BALTIMORE | 90 | WEDDINGS
wanted a wedding in the city and fell in love with Cosima the minute
they drove down the curvy driveway under the twinkle lights. Their
vision was a big party with lots of dancing, great food, a band, and
a perfect mix of their two cultures, Jewish and Chinese. Their sunny
(and very hot) wedding day had red lanterns, a ketubah signing, and
Jasmine tea for dessert. They were married under the chuppah and
both broke the symbolic glass as everyone yelled “Mazel Tov.” Blooms
played a big role. Nina had bought her flowers in bulk from Richfield
Farm and made her own bouquet the day before the wedding. They
also had a unity plant at their wedding, a philodendron—“I Googled
‘plants you can’t kill,’” cracks Nina—that involved both their moms add-
ing dirt from their own gardens in Columbia and Houston.
Friends came from Hong Kong, Canada, Texas, California, Massachu-
setts, and Colorado, many doing readings during the ceremony—and
all of them dancing.
“Everyone just had a lot of fun,” says Arin. They spent the entire
car ride to their Rehoboth Beach minimoon rehashing every minute
of the wedding.
In just five months, they had turned out a killer party, their yin and
yang personalities working perfectly in both life and wedding planning.
“I’m the creative spirit,” says Nina. “And he’s the project manager.”SEPTEMBER 2, 2018 | PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOVE TO THE CORE PHOTOGRAPHYLOCAL LOVENINA & ARIN
N
ina Guo and Arin Foreman met on Bumble. “That means we both
swiped right,” jokes Arin. But because women have to make the
first move, it was up to Nina to reach out to this mysterious stranger.
“He had a picture of himself with an elephant. I recognized the scen-
ery,” she says. Both had been to the exact same elephant rescue in
Thailand. “I know that elephant,” Nina messaged Arin. That sealed
the first date: Thai food, of course, and easy conversation about
elephants and beyond. Two months later, she was meeting his family,
and six months after that, they were talking about moving in together.
Animals played into their engagement, too. Nina has a cat named
Turtle. She often calls herself Turtle’s kitty mommy. It was April Fool’s
2018, and they were headed to brunch with Arin’s parents when he
handed her a bag with two T-shirts inside. One said: “Turtle’s Kitty
Mommy” and the other “Turtle’s Kitty Daddy?” Don’t worry, it wasn’t
obvious to Nina either. But when Arin got down on one knee, Nina
suddenly realized what was going on. They FaceTimed Nina’s par-
ents, who live in Houston, but who suddenly walked in the door. Nina
was emotional and elated. “And we really did have brunch reserva-
tions,” says Arin.
Much like their relationship, they didn’t drag their feet when it
came to wedding planning. “We did it in five months,” says Nina. They