Mona & Chris in Carmel, CA

Mona and Chris were first friends in high school. “My mom claims that the smartest thing Chris did was win me over through my mother,” Mona remembers. He and a friend often stopped by Mona’s place looking for her, and when she wasn’t home, they wound up chatting with her mom. In the middle of a hot and humid Chicago summer, Chris finally asked Mona out. The Bride Mona Yaqub, 26, high school Spanish teacher The Groom Christopher Kolososki, 26, financial advisor The Date September 30 A few years later, Mona was still living and teaching in Chicago, and Chris was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, though the two remained a couple. A few days after one particular Valentine’s Day, Chris surprised Mona in her classroom with a proposal, and then whisked her away on a weekend trip to Ireland to celebrate their engagement.