She was over dating. Then she looked up and saw him. Cue the wedding bells

Caroline Meadows Campbell

& Lt. David Galluch

July 28, 2018

THE INTRODUCTION: Caroline Campbell of Delaware and David Galluch of Buffalo, New York, met in the Washington, D.C., restaurant District Commons in November 2015. Caroline had just returned from the funeral for an aunt, and her roommate Peyton Knisley suggested they go out to eat to cheer Caroline up. Caroline didn't want to go, but Peyton insisted. During dinner, Caroline was telling Peyton she was not interested in dating any more until she could find the kind of long-lasting, best friend type of relationship her grandparents had. She looked up to see a confident, attractive guy coming their way. He had an ear-to-ear grin that reminded her of the one her late grandfather James Meadows got when he was playing tricks on her grandma Margaret. “Hey, I’m Dave,” he said to her. She was impressed. No cheesy line. She didn't know that as soon as he saw her, he had told his friends, "She's the one." Caroline and Dave didn't stop talking for hours. Caroline, a University of Delaware graduate, was working for a physical therapy company doing business development. Dave was in the Navy, working in explosive ordinance disposal and stationed in Virginia Beach. He walked her back to her house. When he left, she told her roommates she thought she'd just met "the one."

THE FIRST DATE: Dave was scheduled to immediately go on a two-week work trip. When he returned, he took her back to District Commons. After dinner, they went to her apartment and he met her other roommate, Alyssa Banks. Caroline found Dave charming, funny and easy to talk to. She felt like she'd known him for years.

THE FIRST KISS: They kissed in the lobby of her apartment building after dinner on that date. He was deployed for six months in January, and they spent most of their relationship apart, relying on phone calls, texts and Facetime to get to know each other. They even wrote letters. "While it was a pain at times, we grew together and learned about each other in a different way than most," Caroline says. By the time he was headed home, she had decided to move to Virginia Beach. The relationship blossomed from there. They developed a routine that included watching their favorite television shows, "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation," especially after a tough day. She loved that he cared about her family and understood she wanted to spend time with them. He loved that she was athletic and as driven as he was. He told her she had the biggest heart of anyone he'd ever known. By September, he was telling her parents he wanted to marry her. 

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THE PROPOSAL: By December 2016, Caroline suspected that a proposal might be coming. Dave had asked her what kind of ring she would like. That month, she had gone to Buffalo to meet some of his relatives and told him she'd always wanted to go to Niagara Falls. That amused him, because he'd grown up 10 miles from there. On Dec. 28, they headed there with his mom. Caroline didn't know mom had a job: She was to stage a place for a picture and cue Dave to tie his shoe. They were standing at a fence overlooking the American falls  when mom told Dave his shoes needed tying. When he bent over, Caroline tried to corral her hair, which had been whipped around on the windy day. When she turned around, Dave was down on one knee with that same grin from the day they met. “Caroline Campbell, will you marry me?” he said. She was surprised and blurted out, “Yes! Oh my goodness. Are you serious?! Yes!” 

THE CEREMONY: They married July 28, 2018, at Immanuel Church in Wilmington. During the ceremony, after her dad handed her off to Dave, the couple tried to proceed up the stairs, but couldn't. Caroline's dress was so big it took her, two bridesmaids and Dave to lift the front so she could walk up the four steps. Dave and his active military groomsmen wore their dress white uniforms, while the bridesmaids and guests — as requested — wore black. Caroline's grandmother, Carol Campbell, and Dave's aunt, Veronica Rockwitz, did the readings. The couple left the ceremony under a sword arch. 

THE DRESSES: The bride ended up with three dresses. The ceremony gown from David's Bridal was a strapless Vera Wang ball gown with a slight sweetheart neckline, seven layers of tulle and a light, summery fabric for the skirt that flowed into a train. She wanted to make a statement when the church doors opened, and she did. Her second dress, which she first thought she might wear for the ceremony was a sleek, low-back, simple ivory dress by Essence of Australia from Bride and Grooms in Newark. She loved its low back and buttons to the end of the train. Instead, she wore it for the state of the reception, and her first dance. The third was a fully beaded form-fitting V-neck gown, with 4 straps that crossed along the open back. She wore that for dancing, cake cutting and mingling with her guests.

SOMETHING OLD: She pinned to her bouquet a silver crown pin that was given to her mother when her mom was crowned Miss West Virginia in the 1970s. 

SOMETHING NEW: Her dress.

SOMETHING BORROWED: A palm tree charm from a vacation to the Grand Cayman Islands, borrowed from her mom and pinned to her bouquet. 

SOMETHING BLUE: A sapphire ring she wears every day that was given to her on her 21st birthday by her grandmother Margaret.

THE RECEPTION: The reception was held at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark. The bridal couple picked it partly because they wanted an outdoor-indoor feel, and they got that with the floor-to-ceiling windows in the ballroom, without having to suffer the heat in July. They chose a gold, ivory and blush color scheme. Their 3 1/2 -foot tall centerpieces from Wild Thyme featured white lilies, pink cabbage roses, white hydrangeas and vibrant greens that overflowed above the tables. In one corner of the room, they a hung a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag in honor of the room and Navy guests. The crowd crowed when her dad's speech included applauding David for his 28 years of loyalty to a consistently failing football team, the Buffalo Bills.

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THE MOST POPULAR GIFT: The couple received more than 30 wine glasses and champagne flutes. "I don't know why," says the bride, whose honeymoon took her to the Napa Valley wine country in California. "But we're not mad about it."

THE MOST SENTIMENTAL GIFTS: Their gifts to each other. She gave avid reader David a personalized book embosser that says "Belongs to the library of Lt. David Galluch," as well as sterling silver anchor cufflinks. Dave gave Caroline a gold Swarovski crystal picture frame with a drawing of two stick figures depicting them on their wedding day.

THE HONEYMOON: They spent a week in the Napa Valley, visiting seven wineries, including Luna, Sterling and Cakebread, where they joined the wine club. They were among the first visitors to the Vista Collina Resort in Napa, which opened the week of their arrival. They'd like to retire there.

THE FAMILY TREE: Caroline is the daughter of Ivy and Mike Campbell of Hockessin. David is the son of Maria Galluch of Hamburg, New York.

WHAT'S NEXT: Caroline and David live in Virginia Beach with their 10-month-old corgi named Petunia. Caroline, who attended Tower Hill and studied exercise physiology, Spanish and biology at UD, is a physician liaison for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. She's also a fitness instructor for SUP Barre and would one day like to form her own fitness company. David, who has a master's degree in economics from Cambridge University, plans to leave the Navy in 2019 and hopes to build a career in private equity or venture capital. 

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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, (844) 544-1619.