“There are a lot of things I love about her,” Jodi says. “She’s very loving and caring. She will think about someone else before herself pretty much in whatever she does. I know that she’s always thinking about me, and that’s very important to me and I appreciate it.”
Sarah Speight and Jodi Zocchi met in December 2004 when Jodi got her first teaching job at a school where Sarah worked, so they were first introduced to each other as co-workers.
“Immediately, it was really easy to talk to one another,” Sarah says. “We had a really good time together, laughing and just built a really nice friendship.”
In 2005, Sarah left the school she worked at with Jodi and went to another school. They didn’t talk again for about five-to-six years. Then, the school district that they work for coincidently put them both on a curriculum writing team together, so they ended up writing curriculums for about a week together. They picked up where their friendship left off, and Sarah ended up getting Jodi a job at the school where she worked. They continued being really good friends, and Sarah said she was the one who, as she says, “Let the toothpaste out of the tube” in February 2012. They then began to date.
Jodi says Sarah has taught her to be more patient and a better listener because she believes Sarah is a great listener.
Jodi started looking for an engagement ring before there were any solid proposal plans. She said she couldn’t come up with a solid plan that she thought Sarah would like because Sarah does not like to be the center of attention. After having the ring for maybe a month or two months, Jodi proposed to Sarah at home one night.
The couple didn’t plan anything for the first year of their engagement. They talked about ideas they had but didn’t plan anything. Jodi says she told people at their wedding that when they were planning it there were three guidelines for making decisions: It had to be simple, it had to be fairly cheap, and it had to be fun.
Both women were very excited and full of emotion the day of their wedding. Jodi’s sister, Lauren Gardner, married them.
“One of my favorite parts is we had our wedding ceremony on St. Pete Beach – that was amazing,” Jodi says. “I think my favorite part about that specific moment was after the ceremony we walked down the aisle to the Star Wars theme.”
They took dance lessons and did the Dirty Dancing “(I’ve Had) Time of My Life” dance at the end of the movie.
“It’s a gay marriage, so that kind of always [made me] wonder would I feel comfortable; would I be worried about other people that aren’t there for the wedding staring?” Sarah explains. “The whole time it just felt like a normal wedding, and that’s really what I was hoping for. That I wouldn’t ever stop and go, ‘Oh gosh, is somebody looking?’ – that just never happened.”
YEARS TOGETHER: 5 years
ENGAGEMENT DATE: January 25, 2015
WEDDING DATE: February 16, 2017
WEDDING VENUE: The Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach
WEDDING PLANNER: Kristy Rapp with Kristy Rapp Events
WEDDING CATERER: The Postcard Inn
WEDDING COLORS: Ivory
FIRST SONG: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
INTERESTING FACT: Both women are English teachers
Do you have an interesting wedding or engagement story you’d like to share with Watermark readers? If so, email the details to Editor@WatermarkOnline.com for consideration as a future feature on this page, and if you are in the trenches of putting together the biggest day of your life check out Watermark’s Wedding Guide for a list of LGBTQ owned, operated and/or friendly businesses and services.
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