Our story started 40 years ago when our grandparents became friends while dancing together at Disneyland. Then, Ian’s mom became friends with Jessie’s sister through Jazzercise. A third twist of fate happened when Ian’s mom met Jessie’s uncle out dancing and they started dating and later got married. The day we first met was Thanksgiving 2011 when Jessie was invited to Ian’s grandparents’ house. We bonded over making the turkey and taking photos of our cooking, but the timing just wasn't right. We wouldn’t reconnect for another decade when fate once again brought us together on the other side of the country. We found ourselves living a quarter-mile from each other and the timing was finally right.

The morning started perfectly: Watching the sun rise over the Caribbean, eating an authentic Mexican breakfast, then heading over to a nature preserve where we got to swim and play with dolphins. But our story wouldn’t be ours if there wasn’t some added adventure. Ian had planned for everything. Everything that is, except for Moctezuma and his revenge. Battling against his own body, Ian dug deep and managed to wear a smile as they got ready for what she thought was just a nice dinner at a restaurant. Unbeknownst to Jessie, Ian had worked with the resort to reserve an entire rooftop for the two of them to have a private dinner. He had also known better than to bring the ring in a box—leaving her a little down in the dumps because she thought the proposal wasn’t going to happen. But it did. The doors of the elevator opened to a romantic table overlooking the Caribbean and Jessie’s heart melted. Ian dropped down on one knee and the rest is history.