Dan Dillabaugh and Laura Sigrist are wed in San Juan Island, Wa.

It was love at first sight – of brightly colored pants and red shoe laces.

"I just watched her as she floated through the room," Dan Dillabaugh said about his newlywed wife, Laura Sigrist. "I had a double-take as a cute, short brunette woman walked through my program with bright-colored slacks to just above her ankles and a cute pair of Toms to match. Her light brown eyes were noticeable from across the room and her smile was full of life."

The couple met on the Fort Meyer, Va., military base. Sigrist, a Buffalo native and licensed clinical therapist, was brought to the base as a children’s counselor. Dillabaugh, the director of youth services, works with military kids to enrich their lives through academics, sports and extracurriculars.

"We worked together for four months and in that time I saw how kind he was to the children, how well he related to both the military children and adults, how well-respected he was within the military community, and when I learned that he was a subject matter expert in youth development, it was all over because that’s one of my passions," Sigrist wrote via email.

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"Plus," she added, "he was absolutely adorable and also dressed so professionally every day, but wore red shoelaces in his dress shoes. I liked his flair."

Months after their first meeting, Dillabaugh finally asked her on a date after learning her team would be leaving the base in a few days. He had to use hand signs for "you, me, drink?" over children’s heads. She said yes. On their first date, they discovered mutual passions for outdoor adventures and a desire to move to Colorado, where Sigrist loved the mountains and Dillabaugh had family ties.

On their one-year dating anniversary, he took her on a surprise weekend trip to the Cave B. Winery in the state of Washington with plans to propose. When the front desk attendant told them about a hike to a nearby waterfall, it was the perfect setting since the couple loves to hike and explore waterfalls. "It’s kind of our thing," Dillabaugh said.

The next day they hiked to the waterfall where he proposed. "I sat Laura on a rock next to the falls, began telling her how much the past year had meant to me, and then dropped to one knee to ask her to marry me," he said. "Before I could get through the question, a teared-up Laura was yelling ‘yes, yes, yes’, over my voice."

On May 31, Will Licking of Vail, Colo., heard the couple’s vows at Roche Harbor Resort, San Juan Island, Washington.

"They literally had to take a plane, automobile and a ferry to get there," Sigrist said. "It was a beautiful ceremony in an outdoor garden and the reception and cocktail hour were outside with a big fireplace and hanging balls of light."

The bride is a graduate of Clarence High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY Geneseo and also earned a master’s degree in clinical counseling from Johns Hopkins University. The groom is a graduate of Buena High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Northern Arizona University.

The bride’s parents are Ingrid Sigrist of Buffalo, and Ron Sigrist of Atlanta. The bridegroom’s parents are Harry and Sheila Dillabaugh of Sierra Vista, Ariz. After their honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Mexico, the couple will make their home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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