Below is a sampling of pictures but the full set can be viewed on Flickr or Facebook. If you want to order a copy of any of the photos for yourself, our photographer has set-up a site where you can do that.

Kristina and I both were so happy to just hang out and have a blast with our friends and family before the big day. The gathering wasn’t just a place for everyone to mingle, it was also a good practice run to make sure I could stream the wedding live. It looks like everything worked just fine. In case you missed it, embedded below is the entire 3+ hour live stream that I recorded from the BBQ (check out the 2:52:00 mark!)

If you want to tune in to the live stream of the ceremony, just head to our homepage around 5pm, May 29th.

We took photos at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station, Book Hill Park, and along the streets in Georgetown, DC. Kristina spotted a big, green chair on her way to work and thought that would make a terrific spot for our engagement shoot.

The photos came out great and working with Joe, our photographer, and his assistant, Adam, was a pleasure.

Below are a few of our favorite photos from the session.

After most of our friends and family arrived we started the afternoon with lunch. There was Red Hot & Blue BBQ, hot dogs, purple potato salad and other homemade dishes. The bridesmaids got the featured cakes (a strawberry shortcake and a red velvet cake) from Desserts By Gerard and friends and family brought other yummy desserts. The bridesmaids announced to the guests to try to take the “Russell and Kristina Trivia Quiz” while eating lunch. I had some guests try to ask me questions off of the quiz and I almost unsuspectingly answered them. I caught myself however and avoided giving them the answers (how sly of them).

After lunch we moved on to another shower game called “The Soon-to-be Newlywed” Game, which involved Russell and I sitting back to back in the center of room with our own dry erase board and marker. My Maid of Honor, Jeanette, asked us questions to see how well we knew each other and then she turned the questions over to our guests. I just kept thinking, “No matter the outcome or the score, we are still getting married!” I think we fared pretty well. We have so much history (9 years to be exact) that it was hard to recall the details of our first date!

The next game the bridesmaids planned was the toilet paper bride game … with a twist! Since it was a co-ed wedding shower, the men were included in the game as well. The guests were divided into groups with each group getting black crepe paper and white toilet paper. Their job was to pick two people in the group, a “bride” and a “groom”, who were to be outfitted with a gown and a tuxedo made entirely from the materials. It was hilarious seeing everyone trying to create their best paper outfits. The results were fantastic given the constraints but I don’t think we will be contracting anyone to be our outfit designers for the wedding day! Here is the winning couple …

After all of that fun, we continued the night with some awesome line dancing! I had the best time and some of our guests got a sneak peek into the line dances that will be played at our wedding. Before the guests left there was a “Well Wishes” bird-cage, where they would leave words of wisdom or happy thoughts for us. Also, there was a candy bar for guests to fill small Chinese-takeout boxes to take home as their favor. The candy bar consisted of purple Mike & Ikes, purple yam (Ube) gummies, green watermelon jelly beans, green M&M’s, green apple gummy rings, and white candy covered chocolates. The candy bar was displayed in elegant apothecary jars and the Chinese boxes stacked next to it with little “R & K” logo stickers on them.

The whole day was so much fun and time just flew by. It’s scary to think that our wedding day will seem to go by even quicker. It was wonderful to see all of our family and friends come out and make our wedding shower truly memorable.

This is just half of the dresses they brought to the event at The Westin Hotel in Arlington, VA.

This is my Mom getting my dress, veil and tiara! The man in the back is putting my dress in the protective cover! NO peeking!

I got my wedding dress and we helped Brides Against Breast Cancer! ( From Left to Right: Me, my Mom and Dad)

Speaking with Joe, the owner of JPG, on the phone sealed the deal as he was very easy to talk with. His fly-on-the-wall documentary style and vision aligned with our idea for the perfect photographer. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who see the excellence that Joe can bring to an event.

Below are some of our favorite shots from JPG’s Blog:

P.S. We tried to get this guy but his schedule was a bit tight.

A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids

For example, “A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids” is a super-cute animated video created by the Vancouver Film School. The video does a wonderful job at describing the duties and experiences of a typical bridesmaids and also describing the origins of bridesmaids in different cultures.  “A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids” video is sponsored by The Dessy Group, an online store for bridesmaid clothing and bridal dresses.

Being Erica

The second video I have to share is from a bridesmaids point of view and how she feels about the planning and dress shopping process. The women in it is from the Canadian show Being Erica, and as a way to advertise the show they created a prequel where she video blogs. Most of her entries are hilarious but this one in particular is funny because I hope my bridesmaids never feel like this.

Even though it is a Canadian Show, Russell was able to download episodes for me.  Or you can catch the show on SoapNet in the United States.

I hope you enjoyed these fun online videos about bridesmaids!

My bridesmaids have known before I got engaged that they would be in my wedding, duh! they are my best friends and I hang out with them all the time.  These wonderful & beautiful girls have become my closest friends ever since being my roommates in college.

Even though they know they are in the wedding, I have waited until now to “ask” them to be my bridesmaids.  If you are getting married and have read any wedding magazines or browsed theknot.com, brides are now formally asking their friends “will you be my bridesmaid?” and giving little gifts to commemorate the occasion.   I think this is a great idea! There is a lot of commitment on the bridesmaid part: from planning and going to pre-wedding functions, paying for a dress, as well as being a big supporter to the bride. I also love the idea of presenting them with a token of appreciation before all the madness takes over as it gets closer to my wedding day.

I have been waiting until May to have a get-together type luncheon with all of the girls so I can formally kick off the process. I tried to think of a cute restaurant to have this Bridesmaid Luncheon and I came up with Mrs. K’s Tollhouse Resturant in Silver Spring, MD. I am hoping the weather is good because they have a beautiful garden in back to take pictures. Then after the luncheon we are all going to go over to the Strathmore Music Center to show them the venue. All of the girls have not seen Strathmore and showing them where the ceremony will take place, cocktail hour and the reception area is vital in order for them to picture the day.  This will also help when I will need to plan and pick decor and get their opinion if it will go or look good in the venue.

The Luncheon is planned for Saturday May 2nd, 2009! I am super excited that all of them can make it.  If you know me I love to craft and do hands on projects so this was a great excuse to make my own invitations (pictured below).  I found these “Petal” cards in the clearance section of Paper Source in Georgetown.  The cards were a plain pink inside so I added everything from the ribbon, pink and green paper, paper flowers and gems from past craft projects. I think they turned out amazing and  Russell and I are thinking of incorporating a “Petal” packaging for our wedding invitations. This is how they turned out:

I am going to write another blog post discussing how the day went and to reveal some of my surprises! Shhh I can’t say now because I don’t want my bridesmaids to find out until our luncheon on May 2nd!  Stay tuned.

I wanted to make it “blog official” and tell everyone that we have set a wedding date and found the perfect place.  I went with my parents back in January to sign the contracts but forgot to update it on our blog.  Back in January, we had our fair share of hard times in securing the place on the right date, but when we finally did it turned out to be great.  We originally were thinking March, but now the wedding is in late May. The weather will be beautiful and the flowers will be blooming as well as the trees will be green for an outdoor ceremony.  Also May 29th is Memorial Day weekend, which I think is a good thing. We will have a lot of people from out of town coming in and this way they can make the wedding weekend into a long weekend.  We will just have to inform everyone early (by word of mouth, this blog, save-the-dates and invitations) so plans don’t collide.

Some of the “pros” of having our wedding at the Strathmore Music Center:

• Metro accessible, from Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station
• Free parking with a covered sky bridge to Center
• Located right off of the Beltway
• Great location close to Washington, D.C.
• The place is gorgeous, modern yet classical appeal (View the pictures below)
• Soaring 65 foot high glass wall and tall ceilings give an open and airy feeling for the reception
• Terrace for the ceremony overlooks an 11-acre site of greenery
• Inside and outside options for ceremony, just in case of rain I will have a beautiful “plan B”
• Offers catering with on-site chefs and kitchens
• Enough space for a separate cocktail hour
• Striking built-in bars with granite counter tops
• Bridal Party Suite/Dressing Room: large enough for the people who perform there

We think Strathmore Music Center is so beautiful inside and out. We know this place will provide gorgeous backdrops to our photos and decor.  Below are some stunning photos of the Center which don’t give it half the credit of seeing it in person!  With all the visits I have taken to the Strathmore Music Center I have not seen it laid out for a wedding yet with tables and a dance floor. We asked the Catering Director when the next wedding is taking place and if we could drop by for a couple of minutes before the wedding to check it out. He said yes and we going to visit it on May 23rd of this year!  Which is perfect because it will be within the same time frame as our wedding next year.  It will give us an idea of the weather, the timing of the sunset for pictures, when to start the wedding, and especially the look of the foliage around the Strathmore Music Center.

Strathmore Music Center

Sculpture Patio (For Cocktail Hour)

Covered Sky Bridge from Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station

Gazebo in front of The Strathmore Mansion

The Reception Space with a gorgeous built-in Bar

View from opposite side of Reception Space