Let me give you a bit of a timeline here. I was in my senior year of high school and Savannah was just starting her freshman year at Penn State, so late 2015. I was so sad Savvy left me in Colorado so we shared very frequent phone calls. She was moving into her new dorm room and was introducing me to her new roommates as she settled into her college life. She mentioned to me that there was a cute boy who lived in the same building as her. Just for reference, Savvy was never afraid of what people thought of her, she had the guts and confidence most people would dream of and she never showed shame. As she was moving around furniture in her new room (which she could have totally done by herself) she decided to take a risk and go ask the cute boy upstairs to help with that “oh so heavy furniture”. She went right up to the door and asked Johnny for help, not knowing just a few years later they would say “I do”.

I knew right away as their relationship developed that Johnny was very important to her. It wasn’t until the night I was woken up at 2am that I knew Johnny was the one for her. Like I said before, Savvy and I shared frequency phone calls. On this particular night before I went to sleep, Savvy and I were on the phone just talking about how Savvy had some really bad stomach cramps. I actually recall her telling me “I’m either going to get my period, or I have some insane gas”, but we brushed it off and said goodnight. When my phone rang at 2am later that night and I saw it was Savvy, I immediately answered, Savvy was explaining to me that she went to the ER and her appendix was about to burst and that she was going into emergency surgery. I was terrified and worried, I didn't want her to be alone and there was nothing I could do from so far away. That’s when Johnny stepped up. He went back to her room and got all the things she needed after surgery and helped her every step of the way through her recovery. It was during that hard time that Johnny really showed his true colors, they were colors of love and compassion for Savvy. From that point on, he was someone who would love her and care for her the way I do, the way her family does, and he has done nothing but that for the last six years. I know there will be a lifetime of love and happiness between the two of them.

So if you’re anything like me, you don’t know a whole lot about football. But then again, neither did Johnny his freshman year at Penn State. He knew futbol, but the knowledge didn’t transfer. Fortunately, he had expert Savvy to teach him the ins and outs of the beloved American game. But even if you don’t know anything about the sport, nothing beats the excitement of a roaring crowd in Beaver Stadium where Johnny and Savvy were always there to cheer for the traditional game day question, “ARE YOU READY FOR PENN STATE FOOTBALL!?” Now you see, I am the lamest of the bridesmaids who only stayed for the Blueband and then called it quits; something Johnny and Savvy wouldn’t be caught dead doing. The two always stayed until the very end when the final alma mater was sung; friends in their arms and a smile on their faces after another fun filled gameday.

But a historic event where this true fan grit paid off for the two was in 2016 when Penn State had a whiteout game against arch rival Ohio State. Let me paint the scene. Picture this: freezing, the student section huddled for warmth and all you can see is the breath of shouting fans, the weak leaving the game with lost hope thinking that Penn State couldn’t manage a comeback. Big mistake. With the most amazing win of all time, the bellowing crowd, including Savvy and Johnny came running down the stands. A swarm of white made an avalanche to the field where Savvy cried on the phone to her mother, “I am on Johnny’s shoulders on the field and this is the happiest day of my life!” (Hopefully we can change that with her wedding day, but this win will always be a close second). After that, the student body rushed to Beaver Ave. downtown to riot...I mean...uh… “kindly fill the streets with harmonious cheer.” But let’s be real, a bunch of hyped up college kids...you do the math.

I’ll admit, it’s hard to not have this much energy after such a fun day though. It starts with tailgating as early as 6 am! Which mind you, Johnny and Savvy are the King and Queen of tailgating. If you can’t find the tailgate, your best bet is to just look for Savvy on top of Johnny’s shoulders, it’s a little easier than “it’s by the Penn State flag.” (So helpful). So once you find Savvy high in the air, don’t bother challenging her to a shotgun, you will lose. However, challenge Savvy and Johnny to find the best snacks, and they will always have your back. They know all the hot spots where parents have the most glorious spread of food that a tailgater could dream of, and once you were filled up, it was time to head into the stadium! Now I don’t know where you went to school, but at Penn State, we have some football traditions that the two loved to take part in; the most popular being looking around at what appeared to be a popping popcorn of students getting tossed in the air after a touchdown. Savvy, as an experienced back spot from cheerleading, knew exactly how to make sure her friends went the highest in the crowd, and after a day of throwing friends, cheering as loud as you can, and enduring the emotional rollercoaster of being a second half team, Savvy and Johnny would go home to rest and meet you at Champs because well, the good times never ended when you went to Penn State, especially with Johnny and Savvy.

“GET OUT OF THE BIKE LANE!!” the man shrieked as his two-wheeler raced towards Mr. Moscon but Johnny was unfazed, for the moment had arrived. The Brooklyn bridge glittered during the Golden Hour with the full lightshow of Manhattan’s skyline illuminating the backdrop behind the couple as if the heavens themselves decided to put on a show. Bending the left knee Johnny reached into his overcoat and pulled out a small velvet box. It was time...

The Proposal of Savannah & Johnny is a story that epitomizes the relationship that preceded it. I remember the first time that Johnny pulled me aside to show off the ring. The nervous excitement about what laid before him and the love that drove him. On the day Savvy was blissfully unaware or (more likely) she is an excellent actor; the jury is still out. The Sunday started with crisp winter air and a brunch of such quality that can only be found in Manhattan. A mimosa (or three) was thought to help calm a man about to face the indescribable. The bubblé didn’t work; Johnny’s knee was shaking so vigorously that it left ripples in the Hudson River, but the food was rich and spirits were high. To burn off some calories, a walk on the bridge was the natural progression for what was turning into an especially nice day. Having hailed a taxi Johnny ushered the group into the bright yellow cab and mouthed instructions, but his nerves had gotten the better of him. We had arrived at the wrong bridge! The Williamsburg Bridge is not what Johnny had in mind, only furthered by the banging of the subway adjoined. The Brooklyn Bridge on the other hand is a brilliant feat of 19th-century engineering, a beautiful suspension bridge that overlooks the World Trade Center and the iconic downtown skyline. With finesse Johnny procured an uber and the correction was made. With pursed lips and heartbeats so loud you could hear them bouncing about the car we made it to the bridge. The setting looked like a Bob Ross painting. Arm in arm Johnny and Savvy walked in unison to the center of the bridge. You could feel the joy hanging in the air.

A courageous Johnny took the lead, bent the knee, and asked for Savannah’s hand. The culmination of all that had come before met all that lay ahead. The path of two becoming one has begun.

What a wild story! Savannah and Johnny got married on Friday the 13th, the last weekend before our world got turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic... and boy did we go out with a bang! After a nice courthouse wedding officiated by the lovely Judge Judy, Sav and Johnny went out to celebrate with family at Iron Hill Brewery in downtown Hershey, and they invited my fiancé and I along! After some drinks we decided to head over to Primanti Bros, fondly known by us Penn Staters as “P‘ mans” to continue a pleasant night. But as any Penn Stater knows, a big night out at a place like P’ mans only calls for a sh*t show to follow. We had some drinks and continued to celebrate, dancing the night away. As the night continued, and several glasses were dropped and broken (why they kept giving us glass is still a mystery), Savannah decided to give her purse and keys to her parents, thinking this was the responsible choice. At closing time, we finally decided to head home, a few hours after Sav’s parents called it a night. My fiancé and I got all the way home and realized we left our apartment keys at Sav and Johnny’s place, so we had our Uber driver turn around and take us there. We pulled up only to see Sav hanging over her second-floor balcony railing with Johnny hoisting her up. Yup you guessed it... they were locked out too, despite the ~responsible~ decision to not be drunkenly in charge of the keys! Sav decided to climb up to her balcony because she always leaves her sliding glass door unlocked, but of course, being the caring and concerned dad Mr. Marshall is... he locked it before we left! But, of course, drunken 24-year old men are invincible so Forest and Johnny both left to go retrieve the keys from her parents hotel room. However, as invincible as they might be, they are not good at communication, so they were both unaware that the other was going to get the keys as they took off in different directions! Phones dead and parents asleep and unaware of the young men running to their hotel, chaos ensues. Johnny gets lost and Forest gets to the keys first leaving Johnny very confused when he finally arrives at the hotel. Finally, Johnny returns empty handed, and Forest is MIA. With our uber still waiting, Forest had to take his time coming home, possibly due to the amount of alcohol consumed followed by a 3am sprint. Finally, Forest returned with the keys and we got into Sav and Johnny’s apartment and everyone made it home safely. Little did we know this would be the last weekend we would be able to go out as just a few days later the country went into a pandemic lockdown. There is no one I would have rather spent my last weekend with!

Savannah and Johnny’s courtroom wedding really didn’t warrant a honeymoon, but the world had its own plans and suddenly decided to go into Covid lockdown. Being the optimists they are, Sav and Johnny made the most of the work-from-home situation and, looking back, this really was their “honeymoon” – starting their marriage off in a way they never would have predicted. I guess everyone’s honeymoon is memorable, but theirs included an impromptu trip to Colorado which lasted much longer than planned, an excessive volume of shots and white claws, and a spontaneous purchase of a classic car. Although the actual wedding celebration is yet to come, one of the craziest parts of the story is how events played out right after they got married, so here is a brief glimpse of how the pandemic turned out to be a lucky event for the couple.

At the time, Sav was working on her Ph.D. in Hershey and Johnny was working as a trader in Manhattan. They expected that they would not be able to start their marriage living together, but then Covid came along and helped them out. Johnny had only planned to be in Hershey for a short time to get married, so he only brought about 4 days-worth of clothes. However, after the wedding, driving back across state lines became questionable due to the quickly evolving travel regulations, so he decided to stay in Hershey. As work from home orders kept being extended (a few days at a time - how ignorant we all were at the time!), they decided to ride out the quarantine in Colorado. Arguably, one’s hometown is not a traditional honeymoon destination, but they were happy to be anywhere outside of the 900 square foot box they were stuck in.

We all remember adjusting to the “new normal” of isolation, but for the Marshalls, this included hearing Jeff (Sav’s dad) yell “SHOTS” daily (maybe hourly…), and yes, we had to comply. In addition, our well-planned grocery schedule helped us realize we were averaging about a case of white claws a day. Sav and Johnny really couldn’t complain about their quarantine, spending the evenings in the hot tub after work every day.

Perhaps luckiest of all for the couple was the decision to expand their family by bringing in a little shih tzu puppy right before the chaos of the pandemic. For those of you who haven’t met Toby, he is not your typical ‘prince’ shih tzu who runs the household. Toby is a “wildcard” shih tzu, making him fit perfectly into the family dynamic. Just recently, he found himself hiking in Colorado, scaling the tallest of rocks as if he were a border collie, and jumping into any body of water that he could find. Needless to say, Toby definitely made the quarantine more enjoyable.

During their time in Colorado, another crazy opportunity came up - Sav and Johnny decided to expand their “family” yet again with the purchase of a 1972 Buick Skylark named Sandy. This became their passion project during the pandemic when they made the BOLD decision to paint it. They knew it would be a lot of work, but that burden was doubled by the last-minute decision to change the color from, well, sandy, to bright red, adding about a hundred more hours to the project. However, with a ton of help from Sav’s dad, they pulled it off and are proud to say they will never paint a car again.

It’s safe to say that the beginning months of their marriage were anything but conventional. However, even in spite of Covid, their time in quarantine was spent with lots of fun and laughs with family, as well as a 2-week visit in CO by their friends, Noelle and Ian, who also needed a respite from the city. We’ll all never forget (or possibly never remember) the night Mom’s margaritas made an appearance. It gave us an opportunity to thoroughly haze Johnny into the Marshall family. Now they can look forward to all the memories yet to come as they spend their lives together!