So probably l think some people want to know how our Minnesota ceremony went (oops l spelt this ceremonky and had to fix that...usually Seth fixes my errors, but l thought l'd save him this time!) . Seth, Steve, Trish, Ashley and I spent the evening before the wedding setting up the Church and reception hall. Putting out tables and place settings and setting up candy and putting tulips everywhere It was a lot of fun and a long evening!

On the day of the wedding Seth and l got up and had breakfast together, collected our Wedding programmes at 8:30am and picked up a few things from the store before heading over to Trish & Steves and packing the cars full to get to the Church. We thought they were full on the way to Church, we certainly couldn't have anticipated (our even thought about!) the fact they'd be even more full on the way home! 

So we packed the cars and Trish, Ashley and I set off for City Hill Fellowship...no wait that was the day before...Seth and I rode there on the day of the Wedding...yeah that was it...

We aimed to start the rehearsal with at 12:30...so at about 1:30 we started the rehearsal...and Jody and Mara, you have the best kids in the world!!! They are seriously cool kids, and a heck of a bunch of singers, and l have no doubt they'll end up in show business some day 

Just after 3pm we went down to the mothers lounge and started to get ready. As Ashley was doing my hair and putting flowers in she asked "How do you want to wear your veil?", "Oops" well you can't remember everything! We did our makeup and put on our clothes and Seth got into his tux and l was transformed into a princess...or so the kids thought. They said l definitely looked different. lf l want to look that pretty every day l really oughta to start wearing big dresses more... 

We played a 10 minute video of our wedding ceremony in Ireland, thanks to the efforts of Mike and Rachel (and Eoin, who tested their true capabilities to do this by ripping apart Mikes keyboard!) And then we walked up the aisle and read our vows to each other. 

Now these vows were a bit different, they were not our original vows, and not really renewal vows, as we really hadn't been that long married, so lets just say they were a kind of recommitment!

 After our ceremony l finally got to meet a lot of Seth's relatives whom l'd yet not met and Trish's co-workers whom l'd heard so much about, and different friends of Seth's whom l'd heard about from his childhood but never got to meet! 

We had a beautiful buffet prepared by our wonderful friend and caterer Lauren Radach! And some very interesting speaches

And a really amazing cake made by Seth's grandma, who probably should be in the business, but how can you decide what talent to make a business of, when at a point in life you're pretty good at just about everything...l can't wait for this day!

 After the Wedding Seth and I saw the true blessing of being part of City Hill Fellowship when so many of our friends and guests put so much effort into clearing everything away and packing everything up!!! We were so appreciative of all the help we received from so many people that night.

And we packed up the car and again l witnessed the amazing skill my husband has for packing...seriously l could see a business being made out of that, because l, for one, hate packing, and he gets SO much in! A lot of gift boxes had to fit in that car along with a lot of cake and candy glasses and a wedding dress and tux and a whole lot of stuff!!

And it was just so good to go back to our own house and our own bed to rest...

And that was that..!

 This weekend, Seth and l will marry again, for the last time! l guess after saying that we take each other in matrimony, before a number of people, three times, we would want to be pretty serious about this marriage!

Our first Wedding in Ireland we used the tradtional wedding vows, as l believe they speak exactly to the things a couple ought to say to each other. That we will love each other, never let friends or children or work come before each other and put each other first before ourselves.

The second wedding, the legal one, we said again to each other, and before Seth's parents and a judge, that we took each other in marriage.

For the last part of our marriage...the third ceremony we will have here in Minnesota, Seth and l have written our own vows to each other. l wouldn't have done that for the first ceremony, l'm not sure l would have been able to say excactly what l wanted to. But having married him and lived with him for over a month, it was a lot easier. There was so much to say. So much l have learned about marriage already and l can't even imagine what l will learn as these months turn into years. And so l hope, that living so closely to one person will help buff off the rough edges and help me become a really amazing wife!! l know that marriage already is teaching me patience. Seth was blessed liberally with this, l was not, so it is helping me polish that up! l think we could really help each other grow in this, if we just continue to use our marriage as a tool to help us be better every day! 

I can see even more now why God loves marriage. Initially l guess l thought it was because there is so much pleasure in marriage! And God loves to give his people that. Now l can see how much we can learn and grow as individuals and can use this to our benefit or to our destruction!! Yes l can definitely see how marriage can easily fail and l can see also how those sames routes to failure can instead be used to help our marriage grow, to help us grow. The greatest lessons in life never come easy and they are the ones that help make us braver, wiser, sweeter and bolder.

Hmm...l wonder does it sound like marriage is a lot of work from this. Well l can honestly say l don't think ours is. I have been blessed with an amazing man who makes married life a holiday,  we still argue and patch things up and learn.  Making it about as perfect as you get, l reckon... 

 

Yesterday was the first actual busy day since the Allens arrived! There seemed to be a lot to do. l learned some new lessons for marriage, first one l learned was that l am now scheduling my life with two people in it. That if l want to leave the house by a certain time l have to say what that time is because otherwise Seth doesn't know. Funny how that one is so obvious and it didn't strike me. Even though we've dated for years we've always lived apart in our own lives and scheduled our own days and what we would do and where we would go, its going to take some adapting to figure someone else into that equation.

Second one l learned was that l know the schedule for today and for the Wedding Day and no one else really does...and l have to tell them because they can't read my mind! l figured that one out yesterday too! l  kept forgetting that even Seth didn't know what l was planning for the day and where he'd be going that day and what we'd be doing. So l now know l have to tell people these things!

You can pack a lot of learning into the few days before a wedding, l feel its almost been like a crash course pre-marriage training!! Most importantly l've learned that every selfish thing within a person must be turned off before marriage. That invovles a lot of selflessness on both parts and a lot of patience. Our whole dating experience has allowed us to talk a lot of things out, but now its really time to put it all into action. l have no doubt we will manage l think it will require a lot of positivity, a little humour and a lot of love.

We spent the day yesterday buying flowers for the bouquets and boutonnieres and then Lacee spent the whole afternoon making those. Seth printed out all the programs and Ashley and Rachel spent hours folding them! My Dad and Steve spent the afternoon making candleabras for the aisle and my Mum spent the day cooking and washing dishes! And l ran around between them all and did some of this and some of that etc.

Well its sunny out again, l love this changeable weather actually. Ashley was right. l'm glad they get a good feel for lrish weather! Sun/rain/sun/rain/sun/rain And rainbows in between!

Better get out of bed now! Though this will be my last time lying in alone in this bed....

So tomorrow l marry my best friend...l guess theres stuff to do this morning... 

 

To prove what Carol said in her recent post titled "Wedding Date (in Ireland)", that we'd be updating this more frequently, I'm posting the information about our second wedding celebration, which we are having in Minnesota.  As Carol just said in her post:

    - Our Wedding Date in Ireland is on: March 27th 2008
    - Our second celebration in Minnesota is on: May 10th 2008

We're working on the format of the celebration, and right now we're planning on having a renewal of vows (though they'll only be 6 weeks old by that point!)  We wanted to have a celebration that family and friends in Minnesota would get the share in.  The celebration will be in Eden Prarie at City Hill Fellowship, which is the church that Carol and I regularly attend (as much as she can being all the way over in Ireland that is!).  Look back to this site for more details on that event, as we're still in the planning stages right now.

I should really get a planner like my sweetheart... There are so many things to remember to do right now! Like:

    - Pick out and buy wedding rings!!!
    - Plan and book our honeymoon over March 29th - April 3rd
    - Be sweet to Carol
    - Finish getting my Tux together, need some tailoring done
    - Get my dress shirt for the Tux
    - Get a new swimsuit for honeymoon
    - Help Carol with picking out songs for our dance at the wedding
    - Help Carol with picking out what food we'll have at the reception
    - Cherish Carol
    - Pay bills
    - Send in rebate forms for AT&T phones (today is the last eligible day!)
    - Make my budget all these wedding costs!
    - Get new accesories for my camera (lens filter, second battery)
    - Deposit some checks
    - A bunch of other things
    - Eat
    - Sleep???
    - Play

I need to work on those rebate forms now!

- Seth

So we're finally making wedding arrangements. My good friend Meabh was over tonight helping me put my wedding invitations together. Seth and l put them together and printed them last night! He's a pretty amazing guy...but l think l'm going to have to stop telling him that so much maybe...anyway we're pretty happy with the way they turned out and my plan was to get them out tomorrow...but l don't think that's going to happen! 

l'm meeting Graham and Phil to choose suits for them for the wedding tomorrow and l think there was other stuff l was planning to do tomorrow, but l can't remember...oh yeah l'm to buy a planner. A customer of mine came in with this really neat one and it held her cards and cash and everything and l wanted it, but she wouldn't give it to me. l would have let her keep the cards and cash...

Oh yeah and the wedding date is Thursday, March 27th. And then l move to America on April 6th.

And we'll keep this a bit more updated from now on...!

Carol finished her interview today at the United States Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, and she was approved for the K-1 Fiance Visa!!!  We can now finally start setting wedding dates and tell everyone our plans!  If you are able to contact Carol and your are happy for us, please let her know!  I'm so proud of her and all the difficulty she has endured with me to get through this visa process!  Thanks so much for your support and prayers over these last 7 months.  Thank God it's all at an end and we can now get married!  Woohoo!  It feels unreal, knowing we have completed our Visa Journey!

 

 - Seth

I awoke this morning before work to a phonecall, which is a good thing considering I had somehow disabled my alarm.  I picked up and heard "IT CAME!!!!  WE HAVE A DATE!!!!!" to which I answered "What???"  I processed what this frantic caller was saying and realized it was my sweetheart Carol and she was ecstatic because the packet of information about Carols interview with the U.S. Embassy in Dublin had finally arrived!

The interview date is February 5th, 2008, and Carol will be flying up to Dublin, taking a bus to the Embassy, and explaining to the Interviewer that yes indeed she does want to marry me, showing all the evidence we have put together including letters, cards, photos, emails, phone call logs, plane ticket stubs, air travel luggage tags, scans of every page of my passport to show the stamps of when I went to Ireland, as well as other pieces of evidence.

Carol will be asked questions to prove she knows who I am and has been in a relationship with me, and all that supporting evidence should mean we get approved and receive the K-1 Fiancé VISA that same day.  At that point, we will update everyone again to let them know the VISA is approved.  Then we get to begin planning our wedding!  Just 2 weeks from now and this whole Fiancé VISA process will be complete! 

- Seth

P.S. Check here for the current plans and events in our VISA Process and Ireland Wedding Planning

I haven't written on our site for a while, so I thought I should write a short update! My visa has been approved by the U.S. government and my packet three sent off and I should receive my interview date in a matter of weeks! I was quietly writing away beside my workmate today and then all of a sudden I got super excited and yelled "Agata, Im getting married in 3 months!" (well, thats not for certain but thereabouts!) she laughed and said congratulations again!

I have my medical tomorrow, (the second cost in marrying an American! €317/$465!). I dont really want the flu jab, but I'll see what happens anyhow! But it's all worth it! I know I'd pay anything for this! Maybe they know that! Anyway, we are getting closer and in the mean time we continue to work. The new year has started back for me with a lot to learn as I intend to be a fully qualified Framer when I leave my workplace. Makes the days go by quickly! Life is good...

GREAT NEWS!

Our prayers have been answered and very soon after that last Wedding post, we do have good news to share!

The VISA for Carol has been approved by the U.S. government and is in the process of being sent to Dublin, Ireland. Carol will do some more paperwork and go through an interview in Dublin and then she will finally get the VISA.

The obvious question is, when will the wedding be? We don't have an answer yet!! We hope it will be in March or April if the process goes as expected.

- Seth