There's so much to celebrate!

Thank you so much for visiting our wedding open house website! We are so excited to continue the celebration of our special day with our local family and friends.  As a bit of context, Dan and I are getting married on Sept 15th during a lakeside ceremony in Wisconsin. Due to some constraints and to accommodate travel restrictions, we are hosting this second reception in Fort Wayne, IN. We couldn't imagine celebrating this special time without you!  Please join us for some food and fun during our casual, lunchtime open house. There will be games and entertainment - full families and +1 guests are welcome!  

I was invited to a White Sox tailgate with friends after my summer internship before senior year at IU. The timing wasn't great as I was making a 13 hour drive back from Charlotte, NC the night before so I was conflicted over if I should attend or not. It's said that we're all just one decision away from living a totally different life. I distinctly remember sitting at the dining room table with my roommate and deciding to attend that game. Dan and I didn't talk much during the tailgate, but on the way out of the game (in true middle school fashion) I hip-checked him to start up a conversation. That night, I made some of my dearest, life- long friends....and I also met my future husband. I knew right away that I wanted to stay in touch. On my way back to Bloomington, I met up with my my now Maid of Honor, Kirsten, for lunch. "So...I met this guy........" and the rest is history.

A little background: I grew-up in a "babysitting co-op" that consisted primarily of 3 families. We all remained close and in 2010 we started the tradition of attending a Chicago White Sox tailgate to reconnect over the summer after we had been away at college. Fast forward to Tailgate 2012: It was an early afternoon game and several of us carpooled together, including one of Kevin's friends from IU. We all went out after the game, and towards the end of the night her and I started talking. It was a casual conversation about what we were studying, where we had just finished internships, and other fun facts about ourselves. I asked her, "If you could do it [college] all over again, what would you study?" I'll never forget her response, "Astrophysics. For a ton of reasons but mostly because I love Neil deGrasse Tyson." As fate would have it, I had recently become a fan of Neil and loved any opportunity to talk with people about him and his work. We spent the next few hours talking about anything and everything. I realized right away that she was special. The next day everyone went out to brunch, which caused me to be late for golf with my dad and sister. After running from the parking lot to the 1st tee with my golf bag and totally out of breath, I told them I met this really interesting girl and she had some funny similarities to Laura Panozzo, including being named Laura Elizabeth and attending Indiana University. My sister responded, "Man, it would be weird and confusing if you married her." I don't think it's weird and confusing at all.

Dan had arranged for 2 of Laura's friends to take her for a manicure and brunch on a Saturday morning. When she arrived home, he suggested they spend some time together, maybe go on a hike a little later that day. Not missing a beat (even though the weather wasn't great) Laura agreed but insisted it had to be after an appointment she had scheduled - those things are hard to rebook on the weekends! Can you say "clueless??" They arrived at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center where Dan led her straight to an overlook tower where you can see Lake Michigan over the beautiful fall colors and got down on one knee. Not having ANY idea what was happening, Laura actually thought he was making a joke about the NFL rather than proposing! Some tears were shed and hugs exchanged and they spent some time walking around, just the two of them, enjoying the moment (based on a recommendation from her brother, Philip.) After that, they went back to the car to have some champagne and call friends and family. Fast forward to that evening, Dan told Laura they had dinner reservation to get ready for. Upon arriving, Laura was surprised by over 20 of their dearest friends from ALL over the country! Dan had arranged for them all to come and celebrate. The way he saw it, she would want to have some quiet time to enjoy the moment but would also want everyone else involved. They ate, drank, and danced the night away. Pretty great job, Dan :)