Patricia & Ben in St. Louis, MO

Most couples plan their wedding and then get married. For Ben and Trysh it was the opposite. The two met on the first day of graduate school in a design program. The BridePatricia (Trysh) Wahlig, 33, design strategist The GroomBen Singer, 45, design analyst The DateApril 28 They were in the same foundational program, which required them to spend every day together for nine months. Friendship turned to romance, and the two dated for five years before they got engaged and eloped to Aruba. “Steel drums played as we danced, ate cake, and drank champagne,” Trysh remembers. Exactly one year to the day later, Trysh and Ben restated their vows in front of their closest friends and family at an Art Deco–style arboretum in St. Louis.