St. Virgil's Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

The Park Savoy Estate

Reception

Our Wedding

Welcome

Welcome!

Welcome and thank you so much for visiting the&nbsp;Russo/Zavala Wedding website! We are so happy to be sharing this exciting time in our lives with our closest family and friends. Thank you for all your&nbsp;love and support during this time. We cannot wait to celebrate our love with you on November 3!

With love,



Renae & Mike

Often we hear about couples who were just "meant to be". We definitely believe God has categorized us as one of those couples, but we will let you be the judge. ... [As told by Mike] Baseball had always been my life (I am a Zavala what can I say) and my love for the game led me to the first time I laid eyes on the love of my life. It was the Winter of 2010 and I walked into my hitting lesson just like any other time. As I walked in, this beautiful tall blonde was walking out and stopped me in my tracks. Of course she was my type, but something about her made my heart skip a beat. As time went on, I continued to see her in passing in&nbsp;High School and even coached her in one softball team training. In fact, I remember being jealous of my older brother Ryan because he made a joke that made her laugh. Perhaps, it just wasn't my time to be a smooth talker yet. A few months later, Ryan told me, "Mike, I got the perfect girl for you, her bat your arm, your kid is going straight to the MLB". I should have listened because I&nbsp;missed that&nbsp;opportunity. [Strike 1]

Later that year, I started my baseball&nbsp;career at Rutgers and a&nbsp;year after that, Renae went to the University of Scranton. Which now brings me to the Summer of 2012 and our love for Country Music. After being blessed with an injury that summer, I traveled home just in time for the annual Kenny Chesney concert. I went to MetLife Stadium dressed to the nines wearing jorts (jean shorts), cowboy boots, a tuxedo t-shirt, and a "distinguished" mustache (pictured above). A few hours into tailgating when sure enough, this beautiful woman from my past walks up. Instantly, I recognize her as my long lost crush. Fate had finally given me a second chance. As Renae got closer, a million thoughts went through my head on what I could say and what came out was, "Nice boots babe". Renae turned, looked at me and without breaking stride, I received, "Thanks". [Strike 2]





As I mention before,&nbsp;baseball was my life and I guess it was just God's humor to give me 3 strikes. Later in the day, Renae's boots came walking back one more time to our tailgate, perhaps it was a stroke of genius,&nbsp;sobriety, or perhaps pure luck. I walked up to her under strange&nbsp;circumstances, wearing strange&nbsp;clothes, with strange&nbsp;facial hair and despite all that, we had the most normal conversation.&nbsp;One that was so natural, I instantly knew I can't strike out with her.&nbsp;

How We Met

We&nbsp;graduated college and&nbsp;started our careers in the retail industry.&nbsp;We have shared two homes together, one in New Jersey and one in Greenville, SC,&nbsp;where we currently reside.&nbsp;We love&nbsp;exploring&nbsp;our new state AND&nbsp;continue to go to&nbsp;Kenny Chesney concerts.

Since Then

[As told by Renae]&nbsp;Over five years, a few Kenny Chesney&nbsp;concerts and memories later, it was time for Mike to put more words together that would start a new chapter in our life. At the end of January 2017, Mike accepted a job promotion that would relocate him (and me)&nbsp;to South Carolina. Several months earlier without my knowing, Mike&nbsp;had been sneaking around&nbsp;keeping the proposal and the&nbsp;ring a secret, from mostly EVERYONE.&nbsp;

Realizing Mike would be moving&nbsp;soon, I tried to plan&nbsp;dinner reservations &nbsp;for mid-February&nbsp;with his parents and my parents&nbsp;before he left.&nbsp;Meanwhile, this dinner was already planned weeks in advance&nbsp;for Saturday night,&nbsp;February 11th and&nbsp;I almost ruined it. Finally it was&nbsp;February 11th, a typical winter day in New Jersey. It was cold and windy with the chance&nbsp;of snow. Not ideal circumstances, however, what part of our story has been. &nbsp;There was some "time to kill" before dinner, so Mike suggested visiting&nbsp;Liberty State Park in Jersey City, a place that he wanted to see before he moved. We walked around the&nbsp;walkway on the river in between the Statue of Liberty and the Freedom Tower (absolutely gorgeous views!). We took some photos and I&nbsp;tried to take a panoramic photo of the New York City&nbsp;skyline, when my&nbsp;phone froze&nbsp;before I could finish. I turned&nbsp;around in disappointment, to find Mike on one knee right in front of me. One of the&nbsp;only people that could&nbsp;shut Mike up... and I&nbsp;was absolutely&nbsp;speechless. After saying "OH&nbsp;MY&nbsp;GOD" about 100 times,&nbsp;I said YES to forever with the man of my dreams. We celebrated with our parents at our favorite restaurant and it was the most perfect ending to such a magical day.

The Proposal

Share the Love

Help us capture the love from our special day and the events leading up to it! Kindly use&nbsp;the&nbsp;wedding hashtag below on all your photos shared on social media,&nbsp;so we&nbsp;can enjoy your memories too!





#happytobeMrandMrsZ &nbsp;#NaeFoundHerBae

Our Story

Details

Photos

Ryan Zavala

Gina Russo

Steve Zavala

Soon-to-be sister-in-law of the Bride, Groom's sister

Kelly Davis

Soon-to-be Brother-in-law of the Groom, Bride's Brother

Nick Russo

Anna Paris

Bill Davis

Katharine Weikel

Joe D'Annunzio 

Soon-to-be sister-in-law of the Bride, Groom's sister-in-law

Desi Zavala

Megan Zavala

Slater McCue

Danielle Martinos

Kevin Manning

Melissa Olsakowski

Adam Somberg

Wedding Party

Registry

Q + A

If you will need to travel by plane, Newark Airport (EWR) is&nbsp;30&nbsp;minutes away from both&nbsp;the room block&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Wyndham Hamilton Park Hotel&nbsp;and&nbsp;the ceremony at Saint&nbsp;Virgil's Church.

Newark Liberty International Airport

Kindly make reservations by 10/1 by visiting the website below&nbsp;or by calling the hotel. If booking after 10/1, please call the hotel directly using the phone number above&nbsp;and they will honor the discounted rate. You may use&nbsp;our booking code or mention the Russo/Zavala wedding.&nbsp;

The Wyndham Hamilton Park Hotel&nbsp;is located&nbsp;10 minutes&nbsp;from the ceremony at Saint Virgil's Church and 8 minutes from the reception at The Park Savoy Estate.









Booking Code: 11026880RR

Wyndham Hamilton Park Hotel and Conference Center

The guests of The Wyndham Hamilton Park Hotel will be provided transportation to&nbsp;and from the reception.

Renae & Michael

Renae & Michael

Travel

Newark Liberty International Airport

Wyndham Hamilton Park Hotel and Conference Center

Shuttle Service