We eloped!

https://vimeo.com/923488435/dee92bbff9?share=copy

January of 2023 I, Emma, traveled to New Jersey to watch my nephew while my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their daughter into the world! During this stay in New Jersey I had downloaded a dating app and conveniently around that same time so did Michael, who was living in Philadelphia at the time! Shortly after this Michael and I “matched”! Once we matched we had some conversations back and forth for a couple of days! After some days passed Michael asked for my phone number, shortly after we exchanged numbers I realized that Mike’s distance changed from us being 30 miles away to now saying 157 miles away. So, as anyone else would have, I asked him how he had gotten so far away. Mike told me he had left Philly that morning to go to his friends engagement party in Boston and now we was in CT for the night staying with some friends. He did reassure me that he would be back in Philly the next day though (because we never discussed that I was from CT). I stared at my phone in disbelief that I had met him online 3 states away and now he was in the state that I was living in. I than had to ask where in CT he was staying because there was NO way he was near Trumbull, where I was living at the time. He than responded and told me he was in Milford… which is 15 minutes away!!! What are the odds? So this is when I told Mike that I lived in Trumbull, CT. He was planning on heading back to Philly the same day I was heading back to CT. So we made it work out to where we could meet up to have lunch! We met at Little Pub in Stratford where we ate and chatted for about 2 hours. After this Mike had me convinced (until recently) that he comes to CT every weekend! So from that first Little Pub date on we saw each other almost every weekend, which consisted of him teaching me how to snowboard, lots of new coffee places (all over the state), meeting my ENTIRE family and going to pick up our first puppy!

We had lunch at Little Pub in Stratford January 29, 2023 to meet for the first time! After this moment Michael and I have made Little Pub our place. Each time we went we tried to get something we have not tried yet (although I usually can’t help but get the grilled meatloaf sandwich). We have tried almost the whole menu at this point and keep a running score on all the different meals that we’ve tried! We have yet to be disappointed by one! Anyway, all this to tell you that Little Pub has been a staple in our relationship! When it came time for Mike to propose he knew where it had to be! (For those of you who do not know Little Pub in Stratford sits on a little private beach and gives this restaurant a beautiful view and awesome vibe!) Throughout the month of December we were visiting family in Connecticut and Rhode Island. One night Mike and I were talking to my dad and his fiancé. They thought it would be a fun idea to head to Little Pub the following morning for brunch! I was ALL for it because common… it’s Little Pub! So the next morning Mike and I woke up and started to get ready for brunch. As we were getting ready I received a text from my dad asking when I would be ready and I had told him about 10 minutes. He than responded that we would have to take two cars because he had to run to an appointment after brunch (which was completely believable). So Mike and I left the house and started driving to Little Pub. Throughout this car-ride I talked about how excited I was to eat at Little Pub, what we were going to eat, how hungry we both were and we reminisced about past visits! As we arrived and pulled into a spot I quickly realized that my dad was going to take forever to get to the restaurant. I turned to Mike and said well now what, we are going to have to wait. He told me to check his location and see if he left the house yet and to no surprise he was still at home. I asked Mike now what? He then suggested that we take a walk, which sounds crazy because it was December but it was actually a surprisingly warm day and I had just stated a few minutes prior how many people were out walking. I agreed and we looked at the Christmas decor and Christmas trees that the restaurant had made and I noticed a wooden Christmas tree out on the beach (which was unplanned on Mike’s part). So he said lets go look at it! We walked along the beach and got to the tree when I turned to look at Mike and I could tell by the look on his face what was about to happen! He then started talking and got down on one knee, which neither of us can recall what was actually said! He asked me to marry him and I definitely could not have said yes quick enough! After this I was so excited to eat and enjoy some Little Pub! But Mike had other plans! He had hired a photographer who had captured all of these moments and was going to take our pictures afterward too! Following that Mike had put together a little family gathering back at my dads house with some of my family to celebrate our engagement!

God has had His hand in our lives ever since the moment Mike and I met! He made our paths cross at the perfect time, me visiting New Jersey and Mike getting a PHD in Philly. When we could have easily met in my front yard. The Lord directed our paths to Murray KY where He continues to work through us and in us. Throughout this time we have opened our hearts and mind to everything that the Lord has in store for us and one of those things was marriage! As Michael and I started to plan a wedding we came to the realization that the soonest a wedding could take place was around April 2025. With this we also found out that the cost of a wedding was something that neither of us had or could make work. Most importantly Mike and I felt that God was weighing on our hearts to get married in His beautiful creation and to create a threefold, meaning God, the bride and the groom! Throughout this season God kept putting Genesis 2:24 (“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”) on our minds and directly in front of our faces. This was confirmation that He wanted us to not only get married but that the big wedding was not the true meaning of marriage. Marriage is a covenant between you, your spouse and God, it is the joining of two souls to create one! Michael and I made the decision to enter a covenant between us and God on February 17, 2024 in Silver Point Tennessee! We picked this location because of the beautiful backdrop that it provided. We both love the mountains and the water and Leeric Lodge gave the perfect mix of both! On Saturday, February 17th we got married in the beautiful nature of our Creator with Michael, myself and our two dogs (Benny and Bear). We exchanged vows and rings during this intimate ceremony! But God was not done yet! The following morning, Sunday, we woke up early and headed back to Murray KY to get baptized as one new soul. An act of love and a representation that we are made new through Christ and that we will love, honor and serve Him every single day as one soul and a new family! We could not have pictured a better first day as Mr and Mrs D’Antuono!