Once an influencer reaches a certain level of fame, there’s a certain kind of online curiosity that follows them. For Bridgette Pheloung, the creator of “Acquired Style,” this curiosity has recently focused on one particular question: where did she attend college? It turns out that the answer is more important than most people thought because that campus served as more than just a setting for her twenties. Her whole love story started there.
On June 29, Pheloung, 29, shared a video that had been pieced together from her wedding day to announce that she and her longtime partner Mitch McHale were legally married. The video wasn’t taken at a remote location or an expansive vineyard estate, which is what influencers tend to favor. Rather, the couple decided to attend Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where they first met almost nine years ago, when he was a sophomore and she was a junior.
It’s difficult to ignore how thoughtful that decision seems. Many couples meet in college and then spend years looking for more “elevated” locations for their wedding, as if the starting point isn’t suitable for the final location. McHale and Pheloung took the opposite action. She wrote in her caption, “We made it official exactly where it all started,” and even though it was seen by millions of Instagram followers, there is something almost archaic about that statement.
The video itself is more nostalgic than spectacular. Underneath their voiceovers, piano music recalls the first time they saw each other. “I was sitting down at a table studying, and I was like, ‘Who is that guy?'” Pheloung said. McHale’s rendition is more straightforward and almost cinematic: she is the only person visible through tunnel vision. It’s the kind of origin story that seems over the top until you consider how many real relationships do begin in dining halls and libraries, long before anyone is filming anything.
After the ceremony, they reportedly held a celebration at Parc, the restaurant in Philadelphia where they went on their first date. Although it’s a minor detail, it conveys something about how this couple handles their past. They seem to have valued honoring old memories more than making new ones at the wedding. In the video, Pheloung is embraced by her identical twin sister Danielle, who also co-owns their clothing line Phe Phe. Danielle is dressed in a lace, hooded gown.
The preparations for this wedding have been ongoing for nearly a year. Since becoming engaged in July 2025, Pheloung has been incorporating bridal content into her feed, which culminated in an opulent bachelorette trip to St. Barths in April. Sponsored in part by a beauty brand that sells an AI-powered makeup mirror for slightly less than $800, it was the kind of trip that makes headlines on its own: fifteen or more friends, a private jet, themed outfit nights, and a yacht outing. The contrast between the extravagant, sponsored extravagance of the bachelorette weekend and the relatively private, sentimental choice of a college campus for the actual wedding is worth pondering for a moment.
In an interview with PEOPLE prior to the wedding, Pheloung praised McHale for remaining involved without going too far and said that organizing the wedding with him went smoothly. She acknowledged that the initial planning phases felt “intimidating and overwhelming,” which is consistent with what most wedding planners will tell you, fame or not. Her counsel to prospective brides was straightforward—possibly even somewhat familiar—to live in the present because it passes quickly.
The aspect of this story that typically doesn’t make headlines, however, is what sticks out the most. There was more to the “where did acquired style go to college” question than just online trivia. It proved to be the wedding’s emotional focal point. There is probably more to this story yet because she hinted that “part two” of the festivities is still to come.
