Clear Cut Couples: Tori and Steven
Tori and Steven met during their time in college. Tori was a cheerleader and a nursing major and Steven was a baseball player and a business major. They first formally met at a college bar, and the rest was history.
The night that they met actually has more significance to their story than their first date. The bar they met at was really popular on Wednesdays. During their first conversation, Tori stole his hat and ended up taking it home with her that night. It was always a joke that Tori stole his hat on the day that they met. After a few weeks of dating, he had sent Tori the lyrics to "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" by Thompson Square. On the day of their engagement, he had a sign made about the stolen hat and incorporated the song into the proposal! AWW!
Their first date after then was taking her out to dinner for her birthday. Given that they were at school and her parents were far away, he didn't want her to not have a special night out for her birthday. Since then, they have been together for over 8.5 years! They have shared so many incredible memories over the years!
They have travelled extensively together since they started seeing each other and have been to over 30 international cities in the time that they have been dating. From catamaran cruises and riding ATVs around Greece, to their time exploring multiple regions in Italy, to their time at Oktoberfest in Germany, they truly value the opportunities that they have had to travel the world and make memories together.
Steven proposed on 8/21/21 and the timing could not have worked out more perfectly. What Tori thought was a normal night out to dinner quickly turned into a surprise proposal. They started to walk to "dinner" and were met on the dock by a stewardess for a yacht that Steven had secretly chartered. The stewardess escorted them on board, and they were greeted by the captain who told them that they were going for a sunset cruise around the harbor and they were going to drop them off at dinner. They set them up on the bow with a beautiful charcuterie board and wine, and they set sail. As they made it to the prime position to watch the sunset, the captain invited them to the upper sundeck for a better view. As they made their way up the stairs, a guitarist started playing their song, "Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not" and he led Tori up to the steps.
The upper deck was covered in gorgeous floral pieces made up of purple and pink flowers of all varieties, and the floor was covered in white and pink roses. There was a sign that read, “You stole my hat and then stole my heart. I knew you were the one from the start. So…are we gonna do this or what?"
He then proposed to Tori. There was a photographer on board hidden, along with the musician, who caught pictures of them on the bow sailing and then captured the entire proposal moment. Following the proposal, they had a moonlight dinner on the water onboard the boat prepared by a private chef.
The proposal almost didn't happen due to hurricane Henri! The night before the proposal, he received a phone call that Newport was issued an evacuation mandate and all boats had to leave the harbor. Shortly after, he was told that the evacuation was put on hold and that there was still a chance the boat would be available.
They completely lucked out as the storm ended up not hitting until 8/22 and 8/21 ended up being the perfect day with a beautiful sunset and everything worked out according to plan.
The proposal was a total surprise! Tori had no idea what was going on until she heard the music start playing on their way up to the top sun deck. She thought it was a normal activity that is very in his nature to plan. She was shocked by the ring and completely in love! It was everything she could have ever dreamed of.
While wedding plans are very much still in flight, they are planning an intimate destination wedding either out west in the US or internationally. Congrats you two! We are SO happy for you!
Photography by Sarah Weston www.
