We are Travis and Tina. We're planning our low-key urban wedding. These are our tales as we coordinate our celebration.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Lookin' Good


Last weekend, Travis and I braved the downpour to go suit shopping. We decided that it's good for him to have a suit on hand in general and he'll also use it for the wedding.
We went to J. Crew downtown and took some time checking out the different suit styles, fabrics and colors of suits. We also did some online research the night before. J. Crew has a really great feature on their website that not only shows their suits, but has a video of models walking around in the suits. It really helped us understand the nuances between the suits. We were pretty much sold on the Ludlow.

Anyway, when we got to J. Crew the staff was super helpful in selecting the right style. We had to use a little imagination because they didn't have the exact color/sizing Travis wanted on hand. After much trying on and some needed input/education from the saleswoman about fabrics/suit-sizing, we went with the Ludlow in charcoal. Travis purchased the jacket, vest and pants via the catalog so we didn't actually get to walk out with the threads.

When he got home last night, Travis had already received the full suit in the mail! My best friend Leila was over so we demanded an on-the-spot preview. Leila works in planning in menswear at The Gap and, while I was pleased with the suit, we got her expert stamp of approval as well. Travis looked great. I can't wait to see him all dressed up on the Big Day!

Friday, February 18, 2011

How We Met

Travis
Above: One of my first photos of Travis when we met in Ojai.

Travis and I met on a weekend trip that 5 folks from our bike club, Mission Cycling, took down to Ojai, CA. We split up into two cars -- five bikes and two people in one and the other three in the other. Travis and I were in the second car -- a rental our friend Ryan drove.

None of us really knew each other and over the course of the 6 hour drive and weekend, the five us quickly bonded. Quintin and I tackled the double metric (123 miles) and Rachel, Ryan and Travis took on the century (100 miles) ride.

I was immediately drawn to Travis. He was humble, funny and cute. By the end of the weekend I realized he was like a real life Michael Cera. He not only impressed with his cycling skills, but he rocked the billiard table and dominoes. A real catch!

We hit it off shortly after the weekend, but Ojai is where our sparks first sparked. That's why one of our wedding colors is "Ojai orange" which I have declared a tangerine color.

I recently dug up the blog entry Ryan wrote up about our weekend for our club blog. There are some lost photo links and wacky formatting, but it's fun to look back and remember the weekend we met.

Friday, February 11, 2011

TnT Featured in SF Gate & Mission Cycling Blog

Our dear friend, Regina, freelances for our local paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, on articles relating to cycling culture in San Francisco.

Recently she had a call out to friends looking for bike date recommendations. I wrote her immediately since Travis and I love going for short and long bike dates. She asked us to share a story about our favorite bike date. No brainer -- a 100 mile ride to Petaluma and back that involves countryside, turkey sandwiches, riding past llamas and hanging out together.

Fast forward a few weeks. The article hit SF Gate yesterday!

Crissy Field Fleet Week

And then our bike club, Mission Cycling, posted about our story on SF Gate. Totally meta.

Turns out the article isn't about bike dates, but more about how people fell in love on/through/by bikes. Which is fine cuz bike love is awesome. <3 <3 <3

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

TBRC

Travis and I had talked a little bit about whether or not I would change my last name to Crawford, but since it was more of an abstract question before he proposed, I didn't give it much thought. I always said, "Probably" and we left it at that.

Once he proposed, though, the question was much more real -- and it wasn't so easy to answer.

Luckily, traveling for work a few weeks ago, I had an idea on what we should do. I was snoozing/daydreaming as the plane was landing and suddenly decided that we should both change our names.

It seems strange to me that only one person gains a name. In fact, we're both committing to each other forever so we should both show some finality in that through our names.

As soon as the plane touched down, I texted Travis:

Tina: I have a great solution to our last name change thing.

Travis: Oh? The suspense is killing me :)

Tina: I think you should add Reid to your middle name -- Travis Bryant Reid Crawford -- and then I'd add Crawford and make Reid my middle name -- Kristina Brooks Reid Crawford. What do you think? I like it!

Travis: It's like we're Spanish!

Tina: Really? I'm not familiar with that!

Travis: They have two last names. It sounds reasonable. Come up with it on your own?

Tina: Yeah, snoozing on the plane.

Travis: Thinking + snoozing

So, there you have it. We've come up with a reasonable solution. We're both gaining families, so we'll reflect it in our names! I'm thrilled to welcome Travis to the Reid clan and thrilled to join the Crawford family. It's a little untraditional, but feels totally right for us.

Plus, as an added bonus, we'll have the same initials: TBRC!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

One More Week


Did you know that Anthropologie is launching a new wedding line, BHLDN, on February 14? I'm so interested to learn and see more!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Hunting Down a Venue & Setting a Date

So in the last couple of weeks we've made some significant progress in our planning.

We found a venue!

We're sorta having a two-day wedding. On Friday we're getting hitched at City Hall in a private family-only ceremony followed by dinner at our favorite pizza spot. That was a no-brainer and will be relatively straightforward to execute. On Saturday, we're hosting a bike ride and then an afternoon party with friends (cyclists and non) and family. This was where we got stuck. Obviously we weren't going the formal route. We'll have sweaty folks in spandex for goodness sakes! We also wanted the cost to be reasonable. Not such an easy task. Finding a venue to accommodate our casual gathering was tricky.

Parks/Gardens: We need an indoor and outdoor space since (despite weather everywhere else) weather in San Francisco in July can be cold and miserable. So that scratched our plans for a nice BBQ/picnic in Golden Gate Park.

Local Diner: Restaurants have awkward hours and to buy out a place on a Saturday afternoon/evening would break the bank. Believe me, I looked around!

Rental halls, Rooms, Clubs: I suppose there is such a demand in the city for a wedding venue that the base cost of a rental (not including catering, labor, preferred lists, decor, etc.) can be well over $2500 and that's considered a deal. We did consider it for a moment. However, once I realized venues were coupled with preferred caterers, bartenders, etc., I realized the types of reception hosted at these venues aren't aligned with our casual laid-back version. No regatta 3-course menus or lighting design for us.

Vacation/House Rental: After a minor breakdown, my sister created a comprehensive list of possible rentals in San Francisco big enough for the gathering from VRBO.com. She typed up a document and then my mom, sister and I divided and -- ultimately -- conquered! we contacted about 15 rental owners. Some rentals weren't available, others couldn't accommodate up to 100 guests for an event and others were OK with it -- as long as we forked over $20 per person - which would mean paying close to what a hall or club rental would cost (see above).

Anyway, we finally found a lovely property in nearby Noe Valley. There is one flat fee for the event, plus a nightly fee for 3 nights and the house can accommodate up to 100 people. Score! Travis and I took a look at the place and it feels right -- casual, comfortable and budget-reasonable. The plan is my immediate family will stay the weekend of the wedding and we'll also host our party on Saturday afternoon.



Pros: Quiet neighborhood, accessible to many cute restaurants, grocery and retail stores, near public transportation, beautiful home, great view of neighborhood, modern/fresh decor, flowing, open main floor, cute deck and tiered lawn built into hillside backyard, space for bicycles, friendly owner who will let us use his additional tables and chairs free of charge.

Cons: 58 steps to enter house. Yep. It's built into a hill so we'll have to charge right on up the steps to get inside. We'll have to take extra care with Travis' grandparents. Catering/additional decor may also be tricky with multiple trips up and down from the street to house.





We also managed to line up the property rental with an open date for our hour-long ceremony at City Hall. We signed both contracts which means -- we have a date! Travis and I are getting hitched July 22, 2011.

So we have some major checkboxes checked. I'm still trying to figure out what to do next! I think this weekend we're tackling the final guest lists for the ceremony, bike ride and post-ride gathering. I also hope to create a skeleton timeline so I can make sure we're not letting anything slip through the cracks.