Wedding Day

Wedding

Oaks Ballroom

Reception

Our Wedding

Steve moved to Philadelphia at the end of March 2018. It was his first time living alone so he needed to make some friends quickly. Steve learned from Los Angeles that one of the first places he should go to find friends is at church events because the Church is generally all Steve really wants to talk about. So he discovered a Theology on Tap event and brought himself over to the event. He had some success in making friends, but had noticed one particularly cute girl that later that night happened to be standing right next to him. After bumping into her a number of times, (probably more aggressively than necessary, Tricia is much smaller than Steve) and figuring out a great intro line, Steve starting talking to Tricia and discovered that both liked baseball in addition to talking about the Church, so he asked for her number and received a ride home as part of the bargain. Tricia, as a very loyal daughter of southeastern Pennsylvania, did not want Steve to have to see the state of Philadelphia public transportation after dark. The next day Steve asked Tricia if she wanted to go to a Phillies game and of course she did! The game was supposed to be cold and rainy which has become a tradition for Steve and Tricia at Phillies’ games, and Steve was very pleased that he had prepared by acquiring an umbrella. He had no idea how little he had prepared however. Tricia brought cheesesteaks, bottles of water, towels, a poncho and snacks. It was a tour de force of preparation and Steve knew that he would like to marry someone who was prepared for things. Tricia, for her part, could not resist Steve’s reluctance to being on the kiss cam, so much so that he announced he had “dodged a bullet” when it was over.

Steve’s original plan had been to complete training on the KC-10, go to survival training and then deploy for two months before asking Tricia to marry him. He wanted her to know what she was getting into. Training dragged on longer than Steve anticipated though and so after talking it over with Tricia he decided to move up his timeline, since all parties seemed to be ready. 

 

One of Steve and Tricia’s favorite early dates had been a trip to Gettysburg, which is a little more than two hours from Tricia’s house. On the trip, Steve told Tricia about the 2nd Wisconsin regiment, one of the hardest fighting Union regiments at the battle. At some point, he wanted to see if there was a monument to the regiment somewhere on the battlefield. Finding the latitude and longitude coordinates on his phone, he thought they should be able to find it. However, it was more difficult to find than he anticipated, and they were just about to give up when they found a trail and a nice little monument to the 2nd Wisconsin! 

 

When the time came to propose, Steve thought this would be a good place to do it, and conveniently Tricia’s alma mater was not far away so he was able to tell Tricia that she would just show him around Mount St. Mary’s. As the day wound down, even though all previous signs had pointed to an engagement, Tricia began to doubt that Steve would propose. But that’s because we weren’t at Gettysburg yet! As we got to the monument, it began to lightly snow, which Tricia found very romantic. It was much easier to find the second time. They went to dinner together in Harrisburg and started planning the rest of their lives together!

Steve and Tricia's relationship story

Our Story

RSVP troubles

Don't worry if you're invitation can't be found. In this case, please just click add another guest until all of the members of your household have been added, and then click whether they accept or decline. If you want to bypass the process, please email 819.tricia@gmail.com with your RSVP. Thanks!

Details

Josh and Steve became friends at the Air Force Academy. They had classes together in Japanese, various math and Scholars&nbsp;classes in which Steve reassured Josh with his lazy attitude towards most classes. Josh and Steve both grew in friendship as we learned that we appreciated many of the same things, and particularly admired two of their Scholars&nbsp;teachers. Both went to graduate school after the Academy and fortunately were sometimes stationed close enough to each other to visit because there was no way Steve was going to spend that kind of money on his own. Josh is married to Holly. They have two children, Klara and Leo, and live in Colorado Springs.

Josh Harnisch

Julie is Tricia's cousin, but they have been more like sisters since they were little, sharing countless late night discussions at sleepovers, made-up games at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house, and family vacation adventures.&nbsp; Tricia had the joy of being Julie's maid of&nbsp;honor almost ten years ago when she married her college sweetheart Chris, and they have a son and a brand new daughter born in May.

Julie Wilcox

Cait was one of Tricia's roommates in college and again after they both finished their time as FOCUS missionaries and moved back to the Philadelphia area.&nbsp; They enjoy telling their funny "first impression" story from the beginning of Cait's freshman year, proving that one awkward conversation doesn't have to stop you from a lifetime of friendship.

Caitlyn Usher

If&nbsp; you are reading this prior to the wedding, no one, possibly including JT himself knows whether he will actually be at the wedding. JT and Steve were also friends at the Air Force Academy. There were many a late night bull session in JT’s room while JT showed Steve the latest YouTube video he was watching or told him his latest plan to show up anyone that needed showing up. JT and Steve spent a good portion of their sixty days together, and Steve has visited JT and his family a number of times since graduation. JT is currently out of the Air Force and works as a contractor for the Army in Iraq.

JT Ploschnitznig

Chrissy was a student in one of the Bible studies that Tricia led as a FOCUS missionary, but Tricia has learned at least as much from Chrissy as Chrissy has from her.&nbsp; Chrissy is a very talented artist and seamstress and has even created a few of the things that will be used at the wedding.&nbsp; Her husband CJ is a Navy officer, so she's been helping Tricia learn about military spouse life.

Chrissy Curtis

Dan and Steve were roommates for the last three years of the Academy save for one semester where Dan was a foreign exchange student in Brazil. Dan introduced Steve to what would become his lifelong group of friends at the Academy. Dan also introduced Steve to a small dabbling in philosophy that would eventually blossom into a real interest in philosophy, which would come in handy when Steve was wooing his philosophy major fiancée. Dan went to pilot training right after graduating from the Academy and has been crushing it ever since. He currently lives with his wife Gabriella and their soon-to-be-born son in Charleston, SC and is a C-17 pilot.

Dan Jones

About six years ago, Tricia interviewed Lindsey when she applied to be a FOCUS missionary, not knowing that she would eventually become such a dear friend.&nbsp; Lindsey was sent to serve at Temple University, where Tricia eventually started working, and they hit it off.&nbsp; Tricia was a bridesmaid in Lindsey's wedding last August, and Lindsey and her husband Joey are expecting a baby boy in July.

Lindsey Gruenwald

Tom and Steve have been friends since 3rd grade. Growing up in northern Wisconsin, Tom and Steve spent a lot of time hiking and talking about history, being forced out of the house from playing video games by Tom’s mom, and playing video games. Tom generally had the best video games out of everyone in my friend group growing up. After high school, Tom went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then continued on to graduate school there, working on various fusion projects and eventually earning his PhD. He lives with his wife Maria and daughter Rose in Maple Grove, MN where Tom works as an engineer for Honeywell.

Tom Dobbins

Sarah and Tricia shared an apartment in college. She is hilarious and inspires Tricia with her mom skills and general life skills.&nbsp; She and her husband Robert have three little girls and live near Washington, D.C.

Sarah Sabo

Although Mike and Steve went to the Academy at the same time, they did not become good friends until the summer after the graduating when they ended up spending much more time together on their European vacation than they had intended. Mike went with Josh to graduate school in Cambridge, MA, so Steve visited them once out there (paid for by someone else of course), and also did another European trip with Mike and his brother Patrick. Mike has also generously shared his old apartment in Fairfax, VA with Steve multiple times. Mike is still in the Air Force as a developmental engineer and recently moved to Colorado Springs with his wife Emma, who happens to be a sister of Josh’s wife Holly.

Mike Jones

Wedding Party

Photos

Registry

Q + A

We have a block here for $69 a night before tax, free airport shuttle, and we suspect a group would be able to talk them into a free shuttle to the reception as well. The link here should take you directly to our block, otherwise you may call the number and ask for the Lester-Trochlil wedding. Book by July 9th to get the group rate!

Days Inn by Wyndham Springfield/Phil.Intl Airport

Complimentary airport shuttle, $132 a night before tax, book by July 9th to get the rate! If you call the phone number mention the Lester-Trochlil wedding or the code LES. The link must be copy and pasted to work, and brings you directly to our block.

Tricia & Steve

Tricia & Steve

Details

RSVP troubles