It’s hard to believe that we are actually married! And now that we are, we can look back with amazement on how we met, and how lucky we are to have found each other. Post-college dating is really hard. If you don’t meet someone through friends, what is the best way? What’s interesting about Eric and I is that while we never met before being introduced via JDate, we ran in similar circles, have a number of the same friends and were actually in the same place a number of years prior at the Maccabi Games in Miami, Florida; it truly is a small world.

It is amazing how much you can tell about someone just by the way they write: tone, humor, sensitivity; our conversation flowed naturally and even during our first conversation, we both admit there was something there to be explored.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that we met up for our first date. We decided on lunch and Eric insisted we go somewhere in my neighborhood so that I was comfortable. I waited inside the restaurant and I will never forget seeing him for the first time, very cool in a t-shirt and jeans, he walked past the floor to ceiling glass windows of the restaurant and into my life forever.

My first right of passage into the Sapperstein family was… football, yes, football. Eric’s family has been a season ticket holder for the Baltimore Ravens for some time. The first game I got invited to was the day Eric asked me to be his girlfriend. It was official and I was in!

Following that, there were countless fun dates and trips to Paris, London, the Bahamas and Vail. We saw our lives together forming, and it was really exciting.

We were very open about our relationship and future so when the time was right we decided to go shopping for the ring together. Once we had picked something out, it was my turn to wait. We planned a big trip to Vail in December 2010, so I was convinced it would happen on the trip. Of course Eric knew this and had a plan. He had been traveling off and on for work for about a month in October 2010. When he came back from his final trip, I picked him up from the airport, ecstatic that he was home for good. I started cooking one of his favorite meals and in the freezing cold, Eric went out on our balcony. I thought it was odd, but really didn’t think twice about it. Then, Eric insisted I come out there too. I slowly approached the balcony and cold temperatures. It was then that Eric got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I left him down there for a good 30 seconds while I repeatedly asked, “Are you serious?” It took about another 30 seconds for me to catch my breath and let’s be honest, stop crying, so that I could say YES! It was the easiest decision I ever made.

We had a beautiful wedding on November 19, 2011 in Philadelphia and recently returned from our 14-day honeymoon on a cruise in the Southern Caribbean. We never thought we would meet each other online, but JDate was the perfect forum for us and we are so grateful for giving it a chance.

Rachel and Eric
Arlington, Virginia