Hello there
When American University of Antigua held its 2010 orientation for new veterinary students, Stephanie had been on the island for a week, and had already bonded with everyone in her dorm building. But here were the other, yet-to-be-met classmates, who lived in the other dorm.
Seemed like a good time to say hello!
"She was the first one from the other group to introduce herself to us," John remembers. "She has this liveliness. This personality. And an unusual voice - it drew me to her right away."
Stephanie, whose voice sounds like it could deliver any torch song, grew up in Richboro. She earned a psychology degree from the University of Pittsburgh before deciding to take a chance on the new vet school. Fargo native John held a biology degree from the University of North Dakota.
About two dozen people from both dorm groups made plans to hit a club the next night. Stephanie found herself most often talking to John. "He lights up the room when he walks in," she said. "Plus, he's kind of exotic, being from Fargo."
Days later, there was a group catamaran trip, with snorkeling, swimming, and just enough drinking to make John and Stephanie brave enough for a little bold conversation: I like you. I like you, too..
There was a kiss before landfall.
Classes began with reams of reading. Instead of going out, the couple stayed in, making dinners for each other. Sometimes they found time to play tennis.
It was still September when two stray dogs wandered onto the parking area. John suggested they adopt one. "I'll help you take care of her, but she's your dog," Stephanie said. She was equally charmed by the teeny brown puppy with a black muzzle and ear tips, but needed someone to have primary responsibility for her, in case the still-new relationship didn't work out.
Despite those intentions, Ellie "soon became our dog. And she brought us even closer together," Stephanie said. (Ellie's mom was adopted by another student.)
By the end of November, Stephanie and John exchanged I love yous.
Their relationship was solid. Their university's vet school, not so much. A professor had contacts at the University of Edinburgh's vet school - among the best in the world. About a year after they met, John and Stephanie moved to Scotland - and moved in with each other.
How does forever sound?
John, who is now 29, bought a ring while doing a research project in Texas during the summer of 2012, and left it at his parents' place for safekeeping. He picked it up that October, while home for his sister's wedding, setting off a great wave of anticipation in Fargo.
Back in Scotland, John asked buddy Michael to keep the ring so Stephanie, now 26, wouldn't find it, and to assist with the big surprise.
Two weeks before the surprise was planned, John used Skype to make a voice call to his father.
"So did you do it?" dad Jerry asked.
With Stephanie sitting close enough to hear the conversation, John scrambled. "Yeahhhhhh," he said, making up something about telling a colleague about the school-related work he had started that summer with his dad, who is a radiologist.
At the end of their conversation, Jerry said, "I thought you had called to tell me you had proposed."
"Nope!" John said in resignation.
In the awkward silence, Jerry realized his son was listening via computer speaker. "She's sitting there with you, isn't she?" he asked.
"Hi!" Stephanie said.
"Your mother's going to kill me," said Jerry. Evie let him live.
One day the couple returned from hiking and their home was filled with balloons and their song, Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are."
Throughout their relationship, John has made Stephanie pictograms - messages told in images that she gets to decipher. That day's asked a question: Will you marry me?
She looked up to answer, and found him kneeling with the ring.
It was so them
The couple married in Dundas Castle. While neither are Scottish, they adopted many Scottish ways for the event.
The 90 guests were greeted by a bagpiper as they walked up a spiral stone staircase to the second floor of the 15th-century building and the auld keep - the room where their ceremony was held.
In recognition of Stephanie's Jewish heritage, the couple said their vows beneath a chuppah, and John stomped on a glass. Then the piper led the guests downstairs and outside to the marque, a permanent tent next to the castle, where he recited poet Robert Burns' "Address to the Haggis," the national dish of Scotland. It was among the items served.
The reception featured a mix of typical wedding favorites and Scottish ceilidh dances. "It's kind of like Scottish line dancing," John explained.
Awestruck
John was so nervous he kept his head down as he walked to the front of the auld keep. Braving a look, he was overwhelmed by the faces of family members and friends, including many who had traveled to get there. And then, best of all, Stephanie started walking toward him. "It was a moment I will never forget," he said. "She looks absolutely gorgeous, and I couldn't wait for this to be over. I really just wanted her to be my wife."
Before Stephanie and her parents, Paul and Debbie, could walk down the aisle, they had a few tricky steps to take. The doors opened, and two thoughts flooded her brain: "I can't believe this is actually happening / Am I going to fall down the stairs?" She didn't, and then there was John. "I got all emotional," she said. Whenever they locked eyes, she started crying again.
Discretionary spending
A bargain: Stephanie's dress, a two seasons-old Sue Wong, found online. Even after a dress maker added crinoline and beading, the total was less than $500.
The splurge: "We could have just as easily had the wedding somewhere that wasn't a castle," Stephanie said.
The homecoming
Two days after the wedding, Stephanie and John graduated. The next day, he flew to Rochester, N.Y., to begin work as a veterinary intern at Monroe Veterinary Associates.
After a quick trip home where her parents helped pack the U-Haul, Stephanie joined John in Rochester and at Monroe Veterinary, where she's an associate veterinarian.
Since not everyone could make it to Scotland, the couple planned two domestic receptions: On Sept. 13, 150 family and friends from the Philadelphia region gathered for a cocktail reception at the Philadelphia Zoo's Big Cat Falls, then dinner and dancing at the rare animals exhibit.
On Oct. 18, 150 people are expected to gather at Fargo's Ramada Inn for a reception with Caribbean flair - a nod to the couple's island meeting.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Officiant: Duncan Robertson; Humanist Fellowship of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland
Venues: Dundas Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland; the Philadelphia Zoo; the Ramada Inn, Fargo, N.D.
Catering: Prestige Scotland, Edinburgh
Photo: Gabe Haney, Haney's Photography, Moorhead, Minn.
Music: Edinburgh Sounds, Edinburgh.
Dress: Designed by Sue Wong, purchased online.