Hello friends and family!

We just returned from ten glorious days in Maui and wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for being part of our wedding! We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, or a better group of people to share it with. Seeing all those smiling faces in the seats and on the dance floor were what we envisioned, and sure enough that’s exactly how it turned out!

Kristi and I were surprised at how much energy we still had after the reception ended. About 20 of us ended up on Higuera St. in downtown San Luis Obispo after the reception. After an hour or so at Spike’s Pub, we spent the rest of the night — until closing at 2 a.m.! — on the expansive wood deck at Novo, sharing good drinks, appetizers, and a lot of laughs.

The days leading up to the wedding were quite memorable, too — mostly in a good way. Of course, there were a few snags here and there. Sometimes literally, like when the big green gate at the Vest estate unceremoniously closed on the best man’s shiny Audi A4. I’m glad I wasn’t there to hear the crunch. (David, I owe you some sheet metal, my friend…).

But mostly it’s things we’ll laugh about in the years to come. Like purchasing an entire restaurant at the local Costco. Or finding Misty out in the dark planting flowers despite having a bad cold. Or painting miniature airplanes and assembling centerpieces at 3:00 a.m. the night before the rehearsal.

We are particularly thankful to Jerry, Cynthia, Jared, and Misty for all the hard work getting the house ready for the ceremony. Everyone we spoke to commented on how stunning the property looked. We searched high and low for a wedding location that could compare to the Vest home, and nothing else came close.

Speaking of stunning, our photographers have put up a slide show of pictures from the wedding. You might remember the music, too. 🙂

Also, check out their blog entry, which has a bunch of stills Michael & Maren tagged as their favorites. The page takes a while to load, even on a high-speed connection, but the final result is well worth the wait.

Well. It’s been a long day of travel for these honeymooners! It’s nice to be back, but we’re already missing the Valley Island. We’ll fill you in on the honeymoon once we’ve had a chance to sort through the photos. G’night all!

[Show as slideshow]

Our big day is almost here! It is coming so fast that it we’re going a little crazy. Well, it is making me (Kristi) go crazy with the details, which in turn is making Ron go crazy… hehee.

Things like which napkins should be used with which table clothes? Which flowers should be set with which center pieces? What order should everyone walk in? Oh and let’s not for get the most important item; the wedding favors! Is it considered a faux pas to give out Halloween candy as a wedding favor? I mean people don’t really do much with the wedding favor’s anyway, or do they??? At least this would give them something to eat, and it wouldn’t be a hard tooth breaking candied almond?

So here I was going crazy with every detail… almost insane!!!! I was feeling overwhelmed and completely alone in this mirriad of details that I thought needed someone to look over and take care of. Is this normal?? I thought the engagement was suppose to be the BEST part, the fun part, but here I was getting heart burn and going nuts over all the LITTLE things so much so that I lost focus on the important thing; Ron and Me. I know I’m not the only one this has happened to.

If you’ve seen the movie Sex and the City, you’ve seen Carrie go through something very similar. Although her pre wedding to do list was full of money, and she had a budget that could afford almost anything her heart desired, (she didn’t seem too stressed out about her wedding favors to tell you the truth)… the idea was that she become so involved with the wedding she forgot about Big. How sad! I think putting the importance on the wedding is somewhat normal, but it is sad when we have to be reminded that it isn’t the MOST important thing. I feel some condolence knowing that if the producers in Hollywood decided it was a noteworthy plot, you know other women in this world have gone through something similar but maybe not to the same extreme.

The second reason I know I’m not alone is because of my friends in this world. Yes I’m talking to all of you married friends! Of all our married friends we talked to, not one of them claimed to have a different experience. In fact, what we’re feeling is so normal and common it would be unusual if we weren’t a little emotionally challenged at this time and got absorbed in the details once in awhile. No one told us they loved the engagement period before the wedding. Quite the opposite in fact! We were both so surprised. Why didn’t we know this? Why do we put ourselves through all of this? I can only say one thing: this experience has made me more convinced then ever that Ron is the one for me and I thank God for our little 15 years later reunion.

In the midest of a “wedding favor” break down, Ron looked at me in his calm way and said “I don’t think anyone is going to look at these favors and say ‘ewwe, why did they choose that?, it is so tacky’, or ‘why did they use these flowers? they just don’t go.'”. And at that point, I smiled… gave a little chuckle and took at deep breath because I knew he was right. No one goes to a wedding to pick it a part or judge your style and your choices. They go to weddings to celebrate love and the two people who have found each other.

Over the last month Ron has been wonderful. He would often looked over at me, or come close and puts his arm around me whispering…. “everything will be alright…. you and I will be together and don’t forget the most important part is us. Nothing else: not the flowers, the music, the dancing, the drinks, nothing else matters as much as we are together and I can call you my wife. I love you Kristi, so much that I knew you were the one for me with out any doubt almost as soon as we started dating. You are my soul mate and you make my life so much more fun, colorful and exciting. I love you Mrs Rapp.”

The fine folks at Applemoon have put together a lovely slide show of photos from our shoot earlier this month. As a Sinatra fan, I thought the sound track was a nice touch since it’s also the title of this web site.

We’ve gotta narrow it down to about 20 pictures for our album, and that’s not going to be easy! So many of them turned out beautifully that it’ll be a shame to pick only 20. Oh well — that’s certainly better than the alternative!

If you have any favorites, let us know.

The photographers commented many times on how they could have spent all day out there on the ramp because airplanes present so many interesting photographic possibilities.

You can see from the slide show that they took advantage of many of these options. Wings, struts, cabanes, flying wires, chromed spinners, gull-wing doors, and all sorts of funky curves throughout the fuselage. We ran out of time long before they ran out of ideas. The fact that they don’t spend all their time around aircraft probably let them come to the shoot with a fresh perspective, whereas I see the aircraft every day, so I overlook many of the details they immediately noticed.

Again, many thanks to Michael & Maren for the great work!

When it came time to lay out a budget for our wedding, both Kristi and I put “photography” near the top of our priority list. We were willing to sacrifice other stuff in order to ensure we had the right artist shooting The Big Day.

We really want photos that capture the essence of our wedding. Even more than video, I think still photos have the capability to do that. Plus, with the advent of digital photography, these pictures will certainly outlive us, and give our descendants a look into our lives for generations to come.

I’m happy to say that we found that artistry in Applemoon Photography. From our first meeting with Michael and Maren, we knew they were exactly what we were looking for. And now that we’ve had a peek at the results of our engagement photo shoot, we’re happier than ever about our choice!

Michael and Maren came all the way down from San Luis Obispo and spent the whole day shooting pictures around Orange County. And did I mention that they have an adorable newborn named Avi to care for as well?

We started at John Wayne Airport with a Pitts biplane I fly at work. It’s identical to the one I own. Kristi had organized some vintage clothing to give us that 1930’s feel. Afterward, we flew to Catalina Island — site of our first date — then finished with a late afternoon jaunt around old-town Orange and dinner at the infamous Byblos Cafe.

What you can’t see is that we were doing all this in the midst of one of the most oppressive heat waves I can remember experiencing here in Socal. Even near the ocean, it was about 105 degrees. At one point, I was wearing a heavy leather coat and hat! Yet you never see any sign of that in the pictures. Michael and Maren have an infectious passion for their photography, and it rubs off.

So… have a look at the pictures and let us know what you think!

Yes, it was a commonly-heard phrase during wedding-related conversations. Once we actually counted them, Ron and I were amazed at the number of people we knew. But then, what can you expect from a pair who still keep in touch with friends from as far back as grade school?

Of course, most of the people we know are now married and many have children… and voila! we’ve now tripled our guest list.

So before my parents had a heart attack, we had to make some tough decisions and compromise a little in order to make sure they lived to see the Big Day.

First, we had to more or less eliminate the “…and Guest” portion of the invitation.  Yeah, who wants to go to a wedding alone if you are single?  And who doesn’t want to bring that significant other they’ve been dating?  But think of it this way: its your ugly mug we want in our wedding shots… just YOU.

Secondly, we are asking that this be an adults-only reception.  (We know there are exceptions for kids who are in the wedding party, or infants who may need mom around in order to eat. Just let us know if it isn’t listed on your response card so we can arrange for a high chair at your table). The reception is at romantic winery, so we want our guests to be worry-free and celebrating our union without concern about the kids. Plus… wouldn’t you just love some time away to just enjoy and relax?  I know, Dora the Explorer and Hanna Montana are hard to miss, but we’d appreciate it. 🙂

Also, both the wedding and reception locations are limited on space.  As you will see in the invitation there is a “parking alert” at the house for the ceremony.  There simply wasn’t enough room to allow for our friends, their guests and children.  Sorry folks!

Please know that your attendance and friendship is very important to us and we do hope that our decisions does not deter you from attending!  We hope to see each and every one of you on October 24th.

Did you know Ron isn’t the only pilot in the wedding party?

Yep. Kristi’s brother Jared also holds a pilot certificate. Incidentally, he also celebrates his birthday the day after Christmas. So last December we arranged a surprise gift for him: an aerobatic flight in Ron’s Pitts S-2B biplane. And since Kristi had never had the opportunity to try aerobatics either, she got a ride as well!

We gave Kristi’s niece, Claire, a toy airplane for Christmas. Perhaps someday she’ll fly, too!

[Show as slideshow]

That’s how Kristi described me one day when I was snapping pictures left and right.

But I don’t take offense — I knew the day would come when we’d be happy to have all that digital detritus. And that day is… today! Now you can sneak a peek and what we’ve been up to on the sand and/or the dance floor.

So far we’ve got stuff from dance lessons, a beach bonfire at Corona del Mar, and various shots of friends & family helping us keep our heads on straight while we plan this thing.

I’ve also added a section of “just us” photos — just in case you forgot what we look like.

Hope you enjoy the show!

We’re counting down the days until we see each of you and celebrate the start of our lives together!

This site is sort of a work in progress, so don’t be alarmed if you see some holes here or there. Hopefully most of the information you’re looking for is right here on the web site (along with a few fun extras), but if we’ve missed anything, just let us know.

We are so excited about October 24th –truly, the best is yet to come!

–Ron & Kristi