Our Story
2014
How we met
“I first laid eyes on John in Biology class when I was a Sophomore at NC State. We were randomly assigned seats next to each other. I didn’t pay him much attention because he was sitting next to his girlfriend at the time. I remember thinking John seemed friendly but his girlfriend at the time looked pretty grumpy so I never made an effort to introduce myself. One day, we were taking a test in class and I just heard him sniffling the whole time. I reached into the depths of my backpack and found an old tissue and gave it to John. That was our very first interaction! Little did he know, I really gave it to him because I couldn’t focus on my test with all his sniffling! Throughout the year, I noticed him here and there because I’d see him hanging out with the Filipino group at NC State, Barkada, which I was surprised by because I had no idea he was Filipino!
Fast forward to my senior year and Tinder was all the rage! Everybody was on that app. It was so popular that it’d be a normal occurrence to run into a “match” at least once a week around campus. I finally bit the bullet after much convincing from my friends and made an account. I wanted to delete it immediately after – there were so many fish pics! Just as I was about to delete the app, after only being on there for a week or so, I saw John’s profile. I was sitting next to my roommate and asked for her opinion. He was the first “normal” guy I’d seen on the app, but it would be weird because we had so many mutual friends and we sort of knew each other. I “swiped right” after some encouragement from my roommate with the mentality that I would only message him if he messaged me first. The next morning, I woke up to a greeting from John with a simple, “Hi!”.
After messaging back and forth, we went on our first date at an NC State staple, Sushi Nine. We talked for 5 hours that night and never looked back! He was hooked! =P By the time we get married, we’ll have been together for almost 9.5 years, almost 1/3 of our lifetime! I’m so thankful for everything that happened to bring the most wonderful person into my life!”
Sarah
“The first time I met Sarah was in Biology class where we had assigned seats next to each other. I always called her the “late girl” because her and her friend would come in 5 minutes late and the classroom was auditorium style, so you really had to move all of your stuff for people to get through. Fast forward a few years later and my coworker is telling me about his Tinder matches and somehow convinces me to make a profile. I checked it out for a week and hated it, but I did swipe right on someone I remembered from Biology class: Sarah! It turned out that we both hated Tinder, so we deleted it and decided to start texting instead. (I took a screenshot just in case we ended up together and I wanted to reminisce years later 😉). I was, and still am, a slow texter, so there were times that Sarah thought I wasn’t interested anymore, but thankfully, Sarah’s roommate convinced her to keep texting me.
Sometimes there are brief, unassuming moments in our lives that completely change the trajectory of our future and this was one of them! If Sarah and I hadn’t started Tinder the exact same week before deleting it or if Sarah’s roommate hadn’t encouraged her, we would’ve never met and I wouldn’t have experienced nine amazing years of love and adventure with my best friend. Love you, bebe!”
John
2022
The proposal
“John and I had been shopping for a ring so I knew it was going to happen – I just didn’t know when. We went on a trip to California before he started at his new job to explore wedding venues (because your girl couldn’t wait!). We started in San Diego and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur. I took my best friend Reina and my parents along too! Throughout the week, we toured beautiful venues, ate great food, and went sightseeing in between the venue tours. Not once did I suspect John was going to propose that week except for one time. We were at this absolutely beautiful beach in Big Sur, walking along the shore. I started walking with Reina and my mom and all of a sudden I turn around and they weren’t next to me anymore. I found myself alone with John on the beach by ourselves. I really thought that was the moment! Then ten seconds later, my dad appears out of nowhere with a hermit in his hand, very excited. That’s how I knew it wasn’t going to happen then and I just dropped it.
On our last day of the trip, we end up in San Francisco after a along drive. I was so over the venue tours so I didn’t feel like wearing anything nice that day or doing my hair. I noticed Reina and my mom taking extra time that day and everyone was in a good mood but I just thought they were having a good time on the trip! They really had to convince me to do my hair and wear something descent. I am so glad they did! We ended up going to a dim sum place that is really popular in SF but the line was so long. I was fine waiting. Usually Reina and John are too, but for some reason they both seemed like they wanted to leave. John even suggested going to the dim sum place across the street instead, which had no line, but barley any reviews. It is so unlike John to go to a place without many reviews!!
Finally, we get our dim sum to-go and headed over to the Palace of the Fine Arts. My parents took photos and then my mom encouraged us to take a photo as well. Then a photographer came by and asked if it’d be OK if she took our photo with her nice camera. I totally thought she was a viral TikToker who goes up to strangers out of nowhere to take nice photos! I agreed. After she took a few, I turned and saw John on one knee. Then, I turned around to see my sister and brother-in-law, then my brother and sister-in-law, and finally my two college best friends. They all came out from hiding behind a bush! To be honest, the rest was a blur and I don’t even remember what John said to me. It turns out, that photographer was hired by John to take our engagement photos! Later that day, he surprised me and my loved ones with a nice dinner at Ghirardelli Square. The proposal was everything I could’ve imagined and more! John did good! 😊”
Sarah
“I was never nervous about Sarah agreeing to marry me. I was only nervous about Sarah finding out about the proposal. She is notorious for guessing/ruining my surprises because she can pick up on the slightest out-of-character moment. If I started planning a random trip: suspicious. If I suggested that she get her nails done: very suspicious. Thankfully, Sarah and her best friend, Reina, were already thinking about taking a trip to California with just the three of us. The best part was that Sarah thought it was all her idea. She even invited her parents to go with us (maybe she was secretly trying to set this up to be a proposal)!
The proposal was in San Francisco on the last full day of our trip. On that day, Sarah’s friends and family all flew in and to meet at the proposal location: The Palace of Fine Arts. I hired a photographer to capture the moment, so we had to be there at a specific time. Before leaving our Airbnb that morning, Sarah decided she didn’t want to do her hair or makeup or dress up anymore, which she had been doing the entire trip. I panicked because I knew she’d regret it, but if I suggested that she do any of those things: super suspicious. Thanks to the convincing of Reina and Sarah’s mom, she changed her mind.
Before heading to the proposal spot, we stopped by a highly-rated grab-and-go dimsum bakery to get some food to take with us. However, when we arrived there were about 40 people waiting and the line was out the door. We had to be at the proposal spot in 20 minutes, so I suggested going to a different place that had a lower rating, but less wait time. This was immediately puzzling to Sarah because I would never pass up on good food, so we stayed in line to avoid suspicion. Stressed out, Reina and I stood in line frantically texting the photographer, friends, and family that we would be late. When we finally got our food, we pretty much ran to the Uber and headed to the Palace. We ran so fast that no one had a chance to eat their dimsum. 😢
Meanwhile, Sarah’s friends and family were all hiding under a big tree by the proposal spot. The only problem was the hiding spot was visible from the road, so I had to tell the Uber to drop us off on the other side of the Palace and walk over even though it would take longer. I tried to walk over calmly, but it ended up being the world’s fastest “slow walk.” As we got into position, I got down on one knee, and I completely blanked. I don’t remember what I said, but it was fragments of the words “Sarah” and “marry” mixed with nervous laughing. The rest is history!
I learned later that the photographer had been shooing away people that wanted to do a luxury picnic in the proposal spot, so it would be clear when we arrived. I’m so glad I hired a photographer!”
John
Gallery
