Tricia & Chad in Mackinac Island, MI

Would-be grooms would do well to take Chad's proposal to Tricia as inspiration. The couple had been together for three years, and Tricia was working long hours in a stuffy lab to finish graduate school at Columbia University in New York. “Needless to say, it had not been a great summer,” says Tricia. The Bride Tricia Zubal The Groom Chad Blankenbiller The Date September 17 One night, Chad asked Tricia to meet him at a mysterious address, and when she arrived, after a full day of lab work, she found herself at Le Parker Meridien Hotel. The front desk directed Tricia to the spa, where Chad had made her a massage appointment. She was then given a key to a room where Chad was waiting with flowers, a bottle of wine, and a ton of my clothes, plus basically my entire bathroom, not knowing what I would want to have with me! Tricia says. By this point, she suspected something was up, and sure enough, a jittery Chad popped the question over dinner, delivering the ring at the bottom of a champagne glass. I loved that Chad was nervous! Tricia confides. They were married in a garden wedding the next fall.