Bianca Pitta & Jeff Nagel
July 25, 2010
Bride’s name: Bianca Pitta
Groom’s name: Jeff Nagel
Occupations: Bianca is the owner of Alaskan Native Treasures, and Jeff is a journeyman plumber for CM Mechanical.
How they met: The couple met in May 2006. Bianca was up from Oregon visiting her dad (Jim) at work. She was planning on working for him so he was taking her around the shop to meet everyone. Jeff was soldering shower valves when she walked by. Later Jeff asked Jim about the gorgeous lady he was showing around. Grumpily Jim replied, “That's my daughter!” One month later she was working with the company; two months later the couple started dating.
The proposal: “Jeff proposed twice: once on an airplane on our way out of state for vacation with a beautiful ivory ring, and the second time when we had just finished building our garage together and decided to have a family barbecue at the house. …Jeff invited the whole family over, including 17 nephews and nieces. When a family member of mine arrived a little late, I got up to greet her, but the kids pulled me back and kept saying, ‘Stay here!’ This was odd because hello and goodbye hugs were always given to family members. Jeff grabbed my hand and was fidgeting. I felt he was nervous but didn’t know what was going on. He then got on his knees and asked me to marry him. I said yes and he handed me the box with the diamond ring. I handed it back to him and his sister told him he's suppose to put it on me. It was very sweet and sincere. Family is very important, so it was the perfect way to propose!”
Wedding colors: Persimmon, red and silver
Number of guests: 100-150
Most memorable moment...
For her: ”The look on Jeff's face – he had a ‘perma-smile.’ He enjoyed himself as much as I did, which made me really happy. I enjoyed having all our family there. It was really nice to see so many out-of-town family and friends.”
For him: “It was a fun and wonderful day even though it rained. I remember picking up Bianca and carrying her down the aisle. I remember the smile on her face. I also remember jumping into the freezing cold lake and losing my wedding ring. (We found it later after the honeymoon.)”
Funniest moment: “Getting to the end of the aisle, with all our guests staring at us and no officiate present. I turned to Jeff and asked, ‘Where's Sid?’ He told me, ‘taking a nap’ and I started to panic. Jeff casually said, ‘I don’t know where he went; he was here then he left.’ Come to find out Sid had to use the restroom and came back just in time. He eventually made a little joke about it when he got back to the front.”
Unique aspects of the day: The wedding day had a Hawaiian theme, including Tiki torches lining the aisle and reception area, and flower arrangements featuring cymbidium orchids and lilies. The bride's sisters wrapped pictures of the bride and groom around the base of money trees that were given away to guests. “Our cake topper was us as bobble heads. We had cigars with our names and wedding date on them for the guests.” For a splashy end to the day, Bianca and Jeff decided to jump into Big Lake.
Three words that best describe their day: “Fun, loving and elegant.”
If they had the chance to do it again, what they would do differently: “Have a coordinator just for the day of the wedding to keep things running a little more smoothly, and to make sure we got everything accomplished that we wanted to. It was so busy that there were a lot of people we didn’t even get to say hi to. We felt pulled in every direction to get done what we had to.”
What Bianca loves most about her husband: “His personality and sense of humor. No matter what, we know how to have fun together and we truly enjoy each other’s company. He's my best friend, and the man I am deeply in love with! Plus he's a hottie!”
What Jeff loves most about his wife: “She's my best friend, she's beautiful, smart and a dork!”
Best advice for a couple planning a wedding: “Have fun planning, don't worry or stress. Give yourself enough time to get everything accomplished. We didn't stress at all. We kept it in our budget and got what we wanted. Food is most important since everyone loves to eat.”