THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU x 1,000,000

From the moment we became engaged we have been overwhelmed by the support and generosity of our family and friends. Congratulations have been extended, showers have been held, parties have been thrown; everyone has been amazing to an extent that has actually been a little embarrassing. As you all know, we are more into being on the “throwing” end of such soirées, as opposed to the “receiving” end.

There have been several events at which we had planned to publicly thank people: At our rehearsal dinner, our wedding ceremony, the after party, and our reception in Ann Arbor—each time, the event developed such a life of its own that we abandoned our prepared statements and assumed that we’d find an appropriate moment to thank everyone later in the evening. Each time, the night got away from us and we thought, Well, we’ll thank people at the next event!

As it happens, we managed to finally run out of wedding-related celebrations (and you all know, we fought that, tooth and nail!), so here we offer a TASTE of what we had hoped to say to everyone in person. Please know that this list is FAR from comprehensive. Bear with us. Ready? Here goes:

OUR PARENTS
First and foremost, we want to thank Mom & Dad DePasquale for welcoming everyone to Indiana. People descended on Michigan City for the entire week of the ceremony and the DePasquale household was the center of gravity for it all. The DePasquales are well known as excellent hosts, and they outdid themselves for us. They threw us a fabulous rehearsal dinner that allowed friends, family, and wedding party to meet, mingle, and play, then they hosted our wedding in their front yard and the after-party in their back. They took care of a hundred details large and small, all of which added up to a perfect day. THANK YOU.

First and foremost also, we want to thank Mom & Dad Sumerton. They rented the house next door to the DePasquale house, allowing us the space in the backyard to have the wedding after-party, and setting the stage for a week of Sumertons mingling with DePasquales, a blending of families that went more smoothly than anyone had any right to anticipate or expect. It was our dream to have a venue for the two families to really get to hang out and know one another, and you guys made it come true. They also paid for our honeymoon lodging and food, which was, basically, AWESOME. THANK YOU.

More important than all of that, both sets of our parents—Chuck and Barb and Bill and Linda—raised us in loving homes that taught us the importance of family. We wouldn’t be the people we are without them. We’ll NEVER be able to thank you enough for all you’ve done for us, but we’re sure going to try. On the parent and parent-in-law department, it pretty much doesn't get any better than the four of you. The phrase "an embarrassment of riches" comes to mind. THANK YOU.

OUR SIBLINGS
Jason’s sister Julie and her husband Ed planned their two-week family vacation around our wedding. One night, they sat Jason down and said that the first week had been their family vacation. The second week was devoted entirely to doing whatever they could to help with the wedding. They meant it! They cooked, cleaned, decorated, took photographs, offered advice, made schedules, delegated tasks… They were invaluable, and we couldn’t have pulled it off without them. They are also just really wonderful people, and in addition to all their help, it was lovely to get to HANG OUT with them for an extended period of time. Furthermore, they befriended Amy’s brother and sisser and nieces and nephew in a way that made Amy about as happy as she’s ever been. THANK YOU.

Amy’s brother Mike and his wife Caty took photos, decorated the beach, cooked food, and talked at great length with Jason’s dad about religion and politics. They have also created and half-created six of the best people we’ve ever met, something for which we will NEVER be able to thank them enough. But here’s a start: THANK YOU.

Jason’s sister Natalie is responsible for us meeting in the first place: She’s the one who told Jason about a new organization opening in Ann Arbor called 826michigan. They went to a volunteer orientation together, where she insisted that Jason chat with the comely Program Director about how he might be able to get involved. Five years later she was one of the crew who helped assemble Jason’s robot store proposal window display, then opened her home for the first of many engagement celebrations. Thanks, big sister!

OUR WEDDING PARTY
When we were trying to figure out who should perform our wedding ceremony, our first thought was Dave Eggers, the world famous author who founded the 826 organization. However, our first choice was our pal Tyler Brubaker. Tyler has thrown TWO parties in our honor. The first was a tailgate for our apartment-warming party (trust us, it made sense at the time) that he arranged with bridesmaid Dr. Sara Walker, the other was our very first engagement party, which was organized with sister Natalie. THANK YOU, TYLER.

Our wedding party was stuffed to the gills with incredible people. Jason’s groomsmen had (for the most part) never met before being asked to stand up with him in our wedding. They decided that the best way to get to know one another was to fly Jason out to Las Vegas for an epic bachelor party weekend over the summer. Adventures were had and friendships were forged. On the day of the wedding they helped Jason pull himself together, straightening his tie, fixing his suit, and giving him handkerchiefs with which to discreetly dab away the flop sweat that dripped from his forehead during the ceremony. Rich, Jon, Nick: for all this and a million other things, we thank you. Amy’s bridesmaids didn’t really know each other either, but used the wedding as an excuse to spend many hours at Old Town “looking for dresses”—and mostly drinking and talking and laughing together. They also did such a fine job of picking out their own dresses and jewelry that it looked as though we had orchestrated it. Urmila, Chrissy, and Sara really became friends, just like the groomsmen; something which delights us to no end. Thank you all for never making us question our wedding party choices, instead just feeling INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL that we had made the choices we did. THANK YOU.

PALS

Our friend Rachel Lieberman has been quietly involved in our wedding from the beginning. She was part of the tiger team who built the proposal window at the robot store. She spent our wedding day helping us get ready and providing the wine for our post-ceremony toast. She helped set every single place setting at our reception in Ann Arbor. Rachel, THANK YOU.

Our good friends Blaine and Mary went so far as to base their family summer vacation around our wedding, renting a house in Michigan City for the week so that they could attend with their children Francis and Claudia (two of our favorite children ever), and our ring bearer Colby. We ran out of white wine during our Ann Arbor wedding reception, and Blaine took it upon himself to run out to buy us an extra case during the party. He still hasn’t let us pay him back. To all y’all Roderiques: THANK YOU. We love you guys, like, a lot.

Jason’s Aunt Shurl Lynn worked tirelessly behind the scenes on our wedding day. It was great to get to spend time with her! Shurl Lynn: THANK YOU.

NIECES & NEPHEWS:
The greatest joy in Amy’s life, hands down, has been her nieces. She prepared a big speech around this that she could not get through a practice of without weeping, so she forewent trying to deliver it. It was something to the effect of:

“Haley, I held you when you were twenty minutes old. You were wearing a funny hat. Watching you grow up has been the greatest joy in my life. You never cease to amaze and impress me, and I’m so proud to get to be your aunt. And to all the rest of my nieces, and my new nieces, and my nephew and new nephews, I can’t believe (cue weeping) I get to watch you all grow up. Sumertons, I think you are all so smart and funny and talented, and I love that you are so young, and there is so much more to see. DePasquales, I feel honored to get to be your aunt, and I am excited to see where your lives take you, and thrilled that I get to be a part of it.”

Haley is the best. She just is. She read a great poem as part of the ceremony, and did it with poise and grace. Beyond that, she made a million tissue flowers and did the arrangements for the tables. And beyond that, she is one of the most fun, funniest, smartest, and sweetest women you could ever be lucky enough to spend a day with (let alone a week…or, for that matter, the last eighteen years). THANK YOU, Halesteria!

Cassidy has been endlessly excited for us and the wedding. She’s been a huge supporter of us from the get-go. She’s also one of the sweetest people we’ve ever met. We get to be related to her! Which is, in a word: AWESOME. THANK YOU, Cass!

Emily was a welcome addition to the Niece Sleepover, at long last! She proved herself a worthy opponent for Multi-Person Solitaire (Note to Mom Sumerton: We have GOT to come up with a better name for that game!), and was a delight to spend time with all week. She also painted many parasols and lent her talents to the I Like You book. AND she dyed her dress…with tea. Genius. THANK YOU, Em!

Chloe, in addition to being Jason’s practice baby and one of the funniest kids we’ve ever known, deserves special praise for her dancing skills at the reception. She’s got MOVES! She was, pretty much hands down, Amy’s favorite person to dance with on a really special night. She’s also one of our favorite people to spend time with, ever. THANK YOU, Chloe!

Lucy deserves special thanks as well. She did the drawing of us on our wedding invite. We’ve gotten roughly two million compliments on it. She took her recess time during school to make countless drawings and sketches, and, frankly, the seriousness with which she approached the task was endearing and downright amazing. Furthermore, she was SUPER fun to dance with at the reception! THANK YOU to La Luce!

If we ever open our own business, Mimi will be our first employee. She works TIRELESSLY, and enjoys it, from parasol painting to moving things to taking apart carnations for the flower girls, Mimi’s the one you want to ask. She was also steadfast in helping with the addressing of the wedding invites, which explains why some of them had “AMY S,” and in some cases “SYMA,” scrawled on the back in purple crayon.

In addition to creating some of the most hilarious family photos we’ve ever seen (Little V got into a snit that managed to last the duration of the Sumerton family photo session and then instantly evaporated), Vera was one of the MVP nieces at the wedding after party. She danced her little booty off, and made pretty much everyone laugh hysterically with her antics. Dr. Walker’s favorite? In that I’ve-been-smoking-my-whole-life voice so funny in a four year old, she would set up pairs of dancers on the dance floor and then say, “Now MARRY.”

Ethan used his developing handyman skills to help Jason string lights all over the yard for our after party, and Evan served as a miniature Goodwill Ambassador to the Sumerton house by making an appearance every morning in his cowboy jams to invite the Sumerton girls over to play Wii. Max entertained everyone with his charming good looks and ability to repeat everything you say, as well as his talent for drawing fireworks. To our adorable nephews: THANK YOU.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUTS NEED TO HAPPEN TO:
The one-and-only Becky Pershing, who helped with details big and small, including running out to get Amy waterproof mascara the day of the wedding. When something needed to be done, she jumped in without being asked;

Nick, who traveled a great distance, took a million photos, and lost his job over our wedding;

Onna Solomon, who wrote a poem for the ceremony, and took on the task of putting together all of the bouquets for the wedding, which were lovely;

Steven Rajewski, who overcame his fears and provided music for us to walk down the aisle to;

Mollie Edgar, Ed, and Mike for making it the Most Photographed Wedding of All Time;

Diggy, who not only gets the Best Dressed Award, but also a hundred thank yous for making the beach look beautiful, schlepping chairs, and raking the entire aisle. Furthermore, his wife Chrissy deserves another shout-out for throwing a lovely shower for Amy (with the help of the BMs) AND putting together the perfect bachelorette party.

Furthermore, we need to give a standing ovation to Diggy, Steven, Chrissy, and Urmila, who surprised us during the ceremony with an amazing rendition of one of our favorite songs, “I Found a Reason,” incorporating both the Velvet Underground and Cat Power versions. It was wonderful, and we will never forget it.

Okay. We guess that's a start. It doesn't seem like nearly enough, but, well, this is getting long...