We are so excited to have you join us as we finally get married!

We met while waiting tables at a sushi restaurant. Matt got sick a few days after he was hired and missed at least a week of work, and Jessica thought she would never see him again.

Jessica was drawn to Matt immediately, and they were close friends for a while before finally going out on an official date on February 15, 2014 to The Stave in downtown Long Beach. We consider this our anniversary! We moved in together very quickly and had a rocky start. Jessica was in grad school, and Matt had been promoted to manager for the first time, so it was a stressful time for us. Jessica remained the voice of reason while Matt provided a more creative point of view (and often the solution to all of Jessica’s problems). Eventually, we grew together in our lives and relationship and have learned to enjoy the little things like scarfing down street tacos from the local taco truck and cuddling with our cats. Together, our perspectives and strengths balance well, and we make a fantastic team.

After Matt faced some health challenges with Jessica by his side the whole way, we decided that we absolutely want to be together for the rest of our lives. Jessica thought that the conversations about marriage would eventually, like in 2 years, lead to a proposal. She had no idea that Matt was secretly getting an engagement ring. Since Jessica is the “strategist/planner” in the relationship, she started sending Matt pictures of rings that she liked as not-so-subtle hints that she was ready to be engaged. On December 5, we were sitting on the couch looking at rings together. At one point in the conversation, Jessica said, “I really dont care where you propose. You could pull a ring out right now, and I’d say yes.” A lightbulb went off in Matt’s brain. He went and grabbed the ring and asked Jessica to marry him. Lots of smiles and ugly-crying followed. We are happy to have shared this personal moment in the privacy and comfort of the home that we have made together.