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Love: Sanny Suy & Justin Freid

March 30, 2013, in Richboro

Sanny Suy and Justin Freid (Photo credit Yvette Kisling)
Sanny Suy and Justin Freid (Photo credit Yvette Kisling)Read more

Hello there

Sanny and Justin met in a bar in late spring 2010.

But the threads that led to that moment stretch back to Justin's toddling years in Lansdale. Until the summer before first grade, Graham was his best friend. Then Justin's family moved to Princeton, then Nashville, then Princeton again, following his father's sales career. Justin and Graham lost touch.

In 2003, Justin began business administration studies at the University of Scranton. He asked students from Lansdale if any knew his childhood pal, and Joe said he and Graham were friends. "I talked to Graham on the phone that night," Justin remembered.

After graduating, Justin and Joe rented a Philadelphia apartment. Justin, who now runs CMI Media's search engine marketing department, found work at an ad agency. About then, Graham moved to Philadelphia from Wilmington.

Back when Justin and Graham were playing with toy cars, Sanny was a kindergartner at Henry C. Lea Elementary. Born in Cambodia, she moved to West Philadelphia as an infant, but Cambodian culture remained a huge part of her family's life.

Sanny earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Temple University and a master's in finance from Drexel University. In 2005, she took a financial analyst position with Ace American Insurance in Wilmington.

That's where she became friends with Graham.

"After a year or two, he was transferred up to our Philadelphia office," she said.

In 2010, so was Sanny.

On a Wednesday in late April or early May, Justin walked into a bar for Center City Sips. A woman he didn't recognize was sitting with his friends.

Justin couldn't stop staring at Sanny's smile. Sanny couldn't stop smiling at Justin's dry sense of humor. They were so comfortable with each other that Justin snagged a few wings from Sanny's plate, but he didn't get her number.

Courage came at the next week's Sip, where Justin reminded Sanny that she needed to feed the parking meter.

"I asked him to wait by the car in case a meter maid came, and I went to McDonalds," Sanny said. She returned with meter money and a sack of chicken nuggets and fries. They ate on the grass at Rittenhouse Square. They kissed.

Justin called three days later. They've talked every day since.

How does forever sound?

By 2012, Sanny and Justin were sharing an apartment by the Delaware River.

Sanny, now 31, dropped hints about her taste in rings. Justin, now 28, secretly ordered one. He picked it up one April Monday after work. In an instant, the ring was hot in his pocket.

"I got home from work that day, ready to figure something out," he said. Then Sanny walked in with her friend Erin, and take-out for the three of them.

The minute Sanny was out of the room, Justin flashed Erin the ring. Sanny didn't understand why Erin was suddenly leaving.

The weirdness continued when Justin said they were going to meet his sister Christie - at 8 on a weeknight at Rittenhouse Square.

The humidity and unseasonable warmth was getting to Sanny, and so was Justin's constant asking if she could spot his sister. Justin is 6-foot-5, and would certainly spot someone first.

"Come over here on the grass," Justin asked. The ground was soggy, and she was wearing heels, but he was persistent.

Her exasperation dissolved when Justin knelt on what Sanny realized was the site of their chicken-nugget picnic and first kiss.

It was so them

Sanny's mother, Touch Chin, died in 1996. Sanny and her father, Sour Eng, were planning the Cambodian wedding ceremony when he got sick. He died in November.

Overwhelmed and grieving, Sanny couldn't think about her wedding. Then her sister, Cindy, offered comfort and an idea: Simplify by choosing only the most meaningful Buddhist rituals.

On March 29, Sanny and Justin were wrapped and tied into traditional Cambodian clothing. A married woman leads a Cambodian bride to the ceremony. Cindy took Sanny's hand, and they went to the table where offerings - including roast duck representing the air, dried squid representing the sea, and pork belly representing the earth - were set out for the couple's ancestors, including Sanny's parents. Elders - including Justin's parents, Jay and Melinda - sat at the table and wished the couple longevity, lifelong happiness, and children.

Two monks from Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple chanted in Sanskrit and blessed the couple, sprinkling them first with water and then with rose petals.

The next day the couple had an American ceremony and reception for 130 guests.

After their vows, Sanny spoke of the moment, four months into their relationship, when she was caring for a sick Justin and realized she loved him. For two torturous months she was afraid to tell him. Then "I couldn't hold it in anymore," Sanny said. "I said, 'I love you.' And he said it back!"

Justin said, "Every waking moment, she's the person I want to spend time with. I'd rather do anything with her."

While Sanny's parents were Cambodian, her father was ethnically Chinese. To honor that part of her heritage, a team of Dragon Dancers performed at the reception.

Awestruck

"The moment when I was in my first Cambodian garb and going out to see him the first time . . . all I could think was that the day had come, and this was finally happening," Sanny said.

Justin won't ever forget listening to Sanny talk about falling in love. "Having somebody as kind and sweet, as a good a person as her, feel this strongly about me . . . it's a really good feeling."

Discretionary spending

A bargain: The couple bought flowers online. The bride, her sister Pety, and the bridesmaids arranged them. The couple estimates they saved more than a thousand dollars.

The splurge: The University of Pennsylvania's Penn Lions dance troupe. "Totally unnecessary, but worth every penny," Sanny said.

The getaway

Seven days in St. Lucia.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Officiants

 Monks from Preah Buddha Rangsey Temple in Philadelphia; Officiant Susan Harte,

Journeys of the Heart, www.journeysoftheheart.org

Venues

 Philadelphia home of the bride's sister and the Northampton Valley Country Club,

Richboro

Food

 Cambodian food provided by family and friends; Northampton Valley Country Club

Music

 Ceremony: Heather Teffenhart, Sweet Harmony Music, www.sweetharmonymusic.com. Reception: DJ Mike Rossi, East Coast Event Group, Philadelphia and Ivyland

Photography

 Cousin of the bride Piset Sim, and Yvette Kisling of East Coast Event Group

Videography

 Andrew Johnson of East Coast Event Group

Flowers

 www.fiftyflowers.com

Attire

 Cambodian garb by Soriya Som-Ang-Ka in Philadelphia, designed by Sokhavy Sok. American dress: David's Bridal