~ celebrate with us ~

After friends introduced us at a party, we naturally gravitated towards each other in the following days and weeks. Studying at Maritime College, and sailing with each other aboard the training ship, fostered an environment in which we shared many of the same experiences and developed a uniquely similar outlook on life. In the summer of 2014, while in port in Lisbon, Portugal we spent a full day together touring the holy site of Our Lady of Fátima, swimming in the wavy seas of Nazaré, and polishing off a bottle of Port wine while strolling through ancient markets. From that day on the rest is history..

After much anticipation, the time was finally right to ask the question. While on vacation in Miami in 2021, Antonio devised an elaborate plan to propose at a boutique restaurant nestled on an island in the Biscayne Bay between South Beach and Downtown Miami. Unfortunately, the restaurant was 'so exclusive' that they refused private photography - despite Antonio's unrelenting pleads for an exception. The backup plan turned out to be even better than the original. After a day of admiring glistening schools of fish and playful sea turtles at the Frost Museum of Science aquarium, Antonio planned to take a relaxing stroll with Melanie through the airy Maurice A. Ferré Park along the bay. At the edge of a pier with the Biscayne Bay and skyline of Downtown Miami in the background, Antonio saw a perfect opportunity to "take a picture" of Melanie. With her back turned, and the undercover photographer awaiting anxiously just a few feet away, Antonio got on his knee and asked Melanie to turn and make him the happiest man in the world.