~ 40 photos with narrative

How we met

I was working as a consultant when Dan contracted me to do some work for his company. I worked in his office for a number of months, and then was asked back as a full-time employee. After 1 year of employment, I left to go back to college to obtain my life-long dream of a college degree. We started dating and became engaged almost 3 years later.

Our engagement

Dan's big family Christmas celebration is on Christmas Eve. On the morning of December 24, 2001, we went to the town of Great Falls for breakfast. On the way back, he asked if I wanted to go for a walk at Great Falls Park.

I reminded him that I was dressed up [as is my custom on holidays] in vintage heels and a dress. The air was brisk as we walked to the first overlook at the Falls. He urged me to the railing where you could overlook the Falls, but I backed away because of my vertigo. [Unbeknownst to me, he wanted to kneel, but was trying to avoid the frozen puddle at our feet]. Because I had backed up, he had to kneel where I stood. He took my hand while kneeling on one knee, and asked me to marry him! I was surprised and wondered if he was for real. He had hinted at popping the question several times before, and each time I asked "is this real" and he would say no. I just assumed this was one of those moments, so I asked him, "is this for real?" He said, "yes!" I was too stunned to reply. After several moments, he said, "and your answer is..." [as the icy water worked it's way up his pant leg...remember, I didn't realize that he was kneeling in a frozen puddle]. I said yes, with tears in my eyes. He stood up and THEN removed a LARGE blue box from his pocket!

I didn't know that he'd gotten me a ring, and I had said yes without knowing that he had a ring. He had been carrying the box in his pocket for a week, and I never even noticed!!! A family arrived at that moment to look at the Falls, and we told them that we'd just gotten engaged and asked if they would take our picture.

When we arrived at the family Christmas celebration, we announced our engagement!

And that's the romantic story on how Dan and Maria got engaged.

Our wedding [and reception too]

I wanted a winter candlelight church wedding. This was the second marriage for both of us, and I had never had a church wedding, and it meant a lot to me to be married in my new church home. As a second wedding, I wanted "understated elegance," and that theme was carried through all the way to my wedding gown. We prepared a small wedding with 50 attendees.

We wrote our own invitation which included...

"This day I will marry my best friend,
the one I laugh with, live for, and love
Maria and Danny
Two lives, two hearts
united forever in love..."

Once we decided on the season of our wedding, I got to work choosing the colors for the flowers, pew bows etc. I decided on a dusty rose, pearl ivory, and a beautiful purple iridescent ribbon to match my maid of honor's favorite color;
which was her gown color too!

I own a vintage wedding gown business, and I searched for 6 months for the "right" winter wedding gown, and we choose May 2002 as our wedding date! I sold my favorite wedding gown and started the search again.

To read the story of my "saved" wedding gown, go here.

My wonderful 80 year old mother-in-law!

We also wrote our own vows, chose the hymns, and the musical accompaniment.

The Marriage of
Maria Louise & Danny

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
McLean, Virginia

May 25, 2002
12 o'clock

The Ceremony

Prelude
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Ode to Joy

The Processionals
Matron of Honor Sheep May Safely Graze
Bride Canon in D Major

Greeting & Prayer

Psalm 96:1-4, 6, 7

Hymn - Holy, Holy, Holy

Lessons
Song of Solomon 8:6, 7
Colossians 3:12-15

Hymn - Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Prayer

The Homily - Pastor

The Rite of Marriage
Declaration of Intentions
Exchange of Vows
Presentation of the Ring
Blessing of Marriage
Prayers

Hymn - Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Benediction

The Recessionals
The Wedding March
Finale from Concerto in F

The Wedding Participants

Matron of Honor Best friend of the Bride

Best Man Youngest brother of the Groom

Ushers Brother of the Groom

Greeter Son of the Bride

PhotographerDarlene Coy

Officiating Minister Pastor

Organist Andrea B.

Just Married!

Here's the new bride and groom.

Our Wedding Reception

Our wedding reception was at the Sheraton Premiere in Tyson's Corner, Virginia.

Our wedding cake made by the famous Heidelberg Bakery of Northern Virginia
[pew bows, and bridal bouquet decorated the table]

The bride's and groom's table [decorated with the pew bows from church!]

Our first dance [view of bride]

First Dance [view of the groom]

Bride and son dancing

The wedding toast given by the best man

Cutting the cake

Feeding each other cake.

Pictures of Guests

Bill and Mia

Richard and Jennifer

Jeff and Maggie

Kristin and Evan [daughter of the groom, son of the bride]

Bride and one of her best friends, Jennifer

[L to R] Irene, Lou, and Harriet [Mother of the groom seated with Uncle, Aunt of Groom]

Jim and Pastor

The cousins together

Tom and Stacey

The girls!

The whole family!

Our honeymoon

In the Virgin Islands we stayed on the island of St. John's and traveled across to St. Thomas' for shopping when we were bored playing. This is the view of our resort as we arrived by Ferry.

We LOVED the beautiful warm waters!
The most amazing fish too.

The waters in the islands are really as blue as in the postcards!

When we traveled to St. Thomas for shopping and sightseeing, we ate at colorful local restaurants like the one below.

Below is a picture of us as we leave at the end of wonderful honeymoon!

About Dan

Dan "The Man" is an entrepreneur in the Washington, DC metro area with more than 20 years experience as a contractor for Federal systems integration as well as a consultant. He has spent his life as an entrepreneur, and started his first company when he was 19 years old to pay for his college education and help his mom and teenage brothers. In the 80's and 90's, he was a well-known soccer coach in his spare time. He has five grown kids from his first marriage, and six grandchildren. Now he starts his life with a new bride, a border collie and much, much more!

About Maria

Maria Louise is in the renaissance of her life:-) Her career started right out of high school working for one organization for nearly 20 years. Then she realized her life-long dream of attending university and getting her degree. Simultaneous with working on her degree, Maria has also been an entrepreneur with two businesses in two very different areas! Her retail business is vintage gowns and accessories, and her web business American Web Wizards both located in the Northern Virginia area. Life has started anew for this 40-something person who found true love late in life with her new husband, Dan.