:: Wedding | 08.18.09 ::

Calling all junior photographers!!!

2009-08-31T01:30:00.004-04:00

Anyone have wedding photos of Karen and Gabe they would like to share?

We would love to see the photos you took at our wedding and have found an easy way for everyone to share pictures with us and other wedding guests. We are working on a new photo section attached to our web site through Shutterfly. Anyone can view the pictures already uploaded to the site currently and can even purchase prints of them. To get to the Shutterfly photo gallery, just click on the Photo Album link on the left side of our home page. You can join and put your photos up there as well if you have any you would like to add... but you will probably need to create a Shutterfly account if you don't already have one.

Once we get our professional shots from the wedding, we will be adding those too and will let you know when they are uploaded for viewing and purchase options.

Let us know if you have any questions or trouble adding your own photos. Thanks!

Wedding Day!

2009-08-18T16:00:00.007-04:00

Well, assuming everything is on time and going as planned, the wedding has just started and in a few short moments Karen and I will be man and wife. Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way, has wished us luck, shared in our moment and helped make this day a reality. We love you all.

Not long now...

2009-08-17T08:35:00.002-04:00

Karen and I are finishing up some final details, before the rehersal this afternoon. So far everything has been going great, hopefully we can get through the next two days without any major problems. The weather has been great, we have had a blast seeing everyone enjoying New England, we hope we have helped build very strong and happy memories for everyone involved.

Honeymoon

2009-07-24T14:51:00.004-04:00

So Karen and I have booked our honeymoon finally, thanks to all of our friends. For anyone who doesn't know, Karen and I have paid for most of the wedding, and because of that, we haven't really had the extra money to set aside for a honeymoon. We planned to save up and have a honeymoon at a later date (which sometimes never happens, as we were told). Our amazing friends found this out and gave us the kindest gift we have ever received, the money to have a honeymoon.

We decided to keep it small, we just want to get away and relax. So we are renting a place in Sarasota near St. Armands Circle where we went to celebrate our engagement. After the wedding, we will begin saving up to do something big for an anniversary, like Scotland. :)

The coolest news ever...

2009-06-23T09:39:00.003-04:00

Last night, I purchased a custom pair of shoes to wear to our wedding. They are quite possibly the coolest things I have ever purchased. I'm so excited, I had to tell everyone. They should be arriving 7/6/09 and I'm super excited.

For anyone who doesn't know you can build completely custom shoes on the converse website in just about any color combination imaginable, it is pretty impressive. I recommend everyone go get like 9 pairs.

Check out the Converse site!

Don't Panic!

2009-06-21T20:31:00.001-04:00

I added a new feature to the website for anyone counting down to the big day... on the left sidebar you will now see that we are under the two month mark, and the big day will be here before we know it... be prepared.

More projects!

2009-06-16T18:23:00.005-04:00

I have also been working on wedding projects today, here is a sneak peak at the photo album that will be on display at our reception. It is a collection of photos of Gabe and I and our life together so far. I have also put together some other photo displays we will have out at the reception and have found an interesting twist on the guestbook which we are going to use instead of the usual big blank book. The big day is sneaking up on us FAST, hope everyone is getting excited.

Projects!

2009-06-16T14:17:00.003-04:00

I've been working on table signs for the wedding, it has been about 10 years since I have tried woodburning anything, but they came out really nice. Now I just need to stain them and wait for everyone to see how awesome they look. I'm really glad Karen and I have decided to do so many things ourselves, it has been a little stressful, but it has saved us alot of money... but the most important thing is it really makes the end result a reflection of our style more than anything we could find in a store could. I'm currently working on "escort cards" which are also looking very cool, but we will keep them a surprise.

Disneyland

2009-05-16T08:59:00.003-04:00

Today Karen and I are enjoying the happiest place on earth. And we just wanted to check in and say hi! Check back for more pictures later.

Hampton Inn

2009-04-10T17:42:00.004-04:00

We have blocked off a group of rooms at Hampton Inn & Suites. If you are interested, here are the details. If you call in to book your room, be sure to mention that you are with the Dupree/Clogston wedding. To book online, follow this link.

Here is the information on the block of rooms we have set aside. You are not obligated to check in or out on those set dates.

Group Name: Karen Dupree & Gabe Clogston Wedding Room Block
Group Code: CDW
Check-in: 15-AUG-2009
Check-out: 20-AUG-2009
Hotel Name: Hampton Inn & Suites Tilton
Hotel Address: 195 Laconia Rd. - P. O. Box 288 Tilton, New Hampshire, 03276
Phone Number: 603-286-3400

Hope this helps everyone out who is traveling in from out of state.

Reception Menu

2009-04-10T17:34:00.006-04:00

Tossed Salad
Potato, Pasta & Fruit Salads
Fresh Steamed Vegetables
Wild Rice Pilaf
Red Bliss Potato with Fine Herbs
Vegetable Stir Fry
Apple Jack Chicken
Lemon Peppered Seafood
Carved Roast Sirloin of Beef

Served with dinner rolls and butter,
water, coffee, tea or decaf.

Music

2009-04-10T16:25:00.002-04:00

I've been working on getting playlists ready for the wedding reception so I thought I would talk a little about the music we will be using through our wedding, and what our goal is for the music for the night. I'm still open to suggestions as well, so feel free to throw out some ideas in the comments.

For the prelude music and for our ceremony music Karen and I will be using a selection of classical and contemporary music on acoustic guitar. We really wanted to have a live musician or two but in the end we really couldn't afford to do so... and I began looking into alternatives. My goal was to have all the music at least sound as though it was all coming from the same source. We really loved the rendition of Stand By Me on acoustic guitar that is used in a couple television commercials so I tracked it down (Stand By Me is the first song Karen and I ever danced to), and as a result I began tracking down as much acoustic guitar music as I could. Which is now at least 3 hours worth... which is way more than we need. This music will play through the whole prelude, select songs will be used for our ceremony music, and then it will influence the music we use in the recessional which will be acoustic guitar songs with vocals by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat.

The reception music will be much more the traditional wedding reception music. I'm probably going to leave alot of the music choices up to the DJ at the wedding but I am going to a few lists for him to make things a little easier for him. I will be making a list of songs I insist he plays, as well as a list of songs he can only play if they are requested, and a list of songs that are forbidden. I have outlawed organized dances like YMCA, the Macarana, the Electric Slide... I have stated that Thriller will be allowed, but I don't think anyone knows all the steps. We want to have some music from all eras, as well as fun music to get some people out on the floor. It should be a fun evening.

Invitations

2009-04-07T16:06:00.002-04:00

After a very long and stressful few months Karen and I are finishing up our invitations.

Originally some friends who ran a print shop were going to help us out and print our invitations for us, the best part was that it was only going to cost us the price of the bulk paper. However, due to the harsh economy, the print shop unexpectedly went out of business and we were left struggling to figure out what to do next. When we looked into other printing options we really felt that what we wanted and were planning was now out of our price range having never set aside a large amount of money for printing. And to make matters worse we were really happy with the invitations we had planned. Karen's Sister-in-law and Bridesmaid Sarah had designed some beautiful invitations which we couldn't wait to see printed. And now we were looking for other options, possibly not using everything we worked on.

In the end we found a nice option that has allowed us to use the wordings from our design along with some of the design elements that we had developed, and we have a great final product that we are very happy with. We can't wait for everyone to see them.

Schedule of Events

2009-03-24T09:24:00.009-04:00

New events will be added as details are finalized.

Saturday, August 15th, 12:00pm - Ladies Wedding Luncheon - A casual lunch gathering for Karen hosted by her Maid of Honor Heather Rubey at Top of the Town Restaurant in Belmont. By invitation only.

Saturday, August 15th, 8:00pm - Welcome Event at Funspot - A casual meet and greet event hosted by Karen & Gabe at Funspot to welcome everyone to town. All are welcome.

Monday, August 17th, 4:00pm - Wedding Rehearsal - Wedding party and close family are invited to Fred Andrew Smart Chapel for a full walk-through of the following days events, followed by a clam bake at Robert & Cyndi's house. This event is by invitation only.

Tuesday, August 18th, 4:00pm - Wedding Ceremony - The big event, at Fred Andrew Smart Chapel in Tilton. This event is by invitation only.

Tuesday, August 18th, 6:00pm - Wedding Reception - After the wedding, at Steele Hill Resorts in Sanbornton. This event is by invitation only.

Wednesday, August 19th, 11:30am - Goodbye Lunch - Karen & Gabe will be having lunch at Applebee's Restaurant in Tilton. Stop by, have lunch, and say goodbye. All are welcome.

Wedding Photographer

2009-03-23T20:43:00.003-04:00

We are pleased to announce that the photography at our wedding will be done by Linda Murphy of Lasting Moments Photography. You can find her on the web at...

Lasting Moments Photography

Linda is one of the many amazing vendors we have had the pleasure of dealing with while planning our wedding, and we suggest anyone else considering a special event in the New Hampshire area think of Lasting Moments Photography to remember their day.

New Year Update

2009-01-27T12:26:00.003-05:00

Karen and I have officially booked our officiant and photographer now (which were the last two major things on our list) and we can now say that we are starting to feel like the only thing left is to pay for it all.

I updated the "Things To Do In NH" page which can be found on the "More Information" tab on the sidebar. I added a few family friendly attractions and updated the descriptions on some of other listings, I will continue to update this list as I remember places that might be of interest to people.

I will be getting in contact with all of my groomsmen soon with some news and updates. I haven't forgotten about you guys.

Travel & Hotel Accomodations In The Area

2009-01-03T13:01:00.012-05:00

Air Travel

Your best bet for flying into New Hampshire is flying into the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in Manchester, New Hampshire. Although a relatively small airport, Manchester Airport handles a bulk of the major air travel for the New Hampshire area, and is a refreshing alternative to the often crowded and confusing Logan airport in Boston. Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire as well as in the three states that make up northern New England. There are car rental facilities available at the airport, and Manchester is only a 45 minute drive from Tilton. Major airlines that offer flights to Manchester include Air Canada, Continental Airlines, Delta, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways.

The closest major airport to Tilton is Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is a 1.5 hour drive to Tilton, New Hampshire, and there are car rental facilities available at the airport but I am not sure if they have any cars on site, you may have to take a shuttle. Almost all major airlines offer air travel to Logan International Airport. Be prepared to drive on toll roads on your trip between MA and NH. You also might want to strongly consider getting a GPS with your rental car, most rental car companies offer GPS systems for a small extra charge.

Rental car prices tend to be lower at Manchester than at Boston, but you might find some cheaper flights into Boston than into Manchester. Price wise I think it is more than likely going to even out either way you choose to go, but the Manchester airport is so much closer and easier for people who are not familiar with the area that I strongly suggest that people consider it.

Ground Travel

It is possible to get to Tilton by train/bus service, but I can't really provide much detail on the best course of travel. There is a bus stop in Tilton but there is no station or ticket office, there are more functional stations in Concord and Boston. I believe Amtrak trains runs out of Boston, to most of the country.

If you are planning to drive to the area and are mapping your route, Tilton is located between Laconia and Concord. I-93 runs through Tilton.

Hotels

There are three large hotels in the area which people will be familiar with, all three are in Tilton, and about a 10 minute drive from the Wedding site. For the convenience of our guests, we have blocked off a group of rooms at Hampton Inn & Suites for more information on how to book with them and receive the group rate click here.

Hampton Inn & Suites‎
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Tilton‎
Super 8 Tilton/ Lake Winnipesaukee Area

There is also a very nice estate house that has been turned into an inn located in Tilton. Sort of like a bed and breakfast, you probably won't have alot of privacy, but it is a fair trade to stay in a beautiful, warm 1880 Victorian home.

Black Swan Inn‎

A Tale Of Four Rings

2008-12-19T00:02:00.010-05:00

Promise Ring
To mark his commitment to me, Gabe gave me a promise ring to mark the first year we dated. Promise rings were not common expressions of commitment to me. I knew only one person, an acquaintence, who had ever had a promise ring. But when Gabe gave me my promise ring, it symbolized to me the depth of our commitment to each other. We knew that we wanted a future together. This ring symbolized our desire to work towards figuring out that future together.

Engagement Ring No. 1
Gabe proposed in April, 2008, he picked the ring out himself, it was beautiful and fit my simple style perfectly. However, after about two or three months, I noticed a dark ring that went around the underside of the band. We sent it back to the jeweler, who explained that the ring was treated with a protective coating and that perhaps when it was being treated that a portion of it was missed because of the way it was positioned during the coating process. Well, we got the ring back and the mark on the band was still there. So we sent the ring back again. And waited. We were told that the repair process could be hastened with a request to expedite it. So we did that through customer service and waited some more. We contacted them again and were told that the status was still the same, in with the repair technicians. Nothing had changed. We were told we could put in an expedite request. Again. By this time it had been almost three weeks. Our engagement parties were scheduled soon, I wanted my ring back before our the party so I could wear it to celebrate, and not with the mark on it. We were then told that they were not sure it could be fixed in time. This particular ring was no longer available so they could not replace it, so we set about choosing another ring. I had grown attached to this ring and it was painful to have to give it up, but in the end we found another beautiful beautiful ring.

Engagement Ring No. 2
This second ring is the ring that I have now and what is displayed on our web site. A few months previous, before Gabe asked me to marry him I had shown this ring to him when he asked what my style was. I don’t know much about ring clarity or carat size, but it is a princess cut – again, not sure if I am correct, my friend Stephanie knows this stuff and would be quick to correct me if I am wrong – stone, and on the band on each side are four diamonds set in the band. I love this ring and feels that it truly captures both my simple side and my desire for a little bit of sparkle.

Wedding Ring
The other reason that I love my second engagement ring is because it seems as if it was meant to be that I was to have it, since I chose a wedding band that matched the engagement ring perfectly. When placed together they appear to be a matched set, the amazing thing is that we got both rings from different jewelers. The wedding band is white gold, with a row of about ten diamonds set into the band, the width of the diamonds on the band the exact same width of the diamonds on the band of my engagement ring. They could not be more perfect. I cannot wait till the day when I can wear this ring, not only because it is a beautiful ring, but because it will mean that I will then be Mrs. Gabriel Rand Clogston!

Christmas Updates

2008-12-18T09:22:00.009-05:00

First the good news, I'm thrilled to announce that my brother Robert has agreed to be my Best Man, which lifts a huge weight from my shoulders. I still need to find another Groomsman, but I think I will get that done this holiday season when all my friends are in town and I get a chance to talk with everyone.

Karen and I have been working on a few projects these last few weeks that I will shine a little light on now. First we finally settled on a look for our wedding cake, after digging through books and talking back and forth about it we have pinpointed the things we like and sent off a package to my Aunt Cindy detailing what we are looking for. My Aunt Cindy has volunteered to make our wedding cake, she has been a cake hobbyist for a few years now and we are thrilled that she is willing to do this for us. I know the final result will be beautiful.

We have also started redesigning our invitations. We had done some planning before our trip to NH, and once we found our chapel and had to change our wedding date, we went from an early autumn wedding to a late summer wedding. Which hasn't been a problem really, but it has caused us to take a second look at some of the things we decided on before the date change including the flowers and decorations we wanted to use. Looking at our original invitation designs it is easy to see that we were still in an autumn mindset with them, including the gerbera daisies that were prominent in the design which we will not be using in our wedding because they are out of season. I have drawn some new art for the invitations, and handed it over to Karen's sister-in-law Sarah to be used in the new design. Sarah is a graphic artist like me, she volunteered to design our invitations for us, which has been a godsend because had she not volunteered to do them I would probably be doing them myself, and I don't really have the time with everything else going on.

Karen and I have purchased my wedding ring. In the end, I decided to go with a plain white gold band. After looking through many different styles and trying to find something that was "me" I realised that I'm not very fancy, and I don't really want a fancy ring either. It also made sense for me to get a White Gold band as opposed to Titanium or Tungsten because White Gold can be sized and engraved, which is important for me. I'm a heavy guy, I want to be in better shape and hopefully I can do that and keep it off, but I always want my wedding ring to fit. So the ability to size it will be very important. I would also like to have both of our rings engraved, which I can't do with Titanium and Tungsten (I did find a few places that claim they can do it, but most places say it can't be done which bothers me).

Karen and I have purchased our wedding guestbook, which isn't really huge news except that it was sort of a project. We hated all the generic ones we saw in the stores, then we found one that was made by a scrapbook company that had a wood cover we knew we could take apart and paint to match our wedding colors. I still need to make a stencil out of our monogram for the cover, but it is painted now and looking really sharp.

So, all of that, combined with Christmas and we have been a little busy. That hasn't stopped us from thinking of everyone, we hope you are all well and having a great Holiday Season.

Good News, & Bad News...

2008-11-18T15:02:00.005-05:00

The good news is I finally made time to go down to MW Tux and pick out the attire for my groomsmen and I. We are still far enough out that I don't expect anyone to have to go get sized or anything, but the wedding party is all set up in their computer system which will make things easy later on. Personally, I love the suits, and I think everyone else will be very happy with them as well. We will all be dressed in matching suits with vests and ties, the suitcoats are a lightweight material that should be good for a warm August day. The only difference between us will be that I will have a silver tie and my groomsmen will have wine colored ties matching the bridesmaid dresses. There are pictures in our photo album of the suits, here are some links. The grooms attire is here, and the groomsmen's attire is here.

Now for the bad news, it seems that my brother Jeff will not be able to be my best man. He cannot say at this time that he will be able to attend the wedding, and therefore cannot commit to the responsibilities of the best man. So he thanked me for asking him, and asked that I choose someone else to fill the role. I hope he is able to attend the wedding, but I understand his situation.

It was difficult for me to pick between my two brothers from the beginning. Robert is 9 years older than me so we never really had any interests in common growing up until I began entering adulthood. Jeff is 5 years older than me, just old enough that everything Jeff was interested in when we were younger I wanted to be interest in as well. Jeff was my idol, I wanted to be just like him, I'm sure this got on his nerves. But it also set us up for the friendship that we have today. In many ways Jeff is still my idol, but he is not alone anymore, Robert has been added to the list as well. I look at both of them and I see loving family men who I want to be just like. Men who would do anything for their kids, men who put their family before themselves. In the end, I made my choice based on location, Jeff being closer would be able to make it to more events that are scheduled around me without feeling the pressure to hop on a plane every month for a engagement party or something.

So now I am in a position to add another groomsman to my wedding party, and I am oddly reminded of the initial choice I had to make for who would be my best man. Only now instead of picking between my brothers, I am picking between my friends. There is no one friend who stands out in my mind above the others, but I know soon I will need to think of a reason why one will get to stand beside me on this day. I think I have made my choice, I just hope that I have better luck this time.

Engagement Party

2008-11-14T10:39:00.002-05:00

Karen's parents are throwing us our first engagement party this weekend. It is going to be a family oriented celebration, and it will be really nice to sit down with everyone and enjoy the day with them. Then our friends Cher and FJ are throwing us an engagement party the weekend after that, which we are expecting to be more of a friend celebration, which again we are really looking forward to. It is nice having the two parties and feeling like we will have more time to spend with people rather than feeling like the whole thing went by in a whirlwind and we don't even remember if someone was at the party.

I expect to be putting pictures up once we have them, so be sure to check out the photo album soon.

So Much Going On...

2008-11-03T12:11:00.002-05:00

Karen and I are knee deep in so many things right now, but I promise we will get some updates going in the near future, I've started getting the photo album up to date (I finally started adding the photos from our NH trip) soon I'll be going through and getting titles and comments on everything. Thanks everyone for being patient. :)

Steve Murray

2008-10-22T14:34:00.003-04:00

Steve Murray is, in a roundabout way, my cousin. Or at least that is how I prefer to think of him. It is a complicated story which I will not tell here, but what is important is I was thrilled when he agreed to be the officiant of my wedding. Steve is a graduate of Gordon College in Wenham, MA and of Boston University School of Theology. He has been serving St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Sandown, New Hampshire since 1986. He is married to a wonderful woman named Nicole and has two sons named Christopher and Samuel.

FJ Kole

2008-10-22T14:33:00.006-04:00

FJ has been one of my best friends for a number of years. We first met in 2001 through his brother Travis, who I went to high school with and worked with following graduation. The bond between FJ and I was forged when our group of friends decided to make a movie together on the weekends, and over the years we have developed a friendship that will last a lifetime.

FJ lives in Sebring, Florida with his wife Cher and is currently working to become a Personal Trainer.

Cher Kole

2008-10-22T14:33:00.003-04:00

I was introduced to Cher through Gabe. She was Gabe's friend first, but she was instrumental in welcoming me to a side a Gabe's life that was new to me. I admire Cher's resilience in life and her energy, as well as her good heart. She is one of my closest friends in Florida and I am extremely happy that Cher will be standing up with me on my wedding day, adding her own bit of flair.
Cher lives in Sebring, Florida, is a massage therapist and is married to groomsman FJ Kole.