As Cristhian saw Jessica walking down the aisle toward him in her white wedding gown, he thought she looked perfect.
"It was definitely one of my favorite moments in our wedding."
He also thought, “That is the woman with whom I will spend the rest of my life! I immediately made a connection with the Book of Revelation, picturing how we will feel as a Church when we see our groom—proud and loving, waiting for us. I saw not just her, but our past and future together.”
For Jessica, her favorite wedding memory was after she received the Eucharist. “I became emotional and felt overwhelmed with gratitude like never before.”
How it all began.
In the summer of 2016, when Jessica first saw Cristhian’s profile, she felt some mild interest. She liked that he was passionate about the Eucharist, so she answered his interview questions, and this kicked off a series of messages, then a long phone call, and a meeting.
Before they met, Jessica was curious to see how Cristhian looked because to her all of his profile pictures looked like different people.
Cristhian is from Pomona and Jessica is Long Beach, so they decided that their first date would take place in Long Beach. They would meet up for a long walk on the beach and dinner.
When Jessica for saw Cristhian she says her initial impression "was like an 'aha moment'—where you can finally see the person you’ve been thinking about and talking with so much." She felt attracted to him right away.
"As we got to talking, I developed a respect for his intellect and comfort with his personality," she adds.
When Cristhian laid eyes on Jessica, he was struck by the bright color of her eyes. "Her blue eyes and her blonde hair captivated me immediately. I thought: 'We are so different!'" he recalls.
Despite our obvious differences, our stories were the same.
Cristhian had been afraid that their first date might feel a little awkward because they'd met online.
"Yet I never ever felt that way around her," he shares. "Her conversation skills also impressed me."
On their date, they discovered that—despite growing up in different countries [Cristhian grew up in Tijuana, Mexico], speaking different languages, and walking down different paths in life—their stories were very similar.
They also found out that their values matched up.
“It was kind of uncanny,” she says.
It only took a few months to know.
On July 26th, 2016, they officially became a couple. Within a few months, Jessica and Cristhian knew they had found “the one.”
During the year that led to their engagement, they experienced a lot of change. Cristhian, 25, began a career in landscape architecture in downtown LA, while Jessica, 25, earned her teaching credentials and started her job as a special education teacher. She also moved onto a sailboat in San Pedro.
This is about to become your new favorite spot, Jessica.
A year and three days after they started dating, on July 29th, 2017, Cristhian took Jessica to Huntington Gardens
and asked her to be his wife. “I guided Jessica to the Japanese garden, and as we were posing for a picture, I asked her, ‘Is this your favorite spot?’”
Jessica replied that she wasn’t sure yet, and Cristhian told her, “It’s about to be.”
She turned to see him on the ground kneeling with a ring box in his hand.
He said, “Jessica, I love you so much. Will you marry me?”
Jessica laughed, “Yes!” and put the ring on her finger.
They loved collaborating on the wedding planning.
For many couples, planning a wedding is a hectic process, but for Cristhian and Jessica it was a chance to collaborate and use their artistic talents. "We’ve never had so much fun in our lives," he explains.
"For example, Jessica painted the way she wanted the cake, she chose the color schemes and did some watercolor concepts and idea boards."
Cristhian designed the save the dates and the program. "I also did a photo montage of the attire to see how it looked all together, and even an architectural floor plan to coordinate the layout without vendors."
Everyone got on the dance floor...there wasn't a serious face to be found!
Guests got to see their creative work on June 16th, 2018. Surrounded by their family and friends, Cristhian and Jessica were joined in Holy Matrimony.
Jessica recalls one of her favorite memories from the reception.“We had a bilingual version of Ed Sheeran's "Perfect," and at the climax of the song, Cristhian picked me up and spun me around, and all my friends and family became a happy cheering blur.
It was definitely that ‘you finally made it’ moment.”
Cristhian adds, “Most of our guests swarmed the dance floor, and I don’t recall ever seeing a serious face. Everyone was sharing in our joy—even the servers and vendors were dancing!"
(See their adorable wedding video at the end of the story).
After their reception, the couple sailed away on a huge sailboat. “So huge that the mast scraped the bottom of a bridge on the way to our hotel!” Jessica shares. “It definitely added a unique sense of fun an adventure to our big day."
Today, they share a life together in Downtown Los Angeles, and Cristhian has as recently launched a Catholic apologetics ministry website.
Cristhian & Jessica's awesome wedding video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKhRttuFLkY&feature=youtu.be
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