Swift Proposal: Upland couple ‘engage’ with Taylor Swift
It’s not every day you get on Taylor Swift’s Instagram account.
And, it’s not every day you get engaged, either.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened Friday night when Anthony Yannuzzi proposed to Stephanie Pysher after the two were among 15 selected among 70,000 concert goers to meet the superstar.
“It was the greatest feeling but I was so speechless,” Pysher said, adding she had no idea Yannuzzi was going to pop the question. “It feels so surreal.”
The Upland couple’s romance started with Swift.
Living a street away from each other, they bonded over their love of all things Taylor.
“I have always connected to her music,” said Pysher, 25. “I am a huge fan that she sticks up for herself.” Yannuzzi, 22, agreed. “She receives so much hate from everyone but she sticks up for herself,” he said of the singer who grew up in Berks County, adding that he really likes her music, too.
So when he and Pysher decided to take their relationship to the next level, the obvious choice was Taylor Swift.
“We started dating five years ago,” Yannuzzi said. “We decided to go to a Taylor Swift concert.”
The superfan couple had tickets for Saturday night’s Philadelphia performance, then they won some for Friday night, with a VIP pass.
Yannuzzi set up a Twitter account trying to get the superstar’s attention to let her in on his plan so they’d get a chance to meet her.
“I just thought there was a slight chance,” he said.
“He just brought the ring because he thought he’d regret it forever if we got the chance to meet her and he didn’t bring it,” Pysher said.
“We got picked in the parking lot to meet her,” Pysher said. “We had no idea.”
They said they went to the “Meet and Greet” on Taylor’s “Reputation” tour at Lincoln Financial Field at 6 p.m. The two were then escorted to a room where they had private time with Swift and they were given one photo.
Pysher, a teacher, said she was telling the star how all of her students were well aware of her obsession with her.
Then, Yannuzzi interrupted, got down on one knee, pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him.
Pysher said Swift was sharing their joy, saying, “Oh my God, is this for real?!”
Pysher said she was swirling with the excitement of meeting the star and getting engaged – at the same moment.
“It is just so surreal,” she said.
And, Swift posted a picture of the moment on her own Instagram account, which by Saturday afternoon had gotten more than 1.5 million likes.
“They walk into the meet and greet and he says, ‘We met five years ago at the Red Tour’ and then...’” the star wrote. “#thirdwheel.”
Yannuzzi was also taking the moment in.
“The pieces just feel into place perfectly,” he said, adding he was enjoying their moment in the spotlight. “We’re going to enjoy being famous for a couple days.”
And, while the wedding won’t be for a while – no date has yet been set, one thing is certain.
“We said we’ll definitely be dancing to a Taylor Swift song,” Pysher said.