The Statler Hotel at Cornell University | Ithaca New York Wedding Film
We’ve been together for 11 years and have had so many adventures together, from living in Ithaca to Dallas to San Francisco, through multiple jobs, apartments, buying a home, and caring for two puppies. George proposed at our favorite beach with our two puppies running happily about. Melanie’s family was waiting to celebrate when we returned home.
We started off as “just friends” after meeting one another freshman year of college but we both agreed that deep down from the moment that we met, we couldn’t quite shake the feeling that we were meant to be more. We spent quite a few years fighting our feelings but slowly things all fell into place. We started “officially” dating the weekend of undergraduate graduation and since then have lived in two different RVs, worked in 6 states traveling the US for work and most recently bought our first home in Cleveland.
We met at Ohio State when we were both still in college after being good friends for our second and third years – despite Matt moving to Arizona for work after graduation and Cassandra moving home to Philadelphia for law school, we made it work and eventually Matt joined the Dulas in Pennsylvania. After Cassandra graduated from law school, she had a job offer in London and Matt in his infinite flexibility said, “Let’s do it!” A year after moving we got engaged and two years after that we had our big day!
Our love story began in 2012, in Madrid, Spain (well in the JFK airport over a beer and a Diet Coke to be exact)…. As luck and perhaps fate would have it, we both signed up for a summer study abroad program through our Alma Mater, Syracuse University. Despite both attending SU only a year apart, we had never formally met on campus. We spent a great deal of time together that summer, becoming the best of friends (that tended to dance together and kiss from time to time) and creating unforgettable memories that we will cherish forever. Some of our favorites include: hanging out and chatting in the school courtyard (before Wes dozed off for his mid-day siestas), trying every sandwich at Cien Montaditos, dancing until the sun rose at Kapital nightclub (Emily somehow always ended up near the DJ Booth), searching for Wes’s wallet for an entire night after being pickpocketed, and traveling to Barcelona – a place we fell in love with and re-visited together 6 years later. Our romance continued to grow when we returned to Syracuse University. Whether it was a party at the hockey house, attending a basketball game, or going to the campus bar, Chucks, we always seemed to find each other. As we spent more time together, it was clear our chemistry and love for one another was blossoming into something special. Wes finally asked Emily on a first date (mini golfing), foreshadowing Wes’s future aspirations to be a good husband with a decent handicap. However, Emily would like it known it was SHE who got a hole in one on that first date. Together now for almost a decade, we have been through quite a journey of long distance, graduations and new careers. In the summer of 2020, we concluded our long distance journey and moved to Saratoga Springs, NY – a very special place we now call home, and where we continue to build amazing memories together.
I first heard about Justin through a mutual friend on campus at Notre Dame. After we met, we started dating about one year later and did two years of long distance dating after college before I moved to Charlotte to be with him! We got engaged in December 2018 and planned to get married in July 2020, but COVID forced us to postpone twice. We waited over 1,000 days to get married – it was so worth it!
Jon and I were “the” high school sweethearts. We went to all of our proms and school events together, he taught me how to drive a car, I helped him graduate high school (lol). Jon was there for me during all my treatments for my Crohn’s disease. We have done everything together from going to dinner to going on family vacations together.
Philadelphia has our hearts, we have lived here for the past 8 years and own a house here. But, we have ties to upstate New York and were married in Fair Haven, NY on Oct 23, 2021.
