October First Two Thousand and Twenty-Two SAVE THE DATE
8 PAGES OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Meet the Bride and groom PAGE 4
SHIRLEY� & JOHN
SAVE THE
DATE
Shirley Morillo John R. Guercio III For the wedding of
And
OCTOBER 1, 2022
LAGRANGEVILLE AND NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK
Formal invitation to follow
WEDDING WEBSITE: THEKNOT.COM/THEGREATGUERCIOS
Bride&Groom John Meet the
Hometown: Hyde Park, NY Zodiac: Capricorn Favorite Musician: Notorious B.I.G. Favorite Food: Chicken Parmesan Favorite Movie: The Godfather Favorite Season: Fall Dream Vacation: Sicily
Shirley
Hometown: Hopewell Junction, NY Zodiac: Scorpio Favorite Musician: Bad Bunny Favorite Food: Tacos Favorite Movie: Breakfast at Tiffany’s Favorite Season: Fall Dream Vacation: Japan
Proposal The
As Told By The GROOM
A long weekend in the Big Easy, which was always secretly meant to be a trip to celebrate a surprise proposal. Although it certainly did not go as planned, in the end, everything was just right. I had initially planned to propose that Friday evening, and to then spend the next two days celebrating, but abnormally high winds and flooding ended up cancelling my plans. Needless to say, I was stressed the proposal would not come out as I had planned and hoped, but with some luck and help, my plan was rescheduled until Sunday afternoon. We spent the weekend exploring all New Orleans has to offer, starting with dining at Commander’s Palace, and unforgettable upscale southern experience. We saw the iconic oak trees at Oak Alley Plantation, got up and personal with alligators in the bayou, and experienced amazing live Jazz performed all over the French Quarter. We took in the rich history of the city, learned about ancient voodoo traditions, visited the original congo square, and ate more food than what seemed humanly possible . All of this led up to the finale in my eyes, the proposal that could only be done my way. In the middle of City Park on an authentic Venetian Gondola, I got down on one knee and finally proposed, as Andrea Boccelli played in the background. Thankfully, Shirley said yes, but only after I jokingly had to remind her. We finished the day off with a jazz cruise up the Mississippi River, which capped off an unforgettable trip with my newly minted fiance.
As Told By The BRIDE
We started off our trip to New Orleans in a casual fashion, just dropped our bags off at the hotel and explored Bourbon St with drinks in our hands. The next day we did more exploring, had our taste of Cafe Au Latte and beignets at Cafe de Monde, had more daytime drinks and explored the cemeteries. For the evening, John had planned a dinner at Commanders Palace: a super upscale restaurant that has been around since the late 1800s and has a dress code along with a month and a half reservation period. In my mind I’m thinking “This might be it… He’s taking me to a fancy restaurant that he suggested I buy a nice dress for” while I am also scaling his pockets for a small square box that he might be hiding. The night moves along smoothly, enjoying each others company with great food and amazing service by the staff but, no proposal. The trip continues with amazing food and drinks, beautiful sights and the friendliest people. Sunday morning comes and I hear we are going on a boat ride, but a boat ride I needed to be somewhat presentable for. I did not want to repeat the same outfit as our fancy dinner, but the other dresses I brought were too casual, or so I was told. Off to the streets we go to find a little boutique we passed the previous day to find a dress I had my eye on but didn’t feel the need to buy… well now I needed to buy it. Hair and make up done, dress and heels on and we head to City Park (pretty much Central Park but cleaner and less crowded). As we are walking around I am curious as to what kind of boat this is, is it one of those swan boats where you pedal? John takes me to a dock where we see a gentleman wearing a red and white striped shirt, the kind you see in movies when they’re in Italy on a romantic boat ride. Come to find out that’s our gondolier and the boat is a beautiful red and black gondola straight from Italy. It’s a peaceful ride around the park with small talk and Andrea Bocelli playing in the background and I am suspicious but still unexpecting. Suddenly it gets very quiet on the boat and from the corner of my eye I see John gives a ‘thumbs up signal’ and start turning to me. Immediately I get emotional and I know that this is it… this is the moment that I have been waiting for. In typical John and Shirley fashion, after his speech and he slides the ring on my finger, I tell him I’m mad because he got me… he actually still managed to surprise me when I was suspicious the whole weekend! We hugged and kissed and I was on top of the world: my best friend, my soulmate had asked me to spend the rest of our lives together and all I could think about was how amazing it was going to be. At the end of the day, the proposal itself was perfect because it came from the perfect person, no matter how or when it would’ve happened, I am just happy he is the person I can spend forever with.
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