She Made Him Feel Wanted From Day One!

After Jeremy's first date with Colleen, she texted him to tell him that she had enjoyed their date and couldn't wait to go out again. Jeremy felt encouraged, and he appreciated Colleen's candor.

"I had never had that happen before!" Jeremey shares. "I didn't have to worry whether she was interested in me. She didn't play games or hard to get or anything like that."

Jeremy had not dated for five years after a bad breakup, so it felt wonderful to find someone of quality who showed interest in him.

A breath of fresh air!

Colleen had also made the first move on CatholicMatch. To Jeremy, Colleen felt like a breath of fresh air.

"I wanted to know more about her. She seemed interested in getting to know more about me. She asked questions about me as a person, and she appeared genuine and kind."

In September of 2017, the Virginians met for their first date after connecting on CatholicMatch the month before. On the date, Jeremy, 40, gave Colleen, 30, a silly birthday card because she'd recently had a birthday. That card set the tone for the date.

"Colleen laughed at the card and that helped both of us to relax," he recalls. "I found her easy to talk to, and she proved as genuine in person as she appeared in her messages."

Colleen adds, "After our first date, I called my mom and said, 'I hope you are saving your pennies [for a wedding].'"

Their love and friendship grew...

For Colleen and Jeremy—both of whom had never been married—it was love at first sight, which quickly grew into a solid friendship. The couple shares the coveted kind of relationship where they know one another so well that they can finish each other's sentences.

"It is amazing and wonderful how easy it is for us to communicate with each other about how we are feeling," she shares. "We never feel like we are giving up anything but can agree on what is truly important and value and respect each other. Plus, we have fun whatever we do because we get to experience things together."

Jeremy adds, "It's interesting how much we have in common. Even a year later, we were laughing over the fact that we both realized we liked Checkers brand fries. There have been times when we say something at the same time. Our time preparing for our wedding has been so smooth, and we learned quickly about how to compromise and communicate with each other and still feel very happy about our decisions."

The couple believes that their closeness in values and interests was part of God's plan.

They had a sweet and easy proposal.

On March 8, 2018, Colleen walked into her kitchen after a difficult day at work. Jeremy was making dinner, and she blurted out, "I just want to get married."

Jeremy told her, "Well, that's a relief!"

He already planned to propose that night. He set up a scavenger hunt, placing cards around the house for her to find.

"Jeremy wrote questions on index cards, and he had written me a three-page letter, which he read to me before he proposed," she recalls.

They called Colleen's grandmother to share their good news, and she said, "Well, it's about time!"

They welcomed their wedding crashers!

On March 23, 2019, Colleen and Jeremy joined their lives in Holy Matrimony at St. Anne's parish in Colonial Heights, Virginia. When Jeremy saw Colleen come down the aisle, he said his heart skipped a beat.

"I knew everybody's eyes were all on us, but I just felt like it, it was just him and I in the room," she remembers fondly.

The couple felt overjoyed to see all the love and support from their family and faith community. To their surprise, more guests turned up than expected.

"My wedding coordinator and mom didn't tell me this until after the fact; they didn't want me to worry or panic. While I was having pictures taken, they were setting up 20 extra chairs at our reception venue," she recalls.

Jeremy adds, "I guess some guests decide at the last minute they were coming. We had enough food, so everything turned out."

A year later...

Jeremy shares that he wishes he had met Colleen earlier, but maybe that wasn't part of God's timing. "I definitely look forward to being with her every day."

Colleen closes, "I feel grateful that I have found a life-long partner to experience anything and everything in strength and in weakness."