Imagine a fall wedding at a ski resort where guests take a chair lift up to the ceremony and back down to the reception. That’s the vision that math teacher Rachel Congress has for her Aug. 21 wedding in Tahoe.

The date marks the sixth anniversary of Congress and her fiance, James Roper’s. “My sister found him online for me,” Congress said. “[I knew I wanted to marry him] when I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”

Roper proposed on March 21 by settting up a treasure hunt in their apartment. As she got to the last clue, he snuck up behind her and proposed. “I knew what I was going to say, but it was very surreal,” Congress said. “It was one of those times when you feel like you are watching yourself outside of your body.”

Congress and Roper started planning the wedding with the same mindset– that they were going to have fun. “James and I have agreed on almost everything we’ve planned,” Congress said. “That makes it so much easier.”

So far, the planning has been a smooth journey with the exception of one road bump. “Our site for both the ceremony and reception, which we reserved last June, canceled on us last October,” Congress said. “Luckily, we managed to find another place and it’s working out better.”

According to Congress, the new location of the wedding is at the top of a mountain with a breathtaking view of Lake Tahoe. Guests will ride a chair lift to the ceremony where Congress will be wearing an Enzoani dress. Afterwards, the guests will ride down for the reception. “Besides dancing [at the reception], there will be board games, a photo booth that we’re building ourselves and an interactive guest book.”

The couple hopes the wedding will be memorable and lively. “[We expect our wedding to be] lots of fun,” Congress said. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We wanted to have a laid back, fun wedding experience.”

Math teacher Stephanie Ciralli and fiance Robert Werbe are planning a summer wedding by the seashore. The two met as friends when they were only 14, but began dating seriously in college.

During college, Ciralli and Werbe had a long distance relationship. Werbe was attending Cal Poly and Ciralli was attending Long Beach State. “Distance did not keep us apart,” Ciralli said. After two-and-a-half-years of dating, Werbe proposed.

To keep the proposal plan a secret, Werbe confused Ciralli by telling her he was going shopping. “I knew it was suspicious because Robert does not like shopping,” Ciralli said.

After his return from the shopping trip, he told her they were going to a hotel to meet his friends but secretely planned a proposal.At the hotel, he led her down a hallway that was lined with Christmas lights, candles and rose petals. Ciralli jumped up with joy as she suspected what was to come. “I had a feeling he was going to propose, but I did not want to raise my hopes up too soon,” Ciralli said. Then, he opened a door to a room with a champagne bottle and proposed.

Ciralli’s favorite memory of their relationship is when they spent time together on a Mediterranean cruise for four weeks and a European cruise for six weeks last summer. They both have a passion for traveling and Ciralli is looking forward to going on more adventures with Werbe in the future.

Ciralli’s wedding will take place on Aug. 1 at a country club in Carmel. The wedding site is located on a golf course overlooking Pebble Beach. Her wedding contains beach items, such as seashells, sand dollars and fake starfish that will be spread out as decorations. Ciralli already found a beautiful white wedding dress to wear and is looking forward to her wedding. “I am happy for [Ciralli] and I know she will have a pretty nice wedding,” sophomore Victor Kwok said.

Physical Education teacher Selena Hendrix-Smith was never one of those girls who dreamed about their wedding growing up. “I [only] put it all together once I was engaged,” Hendrix-Smith said.

Hendrix-Smith and her fiance, Richard Reed, met through mutual friends when she was 18 and he was 19. “The first time we met, we kept battling each other in speed [the card game],” Hendrix-Smith said. “[After that] we kept in touch.” The couple went on their first official date during the summer of 2007. “We went to a listening party in San Francisco for Chrisette Michele at a restaurant on the Pier,” Hendrix-Smith said.

When Reed proposed, Hendrix-Smith was very shocked. “I thought he was going to look for rings with my mom that Saturday,” Hendrix-Smith said. “It was all part of his game plan.”

According to Hendrix-Smith, she had worked late that night, and was tired, cold, and hungry. “He said he wanted to share with me something he read and showed me a [bible] verse with the word engaged written in it at least four or five times,” Hendrix-Smith said. “After reading it, I looked over to him and Richard was on a bended knee and asked if I would marry him.”

The couple decided on a fall theme for the wedding. “The vision is a warm feeling with a chic and classy look,” Hendrix-Smith said. Following the theme, Hendrix-Smith chose a Pronovias dress. “I actually had another dress in mind but when I tried the Pronovias dress on, I knew it was the one,” Hendrix-Smith said. “I had been torn between a more modern look and an elegant look. The dress I picked has a perfect combination of both.”

As for the future, the couple plans to just enjoy life. “[After the wedding, we expect] being happily married,” Hendrix-Smith said. “We both are goal setters, so we will see where we go from here.”

When biology teacher Lisa Wu agreed to take fiance Drew Olaharski on a walk through New York City during spring break, she expected nothing out of the ordinary. That is, until he proposed to her. “When it happened, I was completely shocked,” Wu said.

The couple spent the whole day visiting Wu’s favorite places in the city. “It was odd because he kept wanting to sit down and do weird things like ride on horse-drawn carriages, and I’d just be like ‘Why would we do that? We’re in New York, let’s just walk around,’” Wu said. “But when we got to the end of this path in Central Park, there was a big pond, and he said, ‘Let’s go on a rowboat.’ In my head, I was thinking, ‘Why should we do this?’ But I was like, I’m being such a mean girlfriend, so I said, ‘Okay, let’s go on rowboat.’”

The pair originally met at the Tech Museum when they were both examining the human body exhibit. “We just happened to be there at the same time, and we chatted it up right away,” Wu said. “Afterwards we ended up going to get drinks, and the following day we went on our first date.”

Currently, Olaharski is on a business trip in Switzerland until the end of August. Then, Wu will be moving with him to New Jersey where she will be tutoring and teaching. However, they will be coming back to California for the wedding next March.

Wu envisions an outdoor wedding in the redwoods of Santa Cruz with a nature-like theme. The couple, however, has not begun planning the wedding, including their attire. “That’s the one thing I’m not looking forward to, searching for a dress,” Wu said. “I’m not a big shopper, and I wish someone just grabbed a dress and it looked beautiful.”

Overall, Wu hopes that the wedding will be fun and exciting. “I definitely want Frisbees at the wedding, and I’d love to throw one around in my wedding dress,” she said. “I really want this to be a fun day. I want to run around and play and actually have fun.”