At one point or another, many of us have probably dreamt about the details of our perfect fairytale wedding: the total delight of having our soulmate propose at JUST the right time, the excitement of picking out a venue, and most importantly, the everlasting commitment from someone you love dearly. Some might see this as a fairytale. But, what if this didn’t have to be a dream?
Meet Allison Reetz (’17) and Yiannis Michailides (’17), two fellow students who found true love at Saint Joseph’s University. The story of these two will make your heart melt, so keep reading to hear how these hawks came to live happily ever after.
When did it all begin?
Yiannis: We were in the same accounting class Fall Semester, Freshman Year. She sat in the row in front of me at the end of the row. I turned to my friend Matt DiTosto (‘17) and said, “Who is she, she is beautiful”. It was late September… and one day after class let out, I finally got the guts to talk to her… When I first talked to her I did what every other Freshmanwould ask, “Where are you from?” She replied “Hamilton, New Jersey” which is only 20 minutes away from my hometown of Ewing, New Jersey. Amazing how we lived so close to each other growing up but didn’t know each other existed. I asked her out on our first date on October 23, 2013 to California Pizza Kitchen. It was funny because I got the pizza, but Allison got a salad.
When did you finally make it official?
Allison: At his sister’s dinner party all of Yiannis friends kept pulling me to the side and asking if I knew that Yiannis liked me. I definitely knew by the end of the night! The next day on November 10, 2013, Yiannis formally asked me if I would like to make our relationship official and I said yes.
Yiannis, through years of dating, when did you know that she was the one?
Yiannis: People say that love at first sight doesn’t exist, or that it’s only in fairytales. Well I can tell you first hand that if you know you met “the one”, you know it’s real. From the very first day in accounting class, I just knew that Allison was going to be the love of my life. I knew nothing about her but yet, just by the way she carried herself I knew what kind of person she was and it was truly “Love at First Sight”.
So when did he pop the big question?
Allison: We got engaged in Barbelin courtyard on June 17, 2018. Saint Joe’s means so much to us because we would have never met had we not both chosen to pursue our education at SJU. It was Father’s Day and we… left to “pick up a pizza” and decided to stop at SJU on the way because the food was not ready yet… After taking engagement photos we went back to our apartment where our families were waiting to celebrate with us! The night was perfect- although it would have been more perfect if there was actually pizza!
Have you decided when and where the wedding is?
Yiannis: The wedding is September 20, 2020 at the Crystal Tea Room in the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia. The ceremony will be held at my church at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Hamilton, NJ. Without knowing, we scheduled our wedding the same date as Allison’s Great Grandparents Anniversary.
If you ever hold doubts about finding your own hawkmate, don’t stress! As Yiannis said, “If you know you met ‘the one’, you know it’s real”. So don’t rush into trying to find your hawkmate ever after, because while your story may not perfectly match the one of Yiannis and Allison’s (how can you live up to a story like that), with patience, you may find yourself having a hawkmate of your own!
