I Do!: Brie Ingram and Brendan Beller, of Kings Park

Brie Ingram and Brendan Beller were just classmates when they met on the first day of their social work program at SUNY Plattsburgh in August 2017.

She had been at the college for two years. He was new to campus, having just transferred from Suffolk County Community College. But from the moment Beller saw her, he couldn’t shake the feeling they had crossed paths before.

“She just looked familiar,” Beller said. “I literally asked her, ‘How do I know you?’ ”

They became close friends, bonding over classes, then grad school plans. When Beller considered an online master’s program in Buffalo, Ingram planned to do the same. When he decided on Stony Brook University instead, she applied too.

Both earned master’s degrees in social work in 2020, but it wasn’t until that summer, as the pandemic settled in, that their relationship turned romantic.

Beller took a job back in Plattsburgh, and Ingram made monthly trips upstate while he came home whenever possible.

“Getting through the distance gave us a really strong foundation,” Ingram said.

By 2023, they were living together in Beller’s childhood home in Kings Park, a two-family house that once belonged to his grandmother.

On Feb. 13, 2024, during a trip to Florida, Beller proposed at Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg. With the help of a family friend, he set up a romantic display complete with a “Marry Me” sign.

The couple married this year on Feb. 14 at Watermill Caterers in Smithtown, surrounded by family, friends and custom notes that reflected their bond. The ceremony, officiated by longtime friend Sarah Lambert, added a special touch to the ceremony.

“Everyone said how special it felt,” Ingram said.

But for the bride, the best part came in a quiet moment alone with Beller in the bridal suite, just after the ceremony.

“It was peaceful,” she said. “We were married and it just felt right.”

Beller agreed: “I didn’t expect it to be the best day of my life, but it really was.”