Where did you meet?
We met on an online dating site. We decided to meet up for the first time to have brunch at Miss. Shirley's, a local Baltimore favorite of ours. Brian greeted me with a single red rose, and that was just the beginning of Brian's chivalrous gestures.
Please describe the proposal.
I went to College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. We decided to visit for our three-year anniversary so that I could show Brian the city that has the other half of my heart. On the first day, I took him on a walking tour of the city. Brian spent the whole tour scoping out the perfect place to propose. That night, we were headed to a romantic dinner on Broad Street at my favorite restaurant. Brian asked me to stop at Waterfront Park on our way to dinner. We had visited Waterfront Park earlier that day, and he knew it was the perfect place to propose. We sat at the giant Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park, which was all lit up at night. Brian was talking about how much I meant to him and how he had valued the last three years of growing and falling in love. I was confused why he was getting sentimental because I wasn't expecting him to propose. He took out the ring from his pocket and got down on one knee. I was so shocked that I forgot to say yes! Since our engagement, friends and family have started the tradition of gifting pineapple things to us since we got engaged at the Pineapple Fountain.
What was the first thing you did after you got engaged?
Immediately after we got engaged, we walked to dinner. When we got there, they gave us champagne to celebrate, and they seated us in our own private, little room. It was one of the most romantic nights of our lives. We spent the rest of trip reliving my college years in Charleston, which has been rated the No. 1 City in the World and the No. 1 City in the U.S. and Canada in Travel + Leisure magazine. It meant a lot that he learned about this important chapter in my life, and it helped him understand more about me. The city felt even more magical after spending the next four days in a dreamy fog. It was great making new memories in my favorite city.
Where did you get married? Was there a theme to your wedding?
We got married at a farm in Manquin, Virgina called Seven Springs. Seven Springs was built circa 1725, and George Washington was a frequent visitor while the Burgesses met in Williamsburg. We love history, and the property reminded me of the southern charm and tradition of Charleston. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation guided the restoration of the buildings and being there feels like walking back in time. The farm is now home to Hog Island Sheep, which is a Virginian native breed that were near extinction.
We had an intimate, autumn wedding with a southern flair. It is southern tradition to bury a bottle of Bourbon at your wedding venue a month before the wedding for luck and good weather. It was raining all morning on the day of our wedding, and by the time it was ready for the ceremony, the sun came out, and the clouds had cleared. We dug up the Bourbon together just the two of us on our wedding day, and it sits on our bar cart in our house today.
What is something you and your husband like to do together?
Brian and I love traveling, and whenever we can, we love taking day trips to Virginia wine country. We like going places off the beaten path, and visiting towns with a lot of historical significance, like Charleston. We love visiting Charleston in the winter, but our favorite place to visit in the summer is Nantucket, which is an island 30 miles off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. We love escaping the heat by going to New England in the summers. We also love hiking, and we spend a lot of time outdoors.
Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where and why did you pick that destination?
I have been to all the continental states in the U.S., and I hadn't been to Hawaii or Alaska. We decided to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon to check another state off my bucket list. We decided to stay on Kauai, which is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. It has valleys, mountains and cliffs unlike those on the other islands, and it seemed like a hiker’s dream. We are not the type of couple that loves to be lazy on vacation and lay on the beach all day. Kauai seemed like the perfect balance of tropical paradise and adventure.
What is a fun fact about you as a couple?
Brian has been a lifelong Orioles fan, loyal during decades of losing seasons. Within the first two months of dating, we went to Opening Day at Camden Yards. We spent much of our summer at The Yard, and the Orioles won every game we went to that year. They won the Division Title for the first time in 2014 since 1997. For Brian, meeting me and having the Orioles return to relevance in the same year was more than a coincidence. That year the O's made the playoffs, and we concluded our summer with an Orioles home postseason victory. Camden Yards was magical that evening, and it was the perfect ending to a summer of falling in love. Since this historic season, we now refer to Camden Yards as our "summer house."
