Lauren & Willie met on Catalina Island, California where they lived & worked in paradise. Lauren, a south jersey native, moved out to Catalina in 2015 where she met her "new fish class" & awaited to meet the infamous mega phone W-I-L-L-I-E B-A-R-B-E-R who was at the time trapped at the Hartford, CT airport due to serious snow storms. Willie, a proud Rhode Island native, was an "old fish" who was assist in teaching Lauren's new fish class the ways of the island.

Willie had heard some scoop on the new fish and was told from a buddy that he was going to fall for Lauren. Willie did not think anything of it since it was to be his last season, but connected with Lauren right away & boy was he persistent on getting to know everything about her.

Willie & Lauren got to know each other very quickly. You couldn't hide a thing on the island! Feet in stales, sweat, dirt.. or Island Love. They had their first date paddle boarding to a local cove called 4th of July where they tied up their boards to a mooring chain & took time away from their Island family. Island love became much more then that pretty quickly.

Time was getting closer for Willie to leave the island where Lauren was to stay, so Willie took Lauren out to dinner in Avalon, CA where he told her he wanted to continue their relationship despite the distance. Willie even looked up where Lauren was from in NJ and said it was only a 4.5 hour drive to her home town so it wouldn't be that bad when she came home to visit! Lauren felt like this was the first proposal because in this moment she knew that they would do anything to make their relationship work and that Willie was truly the one for her.

Lauren made the move back to the east coast to live with Willie in little Rhode Island. Fast forward to 2017 when Willie decided to work with a local blacksmith to design the perfect ring for Lauren. Finally the finished product came on December 23rd, 2017 where he took her to a local farm to table restaurant, Matunuck Oyster Bar, & proposed with the perfectly crafted ring in a wooden box on a trey of oysters. She said Yes.. well obviously.. that why your reading this right?

Lauren & Willie are thrilled to be able to share their story on their special day and offer their guest a piece of how they felt when they first met. From the wonder of the island, to the excitement of the ferry ride over, to the love that Willie & Lauren are so grateful to share everyday. Here's to many more adventures and an amazing new new chapter to their story!!!!