Abbie & Mike: A Traditional Wedding in Mays Landing, NJ

When Abbie first met Mike she didn’t want a serious relationship. Her father had passed away just after her high school graduation, and “I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with someone who didn’t know my dad,” Abbie says. Luckily, Mike was patient, and the pair bonded over movies and their mutual love of cooking. Eventually they began dating and stayed together for over six years before Mike decided it was time to pop the question. The Bride Abbie Tonielli, 29, social worker The Groom Michael (Mike) DiMeo, 29, letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service The Date November 4 Since he couldn’t ask Abbie’s dad for his blessing, he asked her whole family over Thanksgiving dinner while she was out of the room. With their blessing, Mike proposed just days before Christmas. Abbie pulled into their driveway one night after her last class of the semester to find a huge sign that spelled out “Will you marry me?” in Christmas lights. They were married in a fall wedding almost a year later.