CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mia Paitsel and her fiancé, Marvin Bailey, were riding back to West Virginia from Washington, D.C., Monday evening in awe, using words like "wow," "amazing" and "once in a lifetime."

The Dunbar couple had assumed in November, when they got tickets to President Obama's second inauguration, they'd just be part of the crowd.

But in the months leading up to Monday's events, the couple kept finding out their seats were getting better and better.

"Finally, I realized, we need to change our attire," Bailey, 33, said in a telephone interview.

"Before we left to go to D.C., we were already informed we would have pretty special seats, but we had no idea how close," said Paitsel, 23. "We were right next to people entering -- the president, everyone."

The couple shook hands with the president and first lady Michelle Obama -- as well as, among others, former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton, who were seated on the steps behind where the president spoke.

"We were right there next to Jay-Z and Beyonce," Paitsel said, also listing several other celebrities they sat near.

Bailey said they tried not to be star-struck. "We handled it well," he said with a laugh.

Paitsel's mother, Susan Paitsel of Sissonville, said she was able to catch glimpses of the two on television during the ceremony.

"I was beyond excited for them," she said. "I told them to make sure to take tons of pictures."

To get the tickets, Bailey's father, Michael Bailey, a pastor in Middletown, Ohio, contacted House Speaker John Boehner last year. Boehner came through and sent the pastor six tickets. He took his wife, Mertha; his other son, Michael II; and his son's girlfriend, Dawn Cook.

"Since we're newly engaged, my father thought it would be nice for a pre-wedding gift for us," said Marvin Bailey.

The couple said they didn't mind the cold weather, and would've still enjoyed the inauguration without the amazing seats.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime, awesome opportunity," Paitsel said.

Something they would never forget, Bailey added.

"Just being there, at a presidential inauguration, period. It was an added bonus to have the great seats," he said. "Whether Democrat or Republican, it was a historical event, something anybody would definitely want to attend -- especially as a young person."