Nicholas & Brianna's Engagement

The Wedding Photos have arrived!

• Check out the online Album.

Kacie Danae Herrick (Maid of Honor)

Kacie and I met in high school, enjoying both theater and singing. Since those happy-go-lucky days, I’ve come to admire Kacie for her hardworking ethic. She inspires me with her passion for running and fierce commitment to always make better of herself. We’ve been through so much, meeting and overcoming life’s pitfalls together. For the good times and the bad, I know I always have a friend in Kacie.

Deanna Correira

Our grade school pictures confirm we could have been sisters separated at birth. A determined and inspiring leader, I would follow Deanna into battle. She shares my great love of belting at the top of our lungs. If I had to make a soundtrack of my college years, Deanna would be the headlining singer.

Amy McDermott

“We’re gunna be sisters!” We laugh, we sing, we love. Amy is one of the most sweet and sincere people I know. Staying up later than what was good for us, we would whisper our dreams into the night. Not only a good listener, she makes me laugh like no other.  Her humor and delight in life is infectious.

Erica Snape

Of all the people to possibly run into at URI, it must have been fate for Erica and I to be friends. Life partner may be a joke today, but we truly spent our lives together. Erica and I shared the same home state, same sorority, and struggled through the same pharmacy classes. Her support and friendship is unique and cherished. I don’t know how I would have made it through pharmacy school without her.

April Smith (LaRoche)

Friends since diapers is often the first thing I say when describing April. Growing up Filippina has its triumphs and sufferings, which we still commiserate today (especially in light of our recent weddings). As much as we are flourishing in the American dream, we are our mother’s daughters, and maybe someday you’ll find us in a basement playing cards until 3am.

Elizabeth O’Brien

They say you can’t choose your family, but if I had a choice, it would be Liz. Already proven her eagerness to celebrate the joining of me and her brother, I can say with a smile in my heart that I am completely excited to call her my sister.

Maxwell Mathews

I met Max in 5th grade, which makes our friendship my oldest (16 years). Beyond simple commonalities, like high internet usage and pretending to work out, Max is a good friend because of the respectful awe and confusion with which we experience the world.

Christopher Simpson

Once Chris and I spent a week in January driving through the Swiss Alps. Another time we hiked 30 miles through the woods at night. We push each other past fear, common sense, and frequently, vomiting. As I dream my future feats, I know I can count on Chris to be game, and never quit.

Rajiv Ayyangar

If the unexamined life isn’t worth living, then Rajiv is living optimally. Rajiv’s studious lens allows him to demystify complex mechanisms and then capitalize on their essence. Our friendship has been tirelessly analytic, much to our enjoyment, and to much frustration for those within earshot.

Randy Stevenson

Randy’s a renaissance man in disguise — with a firm grasp on technology, art, and humor, there are few better party guests. I keep Randy’s example in mind when I need reminding that even the toughest problems can be solved with style and a smile.

Nathan Shushansky

“You gotta keep a girl like that,” he says. Those words, spoke to me in the first weeks of my relationship with Brianna have rung true countless times. We appreciate Nathan’s romanticism and agree that when you find a good thing, you gotta keep it!

As many of you receive your invitations, we’ve been noticing that you might enjoy a further explanation of the meal choices. We’ve tried each dish and they are all wonderful!

HANGER STEAK – Seared hanger steak, roasted fingerling potatoes, green beans, mustard beer sauce

GRILLED ORGANIC SALMON – Fettucini, roasted tomatoes, red onion, dill cream sauce

RED WINE BRAISED CHICKEN BREAST  – Organic Serendipity Acres chicken, bacon, pearl onions, potatoes

GOAT CHEESE GNOCCHI – Butternut squash puree, pomegranate seeds, roasted squash, mushrooms

VEGAN – Chef’s choice vegan meal of the evening

Bon appetite!

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Use Bed, Bath, & Beyond’s Online Registry, call 1-800-Go-Beyond, or shop in store. Search by Nicholas O’Brien or Brianna Knox — we’re #5826866.

Target

Use Target’s Online Registry, or shop in store. Search Nicholas O’Brien or Brianna Knox — we’re #013399700687056.

REI

Use REI’s Online Registry, or shop in store. Search Nicholas O’Brien or Brianna Knox — we’re #GR2348636.

Eastland Park Hotel

We’ve reserved a block of 25 rooms at this hotel, which is a couple blocks away from our reception venue, Grace Restaurant. To get the group rate of $199.00, you need to book your room before September 2nd. To book your room, contact Morgan Shepard at (207) 347-6523, or via email, at m.shepard@eastlandparkhotel.com.

Eastland Park Hotel
157 High Street
Portland, Maine 04101
Hotel – (207) 775-5411
Direct – (207) 347-6523
Fax – (207) 775-1066

After we booked our church and reception hall, we felt a great sense of relief. This relief turned into a vacation from our wedding planning, but now we’re back in the game! In the past two weeks, we’ve booked a DJ, two photographers, and our honeymoon.

Music – Don Corman

Finding our wedding DJ, Don Corman, was easy. All it took was a few referrals from friends and the staff of our reception hall, an introductory meeting, and we were sold. Expect Top 40 dance music – we’re into that.

Photography – Haven Photography

Finding a wedding photographer online is hard because only the most expensive photographers have high page ranks in google. This means that anytime you search “wedding photographer,” the results are skewed towards the most savvy, most pricy technicians. Sure, you might be able to find the right mix talent and price at some point, but I never reached that point.

Instead, Brianna went to a wedding convention in Auburn and met a bunch of talented, fairly priced photographers in person. Our conclusion: Search for photographers at conventions, not online. Ultimately, I chose Haven Photography for their quality, price, and personality.

Honeymoon – Costa Rica!

We knew we wanted to take our Honeymoon immediately after getting married, which meant traveling in October. We also knew we wanted to go somewhere warm which in October means going south! So we took a look at the cheapest, safest, most exciting countries and landed on Costa Rica.

I wanna climb this rock! Our weeklong trip, planned through AAA, will take us to San Jose, Arenal, Playa Langosta, as well as to the above pictured, “Witch’s Rock,” located just south of the Nicaraguan border.

Stay tuned for more updates on hotels!

Here’s the design. We’re having them printed on stickers. So you can either file it away as is, transcribe the information and discard, or use it as a sticker and.. stick it somewhere!

Overview

Buying an engagement ring is a commitment. Between the selection process, the money, and the promise of marriage, buying an engagement ring can be a stressful and exciting experience. Because I found it to be both, I thought it’d be useful to share my experience. In this post, I’ll walk you through my approach to buying an engagement ring, I will also share the results of my approach.

Prerequisite: Life Partners

At some point I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Brianna. Soon after, I starting thinking about an engagement ring. While this post is essentially about the purchase of an engagement ring, I must point that a worthy partner and the desire for lifelong commitment are true prerequisites.

Details, details, details…

The diamond industry is highly precise, and I soon found myself immersed in all of its details. I spent months researching the Four C’s of Diamonds, the various types of verification and certification to insure authenticity, band materials, styles… I even compared thousands of diamonds, considering each obscure characteristic in the hopes of deducing which proportions and styles truly equated to value. So after months of research, what did I learn?

Forget the Four C’s

It seemed like everywhere I turned, whether my source be a jeweler or web article, I received the same curious advice. Everyone was telling me to learn about the “Four C’s of Diamonds,” Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat weight. I was really getting the impression that if I studied these 4 variables enough, I could derive a fool proof formula that could identify the perfect diamond.

Then I simply hit a wall with the research. Burying myself in the details began to feel silly when I realized that no one else cares. Does a 5% difference in table depth or girdle thickness mean that one diamond is better than another? Does a 5% miscalculation mean that I love my girlfriend less? No.

New Approach: Empiricism over Rationalism

So after I realized that the Four C’s are a guide and not the end all be all, I began working with a new approach. My new approach relied on empiricism, rather than rationalism. In other words, I wanted to judge diamonds based on how they actually looked, not how they were graded.

My jeweler, Calvin Campany, was great in helping me find the right diamond. Calvin runs Adornment Fine Jewelry in Wakefield, Rhode Island, and I recommend him for all of your jewelry needs.

Through a series of trips to Rhode Island, Calvin showed me many different diamonds that fit within my quality/budget guidelines. I examined each diamond close up, at arms length, across the room, and with a 10x loupe. I made it a point to inspect the stones independent of their specifications – I actually had Calvin hide the labels from me. This exercise allowed me to know in advance that each stone had a “good enough” grade, while also freeing me from the sway of the specifics.

Bottom line

A diamond’s purpose is to look pretty at arms length. Nobody buys diamonds to be judged in terms of the four C’s. I mean, can you imagine getting out your 10x loupe at a party and criticizing your friend’s stone for faint inclusions or a tinge of yellow? In other words, the beauty of a diamond isn’t rationally derived from a specific criterion, it’s experienced empirically (by looking at it).

1.01c Princess cut in platinum.

The Real Bottom Line

The real bottom line goes beyond diamond selection –  You want to make your fiancé happy. And as long as she is, all the specifics and processes wither in comparison. The real bottom line is a smiling fiancé, and I’m incredibly thankful to have one.

We’ve finally booked a church and a reception venue! Given that we allotted ourselves 11 months to plan an entire wedding, Brianna and I were growing increasingly stressed throughout November – The weeks were passing by and we simply couldn’t find a meaningful church and a tasteful (and reasonably priced) reception venue.

Wedding Ceremony – Spurwink Church

The wedding ceremony will be held at Spurwink Church in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. We love this church because of its simplicity and history. Built in 1834, the church seats 150 people, and sits in an accessibly remote location. Scenic, isn’t it?

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Reception – Grace Restaurant

The reception will be held at Grace Restaurant. In choosing our venue, we looked at a lot of hotels, farms, churches, camps, etc. There were just so many options, but once we met with the staff at Grace, it was a done deal. They were very competent and we  are relieved and excited to be planning this event with them.

Look at this place!

Details

Information regarding exact times, directions, hotel reservations, menus, and dress codes will be published in the coming months. Subscribe to the RSS feed, and you’ll be notified immediately!

When I proposed to Brianna, I was focused solely on the engagement (as was she). Now that that milestone has been reached, however, we have begun thinking about planning the wedding. So here are things as they now stand:

1. We’re aiming for a date between September 15-October 15 in 2011 or 2012. 2011 if we get lucky with a location, 2012 if everything’s booked.
2. Location is undecided: Maine or Rhode Island?
3. We haven’t registered yet. What would you recommend?