This bride had a crush on groom since second grade; he didn't notice until after college
Betsy Price
Ruslana Belokopyty and Jon Blum
Oct. 21, 2017
THE INTRODUCTION: Ruslana Belokopyty and Jon Blum met in second grade at Brandywood Elementary in North Wilmington. Neither recalls the exact moment, but they remember playing at recess, walking through the halls together and standing in the back row during a choir performance because they were taller than the rest of the class. They remained friends throughout classes at Burnett, P.S. du Pont and Hanby middle schools and then Concord High School. They were in the same class in sixth, ninth and 11th grade. Ruslana said she always had a crush on Jon. He was clueless. "I vividly remember her calling my house in sixth grade and I wondered why she was annoying me," Jon says. He almost got the message In ninth grade while they were studying "Romeo and Juliet." The class was asked to describe what they would look for in a dream partner. Ruslana said "over six feet tall" (check), curly-haired (check), longtime friend (check) and funny (check). Jon turned to his friend Steve Castellani and said he thought she was talking about him. "She's way out of your league," Steve told him. She was sending a message, but after that Jon never pursued her in high school, even though they talked and flirted in homeroom each morning and won "most gullible" in their senior high school yearbook. Ruslana headed to the University of Delaware to study human services and Jon to Seton Hall in New Jersey to study sports management, and then switched to UD, where he majored in finance. They lost touch, although they'd glimpse each other occasionally at a party. After college, Jon started working at BlackRock, a finance company, and was living in Trolley Square. Ruslana earned her master's in education at Wilmington University and was working as a school counselor. Then on Nov. 7, 2014, Jackie Stein, a mutual friend since second grade, invited Ruslana and some of their girlfriends to meet her at Kelly's Logan House. Jackie also invited Jon and some of his friends to meet the women later in the evening. Ruslana and Jon ended up talking all night and exchanged phone numbers.
He knew she was the one, she couldn't remember what he looked like
THE FIRST DATE: Jon and some of his friends were planning to go out the next Saturday, Nov. 14, 2014, which was his birthday, for dinner at P.J. Whelihans Pub + Restaurant in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and to see the movie "Dumb and Dumber To." He thought Ruslana would enjoy the outing and going in a group would make it less awkward. They all had a great time.
THE FIRST KISS: When Jon walked Ruslana to her car after the movie, he gave her a few pecks goodnight, even with his friends nearby. "I tried to be discreet about it," he says. From then on, they were nearly inseparable. He had already signed a lease for an apartment in Philadelphia, so they spent 2015 taking turns visiting each other on weekends. The next year, they decided to live together in Rockford Park Condos. When that lease was up, they bought a house together in North Wilmington. "Everything was so simple and easy and just fit right with him," Ruslana says. They had 10 years of youthful friendship as a base for their relationship. Both liked that the other was sweet and kind, not only to each other, but to others. Both believed the other would make a wonderful parent.
Any ring will do, she said. He gave her one off a cupcake. Try again, she said.
THE PROPOSAL: By May 2017, Jon and his mother had gone to a jeweler in New Jersey so Jon could design the ring he wanted. It would have a diamond nestled between two roses, because Ruslana had told him his last name translated to "professional gardener," and he knew she loved flowers and gardening. Jon knew where he wanted to propose, a bridge overlooking the Brandywine Creek in Alapocas Run State Park, and he had a plan. One Saturday when she had to work, he drove to New Jersey to finish paying for the ring and arrange for its delivery. Then he spent the rest of the day making a book into which he photoshopped all of their yearbook photos since fourth grade. It was easy because with the names Belokopyty and Blum, they were always on the same yearbook page. He included photos of them dating and put in a special last page. He had just managed to hide the finished product when she walked in. "What have you been doing all day," she asked. Just laying around, he told her, and she fussed at him for not doing more. Then on May 17, she was having a bad day at work. Jon offered to take a half day off and go for a bicycle ride to their spot in the park. When they got to the bridge, he told her had something for her. She opened the book and started leafing through it. Slowly. "Oh, I remember that shirt I wore in fourth grade" and "I remember that hair cut in sixth grade," she commented. He had to fight himself not to tell her to speed it up. Finally, she got to his message: "Will you stay on the same page as me for the rest of our lives?" and as she did, he dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. Ruslana was stunned, and said yes.
THE CEREMONY: They married on the terrace at White Clay Creek Country Club on Oct. 21, 2017. They wanted to have both the wedding and reception at the same place, and loved the club's look and prices, and so did his mom and her father. Ruslana surprised Jon at the rehearsal dinner with a custom Philadelphia Eagles football that congratulated them on becoming the Blums. It was special to Jon because his family has had season's tickets since 1980, and they have been passed to him and Ruslana. Jon asked Steve Castellani, who had told him Ruslana was out of his league, to be best man. The couple decided to use her mother's and his father's wedding rings. Her mother had died in July 2012 after battling ovarian cancer, and Jon's father had died in October 2013 from heart disease. The guests got a good laugh when ring bearer Joey, the son of Jon's sister Jessica, grabbed the hand of flower girl Danika, who is the daughter of Jon's uncle and aunt Donald and Nazika Kneitel, and ran down the aisle instead of strolling. And, you would never know that Jon has the curly hair Ruslana has loved so long, because he now keeps his hair closely cut and gelled.
THE DRESS: Ruslana's father went with her to try on wedding dresses. She has always loved the gown that Belle wore in Disney's "Beauty and The Beast" and took a photo to show the staff at Demetrio's In Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Her dad helped pick out a few. When she put on the gown she wore in the wedding, he said, "Ruslana, this is it." A man who does not like to show his feelings, he got a little teary. "It was a special moment," she says. She wore a white and ivory gown that featured a fitted ruched bodice and full ballroom gown skirt made of layers of tulle ruffles edged with satin ribbon. The shop added tulle sleeves to the strapless gown to mimic those of Belle's dress.
SOMETHING OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE: Ruslana wore a bridal pin under her dress that held a sixpence coin for something old, with the pin itself as something new, a pearl for something borrowed and a blue crystal heart for something blue.
THE RECEPTION: Guests went upstairs for the reception, where they were greeted by decor of gold and red and a dinner of crab cakes or filet mignon. The newlyweds decorated their sweetheart table with Ruslana’s mother's red and gold china from Ukraine and candelabra like "Beauty and the Beast." They also used Jon's father's tallis, the shawl Jewish men wear around their shoulders, to symbolize how he would always surround their life with laughter and love. The bridal couple drank a bottle of Wedding Wine, which her parents had been saving for 10 years since buying it on a trip to Israel. It had been blessed by a rabbi there who told them to have their daughter drink it at her wedding, and she would have a blessed wedding and marriage. The best man and matrons of honor gave hilarious speeches, especially Jon's sister Jessica, who wrote a rap to the theme song of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and performed it complete with sunglasses.
THE MOST POPULAR GIFT: Money. Ruslana’s family is from Ukraine and it is customary to give the couple cash at the wedding.
THE MOST SENTIMENTAL GIFT: Their wedding and honeymoon, a gift from their parents.
THE HONEYMOON: The couple went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, where they stayed at Karisma Seaside Suites. Their fourth-floor suite had a swim up pool on the balcony overlooking the ocean. They swam with dolphins, swam/snorkeled in cenotes, which are natural pits or sinkholes, and played golf at El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Club.
THE FAMILY TREE: The bride is the daughter of Alexander Belokopyty of Wilmington and the late Olga Belokopyty. The groom is the son of Laurie Blum of Hockessin and the late Alan Blum.
WHAT'S NEXT: Jon and Ruslana continue to live in the house they bought, which is near Concord High School where both graduated. Jon is approaching five years of working at BlackRock. Ruslana is caring for her grandmother. They plan to stay in North Wilmington near friends and family and to someday fill the house with kids of their own.
He called her his wife long before their first date
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