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Newlyweds for 1435 days!
ABOUT STEPHANIE
Made in Korea and born in New Ulm, West Germany (swears first memory is of looking out a porthole at the Statue of Liberty while arriving in the States at 2 and a half).
Hometown: Frederick MD
Daughter to John, a periodontist, and Rose, a business manager and Martha Stewart-type (but the good kind) still in Frederick MD; sister to Ken, an attorney (also the good kind) in Norfolk VA; mom to Tyler, who just turned 15 and finished 9th grade!; granddaughter to Helen (Baba) Golski, almost 91 year-old former seamstress in Somerville NJ; sister-in-law to Ann, a law professor and entrepreneur; aunt to Molly and Riley.
Graduated highschool (in the 80's) with a background in art (skipped second grade along the way which meant never really learning about long and short vowel sounds or the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria), went off to college at the ripe old age of 17, got a BA in Psychobiology at Western Maryland College (whose name has subsequently been changed to McDaniel College since it is not actually located in Western MD and was too often confused for a state school), then ended up with a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins and a post-doc at the National Institute on Aging.
Always been a bit of a flower child: favorite movie in high school was "Hair", stray cats and dogs always seem to find her, made groovy hats to sell in parking lots of concerts, spent several summers on the road camping and seeing jam bands such as Phish, and has found beautiful trails wherever she has lived (including 3 moves in 18 months during 2000-2002).
ABOUT JEREMIAH
Born in Spokane, WA.
Hometown: Spokane until 4th grade then Princeton NJ and Bucks County PA.
Son to Paul, a Presbyterian minister, and Linda, a project manager in communications (company names keep changing due to mergers and buyouts- Verizon> formerly MCI>formerly Worldcom until an accounting scandal about same time as Enron fiasco) about to move from Lambertville NJ further north to New Brunswick NJ; brother to Edna, an accounting apprentice in Bucks County PA; and Nathan, a theology student in Pittsburgh PA hoping to relocate to the DC area; grandson to David and Janette LaMontagne in Estes Park CO and Bob and Alice Ellis in Richland WA; brother-in law to Ken Voegele, an IT professional in Bucks County PA; and Sarah, also an IT specialist in Pittsburgh PA; uncle to Gabriel Voegele and Joseph and Michelle Lamontagne.
Graduated highschool (in the 90's) with a background in photography and fine art, went off to University of Arts in Philadelphia where he eventually got an apartment with highschool friend (and groomsman) Mike Jordan and finished with a degree in Film and Digital video. The summer after college worked on an organic farm then moved to Baltimore for a graduate program in Imaging and Digital Arts. Left the program before finishing (too snooty and missed Steph) but not before winning a film festival award for his documentary about the jam-band community entitled, "Pretty Please with a Phish on Top". Back in NJ took a job as Produce Artist at the newly opened Princeton Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) grocery then quickly advanced to a position as Store Systems Integrator- which basically means he knows something about everything and can control how much your purchases scan for! (insert evil laugh here!)
A unique combination of skatepunk, science fiction nerd, and flower child he spent many summer on cross country trips with his grandparents, hiking in the Rockies, and house construction in Maine. He also made clothing to sell in parking lots at concerts and spent several summers on the road camping and seeing jam bands such as Phish (see how we met below!). He continues role-playing games- although instead of in person games like Dungeons and Dragons he now plays online games like World of Warcraft. He also spends much time with what Steph refers to as his "square-headed girlfriend" working on a website for his fractal documentary and calculating how we can retire as millionaires. Never much of an animal lover before he now finds his day filled with training our puppy Gonzo and taking long walks about the neighborhood and fields (followed by intensive tick removal!).
HOW WE MET
From the cornfields of Indiana to a New Jersey Garden Wedding...
We met six years ago at an Indiana campsite where we ran through the cornfields- it was romantic but with way more bugs than we expected!
There literally were fireworks in the background the first time we kissed!
After two weeks on the road Steph returned to Maryland where she was moving from Baltimore to Chestertown for a visiting professorship in the Psychology Department at Washington College. Jeremiah was soon to return to art school in Philly but first went back to Alexandria, VA where he'd spent the past year watching his two -soon to be three- cousins and wearing groovy Revolutionary era gear at The Mt. Vernon House.
Mount Vernon VA and Washington College MD weren't the last of George Washington in our lives...After Steph moved with Tyler to New Jersey for a faculty position at Rider University and Jeremiah for a position at Whole Foods as the store systems integrator, we lived for four years in Titusville where George crossed the Delaware River from PA to surprise the hungover Hessians.
In November 2005 we began planning a July 2006 wedding. But a Sunday drive checking out "for-sale" signs resulted in a diversion of our time and $ to house hunting. Two weeks later we had made an offer on a house in Pennington NJ. From the moment that we first set foot on the property we daydreamed about all the great gatherings we could have in our new house and beautiful yard. However, given our slow pace at unpacking, we decided two months after our March move that we'd actually be able to pull off a wedding quicker than a housewarming party! :)
WHEN & WHERE
October 1, 2006
Hamilton, NJ
ABOUT THE BIG DAY
NEW INFORMATION:
Remember: Wedding is AT 3 PM!!!
Our Honeymoon (Gift Registry) website is finally up! (www.wedding.fractalfilm.com) Visit it to read all about the different romantic stops we hope to make on our honeymoon.
Also we have tied down entertainment for the evening! Starting with a Jazz Trio (Organ, Guitar and Drums) put together by our friend and Tyler's drum teacher Joe Falcey. Next we have lined up tribal bellydancing by Hipnosis, from whom Steph had been taking classes for a bit (http://www.tribalbellies.com/). Lastly Jeremiah's friends the Blue Light will be wrapping up the night (http://www.bluelightmusic.net/)!
it's easy being green
As much as possible we are trying to go "green" for our wedding: invitations of recycled paper (www.twistedlimbpaper.com), flowers in the earth instead of vases, dress made in the USA, soy wax for the candles (www.candlesofeden.com), and we're commissioning our rings from a couple in British Columbia who carve them from the wood of trees fallen on their farm ( www.touchwoodrings.com ). It gets better- they log on from their solar-powered computer! If you have any other eco-wedding tips we'd love to hear.
For anyone planning a wedding or who knows someone planning a wedding we recommend "The Smart Couple's Guide to the Wedding of your Dreams: Planning Together for Less Stress and More Joy". The book fills you in on the background of a lot of wedding traditions and offers suggestions on how to personalize your "special day" to reflect the values you intend to uphold during your married years. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that many wedding traditions relate to the exchange of the woman as property from one man, her father, to another, her husband. Although, there are some fun other sources of traditions- such as bouquets which were carried to hopefully overpower the body odor of unwashed brides (Steph may have weird hair but she promises to shower). The book also speaks to grooms- it is amazing how most every other wedding planning source is directed at the brides only. Wow!- men who want some say in how they start their married life- what'll happen next- men who want to help raise their children? ;)
(www.amazon.com)
Other cool stuff: We were just about to sign on with a chain photography company when one of Jeremiah's U Arts professors recommended an alum who now resides in New Town- and we're so glad he did! A well published photojournalist his vision should fit in nicely with our own.
( www.davidgrahamphotography.com )
Without giving away exactly what our favors will be, we'd like to share the great organization they are coming from. The National Gardening Association is a nonprofit dedicated to environmental stewardship, education, and health and wellness AND they sell seeds, plants and bulbs at reasonable prices!
( www.assoc.garden.org )
STEPHANIE'S ATTENDANTS
Beth
Nardi
,
Maid Of Honor
-- Beth and Steph met more than ten years ago in Baltimore. Steph had been at the National Institute on Aging for about a year when Beth took a position there as research program coordinator for a large scale neuroimaging study. We were all a little apprehensive since the person who previously held the position had been more than a bit psycho. Beth did turn out to be psycho but in all the best ways! Much of our friendship has unfolded though email- perhaps not as witty and profound as we'd like to think- but definitely enough to fill a tome or two! A common theme for us is that life seems to have common themes- yielding our catch phrase, "Here we are. Again."
Beth is well-traveled, a skilled photographer, and hails from a large Italian-Polish family- all of which yield interesting compliments and contrasts to Steph's experiences. She graduated from Michigan State- whose "Sparty the Spartan" has nothing on Western Maryland's "Green Terror" as far as wacky mascots go. She just recently completed her Master's degree in Existential Counseling and is looking for houses in Baltimore city. By the time of the wedding she should have some fun stories to tell from her location-as-yet-undetermined summer vacation.
Marjorie
Paloma
,
Maid Of Honor
-- Marjorie and Steph were introduced ~6 years ago by Jeff Long, a mutual friend. At the time Marjorie- and Jeff- were working at the NIA and Steph- while still in Baltimore- was now at Villa Julie College. Jeff held off introducing us since he knew that, despite Marjorie being ten years younger, the similarities were scary and could result in him never seeing either of us again. He didn't worry too long about it though as he soon moved to sunny San Diego, Steph moved to Chestertown and Marjorie moved to NYC to pursue her Masters in Public Health at Columbia.From there it was off to Madison WI where she lived while her girlfriend Jen Grissom was in law school. 2 years ago she moved to our neck of the woods, and although I knew she was coming- I didn't get the phone message from Tyler that she'd actually arrived. So my surprised screaming upon seeing her in the parking lot of Best Buy later that day left poor Jeremiah thinking he ran someone over. Although they've moved a bit further away it is fun having Marjorie, Jen, and their psycho dog Maddy nearby; in fact Tyler says that if our life was made into a sitcom, they would be the wacky neighbors brought in for comic relief!
Like Beth, Marjorie hails from a big Catholic family- this one Filipino- and is a skilled photographer. So of course we'll be expecting lots of great candid pics from the wedding! She runs the tobacco cessation programs for the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, the nation's largest philanthropic organization and is just about to close on a house in Philly with Jen- so be sure to ask about it!
Alice
Ellis
,
Flower Girl
-- Alice is Jeremiah's precocious cousin and is very excited to be involved in a wedding for the first time in her life! To add a special touch all three flower girls dresses are being hand made by members of their respective families! So a Big thanks to Rose Golski, Linda LaMontagne and Nancy Evans.
Sydney
Ellis
,
Flower Girl
-- Sydney, Alice's younger sister couldn't possibly be left out of the ceremony after she discovered that her big sister was involved. She makes the third in a triad of young ladies who couldn't possibly be more excited to be part of our wedding experience!
Molly
Golski
,
Flower Girl
-- Steph's poor brother Ken! First he gets Steph as a sister then he gets mini-Steph as a daughter! Although she hasn't evidenced much of Steph's "hippie vibe" (yet!) Molly Travers Golski, 11, has the drama queen bit down pat. She's been waiting for this day for awhile and comes with lots of cool ideas for helping Steph out. Great minds think alike! :)
JEREMIAH'S ATTENDANTS
Tyler
Brennan
,
Best Man
Mike
Jordan
,
Best Man
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Photo by: the early stages of our rings
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