I Do!: Eileen Acker and Rick Rignola, formerly of Ronkonkoma

Eileen Acker and Rick Rignola didn’t fall in love in high school — but their siblings did.

The couple first met as students at Patchogue-Medford High School. Though they said they weren’t close back then, fate and family would eventually bring them together.

Years later, at a summer barbecue in July 2020 hosted by Acker’s brother, Joseph Zummo, and Rignola’s sister, Kaitlin Zummo, who are married, Acker and Rignola connected.

“At that party, something just clicked,” said Acker, 27.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, their early relationship wasn’t filled with dinners out or big dates. Instead, they took long walks, shared meals at home and watched sports together. The couple are “huge” Yankees and Islanders fans, Acker said.

All we really had to entertain ourselves was each other,” said Rignola, 28. “But it made us closer.”

They moved in together in 2021, and after a year in Ronkonkoma relocated to North Carolina, where they purchased their first home, in Charlotte, and now work as accountants.

Rignola proposed on Sept. 1, 2023, during a trip back to Long Island. After a romantic dinner, he popped the question at Pirate’s Cove in Port Jefferson, one of their favorite sunset spots.

“I tried to make it a surprise, but I parked right behind my sister’s car, so that gave it away,” Rignola recalled, laughing. “Still, she played along.”

The couple married on June 30, 2024, at Mary Immaculate Church in Bellport, with the reception at The Vineyards at Aquebogue, where the seating chart featured the names of baseball stadiums they’d visited together. Signature drinks were named after their pets: Masahiro and Lambeau, their golden retrievers, and Bear and Ellie, their cats.

“We wanted the vibe to be rustic but bougie,” Acker said.