The pair: Suzanne Toerge (maiden title Garrett), 42, grew up in Utah. She operates as a sustainability technique leader at American Honda. Jeffrey Toerge, 38, grew up in Potomac and graduated from Winston Churchill Large University. He is a authentic estate agent with Weichert in Bethesda. They dwell in Boyds.
How they fulfilled: When Suzanne moved from California to Washington, D.C., in September 2017 and was on the lookout for a position to live, a close friend related her with Jeffrey, who is licensed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. They stayed in contact following he found her a apartment in D.C’s Tenleytown neighborhood. They think about their first official day to have been in February 2018, when she invited him over to observe her favorite motion picture, The Male From Snowy River.
In January 2020, Suzanne went to Japan for function for what was meant to be a yr. They prepared to retain in contact but were being “not earning any significant promises,” Suzanne suggests. Due to the pandemic, she finished up coming back again to the States in Oct 2020. She arrived in California, exactly where her corporation put her, and Jeffrey achieved her to quarantine for two months in a lodge. 1 day, Suzanne explained to him, “‘I definitely just in no way want to be with no you,’” she recalls. “And he stated the exact issue.”
The proposal: Jeffrey popped the question through the 2020 Xmas vacations. Suzanne was in Maryland only for a visit—she did not transfer back to the East Coastline right until September 2021—so Jeffrey felt the time crunch. He saw his window of chance when Suzanne went to a hair appointment. In the midst of a long-time period renovation of his property, he employed the components at his disposal. “I experienced about 30 minutes to set a little something alongside one another and designed a sign with spray paint,” he says. When Suzanne saw the indication asking her to marry him, she spray-painted “yes.”
The ceremony: Suzanne and Jeffrey wed on Oct. 16, 2021, at their Boyds residence with about 70 friends current. The pair claimed “I do” below a tent placed in the lawn between the garage and the property. The ceremony commenced all around 5 p.m.—just as a rainstorm subsided—with a close friend, John Watts, officiating, and a string trio supplying the tunes. Jeffrey’s nephew was “ring stability,” and his nieces were flower girls, launching bubbles with pink plastic guns just before Suzanne walked down the aisle.
The reception: The 6-auto garage served as a cocktail hour place, in which guests could indicator a wine barrel from the Maggie Malick Wine Caves in Virginia, a favored place for the couple. They moved to a more substantial tent in the backyard for evening meal and returned to the ceremony place for dancing. “We just desired it to be the most effective party ever, and it just takes place to start off with a wedding day,” says Suzanne of the reception. A DJ obtained anyone grooving with classics like “We Are Family” and “Y.M.C.A.” A highlight of the festivities was the all-white bouncy home. “Adults were being kicking little ones off of it,” Jeffrey says with a laugh. The reception did not wrap up until all over midnight, but law enforcement arrived all over 11 p.m. for a sound criticism. “I really actually almost certainly would have been upset if the cops weren’t termed,” Jeffrey suggests. The occasion favors ended up “wedding recovery” baggage, comprehensive with Pepto Bismol and earplugs.
The food and beverages: The newlyweds entered the tent for evening meal on Jeffrey’s garden tractor to the tune of Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Hot.” Income Muscle BBQ in Silver Spring served a plated feast that bundled brisket, ribs, collard greens and cornbread. “The barbecue, we felt, established the phase for far more of a informal affair,” Jeffrey suggests. A food items truck arrived later in the evening, slinging late-night time bites like wings and s’mores. “I now keep the document for encouraging 1 of my groomsmen acquire 12 lbs . around a weekend,” Jeffrey states with a giggle. “We did not mess all over with the meals.”
At the open up bar, “Jeff’s Country”—a bourbon and apple cider concoction—“packed a punch,” Jeffrey claims. For the cake, the pair opted for a gluten-no cost vanilla confection with blueberry filling.
The outfits: “I actually didn’t feel I would be a wedding person, and then I ended up owning two dresses,” claims Suzanne, who wore an off-the-shoulder Stella McCartney robe (paired with a necklace from her late grandmother) for the ceremony and a flowy Catherine Deane costume for the reception. For the groomsmen’s outfits, Jeffrey suggests he “wanted an excuse to power all people that didn’t have cowboy boots to get cowboy boots.” Corduroy blazers, trim ties and denims accomplished the western ensemble.
The honeymoon: When the newlyweds essential to carry Suzanne’s corporation car from California to Maryland about a thirty day period following the wedding ceremony, they took the opportunity to go on a cross-region road journey, halting at sights like the Grand Canyon and traveling to close friends together the way. But immediately after more than a year of lengthy distance, the pair is “just satisfied to be in the same put jointly,” Suzanne states. “Just being at house was ample.”
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