The Bride
Kristin in the front yard of
the couple's home in State
College, PA.
Kristin Maria Bentrem, daughter of Douglas R. Bentrem and Mary Lou Bentrem, was born November 26, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the blizzard of '76. She was raised on a 100-acre horse farm in western Pennsylvania along with her 2 brothers: Daniel and David, and 3 sisters, Jane, Laura, and Julie (her fraternal twin).
She received a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from La Roche College in 2001. Since completing school, Kristin has worked for several architectural firms in Pittsburgh and State College. She currently works as an architectural interior designer for Hoffman Architecture in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.
The Groom
Mark seen relaxing shortly before
graduate school led to his dramatic
hair loss.
Mark Stephen Pfaff, son of Daniel W. Pfaff and Eileen C. Pfaff, was born March 21, 1973 in State College, Pennsylvania, and was raised there along with his older brother, Andrew. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts from Pennsylvania State University in 1995, a Master of Science in Multimedia Technology from Duquesne University in 2001, and is currently back at Penn State in his third year of a Doctorate program in Information Sciences and Technology where his research centers around the psychology and technology of high-stress decision making.
In between degrees Mark has been employed as a photo lab manager for a filmmaking and photography school and an installer and service tech for a commercial audio contractor. Before returning to Penn State in 2004, Mark spent seven years in Pittsburgh playing bass guitar and running a small recording studio.
How they met...
Kristin's sister Laura encouraged her to put a profile up on Yahoo! Personals shortly after moving to State College in January, 2005 (Thanks Laura!). Mark spotted it and wrote to Kristin, leveraging the Pittsburgh connection to catch her attention. It worked.
After a few weeks of chatting, they decided to meet downtown for drink (which later became dinner) on February 14th. It was only during a conversation the morning of the 14th that either of them realized that the 14th was Valentine's Day and, assuming the restaurants would all be crowded, almost rescheduled the date. But Kristin's work schedule had her travelling so much that they went ahead with it anyway and got a cozy table at the Allen Street Grill at 7:45pm with no reservation despite a big Valentine's Day special - rose petals and heart candies on the table, romantic entrees on the menu. Pretty intimidating for a first date.
The Ebensburg Area Business Commission
announces its support of Kristin and Mark's
engagement. The commision hopes to
attract more marriage-bound couples to the
"Crossroads of Cambria."
About 4 hours later, sipping drinks at Zola's New World Bistro down the street, the two were still sharing stories until the bar began to close. That was taken as a good sign and they made plans to get together again the following week. Mark cooked Kristin a big Indian dinner and about two years later asked her to marry him near the McDonald's on Route 22 in Ebensburg, PA.