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Purple and gold nuptials

Alumni couple tie the knot on the Quad

Story by Angie Krum ('98)
Photos by Oliver Schwabe

JMU Dukes Sharon Chewning ('96) and Josh Espinoza ('95) overcome Mother Nature and bulldozers to tie a purple and gold knot on the Quad.

JMU Dukes Sharon Chewning ('96) and Josh Espinoza ('95) overcome Mother Nature and bulldozers to tie a purple and gold knot on the Quad.

This past May, in a beautiful evening ceremony, an alumni couple tied the knot on the Quad. Although Sharon Chewning ('96) and Josh Espinoza ('95) attended, their campus wedding represented one of just a few times the couple had actually been on campus together. The couple's time at JMU overlapped by three years and they had some of the same friends through the band and the Sigma Nu fraternity, but Sharon and Josh did not meet until nearly five years after they had graduated.

"It had to be fate," says Sharon. "If we had met at college, we might not have ended up together. We met exactly when we should have."

Both Sharon and Josh, native Virginians, ended up pursuing their careers in the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area after college. Around 2000, they began hearing about one another through a couple of mutual friends, but never actually got around to meeting. "A bunch of us always thought about setting them up but we didn't want to pressure them to get together," says groomsman and friend of the bride and groom James Bolton ('97).

It wasn't until December 2001, on a chilly night just before Christmas, when Fred Chung ('97), a post-college friend of Sharon's who happened to know JMUer James Bolton ('97), a very good friend of Josh's, arranged a group get-together in Washington, D.C. "I was kind of the middle man in the whole thing," he says proudly.

Sharon recalls "being very impressed by Josh that night. We ended up talking and walking outside together for a bit...and when we got into the club we were going to, he offered to take my coat. That struck me as very gentlemanly -- no one had done that before. By end of night, he asked for my number." In the next week, the two went on a date and had several phone conversations. "I knew that we had clicked," added Sharon.

About two and a half years later, Sharon's instinct proved correct. With a picnic lunch and a paddleboat ride in the Potomac River, Josh proposed.

"What really drew me to Sharon," says Josh, is that "she has the excitement of a child. She makes everything fun."

So what led the happy couple to choose Madison's Quad as their wedding site? "I always wanted to get married outside," says Sharon. "When we started thinking about places, JMU popped into our heads as the perfect place."

"JMU was the best time of my life and to start a new life there with Sharon is amazing," says Josh.

It seemed like the most "natural thing," adds Josh. "We had the bond of being at JMU at the same time, something to talk and laugh about, and thought it would be neat to go back and get married there." In addition, both Sharon and Josh have lots of family ties to Harrisonburg. Not only did Josh's mom and sister attend JMU, but Josh's parents have retired in the 'Burg; Sharon's mom and sister live nearby as well.

With purple and yellow flowers draping the Quad, a solo guitarist, a PC Ballroom reception and the Shenandoah Valley spring air, the wedding was definitely a night to remember. Josh's father, Samuel Espinoza, a retired Methodist minister, officiated the ceremony, while Josh's mother and Sharon's mother sang a duet of The Wedding Song. The couple also wrote a poem called Love is Tricky that was read at the ceremony.

There are usually only one or two weddings performed on campus each year, according to JMU Director of Events and Conferences Joe Urgo. "It is always more meaningful when it is a JMU alum involved ... because of their insight and loyalty," to the university, he says.

Best man Roger Barnes ('96) was so loyal that he missed his M.B.A. graduation to come back to campus and share the day with Sharon and Josh.

Of course, any outdoor wedding comes with some hitches. Josh had to write a letter to President Linwood Rose, requesting that the university hold off on planned construction on the Quad -- crews were going to redo some of the sidewalks -- and in the PC Ballroom, which is undergoing transformation to become part of JMU Dining Services.

Fortunately, Josh and Sharon got their wish -- construction in both areas was put off so that they could say their vows and dance the night away without yellow tape or dump trucks in the way. However, just when everything seemed fine, a thunderstorm hit Harrisonburg half an hour before the ceremony was to begin, sending the bride into somewhat of panic and leaving guests wondering if there was a Plan B for the outside affair. Fortunately, the storm passed over just in time for the nuptials to begin -- the sun even peaked through the clouds as Sharon walked down the grassy aisle. As Rev. Espinoza says during the ceremony, "God is smiling at you this evening."

The 100-some guests were not surprised that a bit of luck came through for the couple. As Chung says before the wedding, "Those two are some of the biggest fans of JMU I've ever met -- they go to every alumni event, homecomings, everything. So having their wedding here on campus [had to be] perfect."

After a week-long honeymoon in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., the couple headed back home to Northern Virginia where Sharon works at an information technology firm and Josh works as a physical therapist. But they will always have JMU in their minds and in their hearts.

"JMU was the best time of my life and to start a new life there with Sharon is amazing," says Josh.