Leah and Joe :: Engaged :: Keyport Engagement Photos

How did you two meet?

We were at a New Year’s Eve party 2005 (the eve of 2006.) A friend of mine dragged me down the basement steps of her Rutgers frat house because an old high school friend of hers was there and she just HAD to introduce us. He told me he was a drummer, I told him about my college radio show, and we totally hit it off for about five minutes before he had to leave to make an appearance at another party in town. He promised he’d come back… but he didn’t! A few days later, I found him on MySpace (I did say this was mid-2000s!) with the help of our mutual friend and made sure he had my number.

What do you both enjoy doing together with your free time?

We love to spend lazy weekend mornings (okay, afternoons) in our local coffee shop, Espresso Joe’s. We don’t even have to say our order when we walk through the door anymore! It’s really the center of the community for us, between the parade of regulars, art displays and open mic nights, and it was a big part of why we fell in love with Keyport, where we bought our home.

How did he pop the question?

It was clear the proposal was coming (I even knew he had the ring) and for probably a month or more leading up to it, he kind of faked me out a few times! In particular, I remember a day trip to NYC where we stopped at all of our favorite places…but nothing happened! Then one day in May, he asked me what I wanted to do, and I thought for sure that meant this was not it. I suggested we visit our favorite little town (we were living elsewhere at the time) and walk the waterfront, but by the time we got there it was raining, and we decided to drive further. When we reached Red Bank, it had cleared up, so we got out and walked downtown, stopping in shops and eventually reaching the waterfront park. It started to drizzle again, and I asked if we should walk back, but he hesitated. “No, I like the rain…” Eventually, he gathered the courage, told me he had something to ask me, and dropped down on one knee, ring in hand. The moment his knee hit the ground, the rain started POURING once again. I was so shocked, I crouched down with him. He said “well?” And I said “you didn’t actually ask me yet!” So, crouching on the ground, in the pouring rain, he finally asked, and I finally accepted!

Groom: What is the brides favorite color?

Joe’s favorite color is green. A very specific, intense shade of green. He had a green car, he painted his office in our home green and black. This is not even a real question. (PS – Is he messing with me? Hot pink? I own ONE thing that’s hot pink! One! The gray and teal are totally correct though.)