Her engagement ring arrived with fur, four claws

THE INTRODUCTION: Victoria Lynne Corrigan and Travis James Smith met through a mutual friend in June 2008. This friend gave Victoria’s number to Travis, and he called her. Victoria was 15 and a sophomore at St. Elizabeth’s, living with her parents in Wilmington. He was 17, working as a maintenance technician in Newark and living with his mom in Bear. They talked for three months on the phone without meeting. Finally, the friend stepped back in and insisted on setting up a movie date in October 2008.

THE FIRST DATE: The friend accompanied Victoria to the Movies 10 to see “W.,” and Travis was dropped off there. They all sat together. Victoria thought Travis was really cute, but he was unsure about her, mostly because she was wearing a Steelers jersey and he is an Eagles fan.

THE FIRST KISS: They kissed in the parking lot after the movie, right in front of their friend. “It was a little peck. It wasn’t anything crazy,” Victoria says. Neither ever dated anyone else. For most of the next year, they met at the movies every weekend. By Nov. 7, he asked her to be his girlfriend. She told him she needed to think about it, but that night called him and said yes. As time went on, one of her parents would drive her to his house on one weekend day, and on the other, his mother would drive him to Victoria’s house to spend the day. After she had graduated from high school, he got an apartment and they began hanging out there. She went to Paul Mitchell cosmetology school, graduating in fall of 2012, and they moved in together in late 2012. She expected to marry him, but they never really talked about it.

THE PROPOSAL: In early February, Victoria was upset because her grandfather, Louis Papili, had died. To cheer her up, Travis surprised her Feb. 7 with a kitten they named Pip, because people commonly called her grandfather Mr. Pip. Valentine’s Day came and went. But on Feb. 21, Travis disappeared in the bedroom with Pip. Victoria Lynne was sitting in the living room when the cat came bounding over to her – with a ring on his collar. She was stunned and excited. She had no idea Travis had bought a ring. Before she would say yes, she demanded to know, “Did you ask my dad?” He had. She called her mother at 11:30 p.m., who in turn demanded to know, “Are you joking?” When Victoria assured her that she wasn’t, her parents were just as excited as she was.

THE CEREMONY: They married Nov. 7 at St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington. Victoria had been baptized there, had First Communion there and was confirmed there. Her great-grandfather helped build the church. Her mom grew up on St. Elizabeth Street and her dad grew up in Cleveland Heights near the church. But they nearly had a blackout wedding. A transformer at the church blew that day, knocking out all the power. Fortunately, her uncle Paul Papili is a maintenance guy at the church, and he called for help and got a generator up and running. Victoria’s favorite color is lime green, and she wore shoes that color with her wedding dress.

THE DRESS: Victoria’s strapless gown featured crystal embellishments under the bust with material gathered to side, ending in a bow below the right hip. The skirt had a short train. She bought it at David’s Bridal. A friend of Victoria’s took the last photo that Victoria had taken of her grandfather, put it on fabric, surrounded it by pearls in a heart shape and sewed it into dress so he could attend, too.

SOMETHING OLD: Diamond and gold earrings and a diamond necklace that Travis gave her for her 21st birthday.

SOMETHING NEW: Her dress.

SOMETHING BORROWED: Her grandfather’s wedding band.

SOMETHING BLUE: Her grandmother Dolly Papili’s sapphire ring.

THE RECEPTION: Their reception took place at the church hall, where Victoria had celebrated many events and also where she had eaten lunch at school for years. Their cake toppers were a bride, groom, pit bull and cat to represent them and their pets. The groomsmen all changed into lime green Chuck Taylors bought for them by the bride for the reception and the groom changed into gray ones. The wedding party wore lime green sunglasses for the introductions. The funniest moments came during the dollar dance, a tradition that the couple had never heard of, but an older friend of Travis’s insisted they had to do. During it, the couple went out on the dance floor, and guests came up to dance with them, paying them for the privilege with $5, $10 and $20 bills. They ended up with $300, and the bride and groom decided it was a tradition they liked.

THE MOST POPULAR GIFTS: Christmas tree ornaments, with many of them personalized to say it was their first Christmas.

THE MOST SENTIMENTAL GIFT: A musical snow globe with a bride and groom inside.

THE HONEYMOON: They went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they found two restaurants that had the name Louie in it, just like her grandfather, so they ate there. They enjoyed the sun, beach and jet skiiing.

FAMILY TREE: The bride is the daughter of Marie Papili and Barry Corrigan of Wilmington; The groom is the son of Dawn Smith of Wilmington.

WHAT’S NEXT: The couple bought a house Cleveland Heights on New Year’s Eve, just down from where Victoria’s father grew up. They live there with Pip and a rescue bulldog named Zoey. Victoria is a hair dresser at Bella Locks salon in Elsmere and the groom is a maintenance technician in Newark. They plan to wait a few years for kids. She laughs now about making Travis wait before she would agree to be his girlfriend and muses, “If you asked me seven years ago if I would still be with him today, I probably would have told you no.”

To have your ceremony considered for this feature, you must fill out a questionnaire and send us a photo. Please email Sundaylife@delaware online.com or call (302) 324-2884 for a form. This is a free service, and we cannot guarantee a specific ceremony will be chosen. Couples also may have their ceremonies appear in Celebrations, (302) 324-2781.