Nico and Jo are saying "I do!"

Wedding Photo Slideshow

I don't think this will be up after the end of the month, but here is a wonderful slideshow of some photos that Scott Campbell took of our wedding. Some amazing shots -- thanks Scott!!!

http://www.scottcampbellphoto.com/events/peachcerutti/

Directions to Monterey Marriott for Wedding Reception

Please note that the reception starts at 6 p.m. There are many stores, cafes, bars and shops around the hotel area that you are able to stroll about before the reception.

Directions:

Start out going SOUTHEAST on RIO RD toward LADERA DR.

Turn LEFT onto CA-1 N / CABRILLO HWY. Continue to follow CA-1 N.

Take EXIT 399B toward MONTEREY.

Turn SLIGHT LEFT to stay on MUNRAS AVE.

Turn RIGHT onto CALLE PRINCIPAL.

End at Monterey Marriott:
350 Calle Principal, Monterey

The reception will be held at the Ferrantes Bay Ballroom

Directions to Carmel Mission Basililca

From San Jose, San Francisco:

Take Highway 101 SOUTH

Pass Gilroy

Take RIGHT to Hwy 156

Hwy 156 turns into Hwy 1 SOUTH after Monterey (keep going past Monterey)

Turn RIGHT at Rio Road.

Basilica will be on your LEFT.

Address is: 3080 Rio Rd

New beginnings

I'm so excited! By this time next week, we'll be in our new home (photos are staged with furniture...) in the Haight-Ashbury / Cole Valley area of San Francisco. Although we went for a 'quick close,' it still seemed like forever until we got everything signed!

Nico's in France at the moment (getting his visa! Hurrah!) and returns next week, so our 'official' move-in is when the two of us are in our new home. (Since I started a job, I've been crashing with Melissa, one of my bridesmaids and a dear friend, and a myriad of hotel rooms)

Nico and I have really really yearned for some time now to have our own place and now it's finally here! And just down the street from some really good friends of ours...and where we first met!

Countdown begins!

As I sit here at work (more about that later), drinking my first caffeine fix of the day, I suddenly realized that as of TODAY, it's exactly ONE MONTH AND FIVE DAYS until we get married! It's a weird and wonderful realization but not as much of a shock and feeling of anxiousness as I thought it would be at this stage.

Nico and I have been working really hard to settle into our new life here and though the 1 month/5 days is a countdown for the wedding, it also represents the time we still have until our 'normal'  life again. Don't get me wrong, it's been a *fantastic* whirlwind the past eight months. We've planned the most important day of our lives, moved countries, bought a flat (we look like we'll be able to close and move in next week!) and I started a greaaat job! (I actually work for the company that develops the blogging software that this blog is on -- go figure!) Nico is in France right now getting his visa and should return in a week and a half.

So, while the month and five days is a countdown to the wedding,it really signifies the countdown to our new (in EVERY sense of the word!) life together. And that meaning, is really the most important and exciting.

New Addition to the Bridal Party

We are pleased to announced the newest addition to our bridal party...our flower girl, Kaylin Perks!! She is the daughter of Nico's cousin Christian and his wife Kim. We are so excited to have Kaylin in our wedding!

I still remember when Nico and I started dating and he showed me pictures of the newest addition to his family. He was so proud and doting. I met Kaylin officially when Nico graduated from law school and she was soo adorable, even then! She's now a beautiful little girl and we're so excited that she and her family will be there on our wedding day!And another great part is that we get to officially meet 'Christian Perks 2.0' -- Kaylin's little brother, Andrew!

Nico's bachelor party

They crept in midmorning... waiting to seize just the right opportunity. Everything was ready and the victim was unknowing...

No, not the start of a really badly written mystery novel -- but it is a description of Nico's morning March 3rd when 'his guys' -- as he calls them -- suprised him at 9 am by jumping on him. Good thing they brought breakfast -- Nico's not what you call a morning person!

But it was just the beginning of a long day of bachelor party fun for my future husband. No bride-to-be can't be prouder than seeing her future husband walk out the door with his dearest friends - all of which have Santa Claus hats on! But wait, still nothing stirs the heart of a young (shaddap Girls!!) bride to be when she sees her beloved -- dressed as Superman (tights and yellow briefs too!) with her name on his well, husbandly parts!

Yes, video was shot. Yes, photos were taken. Yes, much humiliation (public whipping, singing on the Metro and something shaped like a penis were present) and alcohol was involved. But if you want to real story (along with details) well, you'll just have to ask the Groom. :)

Our Registry List

We are registered at the following stores (online and in-store) :

Crate and Barrel

No password needed

Pottery Barn

No password needed

Tiffany

No password needed

Cooking.com

**Password: bisous

Target

No password needed

How to make your bridal party HATE you

On wedding websites, magazines, discussion threads and communities, I've read over and over about the dreaded Bridezilla. You know the girl who gets sucked into the Wedding Planning world and forgets that her girlfriends still have their own lives and that yeah, you should still be interested in them!

I keep telling the MOH (Maids of Honor) that if I turn into one of those, CHECK ME PLEASE.

But while searching around for perfect gifts to give my nearest and dearest, I came across these horrendous gifts. Now, what woman in her right mind give her closest friends these to thank them for standing by her one of the, if not THE, most important days of her life??

   This is a bracelet, believe it or not. Not a weird organic snack or even a strange utility belt against scurvy. This is a bracelet.

And this, well, I suppose this is a funny gag gift. But really, gag gifts should be saved for office gift exchanges where you can laugh while you're in the company of well, the Company. And the promptly either toss it when you get home or give to a friend who needs a gift for her company gift exchange.

This wouldn't be so bad if it were a bracelet. But nooooo, it's...god, I hope my fingers won't cramp when I type the word...It's an anklet. I have to end this post. Need to wash my fingers of that word.

Amsterdam, here I come!

The ball has begun rolling...on the last weekend of February, some courageous American girlfriends, as well as some of my UK girlfriends will find our way to Amsterdam for one of my bachlorette parties! We have rented a flat (a trendy-modern, three story number, complete with private deck!) for five days of general girl-bonding and revelry. I wonder if we counted 'bail money' in our wedding budget?

I can't tell you how excited I am to have some girl time! It's too bad not all the girls could go (but I wait anxiously for the second bachlorette party in San Francisco!) but this is a great warm-up! I am especially excited to have my best friend Jen come out to Paris for a few days before we catch a train to Amsterdam to meet with Nicole, Mari, Mandy and Joanna! I can hardly wait!!