Samantha + Nick

How did you meet?

Nick and I met when I was 14 years old (he was 16), we were set up on a “blind date” by our friends… at a hockey rink. Nick and I probably exchanged 10 words the whole hockey game- yet both rushed home to chat online all night long (young, awkward love). After a week or two, Nick asked me out on our “first” date. We went to Dunkin Donuts (very romantic). We sat for hours and talked and laughed and there was just this instant connection that even though we were kids, I felt like I could talk to him for hours and never run out of things to say. The kicker- when we were about to leave we decided Nick would swing by my house quickly and meet my younger brother Max before heading home. We walk out to the parking lot, he unlocks his car, and I just stand there staring at him. At this point he is so confused and goes “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you wanted to head over to your house.” I then reluctantly explained… “My Dad asked me not to get in your car because he doesn’t know if you’re a safe driver or not, so I’m going to walk back to my house and I’ll meet you there.” Now if I was Nick I would have gotten in my car and drove as fast as I could away- but no, he politely nodded and got in the car. I started walking basically accepting the fact I just ruined any chance I had at this relationship before it even started, but sure enough, when I got to my house, his car was parked out front. The rest is history. I knew Nick was the one very soon on in our relationship. There was just something about him, he wasn’t perfect, no 16 year old boy is, but he truly loved me in a way I never thought was possible. After years of long-distance through high school, then attending college together, and moving out on our own after we graduated, it just seemed that every step in my life seemed so much less daunting with him in it. He became a part of me. We grew up together, we had the same thoughts and views and likes and dislikes, he was my best friend, my confidant and the love of my life and I never once questioned that.

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

So much like the ring, and the boy, I find things I like, and then I never let them go. I saw the MWL Sienna with the Tulle skirt pop up on my Instagram feed even before I was engaged, and I said “that’s the dress I’ll get married in.” Once we actually got engaged I started to track it down. I began calling bridal shops all over Massachusetts and had no luck. I finally found a bridal Boutique in NYC that carried it, so I hopped on the train and made an appointment to go see it with my best friend, and MOH. I walked in the store, and tried it on and immediately knew it was the one. I cried, my best friend cried it was magic. Now- the hard part, How in the world was I going to get my mom and mother in law (two women who think driving on the highway means you’re going somewhere far away) to NYC. I decided after about 5 minuets of contemplating that scenario that it just wasn’t possible. So I decided to schedule a day in Massachusetts with my mom, mother in law and aunt, I figured we could all go together, try on dresses and get lunch and then the next week I’d fly back to NYC and get the dress- I refused to let it go. The whole time leading up to our planned “dress day” they would say “who knows you might find something else you love even more” and I would just nod, knowing it wasn’t possible. We walk into VOWS in Watertown MA for our appointment and I’m completely overwhelmed with all the dresses, and as I’m standing at the front getting my instructions on how the flow of the dress picking works all three of them run off and starting picking out dresses “How about this” “This one’s pretty” “ooooooh look at this.” I start walking around looking at the rack and my mother in law walks up to me with tears in her eyes and goes “Sam, Is this the dress.” I screamed. Loud. SHE FOUND IT. Of course, a million things going through my mind I look at the bridal consultant “Wait what? I called? You said you didn’t’ have it? I looked everywhere” and she goes “We just got it in last week, we’re the first store in MA to carry Made with love” and again, right on theme, the rest is history. I walked out with the gown and it was truly the best most magical day, knowing that I was meant to be married in that dress.

Who proposed and how?

After about 9 years of dating we decide 10 day trip to Florence, Italy, where I studied aboard in college. We booked 10 months in advance and I was literally counting down the days like a kid on Christmas morning. So, naturally leading up to the trip everyone was asking me, “Oh my god do you think he’s going to propose” and my answer every time was no. Since Nick and I grew up together, I could truly at this point look at him and usually know just what he’s thinking or feeling, and I knew that there was NO way he could pull something like this off without giving it away. Or, so I thought… Anyway moving on, it’s the day before we leave and my mind is all over the place, everyone telling me that this could be the moment had me freaking out a bit, so I decided okay, let’s test this out. I decided to tell Nick that instead of taking 2 carry-on bags like we originally had planned, we are not going to use his carry-on bag, and instead check a big bag. (I had way more stuff than I thought and I don’t even know how I thought I’d fit everything into a carry-on bag anyway!!) Then I told him we would just use my carry on, the large checked bag and my backpack, leaving him with NO bags, and in turn, nowhere to hide a ring.

His response, “Okay that’s fine whatever is easiest for you.” At that point I knew- there is no way humanly possible a proposal is happening on this trip, and I wiped it from my mind completely. We get to Florence on a Friday, and that Saturday is Nick’s birthday- we spent the day exploring the city going to all my favorite places and it was truly magical. There is this gorgeous square called the Piazzale Michelangelo located in the center of the city, and after you climb what feels like a thousand steps to reach the top there is the most breathtaking views of the city of Florence you’ll ever see. While studying here this quickly became my favorite place to be. I would go up there with my best friend who I was traveling with Beth, and we would sit there for hours, drink wine on the steps, and just look at the view. A few days into the trip the forecast looked nice and I planned a whole day up at the Piazzale Michelangelo and told nick “this is what we’re doing today I have it all planned.” Again, he was complete go with the flow and said that sounded great. After about an hour up there Nick was telling me about this little church his co-worker had told him about that had even better views than where we were and suggested we go try to find it. He had told me about this church earlier in the trip and I was hesitant about it, I was like “Nick I lived here, how would I not know about this place?” But I was just as curious so we decided to take a walk and explore- we found yet another set of stairs that we climbed up and sure enough there it was a gorgeous white church with an even BETTER view than the Piazzale Michelangelo. I couldn’t believe it. We sat up there for a while taking photos and looking at the view, and before we were about the head back down, my goal was (as it is for every girl) to get a good picture of the two of us. So he takes my phone and goes to take a selfie of us, and just as he does this my black floppy hat flies off my head and into the locked gardens below us! It was like a scene from a movie! I loved that hat and I had bought in Florence when I studied here. I was devastated, and looked at Nick and said “Just leave it- if we try to go down there we could set off an alarm!” But nope- there we went down all of the stairs, hopped the fence, ran into the garden, past tombstones, and came back with my hat in his hand. The whole time I’m thinking, oh my god if he gets caught what if they put us in an Italian jail. (Seriously- the Italian Polizia is no joke!) As soon as he gets back up to the top, we go to pose for an actual selfie and this time he stops, turns to me and I immediately knew- oh my god, this is it. He gets down on one knee and I just couldn’t stop smiling. Ear to ear- then through the smile came the tears, I truly felt like I was dreaming. He asked me to marry him!!! Through my tears and my massive grin, I said yes, (duh!!!!).

I was in the most magical place in the world with the love of my life and this is happening, to ME? After what seemed like a lifetime of crying and hugging, I saw the ring, and after that, I can’t explain the feeling. It was seriously the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and the tears kept coming. AND if that wasn’t enough he mumbles, “And we have someone here who captured the moment” and out comes a woman with a camera that he introduced to me as Emma. I was blown away. I had so many questions; How did he do it? Where was the ring? How did he get the photographer, he doesn’t even speak Italian!!!! After taking a few photos he told me he had an engagement shoot scheduled for the next morning around the city of Florence in all my favorite spots (cue more tears).

We then walked down the stairs, back to the restaurant we were at a few hours before as boyfriend and girlfriend, now as an engaged couple. After an amazing spread of Italian cheeses and prosecco, we were seated for dinner, again overlooking the entire city and I could just not contain myself! We enjoyed dinner laughing and talking about all the things he did PERFECTLY to pull this off, I feel like my jaw was on the floor the entire time. Then I ask the million dollar question, where did you get the ring? He tells me he spent days telling me he was traveling for work meetings and driving from Boston to New York to go to all my “favorite” jewelry stores I followed on Instagram and he was just not impressed. He was like, “None of them shined as bright or were as special as you.” When I was younger I used to look up engagement rings dreaming about what ring I would have on my finger one day and I found this designer, Vanessa Nicole who creates custom engagement rings out of CA. I must have told Nick about her when I was 18, and sure enough, he remembered, he and tells me my ring is custom made by Vanessa Nicole, and he picked out every stone and actually designed the mold of the ring especially for me. (MORE tears… It’s becoming a theme here). We went back to our room and called our family and friends to share the news and the amount of love and support we received was truly amazing. That next morning we woke up and had our photo shoot around the city, and then spent the next day celebrating in Venice complete with a gondola ride, sunshine and the best food you could ever ask for!

Where did you go to Honeymoon?

I think you get the point by now that nothing is simple when it comes to our relationship, it’s a big beautiful mess of a million things falling into place perfectly that then creates an absolutely magical and grand outcome. Our honeymoon was no different. While wedding planning Nick and I were renovating our house. We seemed to be cutting checks for the wedding or to contractors every single day. So when it came time to plan the honeymoon we were completely overwhelmed. Santorini has always been my dream honeymoon location but the thought of needed to plan and pay for an elaborate trip during all the chaos we had going on seemed impossible. Nick and I decided as a couple to book an all-inclusive trip through Sandals Resorts to the Caribbean. Fast forward 7 months later. Nick wakes me up on a Saturday morning our of a dead sleep and says “Wake up, I need to tell you something I can’t wait any longer.” Of course, I’m so confused groggy and mainly annoyed that on the one day I have to sleep in he has me up at 7 am. He looks at me and goes “I made a mistake, but I think I fixed it. I know you didn’t want to do the Caribbean for our honeymoon, but we made an impulse decision because we were stressed, and that’s no way to start off our marriage. You deserve the honeymoon of your dreams. So the trip is canceled and we’re going to Santorini.” Cue the tears… again. We spent 10 magical days in Santorini and it truly was the trip of a lifetime I couldn’t have asked for anything more.