Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Love: Margaret Marshall & Jason Rousis; December 26, 2014

Hello there One night after work in October 2011, Jason, his buddy Chip, and another friend figured they'd grab a beer at Mike's York Street Bar & Grill in Warminster - Jason's hometown.

Margaret Marshall and Jason Rousis. (Megan / Dan Photography)
Margaret Marshall and Jason Rousis. (Megan / Dan Photography)Read more

Hello there

One night after work in October 2011, Jason, his buddy Chip, and another friend figured they'd grab a beer at Mike's York Street Bar & Grill in Warminster - Jason's hometown.

They were enjoying their beers when two women approached their bar stools.

Maggie, a student at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, had been given an assignment by her introduction-to-communications professor: Invade a stranger's personal space. Write down what happens.

Maggie and her friend Stefanie, who came with her for moral support, were looking for that stranger when Stefanie spotted her friend Chip.

"Do you know the bald guy?" Maggie asked Stefanie in a whisper.

"Nope," she said.

"Well, there's my stranger," said Maggie.

Invade Jason's space, she did. "She got about an inch or two away," he said. He thought it was unusual, but it didn't bother him.

"He smiled. He said 'hi,' " she jotted in her notebook.

Maggie needed only to record that initial reaction for class, but she and Stefanie lingered. Maggie told Jason of her assignment, then they talked about the Phils, their travels, and a discovered common taste in music.

Maggie spoke of her studies, and he of his work as an EMT. They really enjoyed each other's company.

"I was hoping he would ask me for my number, but he didn't," Maggie said.

"I thought she was only talking to me because of her assignment," Jason explained.

Maggie lamented to Stefanie. Stefanie texted Chip. Chip told Jason. A happy Jason had his number texted back to Maggie. Their first date was at Toscana 52 in Feasterville.

Things between them went so well from the start. "She's just really nice, and is concerned about how others feel," Jason said. "She's a very caring person."

"He is funny, and very easy to be around," Maggie said. "He didn't try to rush things, which I really appreciated. I was in school, and so we would talk, but our dates would be several weeks apart. He let me do my assignments. He said he knew school came first."

Ask the couple when they knew things had the potential to be serious, get two different replies:

"After about two or three months, right around Christmas time," Maggie said. "I was on break, so I got to see him more. On Christmas Eve, he told me he loved me and asked me to officially be his girlfriend, and I met his family."

Says Jason: "The night we met, honestly. She was kind of like me, just a better version. She's really funny, really sweet, and very intelligent."

How does forever sound?

In addition to her classes, Maggie is a pharmacy intern at Holy Redeemer Hospital and the North Wales Target. Both she and her favorite EMT, who also owns an after-market auto parts store called Dialed in Autosports, had to work on Christmas Day 2012. Jason suggested they take a trip to New York a few days before and exchange presents at the Rockefeller Center tree.

Jason gave Maggie a small, wire sculpture of the Eiffel Tower. "It was my way of telling her we were going to Paris."

In June 2013, they took a two-week trip. They went directly to the apartment they had rented. Maggie was jet-lagged and cranky. "I had to convince her that we needed to go out and get dinner on our first night," Jason said. "I said I'd heard there were some good restaurants down by the Eiffel Tower."

Maggie relented, and the two got dressed for a fancy night out. The restaurant was on the first level above the street on the tower, and Maggie started getting cold. "I couldn't give her my jacket, because the ring was in the pocket," Jason said.

Luckily, they persuaded the staff to let them in before the restaurant opened, so Maggie didn't wonder why Jason wasn't his usual chivalrous self.

Jason faked a trip to the men's room to ask the waiter for a favor. The waiter followed him back to Maggie and asked her if she'd like him to take their photo.

Jason dropped to one knee. He told her he loved her and was happy they'd been together for so long, and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Then he asked the question he'd learned to say in French: Veux-tu m'epouser?

She nodded until she could speak again, then said "yes" in English.

It was so them

The couple wed in a traditional Catholic ceremony at St. Catherine of Siena in Horsham, Maggie's hometown. Maggie walked down the aisle to "Gesù Bambino," an Italian song that was an homage to Maggie's Aunt Josie, a proud Italian American who had passed away earlier last year.

The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Joseph Devlin, the bride's brother-in-law's brother, whom she has known most of her life.

A reception for 150 at the William Penn Inn featured mini-Eiffel Tower place card holders and a cake topper that resembled a snowflake, but was actually a Triforce, the object that Legend of Zelda gamers seek.

Awestruck

The couple rented a 1950 Rolls-Royce - a make and model Jason hopes to own one day. In addition to transportation, Advanced Limousine provided iced champagne at key moments. "It was just the two of us outside the church after our guests had headed to the reception, and there was a silver bucket with champagne sitting on a red carpet outside the car," Maggie remembered. "It was wonderful being able to relax at that point, and to be next to him, and actually be able to talk to him."

The couple's first dance was to Shinedown's "I'll Follow You." "It was just us two, and nothing else that was going on around us really mattered," Jason said. "We had two minutes and 40-some seconds to ourselves."

Discretionary spending

A bargain: The DJ. Groomsman Chip - who was with the groom the night the couple met - hired BuxMont Entertainment as his wedding gift to the couple.

The splurge: Maggie says it was the Rolls, but Jason disagrees. "That was a necessity," he said.

The getaway

A week at Sandals resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Love: BEHIND THE SCENES

Officiant: The Rev. Joseph Devlin

of St. Bridget Catholic Community, East Falls

Venues: Ceremony: St. Catherine of Siena Church, Horsham; reception: William Penn Inn, Gwynedd

Catering: William Penn Inn

Photo: Megan/Dan Photography, Warminster

Dress: David's Bridal Luxe Collection, purchased on clearance online

Music: Ceremony: Cantor Mimi Drummond, St. Catherine's choir director; church organist Erik Aaron; reception: Chris Lockett of BuxMont Entertainment, Montgomeryville

Flowers: Church: Bird of Paradise Flowers in Bristol; reception: Centerpieces by William Penn Inn's Flower Shoppe