COUPLE OF THE WEEK l Emily & Michael
The Stonington Meadows | Stonington, CT
THE LOVE STORY
Spending much of our young lives in school classrooms and hallways, many of the experiences that shape our lives occur on a school campus. Sometimes those experiences are small things, hardly remembered, while other times they can be clearly pointed to as a life-changing moment. For Emily and Michael, that moment happened at the literal peak of their school education, during a capstone class they shared their senior year at Salve Regina University.
“We were assigned to groups to discuss Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Mike and I were placed in the same group and we were assigned the topic of love (ironically). It was the first time I had a real conversation with him.” Drawn to his sense of humor and a budding realization that things felt right when they were together, Emily and Michael expanded their relationship outside the classroom. “A month later he attended one of my dance shows. He asked a mutual friend for my number and texted me after the show. I still have the screenshot of that initial text.”
5 years later with the college days they shared together a memory of the past, their relationship continued to bring new experiences every day, but one of the most significant came during an excursion Michael planned while on a trip they took to Oslo, Norway. “It began with a 5-hour train ride out of Oslo, a second train ride that stops at a waterfall, a boat ride through the fjords, then taking a bus to a town called Voss.
Arriving to the sun setting over a gorgeous lake, they walked together to the edge of the lake to take some photos. Michael stopping short to prepare his GoPro, reached into his backpack and handed Emily an envelope. Inside she found a handmade ticket for "Unlimited Ballroom Dance Lessons" and a note at the bottom telling her to "Ask Mike to show you the video". “He handed me his phone and played a slideshow video of every place we’ve ever visited together, set to our song, Can't Help Falling In Love. When the video ended, he got down on one knee!” With their monumental trip coming to a close, their journey was set to begin.
THE PERFECT DAY
Returning to the East Coast where their relationship began and their lives continued, now as an engaged couple, they found the perfect location to host their wedding across state lines from where they first met. “There were so many things we loved about Stonington Meadows. Everything would happen in one place, we had the option of having the ceremony outdoors and the reception indoors, and we are each a big fan of yard games so we loved that we could offer our guests corn hole, giant Jenga, and tic-tac-toe. The location is also right next to a marsh so locals come to bird watch here. During the ceremony, I even saw a crane fly up and land on a rock out of the corner of my eye. It's a cool memory to have during such a special moment!”
Despite finding such a perfect location, it was the people who attended that truly created their favorite parts of the day. “There was so much love filling the room that night! We had multiple people tell us how they felt the love surrounding them and that it really did feel like the joining of two families.”
8 years after first meeting in a classroom and being assigned the topic of love, the story of their relationship is a truer representation of love than any report could ever convey. With the understanding of their love for one another only scratching the surface, Emily and Michael look forward to sharing countless new experiences and challenging each other with quotes from their favorite movies and TV shows for years to come.
Check out Emily & Mike’s Stonington, CT wedding video below!
Let’s Talk About Love!
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