DANIELLE JANNEY AND EVAN SMITH abandoned plans for a big wedding in California and came to Ireland to be married on April 4th, with just two close friends as witnesses. “It was exactly what we wanted, small and intimate, with the focus on us and what we were about, instead of being all about the pressures of the wedding itself.”
They were married in the grounds of Waterford Castle by the friend who first introduced them, Jared Brassel, an ordained minister, with Caroline Dunki Jacobs, a friend from The Netherlands, standing in as their witness.
The couple have been together for more than three years and became engaged in Thailand last October, when Evan surprised Danielle with a ring while they were visiting the temples of Sukhothai. They returned to California and started to plan their wedding when, amid all the pressures, Danielle casually remembered that when she was a little girl, she had always dreamed of getting married in an Irish castle (half-Italian and half-Irish, there were Fitzgeralds and O’Sheas in her ancestry). Evan’s response was instant and decisive: “Let’s do it!” he replied.
Danielle admits the decision involved a few “stressful conversations” with family. “But if you can get away with it, go for it. I just popped onto the internet and planned everything, and it worked out better than we could have imagined – even the weather was kind to us.”
They wrote their own vows and supplied their own music via an i-Pod docking station. “Everyone at Waterford Castle helped with the research – they couldn’t have been nicer. The manager set aside two rooms for us, including the conservatory, where the four of us had a private dinner.”
Once they had found the perfect castle, they found a stellar photographer in Peter Rowen, so they would have plenty of photographic evidence to bring back home. They also hired Limerick videographer Leon Costelloe, so there will be both a slide show and a video on view at the big brunch they are planning for 120 friends and family members in June, to celebrate their marriage. (Guests are also be invited to go to a baseball game with them that night to support the San Diego Padres.)
Danielle is the daughter of Debra and Christopher Janney, and she was raised just outside of San Francisco, with one younger brother, Christopher, a musician. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 2006, with a degree in political science and psychology. She is currently learning sign language and hopes to become an interpreter, and also works as an interior designer.
Evan was raised in San Diego by his mother, Cindy Lou, and his father, James, who died in 1996. He spent years touring the US with different alternative bands as a label manager, and now owns and manages his family’s pet supply store in Escondido.
The pair were introduced to one another by Jared Brassel one evening in October of 2005. They were instantly attracted to each other’s style and personality, they say, and share a passion for “food, music, photography, travelling, extreme sports, and living life to its fullest.” After their wedding they went on a “mini-Irish road trip”, visiting Kinsale, Cork, Blarney, Killarney, and the Cliffs of Moher. They then spent a few days in Paris before heading home to Escondido to start their life as a married couple.