Love: BRIDGET QUINN & KEVIN KASPRZAK

Bridget, who grew up in Girardville, Schuylkill County, had long been fascinated by Philadelphia's Mummers, but she never made it to a parade. Home from Maryland for the holidays, a good friend from high school, April, suggested they remedy that immediately. And so on New Year's Day 2009, Bridget ventured to Philadelphia and joined the crowds on Broad Street.

It wasn't just the sequins and feathers and parasols that struck her fancy; one Mummer wore a hat like none she had ever seen before. It was stitched together from cut-up beer cans. She snapped a photo.

Later, Bridget and April joined some friends from their Drexel University days at Oscar's bar on Sansom Street. Bridget spotted her second-ever beer-can hat. It was on Kevin's head.

She knew she had to talk to him. "Really, I just wanted to wear the beer-can hat," she said.

Kevin had moved from Maryland to Philadelphia to go to Drexel in 1993 and never left. This was not his first Mummer's Parade. Nor was it his first beer-can hat. Someone had asked to wear the first one, handmade by his grandmother, and never returned it.

Bridget's intentions regarding this hat were obvious, Kevin said. But experience had made him cautious.

Even while the hat stayed on Kevin's head, he and Bridget found lots to talk about. For starters, Bridget was a biology teacher at Old Mill High School in Millersville, Md. Kevin, a business and IT project manager, graduated from nearby Severna Park High School - Old Mill's sports rival.

After about two hours of talking, Bridget reached over and took Kevin's hat. He didn't protest.

Two days later, Kevin and Bridget spent the whole day in Annapolis. For the next year, Kevin drove to Maryland two times a week. Then he and Bridget got a place together in Aberdeen, roughly the midway point to both their jobs.

In April 2010, Bridget, now 35, and Kevin, 36, were hiking along the Susquehanna River in Susquehanna State Park in Maryland. After their hike, they sat on the riverbank for a picnic. Kevin looked at Bridget, and referencing a jewelry store commercial that the two had been joking about, asked, "What is a 13-letter-phrase for marriage proposal?"

In the ad, the answer is "He went to Jared."

But there on the riverbank, Kevin held a ring in his hand. And the answer was yes.

In May, Kevin, who had been working in King of Prussia, accepted a project manager job in Antwerp, Belgium. About a month and a half after the engagement, he moved, and she followed him in July after the school year was over.

How does a couple plan a wedding in Philadelphia while living in Antwerp? With Skype and a local wedding planner, Mark Kingsdorf at the Queen of Hearts.

Kevin and Bridget's bridal party did not walk down the aisle at The Union League. They strutted, purple and white parasols in hand, to "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers." (See them strut at www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5p5BicNDAM)

Kevin's father, Ken, officiated at the ceremony before the couple's 130 guests.

Instead of a unity candle, Kevin and Bridget had a unity stick - originally a flag pole consisting of two pieces that fit together. Bridget's family decorated their half with Irish flags, shamrocks and other symbols that honored their Irish heritage. (They tried to also include photos of her father, Edward, who died when she was 16, and her grandparents, but they wouldn't stick). Kevin's family used their half to tell the story of Kevin with memorabilia including the flag of his birthplace, Ohio; an Eagle Scout badge; and references to his beloved Ravens, beer, and his favorite food, hot dogs.

During the ceremony, the couple joined the two halves together into a symbolic walking stick, representing the two families uniting as they moved forward through the future. Then Kevin's mother, Marcie, and Bridget's mother, Rita, each held an end, and the newlyweds limboed their way back up the aisle. (Kevin really wanted to limbo on his wedding day, and came up with the unity stick idea as a way to work it in.)

"Our mothers were very kind and they held it up high," Bridget said.

Bridget and Kevin entered their reception paying homage to Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis' pregame dance.

The next day, the couple rented a balcony at the DoubleTree hotel overlooking the Mummer's Parade route. There was food and drink for 200 people at what they called their "wedding social."

Kevin made a toast to the couple's family and friends, and then sang a song he wrote for his bride, to the tune of Elvis' "His Latest Flame." Note to Elvis fans: Kevin used the tune of the song, but his words were all about forever love.

Kevin will never forget the first time he saw Bridget on their wedding day, at a special reveal before the photos. "Everything sunk in seeing her in that gown," he said. "My heart just kind of filled with emotion."

The couple wrote their own vows, and Bridget treasures the moment Kevin spoke his. "It was the first time I heard him say those words," she said. "It was so heartfelt and meaningful."

A bargain: The couple looked for centerpieces, but everything they saw cost too much. So, wherever they went, they stopped at bargain stores for candles, mirrors and vases. Bridget estimates their DIY saved them 75 percent.

The splurge: Their photographer. They fell in love with Ashley Bartoletti's work. She wasn't the cheapest photographer they considered, but when factoring price and quality together, she was the perfect fit, Kevin said.

"We're touring Europe, piece by piece," Bridget said of the time she and Kevin have lived in Antwerp. Next month, they are moving back to the States. They will be staying with Bridget's mother while hunting for jobs in the mid-Atlantic region.

Officiant
The couple married with self-uniting licenses. The groom's father, Ken Kasprzak, led the ceremony.

Venue
The Union League, Philadelphia

Catering
The Union League

Photography
Ashley Bartoletti, Wayne

Videography
La Penna Envisioned Video, Wayne

Music
Siena Strings, Philadelphia; Synergetic Sounds, Bensalem

Dress
Maggie Sottero, from Elegant Touch in Bel Air, Md.

Flowers
Petals Lane,Philadelphia

Invitations
Wedding Paper Divas, www.weddingpaperdivas.com

Planner
The Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants, PhiladelphiaEndText

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