Jessica & Devin met on their very first day of college at Syracuse University. They were just friends for a few years before their friendship turned serious. This was definitely not your “love at first sight” story! For a while, Jess thought Devin was a country bumpkin from Pennsylvania. Devin thought Jess was a typical “sorority girl” who went to Syracuse like every other Long Islander. It took three years for these two to realize how much they shared in common: deep love of family, positive outlook on life, and their mutual passion for traveling and exploring the world. In fact, Jess and Devin starting dating while living in different countries during their semesters abroad. Devin (in London) knew things were getting serious when he received a call (not skype) from Jess (in Italy) on her first night abroad saying she missed him. Jess’ story states that she was crying because she “missed home.” Devin capitalized on the opportunity and immediately asked Jess what she was doing the weekend of Valentine’s Day? Valentine’s Day in Florence = end of story. The rest is recent history!
Jess was under the impression that Devin wanted to wait until they lived together to pop the question. Little did Jess know, Devin was fooling her the entire time. Devin actually asked Jess’ father for his daughter’s hand months before the topic of getting engaged was ever on the table. One rainy Friday evening, Jess thought she and Devin were having a nice dinner out with friends on the UES-a typical Friday. Since it was raining, there were no available cabs in sight and Uber was 2.5X, so Jess decided to hop on the MTA bus and go directly to the restaurant. This threw Devin for a loop because he had planned to lure Jess out of the cab when she stopped to pick him up on the way. When Devin heard Jess was on a bus, he thought “Oh no, how am I going to get her off the bus and over to my apartment before dinner?” He created a longwinded reason why Jess immediately needed to get off the bus and into a cab, which Jess found peculiar because “typical Devin” would be thrilled about a $2.50 bus fee instead of a cab fare upwards of $15 in NYC traffic on a Friday night. However, this didn’t make Jess suspicious; she just thought Devin was in the mood to spend! Devin got Jess off the bus, into a cab, out of the cab, and into the Duane Reade under his building to “pick out ice cream for dessert,” as the plan was to have dessert and champagne at their friends’ apartment after dinner. As Devin led Jess to the freezer aisle, he said “pick out the flavor you would like” which was totally normal for Devin to say, being the gentleman that he is. Jess, of course, threw another curve ball and exclaimed “Oh, obviously Haagen-Dazs! It’s the best!” Devin, already on his knee and not understanding why Jess isn’t seeing the obvious, uttered “How about Ben & Jerry’s?” to which Jess replied, “Dev, if you want to pick it out, why did you give me the choice?” yet obeyed his request and started rattling off Ben & Jerry’s flavors. “Cherry Garcia, Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch,…..and O.M.G. IS THIS REAL LIFE?!” Jess spotted 5 Ben & Jerry’s containers that read, “Jess, Will You Marry Me?” as the flavor. She turned to Devin, who was still down on one knee, and he asked Jess to marry him. While in shock, Jess managed to forget to allow Devin to put the ring on her finger before hugging him and exclaiming “Uh, YES!!!” Finally, Devin put the ring on Jess’s finger, which was the most beautiful diamond she had ever seen. The fancy Duane Reade lighting really made that thing sparkle! There were also paparazzi hired for this proposal: Devin’s sister Lauren and her boyfriend Matt, who documented the whole thing with photos and a video. Just what Jess had hoped for! The two then went off to a surprise dinner with their parents, and had the best night and weekend telling friends and family the big news while celebrating with lots of champagne!
Wedding date: 7/25/15
Venue: Liberty Warehouse
Florist: Rebecca Shepard
Lighting: Pegasus Productions
Band: Hank Lane Productions; Dane Wright Band
Paper: Fancy That
Wedding Coordinator: Joanna Solazzo, Maid to the Maids
Food trucks: Ben and Jerry’s
DJ: DJ Request
Cake: Madison Lee
Tux: The Black Tux
Hair: Styles on B
Make Up: Natalie Sky
Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
Veil: Suzanne’s Hat Shop
Thank you Jessica & Devin for sharing your amazing story with us!
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