The Best Man and the Groomsmen!

We thought now would be a good time to let everyone know who will be in our wedding party. I chose my side of the party based on my history with them.

My big brother Vincent was completely my only choice for who the best man could be.


The Groomsmen are three of my best friends from college. We've been a tight group for years now so I also never had second thoughts about these three standing next to me at the alter.


Terrance Riley (a.k.a. T)
-I've known Terrance for more than a decade now. We went through most of college together and were roommates for 2 years.


Ali Speede (a.k.a. Allah Quicka)
-Ali is also one of my good friends that I've known for many years.


Matt Granato (a.k.a. Tex)
-Matt has been a great friend and a part of our circle since his freshman year in college.

May I introduce to you....

.... my sister Martina who will be my maid of honor and my three bridesmaids Simin, Carolina and Morgana.

My sister Martina is my best friend, my soul mate and I am so glad that she will stay by my side on my very special day. She is the only person who has known me all my life and supported me in every single decision I've made. I love you very much!!!


Simin and I have known each other for over nine years and she has been by my side ever since. When I moved away across the big ocean we were only able to talk every once in a while but that has not changed a thing about our special relationship. I am glad that she will stand by my side at my wedding.


My two friends Morgana and Carolina have been by my side ever since I've come to the United States and we've gone through thick and thin together. My two beautiful Brazilian girls will also stand by my side at the altar.

WE GOT THEM

FINALLY, after spending a good amount of time figuring out which rings are the best and most beautiful ones for the both of us, we went today and bought our wedding bands. They are gorgeous and we are both so happy to have bought them.
Here are the pictures, we wanted to share them with you.

Love Jamell & Karoline


Karoline's wedding band

Jamell's wedding band

Thank you to everyone who helped Jamell to pick out his wedding band. He really loves his.

Next post....

.....will follow soon!!!!

Jamell and I will be working on a really cool and informative post over the weekend. Be excited what we are going to come up with.

Love,
Karoline

Yeah...we're not hiring this guy for our wedding...

Bachelor "und" Bachelorette Parties

In case you're wondering how we're going to be celebrating the notorious Bachelor and Bachelorette parties, we're planning to do it during the actual trip.

We decided on Tuesday, August 10th. We figured having it two days before the wedding would be a good time since the majority of people that are coming will already be there by then. So if you haven't chosen the dates of your stay yet, please try to be there that day if you'd like to attend.



p.s. - "Und" means "and" in German. I didn't just spell it wrong :)

~Jamell~

The first step is done!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
The reservation forms have arrived in Carol's inbox and she will now go through them, answer questions and get in touch with you if needed. She will then put in the reservation for each person and get the airfare group prices.

The full payment has to be made 90 days before departure, which would be June 12th, 2010. We will figure out a payment plan for those who would like to pay in 2 lump sums instead of 1.

As mentioned before we would recommend that you get the insurance with the package, just in case something happens and you need to cancel or change your reservation.

Jamell and I are flying down to the DR in November and we will be figuring out the exact details and meet with the wedding planer. We will keep you updated and send out the formal invitations as soon as we have all the details.

Love, Karoline & Jamell

REMINDER!!!!

Hey everyone,

we just want to remind you that the reservation forms are due OCTOBER 5th, this monday, so if you have already made your decision please make sure to email your filled out reservation form to Carol Warren, email address is on the bottom of the form.

THANK YOU SO MUCH,

Karoline & Jamell

Time has come....

..... FINALLY.....

On Friday November 13th 2009, Jamell and I are flying down to the Dominican Republic to check out the Majestic Elegance for our wedding ceremony. We will absolutely let you know how it is and take a lot of pictures of every single corner of the resort. I am very excited because now I can actually start planning how I want my dream wedding to be. I will for the first time get a visual impression and I cannot wait! We will leave here on that Friday with our travel agent Carol and spend the whole weekend in the sun. Oh wow, by that time it will be already cold here in NYC - I guess we can consider ourselves lucky for a couple of days.

Love,

Karoline & Jamell

Share a room!

Hello everyone,

We just wanted to let everyone know that if you do not have a PLUS 1 for the wedding to share a room with do not worry. We will try to pair you up with people we and of course you know. Just if you want of course!! :-)

We'll do everything we can to make sure you're not paying for a single if you don't want to.

Jamell & Karoline

What if you don't have the $150 by October 5th?

We have spoken to Carol (the travel agent) and she says that if a deposit isn't down by October 5th, the room may no longer be available after that and/or the rates for the room may change. In other words, if you have already made your decision to come, please try to have the money by then :)

p.s. - this image has nothing to do with this post. I just thought it was funny.

My answer to that...

I wanted to wait until later to show everyone what the groomsmen will be wearing. But I guess now will also work. I think they'll love it! Our wedding party is going to look incredible! =D



~Jamell~

My bridesmaids are going to love their dresses!

I was looking around for the perfect bridesmaid dresses for my bridesmaids and I finally found them....VOILA!!!



Jamell, now you just have to find the perfect outfit for your boys... remember it should match ;-)

It is not easy....

...... to plan you own wedding
plan your friends wedding
spending time with Jamell
go to school
do homework
study for tests
go wedding dress searching NOT YET shopping
look for the right wedding bands
make decisions who is going to be my bridesmaids
figure out the legal parts for our wedding
get our German guests organize
send out the reservation forms
make sure everyone received enough informations about the wedding
collect addresses search for schools in PA
think about moving down to PA
WHAT ARE WE DOING FOR THANKSGIVING?
enjoy the rest of the summer with friends
etc. etc. etc.

THANK GOD I HAVE JAMELL IN MY LIFE WHO IS A VERY SUPPORTIVE FIANCEE AND HELPS WHEREVER HE CAN.

Thank you love for being who you are!
I love you

We can't wait...

.... for you all to come to our wedding. It is going to be fantastic!!




Love, Jamell & Karolinka

Reservation form is out!

Our travel agent approved the reservation form and we will send it to all of you via email sometime this week.
If you have already decided and you will definitely come to our wedding please fill out the form and email it directly to Carol Warren our travel agent. She will be happy to assist with any additional questions. Her email address and phone no. are on the bottom of the form. Due date for the form is October 5th, 2009.


THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Jamell & Karoline

SAVE THE DATE! :-D

<

To answer a couple of questions...

We have been waiting on the answer to a couple of questions from our travel agent. Some of you have also had the same questions so we thought we'd share.

-The deposit is based on a "per person" basis. Each person has to put $150 down per person.

-The deposit deadline is October 5th.

-The set wedding date is August 12th.

-There is a form that we still need to get from the travel agent that will be used for making payments. We are looking to have that to you this week.

Resort confirmation and group prices...

So we now know for sure which resort we're going with. It will definitely be Majestic Elegance Punta Cana and the day of the actual wedding will be August 12th. We were thinking of a different one for a minute but came back to this one once we saw how much the prices dropped with the group rate.



Majestic Elegance ... all rates are per person and for the Standard Junior Suite

::2 per room::
-$550 ... 5 day, 4 nights
-$850 ... 8 day, 7 nights
-$1650 ... 15 day, 14 nights

::3 per room::
-$455 ... 5 day, 4 nights
-$775 ... 8 day, 7 nights
- $1375 ... 15 day, 14 nights

::1 per room::
-$825 ... 5 day, 4 nights
-$1150 ... 8 day, 7 nights
-$2275 ... 15 day, 14 nights

::Children's rates are the same no matter how many people you have in your room::
-$385 ... 5 day, 4 nights
-$650 ... 8 day, 7 nights
-$1075 ... 15 day, 14 nights

If you look at the earlier post of prices, you'll see that a lot of money is saved by doing the group rate.



Insurance is also offered in case you choose later in the year that you're no longer able to go. I'd actually recommend getting it because it's not that expensive and you never know what's going to happen in the future. If you would like it, it would be added to the deposit that you'd be paying next month.
These prices are also per person...
-$80 for up to $999
-$89 for up to $1499
-$98 for up to $1999

For flight information, the August 2010 prices won't be out until sometime next month. Once the prices are available we will figure out the group rates that we can get.

The initial deposit needed to hold your room is $150 per person (although I will check next week to see if only one deposit needs to be made for each room even if 2 or 3 people will share it.) That's something that we'll look to collect by next month. This way the travel agent can get a more realistic view of how many rooms need to be blocked off for us. We will figure out exactly how payments will be made next week. What we know for now is that they will go directly to the travel agent and you can pay by debit/credit card if you'd like.

If you have any questions are concerns please let us know so that we can get you answers as soon as possible. Once again, we hope that you all can make it =)

Meeting with the travel agent tomorrow...

Tomorrow Karo and I are meeting with the travel agent. We decided to get the rates for one more resort in addition to the others because the prices may be better for this one (and then even cheaper once we factor in the group rates). Even though the prices would be lower it's still a beautiful place with most of the same accomodations as the three we were originally looking at.

We'd both like to decide on a place as soon as possible so that we can block off the rooms. From there we can contact you to find out where you are in your decision of whether or not you can make it.

Have a happy Labor Day weekend and we'll update everyone sometime over the extended weekend.

Peace, love and 3 day weekends...

-- Posted by Jamell

Expect a call from yours truly =D

To all my friends and family...I'll be calling over the next few days to get an idea of where you're at with whether or not you're thinking about coming next year. We need to send our travel agent a number for how many rooms we should reserve.

~Jamell~

Update where are you???

Ich weiss das wir schon lange nichts mehr von uns hoeren lassen haben, wir sind aber fleissig dabei den naechsten Schritt mit unserer Reiseberaterin zu planen. Wir halten euch auf jeden Fall auf dem Laufenden.

I know, I know we haven't updated our blog in a few days but we are working with our agent to figure out the next step for our destination wedding. It's quite a journey and experience but I am loving it. We will keep you updated....

Love, Karoline & Jamell

Two more choices...

After we tried on wedding rings last weekend I think I've decided on a titanium ring instead of a tungsten one. Both are a lot harder than gold but tungsten is a lot heavier. I'd rather wear a ring without feeling like I'm wearing a ring.

~Jamell~

Resort prices so far...

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
I just wanted to let you all know that the prices for the Majestic Elegance are all incl. You guys won't have to worry about spending any extra money.

I also talked to our travel agent and she recommended to set up a travel insurance for each guest since it's Hurricane season in August (just in case). There will be an additional amount added to the price, so don't forget that!



Hey ladies and gents. We've decided on the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana resort so far. Out of the 3, it had the best price and had the majority of what we were looking for:

Below are the prices for just the hotel
::5 days, 4 nights::
Standard Junior Suite
-$552 per person
Colonial Junior Suite
-$592 per person

::8 days, 7 nights::
Standard Junior Suite
-$966 per person
Colonial Junior Suite
-$1036 per person

::14 days, 13 nights::
Standard Junior Suite
-$1932 per person
Colonial Junior Suite
-$2072 per person

The only flight information she was able to get so far was a price of $412 for a group rate out of NYC.

We're still working on the prices and getting some more information from the travel agent. If there are any special circumstances anyone needs answers on, please let us know.

I can't take my eyes off of you!

This is one of the many songs that I would like my friend Renata to play for us on her guitar on our wedding. It's the portuguese version of the "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice. How beautiful is this song? Enjoy it!



Here is the Damien Rice version................ what a beautiful song.



And what do you know - I found the Italian version of the song as well, the language is fantastic. Music is amazing! You gotta love music, you just have to!!!!

Getting anxious...

I'm just really hoping to get the resort prices tomorrow. We'll put them up as soon as we can.
-j-


-- Posted by Jamell

Bridezillas marathon.

Jamell's und mein "Bridezillas" marathon beginnt in ein paar Stunden. 8 Studen die gefuellt sind mit total brutal und ausgeflippten Braeute. Ich freu mich drauf!

Jamell's and my "Bridezillas" marathon starts in a little while. 8 hours of fulfilled craziness and insane brides. I am excited!

What an entrance...

Der Hochzeits-Einmarsch muss nicht immer steif und langweilig sein, unzaehlige Paare gestalten ihn aktiv und sehr kreativ. Schaut euch das video hier an, meine Freunding Monika hat es vor kurzem auf ihrem Facebook gepostet. Vielleicht sollten Jamell und ich auch ueber so einen Einmarsch nachdenken????

Wedding entrances do not always have to be stiff and boring. They can be fun and creative... check out this video that my friend Monika posted on her FB just recently. It is great. Jamell what do you think, should we come up with something like that???

I miss this show...

Something like that I'd like....

...... ich weiss gar nicht ob wir auf unseren "wedding bands" in Deutschland auch Diamanten haben. Ich kenne nur die ganz traditionellen Ringe ganz schlicht und einfach gold oder weiss gold. Naja, wie ihr mich bestimmt schon alle kennt habe ich mich natuerlich schon einmal umgeschaut, bin ja eine fliessige "Braut-to-be" und hier sind 2 Ringe die mir sehr gut gefallen haben. Natuerlich mit kleinen Diamanten versehen, wie soll es auch anders sein, wa??

.... in Germany it is not very common to have diamonds on your wedding band, well maybe now it is. I actually love the idea of having a little diamond on my wedding band... or maybe two... or three... or four.... hehehe. What is it about diamonds that us women love sooooooo much???
I think I would love to have something like the two that I am posting here for you guys to check out, I'd love to hear what you guys think.

For all who haven't seen the ring live!

My Engagement *BLING*

Thinking about it....

There isn't anything wrong with the guy having a little diamond, right?

From me to you!!!

JAMELL EVANS I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND I CAN'T WAIT TO BE MARRIED TO YOU!!!!!


Good night,
Karoline

The Proposal...

So a lot of people have asked me exactly how the whole proposal happened. I know most of our German friends know the story because we were with them right after it happened but I wanted to just put it out there for everyone...

Who:
-Karo and Jamell

What:
-The proposal

Where:
-Benrath Palace

When:
-Friday, July 17th

Why:
-Because I love that crazy chick.

How:
-During our first week in Europe I asked her where her favorite place in Germany was. She said it was the Benrath Palace because that's where her and her friends used to hang out throughout the years. Once I knew that I figured I'd try to get us there alone so that I could make my move.

Attempt #1...I hadn't been sleeping that well because of the jet lag and thinking about how I was going to propose. So being anxious and on just a couple hours sleep, I woke her up at about 6a.m. on Thursday and asked her if she'd want to walk to the palace (within walking distance) to take some pictures of the sun coming up. She said "go back to bed." :-|


Attempt #2...On Friday we borrowed her mothers and her boyfriends bicycles to ride around town. Eventually we arrived at the palace and she says something like "do you still want to take pictures of the palace?" Obviously I say "yes." While taking pictures we arrive at a small garden section called "the Private Garden of the Palatine Electress" where I figure this is it. After taking a few pictures I ask her to stand with me in the middle of the circle.


While she's asking questions like "how are we going to take pictures if we're both standing here," I tell her quickly how much I love her and that she's very important to me. I then go down on one knee, took out the ring and asked "Wuerdest du mit mir auf dem Mond Laufen?" Translated it means "would you walk on the moon with me?" That's why we named the blog what it is. Her exact reply was "are you kidding me??" Lol. She was completely surprised and shaking (then eventually screaming). She said her knees felt a little weak so she eventually had to sit down before she started calling her family and friends. Yeah...:)

Resort choices...

For all that don't know yet, we plan on having our wedding at a resort in the Dominican Republic. Here are the 3 that we're looking at. All were recommended from my good friend Stephanie who has family that has been to each. We're going to check on the prices soon. Let us know what you think :)
~j~

Dreams Punta Cana

Majestic Elegance Punta Cana

Paradisus Palma Real

Bridezillas go crazy!!!

Hier ist ein Beweis das Frauen kurz von ihrer Hochzeit zu "bridezillas" mutieren koennen. Geniesst die 3:35 minuten bitte in vollen Zuegen, denn so werde ich mit Sicherheit nicht reagieren.

The show "bridezilla" shows how women are capable of turning into "bridezillas" so close to their wedding. Please enjoy those 3:35 minutes because one thing is guaranteed - I won't be a bridezilla.

Our European Trip

So here's a photo montague of my trip to Europe with my new fiancee Karolinka. Thanks to Kim for the idea of doing it this way. There are over 1500 pictures in the video so I hope you enjoy the randomness of it all. The video lasts as long as the song and the song is "Consequence" by the Notwist. Listen to their album if you get a chance.