Weddings: Jenny Lee & Jared Kubanoff

Just four other classrooms separated his and hers at Mastery Charter School-Clymer Elementary in North Philadelphia. Each school morning, Jenny, a special-education teacher, walked that small distance with some of her students who spent part of their morning in Jared's second-grade classroom.

"The patience Jenny had with her students was something I noticed right away," said Jared, who grew up in Langhorne, thinking back to 2012, his first year at Clymer. "She has amazing patience and love for these students."

Jenny, who grew up in Bristol Township and who had joined the staff a year earlier, likewise got her first impressions by watching Jared when her students joined his. "He included them in everything, and he made sure all of his students included my students in their classroom," she said.

For Jenny, professional admiration became mixed with another kind, putting her in a bit of a pickle: She liked this guy. But she loved her job - the one that meant she saw him every day. What if he wasn't interested? What if he was but it didn't work out?

No crush was worth that risk, she told herself.

Yet in the rare moments when they ran into each other without students, Operation Suppress Feelings wasn't entirely successful.

"I have a recollection of being at the copier together, and questioning, 'Is she flirting with me, or is she just being really nice?' " Jared said.

The school year passed. A new one started. Jenny, whose parents emigrated from Korea, organized an outing to Seorabol in Olney for faculty friends who had never eaten Korean cuisine. "It was the first thing socially we did outside of school," Jared remembers.

Talking and having fun together outside school walls made Jared, who holds a master's in elementary education from the University of Pittsburgh, see Jenny, whose master's in special education and autism endorsement certification are from St. Joseph's, as more than just an awesome coworker. He was in the pickle, too.

About six weeks later, the staff had a work party at Frankford Hall. "There were these long picnic tables, and it was a big group of people, and Jenny sat next to me," Jared said. Others got up to play ping-pong or Jenga, or sit by the campfire. Jenny stayed put, and the long conversation they had revealed their interest was mutual.

A week later, Jared, who lived in West Philadelphia, gave Jenny, who lived in Northern Liberties, a list of restaurants. Her choice, the Ethiopian Abyssinia, delighted him: She was happy eating from a communal plate at a low-key neighborhood place.

With more than a year of getting to know each other, they pretty much skipped dating and went right into a relationship.

When her lease was up in April 2014, Jenny, who is now 35, moved to West Philadelphia with Jared, 34.

Jenny has worked part time at the King of Prussia Kay Jewelers since she was 18. When Jared needed something special, he knew where to buy it. Jenny's jewelry store boss recommended rings she knew Jenny would love. That was the easy part.

Jared called Jenny's friend Jennifer and his brother Chad to help devise a plan.

Chad is chef/owner of Same Same in Northern Liberties. Jennifer would invite Jenny there for dinner. When they walked into the back garden, Jared would be waiting. It was the perfect plan until the stormy forecast ruined it.

Jared didn't want to wait for a drier day. So in July 2015, Jennifer and Jenny ate at Barbuzzo. Jenny returned home to find the couple's apartment lit with 100 tea lights.

Jared got down on one knee. Jennifer began snapping photos. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Jenny said.

Neither she nor Jared remember much of what he said, but there was an "I love you," in there, and it ended with, "Will you marry me?"

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Jenny said. "Yes!"

The couple married in a Jewish-inspired ceremony on Grant Street Beach in Cape May. The bridal party walked down the sandy aisle to an instrumental version of the Game of Thrones theme. Jenny, whose father, Chong Min, died more than a decade ago, walked down the aisle with her mother, Pong Cha, and brother, Tommy, to Sigur Ros' "Staralfur." The couple said the vows they wrote to each other beneath a chuppah. The moment the couple stepped on the glass to break it, Jared instinctively kissed Jenny. A few moments later, the officiant said, "You may kiss the bride," and everyone laughed as the couple kissed again. When the newlyweds walked back up the aisle together, their guests tossed mini-beach balls.

The couple and their 107 guests headed to the Hotel Alcott, where Jenny and Jared had a Korean ceremony called a paebaek. Usually, the paebaek is attended by only a handful of guests. This paebaek had a full house! Jenny and Jared both wore traditional Korean wedding attire, called hanbok. A narrator explained all that was happening in both Korean and English. The couple bowed to their family members to honor them. Their families bowed back, and then several said kind words about the couple, wishing them well.

After a Korean wine ceremony, their parents tossed chestnuts onto a special white cloth that Jenny and Jared held. The number of chestnuts that land in the cloth is said to predict the number of children the couple will have. Seven! At the end of the ceremony, Jared put Jenny on his back and ran a circle around the room to prove his strength.

Reception speeches were given by the maid of honor, the best man, and the groom's brother. There were mother-daughter and mother-son dances and a traditional Jewish hora, the dance in which guests hoist the couple up on chairs. It was fun for the couple, and "a big hoot for the non-Jews," said Jared.

"The whole day, we checked in with each other over and over again, making sure that we took time to take everything in," Jared said. "Each time it was, like, 'It's all happening. Everything is perfect, and I can't wait for the next thing we have planned to see how good that's going to go.' "

Jenny loved the dancing: Jared dancing with his mother, Carol; grandmothers dancing with grandmothers, friends all around them on the dance floor. "We had spent so much time planning the day, and as much as it was for us, it was for everyone we love. And there they were, as happy as us," she said.

A bargain: Making some things (Jared's father, Craig, wood-burned branches into art, which Jenny then placed mason jars and flowers into for centerpieces) and borrowing others (chalkboards and mason jars from friends who had married previously) kept costs down.

The splurge: Jenny wanted a videographer. Jared thought it was an expense that could be spared. Then their photographer, Matthew of Matthew Hall Photography, suggested Patrick of Florescio Films. "We looked at his work, and it was incredible," Jenny said. "He caught so many things we might have missed," Jared added.

Three weeks in Thailand.

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Officiant: Beach ceremony: Michael Galvin, friend of the couple who became ordained for the wedding.

Paebaek: Jessica Kim of bdk/mint, Elkins Park.

Venues: Grant Street Beach, Cape May, with assistance from Chapels on the Beach, Cape May; Hotel Alcott, Cape May.

Photography: Matthew Hall of Matthew Hall Photography, Philadelphia.

Videographer: Florescio Films, Philadelphia.

Flowers: Blooms at the Country Greenery, Cape May Court House.

Dress: Bridal Gardens, Marlton.

Music: DJ Tim Daily, Philadelphia.

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