If you ask Betty Suarez, 26, or Giovanni Rossi, 28, what initially brought them to marriage on May 22, 2010, both would say the same thing: a love for sandwiches and integrity over tomatoes.

"It was my first day as the sandwich guy at Mode," Mr. Rossi, owner of Gio's Deli in Queens, remembers. "The first thing I noticed when she came up to me was how smart she is." With a smile, he added, "And how much she likes to eat."

"He was rude!" Miss Suarez recalls with a laugh. "I had never met anyone so cocky. When I asked him to put more tomatoes on my sandwich, he actually refused."

From there, they say, the argument escalated into her accidentally getting him fired. At the time, the now freelance writer for several magazines, was the assistant to Daniel Meade, editor in chief at Mode.

"It was not love at first sight," Meade, a close friend of Miss Suarez, states. "But somehow they really fell in love."

And fall is the operative word in this romance. Mr. Rossi says, "I knew I was in love with her when she fell off of my cousin's carriage. She was soaked with hot chocolate and she smiled. I couldn't help but be in love with a woman so willing to laugh at herself. Plus, she looked cute as hell."

Miss Suarez says, "I knew he was the one after we went to Italy together. I had been in a relationship that wasn't working out and Gio made me see how good life could be." Breaking away from the other relationship, she had agreed to fly to Italy with Mr. Rossi two years ago. They have been dating ever since.

The couple plans to continue living in Queens near their families. "We found home in each other," Miss Suarez says. "I stopped looking for fantasies when I met him. I didn't need them anymore."

Mr. Rossi adds, "I've never been so grateful to get fired. Betty helped me succeed in my goals. She helped me make a few goals I didn't know I wanted."

Six months ago, Mr. Rossi proposed in Venice during a second trip to Italy for their anniversary. He had wrapped her favorite sandwich and tied it in a bow, just as he had as an apology on the first day they had met. When she unwrapped the sandwich, she found the engagement ring underneath the bun.

They were married at St. Paul's Catholic Church, the church Miss Suarez was christened in as a child. Their first dance as man and wife was to "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton, which holds special meaning the couple says. There were one hundred of their closest family and friends in attendance. The bride's father Ignacio Suarez happily and proudly gave her away.