A Winter Wonderland Wedding at Mahan’s Lakeview in Wolcott, Connecticut

From their engagement to their wedding, Connecticut couple Jennie Cinquemani (29, a Victorinox Swiss Army Corporate Markets Order Management Representative) and Brandon Rodriguez (28, who works for The United Illuminating Company) incorporated their love of winter – and penguins – all the way.“In 2011, I went to New Jersey to try out for the television show ‘The Voice.’ When I didn't make it, I was extremely bummed out,” Jennie says. “I drove home from the audition and when I got home, I took a nap and waited for Brandon to come home from work. He was so sweet and brought me home a pizza to cheer me up. As we were eating, he said to me, ‘I have something that I think will cheer you up. How do you feel about going to Mystic on Sunday?’ Then he said, ‘Maybe if you're lucky we can see some penguins at the penguin encounter.’ For those of you who do not know this, I have an obsession with penguins. So on July 24, 2011, we went to Mystic Aquarium and met Brandon's sister and brother- in-law and their twin babies. When we got there, I was SUPER excited to finally get to do the penguin encounter. So he went to talk to the people in charge and asked me to wait there for him and he would be right back. This had been something I wanted to do for years, so you can imagine how excited I was for this, while Brandon looked less than thrilled and I couldn't figure out why. I kept asking him what was wrong and if he wasn't having a good time, when little did I know he was nervous that he was about to pop the question! At the end of the encounter, we were able to ask questions and Brandon asked a few questions, but looked very nervous and could not keep still. We were getting ready to walk out and he said to me, ‘Hold on, I need to ask the trainer a question.’ He leaned in to the penguin and said, ‘What was that? Oh, I got ya.’ That is when he got down on one knee and presented the most beautiful ring I could have ever wished for and said, ‘Jennie, you make me so happy and I don’t know what I would do without you in my life. Will you marry me?’ Of course I said, ‘Oh my god, yes!’ That was the most exciting day ever and I felt like a celebrity because everyone was watching us through the encounter window. Needless to say, the proposal was absolutely perfect and unforgettable.”Jennie and Brandon chose Mahan’s Lakeview venue for their wedding reception because it allowed them to truly personalize their day.“I loved the venue and the people that worked there,” Jennie says. “The grounds are beautiful and they allowed us to decorate however we wanted. They have a beautiful chapel that we were able to use for pictures. They also had built-in lighting, so I was able to choose the color I wanted to go with my winter wonderland theme.”And there was no shortage of fun and good food at all, from a large menu to a chocolate fountain.“The food was amazing!” Jennie says. “We had a lovely cocktail hour with lots of hors d'oeuvres. The choices for dinner were Chicken Kiev, prime rib, stuffed shrimp and eggplant parmesan. We had a cupcake, chocolate fountain and winter drink Venetian hour, and a DJ and photo booth for entertainment. At the hotel, we had welcome bags for our guests with snacks and drinks in them. We got the snowy wedding we always wanted.”