Amy & Craig in San Antonio, TX

Just before Valentine's Day one year, Craig Wacker told his girlfriend Amy Sprague to take a few days off from work. I knew that we would be going somewhere, but I had expected a road trip to a few bed-and-breakfasts in the Virginia countryside, remembers Amy, who had moved with Craig to Washington, DC, after meeting him in graduate school at the University of Texas-Austin. But instead of a local itinerary Craig surprised Amy with plane tickets to Paris, and the couple spent five days eating exquisite meals, going to museums, visiting chateaux, and staying in quaint hotels. THE BRIDE Amy Sprague THE GROOM Craig Wacker THE DATE November 15 One cool, crisp morning, they found themselves along the Seine River without many other people around. It was the perfect moment for Craig to propose. Just after I said yes, a balloon broke free from a stand about a quarter-mile away and bounced along the walkway on the river all the way to us without blowing into the water, Amy remembers. When the couple returned from overseas, they began thinking of the perfect place where they could celebrate their wedding.