Bride & Groom:	Wedding Date:
Debra Fazio & Tyler Rutt	November 13, 2004
Engagement Story:
Tyler and I were introduced through mutual friends, a couple we are both friendly with Ellen Davis and Aimee Gautreau. Ellen is a former colleague of Tyler's, they had worked together at CNBC as on-air promotions producers in the late 1990s. Ellen,s partner, Aimee was a former boss of mine when I worked in the public relations department at The History Channel. I had first heard about Tyler back in 1999 when Ellen accompanied Aimee & myself on a business trip. While dining together on the trip Ellen had said to me that she knew this great guy who even if we didn,t hit if off romantically, would be a great person or friend to know. When I excused myself to the ladies room, Aimee scolded Ellen and asked her not to purse setting me up with Tyler. Aimee was afraid that if the date went horribly wrong she would feel awkward working with meknowing that her partner had set us up. I never pursued it or ever brought it up again. It was not until January 2003 when Ellen was doing some freelance work at MTV Networks where I now work that she brought Tyler's name up again. I was filling her in on a recent date that didn't go well and pondering my fate as "30 and fabulous" (sorry for the "Sex in the City" reference, but it was so appropriate to my state of mind at that time) Ellen brought up Tyler's name again and this time there were no "work relationship entanglements" to hold her back. She called him that night and gave him my phone number. After about a week, Tyler called and we made a date to meet for drinks at 7:30 pm at a martini bar called Vintage in NYC. I had originally only planned to have one drink with him, but one drink turned into two, into three and the next thing I knew, it was 11:30 and I was leaning in to kiss him. We had hit it off so well. From that first date he proved to me to be a complete gentleman. Not only did he walk me to the Port Authority Bus Terminal so I could catch a bus to my apartment in Hoboken, NJ (he lives in Manhattan) but he actually took me to my bus and made sure I got on my way with no problems. I no sooner had walked into my apartment when my phone rang. It was Tyler just making sure I got home okay and telling me what a great time he had. He also asked if he could call me at a more decent hour the next day to set up another date. In just a short amount of time we both realized that we had found our other half -- a partner, a lover and a friend. I can't imagine what life would be without Tyler. He brings me so much love and happiness feelings and emotions that I cannot express in words, but often do in tears of joy. I can always feel the love he has for me emitting from his smile and his actions. November 1, 2003 is a day that I will always replay in my head. It was a very beautiful proposal and truly the most perfect weekend of my life. That Saturday was an unseasonably warm day for NYC in November it was in the mid-70s. With such lovely weather, Tyler wanted to spend the day in Central Park. We walked around the park, enjoying all the sites, the people and all the racers getting ready for the Marathon that was going to take place the following day. We stopped for some hot dogs and soda and then took some photos in front of the fountain. When we came upon the Central Park Lake, Tyler asked me if I wanted to rent one of the rowboats and go out on the lake.......I'd never done that before and thought it would be a lot of fun. The only thing was to find where the boathouse was to rent the boats. We wound up walking in a circle for about hour trying to find the entrance. There were a few moments where I wanted to say lets forget about the boats, we can just find a quiet place to sit down. But for some weird reason I kept my mouth shut Tyler seemed very determined to do this. Now, I REALLY had no idea that he was planning to ask me at this point - I was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers, had my hair pulled back in a headband and NO MAKEUP on!!! I thought if anything he might propose to me that evening since he told me he was taking me out for a very fancy dinner but wouldn't tell me where. We eventually get to the boathouse and according to the sign there was only 1 hour left to rent a boat. We waited patiently in line and luckily it moved fast, in fact we were the second to last people to rent a boat for that afternoon! We get on the boat and Tyler is having a very difficult time maneuvering the boat into the lake. It was actually quite funny, he couldn't get the paddles in sync and was splashing water everywhere including on us in the boat! At one point I even told him that maybe I should row, that my paddle coordination might be better. Little did I know that it wasn't due to Tyler's poor coordination, but rather nerves. He rowed us out into the middle of the lake. There are all these other people around us, in boats rowing along, in the park enjoying a musical concert and others just enjoying a warm Saturday afternoon. When we got to the middle of the lake, he put the oars up into the boat and said "lets drift for a while" - then he got very serious and said "Debra, there is something I want to ask you." He went for his pocket, pulled out the ring and got down on one knee (in the boat - mind you) and asked me to be his wife. I don't remember him putting the ring on my hand, I just started crying and after the initial shock wore off, said "YES!!" We hugged and kissed and some of the other boaters gave us a round of applause! After about another five minutes I said to Tyler, "Can I see the ring?" I had never even seen it, that part - though important wasn't as important as him telling me he loved me and wanted us to be together for life! The ring is stunning, it's a simple platinum band with a radiant cut diamond held in with a four-prong setting. It is incredible and I have literally only taken it off for about 5 minutes to show my parents and give them the "full effect." Tyler then told me he had been planning this for months and when he heard that the weather was going to be so nice, he called the Central Park Boathouse to find out if he could reserve a boat for that Saturday. He was sadly told that the boats are usually pulled in on Oct 31 the end of the season. But was also told that if the weather was nice, the boats could still be out. Tyler said he just kept his fingers, toes and anything else he could keep crossed, crossed. He said he didn't have a backup plan! But the day wasn't over yet, he took me to a wonderful French/Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper West Side, near Lincoln Center called Picholine. A co-worker of Tyler's at "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Allison, is dating someone who is friends with the maître d' at the restaurant where we were going. He had called up and asked his friend to make sure we got the VIP treatment and boy did we......champagne was waiting for us at the table and they just kept on bringing out food - course after course until we told them to STOP! After dinner Tyler wanted to go for a nightcap before calling it a night. He already had a place in mind called "The Wet Bar" on 39th and Lexington which also just happens to be where there is one of the W Hotel's boutique outlets. Once we got there and got our drinks, Tyler excused himself to go to the bathroom. I was thinking it must have been some bathroom because he was gone an awfully long time....when he returned we finished our drinks and we got up to leave, except instead of going out the door to the street, he took me to an elevator to a room to a suite on the 15th floor. When he opened the door to the suite, the room was covered in red, pink, white and yellow rose petals and a huge bouquet filled with all different and exotic types of my favorite flower, the iris. There was champagne waiting for us and we went out on the balcony, which gave us an incredible view of the Chrysler Building. Needless to say Tyler made this weekend perfect - he put so much planning into this weekend to make sure it was perfect for me. He'd been planning this for 2 months and even got my family and some friends involved to make sure that I was going to be "unoccupied" that weekend and not running around doing a million things. I love Tyler very much and know that we are going to have such a good life together. He is a wonderful, passionate and caring man. He is intelligent, curious and always smiling. We both know the love we share is only going to grow and get stronger as time goes by. We are the most romantic couple in America because we just enjoy being with each other..and always showing each other tenderness. We always hold hands, even if we're just laying around in bed watching TV -- it's just the love that is there between us. We are looking forward to our mid-size (80 persson) wedding this November 13, 2004 at St. Johns Church in Leonia, NJ the parish where I grew up and a reception at the Colonial Inn in Norwood, NJ. We are planning to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon. But even more, we are both looking forward to spending our lives together!
Prize Awarded:
Deluxe Cosmetic Kit for the bride from Impeccable Image, Inc.

Click here to check out more engagement stories and the personal wedding web sites of New Jersey couples! Return to Engagement Story Contest Winners Main Page