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Love: Alexis Pew & Kevin Kaminski

March 21, 2015, in Philadelphia

Newlyweds Alexis Pew and Kevin Kaminski.
Newlyweds Alexis Pew and Kevin Kaminski.Read moreAlison Conklin Photography

Hello there

It was Valentine's Day 2011, and Alexis and Kevin were separately ensconced in the "I-hate-this-lame-faux-holiday-grrr!" camp.

Under protest, Alexis' friend Meg got her to leave her Northern Liberties apartment for a house party at the Chestnut Hill home of another friend named Meg.

Under protest, Kevin's friends dragged from his Fairmount house to the same party.

Alexis saw the handsome, actually-taller-than-her man across the room. He noticed her, too. But romance? Grrr! "We both had recently exited long-term relationships," Kevin said. "We avoided each other."

Avoided, within reason.

Within the course of party events, they wound up in the same conversation group. Guests left, the circle shrank, and eventually they spoke directly to each other, about a discovered common interest in architecture (his specialty) and design (hers), and as comfort built, past relationships and values.

Kevin then worked for Venturi Scott Brown. Although it was Saturday night, a deadline required work the next morning. He said good night, and was close enough friends with the hostess to find a bedroom and sleep.

The next morning, Kevin realized in dismay that he never got Alexis' phone number. Spying her handbag on the counter, he knew she was somewhere in the house. "It was a pleasure meeting you. I'd love to get dinner some time. Please call me," he wrote on a scrap. He slipped it where he was sure she'd get it: beneath her purse.

Kevin heard nothing.

Two weeks later, he was hosting a going-away party for the woman who'd held the Valentine's get-together. One of their mutual friends had invited Alexis, and Kevin greeted her coolly at the door. Even then, she made no mention of his note. He returned to his other guests a bit ticked off.

"As the night continued, we kind of circled each other," Alexis said. When the Meg who took Alexis to that earlier party had seen enough, she bluntly asked Kevin: "Why aren't you talking to Alexis?"

He told her exactly why.

"Maybe she didn't get the note, you jackass!" Meg said in exasperation. "She's been talking about you all week!"

Alexis confirms she never got the note. "I woke up, and I moved out of there quickly to get home. I had been stalking him on Facebook for a week before this party."

Neither had ever been happier to have misread a situation. "We quickly struck up a conversation, and had a wonderful night," he said.

"We've been together since then," said Alexis.

And they've been busy. Alexis left Busybee Designs, and Kevin left KieranTimberlake. In May 2014, they opened their own architecture and interior design firm, Kaminski + Pew.

Alexis also teaches a continuing education course on the history of furniture at Harcum College. Kevin is a Lutheran Settlement House board member. He has volunteered about six years with the organization, which runs a homeless shelter, adult education, and after-school programs.

How does forever sound?

The morning of the 2013 Assemblies Ball, a Philadelphia tradition that the couple have attended together every year since they've been together, Alex tried on her ball gown, just back from the tailor. Ten hours before go-time, her floor-length gown was hovering above her ankles.

"I tried to assure her that the dress looked fine," Kevin said. Alexis knew better.

"I flew into a panic mode, and I was not the most pleasant person to be around." She hit some shops, but couldn't find anything that she liked that wasn't outrageously expensive. She hit the road, headed for her old closet at her parents' home in Bryn Mawr, where dresses from dances past still hung.

Her father, George T. Pew Jr., and mother, Sandra K. Pew, knew what Alexis didn't about Kevin's plans for that evening. Her mother tried to help Alexis find something lovely while her father tried to stifle his amusement over knowing that what Alexis thought was a bad day would become one of her very favorites, ever.

Alexis found a dress and matching accessories and returned to the city to get ready. Every year before they leave for this event, Kevin and Alexis take a photo of their gussied up selves. They were already late for dinner, but designer Alexis couldn't resist fluffing sofa pillows and repositioning blankets and otherwise setting the scene.

"I started blubbering something about how much I love her," Kevin said.

Kevin is an expressive guy, but blubbering was quite unusual. Alexis whirled around to find him on one knee. "Yes!" she said, before he even finished talking.

"I was bawling, and I knelt down and hugged him," she said. They called some friends and family, and by the time Alexis and Kevin arrived at the ball, everybody else knew.

It was so them

The couple, both 30, married at Old Zion Lutheran, a church that Buffalo-area native Kevin found after realizing that he was not leaving Philadelphia. Alexis started attending with him, and once they began talking marriage, they brought her mother to see the sanctuary.

Sandy instantly recognized the name of a long-ago preacher she saw on a plaque: Edwin Heyl Delk.

"My great-great-grandfather was a pastor at this very church we had been going to," Alexis said. He performed his daughter Margaret's wedding ceremony at Old Zion. Margaret's daughter Constance married George Pew I; Constance and George are Alexis' grandparents.

Alexis and Kevin held their black-tie reception at the Union League. After cocktail hour, they and their 196 guests enjoyed dinner and dancing in the Lincoln Hall Ball Room, which was decorated in whites and golds. An after-party, during which the couple finally got to talk to people, was held in a room overlooking Broad Street.

Awestruck

Both ceremony and reception were largely traditional, but Alexis wanted to "do something fun, different, and interesting" with her dress. She chose one in blush pink. "Seeing her for the first time in her stunning dress was absolutely amazing," Kevin said. "It's something I can't entirely verbalize - it was every emotion you could imagine."

Alexis got stuck in traffic, and because of a miscommunication, when she arrived at the church, the music had already started and everyone was waiting for her. She had to rush down the aisle without catching her breath. "One of the best feelings was after the ceremony, as we did our grand exit from the church and got into our car together," Alexis said. "We had a minute to soak it all in, and breathe, and say, 'Hey we're married now.' "

Discretionary spending

A bargain: Since both Kevin and Alexis, who studied graphic design at James Madison University and interior design at Harcum College, are design people, they created the invitations, programs, menu cards, and other paper goods, and custom made the canvas guest bags themselves.

The splurge: The couple, who live in Fairmount, have planned a monthlong honeymoon in Paris. "In today's fast-paced world, time is the biggest luxury," Kevin said.

Love: BEHIND THE SCENES

Officiant: The Rev. Daniel P. Metzger, Old Zion Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.

Venue: Old Zion Lutheran Church and the Union League of Philadelphia.

Catering: Union League.

Photography: Alison Conklin Photography, Philadelphia.

Flowers: Nancy Saam Flowers, Philadelphia.

Music: Reina Inui, ceremony violinist; J.P. Meyer, ceremony organist; Jellyroll, reception band, all Philadelphia.

Dress: Watters, through VanCleve Wedding Pavilion, Paoli.

Planner: Union League, on-site coordinator Michelle Christensen.