Our Wedding Page                                                                   -Jeff & MarySarah

Welcome to our Wedding Page.  Over the next year or so, as we plan our 'Big Day', we will keep you updated with our progress, and hopefully pictures as well.  You will be able to meet our wedding party, send comments, and other fun things.
 
 

At this point, we are still very much in the planning stages.  We are hoping to be married at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. This is not an easy task.  We are anxiously awaiting March 1st because that is the day that everyone across the globe can call the Basilica to reserve a wedding date for the year 2000.  They only perform weddings on Saturdays and they have a limited number of Saturdays available.  Each Saturday that they have available there are four time slots: 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm.  We are keeping our fingers crossed and would appreciate it if you would also.

After we secure a date, the next step is reserving the hall for the reception.  Things are pretty much on hold though until we get the date.
 
 

Today the engagement write-up appeared in the Finger Lakes Times, my home paper from Geneva.  It read as follows:

GENEVA - Joann and Samuel Cutrara of South Holland, IL, have announced the engagement of their daughter, MarySarah Cutrara of South Holland, to Jeffrey S. Carpenter, the son of Barb and Steve Carpenter of Geneva.
    Cutrara holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from St. Mary's College in South Bend, IN.  She is a sales representative for Fielding Pharmaceuticals in Chicago.
    Carpenter, a graduate of DeSales High School, holds a degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend.  He is an accountant at MCI WorldCom in Chicago.
    A spring 2000 wedding is planned.
 
 

MARCH 1st, 1999

Today was the official start of the planning process I guess.  We had an appointment at 9am with Special Events at Saint Mary's College.  We are hoping to hold our reception in the dining hall at Saint Mary's.  To do this, we have to reserve the hall with special events.  Then, once we had a hold on the dining hall, we could go talk with catering.  So, we went and talked to catering regarding setup, food, etc.  It all sounds really good.  I am sure that everyone is going to enjoy it.  They also gave us some great tips on area photographers, bands, DJ's, and cakes.  We are waiting to be sure that the weekend of our wedding is not the same weekend as Alumni Reunion Weekend for ND/SMC.  We are fairly sure it isn't, but once we confirm that, we will have the reception plans secured.  All in all today was a big success, so far so good.
 
 

Well, we have finally come up with a final wedding party.  It wasn't easy given the fact that there were so many people that we wanted to involve that we couldn't because of size.  So, here is the wedding party for our wedding...
 

Today was our first trip down to South Bend to try and make some detail arrangements (hotel, florist, photographer, etc.).  We went and visited all of the hotels and tried to figure out what would work best for us.  Many of the hotels did not have the facilities that we needed and some wouldn't give use the number of rooms that we wanted.  We did come down to two main hotels and then we narrowed those down to the Ramada Inn in South Bend.  They were able to give use the number of rooms that we wanted and the facilities we needed.  I think that we are also going to get some rooms on campus at the Morris Inn, and possibly another hotel off campus.  If things go right, we will be running a shuttle to go between the Ramada Inn and the reception at St. Mary's, but that will be planned at a later date.

Next we met with a friend of ours that lives in the area, Peggy Bolstetter.  She was very helpful and gave us some leads on things such as florists and photographers.  She also gave MarySarah some ideas for hair salons for the Bride and Bridesmaids.  Those details have not been followed up on as of yet.  We are still looking for entertainment as well.  Lots of things still to do.
 
 

Today the wedding is only one year away!  To celebrate, we went out to dinner, and it was good.  Only one year now to put everything together.
 
 

This was the beginning of trying to put together the guest list.  We started now for a couple of reasons.  First, we want to make sure that we have time to draw up a list and then go back and look at it many times to make sure we didn't forget anyone.  We also needed to have an idea so that when it comes time to narrow down food and beverage ideas we know what we are working with.  It seems like everyday we add a couple more names.
 
 

Well, the web page has been down for a while due to my job transition, but it is now up and running again.  A few wedding plans have been made in the interim.  First, we have chosen a photographer for the wedding.  His name is Joseph Derby, and he owns Derby Photography in Granger, Indiana.  We looked at lots of pictures from different photographers and it was a tough decision.  It was a decision that had to be made quickly also since fewer and fewer were available for our date.  We are still waiting on St. Mary's to give us the go ahead on using their dining hall for the reception.  MarySarah has narrowed her dress choice down to a few (she says so - I don't get to see it).  Also we have decided to go with a DJ over a band.  We have a DJ on hold that many people recommended to us.  Other than that, we are at a slow point until the detail work starts.  We have a 'headquarters' hotel now, the Ramada Inn in South Bend - they have reserved a large block of rooms for us on Friday and Saturday night, including a hospitality suite for before and after the reception.  For those that will be staying at the Ramada we are going to be running shuttle service back and forth between the reception and the Ramada.
 
 

Welcome to the year 2000!  Just under 5 months now until the wedding, it's coming up fast.  I haven't added many updates to the website lately, so this one should cover a lot.  First off, we have decided that the reception is going to be held at South Dining Hall on the campus of Notre Dame.  We have not decided on a menu yet though, that will be coming up soon.  We also decided on a bakery for our cake - Macri's in South Bend.  The cake was also a tough decision, so we are glad that it is decided on.  MarySarah went down to South Bend last week and chose a florist - Princess Flowers.  None of the details have been decided on yet for the cake or the flowers.  We needed to have a color first, and now I am told that we do.  MarySarah picked out the bridesmaids' dresses last week and the color is going to be Toupe.  Things are coming together.  We have not registered yet, but that is not far off either.  The honeymoon will be planned soon, and we are open to any ideas.

Of importance to a lot of people, we are currently closing on a contract with American Airlines (The official airline of the Cutrara - Carpenter Wedding) which will provide discounts to those that are flying into South Bend for the wedding.  Watch this website for the special booking code that you will need, to be posted below as soon as we receive it from American Airlines.  MarySarah and I will be going on our Engagement Encounter next month at Notre Dame.  Also, I almost forgot, the shuttle service has been finalized and will be running between South Dining Hall and the Ramada(only) for the use of our Wedding Guests.  Talk to you soon!

Well, I said that I was going to update this page more often, but I haven't been able to. So, there is plenty to tell you about this time since we are only about one month out from the wedding. First of all, the cake and the flowers have been finalzed. MarySarah went down to South Bend with her friend Carole a couple of weeks ago and they made the final arrangements for those. Then, the following week, MarySarah and I went down and got our marriage license and certificate (guess it's official now!). That same day we met with the DJ and our wedding coordinator to go over some final details. It was all capped off by a very nice dinner at Roberto Parisi's restaurant.

During the time that I wasn't updating, MarySarah and I went to our Engagement Encounter held at Our Lady of Fatima at Notre Dame. It was a weekend full of discussion and enlightenment. We made some new friends (that we already knew, but didn't know it...). Also, the tuxes have been picked out and almost everyone has been fitted, so that's good. All of MarySarah's dresses have come in and everyone is going on a crash diet! Other than that, there is just some paperwork that needs to be done and that's it...then the wedding, reception, and of course the honeymoon. We chose to go to Riviera Maya in Mexico. It is between Cancun and Cozumel. We will be staying at the Moon Palace Resort, take a look.

Hey...we got married! Come check it out!