A Campus Crush Love Story at The Briarcliff Manor
A Campus Crush Love Story
Amanda and TJ have a telltale college romance that we all undeniably wish for. Read about how they met, where their love took them after college, and how they ended up spending the best day of their lives at our lovely Estate!
Question: How did you two first meet?
Answer: We first met in college through mutual friends. Amanda was a transfer student who was placed randomly in an apartment on campus and her roommates were friends with TJ.
Question: What was your first impression of each other?
Answer: Amanda: I thought that TJ was cute and I noticed his car (a red Volkswagen that was SUPER loud) and his 2 pierced ears with black studs in them. He seemed kind of like a punk, but I saw how dedicated he was to studying and all the time he spent in the library.
TJ: I thought she was SUPER loud but seemed fun and good at beer pong.
Question: What was your first date?
Answer: Unofficially, we ate on campus a lot in the dining halls when we have break from class at the same time. Officially, he asked me to grab lunch one day, assuming he meant the dining hall again, I quickly threw on mismatching sweats, only to get to his car where he suggested we go off campus and grab something to eat. We ended up going to Panera and eating lunch outside on the patio together.
Question: Who said ‘I love you’ first?
Answer: This is going to sound weird and creepy but when Teej would fall asleep first, I would kind of whisper to him that I loved him, assuming he couldn’t hear me. I wanted so badly to tell him but was too afraid of scaring him off. However, when it came time to actually say it to one another, he said it to me first and I couldn’t say it back fast enough.
Question: What is the most memorable date that you two shared?
Answer: Amanda: For me it would have to be our first date. It’s the one that really caught me off guard and always pops out in my mind first when I think of dates we went on.
TJ: That’s a tough one. I’d have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket…
…I’m sure she’s rolling her eyes at that joke and she’ll be rolling her eyes at the content of my story. It wasn’t so much a date as an event. We were down in North Carolina visiting our friends Bryan and Michelle. The four of us went to an autocross (car racing event) and Amanda got in the car and came for a ride along on track with me. She puts up with my car obsession and I love her for that but this was the first time she actually came, was involved, and got out on track with me. We have a photo I took from my GoPro inside of the car of the two of us mid-corner when you walk in our front door. It’s one of my favorite pictures and she has a big smile on her face.
Question: What are your nicknames for each other?
Answer: Amanda: Oh man, he’s going to kill me for saying this, but I call him Mush (in secret from our parents and friends – very few of them know about this name actually). It comes from when he tried to be mister big man on campus, fraternity brother, but I really saw him for who he was which is one big mush. (SORRY TEEJ!)
TJ: I never came up with a nickname for Amanda other than “babe”
Question: Is there a favorite spot you two share?
Answer: Amanda: I would have to say North Carolina. It’s one place that we both love, we hope to settle in one day, and we took our first official vacation there not too long ago. We rented a cabin in the woods for Thanksgiving.
TJ: What Amanda said, spot on.
Question: Who met the in-laws first?
Answer: Amanda: Technically I did. I went to see him during a Spring Break from school before we were officially dating, and though it wasn’t a formal meeting, I met his dad that day.
Question: What are your favorite things about each other?
Answer: Amanda: I love that he is selfless and does whatever is necessary to support me emotionally, mentally, and however else I may need it. He pushes me to be the best me I can be, even if he doesn’t mean to. He always makes me want to be better and I cannot thank him enough for all he has done for me.
TJ: Definitely her cooking. I mean she is an incredibly empathetic person seeing the best in people and succeeds at anything she puts her mind to. But her cooking, it’s other-worldly.
Question: Do you have a special tradition on Valentine’s Day?
Answer: Amanda: Not really – we don’t like to celebrate the holiday that much. If anything, we order in sushi and spend the day together.
Question: When did you know that you were going to propose to her?
Answer: I can’t say it was a specific time. It was always on my mind as we were together for ~5yrs before I proposed but I just eventually thought to myself “you know you’re going to do this, make like Nike and just do it” … so I did.
Question: What was your proposal like/where was it?
Answer: Amanda: This one is a doozy. Unbeknownst to me, Teej had been ring shopping for a few months (we had been together 5.5 years at this point). We began to talk about how I would want to be proposed to but I just thought he was being a jerk and making light of something that was so important to me, but joking about “what if I propose on the jumbotron?” and stuff like that. When asked if I wanted to be proposed to at home while it was just the 2 of us, I said ‘yeah I would actually like that a lot’ but I began to get annoyed, again thinking that he was just messing with me when he knew how important it was to me. This exchange took place while I was at work so I told him we would table this discussion until we got home. I wrote a list of reasons I was mad and sat on the couch waiting for him to come home, fully expecting to fight it out. When I expressed how upset I was that he didn’t take marriage seriously when he knew it was something that was really important and serious to me, he stopped me and said ‘I was just trying to find out how you wanted to get engaged because that’s the last piece that’s missing.’ Completely confused by what he was saying I insisted ‘what do you mean?? We aren’t getting engaged for years,’ (this timeline was based on previous discussions about wanting to buy a house first and get settled before marriage). Low and behold he had the ring in his pocket, he got down on one knee in the middle of our living room, and the next thing I know he’s asking me to marry him. He first pulled out a fake ring from a $0.25 machine (the one his dad had used to propose to his mom initially and something he had mentioned in our back and forth of ‘well what if I propose like this…’). I didn’t even realize because I was so in shock. Then he said “now let me give you your real ring” and he pulled out the ring that sits on my finger today. Talk about one way to win a fight. Here we were fighting about how and when we would get engaged, how offended I was by how he wasn’t taking it seriously, and then BAM. He pulls out a ring (the ring of my dreams no less) and proposed to me in the most Amanda and Teej way possible. I think he still gloats about how slick he was to this day.
Question: How did you feel when he proposed?
Answer: The first words out of my mouth were “Are you freakin serious?!” I was shocked, scared, excited, happy, and a whole bundle of emotions. I couldn’t believe that it had actually happened and that we were really taking the next step.
Question: How long have the both of you known each other?
Answer: We have known each other for 7.5 years and we’ve been together for most of them (since May 2011)
Question: What was your favorite part of your wedding day?
Answer: Amanda: Seeing him at the end of the aisle with tears in his eyes. He isn’t one to be very emotional but to see him standing there, grinning from ear to ear, I will never forget that moment. A close second was being able to share the day with all of my family and friends. It’s a day I will NEVER forget.
TJ: All of it. Seeing Amanda for the first time. Seeing friends and family. Marrying Amanda. Partying and just having fun. Realizing that there was absolutely nothing to worry about as the staff at the Briarcliff Manor had literally everything under control and were going above and beyond to make sure it was the best day of our lives.
Question: How would you describe the style or theme of your wedding?
Answer: I would call it Amanda and Teej. It was sophisticated yet casual, classy but fun, just full of love and joy. There wasn’t a main theme we were shooting for other than we wanted everyone to have a blast.
Question: What did you look most forward to? The wedding day, the ceremony, the honeymoon?
Answer: Amanda: The wedding day. After being with someone for so long and knowing that I wanted to marry him (not to mention I didn’t see him at all that day until the ceremony at 6:00pm), all I wanted was to meet him at the altar and just be there in the moment with him.
TJ: The wedding day for sure. After being together so long and planning so long I was ready to do the damn thing and celebrate with friends and family
Question: What was the most fun detail of your wedding to plan?
Answer: Sampling the food options
Question: What was the most unique detail at your wedding?
Answer: Teej is a Ford Performance Engineer so we were able to get the car that he helped design, at the wedding, for pictures. Our official wedding photo is actually one with the car in it. Considering cars are such a big part of his life (and subsequently mine) it was really special to be able to celebrate that as well.
Question: To the Groom: What were you thinking when you saw her walking down the aisle?
Answer: “I guess this is real, can’t back out now”
Question: What is the first thing the groom noticed about the bride when she walked down the aisle?
Answer: How stunning she looked and beautiful her dress was.
Question: Is there anything from your wedding day that you will keep as memorabilia?
Answer: Amanda: Cheesy response – the memories. I also have my veil and headpiece that I plan to keep and cherish forever.
Question: What is “your song” and why?
Answer: The Wonder of You – Conor O’Brien. (Amanda) When I first heard this song, every single word and line of it rang true. Regardless of whether it was a man singing to a woman, I thought and felt all of the lyrics about Teej.
Question: Who was your maid of honor and why?
Answer: My maid of honor was my best friend Jess, who was also one of my roommates when I transferred to college where I met Teej. At this point she is a sister to me. She has been through every up and down of Teej and mine’s relationship and it was only right to have her up there with me.
Question: Who was your best man and why?
Answer: I actually had two, Chaz and Kevin. We’ve been best friends since high school and even though they both now live in Nashville we keep in touch constantly with a group text, always talking about cars. Kevin got married last year and had both of us as his best men and it only made sense to have both of them as mine.
Question: Did you have your honeymoon yet? How was it/where was it?
Answer: We have not. We are waiting until February to go to the Dominican Republic because who doesn’t want a tropical getaway in the dead of winter?!
Question: How would you describe your wedding day in one sentence?
Answer: I wouldn’t have changed a single detail from the happiest day of my life.
Who did your…
-Makeup?
Dani Meeker from Middletown, NY
-Hair?
Alex Zeffiro from Middletown, NY
-Dress Designer?
Daughters of Simone purchased through Detroit Bridal House
Photographer – Frost Photography
Florist – Dramatic Innovations
Bakery – Life is Sweet
