Bride’s hometown: Coventry
Groom’s hometown: Johnston
Wedding date: July 9, 2016
Wedding venue: Westwood Campground in Coventry
Tell us how you met: 
We were introduced when I was invited to join a group of mutual friends for his welcome-home dinner a few days after Mike had returned from a year-long deployment in Iraq. Over time, we became close as friends and I often spent time with Mike out, excelling as his “wing-man” while he looked for new female company after a recent break-up. I had no romantic interest in him or his good looks and chiseled batman-chin that he flaunted pompously everywhere he went. Military men were not for me and neither were the type that were so good-looking that they let it precede their personality.
The winter after I first met him, I had decided that I’d had enough of the cold and wet snow and put out an open invite to any friends who wanted to join me on an impromptu excursion down to Florida. Mike answere
d my call for an adventure, and joined myself and another friend for a twenty three-hour drive down to Orlando with only one night booked at a hotel and a box of cold pizza to fuel us (and double as a backseat pillow).
After a couple of nights of meeting friends in Orlando, Mike had big plans for our trip to continue down to Miami where he would link up with an old flame.
Plans changed on Day Two when we decided that no trip to Florida could be complete without a visit to Disney World. Mike had never been to Disney and trailed along behind us girls dutifully, biding his time until he could enjoy drinks and dancing in Miami. By midday, sometime after the Haunted Mansion but before “It’s a Small World,” Mike stopped me in front of Cinderella’s castle after lunch and said “I was thinking…can we just stay here all week?” The answer was a high-pitched YES!
Spending the week in Disney and running around like kids opened Mike up and showed me a side of him that I hadn’t seen past that chin and playboy attitude. We had fun; adventurous, uninhibited, easy, comfortable, and exciting fun, and its always been that way, even now, 7 years, several deployments, new jobs, ups & downs, apartments of all kinds, and a new house later.
Tell us your proposal story:
Mike had originally planned to propose during our trip to the Azores this summer, however, our dog Charlie’s need for a second ligament replacement changed those plans. Charlie tore his cruciate ligament in November, rendering him three-legged until the surgeon could see him in January. With this costly surgery looming over us, we were undecided about proceeding with our plans for the trip.
Needless to say, my spirits were low as I watched Charlie limp painfully around the house, cry when we held him up in the yard to do his business, and monitor his movement while taking shifts to administer medications. To cheer me up, Mike planned a night in New York City to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center for my early December birthday. It took a lot of convincing to leave Charlie’s side, but I finally agreed because Mike had invited my parents and brother to come along to celebrate: They all agreed that I needed a night away.
On my birthday, December 12, 2015, Mike led me through the crowded streets to the foot of the tree to give me a special ornament to put on our tree at home, the first we would have in our new house together. With family and crowds of tourists watching, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him with a beautiful ornament inscribed with the big question! I said yes and we are currently planning our Summer Camp-themed wedding minutes from our home, where I group up, in Coventry, RI to celebrate with family and friends on July 9th, 2016.
Congrats you two!