WEDDING INFORMATION PAGE

Here is where you’ll find everything you always wanted to know about our wedding.

WEDDING INFO Q & A

Engaged! I didn’t know you were engaged.

Neither did we, but everyone says that we are. So it must be true.

OK, so you’re getting married. Where? When?

We are getting married on a private estate in Kauai (Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens) on Friday, February 22nd, 2008. Na Aina Kai is on the north side of Kauai. The ceremony will take place at 4:00pm and will be followed by a reception dinner at the Bali Hai Restaurant at Hanalei Bay Resort in Princeville.

Can I come??

If you receive an invitation from us, you’re invited! We would like nothing more than if you came. We are, however, trying to keep this event fairly small, so please don’t be offended if we did not send you and invitation. We also realize that the travel costs of attending are a consideration, but it's a chance to go to Hawaii and throw coconuts at each other!

THE WEDDING PARTY

BRIDESMAIDS

























GROOMSMEN























OUR REGISTRY

Oh Goody! Get us some stuff!

http://www.macys.weddingchannel.com/

and





http://www.crateandbarrel.com/gr/guest/findregistry.aspx/

Registered under either: Emily Becker or Thomas Hart.
(And please... don't bring any wedding gifts on the trip, we don't want you to have drag them all the way into the mid-Pacific only for us to haul them back to the States.)

Gifts can be shipped to:

Emily Becker and Thomas Hart
2028 Rangeview Drive
Glendale, CA 91201

SMITH FAMILY GARDEN LUAU!
What trip to Hawai'i would be complete without a luau? Even the Brady Bunch attended one when they visited, you should too... just don't steal any Tiki idols and go surfing afterwards. On Wednesday (Feb 20th) feel free to attend an optional luau with Tom & Emily.

"We're coo-coo for coconuts!"

For ticket reservations and more information go to:
http://www.smithskauai.com/luau.html/


GETTING TO HAWAII

It's a long, tiring swim so we recommend using the airlines.

AIRLINE TRAVEL INFORMATION

In many cases, the best way to get to Kauai is to fly to Honolulu (HNL) and then get a short internal flight to Lihue (LIH) on Kauai. The three airlines that fly internally between Honolulu and Lihue are Island Air, Aloha Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines.

From the continental US: virtually every US airline flies to the Hawaiian islands. Some (e.g., American and United) fly directly from the West Coast to Lihue. Low-cost carriers like Southwest and America West go to Honolulu rather than Lihue, but are quite a bit cheaper.

AIRPORTS AND TRAVEL WEBSITES

Kauai Airport
• LIH – Lihue, Kauai (for direct flights)

Honolulu Airport
• HNL – Honolulu, Oahu (for in-direct flights)

Airline Web Sites:
• Aloha Airlines http://www.alohaairlines.com/
• American Airlines http://www.aa.com/
• United Airlines http://www.united.com/
• Hawaiian Airlines http://www.hawaiianair.com/

Travel Web Sites:
• Travelocity http://www.travelocity.com/
• Cheap Tickets http://www.cheaptickets.com/
• Orbitz http://www.orbitz.com/

GETTING AROUND THE ISLAND

We recommend you rent a car, buying one for the short time you'll be on the island is foolish. The wedding is located in a remote location of the island (North Shore) and there is plenty of exploring you’ll want to do while on Kaua'i.

Directions from Lihue Airport to Hanalei Bay:
Drive North on the Kuhio Highway (56) 30.5 miles through Kapa’a, Kilauea, and Princeville. At Princeville, the highway becomes the 560.

Approximate drive time is around 1 hour. The road is a 2 lane winding road and can be a little tricky at night. So plan accordingly and be courteous to oncoming traffic on the 1 lane bridges.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Where to Stay…

You’ll want to find a place to stay on the North Shore. The wedding is in Kilauea and the reception is in Princeville. If you want to stay near the wedding location, you will probably want to stay in Hanalei, Princeville, Wainiha, or Haena. We’ve included some links that can help you find a place. The North Shore can accommodate all budgets.

If you’re interested in staying for several days, vacation rentals are a good option. It’s possible to rent anything from a studio all the way up to a 12-bedroom house. If you share a 3 or 4 bedroom house with friends/family, you can get a rate for not too much per person.
Note: most vacation rentals charge a cleaning fee; we’ve seen them ranging from $50 total to $160 total.

If you’re only able to stay for a couple of days, and/or you prefer a resort atmosphere, there are plenty of options for you. We would suggest the Hanalei Bay Resort or the Princeville Resort – however, they can be a bit pricey.

Emily and Tom’s Address during the Wedding
The Haena Cottage
56957B Kuhio Hwy
Wainiha, Hawaii

LODGING IDEAS FOR GUESTS

Here are the best places/agencies we’ve found. If you have any questions, please let us know.

• Ahh! Aloha

Ahhh! Aloha Kauai Vacation Services provides Kauai information and reservations for Kauai vacation rentals, resorts, condos, homes, cottages, honeymoon suites in Princeville Hanalei Bay, Anini and Haena on Kauai’s north shore in Kauai, Hawaii. Our Kauai condo rentals and other Kauai vacation rentals are affordable, offer stunning views, and will make your vacation something to remember for a lifetime!

Mention the Becker/Hart Wedding when booking for a $10 a night discount! If you mention the Bumford/Stilton bar-mitzvah you'll only get blank stares.

Website: http://www.kauai-vacations-ahh.com/
Phone: 1 866 92 ALOHA

• Hanalei North Shore Properties
Aloha! Welcome to the Kauai vacation rentals offered by Hanalei North Shore Properties! Caring for you is our first priority. We think of you as guests in our home, and invite you to experience the wonders of “The Garden Island” in one of our many Kauai Vacation Rentals.

Roberta is a really great person. If you want personalized attention to helping you find the perfect spot - give her a call. She's been living on the North Shore for about 35 years!

Website: http://www.kauai-vacation-rentals.com/
Phone: 1 800-488-3336

-

Summit Pacific Inc

Another great site with lots of condos on the north shore is http://www.summitpacificinc.com/

ABOUT KAUAI

The Island of Kauai basks amidst the sparkling blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, about 20 minutes by air from Honolulu. Contrary to popular belief it is not full of dinosaurs. Kauai was formed some six million years ago, the island encompasses roughly 550 square miles and is the oldest and northernmost of the main Hawaiian Islands. Interestingly it does have a creamy chocolate center that's delicious.

Waimea Canyon on the Western Side of the island.
"Jurassic Park" was filmed here. It's dino-riffic!

Visiting the Guava Kai Plantation in Kilauea!
It was every bit as good as it looks!

Tom hiking the Napali Coast on the North Shore,

just moments before the monkey attack.

EVENT AND CEREMONY DETAILS

Emily and Tom’s wedding ceremony will take place at Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens at 4:00pm on Friday, February 22nd, 2008. http://www.naainakai.org/

Tuesday 19th
Tom and Emily arrive on Kauai!

Wednesday 20th

4:30pm Hawaiian Luau (optional activity) - Tom and Emily attend the Smith Family Luau! Tom just can't get enough of the poi, in fact he says, "It ain't a luau if it ain't poi-fect". For tickets and more information go to http://www.smithskauai.com/luau.html

Thursday 21st
Wedding Rehearsal - Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
Welcome BBQ – Hanalei Pavillion, Hanalei Bay Beach

Friday 22nd
4:00pm Wedding Ceremony – Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens - Seaside Green

5:30pm Wedding Reception – Cafe Hanalei at the Princeville Hotel

Saturday 23rd
Hike the Kalalau Trail (optional activity) -- Kalalau trail to Hanakapiai Beach and watch Tom wrestle a wild pig. Two miles hike to a private beach (4 miles round trip.) Feel free to just join for part of the trip - even the first mile is spectacular. Please wear shoes to hike in and make sure to bring a bottle of water!

Sunday 24th
Emily and Tom depart for Honeymoon on the Big Island-- we hear it's sturdy and probably won't sink while we're there.

Comicon

This past weekend Emily and I attended Comicon. It's an annual international convention in San Diego for the Comic Book industry. Well that's how it all began. Over the years it has grown to a massive event that covers not only the comics industry, but animation, sci-fi, movies, television, toys, and just about anything that can be related to superheroes, science fiction, video games, and anything geeky. Literally a couple of hundred thousand fans and industry professionals descend on San Diego for this.

Since I work as a writer in animation, I usually attend Comicon, since Emily works in development in children's television she needed to go for her work. So last Thursday we packed up and headed for San Diego for this four day event. But before leaving we had to stop by our local Kwik-E-Mart.

People waiting to get Squishies and six packs of Duff Beer.

As a promotion stunt for The Simpson's Movie FOX converted a number of 7-11's into Kwik-E-Marts (the convenience store in the TV series The Simpsons). There's one right here in Burbank. We thought we stop by before leaving town. Unfortunately a lot of people had the same idea we did. There was a line around the building to get in. So we ended up just stopping and taking a couple of pictures before heading on our way.

The San Diego Convention Center!

Friday was our first day at Comicon. The San Diego Convention Center is a massive complex. The picture above shows only one half of it. It's HUGE! The main exhibit hall is over half a million gross square feet and it will be filled to capacity with sweaty comic book nerds. Oh the sights and smells of it all!

Smile.... take a deep breath before entering.

First we've got to register and get our badges.

Once we get our badges we're clear to go on in. The place is teaming with people. The exhibition hall is shoulder-to-shoulder people pushing and looking, rushing and buying...

Half-a-million square feet of this!

Hey look! It's Pikachu! I'm gonna get me a bite of that!

When we came across someone dressed like Pikachu from the Pokemon animated series we couldn't resist not chasing after it. One of the big things about Comicon is that a lot of people come to it in costume. They'll dress as their favorite characters from comics, animation, movies, books, TV series - you name it. Below are a couple who dressed as the Lego versions of Darth Maul and Princess Leah from Star Wars.

We're missing some pieces, can you help us out?

In addition to attending the events and panels at the Con there are also industry parties to go to. This is where all the meeting n' greeting and schmoozing is done. We attended several while we were in San Diego. The first one was one thrown by The Gotham Agency (my agent) and that generally has a lot of people at it. The second party was one thrown by Disney. This was held atop a night club, on the rooftop. It was very cool. I guess Disney only rented the club until 10pm - because just before 10 the staff of the club became rude, pushy, and unpleasant to us. I think they wanted us all out of there. I was told that I had to leave because I was in violation of their dress code - no flip-flops allowed. So we were all hustled out of the place in short order. I wasn't the only person they deemed unworthy of staying, other people had a similar experience and were told to leave.

The offending flip flops... my little piggies have never been so insulted!

Getting kicked out of the Disney party wasn't really that big a deal because we had another party to attend down the road at the Hyatt - Natural Talent (another agency). This party is held in the bar at the very top of the Hyatt hotel. It's dark and usually crowded, but still a good time. There were several people that both Emily and I knew who were there, and no one cared that I was wearing open-toed foot wear. Obviously a better breed of people.

With writers: Brian Swenlin and Dean Stefan.

The party at the top of the Hyatt ended our first full day at Comicon. Saturday was even more crowed. We attempted to get into a panel discussion for the new Battlestar Galactica, but even though the room held over 7,000 people, we still couldn't get in because it was full. So we wandered around some more and looked at lots of art work. Emily checked out a number of artists, picking up names and dropping off her card in the hopes of making a good contact for future TV development.

We had an early dinner at an Italian restaurant and then headed off to a Writer's Guild party... but we never made it. About 20 minutes after eating, my stomach started getting twisted up in knots: food poisoning.

Let's just say it was lucky there was a restroom in the lobby of the Hyatt where we were headed for the Writer's Guild Party. Once I was stable enough to travel, I limped off with Emily leading me to the shuttle buses.

I feel carbonated... and not in a good way...

Fortunately Emily didn't get sick. That night we were planning on attending the Midnight Show at The National Comedy Theatre (the improv group I perform with in San Diego) - but I was far too sick to do the show.

San Diego at Night. And it's full of comic nerds and nerdettes.

By Sunday I was feeling much better. We went back to the Convention Center one last time. Emily attended a panel regarding a show that airs on Nickelodeon and I sat in and watch a kids film festival. After that we had a great breakfast at a little place we found in downtown. Then we headed back to LA.

Overall it was a good trip, although tiring. Emily had a bit of anxiety when we were on the crowded main floor of the center (but that's to be expected). By Sunday we were both done and ready to head back.

Until next year, when I'll watch what I eat and make sure I bring the proper footwear.

Bread, Bingo, and Barrels

BREAD
One of the many things that Emily has introduced me to is something called "breakfast bread". It's a heavy, yummy bread filled with all types of fruit n' nuts - perfect for toasting. I grew up in the Midwest, this is something I should have heard of! -- but I never had it until the first time I visited Emily and her family in Orlando. How could "comfort-food central for the nation" (the Midwest) have missed a thing like this!

Breakfast bread from Publix

just begging for a good toasting!

After a recent trip to Orlando, from which we brought back two loaves of breakfast bread, Emily set out to try and make it herself from scratch. A quick look on the internet showed that plenty of people were searching for the same thing: the recipe. Sadly, nothing official could be found. But Emily managed to find a couple of different home-grown recipes online from others who had attempted to recreate this dense, delicious, carbohydrate delicacy. Working from two recipes and adjusting as she thought best, Emily mixed up her ingredients.

Emily's bread, ready to go in the oven...

Outta the oven and Mr. Sniff says, "Hmmmm... smells good!"

The bread turned out really good, but still needs a little adjustment. It was darn tasty, but a little on the dry side - more scone-like than bread-like. But great when toasted! So next attempt is sure to hit the mark.

BINGO
Back in early June, the Disney Company hosted its yearly "Family Picnic" for Disney employees and their families. Emily had been the previous year - I'd never gone, even though I'd worked on n' off at Disney for over 8 years. The picnic turned out to be a better event that I expected. Each year it's held at a private ranch up in Malibu.

Emily sneaking around in a cabin at the picnic.
This is either a really big window, or really small door.
Or maybe it's a huge mail slot, I dunno what
size letters they had back in the Old West.

At the picnic there was plenty of food, games, more food, paddle boats, bounce houses, more food, a Ferris wheel, and of course-- BINGO! (Like you had to ask?)

Emily and her bingo card... um, not so good hon, just two spots.

But my bingo card! Five spots! HA! Count 'em FIVE! Even the

divine light shining from above praises MY bingo card!

Well, okay... so my card wasn't that much better, and the "divine light" was more like a reflection off my bald head. Shortly after we started playing, the group got into a debate about whether to have everyone scrap their cards and start over or keep playing. We could see this was going to be a long, involved event... so we ducked out for more FOOD!

Nothing beats roasted corn on the cob... unless it's breakfast bread.

BARRELS
A week or so after the Disney picnic, Emily's friend Heather was in L.A. for a visit. Emily and I took her down to wine country in Temecula. Who knew there was "wine country" south of LA? I sure didn't, but Emily did. We'd visited the wineries up in Santa Barbara, and I've been to Napa several times, so Temecula was going to be a new experience for us. Emily had found a "Hart" winery, and since that's my last name and soon to be hers, she felt like we needed to give the place a visit.

Welcome to the Hart family!

I'd like to say that the wine we tasted at the Hart Winery was great! But, that wasn't the case. It was just so-so. Nice sign though. And we got to keep our tasting glasses with the Hart name engraved on them.

Emily and Heather, what a coupla' posers.

All in all, the trip down to Temecula was good one. We visited some other wineries that were very good. And at least we weren't attacked by zombies that tried to eat our brains. Not that it ever happens, but if it had, it would have put a damper on the whole day.

I know Emily loved catching up with Heather and showing her around LA during her visit. And did I mention that Heather brought us a couple loaves of breakfast bread?

Mmmmmmmm.

Time to make room!

So much to do in such a short amount of time... Emily with her apartment over in the heart of Glendale, me with my house nearly in Burbank --- and I'm the one with air conditioning --- so we have to make room for us both to fit into my house. A 1920's home with very limited closet space (only 2) is tough, given how must stuff most people have these days. And (as Emily has told me) I'm a bit of a pack rat. But Emily is the queen of consolidation, I've never met anyone who can condense items into small spaces so well. So far the items she's brought over have fit nicely in with what will shortly become "our" house.

In addition to moving things around, there's lots of home repair stuff that needs tending to: the shower needs to be fixed, we have to replace the stove (lightning strike killed it, don't ask), the bedroom wall has water damage that needs to be repaired, and the bathroom needs new tile, paint and fixtures and so on. It's a work in progress. But, considering out nicely our Tiki room project turned out...

Seriously, who doesn't want their own Tiki Room? Mai Tai anyone?

...I'm sure we'll have our house whipped into shape in no time. But the indoor theme will be a little less "tropical".

Emily and I just returned from a trip back to the Midwest (where I grew up). We were in Rock Island Illinois for most of the trip. While there I was able to introduce Emily to a local favorite, Whitey's Ice Cream.

Only in the Midwest could there be a place called "Whitey's"!

Oh sweet, creamy, fatty, yummy, calories! I didn't want to share.

In addition to gorging ourselves on Midwest delights we searched for fun things to do. One stop was a place called Bishop Hill which is now a historical town that was once a Swedish commune. We were warned by nearly everyone in the Quad Cities that visiting BH would be a waste of time and "the most boring place imaginable"... but we found it quite the opposite. We were only there for about 90 minutes and had a great time.

One of Bishop Hill's preserved buildings,
with the original working clock in the tower.

Emily outside the colony store.

It was a really nice trip despite the naysayers. We could have spent most of the afternoon there, but what we did get to see we enjoyed.

But now the vacation's over and we're back to the rush-rush of LA, and plenty of packing and throwing out of things, and moving left to do. I could really go for a Whitey's Butterfinger malt right about now.