St Andrew Catholic Church

Rehearsal Dinner

Wedding Day

Saint Andrew's Catholic Church

Ceremony

Tacoma Country & Golf Club

Reception

Our Wedding

We first met through mutual friends our freshman year at Hillsdale College. After becoming friends, we realized our shared interests for learning, faith, sports, and having fun. Our friendship turned into a relationship our sophomore year, only 8 days before the campus would be closed for the school year. With college, as well as our relationship temporarily remote, we found creative new ways to overcome the distance, including lots of Battleship, Farkle, Codenames, Boggle, and FaceTime. As our relationship developed, we found a mutual love for the outdoors, tennis, ice skating, biking, and roadtripping. At Hillsdale, Abby studied accounting, and Matt studied biochemistry. Since graduating with undergraduate degrees in 2022, Abby has achieved her CPA license, and works as a tax accountant in the greater Detroit area. Matt is studying at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. ﻿We are extremely excited for our big day and cannot wait to celebrate with all our loved ones!

OUR STORY

Our Story

Photos

Caitlin Burns

Scott Granzotto

Talley Anderson

Maxwell Burns

Sarah Thayer

Jacob Hooper

Elizabeth Geno

Matthew Labbe

Annie Smith

Sean Nemetz

Wedding Party

Q + A

Please use the group name “BURNS-GRANZOTTO WEDDING” (Group Account 4797781) when booking your room to ensure our listed rate. Please also note that reservations must be made by May 20th to receive the rate listed above.

Comfort Inn & Suites Lakewood By JBLM

For guests interested in staying in the Tacoma area and looking for a beautiful view, we recommend The Silver Cloud Hotel located along the Ruston Way waterfront.

Silver Cloud Hotel - Tacoma Waterfront

For larger groups we also recommend looking into Vrbo and Air BnB in the Lakewood, Tacoma or Puyallup areas for accommodations.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Travel

We realize many of our loved ones are traveling to the Tacoma area for the first time or from far away and want to share some of our favorite activities in this beautiful area! We have experienced and loved all of the actives listed below, so please let us know if you have any further questions.

Mount Rainier is one of our favorite places to go for a day hike. Our favorite park on the mountain, Paradise, is about a 2 hour drive from Tacoma with plenty of trails leading to stunning views of the Tatoosh Mountain Range and meadows full of wildflowers. On a clear day you can also view Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens from Panorama Point. Be sure to stop and see Nairobi Falls if you visit as well! We recommend using an app like AllTrails to view different hikes, their difficulty and what sights they lead to. Mount Rainier also requires a National Park Pass or Day Pass for entry during regular hours.

Mount Rainer National Park

Pike Place Market is an iconic landmark in Seattle that features a farmer's market with fresh seafood, beautiful flowers and plenty of local artisans. Be sure to bring a stick of gum to add to the Gum Wall in Post Alley if you visit this spot! Also, for coffee lovers, this site features the original Starbucks store. Pike Place is located on the water close to the Seattle Great Wheel with lots of waterfront to explore and walk. Additionally, Matt and Abby took a boat tour of the Salish Sea in 2022 to learn about the history of the area and would recommend Salish Sea Tours out of Pier 57 to anyone interested.

Pike Place Market

Matt enjoyed a whale watching tour with Abby's family in 2021 when we all took a skipper to view the Salish Sea's wildlife. Whales, such as humpback, pilot and orca whales frequent the areas around the Puget Sound. On this trip we were lucky enough to spot an elusive minke whale along with lots of sea lions! This trip also makes a stop in the quaint island town of Friday Harbor, which we thoroughly enjoyed. If you're looking for a unique PNW experience, we cannot recommend this daytrip enough.

Whale Watching Tour

Point Ruston is located on the Ruston Way Waterfront in Tacoma, which is also very close to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Ruston Way is one of Abby's favorite places. With miles of paved walkways overlooking the Puget Sound, you can see both the Olympic Mountain Range and Mount Rainier on a clear day as well as harbor seals playing in the Sound. There are lots of fun shops and restaurants to choose from. There is also a kid's splash pool in the main square in June. Abby recommends stopping at Ice Cream Social for a waffle cone to eat while you enjoy a walk along the water!

Point Ruston

In addition to being a fantastic zoo &amp; aquarium, Point Defiance also boasts a beautiful park that has many gardens open to the public to walk. Located along 5 Mile Drive, this park has plenty of trails to walk and observe the beautiful scenery. We also recommend looking into biking or walking all of 5 Mile Drive if you are interested in spending a day in Tacoma.

Point Defiance Zoo Botanical Gardens

Although the Mariner's are not in town the weekend of our wedding, we do recommend checking out the AAA team the Tacoma Rainiers! These games are hosted at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma and make for a fun evening.

Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Club

Abby's family went on an Alaskan cruise through Princess Cruises in the summer of 2018. The Burns family had a blast canoeing up to glaciers, going white water rafting and seeing the beautiful Alaskan country. There was also plenty to do aboard the ship as well. As Alaskan cruises depart out of the Port of Seattle, we wanted to make guests aware that there are 5 ships departing the week prior to the wedding, and 3 more ships cast off the week after in case this kind of adventure interests you!

7-Night Alaska Cruise

KID FRIENDLY ACTIVITES (FUN FOR ADULTS TOO!)

Northwest Trek is a zoo experience like no other. Featuring only northwest animals, this park has bears, wolves, eagles, caribou, bison and so much more. It also offers an exciting forest inspired kid's playground. There are keeper talks, Wild Drives and hopefully a new electric tram (opening date for that is TBD). Northwest Trek is a 40 minute drive from the Tacoma area and definitely worth exploring!

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park

Point Defiance Zoo &amp; Aquarium is located in Tacoma near Ruston Way. It features an aquarium with a touch pool, walruses, polar bears and a splash pool for kid's in the summer! This zoo, as well as the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium reciprocity program. If you have a membership at another zoo, such as the Detroit zoo, you may be able to receive discounted admission. Definitely a must see for both kids and adults in the Tacoma area!

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

The Tacoma Children's Museum, located in downtown Tacoma, is more playground than museum. Featuring multiple indoor and outdoor playgrounds, a water play area (featured in photo) and a kid's rope playset, this is the perfect way to pass a few hours with a little one. Admission is donation only.

Children's Museum of Tacoma

Located in Seattle Center near the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center is a fun educational experience for children. With several rotating exhibits including a butterfly room, dinosaurs and a saltwater tide pool, there is lots of fun to choose from in the Science Center. Additionally, the Pacific Science Center offers an IMAX theater, laser dome light show and planetarium. The Pacific Science Center is enjoyable for both kids and adults!

Abigail & Matthew

Abigail & Matthew

Wedding Party