Featured on Grace Ormonde Wedding Style : NYC Luxury Wedding Photographers

Despite residing in the same apartment building while studying at Boston University, John and Amanda met for the very first time only days prior to their graduation date while taking in the 2008 Boston Marathon at a rooftop barbecue party. In the ensuing week, the university, having programmed a series of events for the outgoing senior class, brought John and Amanda together for elaborate adventures around the city including an evening cruise of Boston Harbor and a Senior Gala overlooking the Charles River.

With Amanda heading off for a tour around Europe immediately following the end of school, and John traveling to Italy with family at the same time, he seized the opportunity to intercept Amanda in Florence, Italy for the single day that their paths across Europe would intersect.

After yet another incredible day filled with urban exploration—this time with some delicious Pizza to boot—it seemed like fate, which had intervened to bring them together in their last moments in Boston, was determined to keep them together for good.

Later that same summer, during a walk on the beach in Sagaponack, New York the couple reflected on the miraculous improbability of their bond, and the sheer unlikelihood of the experience that was unfolding around them. It became a moment which the couple has always held dear and commemorates each year with a return to the same stretch of beach. It thus made an it an apt setting for the marriage proposal, which came on July 4th of 2012.