By Eva M. Stimson

Monsignor Lawrence M. Purcell of the Church of Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe performed the Nuptial Mass uniting Adriene Christina Giese and Timothy Mark Eastaway, in the sacrament of holy matrimony, on Saturday, June 16, 2012. This marital union was a landmark occasion for the church, which commemorates the first Nativity School graduate to be wed at the Church of Nativity since its inception in 1989. Parents of the bride, Douglas and Deborah Giese, have been parishioners of the church and Rancho Santa Fe residents for 17 years and were joined by the parents of the groom, Paul and Kate Eastaway who reside in England, in celebrating this momentous occasion.

Adriene Christina Giese and Timothy Mark Eastaway at their wedding. Photo/John Riedy Photography

The month-long festivities leading up to the socially significant wedding that took nine months to plan, began with a bridal shower luncheon at the private residence of Jamie Carr on May 19 and concluded with a wedding reception after the wedding ceremony at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. The brides mother, Debbie Giese, who is an active member of the Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild and an acclaimed artist, created framed hand-painted miniature oil paintings with guest names for each place card at the sit-down reception dinner at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. Maid of Honor was Parry VanLandingham and Best Man was Matthew Youn. The bridal party consisted of five bridesmaids and five groomsmen, including Adrienes brother, Michael Giese. Adrienes affiliation with The Church of Nativity began when the school expanded to include additional grades.

Adriene Giese in the 7th grade.

According to Margaret Heveron, principal of The Nativity School, Enrollment when we opened in 1996 was 86 students for grades K 6. When Adriene joined us we had added 7th and 8th grade, bringing our enrollment to just over 125 students. The most important part about the growth of Nativity lies in its closely-bonded community of families. Students such as Adriene go on to be successful in their own individual ways and it starts with Nativity Schools philosophy of education where we believe all students are 100 percent intelligent based on their multi-faceted qualities. I remember Adriene well big smile, open and friendly, kind-hearted, artistic, loyal, true to herself. With her strong commitment to family values I know she and her new husband will have a life-long marriage grounded in mutual respect and love.

Adriene and Mark met each other while attending Rice University in Houston, Texas, and will spend their honeymoon in Tahiti, followed by relocation to Texas where they will live and pursue their careers. Mark will be working at Chevron on computer signal processing for oil exploration. Adriene will be attending the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston. She has not selected a specialty yet, but has enjoyed delivering babies.

Adriene comments, The best part of the preparation for our wedding at Church of Nativity was the Catholic classes that encouraged Mark and I to grow in faith and love. It redirected our focus from concentrating on one day (for the wedding) to that of a life-long relationship. Nativity School prepared me for a vigorous college preparatory experience but, more importantly, I had amazing educators who expanded my horizons. I will never forget the first time I realized I loved classical music for which I have focused by attention on, thanks to Paul Batchelor.

Nativity School Music Director Paul Batchelor elaborated, Although I have been Nativitys music director since dedication in 1989, I retired from the school in 2005 after the first 10 years. Adriene was with us for her junior high, 1999-2001. In my day, we offered an intense music appreciation class, which began in 5th grade with the Baroque era and continued in 6th with the classical period, the romantics in 7th, and the 20th century in 8th. During that time, Adriene was introduced to music by composers such as Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Dvorak, and Scott Joplin to the present. I remember that she was a good student and questioned everything. Back then, I always told the students that they probably wouldnt appreciate all this now as much as they would in the future. Adriene has also told me that Dvorak was now one of her favorite composers, as a result of the little seed that was planted over 10 years ago.

For more information regarding the marriage of Adriene and Mark, visit http://www.markandadriene.com.

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Nativity School graduate first alumni to be married in the Church of Nativity