Laura Suspanic and Richard Mathiasen

On vacation in Rome, Italy, Laura Suspanic did what lovers have been doing for centuries: She tossed a coin into the Trevi Fountain and made a wish.What she hoped was that her best friend Richard Mathiasen would fall in love with her, because she’d always been crazy about him. In fact, the minute she first laid eyes on him two years earlier, Suspanic texted a friend: “I¿m in big trouble.” That was in 2005, when they were students at the College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y. Mathiasen was attracted to her too, but he¿d just lost his father and wasn¿t ready for a serious relationship. Well, the Trevi Fountain may just be magical — because while Suspanic was away, Matthiasen came to the realization that she was the love of his life. When she returned, he was waiting for her at the airport with a big bouquet of flowers. They haven¿t been apart since. To start their life together with an adventure, they drove across the country to settle in warm, sunny SoCal. Suspanic, now 36, is assistant director of enrollment at the University of Redlands Burbank campus. Mathiasen, 31, is working towards a masters of professional writing at USC, where he also tutors writing.In Oct. 2010, he proposed during a sunset walk on Santa Monica beach. The ring he gave her had been passed down from his great grandfather to his grandfather to his father. With friends and relatives on both coasts, the Studio City couple decided on a destination wedding and tied the knot on Oct. 15 at La Posada Resort and Spa in Santa Fe, N.M. ¿Maxine NunesCustom Publishing Writer