For our first date, my husband intended to dine over the rich flavors of Asian and Mexican cuisine married together. Similar to our love budding unexpectedly, we did not anticipate losing our dinner reservation. Attentive by nature, my husband whisked me away to a nearby restaurant. And just like that, our first date bloomed into our adoring marriage four and a half years later.

At our white marble stone table for two, we conversed over a lovely dinner cooked by my husband. Suddenly as he kneeled to the floor, “It Was Love – Reprise” composed by Aaron Zigman danced in the background. Before my eyes, was my colorless one carat marquise diamond. Which was previously gifted to my mother in December of 1994 by my late father.

However, for the first time I gazed upon this diamond reset in a custom platinum solitaire band, with a blue sapphire stone inside the shank. With a little something old, something new and something blue, I said “yes, I do”.

Within weeks, wedding planning was in full swing. My husband and I stumbled across our wedding venue on a quiet Saturday afternoon. As we coasted down Fifth Avenue, once dubbed as “Millionaire’s Row” we caught a glimpse of a bride and her groom warmly embracing one another outside The Mansions on Fifth. It was perfect; my husband and I would marry in a historic 1900s twenty thousand square foot mansion nestled in the quintessential Shadyside neighborhood.

Eighteen months later my husband and I wedded at The Mansions on Fifth in front of fifty guests composed of our dearest family and friends. It was romantic and inexpressible to describe.

Weddings create fairytales, but God created love. There is much more to tell about our love story, but it truly starts with the vows we wrote.

“For I will love you;

For all of my days,

For all of my tomorrows

And for the rest of my years”.