gabriel and leah met on november 7th 2021 at their friends' wedding, allison and elie. each of them have their own memory of exactly how the details played out that night but the one thing they can agree on is that they connected on the dance floor. post-wedding celebration they continued the party with friends at a local karaoke spot where their official love song "my boo" was established. when it was time to go home, gabriel, being the gentleman he is, drove leah home. before opening her car door, he pulled out his phone and asked when he could come visit her in LA so they could have their first official date. gabriel claims he knew leah was his wife after the night ended. since then, their relationship has been full of dancing, love, and adventure.

one month later, they had their first date throughout an entire weekend. they had a cute dinner at Ysabel in west hollywood, worked out together, brunched, did a coffee date, had tacos with friends, and even went to leah's church. they were inseparable after that - from daily phone calls, movie dates over facetimes, doordash gifts, and back and forth visits between LA and the bay.

things were moving fast. gabriel asked leah to be his girlfriend in february of 2022. after nearly a year of doing the long-distance challenge (leah living in LA and gabriel in Oakland), it was time to close the gap and leah moved back to the bay so they could see if they were meant to be.

after meeting each other's families multiple times, countless coffee walk dates, lots of travel, attending more weddings, more dancing, lots of therapy meetings, and pre-marital counseling together, they knew this was it.

on September 16th 2023, close friends and family graciously gathered at 111 minna in SF for a surprise proposal. leah was literally too stunned to speak and, with tears rolling down her face, could only muster a head nod to say YES.

it was about a month later that gabriel and leah decided to elope at san francisco's city hall. they had been waiting to move in together until they were officially married and were finally excited to start the next chapter of their lives together. so they asked their counselors when they could officiate, picked a date, and rushed-ordered their elopment outfits.

on november 7th, 2023, the exact day gabriel and leah met 2 years prior, the two had a private ceremony and were married by their pre-marital counselors, lori and eric. it was a sweet and intimate time full of poetic vows, holy communion, prayer, and lots of photos. the only other person present was their amazing photographer and friend from church. ironically, gabriel and leah did not realize they were getting married on their meet-cute anniversary until the day of.

they believe God brought them together and has destined their marriage to be a living testimony of His goodness.