We are so happy that you will be joining us for our wedding! Please RSVP by August 31. Huzzah!

We met through the online dating service Bumble. We communicated in writing for a week and agreed that there could be something special between us. Our first date was on February 1, 2022 at Theismann's Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. Upon first impression, Felice was initially underwhelmed by Josh's fashion sense, but she quickly discovered his many other worthy qualities like his ability to listen attentively, despite his hearing impairment, his patience, and intelligence. On the other hand, Josh had no concerns about Felice's sense of style! Of course, she looked beautiful, but even more importantly, Josh was struck by Felice's passion, intelligence, and heart!

Josh proposed to Felice in Colonial Williamsburg on Saturday, June 15, 2024. Josh was inspired by our shared passion for history and the colonial era. We stayed at the beautiful, historic Williamsburg Inn (a long-time goal of Felice's!) Josh believed that he had developed a foolproof plan to misdirect Felice regarding the intention of our trip to Williamsburg. To be sure, she saw through it, but played coy. Josh led Felice to the Palace Green and in front of the Governor's Palace. Having secretly hired a photographer, Josh recited an original two page poem and then dropped to one knee and asked the fateful question. You can read the poem at the bottom of this page. As you browse through this website, you will see some of the photos from our engagement and our stay at the Williamsburg Inn!

Our wedding will be based on a theme of Colonial Virginia. We are both passionate about history, especially the colonial era and the American Revolution. Our love for history is also reflected in their career choices. Felice, with her background in archaeology, works in the museum field and is the Deputy Director of the President Woodrow Wilson House in Washington, D.C. Josh is a middle school U.S. History teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. Felice's family has long visited Colonial Williamsburg as a favorite travel destination. We were literally just there in June this year! Furthermore, Josh attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Both of us have special and personal connections to the theme of Colonial Virginia and we believe it is a terrific way to honor our passions and help us to create a unique and interesting atmosphere for our wedding.

Our shared fascination with Colonial America influenced our choices for venues. Our Friday night rehearsal dinner will be at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant, which is part of George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate. Felice worked at Mount Vernon after college, and it is her favorite U.S. historical site. Although Mount Vernon does not allow weddings on site, we realized that we could reserve the charming restaurant at the Inn as the venue for our rehearsal dinner. We are thrilled to share a slice of the history of Mount Vernon with our rehearsal dinner guests and share in delicious food and drinks. Building on the colonial theme, we chose Gunston Hall, the historic plantation of another great colonial leader George Mason, as the venue for our wedding reception. It just so happens that Josh attended George Mason University for graduate school. Gunston Hall is an 18th-century mansion located just a couple of miles away from Mount Vernon. Built in the 1750s, Gunston Hall became the main residence for George Mason and his family, as well as the headquarters of a 5,000 acre slave plantation. Despite being one of the lesser recognized Founding Fathers, George Mason was the primary author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution, which directly inspired fellow Virginian James Madison to write the Bill of Rights after the U.S. Constitution was ratified.

It is important to both of us that we acknowledge that our historic venues - George Washington's Mount Vernon and George Mason's Gunston Hall - were both plantations in which hundreds of people of African descent lived, worked, and suffered under the harsh conditions of enslavement. Over the course of George Washington’s life, at least 577 enslaved people lived and worked on George Washington's properties. The number of enslaved people grew steadily during Washington's time living there from 1754 to 1799. By the end of Washington's life, there were 317 enslaved people working on his properties. This number includes those owned by George Washington, those rented from other plantations, and those owned by Martha Washington's Custis estate. Upon his death, George Washington freed those enslaved people who he directly owned. However, he could not legally free those who were owned by the Custis estate. George Mason inherited 35 enslaved people from his father’s estate. Ultimately, he enslaved at least 300 people, many of whom lived on his plantation at Gunston Hall. We are sharing all of this with you to acknowledge the barbarity of the institution of slavery and how it impacted these historic sites. While our choice of wedding theme is significant to our nation's history, and to our own personal interests, we do not seek to excuse the evil practice of enslavement or downplay the human suffering that occurred at Mount Vernon and Gunston Hall.

Before even meeting for our first date, we discussed our faith backgrounds. While Josh does not currently practice Judaism, he maintains a strong connection to Jewish history and culture. Although we are not having an official Jewish marriage ceremony, we will be integrating Jewish wedding traditions into our celebrations. Felice is a lifelong practicing Catholic. Even before meeting, we discussed how we were both open to a mixed-faith relationship. When we met for our first date, Felice told Josh that she wanted to ensure that her future partner would be respectful of her faith and try to support her as much as possible. As such, Josh made a commitment to regularly attend mass with Felice. He has done so and is proud to support Felice in her faith by getting married in the Catholic Church, which has been extremely welcoming towards us as a mixed-faith couple. We are particularly appreciative for the support of our priest, Father Michael Nugent, an admirable man and faith leader. Regardless of your own personal faith journey, we hope that you will join us for our Catholic wedding ceremony at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Annandale, VA.

Below, you will see the proposal poem that Josh wrote for Felice and recited to her in front of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg! Inspired by their shared love for the musical "Hamilton" and the lyrical genius of Taylor Swift, Josh crafted this genre-bending epic masterpiece!