, 1 Bedroom 195.00 ADR

Gansevoort 450.00 ADR. If you are interested, let us know, we have a connection through someone.

Some of the rates are different depending on when you will be there, if you stay the full week, Sunday to Sunday, which is when we will be there, many hotels give the 7th night free.

Hotel Information

2009-04-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

By popular demand, here's information on some of the hotels that we recommend on the island:

Grace Bay Suites - We like Grace Bay Suites for its proximity to Footprints On The Beach and also for the flexibility of the units (which include kitchenettes for those guests that like to cook) We were unable to block off rooms since it's a small property, but daily rates for the wedding dates should be around $165.00US per day for Studios and $195.00US per day for One Bedrooms.

Comfort Suites - This property is also relatively close to Footprints On The Beach and offers comfortable accommodations at reasonable prices. We were able to block off rooms here for a group rate of $159.00US per night. In addition, all guest rooms include a sleeper couch.

Gansevoort - For those of you that are from New York City, you should be familiar with the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking district. This is a property that the Gansevoort recently opened on Turks & Caicos and looks extremely luxurious. We are following up with a contact that Dennis knows from the industry to see if we can get a discounted rate for this property. Stay tuned.

Pichet Ong Announces P'ong/Batch Shutter Over Facebook

2009-03-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I just saw the news that P*ONG (where we had our engagement party) is closing its doors this week.

We hope that Pichet will have another venture in the near future and will remember the wonderful time that we had there.

Read the Eater post on the closing: http://eater.com/archives/2009/03/pichet_ong_announces_pongbatch_shutter_over_facebook.php#more

Deal Alert!

2009-03-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

We just bought one-way tickets (since we'll be leaving for the honeymoon from Turks) departing Newark on 1/24 for $158.00 each. So for those of you looking for a deal, you might want to take advantage of it soon :-)

We're flying out on US Airways, but you should be able to find a deal on most of the major airlines.

03.01.2009 The Enagement Party: The Aftermath

2009-03-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to our engagement party! P*ONG was the perfect venue - it was cozy without being too crowded and we drank good wine and ate beautiful hors d'oeuvre with all of our friends and family.

Thanks to everyone who helped us capture the moments - I'm surprised that anyone could take coherent pictures after drinking a collective 59 bottles of wine and then some - but here are some of the incriminating pictures. If anyone has additional pictures, don't forget them to send them to me and I will add them to the album :-)

Dress Shopping: Part 2

2009-02-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

Right after my head-first introduction to wedding dress shopping at Macy's, I went to another appointment at Saks Fifth Avenue. The Macy's dresses were a bit old-fashioned and I was still trying to get ideas so that I could try and get a custom made dress.

It was one of the coldest days so far during the year, yet I was running late so by the time I showed up at Saks, I was a little steamy since I had sprinted all the way from the 51st street subway station. Then not only was I late, I eventually had 4 girls (Chian and her friend Kristin, Jean, and Thu) show up for support - we quickly took up most of the space in the very small bridal atelier. I think we must the be the type of people that the bridal consultants hate the most - we show up late, we show up many and loud, and we aren't planning to spend any money with them :-)

However, the consultant was super-professional and had already pulled a few dresses for me. I think that of the 6-7 she had pulled, there was only maybe one that was really unflattering, but I wasn't sure that I had found one that I was really wedded to. So I asked the her if I could try on something different, perhaps with a empire waist. She wasn't all that excited about it and I think that maybe she didn't really think that empire would be the best shape for me, but she brought out an Amsale dress that ended up being the one that I really fell in love with and ended up being pretty much as good of a fit as you can expect from a sample dress (but who doesn't need a little extra help in the boobage area?)

So despite the inauspicious start, I had a great experience at Saks and really liked most of the dresses I tried on - a total spin on my experience at Macy's. Unfortunately, all the dresses are also a rung above Macy's in terms of price. So I ended up not getting the dress...

Fast forward 1 month...
9am: I get to work and I check my email and the first emails I get from a number of people (i.e. Chian, Jean, Lisa, Jaime) are all about the Daily Candy posting re: the Saks Bridal Sample Sale. Saks doesn't open until 10am so I wait.

10am: 10am on the dot, I called my bridal consultant up...ring ring ring ring ring. The receptionist answers, "oh she won't be in until 1pm". *SIGH*

10:05am to 12:59pm: Meetings meetings meetings lunch meetings meetings.

1pm: Ring Ring Ring ring ring...hellodoyouhavethedressisitonsale?

1:05pm to 1:55pm: Wait for call back meeting meeting wait for call back

2:00pm: Hi Samantha, yes we do have the dress and it is in the sample size you tried on. I can only hold it for an hour, but I'll be happy to hold it for you if you can come in right away.

So long story short - I got the same dress I originally tried on at Saks and I ended up getting it for 60% off! No girl ever felt so accomplished - a beautiful dress and a total steal :-)

03.01.2009 The Engagement Party

2009-01-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

Food is a passion for Sam and myself, and we wanted to have an engagement party somewhere that was small, cute, cheery, and above all else, took food seriously!! We settled on P*ong, the restaurant of my former pastry chef at spice market and 66. Pichet Ong is an extremely talented pastry chef who ventured out on his own opening a restuarant on west 10th street in the village near 7th avenue. He makes savory dishes with dessert techniques, and has gained critical acclaim from blending the sweet and savory palates. Pichet also owns Batch next store, the cute bakery that serves salted peanut butter cookies and ovaltine pudding among other things!

01.29.2010 Wedding Venue - Footprints On The Beach

2009-01-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

01.28.2010 The Rehearsal Dinner Site

2009-01-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Dennis and I visited Turks & Caicos in March of 2006 and one of the places we fell in love with is The Conch Shack. It's this charming little ramshackle place that serves everything conch (side of scotch bonnet peppers optional).

It will always be memorable to me because it was the first vacation that we took together and he had told me the that he loved me (for the very first time) the night we were packing for the trip. And also because he dared me to eat the side of scotch bonnet pepper straight-up and I did it - you just can't say no when someone double dares you. Needless to say, my lips were on fire and I was sweating for about 20 minutes straight.

We thought it would be the perfect place to have the rehearsal dinner - casual and intimate at the same time and definitely evocative of life on the island.

Dress Shopping

2008-12-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Even though the wedding is still 13 months away, I already started the quest for a dress. Ideally, I really just wanted to get some ideas around what looks good on my body and then see if I can get the dress made for cheap.

Luckily, there were some sample sales that were happening in December, so we picked a Sunday to go to the Carolina Herrera sale @ 10 in the morning for the first attempt. Chian and I wake up early and hike it up to midtown east to meet Lisa and of course the sample sale email had given us the wrong date (it was actually the following Friday). We were going to go back downtown when Lisa suggested that we go to Macy's and walk-in to the bridal salon.

Just to breakdown the day very simply and briefly:
1. Macy's should rethink putting Santa on the same floor as the bridal salon
2. Being naked in a fitting room with a complete stranger having her muscle you into ill-fitting dresses that weigh 10+ pounds isn't awkward at all
3. My dislike of veils was re-confirmed after I was forced to try on 2 different ones, along with a tiara
4. Cap sleeves help to minimize broad shoulders and apparently can be added to any dress

In the end, it was a very educational experience - but as with all first times, it was super awkward and I was just glad to have it over with :-)

11.20.2008 The Proposal

2008-12-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

Location: Rockhouse Hotel, Jamaica
Cost of the flight: $500
Cost of the hotel: $350/night
Cost of the ring: $$$$$
The Best Vacation of My Life: Priceless

Before The Proposal

Rock House Hotel

2008-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

A while ago Sam sent me the link for a book that she read about in the New York Times. There are some times that i can't keep up with the speed that she reads and sends emails. For some reason this one caught my eye and off i went to Barnes and Nobles. It was a 200 page book on some of the best values in breath-taking destinations. I surprised her with the book shortly thereafter and she was so excited she immediately started looking for the next vacation spot. She quickly navigated her way to page 134, a quiet little spot just outside of seven mile beach, atop a small cliff, in pristine cove, there were these little thatched villas. Enter, Rock House Hotel...