Wedding Ideas

Patricia and Sean: College Sweethearts Engaged in Paris

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Francesca Sgambati

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New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement “Sean Kennedy and I met at Seton Hall University spring semester 2008 right before finals and we’ve been together ever since. He’s from Monroe, Connecticut and I’m from Bayonne, New Jersey. Ever since I was a little girl, it was a dream of mine to go to Paris. I love French desserts, architecture, art, and fashion. With our busy work schedules (Sean’s law school and clerkship and my new job in the City) it seemed perfect timing for us to take the trip in August. Leading up to the trip, people would ask me “Do you think Sean will propose?” and honestly I was just excited to go to one of the most beautiful cities in the world and never thought it’d happen at this time. New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement Turns out Sean was planning for a few months leading up to his proposal.  On a Saturday in June after he dropped me off at the train station for a meeting, Sean drove back to my parents’ house to ask my Polish dad for his blessing. On the way there, Sean got pulled over by a cop for a broken tail light and blinker. He told the officer that he was kind of in a hurry to meet with my dad so he could ask for his blessing to marry his daughter. The officer let him go with a warning and wished him luck. Sean got to my parents’ home just in time and when he asked my dad, my dad broke in tears. My dad kept the secret for about two months. My mom didn’t even know –and she knows about everything! Sean got a safety deposit box and everything to avoid any chance that I’d find it before our trip. New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement I’d created an itinerary for each day and on the day we arrived I’d thought we could get ourselves settled at our hotel, enjoy some French wine and cheese at a local cafe, and then take an evening walk to the Eiffel Tower and just sightsee. Sean had made dinner reservations at a restaurant near one of Paris’ many bridges called Pont de Bir-Hakeim. He’d asked the concierge how to get to this bridge and with Sean’s Americanized French accent, no one knew what the heck he was saying! I kept saying we’d just walk around and find one of the bridges near the Eiffel Tower, but he was insistent on going to this bridge because his friend Eric had said it was the best spot to see the tower. I was wearing some four inch heels and our hotel was a bit far from the tower so we hailed a cab who dropped us off a couple yards away. From a distance, I saw a train running on the bridge that Sean wanted to go on and I was stubbornly arguing that we can’t go on that bridge because there are train tracks on it “I don’t want to be hit by a train on my first day in Paris.”  He was like “no, no lets go” grabbed my hand and we started walking towards the lower walkway of the bridge. We stopped towards the middle of the bridge and I had a perfect view of the Tower and the Seine River. I’d turned around to take the view in and snap a few pictures on my phone. New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement As I’m snapping away for that Instagram worthy shot, I start to hear Coldplay’s “Yellow” playing and I turn around and Sean places the phone (with the music still playing) on the ledge, kneels down, and says “You make me a better man since we’ve been together and I love you so much, will you marry me?” New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement I started crying, couldn’t breath, turned away for a good few seconds and I think Sean may have gotten a bit afraid like “Um is that a yes?” I turned around and was like “are you serious?” blood rushing to my head because I was so surprised and in a state of shock I finally shook my head yes and he placed the ring on my finger. As we’re hugging, laughing, crying, a woman comes up to us with a camera by the name of Lindsay. It turns out Sean had contacted Lindsay from Pictours Paris prior to our trip to capture our special moment. 🙂 New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement It was a trip and moment that both Sean and I will never forget and will be able to share with our future children and grandchildren. Our big day is on June 25th 2016  at the Valley Regency in Clifton, New Jersey and the ceremony will be in my hometown church.” New Jersey Bride Patricia and Sean Paris Engagement