Anne was born on June 6, 1981 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Jon and Diane Christianson. Her father specializes in Quality Control and her mother stayed at home to raise Anne and her younger brother, Steve (groomsman). Anne and her family moved many times as she was growing up taking her from Wisconsin to Minnesota, Texas, Indiana, and finally back to Wisconsin again. In the process she changed schools many times. Because of these many moves she and her family are very close even though they all live far apart.

Anne’s first passion was horses, which led her to drawing horses when she was in pre-school. The passion for horses has gone, but her love for art and design lives on. Anne went to the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for architecture. She graduated top of her class in May 2003 and received a teaching assistant position as the University. Anne is now finishing up her Master’s Thesis in Architecture this May (two weeks before the wedding). She hopes to intern at a good firm in the area and eventually get her license in Architecture.

Apart from school and work, Anne loves to cook, and spend time with Matt. Hopefully after grad-school and the wedding she will have time to pick up some hobbies like drawing, refinishing furniture, or anything else that sounds like fun.

Matthew was born on July 18, 1978 in Madison, Wisconsin to Jay and Lou Ann Spaanem. His father is the CEO of Parts Now, and his mother stayed at home to raise Matt and his older sister, Anna (bridesmaid). Matt and his family also moved a few times while he was growing up. Their moves took him to New Jersey and back to Wisconsin again.

Matt’s love for computers and design lead him to pursue a degree in Graphic Design. After high school, Matt moved to Indiana to attend Purdue University. While at Purdue he discovered that it doesn’t matter that you already know what the classes are teaching…you have to go to the class to pass it. So after leaving Purdue, he moved to Milwaukee to work as a web-designer. Two years later he decided to return to the academic world. Matt is a junior in Communication Design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). He attends class regularly, has been offered two teaching assistant positions, and is constantly on the Dean’s List.

Matt spends most of his time working on animations, web pages, videos, package design, identity systems, and advertisements. When he is not doing homework he is spending time with Anne or sleeping. When Matt finally finishes school he hopes to play video games on a more regular basis.