He asked her to sit on his lap; next stop, the altar

Katie Townsend and Matt Skalka

Oct. 29, 2016

THE INTRODUCTION: Katie Townsend of Wilmington and Matt Skalka of Baltimore met in Ocean City, Maryland, over Memorial Day weekend in May 2013. Both were 27 and had been invited to join a group going to the beach. Katie was completing a year-long residency in dentistry at Christiana Care. Matt was working at a small marketing agency in Baltimore. Katie had been invited by Courtne Smith at the last minute, after someone else dropped out. Matt was invited by his friend Dennis Dempsey and went, even though Matt had just gotten back from spending two weeks in Italy and was jet lagged. On that Friday night, the group hung out at their hotel, the Best Western, and Katie and Matt found out they had the same birthday, Jan. 15, 1986. With a small group of seven, everyone did everything together, including going to Seacrets in Ocean City and the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach. She thought Matt was handsome, funny and a little wild. He thought Katie was genuine and caring.

THE FIRST KISS: One night, after liquid courage in the form of mixed drinks and shots of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey and — right in front of the group — Matt asked Katie to sit on his lap. She did, and they kissed, right in front of the group. On Monday, as she was leaving to return to Wilmington because she was on call, Matt asked for her phone number.  

THE FIRST DATE: They texted for the next couple of weeks, finally agreeing to meet halfway between their homes for a date. On June 9, 2013, they ate at MacGregor's Restaurant in Havre de Grace, Maryland, sitting on the deck overlooking the water. She ordered eggs Benedict and he ordered waffles. They agreed to spend the next weekend in Ocean City with Matt's friends. By July, Matt had asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes. For the next year, Katie and Matt took turns driving to each other's houses on weekends. In September 2014, Matt took a job in Wilmington and moved into Katie's apartment. The longer they were together, the more they realized they were meant for each other. But the deal was sealed when Katie realized she didn't mind flossing Matt's teeth for him when he asked her to because he hated flossing. Right before Christmas in 2014, they went to New York City to shop, and one of the stops was a jewelry store in the diamond district because Matt wanted to know what style of rings Katie liked. "We never talked about it again," she says.  

THE PROPOSAL: Katie and her sister, Laura Campbell, had planned a family trip to Corolla, North Carolina, in August 2015. On Aug. 25, a Tuesday, Katie got up to watch the sunrise from the beach, and Matt joined her. They spent the morning on the beach until it started raining. Back at the house, she took a nap. When she awoke, Matt was sitting there, intently watching her. He was bored, he said. He wanted to go for a walk and burn off some calories before dinner. He was acting a little oddly, Katie thought, but she chalked it up to his generally quirky personality. She was hesitant about the walk because rain was coming, but she knew Matt planned to golf most of the week and wouldn't have much time on the beach so she said yes. They walked to the beach and sat talking for a while when he announced he wanted to walk more. She pointed to the black cloud overhead. He insisted he wanted to walk and headed straight at the cloud. After five minutes, she tried to convince him to return. He said he would, as soon as they got to the sand castle that was in view on the beach. When they got there, he squeezed her hand, dropped to one knee and proposed. She said yes. They hugged. And she turned around to see her sister snapping photos just as the skies opened up and drenched them. They ran back to the house and as they were climbing the stairs, Matt told her had one more surprise: His parents were there, too, to celebrate. They all went to dinner at Aqua Restaurant in Duck, North Carolina.

SQUEEZING IN ANOTHER LIFE-CHANGING EVENT: Katie and Matt bought a house in Trolley Square, closing four days before the wedding. "He had a lot of time on his hands," Katie jokes. "I was doing everything else."

THE CEREMONY: They married Oct. 29, 2016 at St. Joseph's on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Greenville. Katie grew up Catholic and wanted to get married in a church. And they were charmed by Monsignor Joseph Rebman at St. Joe's, who was very welcoming. They had a unity candle service with their moms lighting a candle at the altar. The bride and groom each had a godparent do a reading. For Katie, it was her aunt Mary Shupin and for Matt it was his uncle Jim Walley. Rebman kept the ceremony sweet and light-hearted.

THE DRESS: Katie wore an off-white fit and flare lace dress, the third gown she tried on. Niki from Irini's Originals on Philadelphia Pike added a belt and thin straps.

SOMETHING OLD: Katie's rosary from her first communion was wrapped around her bouquet and she had a sixpence in her shoe, a gift from her great aunt Maureen Simzack.

SOMETHING NEW: Her gown.

STORY: Before they said I do, they washed each other's feet.

STORY: They had their dog as best man, maid of honor and ringbearer.

STORY: Both of them got down on one knee to propose.

SOMETHING BORROWED: Her garter, made from lace from her mother-in-law’s wedding dress.

SOMETHING BLUE: A pair of tanzanite earrings that Matt gave her as a wedding gift. He had bought them from the same jeweler who made her ring and he gave them to her early to make sure she liked them. On the morning of the wedding, a sweet note, a bottle of perfume and 50 purple roses, because purple was their wedding color. She gave him a small safe, a gold chain he had wanted and a silver dollar because he likes to collect coins.

THE RECEPTION: The reception at the Rockwood Park Carriage House included the bridal party making their entrance in ornate masks, because the wedding was so close to Halloween. She wore a fancy one and Matt wore a big mustache. Because they are big fans of the television show "The Walking Dead," they also came in to the theme music from that show, but they didn't walk like zombies or serve brains. Instead, they offered their guests crab cake and filet mignon. They cut a small cake but offered their guests a tower of cupcakes in four flavors. Everyone had a lot of laughs at the speeches by Matt’s best friend Matt Lambie and brother Andrew Skalka and Katie's best friend Courtne and sister Laura.

THE MOST POPULAR GIFT: They got 12 place settings of china, which they had registered for at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and they were really happy about. They had been using her parents' old dishes and only had five plates and two bowls.

THE MOST SENTIMENTAL GIFT: A beautiful Nativity set given to them by Katie's parents, which symbolized to the newlyweds both their marriage and having their own home to display the set.

THE HONEYMOON: Matt wanted to go to an island for their honeymoon. Katie picked Ireland. It wasn't the kind of island he had in mind, but after reading up on it, he agreed. They started in Dublin where they rented a car and drove across the country, stopping in Killarney, Dingle and Cong. They saw the Cliffs of Moher, kissed the Blarney stone, learned to pour the perfect pint of Guinness and stayed in Ashford Castle, which a few months later was the site of golfer Rory Mcllroy's wedding.

THE FAMILY TREE: The bride is the daughter of Theresa and James Townsend of Middletown. The groom is the son of Barbara and Michael Skalka of Columbia, Maryland.

WHAT'S NEXT: The couple moved into their Trolley Square home after Thanksgiving and immediately put out their nativity set. Katie, who attended Middletown High School and earned a degree in biology from the University of Delaware before attending the Temple University dental school, is a general dentist at Westside Family Healthcare in Wilmington. Matt, who grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, and majored in government at the University of Maryland, now works as an executive account manager for The News Journal.  They plan to enjoy their home and hope to adopt a dog and a cat during the next year. Katie still flosses Matt's teeth.

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