Alison Pessina and Matthew Moors

Ali stood in a crowded Old City bar when a tall, handsome guy caught her eye. She smiled at him, then turned her attention back to her friends. Later, Mr. Tall and Handsome walked up beside her. "Hi, I'm Matt," was all he said - and all he needed to.

Within the swarm of young people gathered that night in December 2008, Matt, a software engineer at Orion Systems Inc. in Huntingdon Valley, and Ali, then in her senior year at Temple's Fox School of Business, managed to have a real conversation. There was also this vibe.

"From the moment I saw her," Matt said, "I felt a connection."

Ali and her group were out for a friend's birthday, and the party was headed elsewhere. "We exchanged numbers," she said, "and he called me a few days later."

A miscommunication meant Matt was outside Devil's Alley a full hour before Ali thought she was supposed to be there. Then she got lost. December '08 was not like December '15, and Matt was freezing. But he wasn't mad.

"We found out we had a lot of things in common, like the way we were raised," Ali said. He grew up in East Norriton, she in Allentown. "I remember the conversation was really nice and really easy, and at that point I realized, 'Oh, I definitely want to hang out again.' "

More dates followed, and things just got better. "He is so kind, so sweet, so understanding," Ali said. "He became my best friend. And he is so compassionate. I love that about him."

The ease and joy of talking to Ali was important, and she is also very pretty, Matt said. "I just knew when I met her that I had met somebody I could fall in love with, and it was easy to fall in love with her."

A few months later, they were exclusive.

How does forever sound?

After graduating, Ali was hired at RSM US L.L.P. in Philadelphia, where she is now assurance supervisor. In June 2013, Matt, who is now 34, and Ali, now 29, got a place together in Old City.

Ali has always spent Thanksgiving with her parents, typically driving to Allentown on the Wednesday before so she could catch up with friends from home. Matt always joined her at some point during the long weekend. But in late November 2014, Matt suggested a change in their routine. "Why don't you stay around Philly another day, and we'll drive up together on Thursday?" She agreed. Matt told her he'd made dinner reservations at Buddakan. After dinner, he suggested a walk. The snow that had been falling all day had turned from fluffy to soggy. "It's getting rainy," Ali said. "Let's just go home."

Matt's hesitation before responding clued in Ali that her request would stymie a plan bigger than a fancy dinner. "OK," she said. "Let's take a walk anyway."

On Chestnut Street, right across from Independence Hall, Matt started to kneel. Ali stopped him - she didn't need him to kneel on the cold, wet street. He took a ring out of his pocket. His nerves ate his memory of the little speech he had planned. "Will you be my wife?" he asked. She would!

From a bar near their apartment building, they called both sets of parents and other friends and family.

The next day - Thanksgiving - they celebrated with his parents, Richard and Kathleen, and hers, Michael and Michele, exactly as Matt had planned. "We drank a lot of champagne that Thanksgiving," he said.

It was so them

Knowing they wanted to marry in 2015, the couple began calling venues immediately, only to find many were booked. Matt suggested the Please Touch Museum. Getting married at a children's museum seemed darned strange to Ali until they visited and saw photos of what the place looked like dressed up for adults. Ali's dad is on the board of DeSales University, which is how he became friends with former president and Catholic priest Daniel Gambet. Father Gambet recommended Our Mother of Consolation in Chestnut Hill for the ceremony. The couple took him up on his offer to officiate.

The reception for 240 began with a cocktail hour in the Carousel House. The light from the carousel illuminated the room, and those who wanted to could take a ride. The main hall was made even more beautiful with simple and elegant flowers, Ali said. Speeches were made. Ali danced with her dad and Matt with his mom. And then someone brought two chairs out to the middle of the dance floor. "Your parents have a surprise for you," Matt told/warned his new wife, who does not like surprises. Her anxiety faded when she realized the man singing "Ali Baby" to the tune of "Sherry Baby" was none other than Michael Longoria, who had played the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys. Ali had seen Jersey Boys with her parents in New York and loved it so much she and Matt went to the Philly production.

"It was amazing!" Ali said. He sang a few Jersey Boys selections, then joined the Vincent James Band for some more vintage tunes. This surprise Ali liked.

Awestruck

Being the center of attention makes Matt tense, so he was not quite enjoying his time at center stage while everyone waited for the bride. "When they opened the door and I saw Ali at the back of the church, I started to cry," he said. "She looked so pretty, and as soon as I saw her, I wasn't nervous anymore. I knew everything was going to be OK. I will remember that feeling forever."

When they were introduced at the reception as Mr. and Mrs., Ali was touched by the love she felt from all of their friends and family. "They were all there in this room, all for us, and it was overwhelming, but in such a great way," she said. And then Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable," began, and she and Matt were dancing, and everyone she'd been noticing a moment ago seemingly disappeared.

Discretionary spending

A bargain: The Radnor Hotel's special wedding guest room rate was fantastic, the couple said, plus its location was convenient for the rehearsal dinner and day-after brunch.

The splurge: When Ali first called her parents with the quote from Lamsback Floral, they laughed and said no way. So she called other florists. Some never called back. Some just couldn't match Lamsback's work. She called Lamsback again, and they showed her how they'd create the white and ivory vision in her head. "That initial number we were shocked by? We went over that," Ali said. "But the flowers were just amazing."