Our Wedding
August 22, 1998
Engagement Photo Wedding Photo

Michele Michael

How long we have been married ...


Wedding Day 

What / WhenWhere
Wedding Ceremony

August 22, 1998
1:00 pm		 Our Lady of Grace Church
73 Midline Rd, Ballston Lake, NY 12019
518-399-5713

Directions:
(from 87 North)
  1. Take a left at Exit 10 - Ushers Rd
  2. Take a left at the first stop sign
  3. Straight through the next stop sign onto Mac Elroy Rd
  4. Take a right onto Route 146A
  5. Our Lady of Grace Church is on the left
(from 50 North)
  1. Take a right onto Route 146A - Midline Rd
  2. Our Lady of Grace Church is on the right
(from Maryland)
  1. Take I-95 North toward Baltimore, MD
  2. Take 695 West (Baltimore Beltway)
  3. Take 83 North
  4. Enter Pennsylvania
  5. Pass through York, PA
  6. Take 81 North at Harrisburg, PA
  7. Pass through Scranton, PA
  8. Enter New York
  9. Take 88 East at Binghamton, NY heading toward Albany, NY
  10. Take 90 East (the Thruway) when route 88 ends
  11. Take 87 North (the Adirondack Northway) and pay toll
  12. Pass Central Ave Exit (hotel is this exit, heading West)
  13. (continue with 87 North directions above - about 20 min)
Reception

August 22, 1998
approx 2:30 pm
(immediately after ceremony)		 Clifton Park Elks Club
Mac Elroy Rd, Ballston Lake, NY 12019
518-877-5200

Directions:
(from the church)
  1. Take a right out of the church parking lot proceeding south on Route 146A
  2. Continue past the Eagle Crest Golf Club, and take the next left onto Mac Elroy Rd
  3. The Elks Club is one mile on the left-hand side


Gift Registry 

We are currently registered at JC Penney. Considering the number of people being invited, we may need to choose more items for the registry at JC Penney, or register at another place. Suggestions are welcome.

If people choose to give a gift, please do not feel obligated to choose from the gift registry list.


Hotel 

We have reserved a set of rooms on our credit card to get a better price using an Entertainment Card. It is track season and most hotels are booked, or very expensive, so the choices were limited.

Each room in the hotel has two double beds and is reserved for August 22, 1998 at a price of $50. A cot can be added to each room to let more people fit in a particular room for a total price of $60. There are a total of 15 rooms we have reserved under three separate confirmation numbers listed below.

Guests should call and give one of the confirmation numbers below, the number of rooms needed, and your credit card number for billing. We will cancel any unfilled rooms on Thursday, August 20, 1998.

Note we have only reserved the rooms for Saturday night. Anyone wishing to arrive before the wedding day, or leaving after Sunday, will need to call and make special arrangements. We do not know if they will extend the special price, or even if they will have any rooms. Call early if you are interested in this. On 08/11/1998 a guest was able to call and extend their room reservation from Saturday the 22nd to include Friday the 21st for the cheap rate of $50.

Note the hotel is off Exit 2W of I-87 (Adirondack Northway).

Address
Howard Johnson Hotel
1614 Central Avenue
Albany, NY
518-869-0281
Confirmation NumberDescription
P37827-0110 rooms
P37763 3 rooms
P37827 2 rooms


Local Area Info 

Track Season

Saratoga is the August place to be, as the advertising slogan will attest. Horse races are held every day except Tuesday from the end of July to the first week of September. You can bet as little as $2.00. Just going for the atmosphere can be fun. The Travers, the biggest race of the season, is on August 29th so it won't be too crowded for the weekend of the wedding.

Saratoga Springs

Albany/Capital District

The Adirondacks

Other


Time line 

For those interested, this list is meant to document the steps from when we met until we are married.

Jul 4, 1993 I just happened to agree to go with my friend Paul Fiscarelli to the Saranac Lake campground in upstate New York that weekend. His father Tony Fiscarelli had a buddy named Tony Curcurrito who Paul and his siblings always referred to as "Uncle Tony" despite not being related to him.
At the same time, Michele decided to go with her long time friend Jean Curcurrito to Saranac Lake for the 4th of July. She had been asked many times to join Jean and her husband Tony at the campsite, but always declined. This time, Michele was going through a divorce, and was a little down because her kids were away for that week. She thought going with Jean would give her something fun to do.
I met Michele that day, and from that moment forward, she truly has been the girl of my dreams.
Aug 1994 After graduating from SUNY Albany, I left for graduate study at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. Ah, the endless fun and joy of a long distance relationship!
Jan 13, 1995 I threw a surprise birthday party for Michele, and had 25-50 of her friends there. I proposed to her in front of everyone. Once her red face subsided, she was able to speak and said "Yes".
Sep 12, 1997 Michele and I set the date for our wedding to be August 22, 1998. This is really tentative, because we only have a reservation for the reception at the Elks Club near where Michele lives in Ballston Spa, NY (upstate). The reservation for the church is pending due to Fr. Tony being away on his two week reserve duty!
Sep 30, 1997 We heard back from Fr. Tony, and the date is set to be August 22, 1998 for both the ceremony at the church, and the reception.
This is also a sad day, because my parent's dog Annie died this past weekend. We had joked several times about having Annie be the "flower girl" for the ceremony.
Nov 1998 Most of my family is from Scranton, PA, and most of Michele's family is in upstate NY. Most of my earlier friends are in upstate NY too, but I have some more friends in MD where I am now. Choice of where to have the wedding is pretty clear: upstate NY where Michele lives now. We are considering a dinner in Scranton, PA, after the main wedding to avoid having most of my relatives travel so far. This may allow some to attend a less formal dinner than would otherwise not have been able to attend due to health problems, children arrangements, etc.
Jan 4, 1998 Today we purchased wedding rings for each other. They have to be engraved, so we don't have them yet. We plan to have the traditional initials and date engraved on both, if it fits.
We also looked at several bakeries to find a cake. So far they all seemed pretty expensive, so no decisions have been made.
Feb ??, 1998 Michele went with her friend Phyllis and her daughter Heather and found a wedding dress. I don't have many details about it, which I suppose is tradition.
Mar 20, 1998 I received honeymoon destination literature from a local travel agent. Cozumel, Mexico (an island off the Eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula near Cancun) looks like a potential place for us to go. We will have a week before Michele's classes start. I have also heard good things about Tortola, a Caribbean island near St. Thomas. As in Cozumel, this is not as built-up and commercialized as many other destinations. The only downside is late August may be the rain season ... I will have to find out for sure. Hopefully, by the end of this week, the plans will be nearly set.
Apr 22, 1998 The honeymoon is all set now. We will be going to Cozumel, Mexico. We will leave Aug 23rd and return Aug 30th. The only thing left is to pay for it! (yuk)
May 24, 1998 I spent this weekend at Michele's to try and sort through the huge list of things still needed to be done. We finalized the reception menu with Pete Mocharie at the Elks Club. It will be buffet style, and hopefully everyone will enjoy the food. We also went looking for cakes, and have not yet made a decision. They are more expensive then we had anticipated ($400 for 140 people). The next big step is to finalize the wedding list and order the invitations.
We have decided to have a party after the honeymoon in Scranton, PA. My parents will be paying for it, and this will make it much easier for my family there to attend.
Jul 3, 1998 Michele is spending this week in Maryland. She usually does this every year, but instead of vacationing and doing leisure activities, we will be trying to finish up wedding preparations. Accomplishments from the week include ...
  • Setup the gift registry at JC Penney.
  • Received the invitations, and sent them out.
  • Paid the balance for the honeymoon trip. (yipee!)
Jul 22, 1998 It is now one month away. So many little things are being done as we get closer. Michele, her sister Claudette, and others are handling the flowers and decorating the church and reception hall. My parents have made the centerpieces for the tables, and we will see them this weekend. We will be there for Heather's graduation party. Hopefully we can finalize more of the things that need to be done. Michele's monitor stopped working a couple days ago, and the wedding organizer is in software, so we need to get that fixed asap. (great timing!) After this weekend I plan to be back here in Maryland for a couple more weeks before going to NY to stay until the wedding.
Jul 29, 1998 I was at Michele's this weekend for a couple reasons. First we took the "glamour" shot engagement photo for the newspaper. We will have it printed in the Daily Gazette. The other reason for being in NY was for Heather's graduation party. My parents also came for the party.
We went to the Lenox factory outlet in Latham, NY, and picked out a china (Debut Collection, Hannah Gold)and crystal (Debut) pattern. My parents bought the whole set as a wedding present for us. We are still a little shell-shocked, and look forward to having my parents and others to the house for a nice dinner on our new china.
We saw the centerpieces that my parents made, and they are very beautiful.
Our passports arrived, so we are all set for Cozumel. We have reserved a room at a hotel near the airport, for the wedding night. They have limo service to the airport for the next day. I don't know what I was thinking when I reserved the flights, but our flight leaves Albany Airport at 6:40 am! (yuk)
Aug 13, 1998 This is the day I plan to leave for New York, and stay there until the wedding. There are several details yet to be handled, such as getting a limo for the wedding party transportation from the ceremony to the reception. I hoped to leave earlier, but I am trying to finish a paper before I leave, and they always seem to take longer than it should. Less than a week and a half away - now it's getting exciting!
Aug 22, 1998 Wedding Day!


Misc Links 

Michael D. Beynon