Olympic Gold Medalist Jennie Finch, 'Modern Bride' Magazine's Current Cover Model, Focuses on Her Next Big Event -- Her Wedding With Baseball's Casey Daigle

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A F JENNIE FINCH ON MODERN BRIDE JENNIE FINCH ON MODERN BRIDE Olympic gold medalist and bride-to-be Jennie Finch appears on the cover of Modern Bride magazine. (PRNewsFoto)[DE] NEW YORK, NY USA 10/21/2004

    NEW YORK, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch,
 voted by ESPN as Hottest Female Athlete, is no longer playing the dating
 field, and she makes this even more evident as the current cover model for
 Modern Bride magazine.  Engaged to Casey Daigle, pitcher for the Arizona
 Diamondbacks Triple-A team, Finch took time out from her pre-Athens excitement
 to slip into a sexy Amy Michelson bridal gown for the Modern Bride photo shoot
 on a beach in Santa Monica, CA and answer questions about her engagement and
 the upcoming wedding.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041021/NYTH033)
     24-year-old Finch admits to first turning Daigle down when he sent her
 five dozen roses and a note asking her to dinner while they were in college at
 the University of Arizona.  After her polite, "I don't think so," they kept
 running into each other, and eventually Finch gave in to a date.
     "The past two years have been pretty crazy," says Finch of her and
 Daigle's schedules.  "Our lifestyles have changed since we met two years ago.
 All of a sudden, I was on the Olympic team, traveling here and there, and he
 was in the big leagues."  Their relationship has endured the typical
 long-distance romance of on-the-road athletes.  "Seeing Casey more than three
 days in a row, and not going to bed in different cities with cell phones
 connected to our ears ... we're looking forward to that," Finch says.
     Daigle's proposal to Finch had all the romantic elements of creativity and
 attention to detail.  Recalls Finch, "He blindfolded me and said we were going
 to dinner.  We got to the field where he'd first seen me throw.  He walked me
 out to the mound; there were gerbera daisies and champagne on a blanket, and
 he was on one knee.  He had the ring in a ceramic box in the shape of a
 baseball and he said, 'You've been the queen of the diamond for four years,
 and I want you to be the queen of my heart.'"
     The wedding planning became a challenge for Finch as the Olympics
 approached, but she has had fun pursuing two monumental goals.  "I like to
 think I can handle it," says Finch.  "[The learning curve will be] the whole
 housewife thing," she says.  "I'm not a cook and I don't enjoy cleaning."  And
 she says there is no way she is retiring from softball, "When I'm 75, I'll
 still be going."  Above everything else, Finch is clear about her identity, "I
 want to be Mrs. Casey Daigle," she says, "but on the field, I will always be
 Jennie Finch."
 
      The Finch/Daigle Wedding Details:
      The dress:  A Maggie Sottero "Cinderella" ball gown.
 
      The attire:  Black tuxes for Daigle and the groomsmen and black gowns for
      the bridesmaids.
 
      The flowers:  Jennie is considering her favorite, red gerbera daisies and
      says there will also be red roses.
 
      The location:  She'd like to have the ceremony at The Crystal Cathedral
      in Garden Grove, CA, and the reception at nearby Rancho Capistrano.
 
      The music:  Jennie says, "We both like country music." Casey is teaching
      her the two-step.
 
      The baseball touch:  The ring bearer will wear a black baseball jersey
      that says "Daigle" with Casey's baseball number.  The flower girl will
      wear a white baseball jersey that says "Finch" with Jennie softball
      number.
 
      Something blue:  Jennie will wear a University of Arizona garter belt in
      the school's color blue given to her by a friend.
 
     The December/January issue of Modern Bride is available on newsstands now.
 For more information visit http://www.modernbride.com.  Modern Bride magazine
 is published by the Fairchild Bridal Group.
 
     Fairchild Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, Inc., is the
 world's leading publisher of fashion and retail publications with 19 titles
 within six divisions: WWD Media Worldwide, consumer, business-to-business,
 Internet, conferences, and books.  The company's titles are: Women's Wear
 Daily (WWD), Beauty Biz, Children's Business, Daily News Record (DNR),
 Executive Technology, Footwear News, Home Furnishings News, InFurniture, and
 Supermarket News in the business-to-business division and W, Jane, Details,
 Vitals, Bride's, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Modern Bride Connection, Your
 Prom and W Jewelry in the consumer area.
 
 

SOURCE  Fairchild Publications