#RealChicBride Nicole in Naeem Tells Us Her Story

The Photographer: Jonathan Connolly (www.jonathanconnolly.com)

The Venue: The Caribbean Resort in Islamorada

Florist: Floral Fantasy

Caterers: Construction Catering & Caribbean Catering

About Us:

Ian and I live in Brooklyn. Ian is a software engineer and I'm starting as a creative strategist at Facebook on Monday (woohoo!) before that I was an associate creative director at Genuine, a digital ad agency.

How We Met:

We met at Wall, the club at the W, on Super Bowl weekend in 2010. I was there with two of my best single (at the time) friends. A friend in New York needed "filler girls" for some celebrity-filled, brand-sponsored party so we happily obliged (Just setting the scene here! Haha). It was a very unlikely night to meet the man you're gonna marry.

So we're inside the club, and I decide to do a loser lap because - all sorts of famous people everywhere - and I bumped into Ian.

Ian was in town for the Super Bowl and was at Wall because his friend was the manager of the W.

Back then, when I'd meet a random guy at a club I'd speak Portuguese to them (the little I know from living in Brazil) just to mess with them. But...when we ran into each other, and I spoke to him in Portuguese - he responded in Portuguese! He's from Rhode Island and his mom is Portuguese, and had also lived in Brazil. This is why we went to Brazil on our honeymoon!

Anyway, we were making out within 10 minutes and speaking Portuguese to each other. Then his brother came up to us and said "Can I get you guys a drink?" And I said "You speak English?!". We got each other's numbers at the end of the night and he put his name in my phone as "Ian o meu amor possivel". We were so intense! And we've basically spoken on the phone every day since.

After we met I was leaving to New York for school in a couple weeks. We did long distance NYC to RI for a little while, and then I moved to Newport for the summer with him and well the rest is history!

The Dress: My experience with Naeem Khan was also pretty fortuitous. I Googled where to find his designs in Miami and he was having a trunk show at Chic Parisien that day! So, I rushed over with my mom and I fell in love with the dress almost as quickly as I did with my husband. Cheesy, I know! But I know a good thing when I see it!

How amazing is this picture of Ian getting a first look at Nicole? Swoon!

All images by the very talented Jonathan Connolly (www.jonathanconnolly.com).