Welcome to Our Wedding Packet

Our wedding date: May 5, 2012

Hello Family and Friends.

This packet is the place where you will be able to find information about our upcoming nuptials. We recommend that you review the information we have provided here for the latest information on the wedding event.

Our wedding will take place on Saturday, May 5, in beautiful and historic Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, District of Columbia. We have both always loved this area and couldn't imagine a nicer place to celebrate this special occasion.

We are definitely excited about our event, but frankly, we are even more excited about seeing you and sharing our special event with our family and dearest friends.

Whether you are able to attend our wedding or not, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for being part of our lives and for supporting us. Each of you are special to us and we appreciate your being part of the most significant experience a couple can experience - our marriage.

Our Story

We thought we would share a little information about our lives and how we met - some of which you will be surprised to learn.

As most of you know, we now call the Washington, DC area home, although neither of us were raised here.

Steven, being the son of an Army Military Colonel, moved around several times until 1976 when the McCune Family settled in Burke, Virginia. Steven went to Lake Braddock Secondary School and then began working in the DC Metropolitan area - first for ADC, a map company, then for Edison Electric Institute, the electric power industry association, where he works today.

Robert was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. After completing high school, he moved to West Texas to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock. While working towards his degree in Architecture, he worked for the National Park Service first as a Park Ranger, then a couple of summers as an architect intern with the Historic American Building Survey (HABS). After receiving his degree in 1990, Robert moved to Washington, DC to pursue a career with HABS.

In early 2000, Robert and Steven met while commuting -romantic right?! Both lived in Alexandria and worked in downtown Washington and over the course of several weeks, Robert and Steven saw each other while cueing at the Pentagon Metro Station for the same bus home. Shortly thereafter, a conversation started, and their friendship blossomed on the daily commute. After getting to know each other, they began dating then became exclusive on May 5, 1990.

Skip forward to 2012 - our twelfth anniversary is our wedding date!

We have spent the past eleven years falling in love, enjoying each other's company, traveling, building a home, making friends, and learning about and from each other. We now invite you to share in the most important event of our life together - our Marriage.

We hope to see you on May 5!

The Event

Our wedding celebration is simple and informal. We hope you will enjoy the evening's events.

Welcome Family and Friends
Cocktail Reception

We invite you to join us at 6:00 pm as we begin our wedding celebration with an elegant cocktail reception in the Presidential Suite on the 6th floor of The Lorien Hotel and Spa. The cocktail reception will allow our family and friends – many of whom have never met - to get to know one another while enjoying the Terrace with its views of the Masonic Temple and Old Town Alexandria. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for beautiful spring sunshine! (Don’t worry, we have an alternate plan should the weather not cooperate!)

The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony will be an intimate event and begins promptly at 6:30 pm. As sunset approaches, we will invite our family and friends to gather together to witness the ceremony and the exchange of vows.

Celebratory Champagne Toast

Once the short ceremony has concluded, everyone will celebrate with a Champagne Toast to the newlywed couple!

Wedding Reception - Cocktail Party with Hors d'oeuvres

The wedding celebration continues with a relaxed and fun reception consisting of a selection of passed hors d'oeuvres and top shelf cocktails.

Coffee and Confectionery

As our celebration draws to a close, gourmet cupcakes and coffee service will be served on the Terrace under the stars from 8:30 until 9:00 pm.

Après la Fête

Although the special event may have concluded, our guests may wish to continue enjoying their evening at BRABO by Robert Wiedmaier the Lorien's award winning Restaurant with bar service, or take a short walk down King Street to experience historic and beautiful Old Town Alexandria with it’s many restaurants, bars and other fun evening venues.

Accommodations

For our wedding guests from outside of the Washington Metropolitan area, we suggest the following overnight accommodations.

The Lorien Hotel and Spa

877-956-7436
1600 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

The Lorien is the event hotel. A block of ten guest rooms will be held for the Arzola McCune wedding at the rate of $179+ through Tuesday, April 3. The Lorien is conveniently located three blocks from King Street Metro Station, surrounded by quaint shops, a variety of restaurants, and within walking distance to the historic Potomac River waterfront.

Hilton Alexandria Old Town

703-837-0440
1767 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

The Hilton Hotel is located two blocks from The Lorien Hotel and Spa and one block from the King Street Metro Station.

Hampton Inn Alexandria - Old Town / King Street Metro

703-299-9900
1616 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

The Hampton Inn is located on the same block as The Lorien Hotel and Spa and two blocks from the King Street Metro Station.

Embassy Suites Alexandria - Old Town

703-684-1403
1900 Diagonal Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Three Blocks away from The Lorien Hotel, across the street from the King Street Metro and 2 blocks from our home. Complimentary cooked-to order breakfast in the mornings and a manager’s reception with beverages and light snacks in the evening. The perfect location!

Residence Inn Old Town/Duke Street

1456 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Three blocks from The Lorien Hotel and 3 blocks from our home. A perfect place to stay with full kitchens and free breakfast.

Gift Registry

As many of you know, we have been together for more than eleven years and established our home years ago - we have few traditional wedding gift needs. However, should you wish to provide a wedding present, we ask that you consider supporting our love of world travel or donate to one of our favorite causes below.

Donations

Donations may be made to the life-saving Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (GLBTQ) charities that provide youth with suicide prevention services.

The It Gets Better Project provides GLBTQ youth with support by providing a gay-positive image of what their lives might be like as openly gay adults.

Donate at http://www.itgetsbetter.org

The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to GLBTQ youth nationwide.

Donate at http://www.thetrevorproject.org

Tokyo

Since we love to TRAVEL and EXPLORE the world! We have chosen to spend our honeymoon in Tokyo, Japan and we created this special website as a way you can contribute to our dream of exploring this exotic island.

The Honeymoon will occur later in the year and we will begin by visiting historic, cultural and architectural sites in Tokyo proper before traveling to (um, brace yourself for this one folks) Tokyo Disneyland!

Below, you will find a variety of ways you may help us experience Tokyo and make life-long memories. This is really the perfect gift for us.

If you would like, choose any quantity or amount below and let us know what you selected or you can visit http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/mccune.arzola to give your gift online.

Item		Requested	Price
	Airfare 6,752 miles and 14 hours - Yay! Dulles International Airport to Narita International on a United Boeing 777.	12	$100.00
	Tokyo Hotel 3 Nights in the center of Tokyo.	5	$75.00
	Dinner in Tokyo A special evening is planned.	4	$50.00
	Tsukiji Fish Market Tsukiji Market is a famous wholesale market for fish, fruits and vegetables in central Tokyo.	2	$25.00
	Meiji Shrine The historic shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920.	2	$25.00
	Tokyo City View The Tokyo City View Observatory affords superb views of the Tokyo Metropolis from three different observation galleries - from the Tokyo Tower to the Rainbow Bridge to the cities of Haneda, Yokohama and on a clear day Mt. Fuji!	2	$25.00
	Karaoke Night At Smash Hits you perform on stage before a random and sometimes rowdy audience - and there is a thick catalog of English songs to choose from! Favorites include Billy Joel (think... We Didn't Start the Fire), Guns 'N Roses and Queen.	4	$25.00
	Tokyo National Museum Established 1872, the Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum has a comprehensive collection of art works and archaeological objects of Asia, focusing on Japan.	2	$25.00
	Tokyo Disneyland Hotel 4 Nights at the Disney Ambassador Hotel. The Ambassador is the first Disney-branded hotel in Japan.	7	$75.00
	Disney Tickets 3 Day Magic Passport provides admission to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea!	4	$50.00
	Hyperion Lounge The Art Deco interior makes this lounge the perfect place to enjoy a cozy afternoon tea, or to sip on a pre-dinner cocktail - mmmmm Martinis!	2	$25.00
	Empire Grill The Ambassador Hotel's premier restaurant. Fine dining with a glass of wine or an original cocktail!	3	$25.00
	Restaurant Hana A refined Japanese restaurant offering Kaiseki course menus, Teppan-yaki grill dishes and other seasonal delicacies.	3	$25.00