Originally published in Inside Weddings

Lisa Harman and Chuck Wakefield’s bohemian North Carolina wedding was an event 30 years in the making. The two met in 1980 and dated for six months, and although the relationship didn’t work out, Lisa says she never forgot Chuck’s kindness and sweet, gentle nature. Their paths crossed again 30 years later when Chuck reached out to Lisa as a friend. “I was always in love with her and never forgot her after 30-plus years apart,” Chuck says. They began a long-distance friendship, which evolved into love over the course of one year. Chuck proposed by handing Lisa a Taco Bell salsa packet that read, “Marry Me” – and Lisa happily accepted.

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Originally published in Inside Weddings 

Marc Gann and Joey Scaletta say that after they were introduced by a mutual friend, their relationship went nowhere – until they met again a few months later at a watering hole in Baltimore and bonded over Marc’s punk rock t-shirt. This time, the relationship stuck. The two carved out as much time together as they could while Marc completed his surgical residency, then after almost two years of dating, Marc found a job at a hospital in rural Kansas. They continued dating long-distance for the next nine months, seeing each other once every four weeks. But it eventually became clear that they were missing out on too much of each other’s lives, so Joey moved to Kansas in 2008.

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Originally published in Inside Weddings

When Meredith Dulaney and Brian Escobedo met in November 2010 at a country music concert in New York City, you might say it was fate that brought them together. That’s because although Meredith, a Mississippi native, was a country music fan, lifelong New Yorker Brian was not. But when Brian’s coworker offered him a ticket to the concert, he thought, “Why not?” The two ended up hitting it off, and at the end of the concert Brian asked Meredith for her phone number. He called the next day to ask her out, and the rest is history. “New York boy meets Mississippi Delta girl at a country music concert in NYC…who would have guessed!” Meredith marvels.

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Originally published in Inside Weddings

When Jacqueline Salcedo walked into Expo Design Center for her first day of work, Marcus Fernandez spotted her and was instantly smitten. When he realized that she wasn’t a customer, but rather his new colleague, he worked to gain Jacqueline’s friendship, and from there, a relationship grew. “We became best friends and have been inseparable ever since,” Jacqueline says. Fourteen years later, Marcus took Jacqueline and their golden retriever, Lady, to Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles for a romantic picnic. There, he surprised her with two gifts: a cute onesie Jacqueline had been eyeing for their future baby, and a new collar for Lady that featured a tag engraved with the words, “Marry Marcus.”
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Originally published in Inside Weddings 

After arriving at her first boot camp exercise class, Malu Tungol took one look at Shannon Ashmon and thought, “I really hope he’s not the instructor.”

“He was too cute,” the bride, a behavioral scientist, reveals. “The last thing I wanted was for a first impression to include me embarrassing myself by struggling through his workout in the blazing Atlanta heat.” But Shannon was the instructor – and he noticed Malu immediately. He began chatting with Malu after class and calling her to ask how she was adjusting to the program. Very soon, the two were dating. “We tried to keep our burgeoning romance under wraps from the rest of the boot camp class,” Malu says. “We didn’t really fool anyone, though.”

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Originally published in Inside Weddings

Michelle Berta and Louis Matthews had the same idea on their first day of law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville: They both went to the pool in their apartment complex with their books in hand, intending to study. Instead, the two neighbors (as it turned out, they lived just three doors apart) struck up a conversation and ended up spending the afternoon getting to know each other. Their first official date was supposed to be a short tapas dinner, but it ended up lasting four hours. “On our first date, I knew Michelle was the love of my life!” Louis beams.

Louis was set on receiving his future father-in-law’s blessing before proposing, so he traveled from Virginia to Michigan to ask for Michelle’s hand. After gaining permission, Louis took Michelle to a romantic dinner at their favorite restaurant and out for an evening of dancing, then finally to the historic Rotunda at the University of Virginia campus, where he popped the question.

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Originally published in Inside Weddings

The night that Rorie Wach and Adam Miller first met, Adam had to literally break the ice to start a conversation. It was April 2009, and Rorie and Adam were both guests at a party hosted by a mutual friend. Rorie says she was attracted to Adam from the moment she first saw him, and even remembers the exact outfit he was wearing that day: plaid pants, a black v-neck t-shirt, and white Converse sneakers. He was “the cutest guy in the room,” she gushes.

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