Josh and Dre are getting married

Hello everybody,

Welcome to our wedding web site! If you’re arriving here at this juncture, it’s likely because you received an invitation to our Chicago wedding reception.

As many of you know, we’re having a small wedding out in British Columbia on June 20.  On August 21st, we’re throwing a bash at the Quadrangle Club at the University of Chicago to celebrate with all of our friends, family, and colleagues.  We expect that it will be a fantastic party, and we can’t wait to see all of you.

The event is quite informal, starting at 4pm and lasting until approximately 10 or 11pm.  There will be an after-party for people who haven’t gotten enough by that point.  There will be music throughout the day and some speeches in the evening.  We’ll have a buffet open from 5-8pm which will feature Chicago-style hot dogs and various other picnic foods.  Please note that there is ample street parking within close walking distance of the venue, but no formal parking lot.

For out-of-town guests, we’re just finalizing a block of rooms at a couple of great downtown hotels.  As soon as that information is ready, it will be posted here.  You can stay anywhere you like, but we’ve selected a couple of properties that are centrally-located and a good value.

Hope to see you in Chicago in August!

Dre and Josh

Hi folks,

June 20th is rapidly approaching.  If you haven’t booked your rooms yet, you have another 18 days to do so before the resort reclaims the rooms and things start to get sketchy.

For booking info, please check out the Lodging information.

Also, we’ve updated the Osoyoos and area page with new information about what to do while you’re in town!

Hi folks and welcome back.  There are a bunch of further wedding details in the pages to the right.  We’re working to compile more info, but in the interim, here’s a quick schedule of events.  Plan to arrive on Friday (or Saturday) and depart no earlier than Monday:

Friday, June 18

• Suggested arrival date
• Josh’s bachelor party in the evening (details to follow, all males in attendance are welcome to join the shenanigans)

Saturday, June 19

• Day open for wine touring, boating, golfing, hiking, etc
• Evening BBQ for all guests at Spirit Ridge

Sunday, June 20

• Day open for wine touring, boating, golfing, hiking, etc
• Ceremony begins at 4pm followed immediately by the reception

Monday, June 21 – Thursday, June 24

• Open for  wine touring, boating, golfing, hiking, etc

Friday, June 25

• Josh and Dre depart for London, Ontario to continue the adventure in Toronto…

We’ve now had two meetings with our officiant, Rabbi Ellen Dreyfus.  Rabbi Dreyfus, the first woman in history to be ordained while pregnant, is a prominent Reform rabbi, but also happens to be  an old family friend of the Goldens AND Hartmann’s (Gail, Josh’s mom’s family).  In fact, Rabbi Dreyfus, who grew up with Dan (Josh’s dad) and was youth group friends with Gail introduced them when they were both at University of Chicago.

We are both so excited to have her on our “wedding team” and have greatly enjoyed our premarital meetings with her so far.  In our most recent get-together, we had the fun of filling out one of the various questionnaire-based compatibility instruments and are both looking forward to seeing the results in a few weeks.  With all the planning and partying, we’re doing our best to keep focused on the most important thing – building a successful marriage and life together.  Rabbi Dreyfus has been an important part of our initial steps in this direction, and we look forward to continuing our discussions together.

Continuing on the track of being well-prepared for each step in this grand old process, Dre and I picked out and bought our wedding rings a few weeks back.  After having done some preliminary poking around at Nash Jeweler’s in London, we had some idea of what we wanted.  During Dre’s most recent trip to Chicago, we beelined for Donna Jewelry in the Wabash Jewelery mall (which happens to be where I had the family heirloom engagement ring refurbished).  We both loved working with them… classy, honest, and expeditious.  What more can you ask for in a jeweler?

We had originally poked around the idea of a tungsten band for me, but quickly realized that while it has its advantages, the idea of having to lose a finger instead of the band in a medical emergency didn’t sound particularly appealing.  So Dre got platinum (to match her engagement ring) and I got white gold palladium alloy.   Both rings are being custom made, but we should be receiving them soon!

Consider another item checked off the list!

Much love, Josh and Dre

Hi everybody,

Most likely if you’re showing up here, it’s because you received a Save the Date email from us.  We are so excited to have you join in our celebration and can’t wait to see all of you!

As you explore the site, you will quickly realize that Osoyoos, British Columbia is far away from just about everything.  Traveling there will be a schlep (although we promise you it’s worth it).  We encourage you to make a vacation out of  coming to BC, and are happy to help with suggestions of where to go/what to see.  We will be sticking around for a “honeymoon” the week after the wedding and look forward to wine touring, boating, hiking and spending time with family and friends after the wedding as well.

If you can’t make it to BC, we totally understand.  In fact, we’ve anticipated the challenges for many of our dearest friends and family and have planned a pair of “satellite receptions” that will be held later in the summer in Chicago and London, Ontario.

Here is a very quick overview of the situation:

• Primary wedding – On June 20, 2010, we are having a small wedding in Osoyoos, BC, Canada.  This celebration will include family and some of our closest friends.  While this is the “wedding” so to speak, it is only the first of three celebrations we are planning.
• Chicago reception – Sometime in the summer of 2010, we will have an informal afternoon reception in Chicago.  The date/time/venue have yet to be decided, but we expect to have details towards the end of November.
• London reception – Also in the summer of 2010, we will have an informal afternoon reception in London, Ontario.  Similarly, the date/time/venue are undecided as of now, but we should have it sorted out later this fall.

So in the meantime, browse around the site, ask us questions, BOOK ROOMS (they can be cancelled), and look to receive a formal invitation (also by PaperlessPost) sometime early in the new year.

Best wishes,

Josh and Dre

Hi everybody,

Planning continues (with save-the-date emails courtesy of Paperless Post just around the corner), but I thought I’d mention that we picked a photographer.  Our amazing wedding efficiency continues, and we met with exactly one photographer, whom we retained on the spot.  He’s totally awesome… trained photo-journalist, does really great stuff.  And he farms highly regarded organic honey with his wife… what more could you want?

You can check out his site here.

More soon,
Josh

Well, we had a great trip out to BC, despite the fact that the weather refused to cooperate.  It’s gorgeous in BC all summer and rainy when we show up.  In the meantime, as soon as we leave Chicago/Ontario, the weather at home gets beautiful.  Apparently, we cannot win the meteorological lottery this summer…

We had a great meeting with Katrina and Liz at Spirit Ridge.  So far, we’re very impressed with their knowledge and professionalism, and they seem eager to work with us.  It’s funny, here we are having this “small destination wedding” and it turns out that we’ll be the largest event they’ve ever done (although I think they have a similar-sized one coming up in October).  They’ve been making some positive changes recently including bringing  in a highly-esteemed new chef and making the restaurant more “big-group” friendly.

Now for some photos….

This is the main dining room at Passa Tempo where our reception will be held.  The doors you can see lead to the beautiful terrace that wraps around.  We’ll have this whole space.

If you turn right, you’ll be on the northwest terrace which looks something like this:

As you walk around the dining room, you move onto the southwest terrace:

To the left, there are long tables, and you can see the corner where the band will set up:

From the edge of the terrace looking southwest, you can see the orchards, vineyards, the lake, and at the edge of your view to the left, the outdoor seating behind Nk’Mip winery (also on the property).

Back inside the dining room, we’re trying to figure out how to leverage this beautiful wood table…

There ceremony will take place on the rooftop of the suites building that is right next to the main resort building (which includes the restaurant).  This shot shows the view from the corner of the rooftop looking southwest:

This view, standing by the west wall of the patio looking south, shows the roof of the Nk’Mip winery.

Looking out to the northwest, you can see the desert, lake and mountains.

This is the view from where the chuppah will be looking towards the guests (and where the bride will magically appear).

Reversing the view, the aisle will follow the straight line on the floor.  Erin and Bev are hard at work dreaming up ways to cover the restrooms you can see to the left, and the exit sign that currently hangs above where the chuppah will sit (the current plan is those cool wood and paper screens)

We’re hoping we can use this firepit area for a BBQ at some point:

Otherwise, we’ll be using this spot  surrounded by six of the villas occupied by guests.

The rest of the venue shots can be found by clicking here.

As for the rest of our weekend, we spent time with family (especially baby Allysen), toured wineries, and ate and drank like kings.  Here’s a good photo of Dre and I from Burrowing Owl winery, one of the must-sees in the south Okanagan.

The rest of our photos from our most recent trip are here.  Our previous trips to the Okanagan are chronicled here and here.

Thanks for reading!

Josh and Dre

Dre and I are meeting in Calgary on Friday, meeting her parents, having dinner, staying over, and then flying to Kelowna on Friday.  We’re super excited to see all the Drevers and Osatiuk’s (Dre’s mom’s side) in Kaleden, and we’re meeting are wonderful resort people (shout-out to Katrina and Liz at Spirit Ridge).

I think Dre has also scheduled some time to meet the photographer… I’m not really sure how one interviews a photographer, but I guess we’ll figure it out.  One of the groomsman Jordan has been campaigning hard for a flashy wedding video, but I have yet to see the example from his cousin’s wedding that “blew him away” and that “he wish he had done at his wedding.”  Jury’s out until then

Post wedding planning, we ‘re going to have some fun in the sun with a whole bunch of family… they’re always such amazing hosts.  We decide to come out west, and all of a sudden there’s a family reunion!

Catch you all on the flipside,

J

Osoyoos is at the south end of the Okanagan Valley in the interior of British Columbia.  For the Yanks, we’re talking northwest of Spokane, WA.  While it is a remote destination, we think it will be worth your trip out there!  Come a wee bit early and plan to stay late… it’s going to be quite the party.

Travel options:

We’ve broken out the travel options by audience.  In general, it is substantially cheaper to fly domestically than to cross the border in the air (you can thank the Department of Homeland Security for that one).  Therefore, we suggest that Americans consider domestic air itineraries to Spokane or Seattle.  For Canadians, we suggest considering domestic air itineraries to Kelowna, Penticton, or Vancouver.  Americans can certainly fly into any of the closer Canadian airports if desired, it just may be pricey.

For Americans

Fly to Spokane, rent a car, and drive 183 miles.

Fly to Seattle, rent a car, and drive 291 miles.

For Canadians

Fly to Penticton, rent a car, and drive 58 km.

Fly to Kelowna, rent a car, and drive 138 km.

Fly to Vancouver, rent a car, and drive 406 km.

While all of these itineraries involve driving, it must be noted that these drives are incredibly beautiful and interesting.  While they might take longer than a freeway blast along the 401 or I-94, you’ll have a lot more fun in the process…