‘‘
I
Walking down the aisle was exciting; I was a good mix of
nervous and happy. Just seeing him there at the end waiting
for me felt surreal... like, “It’s fi nally happening.’” – Isabella
S A B E L L A A N D E T H A N ’ S W I N T RY W E D D I N G WA S
always a family and friend-fueled affair. After meeting during a church
service and dating for about a year and a half, Ethan decided to enlist
the help of his parents to pull off the perfect proposal. He lured Isabella
out to their favorite trail — Tillinghast in Coventry — on September 11,
2016 under the guise that they would be taking a Sunday evening hike. But
when they got there, the couple came across a seafood dinner setup bathed
in the glow of sparkling string lights on the wooden walkway over the
area’s serene pond. Ethan fi bbed and told Isabella that he and his parents had
arranged the surprise as a thank you for taking care of him while he was sick
with pneumonia in the months prior. “In my head, I was like, ‘Alright, I have
to be okay with that if that’s the only reason,’” Isabella laughs. But then came
time for dessert. Drawing from the couple’s tradition of eating Chinese food
with Isabella’s family every Sunday, Ethan handed over a fortune cookie. The
message inside revealed not a cheesy saying, but the life-changing question:
“Will you marry me?” Ethan then presented her with a custom ring adorned
in diamonds taken from Isabella’s great grandmother’s (after whom she was
named) wedding band. Isabella of course said yes, and Ethan’s parents, who
had been waiting patiently nearby the whole time, were fi nally able to join
their son and his new fi ancée to celebrate.
The couple next wasted no time when it came to planning. “We had
thought we were going to be moving soon due to Ethan’s job in the Coast
Guard, so we wanted to have our wedding while we were still in the area
and all of our local loved ones could attend,” Isabella explains. “Ethan
likes to say we chose January 1st specifi cally because then he could never
forget the date.” That’s right; the twosome were able to plan and execute
everything in just under four months. Isabella praises Ethan for completing
somewhere around 75 percent of the work in the fi rst two weeks of their
engagement, which involved booking the Towers for their reception
and finding a suitable caterer (his favorite deli shop from growing up,
Michelangelo’s). “Even though it was quick, we both really loved the process
— it was essentially just planning a big party with all of our favorite people,”
she says. “We were more focused on that and the fact that we were getting
married than anything else.”
And they still got everything they wanted. A North Kingstown native,
Isabella had grown up summering on Narragansett Town Beach and so
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY'S ENGAGED 2018 | 95