Laughter and Life Entwine Stephanie and Adam
High school juniors who share a first date on the eve of Valentine’s Day would seem destined for a long run together.
“We went to Forest Park and he wanted to go close to nighttime to show me the fountains, except they weren’t on,” said Stephanie Sicuro about an introduction in 2006 to Adam Ezell’s positive spirit.
She headed to college at Truman State University, Kirksville, and he wound up working back in St. Louis. “We never deleted our numbers. When I came back from college, Adam contacted me right away. After a month of dating, we both knew it was going to be for the long haul.”
The attraction was definitely mutual.
“She was always a go-getter. She loves dogs and I love dogs and her passion is always taking care of them. It was kind of a time to see what happens, where our careers were, how stable we were,” Adam noted. “She was always in the back of my mind, even when she was away.”
The sarcastic side of their personalities matched.
“I could be myself around him all the time. It gravitated me toward him, even during college when I dated other people and he did the same,” Stephanie added.
‘I knew we were going to be together, so it didn’t matter.’
When she returned from college, his direction for career and education changed. Stephanie bought a house in Ballwin in 2015 and he moved there, too. The subject of marriage arose sporadically, but she always insisted on a date when he would finish school.
Suddenly, she discovered the timeline was hers alone.
“At one point, I just caved. I knew we were going to be together, so it didn’t matter.’
When she returned from college, his direction for career and education changed. Stephanie bought a house in Ballwin in 2015 and he moved there, too. The subject of marriage arose sporadically, but she always insisted on a date when he would finish school.
Suddenly, she discovered the timeline was hers alone.
“At one point, I just caved. I knew we were going to be together, so it didn’t matter,” she said. “Right when I said that, he decided to propose.”
Adam, seeking a perfect moment, planned a trip in May 2016 to Napa, Calif.
“We Airbnb’ed a castle there with my twin brother and his girlfriend on the last night. Finally, about 1 o’clock in the morning, I got enough nerve,” he said. “The others kept looking at me and I kept chickening out. They were just as shocked as she was when I proposed.”
Adam said the presence of family, including his grandparents from Highland, Ill., tipped wedding plans for Sept. 3, 2017. On the lookout for a private outdoor area with a gorgeous view amid his Midwestern family, they rejected barn-like venues and chose rustic Innsbrook Resort, the ceremony overlooking Aspen Lake and reception in the Aspen Room. Stephanie, born in New York and raised in Italy until age 7, was thrilled to have an aunt from Italy and family from New Jersey attend.
Focused on sentimental gifts, Adam gave Stephanie a teacup, catering to her love of tea, and she gave him a wallet, watch and love letter. A sapphire centers her wedding ring because, she said, “I like to have color in my life.”
‘Sometimes we had logs in our oven all day to dry.’
Stephanie’s frequent change-of-mind on wedding details left the groom admitting, “I was usually two ideas ago when she called.” They settled on rose gold and blush as key colors, accented by light teal blue. The bride’s cascading bouquet centered roses and white orchids in metal rings. Officiant was a family friend who is involved with her father in the philanthropic Heron Foundation.
His first glimpse of the bride topped Adam’s memories. “When I turned around, she looked gorgeous,” he said.
Stephanie recalled another view minutes later. “For the ceremony, boats were on the lake and when we said, ‘I do,’ everyone on the boats started clapping. It was the best photo of them in the background and about 150 guests in front of us.”
Friends and relatives, including Adam’s aunt, helped them echo Innsbrook’s woodland decorations. Adam said, “We cut some trees down and shaped them. My dad and I worked out of his garage. Sometimes I had to stick the wood in our oven to dry it all day.”
They formed centerpiece logs, a log engraved by her sister for guests to sign, a cake stand and a holder for place cards. They ordered a similar box in which a nephew carried wedding rings.
Over three months, they aged limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur, then used a turkey baster to fill customized jars for giveaway gifts. ‘She can laugh with me about anything, not just my jokes, but turn a bad time good.’
As mindbogglers, the bridesmaids’ dress designer went out of business and the bakery notified them a month before the wedding that it could not fulfill their cake wishes.
Accenting positives, Adam said, “There were a lot of hectic times before the date, so we decided to flow with it, just have a good time and not be too stressed.” Being relaxed did not ban surprises or fun. The groom danced with guests while he wore a new dinosaur costume brought by the photo booth operator.
Stephanie has found Adam’s reliability enhances their time together. “He is very reliable. Anything I need, he is there for me 100 percent, even though it is the craziest thing. He is so loving, not just toward me, but also toward our ‘children,’ our dogs,” she said.
When storms hit the Southeast soon after their wedding, three pups rescued from the chaos joined them to be fostered in their three-canine household. It was just another opportunity for life-nurturing laughter.