During the camp, the two never dated—romance was virtually impossible given the camp’s strict parietal rules. But at a camp reunion on Aug. 18, 2000, the two finally became a couple. “It ended up being an ideal situation because there were so many rules in place to keep us platonic at camp,” Ms. Heller says. “It meant that we were best friends after camp.”

Two months later—on Oct. 10—they became engaged to be married. While watching television, Ms. Heller turned to reach for the remote. When she turned back, Mr. Alfono presented her with a ring he had found as a child and kept because it reminded him of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books.

Ms. Heller says she was not caught unawares. “I would have been surprised if he didn’t propose,” she says. “Such is the intensity of our feelings.”

“I wore the band on my right hand for two years,” Ms. Heller says. They kept the engagement secret until the summer after their freshman year in college. “We went zero to 60 in about two seconds,” she says.

Mr. Alfono nearly gave up his acceptance at Princeton to go to Tufts in order to be close to her. But the couple braved the long-distance relationship. “I figured out that over four years I spent $4,000 and 22 days on buses back and forth to New Jersey,” she says.

“When I told my parents, they looked like I’d hit them with a brick,” she says. But after overcoming their initial shock, the parents were supportive and on Aug. 30, 2004, the couple married in a civil ceremony at the town courthouse in Cranford, N.J. (The courtroom doubled as a petty crime court; a man awaiting a fine ate a Snickers bar through the ceremony.)

Both will attend graduate programs in Princeton next year; Ms. Heller for a doctorate in English and Mr. Alfono for a master’s in philosophy. Looking starry-eyed, she says that kismet happens. “You’ll know,” she says. “From the day I got together with Mark, I knew.”

And despite the couple’s new-found proximity, Ms. Heller’s dating advice remains constant. “Don’t take each other for granted. You have to fight for togetherness.” —A.M.L.

Sorcha A. Brophy ’05 and Jamin D. Warren ’04

Sorcha A. Brophy ’05 and Jamin D. Warren ’04 had a lot in common. Both attended Grace Street Church in Harvard Square and were members of Christian Impact and Stride Rite Scholars. It seemed too good to be true.

And if they had judged by the first date, it would have been.

On a ‘pre-date’ in 2002, Ms. Brophy and Mr. Warren met in a Quad dining hall. “It was absolutely horrid,” says Ms. Brophy. Mr. Warren became hungry and ate before she arrived. “I had to eat alone, and he just watched me, and asked me questions, and I couldn’t think of anything to say,” she says. The meeting was so awkward that Ms. Brophy hopped on the shuttle to head back to Quincy House and the two didn’t speak for six months.

“We both thought we knew, and when things went so poorly we were just confused,” she says. The couple decided to try again, and then dated for two years.

Mr. Warren’s proposal went far more smoothly. Last August, Ms. Brophy went to visit him in New York City, where he lives. Late one afternoon in his apartment, he handed her an envelope with a card and some cash, and walked out. For two hours, Ms. Brophy went on an elaborate scavenger hunt in lower Manhattan.