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Fire Island Proposal Photographer: Domenic and Michelle

Domenic surprised Michelle with the picture-perfect proposal at Ocean Bay Park. 

Our talented Fire Island proposal photographer was there to capture every moment.

Even more romantic, we got to learn about how they met and fell in love. Check out their full story below!

Domenic and Michelle met freshman year of college at The College of William & Mary where Domenic played football and Michelle played lacrosse.  Michelle first saw Domenic outside of a party, and approached him.  It turned out that they lived in the same freshman dorm, and Michelle pointed out that their respective teams should hang out since they were all still trying to get to know other students around campus.  Michelle gave Domenic her number and they made plans to meet up later that night.  That Sunday, Michelle and her teammate went to Church on campus with Domenic and his teammates.  Soon both groups became good friends and hung out regularly.  Domenic and Michelle became especially close friends, and would often stay up to all hours of the night talking in the dorm lounge.  Soon they became best friends.  Both Michelle and Domenic knew that they were starting to think of one another as more than friends, but it wasn’t until the last day before they were both leaving to go home for summer break that Domenic asked Michelle if she would be his girlfriend while sitting on the beach near their school.  They made plans to visit one another in their respective hometowns and the rest is history!

After spending just one night with Domenic and his friends, she thought Domenic was the nicest guy she had ever met, and he was a ton of fun to hang out with. She loved that he went to Church with her, that he loved Pittsburgh, and loved his personality.  The first thing that Domenic was attracted by was Michelle’s smile and her ability to light up the room. He loved that she was beautiful, passionate, caring and family-oriented.

The first time Michelle visited Domenic in his home town of Pittsburgh, she knew he was the one.  She loved being able to see where he came from and what made him the person she knew. Domenic knew Michelle was the one the first time he met her but had to play the role of best friend until he convinced her to be his girlfriend. They had only been truly “dating” for a couple of weeks, but they had been best friends for so long and they both knew they were falling in love. When they went to PNC Park for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ baseball game, a concession worker told Domenic and Michelle that they were such a cute couple and inquired how many years they had been dating.  They looked at each other, laughed, and then answered, “two weeks.”

Domenic chose to propose to Michelle in Fire Island, NY – her favorite place!  Exactly 6 years prior to their engagement day, Michelle brought Domenic to Fire Island for the first time and they had a very memorable weekend. Fire Island has held a special place in both of their hearts since then, and so many of their special moments together have taken place at or near the beach.  It was the ideal place for them to promise to spend their lives together.

The surprise proposal was a 7 month project and mostly everyone in each family helped plan the big day. Every single family member and close friend knew about the engagement and helped in any way they could. Dom owes it all to them for making the day (and the whole weekend) so successful and memorable.

For many generations, the Martinelli family has purchased all of their jewelry at Bucci Jewelry Company in Pittsburgh, PA. With the help of all the amazing ladies there, especially Maria, Dom picked out an amazing ring for Michelle in December 2018 (7 months prior to the proposal).