Christina and Christopher
April 24, 2004
St. Louis, Missouri

Photography by Chris Croy Photography

See a clip from the video by Video Vantages. Windows Media Format: low resolution (3 MB) or high resolution (10 MB).

ABOUT THE BRIDE: Christina grew up in High Ridge, Missouri. She attended Ranken Tech. where she received her degree in Architecture. She is an Architectural Designer/Project Architect for a firm in Buffalo, New York and lives in Hamburg, New York, where she and Christopher own a beautiful home.

ABOUT THE GROOM: Christopher grew up in Hamburg, New York. He attended University of Buffalo, where he received his degrees in Architecture and Computer Science. He is a Computer Engineer and works for IBM in Buffalo, New York.

HOW WE MET: I was 23 years old and considering going back to school for Architecture. So late one night when I couldn't sleep I got on the computer to look into schools and to see if there was anyone out there who was attending school for Architecture. Long story short, I saw Christopher's profile, so I decided to talk to him. We became great friends and talked almost every night. After about six months of talking we decided to meet in person. Knowing that I would never want a long distance relationship we met with no expectations of getting involved but just for us to meet the wonderful persons that we had become so close to over the past months. Christopher came to St. Louis to spend the weekend with me, and on the last night he was in town we both couldn't help but hate the idea of him going back to Buffalo. We realized that there was more than just friendship. Christopher asked me if I would consider traveling back and forth to see if our relationship could go any further, and there was no question that he was worth taking that chance. So after about seven months of traveling back and forth we decided that we needed to take a bigger step if we wanted this to go anywhere serious. So I took the big step and moved to Buffalo. And in 2002 Christopher asked me to marry him and the rest is history.

ENGAGEMENT: It was in the middle of the week on a hot and humid day. I was miserably hot sitting in my t-shirt and shorts in front of the fan. Christopher suggested that we go to the hill top of Chestnut Ridge to catch the cool breezes off the lake. I agreed so we went there just in time for the sun to set on the lake. After a typical rendition of who loves who most, Christopher gets down on one knee and tell me he loves me more because he wants me to be his wife. Then he pulls this ring out of his pocket, and asks me to be his wife.

PLANNING: With my love for architecture, we knew right away that we had to have it at the World's Fair Pavilion. And we knew we wanted a spring wedding. With many trips back and forth from Buffalo to St. Louis and the patience and help from my family and friends, we were able to pull together a wedding that one could only dream of. Regardless of the rain.

ATTIRE: With the wedding being at an old historical place and the centennial celebration of the 1904 World's Fair, we knew we wanted a wedding with sophistication and beauty. I went with an ivory gown which I found immediately. The colors of the wedding party were rich and classical and the wine color went perfect with the surrounding colors. The men wore three button tuxedos with traditional vest and tie. It was all perfect.

THE CEREMONY: It was very emotional when I arrived and saw everything come together, even more beautiful then I could have imagined. The ceremony was held inside the pavilion which made it very intimate with only 100 guests. Michael, my brother, married us, making it that more special. My aunt did a special surprise by having full stemmed roses tossed out on the aisle as I walked down with my father.

THE RECEPTION: Our reception followed directly after the ceremony at the pavilion. With having guests from out of town our mission was to make it unforgettable and worry free. So we extended our reception by two hours and we had a limo taking everyone back to their hotels. Even with all the rain and wind, 90% of our guests stayed for this memorable evening with us. We ended our evening at the bottom of the hill by the fountain. It was very magical, with the pavilion lit up behind us and the rain coming down.

VENDORS WE USED:

Photography - Chris Croy Photography
Videographer- Video Vantages
Flowers - Russels Florist
Cake - Sugaree Baking Company
Wedding/Reception - World's Fair Pavilion

If you have questions or comments for Christina and Christopher please e-mail them.