3rd possible location!

Not to make our heads spin more, but we have a third location in mind! We love the outdoors, and gardens, so given that we are in St. Louis, it made sense for us to consider the Botanical Gardens as an option. Woohoo!! 

Save the Date! Date Change!

We have now changed our date. Change your calendars, friends and family! 

We originally scheduled our date as October 8th. Woohoo!

Then things got rolling, and as we started thinking about the details more carefully, it seemed most convenient for us to do the wedding in St. Louis.

(Note that we now have to travel four hours to St. Louis to do EVERYTHING to prepare for the wedding.)

The wedding will now be held on:

Saturday October 1, 2016. 

Anyone who knows me and has worked with me in events planning (symposium coordination, lecture series planning, installation scheduling, etc.) will know how difficult it is for me to make decisions and not stick to them. Constantly changing plans and altering decisions may, to some people, reflect favorably on that individual (indicative of flexibility, open-mindedness, adaptability, etc).  To me, given how much analysis and reflection happens before a decision is made, I am driven CRAZY when we change plans.

Good thing I withstood my natural tendency to concretize decisions (printing Save the Date cards, invitations, email blasts).

So we now are changed from October 8th to October 1st. Much easier to remember now, right? I am so sorry, family and friends, if you were originally told the 8th and now this change affects your schedule.

On the bright side, now that we're holding the wedding on the 1st and it will be in St. Louis, so many more family and friends could join us on this day!

xoxo,
frankie and hat

No "wedding party"?

We've thought long and hard about whether or not to have a traditional "wedding party."

More importantly, we wanted to make sure that the people who surround us that day (whether or not standing physically by our side or sitting down or hoisting us up on their shoulders (haha!)) were people who have been our support network, and who will continue to be our support network in our new life together.

It also felt, to me, like we had to have the whole village standing up behind us, or no one at all -- it didn't seem right to single out anyone individual or some small group. 

Who says we have to have groomsmen? Who says we have to have maids of honor? Why do we have to have just two or six or ten?

Therefore, we've decided not to have maids of honor, matrons of honor, groomsmen, bestman, etc. Following the path of having a traditional wedding party doesn't cut it for us -- because we are not a traditional family (on either side!). 

We're still planning out the details, and we're hoping to work out something different and non-traditional, and which speaks proudly of what we want to do on this special day -- to give homage to the parental units who've really supported us along the paths of life, and who have given us life in more ways than one. 

Embed from Getty Images

xoxo

frankie and hat

The Proposal: When and Where?

On Friday, July 3rd, 2015, we drove two hours north of Syracuse, NY (where I was living at the time), to get to the famed area called the "1,000 Islands". I had no idea at the time that Frankie had a plan in mind, but we first just walked around to explore -- the touristy thing to do.

The 1000 Islands International Region of Northern New York includes about 1864 islands, one of which is Heart Island, and is situated in Alexandria Bay, on the St. Lawrence riverway of the New York & Canada border. The water is so clear, and clean, that people drink it and cook with it and bathe in it -- in joyful glee.

Do you see this little house on a small little island, with the tree? Do you know this is considered one of the 1,000 islands? (Trivia: do you know the criteria that must be met for a island to be considered an island?)

I'd like to own this piece of real estate some day. (This is supposed to be the island and the house that George Boldt built for his mother-in-law!)

We stayed on Heart Island until about dusk, and caught the last ferry from the island back to the mainland. There were a lot of people on the island, but given that there are five acres of land where we could roam, we had a lot of quiet space to just enjoy and relax.

Pathway leading out from the front of Boldt Castle.

When building the castle for his wife, George Boldt commissioned for a replica of the L'Arc de Triomphe of Frane to be build on the island. In the photo below, you can see the harts perched on top of the mini-arch.

L'Arch de Triomphe

We ambled along, enjoying the cool weather. Frankie proposed while we stood inside the dovecote - which was the only space with privacy. I had no idea of the purpose for a dovecote. Do you know? Check it out on wikipedia.

Boldt Castle: Where Frankie Proposed

Frankie proposed when we were standing in the Dovecote of Boldt Castle, which is located on Heart Island in Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River (on the NY-Canada border).

The castle has a beautiful story about George Boldt who built the castle for his wife. 

The island was originally called "hart" island for the male deers that lived on the five-acre island. After George Boldt purchased the island, he ordered construction workers to blast away parts of the island to shape it into a heart. Awww. 

More stories to come.. 

Dovecote: a shelter for pigeons;

Which Airports to Fly Into?

Don't know which airport to fly into for our wedding?

If flying into the St. Louis area, you should fly into STL Lambert Int'l Airport. Airport code is STL.

Go here for the STL airport guide:

http://www.flystl.com/AirportGuide.aspx

2nd Possible Location Selected!

We continue the search for an ideal location for our day.

Second option: Lafayette Park United Methodist Church

This is located in Lafayette Park in the St. Louis area, and therefore not as far away as Kansas City. It will take us (bride and groom) about 4 hours to drive there from KCMO, but for family and friends in the STL area, the location will be much closer in proximity to residences.

For family and friends who fly into Missouri:
If we ultimately decide to have the wedding at LPUMC, you'll fly into St. Louis international airport (airport code: STL).

Stay tuned for updates!

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Please join our board on Pinterest to see ideas about the wedding (color schemes, cake designs, dress designs & colors, table settings, etc.).

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Diez-Tran Wedding Ideas

Go here: 

http://pin.it/Suh_6x2

Or here:
https://www.pinterest.com/nothingbuthat/diez-tran-wedding-ideas/ 

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Introducing Our Officiant, Rev. Marilyn Stavenger

Photo Left to Right: Marilyn Stavenger, H.Anh, Frank, JoAnn Alves;

Rev. Marilyn Stavenger (standing to HA's right) will be our officiant, marrying us on our wedding day. Marilyn has been in ministry for over 50 years, leading by example, living out her faith in joyful ways. Her vitality for life, her compassion for others, and her love for God inspire us. 

Marilyn is currently serving as a pastoral associate at Peace UCC in St. Louis, MO.

Thanks, Marilyn, for joining us and celebrating with us on this special day when Frank and I begin a new phase in our life journeys. 

Colors

There are many details in wedding planning, and one of the fun decisions we get to make is... what color should we select for our color scheme? There are plenty of ideas from the internet, but we want to select a theme or scheme that represents who we are, our likes and dislikes, etc. We don't want to select something too flashy or too gaudy; neither do we want anything boring or too mundane.

We want something non-traditional because we are not your average twenty-somethings who need to have traditional weddings; we hope to strike that balance of simple, comfortable, contemporary, and mature (no, not old or stodgy).

Help us decide how to strike that balance. Add your ideas in the comments below.

Date Selected! (not really)

Hoang-Anh's soy vanilla latte...delish!

Frankie's americano...yummm!

After much deliberation while sitting in a cute little cafe called Second Best Coffee, we finally decided on the date: Saturday, October 8th, 2016! Come rain or shine, we're tying the knot on that day.

Our ceremony will be in a beautiful setting... we hope you will join us on this very special day.

Possible Location Selected!

We both wanted to find a space that represented our love for nature, open space, and fresh air. We wanted to celebrate with family and friends in a setting that will not only be comfortable, but also inviting and rejuvenating. We've often taken walks in parks and held picnics under trees or under the bright sky -- what better way to celebrate our special day than to be surrounded by ponds, trees, and birds... not to mention a living wall. 

We hope you can join us on our special day -- and if we decide to celebrate at Powell Gardens on October 8th, guests will be able to walk the trails, explore the gardens, and visit the glass-topped conservatory. 

Check it out here: 

Powell Gardens
816-697-2600 
1609 N.W. U.S. Highway 50
Kingsville, MO 64061
Info@PowellGardens.org