The Wedding of Nicole and Zachariah

Thank you all for making our wedding so great!

Please feel free to leave us your favorite memories here on the site,
and/or leave your comments for the pictures on our online album:

Visit Our Online Photo Album

(signup not required — just click the photo once you’re there)

Here are a list of things you may enjoy in Houston:

• AOL City Guide Houston
• 59 Diner – Shepherd Store
  (shakes rich enough to be your landlord)
• ArtCar Museum
  (Houston is home of the annual Art Car Parade)
• Aurora Picture Show
  (independent movie theater)
• Children’s Museum of Houston
• CiCi’s Pizza
  (all-you-can-eat for only $3.99)
• Houston Museum of Natural History
  (and Butterfly exhibit)
• Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
• Houston Visitors Guide
• Houston Heights Map (our neighborhood)
• Photo Tour of Houston
• Wortham Theater Center
• Houston Zoo
• Menil Collection
• Museum of Fine Arts Houston
• Houston Light Rail
• Bayou Bend Garden
• Beer Can House

The Ceremony is being held in the gazebo at Marmion Park at 6 o’clock sharp in the evening on Saturday, 1 July, 2006.

The Reception is immediately afterward in the Houston Heights Association’s Historic Fire Station. Dinner, deserts, and drinks (of all kinds) will be ready when you get there, probably by 6:30.

The park is at the corner of Heights Boulevard & 18th Street. The Fire Station is located at Yale Street & 12th Street (6 blocks away). Please park East of Heights Blvd. — in the neighborhood — for the ceremony. The Fire Station has a parking lot.

Driving Directions from the Ceremony to the Reception:

• Map:  Marmion Park to the Fire Station

This the the rainy season in Houston. It is also summer. This means it will be hot and maybe wet when you are here. Dress for HOT weather. Especially for the wedding ceremony (though you may want to bring a jacket for the reception, which will be air conditioned). The low temperature each day will be in the mid 70s and very humid.

Current Houston Weather Conditions:

Visit Houston, Texas (77001) Conditions & Forecast from Weather Underground to get detailed Houston weather information.

As noted in the Traffic post, it can rain very heavily here — check a weather map before driving.

And, if it’s raining at 6pm on Saturday, then we’ll hold the ceremony at the fire house, instead.

A bit of a Warning: Houston drivers are very chaotic, as are our streets. The streets are not well maintained, and the signs are not always clear (and don’t give much warning). Please, don’t try to drive California speeds here — with the drivers, poorly maintained roads, and inadequate signs speeding becomes quite dangerous.

Highway speed limits are 55 or 60 mph.
Streets are typically 35 mph.

Houston can flood. During heavy rain visibility can drop dramatically and roads become slippery. Pull over if necessary and wait it out — it never lasts more than about 15 minutes.

If you want to check the freeway conditions, here is the Houston Real-Time Traffic Map website.

If you get lost, call one of us on our cell phones — we should have emailed those numbers to you already (if not, please ask for them).

Airports:

There are two choices of airport when flying into Houston. One is George Bush Intercontinental and the other is Houston Hobby.

To get to our neighborhood follow these directions:

• From George Bush Intercontenental (IAH)
• From Houston Hobby (HOU)

Accommodations:

• Motels & Hotels
• Bed & Breakfast
• Two Motels that are fairly close and reasonably priced:
  • Baymont Inn and Suites
  • La Quinta Inn and Suites

Food:

• Restaurants
• Grocery Stores

According to wedding tradition we aren’t supposed to send out invitations until a few months before the wedding.

Because we know that most of you will have to make arrangements in advance in order to travel out to see us, many of you have probably already received a “Save The Date” postcard, business card, or email directing you to this wedding journal.  Please read through the posts and leave comments — and be sure check back occasionally for updates.

We’re inviting all of you, but we do understand and we will miss you if it ends up that you cannot attend.  We hope most of you will plan to attend.

And, as for July 1, 2006 — please, save the date!

We both have diverse musical tastes, which you will be subjected to at the Reception.  We already plan to play such songs as Bob Marley and the Wailer’s “Could You Be Loved”, Jem’s “Come on Closer”, and “As Time Goes By” from the Movie Casablanca.  We will have upbeat dance songs, slow songs, classic rock, and mellow background music — depending on what’s going on.

Please reply to this post to request any songs you would like to hear … because we want to make sure you have fun at the reception party!

Anyone coming to town is invited to join us in visiting NASA and Mission Control at Space Center Houston (the Official Visitors Center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center).

We would like to get there when it opens at 10 A.M., on June 30th.  We will meet at my house at 9 A.M..

I ordered tickets at the group rate (which is $8.95 per person) for 15, plus I can get extra at the same rate when we arrive at NASA.

We will be able to take a look behind the scenes on a guided tram tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  Years ago (pre-9/11), when I went on this tour we were able to look at craft being built and even the control room of Mission Control — I hope this is still the case.

We will also visit the museum which includes the Astronaut Gallery with actual space suits, the Starship Gallery with actual spacecraft, and other interesting exhibits.

We will probably all drive down together, but if you’re curious where NASA is, in relation to where the wedding’s happening, here are the Directions.

Please comment on this post to share anything about us that you think other guests might find interesting.

Kolie and I are from the same “Clan” (or Scottish tribe). 

The Crawford Clan is a “sept” (or part) of the Lindsey Clan.  Each of our clans have a different crest (above) and “tartan” (or fabric pattern). 

The tartan is the pattern you see on Scottish kilts.  There is a Lindsey tartan and a Crawford tartan (which looks similar).  Since the Crawford clan is part of the Lindsey clan, Crawfords can also wear the Lindsey tartan. 

(Actually, even if you’re not Scottish you should be happy to know that the “answer to the vexed question of ‘what tartan am I entitled to wear?’ [is] whichever one you like best”.)

A kilt is a traditional clothing worn by Scottish men.  There are also kilted skirts which are worn by Scottish women.  The skirts are longer (down to one’s feet) and are pleated all the way around, whereas the kilt has a non-pleated section in the front and only reaches to about one’s knees. 

The Crawford Clan became a sept of the Lindsey Clan when, “during the 13th century, Sir John of Crawford’s daughter married David Lindsay, ancestor of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, the chiefs of Clan Lindsay.  This is where the association between Crawford and Lindsay comes from.” 

Here are more complete descriptions of Lindsey and Crawford history:

• Clan Lindsay USA – History: The Lindsays
• Crawford Clan
• History of the Lindsay Clan
• History of the Crawford Family
• Lindsay International
• Clan Crawford Association Home Page
• Clan: Lindsay
• Clan: Crawford
• Google Search: Crawford Clan Lindsey

(I am a Lindsey (usually spelled Lindsay) and Kolie is a Crawford.  My middle name is Lindsey, which is the last name from my mother’s side of the family.  And, Kolie’s last name is Crawford.)

Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have.

(especially if you already know the answer
but think others would like to know, too)

Simply post a comment with your question and we will answer it in this journal.

Zac called the Houston Heights Association today to reserve Marmion Park for the ceremony.

He also emailed them just to make sure.

They responded by saying that they weren’t making reservations until after the first of January, 2006.

So … he sent out an email asking his mom and Kolie if we should bribe them.

Laurin (Zac’s mom) proceeded to contact people in the association to work out a deal.  It turns out that the reason they weren’t booking is because they didn’t have a volunteer anymore to check after it was rented to see if the renters should get their deposits back.  Laurin offered to be that volunteer in exchange for a guarantee of 1 July 2006 for the wedding.

They agreed and we are submitting the money and the paperwork tomorrow.