Jenny Petrosino and Dane Lupe went to Bentley University in Massachusetts together, but the seeds of their relationship were actually planted in Australia. It was there that Dane, who was studying abroad, revealed to Jenny’s friend that Jenny was his “dream girl.” Jenny’s friend didn’t forget that sweet remark, and she took Jenny to a party at Dane’s house a few months later where they immediately hit it off.
“He was a little nervous [at the party], although he will not admit that, so I went up to him to see if he wanted to have a drink with me,” Jenny remembers. “We were pretty inseparable after that.”
Dane says he knew for years that he and Jenny were going to spend the rest of their lives together, and after selecting a ring with the help of Jenny’s best friend, he took Jenny’s parents out to their favorite restaurant to ask for their blessing. He planned to take Jenny on a picnic to pop the question, but just couldn’t wait – he ended up asking her right before they left for the picnic.
“I then proceeded to cry (happy tears) for about an hour and we called all of our family members,” Jenny says. “We did enjoy our picnic and day together after that.”
The decision to marry at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles was an easy one – Jenny says the social club’s beauty, convenient location, and ability to host guests overnight made it the perfect venue. On their wedding day, the couple’s 170 guests gathered at 6:30 p.m. for the ceremony on the Club’s outdoor terrace, which was decorated with white flowers and trees adorned with tiny lights. In a break with tradition, Dane’s parents walked down the aisle after their son to show their support for him and their future daughter-in-law.
After the emotional ceremony, guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres; then, they convened in a lavish ballroom encircled in dramatic white and green floral arrangements for a sit-down dinner. After a series of heartfelt toasts, guests spent the rest of the night on the dance floor. “I did not sit down once,” Jenny raves.
Reflecting on their big day, both Jenny and Dane admit that planning the event wasn’t their favorite aspect of the wedding; rather, they couldn’t wait to become husband and wife.
“I thought that I would be totally into planning my wedding but I wasn’t! I just wanted to marry Dane,” Jenny reveals, and Dane agrees. “The details were not important to me,” he says, “I just wanted to marry her.”