Molly and Jeremy went to high school together, but they were a year apart so they didn’t really know each other. They had a mutual friends who dated, so when Molly moved to Boston after finishing college, Jeremy was there in his senior year at Suffolk. They ran into each other at the most romantic of places—the liquor store between their apartments. Their first real date was in February of 2012. Jeremy had very little extra cash because he was in school and working restaurant jobs, but still wanted to take Molly out.
He knew she had an abnormal infatuation with libraries (she was an English Literature major in college), so he dropped off flowers at Molly’s office with a note saying, “Meet me at Copley at 6. —Winston,” which is a reference to 1984, one of Molly’s favorite books. Molly met him at Copley, and he brought her to the Boston Public Library, pulled out two prepackaged dinners from the grocery store, and led her to a dimly lit and uninhabited corner where they drank cheap champagne and enjoyed our dinner and each other’s company. The rest, as they say, is history!
Give us the details! When? Where? How?
Jeremy proposed on February 20th 2016 in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library, right near where we had our first date. He told me that the sales team at work had surpassed their goals for the last quarter of 2015, and that they were having a party for them to celebrate at the Copley Marriott (right near the library in Boston). This was where they had their Christmas Party every year, so I didn’t think anything of it. We had a relatively normal morning—it was a rare 60 degree day in the middle of February so we had gone for a hike—and Jeremy was very calm and collected.
Sara Bawtinheimer
We got home and got ready to go to the party. Jeremy was sort of rushing me to get ready (a very normal thing because though it takes me minimal time to look presentable, I have been known to change my outfit dozens of times before leaving the house), stating that he wanted to meet coworkers for a drink before the party. I later learned that while I was texting my friends mirror selfies, he was texting them, telling them to get me to COMMIT TO A SWEATER so we could get where we needed to be on time. (They knew for weeks before which, to be honest, was one of the more impressive parts of this whole surprise.) We get to Copley and Jeremy tells our Uber driver to let us out in front of the library, and tells me we were a little early and asked if I wanted to take a walk in the courtyard because it was so nice out.
We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives, so the best part is knowing that no matter what we put together, all of the people we love the most in the world are going to be there to enjoy it with us. It has been so humbling and blissful having others share in excitement for us. We are so lucky!
Sara Bawtinheimer
Even though I am normally a very difficult human I obliged, likely because my shoes were relatively comfortable and, as I mentioned, I love being in libraries. We get into the courtyard and it is surprisingly filled with at least 100 people, a circumstance Jeremy had not anticipated because it was February, but due to the warm weather, everyone wanted to be outside. We nervously paced around—at this point Jeremy had gotten squirrely—until we got to a statue and Jeremy insisted I take a solo photo in front of the statue. I was obviously very confused because we live in Boston, so this made no sense. But there were too many people around us to resist (and I was also wearing these cool pants that were covered in sequins and thought that it would have been a shame if they weren’t memorialized forever on Instagram).
Sara Bawtinheimer
I stand in front of the statue, and Jeremy tells me I need to get closer, so I turn around (not without first rolling my eyes of course), walk closer to the statue, and when I turned back around, he was on one knee. He told me he was the luckiest man in the world, and asked me if I would make him the happiest man in the world and be his wife. This was relayed to me later—they aren’t kidding when they say you black out at that moment. I basically liquefied and said of course yes!
We went to a fancy little bar and drank champagne where I tried to tell everyone within earshot we had just gotten engaged and nobody seemed to care. After we headed to dinner at our favorite special occasion restaurant. We came home to an apartment decorated by my best friends, complete with confetti, champagne, and a cake decorated to look like a pizza, and then later went to meet all our pals at our favorite dive bar. It was just the best night—so special and silly and fun and carefully curated to be the perfect amalgamation of all things us!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives, so the best part is knowing that no matter what we put together, all of the people we love the most in the world are going to be there to enjoy it with us. It has been so humbling and blissful having others share in excitement for us. We are so lucky!
Sara Bawtinheimer
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Though Jeremy and I are opposites on just about everything else, we have been completely on the same page about most things concerning our wedding. It also helps that there are SO many tools and resources out there to make wedding planning easier, and to encourage couples to do what is right for them. Also, wine.
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It all works together SO seamlessly. Adding our Zola registry on there was a piece of cake. Linking to area hotels was so simple. Switching up the pictures was a snap. Everything has been so simple! I am relatively tech savvy (Jeremy would not agree with this) but also very impatient and I didn’t scream at my computer once! There are so many things to do and prepare for your wedding, this is just one less thing to worry about.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Do just that—use it to its fullest potential! You can throw day of schedules on there so nobody is texting you when they don’t know where to go because they were sipping champagne when important announcements were being given. You can have people RSVP online because what even IS snail mail, anyways. It’s all right there so use it!
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
Having a party with all your friends and family is the best—what’s not to enjoy? But the things that have gotten us through the stressors of wedding planning are the things that will strengthen our marriage. We always make it a point to focus on us, and most importantly, just to laugh. Life, much like planning a wedding, is full of unpredictable ups and downs (like, for example, who would have known that registering for a blender that you hope to pass on to your future children as my mom did to me would be such an emotionally tumultuous event) but if you can’t laugh at it then everything is just going to end up feeling heavy. We try to find joy as much as possible, both in and out of planning a wedding!
Sara Bawtinheimer
P.s. You can see their entire engagement photo shoot here! xo
