Our Story
how we got here
Ellie and Jean Paul were nothing more than a series of passing hellos for the better part of two decades — knowing of each other, but never quite knowing each other. Ellie's sister, Dottee, had been part of Jean Paul's friend group back in his late-high-school, early-college years.
Months before Ellie and Jean Paul re-met, he kept having the same recurring thought: that he should reach out to Ellie to see if there might be something between them.
On the fateful night, a handful of last-minute changes quietly set everything in motion. Jean Paul was supposed to attend a spring dinner with his aunt, his cousin, and his cousin's wife. At the last minute, his aunt had to cancel, but Jean Paul decided to go ahead and attend, thinking, you never know who you might meet.
The second last-minute change was that Ellie's mother, Debi, was suddenly not feeling up to attending the very same dinner. She persistently encouraged Ellie to attend in her stead, telling her, "you never know who you might meet."
Late in the party, Jean Paul's cousin suggested they wander up to the second floor to see who else was around. As they reached the landing, Jean Paul saw Ellie — and immediately knew it was no accident.
They started talking and didn't stop; before the night was over, they'd agreed, then and there, to go out for drinks together at a later date.
To both, it seemed providential. Nearly a year later, beneath the oaks at Audubon Park, they got engaged — and now they can't wait to celebrate beneath the oaks once more, at Albania Mansion, with the people they love most.