Kevin & Reina are getting married!

Hey family & friends! Invitations went out on Saturday and I’ve been hearing that people started getting them today! Whoo, US Postal Service!

This website is a place for us to post information for your convenience, should you find yourself available to attend only the best wedding that shall ever occur. Basically it means we’ll be posting useful things like don’t wear stilettos to the reception, reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Express or at the Hilton Garden Inn (both in Kent Island), and find our registries at Crate & Barrel or Amazon.

Oh, and that we’re really excited for the wedding!

Another time-saving hint: you can RSVP by emailing us at rsvp@kevinandreina.com. Simple! Cousin Lauren did it and it was all sorts of exciting!

Our photographer Karena finished up our engagement shoot – they’re all up online now. They turned out beautifully and we can’t wait for her to shoot our wedding!!!

We just got a sneak peek at our engagement shoot with Karena from Second Star Photography and we couldn’t be happier! Karena has a really great eye for a wonderful shot so we’re so glad we chose her!

This one is my favourite:

Check out the sneak preview here on Facebook! And while you’re at it, become their Fan!

We finally got around to doing our registry! We went to Crate & Barrel in the Annapolis Mall and it was fun! We got a cool little scanner and went kind of crazy. The great part is that after the wedding, C&B gives you a 10% discount off everything on your registry that no one bought you. There were a few things we didn’t find at C&B (or they only offered it at too high a price point, like the pots and pans) so we’re filling everything else in at Amazon. Amazon’s registry is great because they give you a Universal Registry button that you can use on any online store, and it’ll be incorporated into your Amazon registry. So there are a few items from Thinkgeek, Kevin’s favourite store.

What am I most excited for? DEFINITELY the KitchenAid mixer!

If you’re feeling generous………

Crate & Barrel

Amazon

After much scurrying around trying to get addresses for everyone, we finally sent out Save the Dates! I designed them myself, and I must say, they turned out fabulous!

(front)

(back)

Also, for you out-of-towners who are making plans now… make sure you contact one of us to get the block discount for the hotel!

As anyone who follows my main blog probably knows, Reina and I finalized our honeymoon plans (we’re going to Montreal) and got everything set a couple weeks ago.

I posted a request for ideas on things to do while we’re there, both on my blog and on Reddit and was floored by the response. By far I’d say the top suggestion involved…bedroom activities. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that was a given.

In the more helpful vein of suggestions, these were some either multiple people referred to or that sound particularly cool:

• Visit Old Montral
• St. Joseph’s Oratory
• Biking on the Lachine Canal
• Rooftop bar on the Hotel de la Montagne
• The Botanical Gardens and the Biodome
• Food, especially, poutine. Also multiple people have recommended getting smoked meat at Schwartz’s and bagels at Fairmont Bagel

Besides these ones, are there any that you would particularly recommend?

So when I graduated from college I thought I’d never have another spring break again. Lucky me, I became a teacher and still enjoy the same holidays as students! (Unfortunately I suddenly become poor again during the summer.) But I took the opportunity to go to Maryland and get some wedding planning done. Kevin’s mom was tons of help since she knows just about everyone worth knowing in the area, so she was able to recommend and even set up appointments for me with all the right people.

Soooo this is what I got done in the span of a week:

• Finalized guest list (final count: 155)
• Met with (third) photographer, still trying to decide
• Met and hired a wedding planner for day-of services
• Final cake tasting, decided on flavours (it’ll be a surprise!)
• Decided on flowers (casablanca lilies and green cymbidium orchids)
• Had second pre-cana session with Father Jennings (one more to go)
• Designed and ordered Save the Dates
• Compiled list of addresses (still need 27 addresses!)

So if you’re reading this and haven’t given me your address yet… fill this out!

Ok so things are starting to move fast!

Kevin & I had a cake testing appointment and we designed our cake! We have another appointment in March to figure out flavours and such but for the most part it’s a done deal. We went to Peace of Cake, a sweet little pastry shop in Stevensville. Kim was super helpful and we’re really excited! I won’t describe it – I’ll just let it be a surprise because it’s going to be AWESOME!

We met with a photographer (Kevin’s meeting another this week) so we’ll be deciding on that soon. Basically our main demands are: rights to publish (we want to put them on Facebook, obviously!) and their guarantee to stay the whole time. When I was researching photographers I noticed a lot were charging premium for release rights, and some also stay for only 6 or 8 hours. We’re starting at 2PM (and we’ll want them there before the ceremony anyway) so 6 hours might not cut it. And price is a factor too, obviously. We’re not made of money!

Speaking of money, OH MY GOD invitations cost a lot! Doing research I’ve seen some prices at around $2000 for 100 invitations! No. Way. I mean, letterpress looks pretty amazing but I couldn’t spend that much on invitations alone. I’m looking to spend around $500-$700 on the cost of invitations (including RSVPs and Save the Dates) plus programs, so it’s a tall order but I like the challenge of designing something chic on a budget.

We also decided on our honeymoon – we’re going to Montreal! If anyone’s ever been there, we’d love suggestions for things to see/do.

That’s all for now! I’m spending spring break (I know, I love teaching because I still get the same holidays) in Maryland so we’re getting some more stuff done.

Now that we’re in 2010 it’s starting to feel like the wedding is really just around the corner! We’ve met with our priest and have decided on Saturday, August 14, 2010 as our wedding date, and we’ll be getting married at St. Christopher’s Church (Kevin’s family’s parish) in Chester, Maryland. That puts us at a little over 7 months to go!

As far as planning goes, we’ve started to make some decisions about what sort of reception we’ll have and everything but have yet to meet with caterers and florists, etc. Ugh.

Good news though, I’ve bought my wedding dress! I went to David’s Bridal and found exactly what I wanted. In fact I went there knowing what dress I wanted from the website, and the woman told me to try several dresses on but I already knew which was The One. I wish I could post pictures but I can’t because I know Kevin will be naughty and look, even if I tell him not to.

Stay tuned! I set up email accounts for us to use exclusively for wedding planning so expect to see lots of web-planning. I think I want to try to find a way to have people RSVP via email if it’s easier for them.

reina [at] kevinandreina [dot] com

kevin [at] kevinandreina [dot] com

rsvp [at] kevinandreina [dot] com

So I’ve finally started dress shopping! I was starting to get worried because I SWEAR, everyone who finds out I’m getting married invariably asks whether I’ve looked at dresses yet. And theknot.com isn’t helping by emailing me literally every day asking if I’ve put down a month’s worth of paychecks on several yards of satiny fabric. But I finally got properly excited for dress shopping when I dropped by a boutique and tried several dresses on. It was fun! And I think I know what sort of dress I’m really looking for now.