Melissa and Sean met at Pepperdine University in 2003. After several DTRs, one breakup, two cities, and six years of dating, Sean “put on his big boy pants” (direct quote!), and asked for Melissa’s hand. These sweethearts were married on a beautiful ranch in California in 2010, moved to New York City, and welcomed baby Roman into the world five years later. We are thrilled to celebrate Melissa and Sean at The Big Fake Wedding NYC!
We are so excited to celebrate Melissa and Sean as they renew their vows at The Big Fake Wedding NYC, powered by WeddingWire, tomorrow night at Sunset Terrace at Chelsea Piers. We hope to see you there!
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What was the most unique part of your engagement story?
From her: Sean was very purposeful in our engagement. We were visiting California for a vacation before he entered into his last year of graduate school. We had plans to go to a restaurant he had worked at previously and knew the owner. On our way there he received a call from the Owner that he would need to push back our reservation 30 minutes and he was very sorry. Sean suggested we go visit the beach to waste some time, and I was game. We arrived at the beach in Malibu (near where we met at Pepperdine) and Sean asked me if we could get out and take a walk since we had the time. I was not so game and thought it was too cold, but he gently persuaded me with his jacket. We walked a little ways and watched the waves crash against the sand. I started to notice his voice sounded different as we talked and he mentioned that he wanted to read me a poem he wrote for me a few months back while backpacking through Europe, alone. The poem ended with him proposing on one knee. I cried and said yes and was so looking forward to our dinner. Little did I know, when we arrived at the restaurant, the delay was fake and our families and close friends were waiting for us when we got there. Sean also had our close friend, Adam, take photos of our engagement up on the bluffs in Malibu, so the moment was captured in time, in memory and on (digital) film.
What was the absolute best memory from your wedding day?
From him: One of my favorite memories from our wedding (other than seeing Meliss walk down the aisle – sheesh!) is my Mom leading our friends in a choreographed dance to “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire.
What is the best date you have ever had?
From her: I think one of the best dates we ever had was, actually, our worst and our first. Sean took me to California Pizza kitchen (deep pockets, people) and we ate in awkward semi-silence. We had been friends for a while and Sean wanted to ‘take me out on a proper date’. I don’t think either of us were prepared to be so formal together. I’m not even sure why we thought we had to be so formal either, but, silly story short, Sean had purchased tickets to a movie and was planning on surprising me with them at the end of our dinner. As we were finishing, he asked me whether I wanted to go see a movie, thinking that my answer would be yes. Me, feeling a little awkward, said no thanks, so Sean ended up eating the cost of the movie tickets and taking us back to campus. He didn’t tell me about it until a few months later and I couldn’t believe he didn’t just say something. I think this is one of my favorite memories because it gave me such insight into how Sean cares. It isn’t loud and showy and overzealous, its warm and quiet and focused on caring for me in the way that he knows best. It makes me warm and fuzzy and nostalgic just thinking about it.
What is the most awesome thing about your marriage?
From him: Our goofiness and ability to make each other laugh. I love Meliss’ laugh. She’s such a butthead.
What inspires you about each other?
From her: Sean is such a different person than I am. He can take the seed of an idea and bring it to life with his imagination with such eloquence and cast it into a vision that, most of the time, I can’t help but be on board with. He doesn’t do things flippantly, either. There is purpose, patience, care and internal seeking and searching of what is best and what prayer that goes into each and every decision he makes. What mostly inspires me about Sean is his striving to lean most heavily on God for what he needs each and every day. His persistence in the word each morning inspires me greatly and I can’t help but be excited about what God is doing in our lives and the lives of our friends, family and in the great city where we live, NYC.
What advice would you give an engaged couple?
From him: Marriage is a journey. It’s two imperfect people learning to love, trust, and support one another through everything and anything. Never stop learning about each other. Never stop being friends.
Photo Credits:
Adam Ebert (1) | Jennifer Davidson (2, 3, 4)
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The Big Fake Wedding NYC is completely SOLD OUT! If you missed out, we invite you to join us at another one of our events – check out our 2016 schedule here.
