Q: When and where is your wedding?
A: Our wedding is going to be on Friday, July 4, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Fitchburg, Mass.
Fitchburg is my hometown, and getting married in this church means so much to my family, my fiance and me, because every wedding, christening and religious event in my family happens at this very church.
The cocktail hour and reception will immediately follow at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Mass., under a tent with a jazz band, signature cocktails, lots of food, dancing and, of course, fireworks!
Q: How did you meet your fiance?
A: I saw my fiance my very first day of college, at Lasell College in Newton, Mass., during a freshman orientation. (He was a junior at the time.) It was totally love at first sight!
He was a soccer player at our school, and though I had no interest in the sport, I somehow made it to almost every game. We, however, did not formally meet until my sophomore year in the school gym, where he was working at the time, and I would go to take a yoga class. We talked a lot in the gym, and then finally hit it off when he one day found out from a roommate of mine that I was not feeling well and called me to see if I needed him to pick up anything.
We never spent more than two days apart after that. After we had been dating for a little while, he finally revealed that he had felt the same way I did when he saw me on that first day of my freshman year. So, I truly believe in love at first sight!
Q: How did he propose?
A: Oh, he is so sneaky! After I graduated from college in 2005, we decided to move to our dream town, Celebration, Fla. He asked if I wanted to go out for dinner on a Monday night (April 10, 2006), for my birthday (which was March 23). We had already gone out for my birthday, so I was confused and thought it was completely random to go out on a Monday night, but I would of course go. He said that all I had to do was dress up and the rest was a surprise.
He took me to the Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Studios for dinner. He arranged for two Italian singers to come to our table and sing us a love song in Italian. After we had finished eating, the manager brought us over dessert and Italian wines and then the owner, a cute little Italian lady, came over and wished us a happy life together. I was confused, but didn't think much of it.
We were on our way home, and he took a wrong turn toward Walt Disney World. He acted like he was going to turn around in the Grand Floridian Resort parking lot, but instead he asked if, since we were already there, I wanted to take a walk with him. We took a walk to the back marina of the resort, with Cinderella Castle lit up across the lagoon. He knows I love princesses, especially Cinderella, so after he pointed out the castle, he then started talking about how much he loved me. I then saw him reach into the pocket of the sports coat he was wearing, and I knew what was coming.
I just started shaking and crying, but also laughing (such a funny reaction)! He got down on one knee, and I still have no idea what he said. I totally blanked out. I just remember being so happy, but embarrassed because people were taking pictures and my makeup was running down my face! He had the box open in his hand, and I pulled him up and just hugged him and dug my face in his chest to not be in any more pictures with my face looking that way.
Then he said, "Who is taking all those pictures?" I had no idea, and couldn't see anything because of my tears. But as the photographers came closer, I saw it was both of our families! He flew his parents down from Massachusetts, along with my parents and my younger sister. The night was not over, though; he also arranged for all of us to then take a fireworks cruise around the Magic Kingdom with drinks and hors d'oeuvres to celebrate! At this point, the tears had finally cleared, and I could see what the ring looked like!
