I Do!: Jennifer Pautke and Matthew Nussbaum, of East Northport

If you ask Jennifer Pautke and Matthew Nussbaum if fairytales can come true, they will give you a wholehearted yes.

The pair met at Five Towns College in Dix Hills in 2014, and it wasn’t long before they became good friends, said Pautke, 28, a marketing manager originally from Cutchogue.

“We both developed feelings for each other in late 2015, but that’s also when I got accepted into the Disney College Program in Disney World, Florida, for spring 2016 semester. The timing didn’t work in our favor, so we decided to just stay friends through my program.”

They reunited in summer 2016.

“From the minute I realized I had feelings for Jennifer, I knew ... we’d be together forever,” said Nussbaum, 29, an operations manager from Rivervale, New Jersey.

“Jennifer had always said she wanted to be proposed to in front of Cinderella Castle,” said Nussbaum. On their annual trip to Walt Disney World in October 2022, “She had a pretty strong feeling what was coming. I had told her we should get our annual castle photo first thing in the morning. As we walked into the park she said nervously, ‘Soooo, we’re doing this?’ I laughed and said ‘Doing what? Getting our picture taken? Why are you nervous to get our picture taken?’ ”

Nussbaum dropped to one knee and declared he wanted to be part of Pautke’s “happily ever after.”

They were married on July 20, and the day was filled with Disney magic. Pautke donned a princess gown with a tiara she’d bought in the Magic Kingdom, and the groom and father of the bride sported Mickey Mouse socks for the occasion.

Nominate a couple who has gotten married in the past 12 months. Email your love story, in 250 words or less, to lilife@newsday.com, subject line I Do!