Jen & Joe in Cleveland, OH

Jen loves her birthday, which falls just a few days after Christmas. And in 2005 she suspected a proposal from her boyfriend of five-and-a-half years, Joe as the perfect gift. The Bride Jennifer (Jen) Porter, 29, non-profit program officer The Groom Joseph (Joe) Grasso, 30, student The Date May 26 A birthday proposal was in fact Joe’s original plan. Jen was in law school at the time, and she’d finished up her final exams on December 22. The next day she planned to run some errands and then celebrate the end of law school with Joe at a martini bar. “But after a long day, I just wanted to grab a bite to eat and get some sleep,” she says. They ended up having dinner at an Irish pub and renting a few movies before heading home. As Jen waited on the steps for Joe to unlock the door, she received the perfect early birthday gift: Joe dropped to one knee and proposed.