When: October 13, 2012
Arrivals 3:30pm • Ceremony 4:00pm • Followed by Reception, Dinner and Dancing
Where: Taproot Commons Farm, 11 Porter Hill Road, Cummington, MA
What to Wear: Fancy duds and comfy shoes. It’s a farm!
Kindly RSVP by September 16, 2012

Welcome

You are our core community of nearest and dearest family and friends from across the globe. You live in Germany, Hong Kong, Spain and all across the United States. We are so ecstatic to have this rare opportunity to bring all of you together as participants in our unique wedding celebration. You are artists and lawyers, scientists and scholars, farmers, teachers, technicians, writers and designers. You are our family - either through blood or through the connection and history we share, you are the people who are an integral part of our lives.

When we made the choice to get married, it was a choice to celebrate our love surrounded by our community. You were the first people who entered our minds. When we envision saying our vows and dancing the night away, it is your faces we see surrounding us. Your friendship, passion, laughter and presence is an essential part of our story and our continuing journey as a couple. It is this energy and presence that we want to be surrounded by when we get hitched on October 13!

Our Story

CHAPTER ONE: EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS

Technically speaking, Sara and Peter met in middle school, though they don’t remember interacting with each other much. When asked about their first recollections of each other, Sara remembers that Pete used to wear brightly colored high-top Converse and recalls recognizing that he was a pretty badass percussionist even at age 13. Pete remembers that Sara sang “The Sounds of Silence” for a 6th grade talent show which stood out as a strong stylistic juxtaposition to the more common “renditions” of En Vogue, Kris Kross and Mariah Carey that were common at that time.

A few years later in High School, Peter and Sara officially connected while participating in The Fall Festival of Shakespeare. It was a production of King John—Pete was playing the drums of war, Sara was playing with a broad sword during an elaborately choreographed fight sequence. They've been running in similar music and theater circles together ever since!

Sara left high school after her sophomore year to attend college two years early. While she and Peter never completely lost touch, they both got very involved in the development of their own creative pursuits. Pete continued to hone his percussion skills and was accepted as a student at the Eastman School of music, Sara continued her training as actor and director.

CHAPTER TWO: UNMISTAKABLE CONNECTION

In the year 2000, Sara was living on the West Coast studying physical theater at Dell'Arte International and had decided to take a semester off in order to tour and perform professionally. Pete was immersed in his music studies at Eastman in Rochester, NY.

In the winter of 2001, Pete decided to take some time off as well in order to embark on a roadtrip of his own. He hopped in his beloved yellow Toyota pickup named Stinky and headed West. At this point, Sara had returned to school and had relocated back to the Berkshires to complete her B.A. It’s quite possible the two passed each other on Interstate 80 without knowing it!

For the next three months, Pete traveled across the United States and Sara began work on her thesis. When Pete returned to the Berkshires in the Spring of 2001, it was the first time they had seen each other in years. Their friendship from the old days had been strengthened by a recent series of letters, phone calls and one brief and bizarre chance encounter in Wooster, Ohio. Being in the same place with each other felt like the most incredibly perfect and amazing thing in the entire universe.

CHAPTER THREE: THE LIFE OF PETE AND SARA

When Sara invited Pete to collaborate with her creatively as the composer for her senior thesis, their creative collaboration soon sparked a romantic collaboration as well! They laughed a lot. They made theater together. They dreamed of things big and wild and outrageous. They acted silly and serious, passionate and ridiculous. They swam in rivers and hiked through corn-fields. They shared their favorite music and looked at the stars. They stayed up all night laughing and talking and they began to fall utterly and completely in love with each other.

Their relationship began to grow. They graduated from college, moved to Brooklyn, started a fringe festival, made many new friends and reconnected with many old ones. They traveled to Montreal, Mexico and Scotland, drove cross country, camped out on the Connecticut shore. They supported each other through graduate school, odd jobs and their emerging careers as artists and entrepreneurs. They played music, directed plays and drank a lot of coffee. They did laundry, hosted many gatherings and gave each other epic amounts of loving flack.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE QUESTION

On June 3, 2011, Pete proposed. It was Sara’s 30th birthday and the ring Pete used belonged to his father’s grandmother. Pete stated that marriage was an opportunity to move forward in their lives with intention and purposefulness and to celebrate their relationship in front of their unique community. They laughed and cried and snorted champagne out of their noses and Sara eventually agreed that it would be an amazing adventure!

The journey of Sara and Pete falling in love with each other has lasted several decades. It began when they first met each other 19 years ago but has truly blossomed over the course of the last eleven years. One of the many reasons they are participating in the rite of marriage is because they know their love will only continue to flourish over the course of their lifetime together.

PROLOGUE/EPILOGUE

In the last eleven years, Pete and Sara have grown tremendously—both as a couple and as individuals. The Wises and Katzoffs and DeSantises have become a family and experienced life and loss, feast and famine, failure and triumph. Through it all, Pete and Sara continue to challenge and inspire each other while keeping grounded and laughing.

They are partners, friends, colleagues, lovers, muses, conspirators, collaborators and co-pilots. They sincerely fancy each other, are mad about each other, are crazy for each other, and are extremely excited to celebrate their love for each other with all of you on October 13!

About the Farm

ABOUT TAPROOT COMMONS FARM & CUMMINGTON, MA

Taproot Commons is a historic farmstead and currently in use for the first time in fifty years as a raw milk dairy. It's a thriving piece of land and we are honored to support the exciting agricultural work being done there by our host Sarah Fournier-Scanlon. The property is beautiful and rustic! There are cows and chickens and geese.

The weather might be wild so please wear layers. Bring an umbrella. Bring your dancing shoes. There will be trees and meadows and grass.

If the weather is nice, we will be having our ceremony outside in the meadow or under a tent. Chairs, benches and hay bales will be available for seating. Dinner and dancing will happen in the barn. There is a small Farmhouse that guests will be able to use as a lounge.

Two portable restrooms, "Porta-Potties" will be available for comfort and convenience.

SOME GUIDANCE FOR COMING TO THE STICKS

Having a car is pretty much essential out here. We encourage carpooling whenever possible. Please email or call us if you can offer a ride or need one.

Always have a designated driver.

Cell phone and internet reception is spotty. We advise that you go retro and make plans with specific meeting times & locations just in case! Download and print maps and directions or go crazy and write them down!

Maps & Accommodations

There are wide variety of options ranging from small Bed & Breakfasts to country Inns to large chain hotels. We know all of our guests have different needs and budgets and encourage you to find what works best for you! If you need guidance, let us know. We have included contact info and a map detailing what's near by:

View this map in a new window, with a complete listing of locations »

Hotel

A block of 10 rooms has been reserved at the Quality Inn Pittsfield - (413) 443-5661. It's a 25 minute drive to the wedding site. The exterior, lobby and surroundings of this hotel are less than majestic, but the rooms have been completely renovated top-to-bottom within the last month - brand new beds, carpets, bathrooms, flat-screen tvs, mini-fridges, etc. Please let them know you are with the Wise/Katzoff Wedding to receive special rates starting at $79/night.

B&Bs within 10 miles

More B&Bs



Camping

Camping is available in several nearby state forest locations. Some have cabin camping available as well as tent camping. More details and revesrvations at http://www.reserveamerica.com. Search for campgrounds near 11 Porter Hill Rd, Cummingon, MA. DAR State forest is the closest campground and appears to have free first-come-first-served tent camping after Oct 7, but please call them to confirm.

Gifting

Your presence alone is a tremendous gift to us, but we realize many of you wish to bring an additional offering in celebration of our wedding.

Monetary gifts are most welcome and will go towards a down payment on the future purchase of our first home and our first vacation in five years! (a.k.a. Honeymoon!)

We are also registered for an assortment of domestic goods via the Universal Registry on Amazon.com

Handmade, unique and artisan gifts are always appreciated.