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It all started some 17 years ago when I went to visit my 8th grade teacher to say hello and tell her how high school was going so far, not knowing that sitting just a few feet from me was the boy who one day would be the love of my life. Fast forward a few months later, my friend Jason and I would walk to school together and one day he decided to bring a new friend, Joe. We all became really close friends throughout high school, even though Joe ended up moving two towns over. It didn’t stop us from hanging out practically every day. Joe and I made a pact that I would take him to my senior prom and we’d go as friends. At the time, I had a crush on someone else and over prom weekend, he finally made a move and asked me out. I was so happy! We fell in love quick, but two months later he left for the Navy, and slowly the long distance became a strain on our relationship. Whenever I needed to talk to someone about my relationship troubles, I would always turn to my best friend Joe. He was my shoulder to cry on for nearly 9 years. (Joe and I had a falling out for a few years, but reconnected through the magic of social media). My relationship with my boyfriend of 8 years was not going well and I found myself falling out of love. When I asked Joe why after all this time he was not married or in a relationship, he told me something that would change my life forever. Joe told me he hadn’t found a girl that could make him feel the way I have, that he has loved me since we were 15, that he knew from the day I walked into that 8th grade classroom that I was special and that prom night he knew one day he was going to marry me. He had planned to finally make a move prom weekend but someone had beat him to it. I didn’t know what to say! Here I was in this emotionally abusive relationship sticking it out for the sake of history and comfort, thinking there was nobody else in the world for me – when all along my best friend has loved me from a far. He never once tried to tell me that my boyfriend was not good for me, he just waited until I saw it for myself. Joe was getting ready to move to Italy to live with his dad, until I came back into his life. Needless to say that a few months later my relationship with my boyfriend came to a bitter end. I wanted to live the single life but at the same time i didn’t want to lose Joe. So I made the decision not too long after I ended my last relationship to take our friendship to the next level. Now here we are, 6 years later, planning our wedding. Best decision I’ve ever made!   He pops the question: A few weeks before our cruise to the Bahamas, I got notice that my mom and I had to move out of our apartment. Joe and I had discussed eventually living together, so I asked him what he thought about us moving in together within the next month. Joe had been asking me to move in with him about 6 months into our relationship, so it was a no-brainer. At the same time, I wanted to make sure that once we moved in together, he wouldn’t get comfortable and then not ask me to marry him. He told me that at the moment, getting engaged was the last thing on his mind since he was so busy with work – but that he did want to marry me. I was a little worried since we had already been dating for 4 years. When it finally came time for our cruise, we flew down to Miami for the night with our friends Sandra and Mark. When we arrived at the airport in Miami, we found out Joe’s luggage didn’t make it to Florida. We were told that his luggage would be on the next plane and it would be delivered to our hotel. By 9pm, after going about our day, we were getting worried that his luggage would not make it in time for our cruise the next morning. We called the airline saying it was urgent and very important that his luggage got to us before our cruise left. I joked and told him to say there was an engagement ring in the luggage! Thankfully, it came within the next hour and we went out and hit up South Beach and had an awesome night. The next day we boarded our cruise to the Bahamas. Unfortunately for our first night the weather wasn’t great, and I got sea sick. I wanted to just lay in bed – only to find out we were in a room that smelt. All night we had to move from room to room until they fixed the problem. They gave us a bottle of champagne and a fancy dinner for us and our friends because of our crappy experience. The next night we had our dinner and decided to have the champagne on the top deck. As we decided on a good spot to have our champagne, we took pictures. My friend Sandra comes up to me and spins me around to fix my hair, I’m thinking to my self it’s super windy why are you fixing my hair?! Right before she spins back around she says, “Your ready, you look fabulous.” I turn around thinking I’ll see Joe next to me, but he was down on one knee with the ring. He had been planning this moment for 6 months! He totally caught me off guard. I was speechless to the point were I turned around and gave him my butt! All I kept saying was “Is this a joke?!” While filming the whole moment, my friends yelled “No, it’s not a joke!” The music was so loud I could barely hear anything. Joe had to practically scream “Will you marry me?” I, of course, said yes. Then we popped the champagne! The rest of the trip was amazing! We spent the 4th of July in South Beach and then came home, engaged! Our wedding is March 10th 2017. The ceremony will be at St. Cecilia’s Church in Englewood NJ and the reception will be at The Park Savoy Estate in Florham Park, NJ.   Engagement Photo Shoot Photographer: Milton Gil Photographers Engagement Photo Shoot Location: Kingsland Manor, Nutley NJ