Love: Samantha Drost & Michael Bresnehan

Samantha, raised in North Wales, met her friend Adam in class at Penn State's Altoona campus. Then, at a 2008 weekend party in State College, she met Adam's older brother, Mike.

Samantha and Mike saw each other several more times at similar gatherings that year. Then in 2009, she transferred to the main campus to complete her bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

"We started to see each other more often after that," recalled Mike, who earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate in material science and engineering at Penn State.

"Everybody automatically gets along with Mike, and I was no different," Samantha said. "But he is different than other guys that I had met in college. I really liked his personality. He's an easygoing, fun-loving person."

Mike liked her personality, too. Plus "she's beautiful, and I liked that. She is down-to-earth and cool, and I like to be around her."

Once Samantha had her 21st birthday, she and Mike began going to bars and clubs together. "We were getting to know each other better. That's when we started to get feelings for each other," he said.

That feelings thing didn't really take hold until spring of 2010, said Samantha, who is now 26 - in part because the friends fought them off.

"We always liked each other, but it was bad timing," said Mike, who hails from Butler, and is now 29. Often, one or the other was dating someone else. But then, during her last semester of undergrad and his last of his master's program, they were simultaneously single.

"I felt like before I left college, I should try hanging out with Mike a little more seriously," Samantha said.

They tried it. They liked it. And then they were sad. It was time to leave State College, and with neither having a clue what city they would land in next, the two decided to part as friends.

"I had a dream of moving out to California and working in the movie industry," Samantha said. "I'm not a crazy-romantic type of person, and neither is Mike. We were realistic about it."

Then Mike accepted a doctoral research assistant position at Penn State, and Samantha was hired as a producer for C-Net, which is sort of a Centre County version of C-Span.

Realists or not, their unexpected reunion in State College felt a lot like a sign to both of them. Things quickly got more serious and stayed that way.

In summer 2013, the couple moved to Albuquerque, where Mike is now a process engineer for Intel and Samantha a media specialist for Senspex.

Mike wanted to officially establish their permanence before that big move to the Southwest, but as their moving day got closer, he learned something the hard way: "I didn't realize how long it took to make a ring."

It wasn't ready when they packed up their State College apartment and she went temporarily back to North Wales and he to Butler. It wasn't ready three weeks later, when both were back in State College so Mike could defend his dissertation.

"Instead of focusing on preparing my defense, I kept calling about the ring," Mike said.

Despite the uncertainty, Mike's defense was successful. Afterward, he frantically called Kranich's Jewelers to explain that he was leaving State College the next day. The State College store's ring-setter was out sick, but they were sympathetic to Mike's situation. Kranich's drove the ring to their Altoona location after business hours that night so another jeweler could do the work, then drove it back to State College.

The next morning, Mike woke up early to pick up the ring, then met Samantha for lunch. Afterward, they walked around campus to a bridge over a small duck pond they always loved.

"I was super nervous, but I got down on one knee, and she said yes, and so it was good," Mike said.

Samantha confesses her first word wasn't "yes," but "oh," as in "Oh, my God! I love it!" in reference to the ring he'd agonized over.

But then she said "yes."

The couple wed in a traditional Catholic ceremony at Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church in North Wales.

Their reception for 135 at the Four Seasons was a little bit Pennsylvania: Their ice sculpture was a mini LOVE statue and the bride surprised the groom with a replica of Beaver Stadium made of cake. It was also a little Albuquerque: Their signature drink was a prickly pear margarita. Mostly, "we just really wanted to have a fun party for everybody," Samantha said.

To that end, Karma Strings played pop music on violins during the cocktail hour, and DJ D. Scott mixed a special blend of funk, Rat Pack and hip-hop.

Samantha was nervous about messing up her vows or crying the whole way through them. When she finished without doing either, joy rushed in to replace her anxiety. "We were married, and it felt like the best happiness," she said.

The last song of the night was Dean Martin's "That's Amore," a song that evokes for Mike memories of both his beloved late grandfather, J.B., and fun nights at the couple's favorite college bar, which used the song to signal last call. At the wedding, the couple's guests circled them and howled their approval as Mike dramatically dipped Samantha, then kissed her. It was past, present and future all in one moment, he said.

A bargain: A printing shop in Albuquerque came in at a much lower cost than the couple could find locally.

The splurge: The Four Seasons. Ever since Samantha's family stayed at one during a vacation in her childhood, she's equated the chain with luxury, so no other venue would do.

Ten days in French Polynesia: Tahiti, Bora Bora and more.

Officiant: Father William Teverzczuk, of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church in North Wales

Venues: Ceremony, Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church; reception: Four Seasons Hotel, Philadelphia

Catering: Four Seasons

Photo: Jim Indo, master photographer, of Zachary Photographic Gallery, www.zacharygallery.com

Flowers:Photo: Chantilly Floral Boutique, Lansdale

Dress: Casablanca from Ann Matthews Bridal, Albuquerque

Music: Cocktail Hour: CTO Karma Strings. Reception: Scratch Weddings, DJ D. Scott, both of Philadelphia