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October 3, 2021
Media, PA
#BecomingTheBarones

Kelly & Jesse

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We're so excited to celebrate with you!

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Jesse Barone

and

Kelly O'Hara

#BecomingTheBarones

October 3, 2021

Media, PA

How We Met

Kelly and Jesse are high school sweethearts that met their freshman year in biology class. After a couple of months of being lab partners, they began talking more and more outside of class and quickly became very good friends. While they both began to develop feelings for each other, Kelly was hesitant to ruin their friendship by dating. But Jesse was not and asked her to be his girlfriend. At first, she actually said no, but a few days later realized how silly she was being, and when Jesse said he didn’t think they could be friends anymore because he liked her too much, Kelly knew she couldn’t lose him. So they began dating, and have been together ever since.

How He Proposed

Jesse and Kelly went to different colleges, but both were in Philadelphia so they saw each other every weekend. After college, Kelly moved to LA to pursue a career in the film industry, and Jesse stayed in Philly to study for and earn his CFA certification. They knew they wanted to get married, but did not want to be engaged and planning a wedding while being on different sides of the country. So they decided to wait until they figured out more permanent living plans. After two years of doing long distance, Kelly and Jesse finally decided to move to New York City together as it supported both their careers and was still close to family. Once they were moved in and settled, everyone began asking when he would pop the question. Kelly was getting a little anxious but knew that he was probably waiting for the right time and place. And he was. He had thought of an amazing plan to suggest a trip to Bermuda where he was going to propose on the beach. But then COVID happened, and Jesse’s plan was no longer an option. Since NYC was one of the biggest hotspots for COVID, the couple early on decided to self-isolate at Kelly's parents’ home. Jesse still wanted to propose but wasn’t sure how to make it special and meaningful with so many restrictions. Then the couple learned that their old high school where they met was actually going to be torn down, as a new one was being put up. This gave Jesse the idea to propose there before this happened, as it was such a special place to them. With the help of Kelly's family, she was convinced to go to the high school under the guise that they were giving very small tours to alumni to see the school one more time before it was torn down. As they walked around the halls reminiscing, they came to the biology classroom where they met and Jesse suggested getting a picture in front of it. As Kelly turned to take the photo though, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him! It was the most perfect proposal she could have asked for.

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