Natalie Crouse & Anthony Gaudino
Our Story
Growing up in a small town like Southwick, MA, everybody seems to know everyone. I first met Anthony when we were dating people that hung out in the same crowd. Every weekend for my entire sophomore and junior year in high school, our small group of friends would hang out all the time. Never in a million years would I had thought that I would end up marrying this man. This man at the time was a boy; A boy that had bleached blonde hair that he spiked straight up. A boy that wore pants way too big, swore too much and couldn't keep a job to save his life.
Flash forward a few years and Anthony went away into the service. I was just out of high school and went to a party with a friend of mine. We saw Anthony come around the corner into the living room and my jaw literally dropped. He looked so different! He had turned into a man. He had normal hair, was in amazing shape, was smiling like never before and he looked and sounded great! He was on leave from the Air Force for a week before he had to head back to North Carolina again. After the party I kept talking about how cute he got, asking people what they now knew about him trying to find out the scoop. My sources were scarce and his love life remained a mystery.
About a year or so after the re-introduction, a friend of mine signed me up for myspace. She suggested that I get myspace so I could get in touch with old friends and relatives. The first night I was on I was poking my way around searching for people that I knew. That is when I caught a glimpse of Anthony's profile. His default picture was this big, tough picture of him showing his tattooed arms. His personal information stated: Anthony Gaudino, North Carolina, Single. Of course I got really excited and asked him to be my friend. He was actually online at that time so we were able to instant message back and forth. He later called me at my house where we talked for seven straight hours. This went on for a couple months online and on the phone until I decided to fly down to see him in North Carolina over the New Years weekend in 2005.
Long story short, It was pretty much love at second sight! We have managed to make it through the long distance relationship, a deployment to the Middle East and the initial return from the service. We then tried to live together in an apartment for a year and realized that were completely compatible and ready for the next step. We purchased our first house together in 2008 and currently live there with Bubba, Bella, Rosco and now our newest addition; Penelope. Now that we have the house and the practice kids were ready for MARRIAGE to seal the deal!
About the groom
It's kind of ironic how oblivious you are when you are growing up. You can hang around your inner circle of friends all the time doing the same things and never know that the one person you are searching for in life is actually one of your friends girlfriends. I know that sounds bad, but in actuality it is just a case of us being kids dating around and learning life. In those times Natalie and I were in the "puppy-love" days where you think that the one person you date is great and things will always stay the same. We all ended up going our separate ways except for Jessica and Scott whom are married today. For myself I needed something to kick start my life because Southwick was getting old and everyone with a plan was doing things with their lives. Here I was doing the same things I did in high school; so I decided to leave the friends, family and girlfriend for a new life in the military.
The military for me was a roller coaster. I couldn't tell if it was right for me or if I was just another Southwick, MA just in a different location. I needed to either change my duty location and or I was considering getting out before meeting Natalie. I went from having a blast as a single guy with friends whom partied all the time...To a timid lonely guy whom was sick of spending every last dollar on booze and wondering how I was going to get home that night. Although I met some cool people I knew I needed a drastic change. I tried dating in North Carolina and it was a joke in the South. I couldn't imaging coming home with some hillbilly girl whom could pronounce Massachusetts, let alone spell it. So from there I was just doing some college courses on base and trying to keep in contact with people back home in Southwick on myspace.
Then there was that one day that I got a friend request from "The Beautiful Natalie Crouse". I couldn't believe how amazing she looked. My first impressions were a jaw dropping experience. We emailed back and forth and had intensely long conversations about life and we tried to fill the gaps in life that we didn't know about each other. We then took a chance and met in North Carolina for a week and found out that we connected in person even more than over the phone.
So the story ends up going from a long distance relationship, to moving home and giving up that single military lifestyle for the girl I knew was "The One". Our relationship has substance and we had what other relationships lacked...Which was an understanding of who the other person was because we knew each other as kids. We also did not rush anything because we wanted to know for sure we could make this work. We did a long engagement and then purchased a house. And we now are ready for the wedding and are eager to go enjoy our honeymoon together!!!
Our Wedding
Our wedding will be one of a kind... We're going for a very rustic, yet artistic vibe.
The ceremony will be at The Old Mill Inn, in Somersville, CT abutting the Scantic River. We will be sitting on hay bales listening to a bagpiper and light acoustic guitar.
After the vows are said and done, we will proceed to go to the reception which is 3 miles down the street in Enfield, CT. The Power Mill Barn is also located on the Scantic River and we thought this was the perfect location for our wedding reception. The night will consist of lots of delicious food from Danny's Little Taste of Texas Barbecue; music from guitarist Bob Dunn; a photo booth inspired set for pictures... etc etc
A Special Message From Us
We hope that all our friends and family will come and celebrate the start of our new lives together!!!!! See you all 10-2-10!!