Honeymoon (635 photos), by reema tandan

Here are our pictures from our honeymoon! (The first few are from the reception...) Hope you enjoy!!! Click here to view photos

Wedding (824 photos), by reema tandan

Here is a link to our wedding photos. Thank you to Olivia and Jason Moore of Moore Family Photography. More pictures to come (from others)!! Click here to view photos

Marriage License

Just a quick update...

We went and got our marriage license this morning! Looks like we are all good to get married in 29 more days! Can you believe it? I sure can't.

Next on our calendar for the day, our 30 day appointment with Cheri and Chantal at the hotel. Hooray! :)

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Our New Car

Well, Chris and I had another big life change this past weekend. We bought our first car together! Very exciting, but a little crazy. This is the first time I have shopped for a car without a family member. I mean, Chris is my future family, but you know what I mean!

We bought a Honda Accord. Chris's car that will no longer be named was not the best car in the world. It was shiny, black and fast...but that was about it. It had a mess of issues like so many VW's have. We were very happy to get rid of it.

Here is a picture of what Chris thinks of the old car... (look closely)

And the new car...

Reminders...

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to send out a few reminders to everyone. If you are interested in reserving a room under our room block please do so by September 23, 2010. Please call Kirstin Lloyd at 281-558-8338, ext 1100 or email klloyd@omnihotels.com or call 1-800-THE-OMNI. When you call in please mention that you are booking for the Tandan-Kasavich Wedding. The room rate is $99 per night and the room block is for October 7 - October 9.

Please also remember to send your RSVP cards back! It is important for Chris and I to have this information so we can seat our guests properly and also know what you want to eat.

Thank you and we can't wait to see you all soon!!

Reception Tasting

Yesterday Chris and I went to taste all the food that will be served at the reception. It was ever so tasty! I have a few pictures from it, but will have to upload those later since I don't have the camera with me.

By now you should have received your invitations and inside is an rsvp card asking for your meal selection since we are doing a seated dinner rather than a buffet. Please make sure to check what you would like, either veggie or non veggie. The options are Eggplant Parmesan or Chicken with a Champagne Sauce and Mushrooms. Both are very tasty, but I prefer the chicken since I am not a huge fan of eggplant. The eggplant was really the only veggie option that sounded like a meal. The rest were things like grilled vegetables and rice and that just did not sound like enough food to feed our vegetarian friends. We want to make sure all of our guests are fed well.

We also tried the salad and the apps that they will be serving that day. All were delicious. I am not going to tell you what those are so you can be a little surprised the night of the reception.

Just a note...you cannot make your selection the day of or change your mind at the reception. Chris and I need to know what you want so the hotel can make the correct number of dishes for our guests by September 15, as indicated on the response card.

And They are Off...

Invitations that is. Chris and I put them in the mail Saturday morning. Please be on the lookout for them and send back the RSVP cards before September 15th please! See you in October!!

Stuffing Party!

Invitations are stuffed, sealed and ready to be mailed! Wow, I guess we really have to get married. :) Thank you to my bridesmaid, Ginger, hostesses, Margo and Kimberly and good friend, Stephanie for coming over this evening to help me stuff what seemed like the most complicated mailing I have ever done in my life. Just a reminder, I do a lot of mailings for my job.

Of course I tempted them with pizza and wine and Chris made cookies for all of us. Thanks honey!

Invitations will be put in the mail on Saturday, so be on the lookout for those in your mailboxes and PLEASE send the rsvp cards back! PLEASE!!! It will make my life just a little easier.

Here are a few pictures from the stuffing party...

Bridal Shower

Oh my! The wedding is getting close. My bridal shower was held earlier this month and it was wonderful! Thank you so much to my aunt, Monika Masi, Rehka Auntie, Ginger, Erin, my mom and everyone else who was there. It was such a special day and I felt so loved!

My friends all learned where I get my hostessing skills that day. I take after the women in my life who also love to entertain.

Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

The entrance to Monika's House

My very cute penguins my aunt made for the party

The hostesses with the mostesses (and Prisha)

Kimberly, Margo and me...my two hostesses for the wedding

Ginger, Erin and Me - Two of my Three Bridesmaids

Dina, Jamie and Me

June Update (in July)

Update time! Sorry I haven't been posting. It has been a busy month.

Let's see...what is going on in the life of Reema and Chris. We celebrated my 29th birthday earlier in the month. My last birthday as a Tandan and of my 20s... kind of a big deal. Chris and I celebrated with my family by going out to dinner at Fadi's and then making our way over to Dessert Gallery for cake. It was a fun evening and I was happy to celebrate with everyone. That Friday we went out with our friends to a great sushi restaurant and then to our favorite wine bar (Block 7).

On June 15th we celebrated our one-year anniversary of being engaged. I still can't believe it has been a year since Chris asked me to marry him. Time certainly has gone by fast. We celebrated by going to dinner at Max's Wine Dive (which is where I actually wanted to go the night he proposed, but for some reason I thought there was an event happening that night. There wasn't, so we could have gone there). I know it isn't where we went last year, but hey, it's owned by the Tasting Room!

At the end of the month Chris and I booked our honeymoon! We will be spending 7 glorious days in Hawaii. We booked 99 days before the wedding and 100 days before the reception. Booking the honeymoon reminded both of us that the wedding is almost here! I cannot wait. We just need to make it through the next 3 months and we will finally be married.

And finally...Chris is finished with his MBA! He finished this week and is an honor graduate. I am so proud of him and all the work that he has done to get this degree. Needless to say, there will be a celebration at the end of the month. I will post pictures once that happens.

Until next time...have a great 4th of July everyone!

Wedding Ring Shopping

One more thing to check off the list! Chris and I bought our wedding bands in the middle of May. Yes, I know it is June and I haven't blogged in a month. Sorry!

Regardless, we drove up to San Antonio on a Saturday morning and after our regular stop at Buckees we made our way to Americus Diamonds.



This is the same store that Chris bought the engagement ring. I had my ring cleaned and tightened and enjoyed a glass of Cristalino. While waiting Chris and I looked at some of the other rings. Of course my eyes went to the 5 karat diamonds. The salesman saw me looking and pulled a beautiful square cut diamond that was about as big as my hand. Maybe in 25 years we can upgrade to that ring, but for now I am satisfied with my ring. :)

Once my ring came back out we started looking for Chris's ring. Mine was already picked out. It matches the band on my engagement ring. I love it!! Chris's took a little while longer, but he found something he liked (and that I was okay with!). I really wanted to wear my ring for the rest of the day, but that was not allowed. Oh well, I just have four more months to wait for it.

Guest Book Added!

We added a guest book down at the bottom of the page. I know you have to sign in on google to write comments and that can be annoying. So, we added this to the bottom of the page! We would to ready your comments.

Reema and Chris

So Thankful...

I am so incredibly thankful for Chris and my relationship. We had a big scare last night, but thankfully everything is okay. I don't feel like going into all of the details but the short story is I ate something that got caught in my throat. I could breathe and was talking and walking, so we knew it was okay for the most part. Chris rushed me into the car and got me to the emergency clinic. Note to all of you, if you have a minor emergency where you aren't bleeding and are still bleeding, go to one of these places. I didn't even have to sit in the waiting room.

They took my vitals, gave me some really good medicine to relax me (I was extremely relaxed). I played be-jeweled on Chris's phone - he said I wouldn't stop. They came and took me for a CT scan, but this point the drugs had hit and I remember looking up and thinking there were a set of eyes staring at me.

Finally they took me back to my room and gave me even more meds to knock me out for the most part, but I was still awake. I have no recollection of being awake. I thought I went to sleep. They also asked Chris to leave the room at this point. That made me sad and I know Chris wasn't to happy to not be there with me.

Regardless, they did get the object out of my throat. They called Chris back in and I was saying something they couldn't asked. They asked Chris what I was saying. He said, she says "I am not going to floss tonight".

They took another x-ray to make sure everything was gone and eventually let us go home. Chris said we were home by midnight. That really isn't a bad amount of time to be at a clinic...8 pm - 12 am. Had we gone to the emergency room I would have gotten home at noon today.

I am so thankful that Chris is on his toes about things like this and knew what he had to do to make sure I was okay. I hope I would be the same for him as well. Though, I hope nothing like this happens again.

...I have the scans from the CT...I can't upload them...but once I look at them I will determine if I want to put them online.

Call Me Bond...James Bond

Nothing makes me happier than checking off a "to do" on our wedding checklist. Today, we got to check off the tux rentals.

Chris and I went over to Men's Warehouse today and picked out what he, the groomsmen and ushers will be wearing the night of the reception. Chris did ask why I needed to go since he has no say in what I or my bridesmaids wear, but in reality I was just there to fill out the paperwork (Chris's handwriting is not the best) and to make sure my email was on there somewhere so I could keep track of who has gone for their fittings. I am leaving it up to Chris to get all of the guys to do this, but I would like to be in the loop about it. I must say, Chris did a great job picking everything out. The guys are going to look so handsome!

We also came up with a great title for our wedding ceremony. It is a Hindapalian Wedding. Thank Chris for that one!

Hooray for another completed task! Now to figure out outfits for my bridesmaids and also what I am going to wear...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful day. Chris and I celebrated Easter in our own way today. No big egg hunts, no big gathering...just the two of us making good food together and spending time together.

Chris made a delicious ham made with mustard (that made me nervous), ginger snaps, brown sugar and scotch. The recipe called for bourbon, but all we had was Chris's 15 year old Glenfiddich, expensive way to make a ham, we know! I made my famous roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary (fresh from the backyard) and some bacon and cheese scones. Chris used my pig cookie cutter for the scones.

Piggy Piggy!

Lunch was so very tasty, but we had way too much food for the two of us. Looks like we will be making ham sandwiches this week. I plan to make a ham and cheese quiche tomorrow for dinner (possibly using the leftover dough from the bacon and cheese scones). I also made spring sugar cookies on Friday that I was going to frost but I never got around to it. Though honestly, these cookies did not need anything else to make them taste any better. Chris said they were like crack!

We spent the rest of the afternoon outside reading. It was too pretty of a day to stay inside. Eventually we came back inside and had dessert. Dessert was a slice of toffee-licious cake from Dessert Gallery that I bought Friday. We also watched "Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" which is completely inappropriate for kids. Marci and Peppermint Patti are out shopping and cooking unsupervised throughout the episode. We love all of the Charlie Brown holiday episodes and try to watch the specific holiday episode on the holiday. This is a tradition we hope to continue throughout our lives.

That's all for today! Again, Happy Easter! Until our next post.

We are So Excited...

And we just can't hide it! Why are we so excited? So much has happened in the last few weeks that has given us something to celebrate. Our wedding is 6 months away, things are going well in both of our jobs and Chris is doing well in school.

Now for the good news...Chris will be done with his MBA in July instead of August! He has been in school since January 2008 and it has been a long two years. This summer he was planning on taking two classes during summer sessions (one during each session). Well, he was able to find two on-line classes during the first session that deal with what he is focusing on with his MBA. So yes friends, we will be having a party in July. It will more than likely be a late birthday party for me, an early birthday for Chris, a graduation party and a Fourth of July party.


And the other news...I am the newest coordinator of Something Planned, LLC. You can see my introduction on their blog Something Planned, LLC. I am so incredibly excited about this! I have been working with Cheri as an assistant for a few weddings and I am now her second coordinator in case someone wants to book an event/wedding on a day she is already working with someone else. Next week I get to go to the wedding rehearsal for the wedding I am assisting at this weekend to learn the ropes of the rehearsal. This is such a wonderful opportunity and I am so happy that it is happening to me! Cheri, the owner and my wedding coordinator, is such a wonderful business woman and will be such a great mentor for me. And yes, I am still working at the Museum.

And the final news for excitement...Mario Galaxy 2 comes out on May 23rd! I get to go get Starbits while Chris does all the hard work in the game. Why do I mention this? Because it is a fun game and I am being silly.

What a Sap!

That would be ME! I am such a romantic at heart. Today as I was driving home through that wonderful Houston traffic Chris and my song came on the radio. As I was listening to it I imagined dancing with Chris to it at our wedding reception and got all teary eyed. I can't wait until October!!

We are almost 6 months away and I can't believe it. Chris proposing to me still feels like yesterday.

We had an appointment at the hotel this past Saturday. Cheri, our wedding coordinator, went with us so she could get a better look at the space and see what I want for the night of the reception. We came up with a preliminary layout of the space and figured out how we are doing seating for the reception. We also discussed the food and will be scheduling a tasting for August so Chris and I can remember what the food tastes like before October. We are doing a seated dinner for the dinner portion of the reception rather than a buffet.

There is more I want to write about, but I don't want to give it all away. :) More updates to come...

The Groomsmen

Finally, part two of the Bridal Party entry!

JR Kasavich

JR is my older brother. We have known each other for most of his life, and all of mine. He’s an engineer for the Fort Worth Water Department in an office full of Aggies. He keeps offering me a job with the City of Fort Worth, but it sounds like I’d be his stooge driving a vac truck and cleaning up sewer messes. Not much appealing about that.

He’s a cool guy and is honestly the funniest person I’ve ever known, not that many people know it because his sense of humor is so…odd…that most people don’t see it as humor. I’m glad to have him as a groomsman and hope there isn’t some weird water emergency that keeps in in Fort Worth the weekend of the wedding.

JR and his wife Cornelia and don't forget Sammy the Dog!

RJ Bruce, Friend of the Groom

RJ and I went to Trinity together but we really got to know each other at the weekly Pint Night, back when it was just four guys at a bar. Ridiculous inside jokes, nicknames, and drinking aside, RJ is one of the few truly good people I’ve known in my life. You know those people that don’t say bad things about other people? You know how boring they can be? RJ is nice AND somehow not boring. I don’t know how he does it, and watching him be a great friend and father is an inspiration.

Oh, that last bit was too serious. RJ once nearly cut his finger off throwing a beer can. There, that’s better.

Eddie (you will learn more about Eddie later), Chris and RJ at RJ's house a few years back for New Year's

Jeff Gilley, Friend of the Groom

Jeff…yeah. Anyone who knows us knows when we’re together, our collective mental age hovers somewhere around nine years old. Seriously, it’s pretty bad.

Jeff and I got to know each other through Alpha Phi Omega at Trinity, and stayed great friends through school and beyond. I keep hoping he’ll wake up one morning and decide to move back to Houston, but in the meantime it’s a perfect excuse to head up to the northeast. He’s a great guy, married to a wonderful woman, and his daughter is the cutest thing in the known world.

Too serious again. Jeff once did a power hour in twenty minutes. If you don’t know what that means, Wiki it.

Jeff and Chris when we were up in Maryland visiting.

Registering!

When Chris and I started dating I said, "I don't even want to register, I just want to get married." That was a big, fat lie.

It was so much fun spending a day registering even though I didn't get to bring it all home right then and there.

Chris and I are registered at Bed Bath Beyond, Target and Macy's. Our first stop was Macy's in the Galleria. We made our way up the stairs to the registry department and set up our account with them. And then the fun begins...I get to carry the little gun around and Chris just points at things for us to register for. Macy's has half of our fine china, glassware, silverware, sheets and big appliances (like the KitchenAid Mixer that both Chris and I really want! Remember, if we get that, we get to bake more. And Chris and I ALWAYS share our desserts with friends). Somehow a deep fryer ended up on the list. That needs to be deleted.

Can you tell what we really want?

On to Bed Bath and Beyond. We chose BBB because they have everything you need for the home, are reasonably priced AND they always send 20% off an item coupons in the mail. After we went and set up our registry and got the little gun (yes, I got it again) we started walking around. I remember walking past one of the co-workers and hear, "We have two brides in the store. Please be on the look out." That made us laugh (and it was pretty cool to know they were talking about you).

BBB is our biggest list. It has the other half of the china, more glassware, bake ware and so much more.

Finally, we make our way to Target. We chose Target because it is my favorite store and Chris is a pretty big fan of it. Ask any of my co-workers. I go there at least once a week during lunch. There have been weeks where I go to Target four to five times and I go to a different one each time. True story.

The Target registry has the stuff you can't find at the other two stores: games, books, yard stuff, etc.

I am sure many of you are shocked that we (I) didn't register at Crate and Barrel. I wanted too, but Crate and Barrel is not the most convenient place for everyone and everything I really want from there I have already bought.

Here are our registry numbers....
Bed Bath and Beyond - 11375910
Macy's - 1949842
Target - 013085800000170

Where to Stay?

We have reserved a block of rooms at the Omni Hotel Westside, 13210 Katy Freeway; Houston, Texas 77079, starting October 7 until October 10. The room rate is $99 per night plus taxes (state and Hotel Occupancy Tax...don't complain, my job gets some of these HOT funds. Your stay in Houston helps pay my salary). This hotel is where the reception is taking place, so it makes sense to stay here.

In order to reserve your rooms please call the hotel's group coordinator, Kirstin Lloyd at 281-558-8338, ext 1100 or email klloyd@omnihotels.com or call 1-800-THE-OMNI. When you call in please mention that you are booking for the Tandan-Kasavich Wedding. You must book your rooms by September 23, 2010, in order to receive this room rate. I will keep reminding you all, but I can't promise to remind you that final week. My biggest work event is that Saturday, September 25, so my brain will be on both work and the wedding! Just want to give you the heads up.

Please also note that we are not reserving room blocks anywhere else (unless they run out of rooms!). If you would like to stay somewhere else you will need to find that on your own. There are plenty of hotels in the area and of course in Houston.

Dress Shopping

Well, I am still waiting on Chris to give me his information about the groomsmen, so I am just going to write about my recent experience... dress shopping! My mom, dad, cousin Pryanka and I went shopping all day yesterday. What a long day. We started off at a woman's home who brings stuff from India to sell here in America. The beauty of her stuff is that things can be custom designed to fit your body as well as style. The first of her stuff I saw I did not like much at all, but luckily I waited around and saw the good stuff. Pryanka helped re-design one of the pieces to something that would fit my personality and taste. I was happy to have her there!

The next place we went to was more a couture designer shop. Everything they do is custom made and they actually make most of it in Dallas. Well this sounded exciting, until I walked in and was told to figure out the embroidery I wanted. Um, no thank you. You are the designer, let me tell you my ideas and you come up with it for me. I told the woman that I needed more time to go through everything and would make an appointment to come back when I had more than an hour. My dad whispered to my cousin that "She's not coming back, she doesn't have the patience for this." That is correct. I won't be going back there.

Finally, the last shop we went to had more stuff I liked. The stuff that they had there was similar to the first woman's home. I could pick ideas and have things re-designed. Much more my cup of tea! We went through so many outfits (I felt bad for the people who were helping us, there was a disaster on the floor). The way many Indian shops show their clothes is by just pulling everything they have out to show you. We were all sitting on the floor looking at all the outfits and putting the ones we liked to the side and leaving the ones we didn't like on the floor. Again, I found more stuff I liked.

Nothing was purchased yet...I still have one more boutique to go to with my aunt this week. My aunt is also going to India in two weeks, so who knows, she may find something I will like out there for me!

Here are some designs of what people may be wearing to the wedding (nothing is what I picked out).

Our Bridal Party ... The Bridesmaids

This next portion is about our bridal party. It will be done in three parts mainly because I am waiting for Chris to give me the information he wants to put up about his groomsmen.

Bridesmaids

Deepika Mahendra, aunt of the bride
Deepi is my mom and aunt’s cousin (her mom is my grandmother’s sister), but she and I are very close in age. She and her husband live in London and are true world travelers! For their honeymoon a few years ago, they took off and travelled the world for about a year. Deepi and I met many times throughout the years when we were younger. They came to America a few times and we went to London as well to visit. We really became close in the Summer of 2006 when her family came to the states for another cousin’s wedding. We spent 5 crazy days together with our families. There were 12 of us staying at my aunt and uncle’s house that weekend. In February 2007 I traveled with my mom, aunt and uncle to India for her wedding to Benji (the first non-Indian to join our family). This time it was two weeks of shopping and getting ready for her wedding. It was a life experience that I would never give back (though I would have loved it if I could have spent two weeks in London instead)! Deepi is a true sister to me even though technically she is my great aunt aka Masi.

Deepi and I at her Sangeet in India

Ginger Patel, friend of the bride
I met Ginger in high school at the random parties mutual friends threw. We really didn’t become friends until I went on the road trip of a lifetime with her and 4 other friends. We rented an 8 passenger van and drove to Vegas, where Ginger, Kristin and I danced on the bar at Coyote Ugly, then to Palo Alto to pick up another friend. Following that we went to San Francisco, where we ate at Jolly Bee, a restaurant that has pineapple on burgers and spaghetti with hotdogs mixed in them. Our last stop was LA, where two of us ran into the COLD ocean! We did a lot more, but these are some of the experiences that really stand out in my head. Ginger and I also lived in the same ghetto apartment complex over in the medical center where we shared weekend breakfasts and movie nights. I had the honor to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and I caught (nosedived) the bouquet at the reception. She got married in April of 2009 and she and her husband Neel just recently became parents to the sweetest baby in the world. When Ginger is not designing things for her friends weddings she is working at M.D. Anderson as a nurse.

Ginger and I at a party on New Year's Eve

Erin VanTreeck, friend of the bride
Erin is my best friend. We can go weeks without talking, but when we get on the phone it is like nothing ever changed. We met in seventh grade at lunch through a mutual friend and became okay friends at first. Our friendship grew throughout the years. There are so many stories that I can think of but the thing that stands out to me is how we are complete opposites, but we are the perfect fit as far as friendships go. I was the loud and social one and Erin was the quiet and sensitive one. What is funny is that we seemed to have reversed roles as we grow older (though I will always be the loud one). I think she was the one who kept me grounded before I met Chris. Now it is both her and Chris’s job to do so. Erin has been there for me for so much, even when we were 20 miles, 200 miles and now 1000 miles away from each other. Erin moved to Chicago 2 years ago and I know she has never been happier (though her best friend misses her). Her life has fallen into place since her move and I know that she is destined for great things.

Erin and I at Max's Wine Dive for a yummy brunch

Thank you to these wonderful ladies for agreeing to be in the wedding and for putting up with me when time gets closer to the wedding. I am trying not to be a bridezilla, but I am not promising a thing!

Facebook Drama

Ah Facebook...how you can be so good for somethings and so awful for other things. Weddings would be one of those awful things. I have gotten some comments on my facebook page since the beginning of the wedding planning experience. Some from people I know we are going to invite, some from those that I am not sure that we are going to invite and some from people I know we aren't going to invite.

I hate to delete the wonderful comments that people have put on my page, but I think I have to in order to keep from hurting feelings. I wish I could invite everyone, but I can't. So, if any comments about the wedding get put on Facebook, I will just move them over to the blog. (And feel free to make comments on this blog too!!! PLEASE!)

Liz Thompson

And Sushi Saturdays?! ;) Got your save the date... super cute!

Tiffany Garcia loves your save the date cards!
Reema Tandan Glad you like!

Elizabeth DeVries Loved your save the date cards. The color just pops off the card!

Reema Tandan Thank you! My friend Ginger did a beautiful job designing it and my uncle's print guys did fabulous with the colors!!

Priyanka Kapoor She did a real nice job ! I loved the card too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chris and I would to wish everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day!

This year's Valentine's Day will be our first one as an engaged couple and last one as an unmarried couple. Chris's comment to that was "so I don't have to do anything next year...right?". Not quite buddy.

Regardless, Valentine's Day is not the only day we celebrate our love for each other. We show each other we love and care for each other every day that we are together or a part. We do however think that traditions are very important and have already started creating our own. Both of us get into holidays, so this is just another way for us to do something together as well as for each other.

This year, instead of having flowers delivered to work, Chris went and bought flowers and came to work to surprise me. He was very clever...he made sure I didn't leave to go out for lunch by asking if we could go get lunch together. I was expecting him to come get me from the office (very unusual...usually we just meet wherever we are going) around lunch time. I wasn't at my desk, so Patrick, the police officer at the front called one of my co-workers to see if they could find me. Poor Patrick thought Chris was the delivery man.

Followed by the beautiful flowers, we went to lunch at Block 7, another one of our favorite places to go. Block 7 is a Wine Bar that serves some pretty amazing food. It was nice to sit and talk to each other during the middle of a busy work day. We also had our favorite waiter, Davey Jones. After lunch and dessert we made our way to the post office, where we put the Save the Dates in the mail. Guess there is no turning back now.

I made breakfast for Chris on the real Valentine's Day. I tried some breakfast tacos this past week that Pam, one of my favorite co-workers, made for all of us at work. They were simply delicious. Pam sent one home with me to give to Chris, but I ate it for dinner that night while he was in class. Well, Chris wanted to try them, so I thought making him breakfast for Valentine's Day would be nice because I NEVER make breakfast unless it is toast, bagels or cereal. This was a nice surprise for him. In fact he says I should do this every Sunday. We shall see...I don't think big breakfasts like that are the healthiest for us. I did put a side of fruit with the tacos and they went along nicely.

Our tradition on Valentine's Day is Chris makes dinner for me. This is strange for us, since we love to cook together, but I can't complain! We prefer not to go out to dinner mainly because it is crazy out there and every restaurant we like has a prix fixe meal. This year Chris is making a roasted chicken with veggies and roasted red potatoes. Throw in some sparkling wine or champagne and a creme brulee and how can you go wrong with that? The recipe is another Barefoot Contessa creation (we are kind of obsessed with everything she makes). It was such a nice dinner.

For next year I need to buy "A Charlie Brown Valentine". I couldn't find it at Target this year!

Again, Happy Valentine's Day! Go spread some love today.

Wedding Coordination

I have the coolest part-time/temporary job. My wedding coordinator Cheri Wexler (www.somethingplannedllc.com) has asked me to help out during some of the weddings she coordinates as her assistant. I just participated in my first wedding this past weekend. The wedding ceremony was held at Sam Houston Park in Downtown and the reception was at Artista in the Hobby Center.

I am so excited to be helping out for many reasons. It will help give me ideas for our wedding (instead of constantly reading www.theknot.com like I already do). I love working on events, so it gives me extra experience for my professional life. I also get to see Cheri in action behind the scenes to see what she does and how she handles things (I have been to three weddings that she coordinated as a guest). It gives me piece of mind to see how well she plans weddings and that she will be there for us on our big day. I look forward to working with her as her assistant as well as her client.

Save the Date!!

Hooray! Our save the date cards (and envelopes) are printed, stuffed and sealed. I am just waiting on the post office to send me the stamps I ordered so I can put them in the mail. The cards should be in the mail by Saturday. I didn't even need to recruit people to help with these tasks. Well, Chris had to help, but these are his cards too. If I have learned one thing in my career it is how to do a mailing as quick as possible. All of you non-profit workers know what I am talking about!

I am hoping that once I send the cards out people will actually read this blog and we will have followers!!

That's all for updates today. We hope you like the design and hope you get your cards. I just hope the addresses are all correct. If your address has changed (or changes in the next 6 months) please email me and let me know. Any emails can go to reemaandchris@gmail.com.

Oh yes, and have a Happy Valentine's Day, President's Day and Fat Tuesday. There sure is a lot going on this weekend.

Designing a Theme

Have I ever mentioned how wonderful my friend Ginger is? Well, now I have and now you know. She is one of the most talented people I have ever met. She has helped me come up with the most beautiful theme/design for our wedding that will be incorporated throughout the entire wedding. Basically, she has created a brand for our wedding.

She created her own brand for her wedding and I just loved how it all came together. From the save the dates to the cake to the ties that the men in the bridal party wore, it just looked so together and elegant.

Chris and I wanted to incorporate the two religions in our theme without looking too "religousy" (I can't think of any other way to describe it). She chose the lotus flower and the dove. The lotus in the Hindu religion represents primarily represents beauty and non-attachment. The lotus is rooted in the mud but floats on the water without becoming wet or muddy. This symbolizes how how one should live in the world in order to gain release from rebirth. The dove represents the Holy Ghost in Christianity. It is also represents peace.

You will see the image in most of our printed materials for the wedding and perhaps in a few other things. Again, can't give away all of the surprises!! Thank you Ginger for all of your help.

Engagement Pictures

Chris and I took our engagement pictures (with the help of the lovely Olivia and handsome Jason Moore) on October 3, 2010. It was a cloudy and not so hot day in Houston! Sadly, in October, us Houstonians have no clue what the weather may be like. In fact, the only months we can be for sure is June-August when we know it will be extremely hot and humid.

Our photo shoot started out at Hermann Park, a park that Chris and I both like to go out to when the weather is nice to walk around. It is near both of our jobs, but we don't get to go there as often as we like. We took pictures around most of the places people take their pictures. Over by the fountains (not the one in the middle of the circle that connects Hermann and Montrose, I wasn't feeling that adventurous that day), by the different columns that are in the park, the Japanese Gardens and the different hills that go through out the park. My favorite place was the hill by Miller Outdoor Theater and actually sitting inside the theater. I don't see as many people taking pictures there and those are special places to us. Every year on the 4th of July (except this past year) Chris and I pack up a snack, the big blue tarp and a blanket and make our way to Miller Outdoor Theater to hear the Symphony play their annual Fourth of July Concert and watch the fireworks afterward. This is a tradition we hope to continue throughout our lives together.

After the park we trekked over to Rice Village and went to Chocolate du Monde, a delicious chocolate shop in the Village. We met one of the guys who works there through a mutual friend years ago (both of these people work out at our gym) and have been going back ever since. They have the best fudge and hot chocolate I have ever had. It is a tradition for Chris and I to go there at least once a month to pick up some chocolate (though we haven't been there in a few months...don't hate us please! We are going to go next week, Chris just doesn't know it yet). We thought this would be a wonderful place for pictures because it does mean something to both of us. The shop was decorated for Halloween which is both of our favorite holiday and we are getting married in October, so it was without a doubt the perfect scene for us. Thank you to the wonderful people at Chocolate du Monde for allowing us to take pictures there!

After this excursion it was lunch time. We made our way to Two Rows for a quick lunch with our photographers and friends the Moores.

Following lunch we went to the Museum (where I work) for a costume change! Chris put on his handsome suit and I put on a dress. You will notice that Chris's tie does match my dress in these pictures! Our final stop was Jones Hall, where the Houston Symphony performs. Chris and I met working at the Symphony, so it felt right to have our pictures taken here. We didn't think we would be able to actually get into the building, but lucky for us, the security guard recognized Chris and we were able to get in!

We want to thank Olivia and Jason for taking such wonderful pictures, Chocolate du Monde for allowing us to take some pictures in their shop and the security guard who let us into Jones Hall when no one else was around.

Below are a few of the pictures from our shoot. Olivia and Jason took over 400 shots. You will each be getting one in our save the date cards and you will see more at the wedding! I can't show you all of them now, can I? :)

At Hermann Park
At the park
Smile!

Yes...I am wearing the fancy shoes!!

Sitting at Miller Outdoor Theater

See all of the Halloween Stuff??

At Jones Hall