Meeting at last!

While Christine and Matthew serendipitously both moved to Issaquah in the Seattle area at about 12 years old - Christine from California, and Matthew all the way from Malaysia, their love story started years later in San Francisco after swiping right on a dating app in July of 2022.

After weeks of chatting, they met for coffee and a walk near the water, connecting on passions for faith, family, travel and more (like how amazing dogs are and the outdoors being their happy place). The butterflies continued as Matthew handed her a beautiful dahlia, outside her ceramics studio. He loved seeing her creativity and passions.

Growing together

From the early stages, it felt right. Their second date at a cute Italian spot had them talking and laughing for hours, and Christine was touched that Matthew made her homemade pasta for their third - even recruiting a friend to practice on beforehand. Matthew was similarly touched when Christine planned a special surprise date for him, where they had heartfelt conversations, and were both amused at getting a sense for their competitive sides at a local arcade.

From then on, they knew this was something special - bonding over exploring new restaurants (hunting for the best ravioli for her, and almond croissants for him), hikes and photography, and musing over any topic under the sun.

They prioritized talking about the important things they wanted out of life and marriage, growing in their faith together, and taking every opportunity to travel, starting with their first trip together to Carmel that October, where Matthew took the step to invite Christine up to Seattle to meet friends and some family.

Getting to know friends & family

Around the end of the year, Christine made her first few trips to Seattle to meet his friends and family, and he met hers in the Sacramento area at Thanksgiving. Since then, they’ve both enjoyed getting to know the people who are special to each of them and have felt so welcomed through holidays, hikes, dinners, games and more. Each time they get to spend more time building these relationships, they can’t help but talk about how happy bringing together their two worlds makes them.

The proposal

In July of 2023, Matthew surprised Christine by whisking her away to Kauai for their one year anniversary. Proposing at Hanakapi’ai Falls, a 300 ft waterfall on Kauai’s Nā Pali Coast on a strenuous 8 mile hike, he made her feel like the luckiest woman in the world. Christine was surprised and overjoyed - while they had looked for rings together the month before, she was convinced it was coming during an upcoming trip to Iceland.

Since then, they’ve both been enjoying planning the wedding together as they continue to grow and have fun - and can’t wait to spend such a special time with you all!