As the saying goes — if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… right? Well, that certainly worked for Amal when he first courted Sarah. They met while working together and Sarah initially declined as she didn’t want to mix a relationship with business. After getting to know one another, she eventually couldn’t say no any longer and says it was one of the best decisions she ever made. After Amal graduated, they made the move from Florida to Maryland where they would both be working at Johns Hopkins — but this time in different places! 

Moving away from all of their friends and family wasn’t exactly easy, but the change was less difficult knowing they were in it together. It was on a trip to the Washington, DC area to look for apartments that Amal decided to pop the question. Not being from the area, he was unfamiliar with a good location for the event and did a little research online. He decided on an arboretum that looked stunning in pictures, but on arrival, it wasn’t quite as it seemed on the internet! Not totally defeated, they headed to one of the Smithsonian Museums and he thought perhaps somewhere indoors would be better since it was December, after all. Upon seeing the metal detectors at the entrance, he panicked and quickly turned Sarah back outside. Finally, they ended up in front of the Washington Monument and he knew this was the spot it was meant to be the whole time. He asked Sarah to be his forever and she absolutely agreed! I laughed as they told me how they dined on crappy pizza as a temporary celebration dinner until returning back to Florida to celebrate properly with friends and family — marriage will be FULL of crappy pizza, so I think it was the perfect start! 

Sarah and Amal, I am so excited to share a small part of your wedding day next March at Antrim 1844 — this winter can just go ahead and fly by so we can enjoy a beautiful spring in those lovely gardens!