Hello there
Eight years had passed since he was the cool senior at the back of Mrs. Brook's art class at Archbishop Ryan, and Maureen hadn't thought about him since. But seeing Vince in the stadium parking lot brought on the old fluttery feelings.
"Oh my gosh!" Maureen said to her friend Angela, who had invited her to the Eagles tailgate. "There's my high school crush!"
Back in 1999, Vince barely knew then-sophomore Maureen existed. But at the September 2007 tailgate, he walked right up to her.
"I think I know you," he said.
With beer-enhanced bravery, Maureen pretended she didn't know why he found her face familiar. She figured running through a list of possibilities together would give Vince a little time to get to know her and perhaps like her.
It worked.
Vince had a ticket for the game, but he stayed outside the stadium for 20 minutes after his friends went in, just to talk to Maureen, who grew up in Morrell. Before joining his buddies, Vince got her number.
The couple had a fantastic first date at Figs in Fairmount. It took three months more for Maureen, an administrative assistant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, to tell Vince, a construction manager for Hill International, that he was the best part of art class.
"He's still eating it up!" she says.
How does forever sound
Two months after the tailgate, Vince, now 30, and Maureen, now 29, were exclusive.
In March 2010, they bought a house together in Parkwood, the neighborhood where Vince was raised. They fixed it up, then moved in that July. The yard allowed them to adopt Ellie, a German shepherd/rottweiler mix.
The couple had talked about marriage, and Maureen admits she sometimes pestered Vince about getting engaged. But once their joint household was established, "I was completely content," she said.
Fast-forward to Christmas. The couple decided their gift to each other would be booking an all-inclusive trip to someplace warm. But first Maureen wanted to clean up the wrapping paper from all the travel-size toiletries stuffed in their stockings. While she tidied, Vince rushed upstairs. He returned with hands tucked into the pocket of his hoodie and a big grin plastered on his face.
As she always does when she is nervous, Maureen started to laugh. "What?" she asked between giggles.
Vince got down on one knee, took a ring from his hoodie pocket, and asked her to marry him. Maureen really cracked up. She laughed hard for several more minutes before calming down enough to say yes.
It was so them
Each table had a card of fun facts about the couple's engagement and wedding: Maureen's engagement ring was her grandmother's. Vince had asked Maureen's father for his blessing.
The bride wore red shoes under her gown - the same red shoes she admired when the couple went to the Macy's Christmas light show the year they met. Vince saw her admiring them and gave them to Maureen for her birthday, two months later.
The couple walked into their reception to "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" by the Pogues. The first line: "I love you, baby, since we were at school." The couple's 3-year-old niece, Samantha, was so excited that she bolted onto the dance floor and began dancing around the couple. Maureen's brother led his daughter off the floor in time for the couple to share their first dance to "Better Together" by Jack Johnson. They've been to two of his concerts, and they danced in the concert hall's aisles to that one, both times.
This didn't happen at rehearsal
Before the vows or the exchange of rings, the pastor softly told the couple they could kiss.
"We were very confused," Maureen said.
Seeing the confusion on their siblings' faces, maid of honor Carolyn and best man Christopher began laughing.
Maureen grabbed Vince's face in both hands and kissed him big.
Laughter rang throughout St. Anselm Church.
Awestruck
The night before the wedding, Maureen gave Vince a gift to be opened the next morning. "The first thing when I woke up I opened it, and it was a handkerchief with my mom's initials on it," Vince said. Renee Pawlowski passed away in 2000. "I thought, 'My mom will still be involved on my wedding day,'" Vince said.
Maureen said she "was a blubbering mess walking down the aisle." But then she saw that Vince, who becomes stoned-faced when he's nervous, had a huge smile on his face.
Discretionary spending
A bargain: "Our florist worked our budget to a T," Maureen said. The couple purchased boutonnieres for the groom, best man, bride's father James, and groom's father John. They bought bouquets for the bride, maid of honor, bride's mother Lisa, Vince's grandmother Stella, and Vince's father's girlfriend Annette, all for $250.
The splurge: The couple seriously considered an iPod for music, then not only got a DJ, but spent an extra $300 for the two-DJ package.
The getaway
A week at Sandals St. Lucia.
Behind the Scenes
Officiant
The Rev. Thomas J. Dunleavy, St. Anselm Church of Jesus, Philadelphia
Venues
St. Anselm and the Buck Hotel, Feasterville
Catering
The Buck Hotel
Photography
Costello Photography, Jenkintown
Videographer
Center Stage Video, LaFayette Hill, PA EndFragment
Music
Synergetic Sounds, Philadelphia
Couple's Attire
Country Bride and Gent, Bensalem
Flowers
Amy Young of Leaves of Grass Florist, Philadelphia
Invitations
123print.com
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