28 October, 2012.
Ceremony at 5 p.m. Reception until 10:30 p.m.
Cairnwood Mansion
1005 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 (map)
Crowne
Plaza Hotel, Trevose, PA.
A block of rooms has been reserved for our event.
K ara started a four-week internship in December of 2001 and found herself working with a 23-year-old punk kid named Rob. They quickly discovered that they shared similar political views, musical taste and a goofy sense of humor, and a few weeks of flirting over vegetarian lunches in a nearby park led to their first sort-of date -- a show at the Killtime in West Philadelphia.
Ten years later they are best friends, confidants, co-conspirators and partners in most aspects of their lives. They’ve grown up together while riding bikes, sharing desserts and travelling as far as Kara’s fear of airplanes will allow.
When Rob was a fork for Halloween, Kara was a spoon. When she dressed up as CMYK, he was RGB. When Rob broke his collarbone, Kara helped him put on his t-shirts; and when she went over her handlebars face-first, he sat with her in the emergency room till 3 a.m. the night before his graduation.
Kara and Rob spent six years living together in West Philly and building an irreplaceable community of friends, toughed out two years of living in separate cities while Rob was in grad school at NYU, and ended up in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn for the time being. You can spot them on Sunday mornings riding their tandem bicycle through the neighborhood toward the promise of vegan pancakes.
O n July 23, 2011 Kara flew out to Portland, Oregon to meet Rob for a birthday weekend trip. They spent a sunny Saturday buying used books, listening to live music and sharing a dozen vegan donuts.
The next day Rob rented a car and brought Kara to Cannon Beach for her first ever glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. They traipsed through fields of wildflowers in Ecola State Park, picnicked on leftovers and dipped their toes in the cold water. While strolling ankle-deep in the ocean, Rob offered Kara an engagement ring he’d designed himself and made with his 3d printer, and the two decided their partnership was forever.
We have posted more photos of the trip on Flickr.
C airnwood is a beaux arts mansion designed by Carrére and Hastings, architects of the New York Public Library building. The house was built in 1892 and is currently maintained by Bryn Athyn College.
The grounds of Cairnwood Mansion and the neighboring Bryn Athyn Cathedral were designed by Charles Eliot of the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot, responsible for the design of Central Park in New York City.
T he wedding ceremony and reception will take place at the historic Cairnwood Mansion. Please arrive at Cairnwood by 5 p.m. The Garden House adjacent to the main house will be open by 4:30 p.m. for early arrivals.
The ceremony will begin in the garden (weather permitting) at 5:30 p.m. A cocktail hour will follow immediately after. Our reception begins at 7 p.m. with dinner and dancing until 10:30 p.m.
Joining Kara and Robert in their wedding party are close friends and family. Maura Schlindwein, Amie Swanson, Sharon Wasko, Lauren McEwen and Joanna Carlsen Milder will attend Kara. Standing with Robert are Michael Spelman, Keegan Fink, Mike Servedio and Matt Schlindwein.
Kara’s parents, Matthew and Karen Schlindwein, have worked tirelessly to organize and host this celebration. Robert’s parents, Bob and Janet Carlsen, sponsor the rehearsal dinner and welcome everyone staying at the hotel to join them at a post-wedding breakfast on Monday morning.
If you are in Philadelphia for the weekend, there are many things to do in and around the area. Center City is filled with historic areas and great sights. Start at City Hall and enjoy the manificent architecture (we stopped by there recently to get our marrige license). From City Hall, head down the wide boulevard-like Ben Franklin Parkway, past the Academy of Natural Sciences and run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps (because you know you want to anyway). These are both within walking distance of our rehearsal dinner on Saturday night.
Heading north from the art museum down Fairmount Ave will bring you past the Eastern State Penitentiary, which has an excellent, annual haunted house.
East of City Hall you'll get into Old City, the most historic part of the city. You can find the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross house, Ben Franklin's grave and the National Constitution Center (among many more).
The greater Philadelphia area has fun things to do as well. Cairnwood Estate is hosting a Candy apple workshop on Saturday, October 27 at 10–12 p.m. Enjoy spiced cider and make your own gourmet candy apple while getting a sneak peek of our wedding venue!
Valley Forge National Historic Park is a short drive from the city. There is the impressive memorial arch, replicas of log cabins used during Washington's winter encampment and miles of trails for good walking or riding.
About 30 minutes north of the city is Snipes Farm and Education center, which has a wonderful (9 foot!) tall corn maze this year as well as a pumpkin patch and hayride.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Trevose, PA. Reserve your room online or call 215-364-2000 and request the Schlindwein-Carlsen wedding.
Please email us to let us know that you’ve booked a room, so we can include you in a breakfast at the hotel the morning after the wedding. We will also provide shuttle service from the hotel to the wedding.
P lease don't feel compelled to provide us a gift; sharing our day is the most rewarding thing we could ask for.
If you would like to purchase a gift, we have created two registries for you to utilize: a traditional registry at Macy's that can be found under either of our names, and a very useful online registry at Merci Registry, which features a more eclectic collection of things we'd enjoy. These include everything from handmade items on Etsy to gifts of cash toward things like our honeymoon.