A lot can change in five years—a sentiment that certainly rings true for Jersey Shore star Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and his wife, Lauren Sorrentino, who are celebrating five years of marriage.

The Sorrentinos tied the knot at the lavish Legacy Castle in Pompton Plains on November 1, 2018, in front of 205 friends, family members and MTV’s cameras. For the couple, who met while students at Brookdale Community College back in 2005, the days leading up to their wedding weren’t necessarily the easiest ones, as Mike was preparing for an eight-month prison term for tax evasion.

But, as Mike tells New Jersey Bride, “I wanted [us] to have the wedding of our dreams despite me being sentenced to prison a few months later. I was determined to make a negative situation positive, and I feel that my wedding day was, is, one of the best days of my life.”

The proud Italian-American couple initially wanted to plan an intimate wedding in Italy, but decided to stay close to home because of Mike’s legal issues. “I was like, ‘You know what? If we get married here [in New Jersey], I want a full-blown wedding, like as big as we can do it, as best as we can do it,’” Lauren remembers.

“Jersey weddings are the gold standard of weddings,” she says. “We go big or we go home.”

And that’s just what the pair did.

As for the location, Lauren wanted to book “the most beautiful and over-the-top venue” in New Jersey, which, for the couple, turned out to be Legacy Castle. “It’s just unreal, from the entrance to every detail about it,” Lauren says. “There’s not a corner that isn’t more beautiful than the next.”

Other important elements included a live band, an amazing array of food (as any fan of Jersey Shore will understand!) and a ceremony with personal touches. Mike’s costars Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Vinny Guadagnino and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro served as co-best men; Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi’s daughter Giovanna and Jenni “JWoww” Farley’s little girl Meilani were flower girls.

Lauren says the couple’s wedding day played out “exactly how it was supposed to.” “It was perfect,” she says. “Looking back five years later, I’m surprised at how calm and present I was in that moment.”

Mike, who grew up in Manalapan, reported to prison at FCI Otisville in upstate New York just two-and-a-half months after that beautiful day. He says that reflecting on his wedding helped him during the tougher moments. “The memories that I had on my wedding day helped me survive and work hard every single day in prison to get back to my family,” he says.

These days, the Sorrentinos live in a beautiful home in Holmdel (the town where Lauren grew up) with their two children: two-year-old son Romeo and nearly one-year-old daughter Mia. Their third child is due to arrive in March.

Work-wise, the sixth season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation (a Jersey Shore spinoff that includes the cast’s families) is currently airing on MTV. Mike’s candid memoir, Reality Check, is out December 19 from Ballast Books. And, eight years sober, he is an active part of the recovery community here in New Jersey and around the country.

As for the biggest change in their lives since tying the knot, Lauren says it’s, without a doubt, becoming parents.

“It’s the most amazing gift,” she says. “I’m just so proud of us as parents and we really evolved into a different phase of our relationship for the better.”