Lacey & John

October 30th, 2021 Asheville

We're Getting Married!

Welcome Family and Friends

Hello friends and family, We are honored to celebrate our marriage with you on October 30, 2021. Your presence is our gift! Since we are fortunate to have a home full of everything we need, we didn’t think a traditional registry was necessary. However, for those of you who would still like to give us a gift, please enjoy browsing our Honeyfund wish list below! If there’s one thing in life John and I have not gotten the opportunity to do enough of, it’s travel! Having been a starving graduate student and actor as well as a hustling entrepreneur, John’s never officially been on a vacation aside from short weekend jaunts and trips associated with work. While Lacey's gotten to travel more than John has, it’s still not nearly as much as she'd like. Not to mention that after more than a year of quarantining, we (like the rest of you, I’m sure) are ready for a vacation! In planning our dream honeymoon, we decided to combine those destinations at the top of our travel bucket lists: Ireland for John and the Greek Islands for Lacey! We are most thankful for any contributions to this dream trip (It's safe, secure, and easy.)! Feel free to contact us via the link below if you need more information about how it works. Thanks for visiting, and we can't wait to see you at the marriage celebration! Our Story Love At First Swipe (Lacey's Version) John and I first connected on the dating app, Bumble, in the summer of 2018 and had exchanged a couple of messages. I was telling my dear friend, Jill Hammersely, that I was reentering the dating scene, and she responded, “How about John Armstrong?” To which, I laughed and said, “Who is John Armstrong?” She sent me a screenshot of his Facebook profile picture, and I realized he was the same John with whom I’d been messaging! As he was a college friend of Jill’s, she proceeded to tell me what a wonderful person John is and how she thought we’d be great together. Despite this promising start, John and I almost didn’t happen. Since John was going to be playing host to a visiting premiere theatre company from New York City for the three weeks following our initial messages, we weren’t going to be able to get together anytime soon. Therefore, I went on a date with another guy whom I ended up seeing for the next three months. Not to mention, I was worried I wasn’t sophisticated or interesting enough for a slick movie producer, anyway. ;) Fortunately for me, the powers-that-be had something else in mind. When things didn’t work out with the other guy, I reached back out to John to see if he was still interested in getting together for a drink. To my surprise, he was! We had our first, brief date at Farm on November 11, 2018. We hit it off right away, realizing we have a lot in common. John was refreshingly open, forthright, and easy to converse with. Our second date (also at Farm) was a week later. Afterwards, he kissed me for the first time and informed me that he’d be deleting the Bumble app. I suppose the rest is history, as they say. Considering how similar our paths were for the first 20 or so years of our lives, it’s a wonder John and I hadn’t ever met. John and I were born a couple months apart in 1978. He grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, an eastern suburb of Indianapolis, and I grew up in Greenwood, Indiana, a southern suburb. We went to similarly sized high schools and were both heavily involved in show choir all four years, even competing at the same show choir competitions! After graduating high school in 1996, we both started at Indiana University as psychology majors the following fall! (I sometimes wonder how many times we crossed paths in our early lives without knowing it!) While I remained a psychology major throughout my time at IU, John’s path was a little less direct. ;) He switched from psychology to the Jacobs School of Music where he was a voice major before finally finding his home as a musical theater major. After college, John and my paths took us to opposite ends of the country. While I landed in Los Angeles with my high school sweetheart, he headed off to New York City with his fiancé. After stints in multiple states, master’s degrees, marriages, children, divorces, John and I fatefully ended up back in Bloomington, Indiana and single. Considering how impossible it is to date in Bloomington in your 40’s, it truly does feel like a higher power was at work in bringing John and I together. Now, I am so thankful to have John in my life and beyond grateful to have him as my partner. I am constantly amazed by his many talents, his seemingly endless stream of innovative ideas, his ability to set things in motion, and his tireless efforts to accomplish the near impossible. I admire John’s intentionality, his continual striving for growth and betterment, his commitment to seeing things through no matter the hard work involved, his perseverance in the face of challenges, and his unmatched problem-solving abilities, driven by the optimistic belief that there is always a way. I also love that John provides me with much-needed balance and grounding. As those of you who know me well might agree, John says I operate at a higher frequency than most, considering I am prone to setting unrealistic expectations for myself and taking on too much. Since this can lead to anxiety, guilt, feeling overwhelmed, and the bottling of emotions, John does an amazing job of helping me put things into perspective, reminding me to focus on what matters, to remember the positives and be grateful, to slow down, to simplify, and to take time for myself. He’s become such a master of his own wellbeing through years of meditation; his wisdom and guidance have been invaluable to me. I never go without feeling accepted, supported, encouraged, appreciated, comforted, and cared for. Most importantly of all, John is fully invested in the boys. He provides Nash and Zane with a necessary firmness that I sometimes struggle to maintain, but always in a loving and empathetic manner. John never misses an opportunity to be silly and playful with them either. He drops Nash and Zane off at school every morning with an uplifting message and an “I love you!” and is waiting for them at the end of each school day with a hug and a “How was your day?” I never dreamed I’d find a man to love my children as his own. But, this is just who John is, and I am so happy and grateful I get to spend the rest of my life with him. I love you, John! All Roads Lead Home (John's Version) It’s spring…1996…Edgewood High School…Ellettsville, Indiana...EDGEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL SHOW CHOIR CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS! Lacey and I, both high school seniors, unbeknownst to one another, are in separate rooms, donning various sequined accoutrement, lacing and buckling up our jazz shoes, spraying our hair into fine, hardened shells, impervious to sweat, readying to pour every ounce of our souls into freakish facial expressions and furious jazz hands. After our set, we, the Brownsburg High School Spotlight Singers and Co., watched in awe from the bleachers of the gym at the Center Grove Sound System. Their group (obviously well-funded) erected massive sets in minutes, changed from one immaculate costume to the next in a flash, and sang and danced their faces off…We hated them. Our school won some awards, Lacey’s school won more, and we both headed back to our respective homes in Brownsburg and Greenwood completely unaware that, in some other part of that school in Ellettsville, we had just left the eventual love of our lives. It would take a 25-year journey, to opposite ends of the country, through opposite (yet parallel) lives, to finally realize it. Lacey and I both came to Indiana University in 1996. Though, because I was a music and theatre kid and Lacey was in the Greek system, and I publicly loathed (though privately lusted after) “sorority girls,” we didn’t travel in the same circles. Lacey graduated on time, and the beautiful, sunny, blonde bombshell, went to Los Angeles. I took a couple of “victory laps” as they say, and being the starving artist type, went to New York City. If you know us, you know the story of those “middle years.” Someday, we’ll write a book together about those times. But suffice it to say that neither of us expected to be here, where we are right now. Our journeys were wildly different, but our life experiences were remarkably similar. We endured and grew, through many of the same personal and emotional challenges, each in our own time. It was as if the universe was preparing us, molding us to become people capable of enjoying and appreciating what a truly loving and fulfilling relationship can be. And now we’re back here, just a few miles from that high school in Ellettsville, holding each other’s hand and setting forth on a new chapter of our lives…finally, together. Lacey is the absolute light of my life. I know people use that turn of phrase a lot, but if you know Lacey, you understand that I mean that literally. Lacey radiates. Her smile is unstoppable. She lights up every room. Lacey also holds herself to incredibly high standards; she does everything with her whole heart, whether it’s celebrating a birthday or holiday or just making dinner, everything is done with care, consideration, and love. She inspires me everyday to be the best man that I can be. Lacey is also an incredible mother to Nash and Zane, AND Jack. She got Jack a Christmas stocking MONTHS early, embroidered and matching the family set. She thinks of EVERYTHING. She’s amazing, and I’m so grateful to be a part of her life. Lacey and the boys deserve to feel safe, loved, supported, and cared for, and I’m excited to spend the rest of my life doing just that. I love you babe! Let’s DO THIS!

Honeymoon

Ireland & Greece

From the Emerald Isle to the Wine Island, two vastly different island adventures! From Dublin, we are planning an epic, two-week, coastal road trip touring Ireland and Northern Ireland's most iconic sights and John's ancestral home! After traveling over 1,200 miles, we anticipate us road-weary travelers will be in need of some sun, relaxation, and pampering. So, after a brief, two-day visit to Athens, Greece, we'll make a romantic escape to the Greek Islands (Santorini and Amorgos) for five nights where we will slow down, laze in the sun, savor the unrivaled sunsets, and soak up the infamous Greek hospitality before returning to reality.

When

2021-10-30

Ceremony

Wednesday, July 7, 2021 (private)

Asheville, NC, US

Reception

Friday, October 30, 2021

Bloomington, IN, US

Guest Accommodations

Graduate Hotel Bloomington

Biddle Hotel at the Indiana Memorial Union

Grant Street Inn

Hyatt Place Bloomington

Springhill Suites Bloomington

More Information

We enjoyed a small, intimate wedding ceremony in Asheville, North Carolina on July 7, 2021 with only our children and immediate family in attendance. While it saddened us to not have our closest friends and extended family with us on this special day, we are having a celebration of marriage for all to attend on Saturday, October 30, 2021. After unexpected months of mask-wearing, social-distancing, limited gatherings, and cancelled plans, we are beyond ecstatic at the mere thought of celebrating with our dearest loved ones! Our Address: 3305 S. Rolling Oak Dr. Bloomington, IN 47401 John's Contact Information: johnarmstrongiu@gmail.com (917) 533-2779

Contact Us

Contact Lacey Grant via email

or phone at 8123613404

Wishlist

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