Tom & Christina

Another hotel update – Country Inn has lowered their rate from $109/night to $89/night for a traditional room (king or double).  The hotel will honor this rate for those of you with existing reservations at Country Inn.

If you would like to make reservations or check on existing ones at Country Inn, please call Lisa Camp directly at (504) 342-2307.  I can also help confirm or change anything – I have the block list for both hotels.  Again, don’t hesitate to Contact Us for any questions.

A few weekends ago, my 3 sisters threw Tom and me an amazing shower in Atlanta.  Tom’s parents also flew down to join the party, so it was great to have the family together in our city.  The theme was “Around the Clock”, and a bon temps was had by all (which means “good times” in French).  The event really made us feel the oncoming of a nearing wedding.  We really felt the love from our friends in Atlanta, and are so thankful for the generous showering of gifts and time with us.  Thanks Robert Cross, Tom’s groomsman, for taking excellent photos!

4 Nguyen sisters (From left to right: Anne Perch, oldest from Houston, Veronica Dugan, third daughter from New Orleans, Cathy Roush second daughter from Tampa, Christina, youngest from Atlanta)

Tom and his parents, Tom Sr. and Kathy, from Vienna, VA

Kitchen utensils!  Exciting!

Cutting of the cake – standard protocol for all wedding-related events

Playing “shower games” after the gift opening, which involved flipping cups.  First team to flip all of their cups wins.  This definitely got the crowd going!

Southside team celebrating after a victorious win!  (From left to right: Cathy Roush, sister of bride, Steve Pinder, Best Man, Jonathan Spillman, friend of Tom & Christina’s, Catherine Fitzgerald, bridesmaid, Heather Spillman, bridesmaid, and Jeff Gardner, friend of Tom & Christina’s)

Robert Cross, Tom’s groomsman and awesome photographer

A quick update:

For Hotel Monteleone, we were able to secure four(4) rooms at a rate of $159/night.  If you are interested, contact me directly at christinanguyen@mac.com.  The first four requests received will secure a room.

For Country Inn, please call the coordinator, Lisa Camp, directly at the hotel for any inquiries (reservations, changes to reservations, etc).  Sometimes central reservations number doesn’t have all the right information.  So Lisa will be happy to help you, and she’s been very accommodating.  Her phone is (504) 342-2307.  I’ve also updated the number on the Accommodations page.

Tom and I are very sorry for any inconvenience about Monteleone.  This was definitely a surprise to us, and hopefully, this doesn’t damper your wedding experience!

We’ve heard that some of you have had trouble booking the Hotel Monteleone rate.  We didn’t anticipate the demand and are working very hard to get more rooms at our negotiated rate.

2 alternative options:
1) We still have rooms at Country Inn – a great hotel with impeccable service and only 4 blocks away from Monteleone.  It’s truly within arms reach.
2) Monteleone is still available at regular rate for $199/night.

I will keep everyone updated when I hear if/when Monteleone rooms open up at the negotiated rate.

Also, for those of you in Atlanta, Delta is offering flights from ATL to MSY between $139-$158+tax right now for flights over the weekend.  This is a great deal compared to the average fare, so take advantage while you can.

Thanks for sharing this info with us – please continue to Contact Us if you run into anything between now and the wedding.

So it turns out, Mount Rushmore was the end destination!  We took a peaceful trip to one of America’s most patriotic destinations, and did make an honest attempt to wrap a feather boa around George Washington’s neck.   It was a relaxing weekend to enjoy the quiet air and meditate about my last “single” night.

Just kidding!   My bridesmaids spoiled me with a weekend in South Beach/Miami!! Quite the opposite of what I just described.  They know my taste all too well and planned a perfect weekend that I couldn’t have planned better for myself.   There was a fair share of dancing, laughing, and wining & dining.  But the best part was having a weekend of uninterrupted time together – a rarity these days.  Thank you girls for the best weekend a bride could ever ask for.

Tom’s trip to the Dominican Republic was full of fun and festivities – I’m slowly hearing the stories from him, and  there are plenty more adventures left to tell.  A bit of surfing, whale watching, road tripping around the island, and plenty of beach time.

I can’t believe we’re 2 months away and counting.  The excitement is high, along with the stress levels!

Till next post…
Christina

Happy Mardi Gras and Happy Chinese New Year!

The New Orleans trip at the end of January was awesome – we were fortunate to catch up with our family and friends over Mardi Gras fun, and were very productive, wedding-wise.   For you all, the only decision that would probably interest you would be cake flavors :).  We couldn’t decide, so we ended up picking two flavors – chocolate peanut butter and white vanilla with fresh fruit soaked in heavenly strawberry syrup.  Yummm.

This past Valentine’s Day weekend, Tom and I had a relaxing visit to the Whites in Vienna, VA (Washington DC area),  including a fun double date to the symphony at the Kennedy Center.  We came  just in time between snow storms to enjoy the gorgeous winter wonderland – Kathy and Tom were generous enough to spare us from shoveling!  Despite the lack of groceries, gourmet chef Kathy was still able to wine and dine us with some delicious eats.

As far as website updates, check out the new Events Map that flags the event locations and hotel for the wedding weekend.  As you can see,  the area is very convenient.

This coming weekend, Tom and I will both be departing on our bachelor/bachelorette parties!! Tom will be in sunny Dominican Republic, and I will be heading to a surprise destination – my bridesmaids only gave me the time to be at the airport and a packing list!

The joke is that we’ll be visiting Mt. Rushmore in S. Dakota… or is it a joke???

Christina

We just arrived in New Orleans for our final visit before the wedding. Our agenda for this weekend is action packed- cake tasting, flower picking, rehersal dinner finalizing – you name it we are doing it, all with help of our fabulous wedding planner, Jennie Keller. We also happen to be here for one of the first parades of the Mardi Gras season on Saturday night. What a funny coincidence! 

Today also marks 100 days till the wedding. This is a perfect time to check out the Accomodations section on the website if you haven’t made your plans already.  Feel free to Contact Us if you have any questions with your travel plans.  Just a reminder, if you stay in one of the recommended hotels, a rental car is not necessary as we will provide transportation on the day of the wedding. 

Have a great weekend and I’ll be sure to catch a bead or two for everyone! 

Go Saints!
Tom

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to the year of our wedding! Last year, we got away brushing off the wedding by saying “oh it’s next year”. But now the date is rapidly approaching and is only 3 months away. Yikes! This is my first official post (i.e. Christina’s way of getting me more involved in the wedding planning)

Christina and I spent our last holidays apart as single adults. I went to Northern Virginia (NOVA) to my parents’, and Christina went down to Houston to her sister, Anne’s, place. Family time was needed this year more than ever.

For New Years, we took a vacation to Whistler, Canada with Steve Pinder, best man, and his wife Anna. Groomsman, William Youngk, drove up from Seattle and joined us. The ski park was awesome – including a one-of-a-kind Peak 2 Peak gondola that went between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. There was a ton of Olympic buzz, Canadians, and Canadian beer to go around. With skiing being one of her favorite sports, Christina had the opportunity to ski down one of the Olympic runs. So when you’re watching the Winter Olympics in a few weeks remember that she dominated those slopes…with maybe a fall here or there.

A critical wedding update: we have finally chosen the colors for the wedding. Christina has been battling with this decision since the day of our engagement. Because of my keen fashion and color sense, I took on this challenge using my previous experience in determining trend colors for some of the leading retailers. I had to break out my spectrophotometer to make sure the colors matched perfectly.

Totally kidding. Christina chose the colors and I get the privilege to blog about it. Aren’t they beautiful and match the vintage theme perfectly?

Left to Right: 1) Faint Moss Green 2)  Champagne 3)  Barely Peach

Coming soon – updates to the site on location attractions, area map, and highlights from our couples retreat. Yes, we talked about feelings…with other couples.

Tom

This past fall, Tom and I had the pleasure of working with Melissa Witcher for our engagement photos.  As you can tell from just a few pictures, she has an amazing eye to capture fantastic shots and even better, a knack for editing her photos to refine and capture the mood and tone.  We really wanted a timeless look to match our vintage theme.  Starting to see a pattern?   Melissa was absolutely great to work with – even helping us pick out the perfect location at Kennesaw Mountain Park.

Check her work out at www.melissawitcher.com for commercial and www.melissawitcher.com/wedding for  wedding.  Thanks Melissa!