If you want to be technical, Joe and Steffani met while they were in college at St. Vincent College.
Steffani was going to school for Chemistry and Education and Joe was going for Finance.
They had mutual friend groups and they knew of each other, but that was about it.
And then 2020 rolled around.
Remember that season at the beginning of the pandemic, when we all spent countless hours on social media, posting pictures of our “bubble”, doing the best we could to “stay safe”, while still staying “connected”?
Well, Steffani’s “bubble” revolved around her dog – a tiny 8 lb. Mal-Shi (a mix between a Maltese and Shih-Tzu).
And Joe’s “bubble” revolved around his dog – a massive 80 lb. Golden Retriever.
Since they both were posting a lot of photos of their dogs, Facebook started showing them more and more of each other’s posts – which prompted them to “like” and comment – which ultimately got the conversation started.
They started taking their dogs for walks together. They’d walk and talk and before you knew it, they found those walks (and eventually their visits to wineries and breweries and date nights) to be the thing they looked forward to the most.
And well, you could say the rest is history.
A few weeks ago, we celebrated their engagement (I’ll tell that story later – but in case you’re wondering, yes, Steffani and Joe’s proposal story involves their dogs!)
Simmons Farm in McMurray, PA is special to Joe because he worked there every summer growing up. He has known the owners for over 15 years and they were gracious enough to let us come in and enjoy their flower fields! Everything was so beautiful and we had a perfect evening!