Catherine, a marketing consultant from Ridgefield, Connecticut, and
Shane, an attorney from Bethesda, met their first week as freshmen at Notre Dame, where they were introduced by the woman they asked years later to be their matron of honor. Their friendship grew, a romantic relationship started to brew, and eventually they went on their first date, where the newly 21-year-old Shane was legally able to order some bubbly. They dated for five years before Shane proposed at a scenic overlook by the George Washington Parkway, where he’d pulled over pretending to have car trouble. From there, they celebrated with friends and family whom Shane had arranged to have join them at his parents’ house. Immediately, they began planning their elegant, wintery black-tie wedding.