There are signs in life not to ignore. Street signs reading, “Stop,” “Deer Crossing” and “Danger Ahead.” And more subtle signs, guiding you to the love of your life.

Jonathan Grella, 32, and Lauren Wine, 25, met in 2004 on a golf cart headed to a waterside tent at the Capital Club’s Virginia Gold Cup party. They exchanged only names, but later in the day a photograph was taken. In it, Grella wrapped his arm around Wine, who happened to be wearing a “Grella” headband around her wrist. The headbands had been made as a joke and Wine had somehow gotten one, not knowing who he was. “I thought [Grella] was a new band or soft drink,” she recalled.

The ride ended, and the two parted ways.

When the photograph came out, Grella liked what he saw. He ran into Wine again at bars in Georgetown and Adams Morgan, and said something to the effect of: “You’re the chick from the picture.” They talked at length. They met again on a summer outing to Dewey Beach.

Shortly thereafter, Grella invited Wine to a Capital Club cocktail party. Their first official date (although, by this point, things had already turned romantic) was to the quaint Iron Gate restaurant off Dupont Circle. A downpour forced them to forgo the romantic patio and to eat inside. The setting, thankfully, was incidental. 

The couple recalled how at ease they were from the outset. They regularly began checking in with each other. Grella began wanting to leave work at a reasonable hour, even though working as then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s (R-Texas) press secretary made that wish impossible. Within two months Grella and Wine had met each other’s families, with Grella inviting Wine to a cousin’s wedding on Long Island.

Their budding relationship wasn’t without frustrations.

One day, the couple was en route to Chinatown when Grella’s BlackBerry went off. Wine, a non-medical pediatric cancer researcher earning her communications, culture and technology degree at Georgetown, was wary of the device, which often disrupted their plans. An e-mail later and Grella was ordered into work. Wine was growing understandably irritated.

In an unforgettable moment, Grella told her what she needed to hear — that she would be around long after his job. The man doesn’t lie. Grella went to work for DeLay in 2001 and left in 2005 for Edelman, a public-relations firm, where he is a vice president of media relations.

Dating a non-Hill woman gave him a break from the intensity of political culture and made his transition off the Hill that much smoother. “It was refreshing for me to explain the issues of the Ways and Means Committee,” he said, laughing. “It’s really nice to talk about other things and not have someone urging you to TiVo ‘Face the Nation.’”

There were more signs. Grella and Wine share the same Jan. 21 birthday, albeit seven years apart. “I wondered if this was a sign for me to pay attention,” said Grella upon reflection.

Another signal involved Grella’s dog, Sammie, a Rottweiler/pit bull/German Shepherd mix that had lived the erratic lifestyle of an overworked (though serious-minded) frat boy. Like Grella, the dog didn’t eat at regular hours and wasn’t walked at proper times.

With Wine in the picture, Sammie, like Grella, got a taste of some of life’s luxuries — namely, consistent bed- and mealtimes. Both Grella and his dog began to calm down. Everyone was happier.

“She was wild,” Grella said of the dog. “Once Lauren came into my life Sammie became a different dog.” Wine nodded shyly in agreement. “She’s very sweet. She has a normal life now. It’s not him coming home at 2 a.m.”

In the course of his relationship with Wine, an older married friend offered Grella a piece of wisdom. It was time, he said, to let his personal life catch up with his professional life.

Grella agreed and gradually left his old, open-bar, partying lifestyle behind. 

In December 2005 he arranged for his parents to have a White House tour in honor of their 35th wedding anniversary. Unbeknownst to Wine, Grella also planned to propose in the Rose Garden.

That night, he took her out into the garden, where it was just starting to snow. They remarked on how beautiful it was. Grella placed his raincoat on the ground and proposed on one knee.

“She instantly responded with several ‘Oh my Gods,’” he recalled. “I didn’t get a straight answer until I asked a second time.”

When asked what she looks forward to most about a life with Grella, Wine said instantaneously, “Lots of laughs.”

The couple wed last Saturday at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. They will honeymoon for two weeks in South Africa, where they will spend a week in Cape Town, followed by a visit to Victoria Falls and a safari that will include a day on elephant back.

“Both of us get antsy sitting on a beach with nothing to do,” explained Wine. “This will be good for us.”