Ceremony Site: Japanese Garden in the Missouri Botanical Gardens

These two photos were taken at the Japanese Garden of the Missouri Botanical Gardens this past Monday. For March, this is incredibly beautiful weather, with blue skies and white blossoms.

This will be the location of our wedding ceremony in September, and we hope it will be beautiful in a different sort of way.

Address:
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 577-5100

Click HERE to visit the Gardens website.

Click HERE to get maps of the Gardens.

Click HERE for directions to the Gardens. Please note there may be construction going on, so check the website as you prepare your travel plans.

Black and Ivory with Gold Accents

We've finally decided our colors: black and ivory with gold accents.

Black because it makes everyone look slimmer and it is an easy color to find in our closets as well as in all the stores. Ivory because we want something classy, and neutral, and which would balance out the deep black. And gold because we need some shine, some gloss, to highlight the mood and bring some brightness and joy to what often can seem like a too formal, serious affair.

Despite what traditions say, we believe it is absolutely ok to be decked out in all black; if you prefer the satin-y ivory look -- that is fine, too. If you choose to wear all gold -- make sure you're in my photos so that your bling will distract from my (inevitable) shiny (oily) nose.

Most importantly: wear whatever makes you happy, and comfortable. The weather is unpredictable; it might be rainy or too hot and humid. Keep in mind that you'll want to look happy -- uncomfortable clothes and shoes will make you look unhappy. (Shoes that hurt give you that >pinched< look.)

Ladies, footwear might be an issue since we'll be outdoors and your high heels might sink into the grass at Powell Gardens.

It would be wise to have an umbrella nearby - for sun or for rain.

Rain or shine, we'll be at the Japanese Garden!

xoxo
frank and hat

Location, Location, Location

Breaking News:

The Diez-Tran wedding ceremony will be held at the Japanese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO.

This will be an outdoor ceremony overlooking the Japanese lake and footbridge.

In case of inclement weather, we have a back-up site: the Shoenberg Theatre.

However, we both would prefer not to be married in a constructed theatre building, so we encourage everyone to watch the weather forecasts and bring umbrellas.

A little rain won't hurt and might actually help cool us off!

Guests attending the wedding can stay after our ceremony to enjoy the Botanical Gardens free of charge. No parking fees; no entrance fees. You'll just need to show that you're invited to the Diez-Tran wedding.

We also will get unlimited photo-taking at all Garden sites. So, charge up your cameras and i-devices! Practice your pretty smiles!

A few notes to keep in mind:

1. No rice, flower petals, birdseed, confetti, paper or balloons may be thrown or distributed. However, you may shower us with thanks for selecting such a magnificent venue in St. Louis and not in Kansas City.

2. We'll be outdoors, so the chairs will not be as comfortable as the cushioned pews in a church setting. And ladies, your spiky heels might go right through the grass; select your footwear carefully

3. Weather in St. Louis is finicky. Watch the weather forecasts and either bring a fan to cool off or an umbrella to stay dry!

No matter the weather and no matter the setting, we are happy to have this special day under the sun to celebrate among family and friends.

xoxo,
frankie and hat

(These photo images below were not taken by us, but if/when we get a chance to get photos taken there, we'll update.) 

Date Settled! September 24, 2016

Date selected.

Change date. 

New date selected. 

Changed date. 

Third try at fixing a date...why is it so hard?

Three time's a charm. 

We are thrilled to announce that we finally have a date confirmed. 

Saturday, September 24, 2016. 11:00am. 

Mark your calendars!!

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