Narrated by Justin, The groom:

I had a arm full of books as I extended my hand towards the last one for the evening. Our fingers brushed as we grabbed at the same book. Our eyes locked and you let out a surprised “Uh, You have it”. “No, you take it. I already read last year’s a couple of weeks ago, go for it.” I say. Without hesitation, you snatch The Guinness Book Of World Records 2015 and hastily start walking away. Intrigued by your poise and choice of literature, I call out, “Hey, do you think you could just text me when you’re done with it?” You stop for a second, turn your head, lift one eyebrow and proceed to look me up and down before saying, “Not Interested!” Defeated, I walk around for a few minutes to not make it awkward before proceeding to check out. As I get up to the register, I recall the cashier letting out a snarky remark “Wow, I didn’t even know they even had Goosebumps on a college campus.” Any other time I would have told them to take a hike, but I couldn’t think. I was in a trance, enamored by your beauty. I honestly don’t even remember how I got home that day, but all I could think about for the next 48 hours, was you. I spent my entire weekend trying to find you on Facebook. Who were you? What was your major? And why are you reading the The Guinness Book Of World Records? When I went back to class on Monday, I set out to find you. I just had to at least know your name. Each day for two weeks straight, I walked through the library before leaving campus. I would park on the opposite side of the school so I would pass by where the library was to get to my classes. After two weeks with no luck, and the book still not returned, I thought to myself. “What fine specimen would need two weeks to read the Guinness book of world records…. Unless you were trying to break one.” By this time, it was getting close to Christmas break, which means finals week. I knew this was my last shot at trying to find you. Typically, I would not sit in the library and study, but for the last four days before vacation, I spent at least two hours in the there each day. Staring blankly at my chicken scratch notes, which consisted mostly of useless doodles, I would glance up every time I heard the door open and someone come through the entrance. After three days with no luck, It was Thursday, my last final before a 6 week break. I had just gotten back from the bathroom to sit back down at my favorite table when you walked through those doors. The clock read 11:55 and I needed to get to my last final. You were walking my direction with a small group of your peers, likely going to get one last study sesh in. As I started to stand up, my body started to take on a new life. It was like an Earth Wind and Fire song was running through my body. Anyone who saw me advance in your direction would have thought I moved like the penguin from Happy Feet. You didn’t even recognize me. I tried to keep it together as I walked up to you. “Hey aren’t you that girl who checked out the Guinness Book Of World Records?” I asked, knowing damn well you were. You tried to play it off cool as you replied, “Umm no, I think you have the wrong person.” By this time, your other three classmates were getting a little uncomfortable and one said, “We’re going to go over there and get started.” Knowing this was my last shot, I blurt out with my voice cracking, “DO YOU WANT GRAB COFFEE ME?” You give a half smile, bat your perfect eyelashes and reply, “I think you meant to say, Would you like to grab a coffee with me.” I manage to get out a, “ Yes, that’s what I what I said.” You glance at your study group and then back at me and say, “I don’t drink Coffee…” As I hear this, the blood in my body feels as through it’s draining, from the top of my head down to my… “But I do drink Tea.” You finish your sentence. I am grinning ear to ear and my eyes start to widen as if I was 5 years old and was handed an entire quart of ice cream. I pull out my phone as you proceed to rattle off what I hope is your real phone number. 317 Area code, jeeze, where are you from, or did you just give me the customer service line for AT&T. At that point, I didn’t even care, you spoke words to me and that was good enough, for now. Enchanted by your beauty, I floated my way on cloud 9 to my last final, Statistics. It was the only C I have ever received.

And that is what we vowed to tell our kids if they ever asked how we met.

Truth is, we don’t have a real fairy-tale love story or some kind of romantic way we met. This is the 21st century, those kind of things just don’t happen, at least not in this love story. I didn’t meet Emily in a Library. I didn’t meet her in a college class. I didn’t meet her in a bar. We met through the good old tried and true “dating” app, Tinder. I swiped right, she swiped right, and what do you know, it turned out alright! Okay there is a little more to the story than just that. You’re probably all wondering, “Why are you having us fly thousands of miles to stay on a little island in the middle of the pacific ocean to get hitched? Can’t you do that somewhere closer?” You’re right, it’s a bit of an inconvenience, but I promise it will be worth it. Now, the “why”? Well, It all started a couple weeks after we met. Emily and I had been nearly inseparable for the first couple weeks after we started talking. The third week, she dropped a bomb on me, saying that she was going to Maui for 2 weeks and was leaving in 4 days. I didn’t really know what to think. At this point, we were both still kind of talking to other people and had not decided that we would be “exclusive dating.” She said I could come to Maui if I wanted. She invited me to an Italian restaurant to meet her parents, and sister, and Sister’s boyfriend. I can only imagine they were a little skeptical about her, bringing someone that she just met, to Maui. Well, they must have liked me because they gave the green light. It was me, however, who was still on the fence. I remember the day like It was yesterday. Emily was already in Hawaii and I was sitting in a salon getting a haircut and asked my hairdresser if I should do it. She told me life is short and to just go for it. I booked my ticket that day. I arrived on the island on May 27th, my birthday and Emily and her mom picked me up from the airport. We had an amazing trip and the rest is history. We have gone back to Maui every year since, and we figured since that was such a pivotal moment in our relationship, and knowing how much Maui means to Brad and Dolores (Emily’s parents), that we would have our wedding here. It was really the only choice. We hope that you can share this awesome journey with us and look forward to seeing you in MAUI!