(Erin): Tim and I met on a blind double date. His best man, Chris, and my bridesmaid, Sarah E., began dating in 2014 and thought that we would be a great fit together. In August 2016, Chris proposed the idea to Tim and then in October, Sarah proposed the idea to me. Then, on December 10th, we finally met. We went to a bowling alley in Worcester, MA and then went out to a restaurant in the city, too. By the end of the date, we hugged goodbye, he texted me the next day and the rest is history!

(Tim): Upon receiving approval from Erin's parents, I began to plan the engagement. Erin's bridesmaid Molly was given a gift card to take Erin to go and get their nails done together, and Erin's sister Meghan was contacted to help plan the evening of the proposal. During all of this, Erin was away on vacation. She had been talking all summer about wanting to take me to the drive-in and to her favorite beach. Upon returning home, I got Erin to plan the beach day in Middletown, RI with a stop to her sister's apartment before heading to Castle Hill in Newport, a location highly recommended by Erin's mom and frequently talked about by Erin. After a day on the beach, and then changing into more formal attire, we traveled to Castle Hill with Erin and her sister. Once we got there, Meghan "asked" if we wanted to check out the lighthouse on the property that was overlooking the water. It was an adorable little lighthouse and at that point I had Meghan suggest that we take a picture in front of it. That was when I started my well-practiced speech (thanks JJ), got on one knee and asked Erin to marry me. Through her tears and whimpering, and to my relief, she said YES! After she said yes, I told her I had one more surprise for her. Both of our families were waiting just down the road in their cars ready to come and join us. We spent the rest of the night sitting in Adirondack chairs together, celebrating and watching the sunset. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting her to think she planned the whole day and that I, in fact, was just tagging along for the ride. She had wanted it to be an absolute surprise and so I tried my best to do that for her.

When we finally decided on a venue, we knew that we wanted to have the majority of the summer to prepare and that end of July or beginning of August would be ideal; being teachers limits when a honeymoon could occur and we wanted to be able to travel right after the wedding. Our venue had two dates that fit into that- either August 3rd or August 10th. Tim and I love when there are personal connections to our families and as it turned out, August 3rd is my parents anniversary and August 10th was the anniversary of Tim's maternal grandparents. After some discussion, we finally asked my parents if they would mind sharing an anniversary date with us. They quickly responded no! Therefore, when we are marrying, they will, in fact, be celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary together, too!

My engagement ring has a very special place in my heart. While the setting is brand new and exactly what I always dreamed of, the diamonds actually first belonged to Tim’s maternal grandmother, Memere. After Tim had heard about me, but before we had met, he was able to tell his Memere all about me. He remarks that she was so excited for our first date. Sadly, she passed just two weeks before our first date. Tim always tells me that she would’ve loved me, and I hope that is true. Tim had a wonderful relationship with his Memere and early into dating he asked me if we ever got engaged, if I would be okay with a three diamond ring. When Memere was engaged, the ring originally had one diamond. As a wedding gift, her husband, Leo, gave her a pair of diamond earrings. She had those stones added to the ring. Those three diamonds have been together since that day, and through my ring they continue to be. I have always been an extremely sentimental person, so being proposed to with a ring that meant so much to him and his family meant so much to me.