Love: Stefania Veneziale & Michael Demarco

Stefania arrived at Fred's hospital room with a pan of hot lasagna, her homemade show of support for her friend and his family. Fred's dad, Dennis, savored a forkful that inspired a question: "Oh my goodness, are you single?"

Fred, who had been diagnosed with lung and pancreatic cancer, winced with embarrassment. "Dad, that is completely inappropriate!" he said. Everyone in the room had a much-needed laugh. "Ignore him!" Fred told Stefania, his coworker since 2007 at CBIZ MHM, where she is now manager of business development.

"No," Dennis said. "Please answer. Are you single?"

"At the moment, I am," said Stefania, a bit perplexed, since Fred had a girlfriend.

As Fred battled his cancer, his numerous friends rallied around him. There were more hospital visits, food drops for his family, and fund-raisers.

It was at a fund-raiser that Mike, among Fred's BFFs since seventh grade at Richboro Junior High, got word that Fred had lost his fight.

The following day, Mike and other friends headed to Fred's home in Glenside, where his family had gathered. "We sat around for a few hours and talked about him," Mike remembered. When Mike was about to leave, Dennis pulled him into the kitchen.

"I've got a great girl for you," Dennis said. "You should take her out for dessert. Something good has got to come out of all of this sadness."

Mike knew this old-fashioned guy likes to play matchmaker - especially with adults who, in Dennis' estimation, should have been married years earlier. The gesture came from kindness.

"Sure," he told him, with no real intention of ever meeting this Stefania person.

He didn't know Fred's dad had also seen to it that Stefania heard about Mike.

Fred's funeral was a few days later. During the luncheon, about 25 coworkers stayed in the bar to give Fred's closest circle some space in the private room. Later, the two groups converged to do shots in Fred's honor. "I turned around to introduce myself to the person behind me, and it was Mike," Stefania said. Both smiled at meeting the person their friend's dad had picked for them. Before long, they wondered whether Dennis was on to something.

"It felt like we had known each other a really long time," said Stefania, who is now 28. "Everything was natural and easy."

"She was different than anybody I'd ever met before," said Mike, now 34, who grew up in Richboro and works in IT for Navmar Applied Sciences Corp.

Stefania lived with her parents, but had their Bensalem place to herself Thursday evenings, when mom Rosa went to Stefania's grandma's, and dad Ernesto to St. Anthony's Italian club on Bustleton Avenue. One Thursday about a month into their relationship, she invited Mike for a home-cooked Italian supper. They were in the kitchen when her mom came in, allegedly to pick up something she "forgot." Soon after, Rosa sent her first-ever text message to her daughter: "Keeper."

Mike's mom, Carleen, is Facebook friends with Fred's mom, Linda, and the two women kept checking in for updates. That Memorial Day, Stefania and Mike attended a barbecue with Fred's family. "His dad took full credit for the two of us being together," Mike said. "That was in May, and he was already asking me when we were getting married."

There are two old-school dads in this story.

In April 2014, Mike kept trying to get a few minutes alone with Stefania's father, Ernesto, and Ernesto kept making excuses.

Ernesto knew the couple was looking at houses. He thought Mike wanted to discuss their moving in together - something that just does not mesh with Ernesto's world view.

One Friday night, Mike camped out on the Veneziales' couch. Ernesto, a contractor, works early Saturday mornings. Mike was waiting at his truck at 6 a.m.

Before saying anything, Mike showed him a ring box. Ernesto looked surprised, then relieved.

Mike had booked a Sofitel room and fibbed to Stefania that his former roommate Neil was flying in that day and that they needed to meet him in the city. He set everything up, then waited at Ladder for Stefania.

A group of women at the bar picked up on Mike's nerves and guessed he was about to propose. He confessed, and everyone started buying him drinks. This would surely ruin the surprise.

So Mike texted Stefania that plans had changed. They went to Del Frisco's instead, but there, ran into Stefania's cousin and her friends. Stefania was enjoying herself; Mike needed to persuade her to leave. He saved his own cellphone number with Neil's name so he could show Stefania a series of texts about lost luggage, no clothes to wear to dinner, just meet us at the hotel, etc.

Stefania didn't become suspicious when Mike "found" a room key allowing them use the elevator. Then he opened the door.

There were rose petals everywhere and a bottle of champagne. "I turn around, and I see Mike's lips moving, but I have no idea what he is saying," she said. "I just kept saying, 'Is this for real? Is this for real?' "

Mike doesn't remember what he said, either, or whether Stefania ever actually said yes. But the ring ended up on her finger, and they called family and friends to share the good news.

The couple bought their Conshohocken home that June. Mike moved in solo.

The Saturday before the wedding, 350 people gathered in the Bensalem backyard for a traditional serenade. Mike shook through his rendition of Enrique Iglesias' "Hero."

"People were upstairs in the house," Stefania said, "opening windows to listen to him.

On their wedding day, someone blocked in the limo, making Stefania late. "I am coming!" she texted Mike, who was already waiting at the altar. When he made a phone call, a mumbling went through the church pews.

Thirty minutes later, she walked down the aisle behind her 14 attendants, and the traditional Catholic ceremony - infused with the music of a trumpet player, organist, and vocalist - began.

Their reception for 500 was held at the Crystal Tea Room. The band, chosen for its ability to play current hits and Italian classics, joined in as Stefania's grandma Maria sang "Ave Maria."

In lieu of wedding favors, the couple made a donation in Fred's honor to Fox Chase Cancer Center.

The late ceremony start was stressful, but seeing each other at opposite ends of the aisle instantly calmed both bride and groom.

"The minute we were together, I knew that everything from that point forward was going to be perfect," Stefania said. Mike agreed. "Everything felt exactly right. It was our day to celebrate, and everything we had planned was happening."

A bargain: Chic's Limo, owned by Stefania's friend Mike, gave the couple the "friends and family price deal" on a 42-passenger limo bus.

The splurge: This couple not only hired an organist, vocalist, and trumpet player for their ceremony, but a piano player for the cocktail hour, an eight-person band and a DJ for the reception, and a second DJ for the after-party.

A week in Aruba.

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Officiant: The Rev. Thomas J. Dunleavy, pastor emeritus of St. Anselm Church, Philadelphia.

Venue: The Crystal Tea Room, Philadelphia.

Food: Finley Catering, Philadelphia.

Photography: Chris Hensel Wedding Photography, Media.

Flowers: Infinitely Yours, Bensalem.

Dress: Justin Alexander from Dress Up Time, Philadelphia.

Music: BVT Live, Philadelphia, and Mirage Music, Bayonne, N.J.

Do you have the date? Email us - at least six weeks before your ceremony - why we should feature your love story: weddings@phillynews.com. Unfortunately, we can't respond individually to all submissions. If your story is chosen, you will be contacted.

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