We're Getting Married in Italy!

We met at our alma mater, Fairfield University. Go Stags! We always had mutual friends, but our friendship did not start until senior year. After graduating, we continued to see each other and our friendship grew into a loving relationship in December 2014.

It was a Wednesday, and we started the day by soaking up some sun on our apartment rooftop. Gianni worked while I read. After a long COVID lockdown, restrictions began to lift and restaurants in Hoboken opened for outdoor seating. Excited to break the quaran-routine, we planned to finally try a tasty sushi restaurant on our list, Saku. In typical fashion, we had a pregame drink and took a chilled tequila shot before our walk over. It was a perfect date night! The food was delicious and the drinks and conversation were flowing seamlessly. After dinner, we decided to walk-off our full bellies with a stroll along Hoboken's waterfront. I suggested we walk to the end of the pier for a selfie with the New York City skyline. Gianni said he wanted to get an artsy picture of me looking out across the water at the skyline. I had my back turned to him, posing for these 'artsy' pictures, when he said "Lexi"... I turned around and he was on one knee, ring in hand, asking me to marry him. I was shocked! It wasn't until the impromptu audience started clapping that I said "YES!" Earlier that day, Gianni stashed a special bottle of wine we had been saving in the fridge. We went back to our apartment to enjoy a cool glass of red wine and shared the happy news with our families over a socially-distant FaceTime. Now that is one way to emerge from a COVID quarantine!

Exploring the world and visiting new places together is our favorite thing to do. We've traveled to Thailand, Austria, Croatia, France and so many other beautiful destinations... but Italy remains our favorite! The wine. The food. The espresso. The romance. And did we mention the food? So, when it came time to decide on a place for us to say "I do", we knew we wanted to get married in Italy. Not only do we cherish our memories there, but Italy is in our blood. Giovanni's family has deep roots in Italy, specifically Calabria and Sicily and Alexis's family is from Friuli, Italy. The Italian culture was an important part of her childhood and upon meeting Gianni, she embraced it even further. Gianni grew up going to Italy every summer with his siblings and parents and built so many fond memories that he was thrilled to share with Alexis. We can't wait to celebrate our love and the beginning of our future together in a place so uniquely special and dear to our hearts. We are especially grateful that we can do this surrounded by our loved ones.