The story of Vince and Katie begins with a metal flower centerpiece. It was the summer before their final year in college when both Vince and Katie got internship opportunities at a company called Charter Steel in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio. Vince worked in the Melt Shop building with the Engineering department and Katie worked in the Main Office building in Human Resources. Although they studied different majors and were working in different departments at Charter, love still seemed to find its way to them. In fact, as the summer internship continued, Vince and Katie had a few interactions. One day, Katie called one of Vince's managers to help with creating metal centerpieces that incorporated actual product from Charter Steel, such as steel wire, nuts and bolts, etc. Little did Katie know, the first person the manager called was the tall and handsome intern that worked in Engineering. Shortly after, Katie got her first call from Vince who was suprisingly up for the task. Of course without hesitation, but also with some doubt, Vince offered his helping hand...mostly because he wanted to get to know Katie a little more. After some creativity and brainstorming together, Vince and Katie began to realize that they worked very well together. Katie had the creative vision and Vince had the tools and knowledge to make it come to life. After some slight procrastination and staying up until 3:00am in his parents garage, Vince had finished the task just in time for the luncheon. He combined small nuts and bolts, steel rods, and steel "lollipop" testers, into really cool metal flowers. The flowers were such a hit at the luncheon that even the CEO of Charter asked to take one home with him for his office in Wisconsin! They both heard about these flowers for weeks after the luncheon and love to share this story with family and friends to this day.

Although a metal flower is uniquely "romantic" in itself, it was just the beginning of what would become a lifetime for Vince and Katie. The more they talked, the more they discovered that they share many interests such as baseball and playing trumpet. Vince eventually worked up the nerve to ask Katie on a first date to Fun 'N Stuff followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. Katie did not hesitate at all and excitedly said yes to a fun night out with the guy she quickly began to have feelings for. Date night started out at the batting cages, both something that Vince and Katie enjoyed doing. Unfortunately for Vince, not even 10 minutes went by before he got hit in the head by a ball. Feelings of embarrassment rushed over him in front of the girl he was trying to impress. Katie immediately couldn't help but laugh at him and offered to kiss his boo-boo. Still embarrassed, Vince laughed and quickly changed the subject by offering to go play a game a mini golf instead. After lots of smiles, laughter, and flirtatious gestures, both Katie and Vince had so much fun playing games together despite minor injuries. Since at this point, the night was still young, Vince then offered to continue their date at Chili's restaurant for delicious burgers. We talked the night away while eating dinner, continuing to learn about our love for music and playing trumpet. We shared stories about our families and friends, reminisced about our summer internships, and subconsciously started planning the next time we would be able to see each other. Needless to say, it was a successful first date of fun activities and lots of laughter. Vince and Katie grew very fond of each other and quickly became inseparable after that night.