06/29/2003

Alison Wood and Tommie DiStefano Jr.

The Lighthouse Inn, Galilee, Narragansett

5.3.03

"We met at Tee's Tavern in West Warwick. A friend introduced us and 10 minutes later, she was sitting on my lap," says Tommie DiStefano, of meeting Alison Wood. "She said 'You know, I'm going to marry you!' And the funny thing is, I felt pretty comfortable with it." He's 34, she's 33. Neither has been married before.

They saw each other off and on. "We both had some loose ends to tie up before we could start dating seriously," says Alison. "But there was never any doubt that we would be together, and never any second guessing."

Tommie went to a party at Alison's house; it was summer 2001. "We sat on a hammock in her yard and she said 'I hate when you leave' and I said 'I hate leaving.' And that was that." They started "going steady," and a year later, moved in together. In August of that year, he asked her to marry him.

Tommie owns Morning Rush, a coffee and doughnut shop in Coventry. He played baseball, football, and wrestled for Coventry High School. At Western Connecticut State University, he studied criminal justice, with the goal of becoming a state trooper. But he left school to work with his father, running 11 Honeydew Donut shops.

After Alison graduated from Warwick's Toll Gate High School, she joined the Navy. She trained as a parachute rigger in Norfolk, Va., then served in the Persian Gulf on an aircraft carrier. Post-Navy, she earned a degree as a dental technician. Now, she works as a bartender at an East Greenwich restaurant, and helps Tommie with the donut business.

Today, Tommie (above, with his sister, Linda Cotter, and father, Thomas DiStefano Sr.) is at The Lighthouse Inn long before the ceremony is to begin. It and the reception are both happening poolside, and he's making sure the space is transformed before his bride arrives. Silk tablecloths top the pool furniture; flower garlands and candles float in the pool. There's a large ice sculpture -- two giraffes kissing. "Ali just loves giraffes," says Tommie.

Alison is late. Her ride via horse-drawn carriage from the Towers in Narragansett to Galilee has taken longer than the predicted two hours.

The justice of the peace is getting anxious. He has another wedding to perform today. Alison arrives, needs a few minutes to adjust her 15-foot train and attach a cathedral-length veil, then circles the pool and heads down the aisle to a canopy of sorts that Tommie has built.

One simply has to ask Alison: How did you know in 10 minutes that you wanted to marry this guy? Her response: "He had the kindest eyes and the kindest smile I had ever seen. I just knew: This is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with."