Alexis and Steve | Our Story

1) Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us the dirty details.

Our tweet version that we tell people is: “A Jew and a Catholic walked into an Islam class…” We met on our first day of grad school at Harvard Divinity School in 2006. We were both religious studies nerds coming from different backgrounds (Lexi came straight from college, Steve from 5 years of active duty in the army) and we quickly became close friends. After a year or so of being friends and a few months of shameless flirting, we finally figured our what many of our friends had seen earlier on- that we had great chemistry and complemented each other well as a couple.

2) When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?, etc.

Lexi: Steve and I are both overthinkers and over-analyzers, so I don’t know if I can pinpoint a moment for me when something clicked. But I can share a particular moment where I felt so sure I wanted to be his wife. My Christmas present from him in Dec 2014 was a jar full of things he loves about me- hundreds of little colorful pieces of paper – and I distinctly remember thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to marry this guy.”

Steve: When I realized how much Lexi loved me in spite of my flaws, I knew I wanted her to be my wife.

3) Tell us about the proposal. (Did you see it coming, how long was it in the planning?, how did you feel? nervous, excited, freaking out?)

Our proposal was sweet and simple – and very us. We were at home the day after Christmas 2015.

Lexi: I had hoped we might get engaged soon, and the holiday season had me wondering if it was coming. But he threw me off the scent (unintentionally, I think!) when he got me a beautiful necklace for Christmas/Chanukah. I thought if he did propose at the holidays, he’d propose with the ring as my present.

Steve: I was feeling all of the above listed emotions! I knew I wanted to get engaged at the holidays, but hadn’t decided exactly how I was going to do it. We were sitting together at home and I felt like it was the right moment for it- just sitting side by side in this space we shared together as a home. So I made up some excuse to get up and go get the ring, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me.

4) Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.

Lexi: Steve is, above all else, a good man; he shows me every day that real integrity shines through in small moments as well as important ones.

Steve: Lexi is naturally full of joy and is always thinking about other people; she has a real generosity of spirit.

5) If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.

Lexi: Oh man, where do I start?! Steve and I often joke that we can’t figure out which one of us is a bigger weirdo. One particularly funny thing Steve does is that he really focuses in on minor sound effects in music – think about the funny sounds on Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby.” So while most people instinctively sing along to music in the car, Steve is more inclined to sing along to song effects. Like I said- weirdo.

Steve: Lexi gets so excited while shopping for groceries that she starts dancing as she is heading to the next item. Not many people enjoy grocery shopping as much as she does- and that in and of itself is weird!

6) Besides getting married – what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Besides becoming husband and wife, we both agree that we were beyond excited to have so many different groups of friends and family together in the same room. It’s a cliche answer because it’s really the second best part.

7) What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?

I’m not sure we’re in the know enough to answer this, but I can say I’m into the coordinated-but-not-exactly-the-same bridesmaid dresses. I also like the trend of photobooths and late night snacks- clearly, since we had all three of these at our wedding.

8) What inspired your décor or theme?

We got married and had our reception in Alden Castle’s Vintage Ballroom, and we selected the space because we loved that vibe- the venue refers to it as Modern Vintage. We definitely worked with that for our decor, and I actually bought my dress with that feeling in mind.

9) What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

You can start delegating to friends and family before things get hectic and crazy towards the end! Even if you’re a solid planner, unexpected things will come up, so it is smart to front load as much of the work as you can before things get down to the wire.

Vendor List

Photography: Nate Creamer Photography

Hair and Makeup: Special Event Beauty (specialeventbeauty.com)

Florist: Gregory Costa-Saint John from Flouer (www.myflouer.com)

Ceremony and Reception Location: Alden Castle, 20 Chapel Street, Brookline, MA

Wedding Planner: Lexi! 🙂 But our event coordinator at Alden Castle was Amanda Kusnierz and she was fantastic.

DJ: Dave Hodges from 5 Star Events (www.5starevents.com)

Dress Designer: Galina

Dress Salon: David’s Bridal for the win

Other Details/Vendors: our favors were delicious caramels from Spindler Confections (Cambridge, MA) and special dessert of cheesecake from 7 Ate 9 Bakery (Somerville, MA). We also had a fantastic experience with our photo booth from Supreme Photobooth (supremephotobooth.com).