The church and the hotel are booked!! And after a hefty deposit at the Eldridge, Adam and I have been informed that we are not allowed to back out of this whole wedding thing. Sorry Adam, you're stuck with me. ;)

Mark your calendars for October 17, 2009!!!

For extra info, check out The Wedding link above.

Can't wait!

The ceremony will be held at:

Lawrence Free Methodist Church
3001 Lawrence Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66047
www.lfmchurch.org

The Eldridge Hotel
701 Massachusetts Street
Lawrence, KS 66044
www.eldridgehotel.com

Here is a link to driving directions from the church to the reception venue:

View Larger Map

Some interesting facts…

Ever heard of “Bleeding Kansas,” “Bloody Kansas,” or “The Border War?” If you haven’t, I suggest you look into some Civil War history. Before Kansas officially became a state there was lots of conflict over whether Kansas should enter the Union as a free or slave state. Settlers came from the NE with the intent to make Kansas a free state, and pro-slavery Missourians would make the commute to Kansas to vote in elections. Lawrence was the center for the Free State party and therefore was the center for large-scale attacks made by those awful Missourians.

In 1855, the Free State Hotel was built and was named to show what the settlers who temporarily stayed there wanted: Kansas as a free state. A year later, the Hotel was attacked and burned to the ground. Colonel Shalor Eldridge rebuilt the hotel and added another floor. He vowed to continue adding floors every time the hotel was destroyed. In 1863, the hotel and the entire community of Lawrence were destroyed by Quantrill and his raiders. Over 150 people were killed. Colonel Eldridge rebuilt the hotel again, and the city of Lawrence now prides itself on the fact that it could prevail. The city’s seal is a phoenix rising from ashes and its motto is “from ashes to immortality.”

Today, The Eldridge Hotel (named after the colonel himself) stands as a historical symbol to the city of Lawrence.

It is also a reminder to us Jayhawks of just how awful those stupid Missouri Tigers are. Muck Fizzou! =)

As it turns out, the conflict and destruction the Eldridge Hotel has been through may have left more than historical significance. The hotel is claimed to be extremely haunted. Check out this link to learn more:

http://www.eldridgehotel.com/video/ghost_video.htm

And be on the look-out for some unexpected wedding crashers on our big day!

• The Bridesmaids
• Molly Hodson

  Mindy's little sis who is determined to grow taller than Mindy and serves as a constant reminder to Mindy that she is getting older, not younger.

• Stephanie Swafford

  Mindy's cousin and best friend. The two have grown up together and get along famously, except for that time Mindy hit Steph in the head with a Playschool kitchen frying pan.

• Jessica Rigsby

  Mindy's current roommate who shares Mindy's love for ridiculous reality TV shows on VH1, Starbuck's Caramel Macchiatos, and giving Adam a hard time.

• Leslie Tennyson

  Mindy's former roommate and friend from youth group in high school. The two are avid KU basketball fans, have had many random (emphasis on random) adventures together, and like pina coladas (and getting caught in the rain).

• The Groomsmen
• Ryan Doyle

  Adam's older brother who's always willing to help play a practical joke on their mom or to rock out with the family playing Rock Band. He helped inspire Adam to his competitive need for success by never letting him win at any games when they were younger (I repeat, never).

• Andrew Ozor

  Adam's pledge dad from Triangle fraternity and volleyball extraordinaire. The two have played on multiple intramural teams together as well as worked on the same projects in the Computer Science department.

• Jack Angers

  Adam's friend and co-worker at Transition Coalition who is always willing to banter over the correct way to do something, what is or is not trustable (for the record, movie theaters are not), and who is better at different completely random activities (speed reading, vertical jumping, and Ubuntu knowledge, to name a few).

• Brandon Gray

  Adam's former roommate who spends most of his time traveling with the Air Force. He is always willing to lend Adam a helping hand when it comes to giving Jess a hard time. Also a long-time friend of Mindy since they went to high school together.

• The Flower Girls
• Braylen Doyle

  Adam's princess of a niece that always loves when her uncle comes to visit, because he never riles her up or gets her in trouble.

• Kennah Doyle

  Adam's other niece that loves Mindy but hasn't quite figured him out yet. Mindy quickly discovered that the secret is reading to her, which seems to be slowly warming her up to Adam.

• The Ringbearer
• Caden Doyle

  Adam's little buddy who loves teaming up with Adam against his two sisters (and also turning the tide and fighting with Adam - he can't seem to make up his mind). Over time Adam likes to teach him the tricks of the trade when it comes to being a younger brother.

• The Candlelighters
• Lieke van de Liefvoort

  Mindy's friend from KU. Mindy met Lieke freshman year but the two became fast friends on a choir trip to Europe, had lots of Communication Studies classes together, and currently work together at the Choral Library on campus.

• Julie Dreier

  Mindy's friend from KU. The two met through marching band and clicked quickly due to the fact that they were band nerds but not "band trash." Together they have traveled to a ridiculous amount of places and know how to get the party started.

• The Ushers
• Jared Swafford

  Mindy's cousin. The two have grown up together, as Jared is just a year older than Mindy. They went to pre-school together, bowled in leagues together, took golfing lessons together, and spent most of their summers together. Jared was always such a good sport, seeing as how all of Mindy's friends always thought he was cute.

• Derek Aldrich

  Mindy's cousin, who is just a year younger than her. The two, again, grew up together, went on vacations together, and spent most of their summers together. Derek is now married and the proud father of one of the cutest little girls you'll ever see, with another kiddo on the way.

• Mason Aldrich

  Mindy's "little" cousin. Mason is quite a few years younger than Mindy, but has grown to be so tall that he really can't be considered "little." Like Molly, he makes Mindy feel old, because she can remember the day he was born and when he was obsessed with Mindy's red and blue retainers.

Lawrence is an amazing place to stay, especially when you've spent the better part of the night celebrating our wedding.

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Eldridge Hotel including:

• Deluxe King Rooms (one king bed) for $159.00
• Premier Double Suites (two double beds) for $175.00

If you would like to reserve one of these rooms, you can contact Ryan Kehr at (785)749-5011 and ask for a room under the Hodson-Doyle Wedding. The confirmation number is: 134439.

If you would prefer to stay at another hotel, Google has been gracious enough to provide a list of local hotels here.

And as always, feel free to contact either Adam or Mindy if you have any questions.