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Thank you for visiting our wedding site. Here you'll find information about our wedding and about us, our family, and our friends, who will help us with the wedding.

We're very excited to announce that we have finally picked a date for our wedding - March 21st, 2009. We hope to have our family and friends together to celebrate our special day with us. We decided to make a website to share our wedding details with our out-of-town family and friends. Since most of Uyen's family is in Vietnam, we thought it would be a good way to show them what we are doing and hope to make them feel like they are at the wedding.

There are many things you can do with the website. You can suggest a song that you would like to hear at the reception, and RSVP online to save you a trip to the post office ;) We hope you come back often for updates and other fun details that we will be sharing with you.

About the bride:

I was born in Vietnam and am the younger of two girls. My parents always wanted to give us the best environment to grow up in, therefore we traveled quite a bit when I was growing up. We went to Hong Kong when I was seven and lived in a refugee camp with hopes that they would give us a chance to go to America. I loved it there because I got to hang out with my friends every day. Everybody lived right next to one another and I couldn't ask for a better place to grow up.

We moved back to Vietnam after living in Hong Kong for five years. Life was hard because I had to get used to a new environment full of traditions that I didn't know. After two years of hard work and getting to know new friends I had to move again, but this time to our final destination - America.

I came here when I first started high school. It was pretty hard since I didn't know how to speak English, but it was all for the best. I graduated college with a few Associate Degrees and a Bachelor's Degree in Arts and Technology. I'm thankful to my parents for bringing me here to give me a chance at a better life. They taught me to work hard to earn things I want in life.

About the Groom

I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could! At the tender age of 7 months, I moved from South Carolina to Texas where I lived in the same room in the same house for 18 years. Family life was great with lots of family trips and game nights.

After high school, I attended Texas A&M University for two years. HOWDY! It was a tremendous experience and a school like none other. I was there when Bonfire fell. It was a night I'll never forget - the death of a tradition. I had never seen traditions mean so much to so many. A&M was a wonderful experience, which I will always cherish.

I then attended a community college in Dallas where I met Uyen. After that, we moved on to UTD where she graduated and I'm about to graduate. It's taken me a while to get through school, but I have a combined 18 years of work experience at three different jobs. At one point I was working at all three of these jobs at the same time!

How we met:

We took Advanced Java Programming class together with Ron's brother, Rick. At first, I met Rick and became friends with him. Rick invited me to go out to eat with him and some friends. Ron came along with Rick and we became friends too. Rick and I studied with each other and I would go to Ron and Rick's apartment to hang out. After awhile we all became really good friends and we often carpooled to school together.

After knowing each other for a few months Ron finally got the nerve to ask me out on a date. After a few nerdy trips to Best Buy to wait for the Star Wars Trilogy DVD release and others, we became a couple.

We are quite a laid back couple. We don't go out very much - we just pretty much stay at home and enjoy each other's company. Since we both were in school, we didn't have time to go out much. We spent a lot of time studying and helping each other out when we had problems in school. We had several late nights with Physics (Electricity and Magnetism) (seriously!).

We like to hang out with our friends, but enjoy our time separately as well. We like family activities and try to spend as much time as we can visiting our families.

The proposal

We decided to approach more of a modern way of getting engaged. Most couples know whether they'll get engaged so why hide the fact! We decided to shop for a ring together. Ron cannot remember jewelry details ;) I don't wear a lot of jewelry so I wanted to make sure the one piece of jewelry I'll wear isn't something I hate. We didn't want to get into a situation where the girl hates the jewelry and couldn't tell the guy because he's sweet enough to pick it out. So we compromised and picked one out together.

We went to several jewelers in the mall and around town but since my hand is so small we couldn't find anything that looked right. I found a store called Robbins Brothers while listening to their radio ad. We went and took a look at a few rings and there was one ring that stood out. The lady told us that ring was the last one they had and another couple had looked at it before us. We ended up going home without purchasing the ring. A couple weeks later, I went to the store to show my best friend the ring and they told me they sold the ring. I was very broken-hearted and called Ron. I was very upset with him because he's known for being slow for everything :(

I decided that I would find a substitute (ring, not boyfriend!). We went to Diamond Doctor and found a similar ring and this time I made Ron put down a deposit since he messed up last time. Now Ron had a HUGE decision to make since he had secretly bought the ring from Robbins Brothers ;) That’s why they had "already sold it" (they couldn't tell me that Ron was the one who bought it!). Because I liked the second ring so much he had to spill the beans and ask me which one I liked best (even though he was pretty sure the first one was the winner he didn't want to really screw up) and he was right, so he had to return the second ring the very next day after buying it! We then went back to Robbins Brothers and picked out the center stone for the ring.

So now Ron had the ring, but I had to suffer for an unknown length of time until he proposed so I could start wearing my ring :( One day I came home from work and saw a trail of Hershey’s Kisses on the floor leading to the bathroom. When I walked in there were rose petals in the bathtub full of bubbles and on the wall it read "I kissed the ground you walked on and showered you with flowers, will you marry me?" Of course, being oblivious as I am, I didn't see the writing on the wall until after I turned around and saw him on his knee with the ring. Of course I said yes!

The Wedding party:

Allison – Maid of Honor
This is my only sister - she's also my best friend. Since we're only one year apart, we are very close. We did grow apart when we were growing up but we put a lot of our differences aside and sisters will always be sisters. She is one of the nicest people I know. Not only is she an awesome sister, she's an awesome cook as well. I'm always her tester for desserts or new dishes that she learns. She's always very modest but I think she is very creative and smart. She taught me a lot of art and craft skills that I still enjoy doing. She also makes me a nicer person that I resist to be.

Lynsey - Bridesmaid
I've known Lynsey for a long time now and we've been through a lot together. We met when we were working together. We were still in school at that point, so we had a lot in common. I trust her a lot because I know that she will always have my back no matter what. She's a lot of fun to hang around and always tells me her honest opinion. She's one of the people that loves to share and is always willing to help anybody. We had a great time working together and have been friends since then. Even though we don't work together anymore we still remain close. It's hard to find somebody who's so cool and understands me well and I'm glad that I met her.

Glen – Best Man
I met Glen at work. Star Trek brought us together. All of the engineering team liked Star Trek and he invited me over to watch Voyager one day. I thought, "why not?" And that's where it all started. Nine years later, there's no more Star Trek on TV, but that hasn't mattered. We still get together every couple weeks to party. He (and his family) has grown on Uyen too! We're like one big extended family :)

Rick – Groomsman
My one and only brother. Rick's a year younger than me, but since the age of 5 or so he's always been taller. He spent 5 years in the Navy, which included a year in Greece. We are very different people, but get along decently. He's a good guy.

The wedding:

After a few months of looking at different venues we decided to go with Chestnut Square in McKinney, located at 315 S Chestnut St., McKinney, TX 75069. We both like the vintage feel of things so we want to share a piece of history with you. We will be getting married in the garden (if the weather holds up).

The garden is filled with Wisteria vines (one of Uyen's favorite flowers) on both sides of the entrance to the center aisle. It's a small and cozy, charming little garden. If crazy Texas weather throws us a fit then we can certainly move inside the chapel. Make sure you attend the ceremony. We promise not to bore you with the lengthy formal stuff.

While we take pictures after the ceremony, we hope to entertain you with a tour around the place. There are different houses to see and we hope you have a great time :)

The Reception:

We will have the reception at the same place as the ceremony to save you some time from scrambling around to get to a new location. For those who aren't good with directions...no worries...all the fun will be in one place! All you need to do is walk fifty feet and you'll get to the reception :)

We love the pergola outside so we hope to have it out there, but if you're not much of an outdoorsy type then have fun inside the old charming Bevel house. We will spend time in both places. Since it's in March make sure you bring a light jacket in case you want to sit outside for a little bit. (You never know what Texas weather will be like.)

Since the place doesn't allow smoking (it's an official historic site) we ask you to help us out and to not smoke around the site. If you can't hold up then we will offer a smoking area away from the main area. The DJ will help you find the place.

We will have a very laid back reception since we both are very conservative. There will be plenty of music for dancing if you should feel the itch. Although we aren’t dancers (especially the groom), we’ll probably get out there for the traditional wedding dances. One of these is the money dance, which consists of guests paying money (no set amount) to dance with the bride or groom. It’s just a fun way to ‘help out’ the newlyweds as they start their new life together. Don't you non-dancers worry (Ron's already doing that!)...dancing is not required.

The registry:

We aren’t registered anywhere for any kind of wedding gifts, since we really have most of what we need (or at least have room for). We’re planning to buy a house by next Christmas and are saving all of our money for that (well, except for the wedding!) If you would like to get us something, a donation to our house fund would be greatly appreciated, although Wal-Mart gift cards can always be useful too :)

RSVP

Wedding Attire
If you plan on attending the wedding or reception please dress Business Casual. Basically we would like men to wear slacks and a shirt (no suit, no tie, no jeans). Women can wear pretty much anything that would go with the men’s attire, but please no prom dresses or other flamboyant clothing. Bride’s maids are wearing red, so shades of red would be fine, as well as most other colors. Just don’t try to stick out (that’s the bride’s job) :) Children can wear pretty much anything normal (they don’t have to dress up).

Who’s Invited?
For the non-married guests, please feel free to bring your significant other if you wish. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask…we’re not too picky, but we’d like to know who and how many are coming.

Suggest a song:

We want to make our wedding fun and we’d like to have a touch of our friends and family in it so we decided to let you suggest songs that you would like to hear at the wedding. Of course we can't guarantee to include everybody's songs at the reception but we will try to fit them in. Please feel free to let us know your taste in music. Thank you for getting involved in the planning process.

I would like to hear …

NEWS:

Check out this page for the latest and greatest things happening with our wedding :)

June 1, 2009
Wedding pictures are finally posted on Ron's site. Click here to see them! Feel free to use the voting feature to mark your favorites. Uyen's bridal pics are also posted ;)

March 20, 2009
Added address of wedding/reception on the The Wedding page. The address is 315 S Chestnut St., McKinney, TX 75069. The wedding starts at 6PM sharp, so don't be late ;)

January 8, 2009
Added some wording on the RSVP page pertaining to Wedding Attire and Guests.

January 1, 2009
Invitations sent! Look in your mailbox :)

December 19, 2008
Engagement pictures are now posted on Ron's site. Click here to see them! Feel free to use the voting feature to mark your favorites.

Oh, and there are A LOT of other pictures there that you may be interested in...feel free to look around :) (Hint: click the icon or text on the top left of the picture site to go to the front page and see all the different pictures.)

November 9, 2008
We took our engagement pictures today. We had a blast! We took them at Uyen's work - she has a unique office environment ;) Pictures will be posted when we get them. Please stand by :)

November 5, 2008
I took my bridal pictures today. My mom helped and took 'behind the scene' shots of the photographers at work. We went to the Dallas Arboretum - it was beautiful! Pictures will NOT be posted here since Ron has not seen my dress and does not want to see it until I walk down the aisle. The photographers were gracious enough to keep these pics off their site too so he won't accidentally see them. Don't worry though, pics WILL be posted after the wedding :) Sorry! Blame Ron ;)

Thank You!

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