Honeymoon Plans

Our honeymoon plans have been up in the air for our entire engagement. At first, while we were dating, Jeff told me that he wanted to take his wife - whoever she may be - to Seychelles in Africa. Intrigued by this, I decided to marry him. =) Unfortunately, round trip flights to Seychelles are upwards of $8,000, so we changed our focus to some place we could drive to. Jeff had a great time in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and my family has a house on Sanibel Island, so our original plan was to drive to NC, spend 4 nights in a B-and-B, then drive to Sanibel, spend 7 days there, then drive home.

Then the Deepwater Horizon oil well started leaking.

At this point, no oil has touched the Sanibel Island. And when it does, I will be down there in galoshes, with a garbage bag, picking up tar balls off the beautiful beaches. However, spending our honeymoon worrying about hurricanes and oil spills does not sound like the relaxing vacation we were hoping for.

We looked into renting a house in North Carolina, but the starting cost is around $1000 for a week, which is reasonable, but leaves a lot of details to us, like buying food and entertaining ourselves. Knowing that Jeff has always wanted to go to Alaska, I mentioned the idea of taking a cruise last night and he was really receptive. My mom has a credit card with travel rewards and she gave me the go-ahead to see what kinds of deals I could get using her points. Here is what I found:

- A 7-day, 6-night cruise from Seattle to Juneau to Vancouver on The Norwegian Pearl
- Accommodations in a Balcony Stateroom
- Lots of Fun Things to Do and Excursions
- A complimentary 7-day stay at a Mexican Resort

While conversing with my mom, I went through the entire booking process and found out that the entire trip was going to be FREE. With her permission, I clicked purchase.

The entire process happened in about 30 minutes. When I got home from work on Friday, we were planning to go to North Carolina. Now, we are going to ALASKA!!!

So here's the current itinerary:


Weds, Sept 8 at 2pm: Leave Chicago via Amtrak
Thurs, Sept 9 : Travel through North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington
Fri, Sept 10: Arrive in Seattle, visit with cousins
Sat, Sept 11: Hike mountains and bike coastlines in Washington
Sun, Sept 12, 4pm: Disembark from Seattle
Sept 13-18: Go to these cities:

Sun Sept 19: Arrive in Vancouver
Mon, Sept 20: Day in Vancouver, get land-legs back
Tues, Sept 21: Leave for Chicago


We are EXTREMELY excited! We'll be visiting six states and two international cities. I can't wait to see whales, eat fresh salmon and King crab and sushi, swim in the pools, make friends, eat more sushi, fly in helicopters, ride bikes on glaciers and eat MORE FISH!!!




Again, thank you to everyone who supports us through this process. We love you!!!

Links That You May Need

Blowin this blog up today! Here are a few links that you may or may not need...

Some Helpful Maps Of The Metro Detroit Area

The Roostertail

Detroit Marriott At The RenCen

Omni Hotel

Greektown Casino

The Detroit People Mover

Detroit Riverwalk

Amtrak Route Finder

Kayak (Cheap flights and hotels)

Wedding Facebook Group

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Registry Info

We are registered at the following places:

Amazon.com

Bed Bath and Beyond

CB2

As a favor the Steph and I, if you decide to purchase something for us through one of these sites, please use www.weddingchannel.com/ as they donate $1 from every purchase to the charity we've selected, The American Cancer Society.

79 days and counting!

Digital Copy Of Invite Insert

Facebook Group

Hey there, we have created a Facebook group for additional wedding info and for a way to keep in touch with other travelers. Here is the link:

Gabarik/Belcher Facebook Group

Thanks for stopping by!

Hey there,
You are probably visiting this website because you received a "Save the Date" notice for our upcoming wedding. Thanks for your interest! We have been blogging together since before we got engaged, so feel free to check out the archives for some back-dated posts.

Please use this site as your go-to for information regarding how to get in touch with us, travel information, including directions and hotels, registry info, and information for the bridal party.

Feel free to leave a comment or send us an email - jeffandstephbelcher@gmail.com

Love,
Steph and Jeff

About Us (and the dogs!)

For those of you who know one of us but not the other...

Stephanie Joan Gabarik

* Stephanie was born on August 22, 1982 in Cleveland, Ohio to Mindi and Glenn Gabarik.
* Steph has one older brother, Joe, who is an usher in the wedding, and one younger sister, Samantha, who is the Matron of Honor (and is expecting a baby!).
* She is the granddaughter of the late Stuart and Joan Merz of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the late Joseph and Margaret Gabarik of Northfield, Ohio.
* Stephanie attended grade school in Maple Heights, Ohio, high school at Trinity High School in Garfield, Ohio, and graduated from Shaker Heights High School in Ohio in 2000.
* She is an alumni of Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, class of 2004.
* Stephanie works in sales and marketing for artists, real estate, and athletics.
* She is very athletic and regularly participates in running, swimming, and cycling races, including triathlons.
* Stephanie loves live music and has seen several hundred concerts. She has seen live music in 17 states and 6 countries. She loves all types of music, including pop, jazz, funk, electronic, indie rock, classic rock, and punk.
* She enjoys cooking, playing video games, reading, and spending time with their two dogs, Chuck and Ellie.
* Stephanie lived in Denver, Colorado in 2006 and enjoys hiking and snowboarding.
* She loves vampires and horror movies and has seen (almost) every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
* She fully embraces Jeff's obsession with technology and loves that they always have the coolest entertainment equipment.


Jeffrey Darrell Belcher

* Jeff was born April 2, 1980 in Livonia, Michigan to Kevin and Leslie Belcher.
* He has one younger sister, Jennifer, who is a bridesmaid in the wedding.
* He is the grandson of Mary and the late Doyle Belcher of Livonia, Michigan and Ethel Mae and Frank Sanders of Garden City, Michigan.
* Jeff attended Lutheran High School Westland, class of 1998, in Westland, Michigan.
* He currently works for Total Attorneys as a Communications Engineer.
* He has been playing the drums for more than 14 years.
* Jeff loves graphic art, design, and photography.
* Jeff an avid road and mountain cyclist and enjoys building and fixing his (and Steph's) bicycle.
* He is obsessed with music and is constantly sharing his favorite albums and discovering new bands.
* He likes to watch Lost, Dexter, HGTV, shows about cars and motorcycles, and anything on Discovery Channel.
* He is a die-hard Detroit sports fan, including the Red Wings, Tigers, and even the Lions.
* He is fully prepared for a zombie invasion.

Eleanor Rigby Gabarik-Belcher

* Ellie was born at the beginning of July, 2005 in Denver, Colorado and was adopted by Stephanie on Sept 12, 2006.
* She is a full-bred American Staffordshire Terrier, and her coat is the color blue (aka grey).
* She is the most easy-going, cuddly, and adorable dog you will ever meet and will definitely change your mind about pitbulls. Sometimes we think she might be half cat.
* Stephanie rescued her from being put down in Denver (pits are illegal there).

Charles Bartowski Gabarik-Belcher

* Chuck was born on September 16, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois and was adopted by Steph, Jeff and Ellie on December 7, 2008.
* He is half yellow lab and half Manchester terrier and he is brown/orange/yellow with white paws.
* He will do anything for a treat and is very easy to train.
* His legs are disproportionately long and he's an incredibly fast runner.
* Both dogs enjoy chewing stuff (including hats and shoes), playing fetch, chasing other dogs at the park and the beach, cuddling with us and each other, and taking walks.


That's our happy little family!

Updated Wedding Info

We are sending Save the Dates out soon, so we are collecting addresses now. The planning is coming along very nicely - we have chosen:

The Date: August 28, 2010
The Time: 6:30pm to midnight
The Venue: Roostertail Entertainment Complex
The Ceremony and Cocktail Band: Hoots and Hellmouth
The Photographer: Amber Henry Photography
My dress: Email me for a link :)

We still have to choose:
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen's attire
Flowers
A Baker
The Menu
The Invitations
Ceremony Decorations
Centerpieces
and a bunch of other stuff.

Looking At 2010, Other Things

Given that Steph's sister Sam is getting married this October and my sister next year, we're thinking of 2010 for our wedding. We want to get married at Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison, CO. We met with the pastor we want to do our wedding, Matthew, this past weekend in Chicago. What a great guy. He not only agreed to marry us, but he helped carry a couch up the stairs. Matthew is Steph's youth minister from high school, and has been a huge part of her life. Since I haven't been back to my home church of St. Matthew in Westland, MI in awhile, I didn't put up any sort of fight. We will be meeting more with Matthew as things progress and frankly, I don't think either of us could have found a more perfect fit.



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Now playing: Alexisonfire - Keep It On Wax
via FoxyTunes

Engaged!!!

Steph and I got engaged Friday, August 8th, 2008 around 3:00 a.m. I surprised Steph by driving down to Chicago a day early and proposing. She gladly accepted and we proceeded to paint with our roommate Andy all weekend. More to come...

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Now playing: David S. Ware Quartet - Utopic
via FoxyTunes