How We Met
January 2014, I briefly met Jaclyn one weekend out in Atlanta, GA through our mutual friend and Jaclyn’s roommate, Tyler. After seeing Jaclyn at the bar I repeatedly began punching Tyler in the arm, demanding why he had never introduced us before. I knew instantly there was something about Jaclyn that was special.
Over the next couple of weeks I kept trying to hang out with Tyler in hopes of seeing his beautiful roommate again. I finally succeeded Super Bowl weekend 2014. Jaclyn and I nervously spent that evening getting to know each other while also enjoying all of our friend’s company. A couple of weeks later I finally asked her out and we went on our first official date.
From there, the rest was history, a whirlwind of adventures: road trips to Nashville, TN, a move together to sunny south FL, a month-long trip to Europe, and the adoption of our puppy, Owen. This brings us to the present-day where all of these things have culminated into one amazing day full of love, joy, family and friends.
how they asked
Jaclyn and I decided to keep with our tradition of visiting a new city each year and traveled to San Francisco, CA. I offered to schedule the Napa part of the trip, since I had another plan of my own in mind. I began by designing a ring in May, using the diamond from my grandmother’s engagement ring. I was nervous all summer, praying that Jaclyn would not find my hiding spot for it.
The October morning of the big day arrived. I excused myself to the car to grab the umbrella to fight the pouring rain, but in actuality, I was hiding the ring. We were set to be at the vineyard just after lunch, but my stomach was in knots, since we were running behind due to the weather.
We drove up a small mountain, between breath-taking valleys, to the vineyard. Jaclyn and I met with the owner of the private winery and he offered to give us a tour. While the owner spoke with Jaclyn, I slipped outside and found the photographer, Christophe Genty, to finalize everything. The owner, John Buehler, suggested checking out the spectacular view at the top of the hill on the way back into town.
As we got to the top of the hill, the rain completely stopped, and the gorgeous view set in. Jaclyn noticed a man in an orange utility vest working around the house, thinking he was trying to fix the power outage at the vineyard. Not knowing he was our photographer, Jaclyn said that we should ask him to take our photo.
I pulled Jaclyn in close, taking her phone away to keep her from taking pictures of the scenery. I had so many things I wanted to say, yet my mind went blank. Starting to get down on one knee, thinking I had already asked her a question, I said, “so my next question is…”.
This made Jaclyn pretty confused as to what was happening.
I then asked the very important question, “Jaclyn Elizabeth Szerdi, will you marry me?” She covered her mouth in surprise, with tears welling in her eyes, she couldn’t believe this was happening. The photographer’s camera continued clicking away in the background, bringing her out of shock, as she finally answered, “Yes!” The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking champagne and enjoying the most special moment of our lives.. so far.
