Family, Friends and Italy... Andiamo!

We're getting married! There are few things that mean as much to us as friends, family and Italy, so we've decided to bring them all together for this celebration in Petritoli, Italy. Please come join us for the week, as we celebrate this special moment in our lives with our loved ones. On the night of our engagement, we dined at a restaurant in Lake Como, Italy and asked ourselves the standard questions about our wedding including when, how and where. It was in that moment that Heather laughingly said "Oh, we're not doing it here?" As we both went through our wish list, there was one thing that both of us quickly agreed upon; the most important thing to us at this time in our lives is friends and family. There was a short conversation about how difficult it can be these days to see friends and family regularly, due to busy careers, budding families, and for many of you, distance. Upon returning to the U.S. we thought, what if we could use our wedding to get everyone to take a break from their hectic lives and give them a reason to relax and have fun, if only for a few days. After a couple of days of research, we stumbled upon the gem that is Petritoli and here we are. Petritoli is located in the Italian region of Le Marche. It is a picturesque land of medieval villages where hills, sea and mountains merge. We envision quality time spent with our loved ones, enjoying food, wine and everything Italy has to offer.

It was a Friday night in Dallas, and Elizabeth was trying to get me to meet up with her and Todd and some of his friends at The Blue Fish on lower Greenville. I told her I couldn't go; I had my friend Nikki flying in from San Diego, and was going to pick her up at the airport. Then we were going to go out for a bite to eat and some drinks. Elizabeth (ever the matchmaker) suggested that they come meet us wherever we were going! So I told her that would be fine, we were going to be at the Happiest Hour. Little did I know her plan was to introduce me to Todd's friend, Paul! We met that night and while we didn't talk very much, the spark began. I let Elizabeth know he was very cute and nice, and we would see if he will call. I had given him my # but didn't hear from him for a few days... I think the following Wednesday he finally reached out for our first date which was the following Saturday!

Paul called to ask me if I'd like to go out and upon saying "sure" he then asked what I'd like to do. My answer was "Why don't we go watch the Kentucky Derby somewhere", and I think that was the moment of clarity for him. : ) He picked me up and we went to the Smoky Rose and sat on the patio. Had some appetizers and white wine. I found myself talking more to Paul than even paying attention to the races. There was just something special about him. We couldn't stop talking! We decided to continue the date and I introduced him to a place called Lounge Here. He had never been, and it was the sort of place that he loves, with a Rat Pack mid century vibe. We ordered a couple of glasses of wine and continued to talk and get to know each other. In what seemed like an hour, our waitress came to the table and said "last call"; it had been five hours! The rest is history...

We were on vacation in Lake Como, Italy. It was a trip we somewhat hastily planned after finding an airfare price we couldn't pass up! We had been on the lake for three days and I'd been pestering him to go on a boat ride. He kept telling me we were doing the ferries and that was good enough ;) So one morning he surprised me with a "picnic" in the village of Bellagio, for just the two of us. Little did I know, he had already secured a private boat to go out on the lake! With a charcuterie picnic of meats, cheeses, bread, olives, and a bottle of Prosecco, he proposed on Lake Como with Villa del Balbianello as the backdrop.