I Do!: Gabrielle Alexis and Ryan Michel, of Parsippany, were wed at the Bourne Mansion

Gabrielle Alexis began working as a mental health technician at Morristown Medical Center in northern New Jersey in November 2016, unaware that it would also mark the beginning of a love story with her now husband, Ryan Michel. Wearing a maroon faux fur vest and riding boots, “the new girl” instantly caught the attention of Michel, a co-worker at the time.

“We started texting and that’s when it hit off and when we found out we had a lot in common,” said Michel, 36. “We grew up the same.”

Four years later the couple moved in together, and in another two, they were engaged.

Sensing that Alexis, 30, was ready to take the next step, Michel purchased the ring in July 2022 and received her mother’s approval. He proposed, surrounded by their loved ones, at The Suite Spot, an event venue in South Orange, New Jersey, on November 13, 2022, exactly six years since they had met.

“I got on one knee and I’m crying, I could barely hear myself talk. I just remember saying … will you be my perfect mate?” Michel recalled. “I was trembling.”

The engagement lasted over two years, time that Alexis spent meticulously planning for the big day. “I was pretty neurotic from start to end,” she said. “I probably messaged over 80 venues between New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.”

Captivated by the long driveway and beautiful architecture, the couple chose Bourne Mansion in Oakdale.

They were married on March 28, with 148 guests in attendance.

“One of the things that we realized at this wedding was that we can tackle anything,” Michel said. “We didn’t expect to spend as much as we did for a wedding, but we did, and it was out of our pocket. We did that.”

This lesson guides the couple — Michel, now a nurse at Atlantic Medical Group in Morristown, New Jersey, and Alexis, a program coordinator in the counseling center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey — as they embark on married life, beginning with the goal of purchasing a home in Morris County, New Jersey.