How did you meet?
Matt and I attended the same college, Iona College, from 2010-2014.  The first time we met, just about 10 years ago, he came into my dorm room because he knew one of my roommates who is someone he grew up with. Matt claims that I didn’t know who he was all of college, however, we would be at the same parties, bars, we had some mutual friends. I knew who he was, we just “weren’t friends” We laugh about it now- he was the annoying kid who would come into my room at 2 am and wake me and my roommates up after a few too many drinks. I would get so mad because I played division 1 soccer and we had to wake up at 5am for practice. Fast forward to a couple years after college, a mutual friend of ours had organized a weekend down the shore with some college friends. Matt and I had texted a little bit prior to this weekend. I expressed my interest in Matt to our friend and she put us in contact with each other. Truthfully, I wasn’t looking for anything, I was just looking to have fun with friends that weekend and was definitely not looking for a relationship in the near future. However, I had so much fun with Matt this weekend in Asbury, NJ. Our conversations were easy, I felt like I could be myself around him without feeling judged. We stayed in touch via text, both saying we’d “keep it casual” since he lived in CT and I lived in NJ. Well, feelings started to grow, we started going on dates, seeing each other more often, making the effort long distance and constantly texting/on the phone. Our first real date, Matt took me out to dinner and I was so nervous. But remember looking at Matt and knowing this guy could be my best friend. I moved up to CT a year and half ago, we purchased our first house together.

Where did you get engaged?
Rome, Italy

How did you get engaged?
We went to Italy with Matt’s parents and older sister. Our first stop was Rome. My mom and stepdad happened to make travel plans to Italy that overlapped with our trip. On our second day there, we casually met up with my parents for a nice dinner out in Rome. After a fabulous dinner with both of our families, we started to walk towards what is called “Piazza Novona” which is a public plaza in Rome where there are restaurants, bars, statues and a beautiful fountain.  My family is big into taking lots of photos so it didn’t seem odd when my parents said “guys take a photo in front of the fountain!” They handed us two coins to toss over our shoulders. We walked over to the fountain, closed our eyes and tossed the coins over our shoulders after making our wishes. I opened my eyes to see Matt kneeling on one knee. I was in shock! At first I thought he was joking around and holding the coin, pretending. Then I saw the gorgeous shimmer of the ring and went into shock! I, of course, said “yes”. We went back to the restaurant we just finished eating at and celebrated with lots of champagne.

When did you get engaged?
September 2019