In celebration of “love month” Grace wanted to share with you the story of how her and Yanni met and fell in love.

My friend Ann insisted that I go with her to Newport for a Greek festival. I wasn’t feeling up to it, but I figured what the hell. Eventually, we were dancing, eating roasted lamb and baklava and playing roulette. After some wine, I was trying to do Greek line dancing when Yanni came out of nowhere and said: “You look like you want to dance, do you want me to show you how?”

Eventually I was able to follow along and appreciated his willingness to help. As we were talking, he mentioned how he was worried about his car because he had parked it illegally. I thought to myself, “Oh god, this guy is trying to pick me up and wants to show me his fancy car.” But when we got there, he walked toward a blue Honda Civic and I asked if that was his car. When he said “yes, why?” I figured I can trust him. We ended up going for a walk and got a drink at the Newport Marriott (now the Newport Hyatt). Looking out the windows at the water, Frank Sinatra was playing and Yanni asked if I wanted to dance. So we did and then he kissed me. Eventually, I had to go back to meet my friend and Yanni asked for my number.

Living in a strict Portuguese household, I would normally never give my number out, but I thought he was harmless and gave it to him. A few days went by and he finally called. He started taking me to concerts and festivals and we saw each other more and more. Although we spent a lot of time together, he was younger than I was and I kept trying to fix him up with younger friends, but he kept insisting that he was interested in me.

That winter, he asked if I wanted to go to Montreal for New Year’s. In order to go, I had to lie to my parents and told my mom I was going skiing with friends (which I ended up getting in big trouble for later). Yanni knew I loved Placido Domingo. On the drive home, going through snowy Vermont on a beautiful clear day, he stopped at a small plaza that had a record store. He asked me to wait in the car and returned with a Placido Domingo tape. We listened to it the whole drive home. I fell in love with him at that moment. He just did things that touched my heart.

Four years later, Yanni proposed, they got married in Newport, RI and the rest is history.

Now we want to hear your love story. Submissions should be sent to info@weddingstylemagazine.com about how you and your fiancé met and fell in love. They are due by Wednesday, February 9th and on Valentine’s Day the three most romantic and compelling stories will be selected as winners and will be announced on our website WeddingStyleMagazine.com Each of the three winners will receive a signed copy of Grace’s hardcover book: Grace Ormonde Weddings – “being in love never goes out of style.”

Additionally, for a limited time only, for all of you that are engaged or get engaged on Valentine’s Day, Grace Ormonde Weddings – “being in love never goes out of style.” will be available for a very special price of $89 February 7th-17th only. Visit www.graceormondestore.com to order your copy.

Stay tuned over the weeks to come to hear how Grace got started in this business, favorite photos, weddings and more. PS – the photo shown was taken quite some time ago by Cheryl Richards.