Emily Goldberg, daughter of Kate Scheinman and Larry Goldberg of Dubuque, Iowa, and David Jolly, son of Jeanette and Steve Jolly of Chesterfield, have announced their engagement.

The bride-to-be earned her Master of Social Work degree and works as a Support and Sales Coordinator for Software Technologies. Her fiancé earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, with a minor in computer science. He is a Software Developer at Software Technologies.

The couple met in September 2015, shortly after Emily moved to Madison, Wis., to start her graduate studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She attended an event held by Madison Jews Next Dor, a group for Jews in their 20s and 30s, where she met David. The two ended up talking the whole night. The next day, Emily contacted David on Facebook and he asked her out on their first date, going bowling. “Ever since then, we became Emily and David,” Emily said.

In April 2017, the couple traveled to Dubuque to celebrate Passover with Emily’s family at the annual seder held at Temple Beth El, the congregation where Emily grew up.

They showed up early to help Emily’s family set things up for the seder. Once Emily, her brother and her parents were there, David suggested they walk around the sanctuary to see what a wedding would be like. 

Trying to be discreet, David led Emily up to the bima as her family watched on. David got down on one knee and proposed, and Emily said yes. It turned out that David had arranged for Emily’s family to show up early, and they were in on the surprise.

In June, the couple moved from Madison to Chesterfield. A July 1, 2018 wedding is planned to take place at Temple Beth El in Dubuque. Rabbi Daniel Bogard, who was Emily’s rabbi for four years at Bradley University Hillel in Peoria, Ill., will officiate. Emily’s cousin, Leah Nussbaum, who is a second-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College will assist and help to lead the ceremony.