OUR STORY
Sarah and Sharief met in Atlanta in 2013 when Sarah was in grad school at Emory and Sharief was working at Manhattan Associates. They met through a mutual friend, and all Sharief knew about Sarah was that she was a hostess at a local Mexican restaurant. It wasn't until Sharief started talking to Sarah that he realized she wasn't just all good looks but she is an amazingly smart cookie, had big ambitions, and could be a potential sugar momma. After that night they started a furious texting relationship over the Thanksgiving holiday. There were then many dates exploring Atlanta together, especially all the great restaurants.
​
In 2015 Sarah moved to Madison, WI to work at Epic. Sharief was skeptical that Sarah would be able to handle the cold weather after living in the South most of her life. The deal was that if she could make it through one winter that he would consider moving to be with her. Thanks to the wonders of underground parking, Sarah survived that first winter. True to his word, Sharief moved to Madison in 2016 and they got an apartment together. Even though they both were frequently traveling for work, they always found time to spend together on the weekends and explore their new hometown. They also took advantage of being closer to Sharief's hometown of Iowa City to visit his friends and attend Iowa games as much as possible.
​
In 2019, they bought their first house together, Sharief got a new job at Zendesk, and they got their dog, Emily, shortly after. Leading up to 2020, they would visit Madison's attractions like the comedy club, Farmers Market, and restaurants around town. When they are not at home working in the garden or planting flowers, they enjoy traveling all over the world.
​
In February 2020, they traveled to San Francisco/Napa together for a fun wine trip with Brent, Ashlynn, Dave and Stacey (all in bridal party). Sarah flew out a day later than everyone else and thought to herself on the flight how it would be a wasted opportunity if Sharief didn't propose while they were in beautiful California. Little did she know, Sharief had been nervously planning the occasion.
They spent the first couple days sightseeing and hiking around some state parks. The group then traveled around to a few wineries via a private tour, and on the last stop was when the magic happened. The owner gave the group a tour around the property with some wine by the lake before going onto their private patio overlooking the vineyard. The group got together to take a photo with the beautiful view and Sharief sneakily dropped down on one knee. His mind went blank...but Sarah said YES!
n9045 County Hwy Q, Watertown, WI 53094
Welcome Party
Celebrate the night before our wedding at Vintage East with some snack and drinks on us! Walking distance from Hotel Indigo
​
​
July 30th 4 pm - 10 pm
​
803 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703
After Party
Join us after the wedding at I/O Arcade Bar to keep the party going. Transportation will be provided from wedding to After Party or Hotel Indigo
​
12 am - ??
​
924 Williamson St, Madison, WI 53703
getting there
Transportation
Shuttles will pick up guests at Hotel Indigo starting at 2:15 pm and depart at 2:30 pm for Bennett Barn.
Accommodations
Room blocks are available at
Hotel Indigo and The Madison Concourse Hotels.
​
Please note: this is the same weekend as the CrossFit Games World Championship to be held in Madison. Please book accommodations in advance as availability and pricing may be difficult.
REGISTRY
We are registered at Bed Bath & Beyond, Sur La Table and have a Honeyfund
Lindsay Hardman
Maid of Honor
Lindsay and Sarah met in 8th grade and have been best friends ever since. Bonding over their love of pop punk music, weird internet humor, and Christmas traditions, their friendship has gotten stronger with every Best Friendiversary. Sarah loves how Lindsay is hilarious, determined, and always down for an adventure. We hope to see Lindsay's signature "Swamp Thing" dance during the wedding reception, which will bring a nice touch of Florida to the Midwest.
Dr. Richie Amendola
Co-Best Man
Richie and Sharief first met in high school but each thought the other one was too cool to be their friend. Their friendship blossomed the summer before college hanging out at Richie's parents' pool. In college they lived and worked together at the Brown Bottle. College Fall days were often spent tailgating for Iowa games, the RMFG flag football season and then going on a yearly bowl trip. Richie has gone on to be one badass doctor, husband, and dad. Hopefully at the end of the night Richie will open up his fry house.
Bridesmaid
Dr. Ashlynn Amelon
Ashlynn and Sarah met through Sharief at a surprise birthday party for her now husband, Brent. Their friendship grew with each visit to Iowa City and Ashlynn explained much of the Midwest to Sarah, including the joys of Hy-Chi and sack beers. Ashlynn has been a great travel companion on trips to Rome, Las Vegas, and Napa, and shows off her expert canoe skills on the yearly canoe trip to Decorah. Ashlynn is a dentist and a mom to two beautiful babes, but Sarah hopes she'll stay up and won't say "night night" too early at the wedding!
Brent Amelon
Co-Best Man
Brent and Sharief met in a Computer Programming class in High School among a million other Amelons. They both would then go on to be Engineering students at Iowa and live together in Thugs' Mansion. After college they have spent a lot of time traveling together and Sharief often stays at the Amelon B&B when he goes back to Iowa. They like to play golf together and no matter how good Sharief does, he always seems to lose money (don't ever gamble with an Amelon). Keep on an eye on this one...if anyone tells you they have met Bernardo wearing a mullet wig, you should run!
Courtney Coton
Bridesmaid
Courtney and Sarah went to high school together but didn't became good friends until college while working together at the Green Lemon restaurant in Tampa. In the beginning, they bonded over their shared love of theme parties, talking trash, and eating beans. Through the years, Courtney and Sarah still share a love of gardening, beach days, travel, and true crime. Sarah has always admired Courtney's beauty and dance skills, which you'll surely see both of on the dance floor!
Stacey Johnson
Groomswoman
Stacey and Sharief first met at the Brown Bottle where Stacey started as a waitress and Sharief impressed Stacey by being the most amazing cook ever. Stacey then would go on to run the whole show (RIP Brown Bottle). During the Brown Bottle days, they spent nearly 24 hrs a day together while working, hanging out at Eggys, or binge watching TV shows together. Stacey has been there for Sharief through a lot. Thank goodness there will be no Singstar at the wedding; even though Stacey has the voice of an angel, Sharief is tone deaf.
Meg Golz
Bridesmaid
Meg was Sarah's first friend in Madison after a mutual friend from Tampa told them to connect. It was a great suggestion, and Sarah is thankful to have a friend as reliable, kind, driven, and talented as Meg. One of Sarah and Sharief's favorite pre-pandemic outings was seeing her play music with her band, Seasaw, but now they mostly see her in backyard hangs at their house with her husband, Caleb. We hope no one will accidentally get on the bus for this wedding like Sarah inadvertently let happen at Meg and Caleb's.
Ryan Foley
Groomsman
Foley and Sharief went to high school together but Foley was definitely too cool for Sharief. They started hanging out after high school, then lived together and were in Engineering classes together at Iowa. Foley is a super genuine and reliable guy and has always been there for Sharief. He one time helped Sharief's parents move when Sharief couldn't make it back from ATL. Hopefully Foley will get on the bar and let people do belly shots off him like old times at the Brown Bottle.
Ashley Peterson
Bridesmaid
Ashley and Sarah met after being staffed to the same project at Epic. Although Sarah was skeptical at first because Ashley is from the city voted worst in America (Kankakee, IL), she quickly realized they had a ton in common - mostly a love of pickles, Hocus Pocus, and plants. Ashley is a real smarty pants getting her PhD at UW Madison, and her dog Romeo is Emily's boyfriend. If you hear the song "Africa" by Toto or any Shania Twain playing during dance time, just know it was Ashley who requested it.
Dave Baker
Groomsman
Dave and Sharief met when he started coming in to the Brown Bottle waiting for Stacey to finish working. That then turned into Dave being a jack of all trades in the restaurant and the best damn blower cook that place has ever seen. They can now be found sitting next to each other at Iowa Football games where they have side-by-side season tickets. Nobody can be in a bad mood when Dave is around, he spreads joy like the agriculture spreaders he sells. He can talk to anyone, about anything...sometimes he goes on for a bit too long. If you see him, ask him for his great Domino's sandwich story. Wheeeeezzzzzzzz
