Andrew and Samantha met in 2013 at the very beginning of their senior year at Penn State. Ironically they both grew up only 20 minutes away from each other, shared several mutual friends, almost attended the same high school, and even sat near each other in art class their freshmen year of college. But it wasn’t until an outing with friends, the first week of fall semester 2013, that they truly crossed paths. They have been together ever since!

After 5 years of dating, Andrew and Samantha have experienced many seasons together, but autumn seems to be by far their favorite. Andrew was born and spent the first half of his childhood living in Upstate New York. They had always talked about visiting there, specifically the Finger Lakes, so in 2018 they finally decided to plan a trip. On Friday, October 5, 2018, Andrew and Samantha began their 4-hour ride up north. They spent the car ride admiring all the fall foliage, discussing what they were most excited about, and just talking about life. Samantha's a planner, so when Andrew said he made a dinner reservation for that evening she could not stop asking questions. He said they needed to be ready at 4pm and to wear something nice. Around 3:45 they hoped in the car and headed towards the top of Seneca Lake. Being in the Finger Lakes, Samantha assumed he planned some type of private wine tasting. She was wrong. They arrived at a beautiful hotel, Geneva on the Lake. Confused, Samantha asked him what they were doing there and he began to guide her out of the car. Instead of entering the lobby, Andrew said he wanted to show her the gardens near the lake. As they began walking down the path, Samantha felt Andrew release her hand. When she turned around he was down on one knee and asking her to be his wife. She immediately burst into the happiest tears and before even seeing the ring, said yes over & over. Andrew will tell you that this was his favorite part about the proposal because it wasn’t about the ring, it was about them. Mere moments later, immersed in happy tears, kisses, and hugs, Andrew revealed that there was a photographer capturing the entire moment. Anyone who knows Samantha knows how important photos are to her and these are ones that they will cherish forever. The happy couple finished out the evening with a romantic private dinner in the hotel overlooking the lake and the exact spot Andrew proposed.