Samantha and Jonathan both attended Pace Univesity. They had mutual friends. They had even been at the same parties. But their story did not begin until both had graduated and had already started their careers.
Like any other post-graduate, Jonathan longed to have just one more night with his college buddies. He decided to throw a party—with 125 of his closest friends—at the Colonial Mansion in White Plains. Samantha…did not make the original cut. But, after bumping into her one night a week before the party, Jonathan extended a last-minute invite—via a Facebook message. “We hadn’t really talked much before that. I thought it was strange that he even invited me,” Samantha says. “But he was cute so I told him I’d see him there.”
At the party, Samantha and Jonathan hit it off and even shared a goodnight kiss. From there, Samantha and Jonathan were inseparable. “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since that first party that we haven’t spoken,” Samantha says. “I knew we had something special from the very beginning,” Jonathan says.
Over the next couple of years, Jonathan’s college-reunion parties became an annual holiday tradition. Each year became more and more extravagant, with Jonathan eventually giving away prizes during the cocktail receptions.
This past December 17, on the third annual Holiday Party, Jonathan gave away a prize better than any iPad. “I rigged one of the giveaways so Sam would receive the prize,” he says. “I thought I was getting a Kindle,” Samantha admits. “But once he got on the microphone telling all the people how much he loves me, I started to shake.”
With the DJ playing Cat Stevens’ “How Can I Tell You,” the couple’s song, Jonathan dropped down on one knee in front of 125 friends and proposed. “I could barely get the ring on her finger because she was shaking so much,” Jonathan says. “But it was worth every minute with the crowd cheering and whistling with excitement.”
Jonathan and Samantha will be getting married on November 11th this year (11/11/11) at the Whitby Castle in Rye. “Jon made me the happiest girl alive,” Samantha says. “I know it’s cliche, but it really is true.”
