"Kyle and I met at a Thanksgiving party in 2001. We were both Ph.D. students at New York University at the time, and were spending the holiday with other international students in Brooklyn. Kyle is from Canada and I’m from Belgium. Not much happened between us that evening.

"We met again in February of 2002 at my birthday party. We started talking near the end of the party and Kyle contacted me two days later to ask me to dinner. Our first date was at Angelika’s in the East Village. Kyle was very funny and smart, and we really hit it off. We both love trying new restaurants. Two years later, we moved in together in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

"The proposal was a bit anti-climactic, since the timing of our engagement coincided with us both finishing our Ph.D.’s and starting new jobs. Kyle proposed to me over lunch with an engagement ring from my favorite store, the MOMA Design Store.

"In May of 2006, we both defended our dissertation and moved to Texas to begin our jobs as professors. It was a natural decision for us to get married in New York City since it was where we met, fell in love, and lived together. Because most of our guests were coming from out of the country, we chose New York as the theme of our wedding and decided to have the ceremony in the beautiful Conservatory Gardens in Central Park.

"We chose the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel for the reception because of the magnificent views of Midtown and the East River from the Landmark View room. Our contact people at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel were Nilda Estevez and Vanessa Jairam. We worked with them mostly by email from Texas.

"We designed invitations that featured the New York skyline and the Empire State Building. We also had each reception table named after the New York neighborhoods where we either lived or worked, such as Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, and Greenwich Village.

"One thing we realized is that the wedding traditions were quite different in our countries and we tried to achieve a delicate balance between the expectations of our respective families. Kyle loves to cook, and we both love to eat, so food was an important part of our wedding.

"All the dishes Nilda and Vanessa suggested were excellent, and it was difficult to decide between them. In the end we chose the mushroom bisque, a grilled vegetable tart filled with goat cheese, and a choice of filet mignon or mushroom ravioli as a main dish. Dessert was a deliciously creamy New York cheesecake.

"During the cocktail hour at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, our guests spent most of the time taking pictures next to the windows! Our reception room looked beautiful. The tables had artichoke and lotus pods for the arrangements. Before the appetizer, our friend created a video presentation set to our favorite music. We ended the evening with a glass of champagne and strawberries in our suite at the hotel. It was the perfecting ending to a fairy tale New York wedding."