Lisa Gagliano

Courtship
Jesse and I met at a bbq on the first day of law school at Michigan State University College of Law. We were in the same clique of friends, and had all of our classes together. In one of the smaller classes he sat directly behind me. It was really through this class that we became friends. I am quite the procrastinator and I used to call him for last minute help before a big paper was due. At the time, we were both in relationships, so I wasn’t even thinking about a romance with Jesse.

In February, the relationship I was in ended. The relationship Jesse was in ended too. That’s when our relationship really began to develop.

Our first official date was to see “13 Going on 30” with Jennifer Garner. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that it features candy from the 80’s, like Candy Buttons, Freshen Up Gum (with a gooey center), and Nerds. Shortly after the date, Jesse surprised me with a gift – all of the 80’s candy that we had seen in the movie! It was so adorable. I realized how thoughtful and romantic he was. But, I was planning to study abroad in Italy that summer so I tried to keep things casual and simple. When I was in Europe, I really realized how I felt for Jesse. We spoke on the phone a lot and emailed every day. When I came home at the end of the summer, Jesse came to visit me for a week (I am from Chicago and he is from Detroit). We had the best time exploring Chicago together, that’s when I realized I was falling in love with him.

Proposal
A little after three years of dating, I was very anxious for a proposal. I knew Jesse was working on it, but didn’t know exactly when it was coming. In early August 2007, I had a daytime birthday party to attend. Jesse was supposed to come with me, but he said he couldn’t because he had a doctor’s appointment. It wasn’t that big of a deal for him to come, so I just went by myself. When I got home that evening, I walked into our building door and there were rose petals leading up the stairs to our apartment. I knew what was happening, but it was so surreal, so I called out Jesse’s name. He opened the apartment door and when I stepped in there were dozens of red and white roses, candles, champagne, and a trail of roses, which led to where Jesse was standing. He got down on one knee, opened the ring box to show an absolutely gorgeous ring he had custom-made, and asked me to marry him!

I was totally surprised by the proposal, which was a great fete for Jesse as I have a tendency to spoil surprises!

The Big Day
I was excited to start planning, especially since I love organizing. We are getting married October 18, 2008, at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower. Our ceremony and reception will both be at the hotel. We will be having an interfaith ceremony (I am Catholic, Jesse’s Jewish) with both a priest and a deacon co-officiating. We will have about 200 guests and over half of them will be coming from out of town. We are so excited for the Sofitel because of its chic city feel. The best part of planning has been sharing it all with Jesse.

One of the most exciting things to happen during the planning phase has been winning a dress at the House of Brides! I never win anything, so I couldn’t believe it. I am going today with my mom to try on dresses. I really love the look of lacy A-line dresses, with strapless sweetheart necklines, but we’ll see what looks good on.

Honeymoon
We aren’t sure where we’re going for our honeymoon yet. We want somewhere where we can relax on the beach, but also can do some hiking or other adventurous activities - maybe Hawaii.

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