Love: Aida Matos & Miguel 'Mike' Madrigal Garcia

Aida, who loves to dance, spent many 1990s nights hopping from one Philadelphia club to another. In June 1995, she and friend Glenda landed at Tierra Colombiana on North Fifth Street. The night had barely begun when Glenda had news for Aida: "You have a secret admirer."

It was the DJ, El Bandido de Filadelfia - Mike.

"He's short. He's small. I'm not interested," Aida said. Dancing to the tunes Mike spun and enjoying more than a few drinks led to a change of heart by midnight.

Mike was definitely smitten. "She was gorgeous - beautiful hair, and nice dark skin," he remembered. But Mike's a talker, and the two couldn't really talk.

The next night, Mike whisked Aida off the dance floor and into his booth.

"She stayed with me all night and we got acquainted, and that's how it all began," he said.

Mike was respectful and attentive from the start, said Aida. "He would hold the car door for me, and buy me flowers, little things other guys didn't do. He's old-school, and I felt like a queen."

The dancing queen couldn't dance with her DJ boyfriend, so she danced with men who sometimes pushed paper bearing their phone numbers into her hand. These she gave to El Bandido.

Aida loves to cook, and when they weren't at the club, dinner was often served at the Kensington home she shared with her children from an earlier marriage, Brian and Ginelle, and her mother, Maria. Aida is Puerto Rican and Mike is Colombian. She knew his mother, also named Maria, had embraced her when she showed Aida how to make beans Colombian style.

In 2000, Aida and her kids moved in with Mike and Victor, his son from a previous marriage. His daughters - Natalie, Beatriz, and Sabrina - also would visit. They left that Hartville home for their current Folcroft home in 2004. By then, Mike, who still DJs, had landed his day job as maintenance technician at the Main Line Art Center and also opened Mike's Grass Cutting, the landscaping business he runs on nights and weekends.

Neither wanted to be with anyone else ever again. But Mike did not want to marry.

"We were living perfectly as we were, and I was afraid that once we got married, things would change," he said. Aida wasn't going anywhere, but she never let him forget she'd rather they be husband and wife.

Then in late May 2014, the couple traveled to New York at the invitation of Mike's brother Nelson. In front of 75 people enjoying food, liquor, and a mariachi band, Nelson surprised his girlfriend with a proposal.

"I saw how Aida reacted to that," Mike said (understatement alert!).

She told him, "Norma and Nelson have been together for five years and they are getting married. I've been with you for 20, and I get nothing."

In January 2015, Mike, who is now 53, suggested to Aida, 47, that they throw a party for family and friends that June in celebration of their 20 years together and his birthday.

As the date got closer, Mike seemed mostly focused on his birthday. He also was acting strangely - leaving the room to talk on the phone or not answering it at all.

Some of those sneaky calls were Mike telling each of their party guests their attendance was essential - he was planning a surprise proposal.

Actually, the man who had delayed marriage for 20 years was so happy with his plan that he told nearly everyone, including landscape customer Eileen. "Everyone will be there. You've already hired a band and a caterer," Eileen replied. "Why don't you just marry the girl?"

The big day came, and the 135 guests kept handing Aida cards and gifts. That seemed overly generous, but Aida didn't open and read them, so Mike's secrets were safe.

Finally he faced their guests, microphone in hand. He thanked them for coming, then asked Aida to join him.

"He was telling me that he was doing this party all for me, that I deserved it because I had stuck with him through thick and thin, through his surgery [to cure severe diverticulitis] and all the ups and downs of life," Aida said. "When he got on his knee, I knew he was going to propose to me, and I started crying."

"Say yes!" Mike's mom screamed.

She did, and Mike gave her the engagement ring he had won in a radio contest.

Mike had a follow-up question: "Will you marry me in three months, at this same hall, with the same people, and the same food?"

"Yes," Aida said again.

"Why wait three months?" Mike said. "Let's do it now."

Mike showed her that he also had wedding rings, including a diamond-bedazzled one for her.

That's when Aida noticed her now-grown son and daughter standing nearby and holding a tiara, silver shoes and a wedding gown. The folks at David's Bridal had told Mike he was the only groom ever to buy a dress without the bride, a feat he accomplished by bringing photos of Aida, a dress that fit her well, and her daughter for advice.

"Go change, Sweetheart. I'll be right here waiting for you," Mike said.

When she returned, Mike was waiting with officiant Anne Stoffregen, who led them through vows that included the advice the couple gives for relationship longevity: Never fight over money. Never go to bed mad. Never say curse words to each other.

Aida's seven manly brothers cried.

Mike will sometimes take Aida's hand to kiss her rings - the symbols of their marriage. The first time, at their reception, Aida giggled, "Why are you doing that?"

"It's different now," he said. "You're really mine now." She then kissed his ring.

Mike's proposal was the most amazing part of the day for Aida.

"That's what I was waiting for for many, many years," she said. "My mom used to say, 'When is he going to marry you?' And although she wasn't there with me [Maria died several years ago], I feel she was there with me spiritually."

Though Mike bought Aida's dress, he wasn't prepared to see her in it. "'You're gorgeous!' I said, and I kissed her while we were standing in front of the officiant. Everyone was yelling, 'No! You have to wait!' but I couldn't wait. And we both started laughing."

A bargain: The engagement ring.

The splurge: The wedding dress.

The day after their wedding, they feasted at Outback with gift cards from Mike's customers. They've planned a Florida trip for later this year.

StartText

Officiant: Ann Stoffregen, Ceremonies by Ann, Philadelphia.

Venue: The Venue, Philadelphia.

Food: Maria Cosme Catering, Philadelphia.

Photography: Al Hefner, Hefner Photo & Video, Philadelphia.

Flowers: Tunies Floral Expressions, Folcroft.

Dress: David's Bridal, Springfield.

Groom's attire: My Daughter's Wedding, Philadelphia.

Music: DJ Ink, Philadelphia.

EndText