Amy Paliwoda & Brad Welch

In 1997, two 15-year-olds from Lower Gwynedd landed their first-ever jobs at the Clemens supermarket in Spring House. Amy created arrangements and sold giftware in the floral department. Brad was an express-lane cashier.

Sometimes as Amy watered her potted charges, it rained coins. "He would take pennies out of his drawer and throw them into my department," she said. Really, this could only mean one thing. "I knew he had a crush on me," Amy said. "I heard people talking about it."

And when flower sales weren't brisk, Amy let Brad talk her into bagging groceries for him, even though "I did not like bagging whatsoever."

Brad went to Wissahickon High, Amy to Lansdale Catholic, so they only saw each other at the store. Both were shy. By the time Brad got up the courage to ask Amy on a date, it was senior year. That dinner at Friendly's was the first date either of them ever had - and they still count it that way, even though Brad got so nervous that he decided to bring a friend. "He told me at the last minute, and so I called my friend and said, 'You've got to come!'"

Brad also took Amy to his prom. She took him to Lansdale's Senior Week Festivities. But Amy wasn't sure what to do. "I was going to college, and I didn't know if I wanted to become involved in a relationship at that point." The boyfriend-girlfriend thing hadn't happened by the time Amy went to Penn State's main campus to study communications, and Brad headed to Gettysburg to learn about finance and economics.

Brad got himself a girlfriend at school. He and Amy stayed in touch and hung out during breaks. Their friendship deepened. They pledged to go skydiving together when they finally graduated from college. "There was still this underlying tension," Amy remembered. But they did nothing about it until January 2005, after Amy graduated. Brad had finished school - and broken up with his girlfriend - the previous fall.

"For a graduation gift, he bought me a pass to go skydiving," Amy said. "After that, we couldn't be separated."

One Thursday night in December 2007, Brad, who is manager of financial planning and analysis for SunGard, and Amy, an administrator at Merck, went to Center City after work for a nice dinner. "He was acting kind of weird the whole time," Amy said. And then, he was in a big hurry to leave - he didn't even want a post-dinner drink.

Brad's parents had recently bought a place at the Warwick Condominium - the condos are on the upper floors above the hotel - and Brad said he wanted to show the place to Amy. They stepped off the elevator on the eighth floor, and Brad opened a door. "This is too small," Amy said. "This is not your parent's place."

No, it wasn't. Brad had reserved a hotel room and filled it with roses and champagne. He walked to the night table, pulled out a box, and got on one knee.

This Blue Bell couple, both now 27, were married at St. Helena's Church in Blue Bell by the Rev. Joseph Nicolo. The altar they stood in front of came from St. Ladislaus Church in Philadelphia's Nicetown neighborhood. St. Ladislaus was demolished in recent years. But Amy's grandparents were married there, in front of the very same altar, in the mid 1940s. Her great-grandparents, Polish immigrants with little money, had helped to build the church.

Brad and Amy love music and dancing, so they hired an 11-piece band to play at their Normandy Farm reception for 225. "We didn't even get through the first course of our meal when everyone was out on the floor dancing," Amy said. "I took that as a good sign."

Rings that fit in a cool jewelry store can be a little snug on a hot day. "I couldn't get the ring on his finger," Amy said. She did her best, then Brad pushed it over his knuckle himself.

Once Brad's ring was on, "that was when it finally hit, that we were finally married," Amy said.

A bargain: Instead of hiring a calligrapher, the couple called on Amy's dad, Walter, to address the envelopes. The nuns at St. Ladislaus' Elementary School would be thrilled to know that Walter still has exceptional penmanship. And he saved the couple about $200.

The splurge: The 11-piece band. "We originally had a DJ scheduled, but then we went to another wedding, and they had a band, and we thought, 'This is amazing!' " Amy said. The music cost nearly quadrupled, but to this couple, it was totally worth it.

Ten days in St. Lucia.

Officiant

Rev. Joseph J. Nicolo, St. Helena's Church, Blue Bell

Venues

St. Helena's and Normandy Farm, Blue Bell

Catering

Normandy Farm

Music

City Rhythm from Brandywine Valley Talent, Chadds Ford

Photography

Claire Pruett, Blue Bell

Dress

Demetrios, Cherry Hill

Invitations

Leap Frog, Skippack

Planner

Amy's mother, ElizabethEndText

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