Real People in Love: Erin & Matt

This week's Real People in Love are probably not strangers to you. The beautiful Erin (known as Emma) & her husband, Matt, got married the weekend after Jus & me and Erin is currently recapping their beautiful day on her blog From Emma to Emmi.

How old are you & Matt?

Matt is 34 and I'm turning 32 in a couple weeks.

How long have you been together?

We've known each other for 6 years, been together for 5, and been married for 5 months.

When's your anniversary?

October 23

What are your occupations?

I'm a social worker at a hospital in Center City Philadelphia. Matt is a civil designer at a small engineering firm in Paoli.

How did you meet?

I had an enormous crush on him in high school and we actually met once but he doesn't remember it. In college, one of my best friends started dating one of his best friends. They eventually got married, but despite the mutual friends, our paths still never crossed. Finally, our mutual friends had a Labor Day party at their house in Boston (2004). Matt and I hit it off right away (as our friends knew we would!). At the time, I was back to living with my parents in Hershey, and he was already living in Philly. We stayed in touch through phone calls, emails, and visits, but after 6 months of "hanging out," Matt wasn't ready to commit. So I backed off. At our friends' Labor Day party in 2005, he confessed that he really liked me and was ready for a relationship. We've been together ever since!

How did you get engaged?

We've been together for 4 years and he finally started talking about getting married. We went ring shopping but I tried not to get my hopes up. He started making plans for New Year's Eve- a fancy dinner in the city. He booked a reservation at Del Frisco's Steakhouse. I had to work that day, but was allowed to leave when my work was done. I got home around 4. Matt picked me up at the train station and was already dressed for our dinner (our reservation was for 9pm). I thought it was a little strange that he was already all dressed up, but he does weird things sometimes. We got home and I opened the front door and there were rose petals scattered on the floor and up the stairs to our bedroom. He just told me to follow them, and they led me to our bedroom. I picked up the card he had sitting against the bouquet of roses and the last line that he'd written was "So I have just one question to ask you..." I turned to look at him and he was on one knee! He said something like "So... will ya?" and I said something like "You know I will!" It was sweet and goofy and the best moment of my life.

Tell us about your wedding day (not necessarily elements but feelings too):

Our wedding day was absolute perfection. I remember when I was getting ready to walk down the aisle with my dad, I was so excited, I couldn't stop moving. It felt like the walk down the aisle took hours, but my friends tell me I was practically running. Standing up there, holding Matt's hands, listening to the pastor talk about love and marriage and relationships was surreal, but amazing. My favorite moment of the day was the trolley ride from the church to the museum- me and my new husband and 12 of our best friends. Life really doesn't get much better than that.

Define Love:

Love is considering another person, not just you.

What is the toughest part of being in a committed relationship?

Making sure things don't get stale. We've lived together for 4 years, and we both have a tendency to fall into routines. SO sometimes we have to work to make sure that things don't get monotonous, so that we don't get bored with each other.

What is the best part?

Knowing that you'll always have someone in your corner. Someone who can say "I love you" and make the world a better place, no matter how crappy it seems.

What is the best day the two of you have had together?

Gosh, that's a lot of days to go though. The one that's sticking out, though, is a day we spent at a winery on the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail last summer. The weather was beautiful, they had live music, and we just spent the day hanging out on the lawn, sharing a bottle of wine, and talking about everything. It was just perfectly "us."

What makes you different from other couples?

We are ridiculously goofy. Any given minute, anyone could look at us and find one or both of us making silly faces at each other. We do stupid dances to make each other laugh. I think we both value laughter and find humor sexy, so we constantly try to out-goof each other.

What is your favorite thing to do together?

Matt and I love to be lazy. Probably our favorite thing to do is sit outside, in the sun, listening to music, and just enjoying each other's company. We also have a yearly tradition of watching Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Do you have a song?

"Chasing Cars," by Snow Patrol

What is the most essential element of making it?

Remembering to talk to each other. About everything. Not just "communication" in the relationship-y sense of the word, but just talking to each other.

What are your hopes for the future?

A family that supports and loves and talks to each other. A house that we never stop shaping into our home. And puppies.

Don't be afraid of it! When I first met Matt, he had been hurt before so he was afraid to give himself over to what he was feeling. Before I backed off to give him the space he needed to realize how truly awesome I am (ha!), I told him that you have to be willing to take a risk, otherwise how are you ever going to fall in love again? Love can be scary and confusing and overwhelming, but it's so amazing to know that someone else in the world wants to be with you and only you! All of the risks are so completely worth it!

As always, if you'd like to participate in the Real People in Love series, just shoot me an email!