Erin & Marc in Nashua, NH

Erin and Marc met years back as Syracuse University undergrads. Erin stopped by to visit a friend of hers, and also met his new roommate, Marc. Though sparks didn’t exactly fly right off the bat, the two became friends over time, and a year-and-a-half later, began dating. The Bride Erin Plesh, 26, first grade teacher The Groom Marc Thaler, 28, sports reporter The Date December 17 Years later, Marc wanted to propose to Erin on her birthday (which falls around Thanksgiving) -- but a month earlier, when he got a hold of the ring, he realized he couldn’t wait. The night before his proposal, a friend of his called to offer two tickets to game one of the World Series between the Red Sox and the Cardinals -- and Marc, a die-hard Sox fan -- turned them down. “When I -- a New York Yankees fan -- found out that Marc had declined the tickets, I thought he’d lost his mind,” Erin remembers. “I screamed, ‘It’s only dinner -- we can go any time!’” Of course, she didn’t know about Marc’s plans (or that he had tickets for game two!), and Marc simply told her that he had plans for after dinner that were “nonrefundable.” Much to Erin’s surprise, Marc got down on one knee just outside the restaurant, and the two soon began planning a wintry wedding in the groom’s home state of New Hampshire.