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Date: Oct. 26
Her story: Theresa "TC" Kouo, 37, grew up in Guilderland, N.Y., a suburb of Albany. After completing a radiology residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center and neuroradiology fellowship at University of California, Los Angeles, she returned to join the faculty at UMMC as a neuroradiologist in 2009. Her mother, Lily Kouo, lives in San Diego. Her father, Mark Kouo, died in 2009.
His story: David "Dave" Crowther, 46, grew up in Jarrettsville. He is the former owner of Charm City Dogs, a dog day care center, and now works for DP Solutions Inc., an information technology company based in Columbia. His parents, Walter and Linda Crowther, live in Timonium.
Their story: TC and Dave met through eHarmony.com in late 2011.
"I loved it when it worked out for other people, but I didn't really have any belief that it would work out for me personally when it came to the online thing," says TC.
But things changed after she spoke to Dave online and met him for drinks on Dec. 28, 2011. He suggested the Blue Hill Tavern in Brewers Hill, near where TC lived at the time.
"We sort of said, after getting to know each other and talking it through, that there's no other way we would have met," says Dave. "We don't know anyone in common. We didn't go to the same places. But obviously, it worked out great. It was perfect."
The proposal: In April 2013, TC and Dave spent a day in downtown Baltimore. They visited the American Visionary Art Museum before stopping by the Maryland Wine Festival taking place at Camden Yards, and finished the day with dinner at Fleet Street Kitchen in Harbor East. As they were walking along the Inner Harbor waterfront, Dave pulled out a ring, knelt down and proposed.
The couple's friend Justin Kotler of Baltimore referred Dave to a jewelry designer Justin met while living in Florida. The three of them designed and made TC's ring.
"The ring was carved out of a block of platinum to fit the stone that we had picked out for her," says Dave.
The venue: About 95 guests attended the ceremony and reception held in the sculpture court at the Walters Art Museum in Mount Vernon. The couple lit a candle during the ceremony to honor TC's dad.
Decor: "I definitely wanted to center it around red, because in Asian culture, red is celebratory and a color for prosperity," says TC.
Red tablecloths with metallic gold details and black napkins adorned the reception tables. Joe Ennd of Joe Ennd Designs in Hampden created the bouquets and centerpieces using a variety of red and white flowers, which were accented by decorative reeds.
Her dress: The bride wore a strapless ball gown with a ruffled petal skirt by Monique Lhuillier from Betsy Robinson's Bridal Collection in Pikesville. Dave's mother, a seamstress, made a black satin sash decorated with rhinestones that TC bought on Etsy.
Bridesmaids' dresses: The women wore black, cocktail-length dresses of their own choice.
Men's attire: Dave and the groomsmen wore black tuxedos with subtle pinstripes from the Tuxedo House in Timonium. Dave wore a white vest, while the groomsmen wore black vests.
Music: Free Spirit, an 11-piece band from Entertainment Exchange in Silver Spring, entertained the guests. TC and Dave's first dance was to "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds.
Food and dessert: Chef's Expressions of Lutherville catered the dinner, which included lobster bisque, Maryland rockfish and beef tenderloin. Chef's Expressions also provided an ice cream sundae bar, where guests could choose from two flavors and watch as the ice cream was made using liquid nitrogen.
Patisserie Poupon in Jonestown provided a four-tier cake decorated with fondant orchids.
Weekend Watch
Favors: For out-of-town guests, TC and Dave created Maryland-themed welcome bags, which included crab chips and Berger cookies. In lieu of favors, the couple made donations to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) and the American Stroke Association, in honor of TC's dad.
Special touches: A few weeks before the wedding, Dave gave TC a locket holding photos of her parents. She tied the locket onto her wedding bouquet.
Dave's mom made TC's rehearsal dinner bouquet using extra petals from the skirt of TC's wedding dress, along with a section of lace taken from Dave's late grandmother's tablecloth.
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