Laura Zabbo, co-founder and co-owner behind Spark Bridal, the fabulous bridal outlet in Cranston, Rhode Island, is engaged! We decided to catch up with her and embark on a mini-series of sorts to learn more about what it’s like to go from selling bridal gowns to being the bride. But first things first, let’s see how this all started… With a ‘spark,’ of course!
Though Kyle knew who Laura was in high school because of her regular performances of the national anthem at sporting events, they didn’t become friends until after her graduation (his in ’06 and hers in ’07). And we use the term ‘friend’ loosely.
“I guess we weren’t really ever friends — there was always that kind of attraction there,” Laura says.
The two had landed themselves in the same friend group, but as a result, found it difficult to get the necessary alone time to see if anything could come of said spark. Another obstacle: Laura was attending UConn at the time while Kyle was a URI Ram. Surprisingly, though, the distance actually brought them together.
“I didn’t want to go back to school after break, so for my nineteenth birthday, he decided I was going to bring something back with me,” Laura recalls, laughing. “He went to the pet store, bought me a beta fish and named him Thor. So, I went back to college with a fish named Thor — it was pretty funny.”
Hook, line and sinker, he had her — they began dating two months later.
But then fast forward eleven years later, and they were still dating.
“It’s funny that because I sell bridal gowns for a living… ‘Always the bridesmaid and never the bride,’ Laura says. “But then for my thirtieth birthday he surprised me with a trip to Ireland.”
Being the planner in the relationship, Laura knew that the gesture had to mean something bigger. Still, she found it suspicious that Kyle didn’t seem too worried about her ‘accidentally’ finding the ring, a classic cushion cut diamond flanked by tapered baguettes, in his suitcase.
“Turns out, he kept it in his shoe for the beginning of the trip,” she says. How did that work going through security? “Oh, he had it in his carry on then — he wrapped it in an index card that read ‘engagement ring inside, please be discreet’ with a smiley face just in case TSA had to go through it.”
Then, after more than a decade of anticipation, Kyle made Laura wait six more days for their moment.
“That was when the Cliffs of Moher were on the itinerary,” she says. “I knew if he was ever going to do it on the trip, it would be then.”
So there they were, sitting on the very edge of the cliffs staring out over the water, when Kyle did something out of the ordinary: he asked a passerby to take a picture.
“Never in our entire relationship has he asked someone to take our picture,” she says. “My heart started pumping and I was like, ‘here we go!’”
While the fellow tourist snapped away, Kyle promptly took out the ring and presented it to her, or, as Laura put it, “he shoved it in my face and didn’t say anything.”
“He was nervous,” she laughs. “I think he just wanted to get it done — he had been waiting for six days!”
Finally, Kyle said the magic four words and slipped the ring on his fiancé’s finger.
“He likes to say that I never told him ‘yes,’” Laura says, “I was too busy hyperventilating.”
But regardless of if the confirmation was ever spoken aloud, Laura and Kyle are officially engaged, set to wed on August 16, 2020 at Kay Chapel in Newport followed by a reception at Regatta Place. If you’re interested in learning even more about Laura’s and Kyle’s journey to the altar and what it’s like to be bride-to-be who just so happens to work in the industry, stay tuned for the next installment of this series!