Mary & Dean in Milwaukee, WI

Mary met Dean at her own birthday party, though at the time she didn't feel much like celebrating. Around that time, she had been undergoing a series of medical tests and cancer had not yet been ruled out as a possibility, but her friends urged her to get out and have a little get-together. Dean showed up as the guest of a mutual friend, and bought Mary a watermelon martini. The Bride Mary Pflum, 32, television journalist The Groom Dean Peterson, 36, international tax attorney The Date May 28 I thought he was simply being nice to the 'sick girl,'Mary remembers, But I quickly learned that wasn't Dean's style. He was honest, sincere, and, most importantly, he was funny! She knew Dean was a keeper when he volunteered to accompany her to the doctor. He always kept me in the right kind of stitches (translation: giggles!) in a myriad of waiting rooms, Mary says. Having already stuck by her in sickness and in health, it was only natural that Dean proposed to Mary almost a year later in New York City's Central Park. Though they met (and live) in New York City, Mary and Dean chose to return to the Midwest to plan their artistically-inspired wedding.