Tuesday, December 31, 2002

Perfect planning: Technology made it easy for Sandra Kelly’s daughter, Shannon, to plan her romantic wedding in Italy.

By SANDRA BROWN KELLY

“Check out the links below,” read the e-mail sent from my daughter, Shannon, in early September. “These are the two locations in Italy that Lee and I are currently considering. My preference is the city hall in Rome.”

Lee referred to her fiance, Lee Gluckman Jr., and the locations had to do with sites for their wedding.

Shannon and Lee met at the Beach Cities Ski Club in Los Angeles several years ago and became engaged last spring. All they had said about wedding plans until that e-mail was that they did not want a standard wedding.

Thus began a series of electronic exchanges that proved technology can enhance tradition and that mothers can be part of planning in absentia.

Learning Shannon and Lee wanted to be married in Italy was no surprise. They fell in love with the country on a skiing trip in the Italian Alps. Besides, destination weddings are all the rage these days.

Obviously, because of distance and time, much of the wedding planning would need to be done via cellphone, Internet and e-mail. That also suited their lifestyles.

Shannon, a database analyst, telecommutes daily to her company, Targetbase, in Irving, Texas, from her office as account manager at American Honda in Torrance, Calif. She also has a high-speed data line connected to her home computer.

Lee, as chairman of U.S. International Film & Video Festival and Mobius Awards Ltd. in Los Angeles, helps manage the www.filmfestawards.com and www.mobiusawards.com sites for his companies and corresponds via e-mail daily with board members and competition participants around the world. He never leaves home, even for skiing, without a laptop.

Even though Shannon first wanted to wed in Rome, Florence won out. The ceremony site, reception and photographer were arranged through Weddings in Italy by Regency, www.weddingsitaly.com. The company boasts on its Web site that it was the first wedding coordinator to collaborate with the Florence town hall and make it possible for foreigners to marry legally in Italy.

The next major decision, selecting a wedding dress, was more involved. Shannon liked two dresses and wanted me to see both before she chose.

Because they had not yet bought the digital camera they planned to take on the wedding trip, Lee took a regular camera to the bridal boutique, photographed Shannon modeling the dresses and had the photos put on a CD so he could e-mail several to me.

In the meantime, Lee also sent details of their itinerary and directed me to www.panellaresidence.com, the Web site for their hotel where I could view the room they had chosen. The Panella’s Residence building, which dates to the 15th century, sits in the historic district of Florence and is itself a blend of old and new.

On Christmas Day, Panella’s had no phone service to rooms because the owners took a day off, but its Web site nicely shows off room decor and adds a bit of history about each. The room Shannon and Lee chose was listed as a favorite of the bodyguard of King Juan Carlos of Spain. It seems the king, who was born in Rome, also stays at Panella’s.

Nothing was lost in the long-distance arranging, not the asides such as Carlos’ birth in Italy, the wedding registry (at www.crateandbarrel.com) nor bridal jitters, which emerged in a Dec. 6 missive from Shannon.

She wrote to ask for Christmas gift ideas for family members, and included the following:

“If anybody is looking for ideas for me, I’d love some personalized stationery with my new name. My new name Shannon Kelly (professionally) and Shannon Kelly-Gluckman (everywhere else). Wow! Am I really getting married in 15 days? Yikes!”

Shannon and Lee left for Florence on Dec. 16, arriving Dec. 18, Roanoke time. The next day, I received this message, composed by Shannon at an Internet cafe because Lee’s laptop Internet connection would not work at the hotel:

“Today we met our wedding coordinator at the American Consulate. The Consular signed our application for marriage, or whatever it’s called in Italy. From there we went to the Italian government office to get everything stamped. The whole process only took two hours or so.

“It’s kinda funny. Our wedding has a real international flavor to it. We’re American. The coordinator is Lebanese. The photographer is Swiss, and Bob, our witness, is a resident-to-be of France. Not too bad for a girl from a small southern town in a small southern state.”

Bob Hopkins, Lee’s longtime friend, arrived the day before the wedding. By then one of the hotel owners had decided she too would join them at the ceremony. She and her husband had been married in the same place 28 years before.

At 1:30 p.m. Dec. 21, Shannon and Lee married at the Florence City Hall Chapel, next door to the Uffizi Gallery.

I was eating breakfast at The Roanoker Restaurant when my cellphone rang, and despite my rule against phone calls in restaurants, I answered.

“We’re married!” Shannon said with much excitement; Lee was saying hello in the background.

Taking the cellphone to the restaurant lobby where it was quiet, I listened to all the details on a signal clearer than what I get between Roanoke and the New River Valley.

Everything had gone beautifully, they said.

And I was there, thanks to technology.

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