The Secret Garden At Rancho Santa Fe

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Ceremony

Reception

Our Wedding

Wedding schedule

Guest Info

Our story begins in the Fall semester of 2018 at San Diego State University... At SDSU, we shared some challenging classes—studying ring theory and vector spaces in Abstract Algebra, and building Python models to represent geometric and Taylor series in Mathematical Modeling. The latter would bring together a group of friends who, day in and day out, spent countless hours in the library studying, laughing, learning, and building a friendship that would stand the test of time. We first met in 2018 on the SDSU campus in the most “meet‑cute” way anyone could imagine: toiling over a Taylor‑series–based derivation of a finite‑difference approximation—a task so heart‑meltingly romantic it’s a wonder Netflix hasn’t made a series about it. At the time, however, we were completely oblivious to how this serendipitous collaboration over advanced calculus would blossom into the love we share today.Our paths eventually diverged into Computer Science and Mathematics, but throughout the rest of 2018 and 2019, we remained friends. As is true for nearly everyone, 2020 became the single most impactful year we had experienced. During the first couple of months, as we began our final spring semester, some of us already had job offers lined up for after graduation. Despite some concerning international news, life still felt normal. We were spending more time in the library, working together with friends and trying to finish our last year of college strong. From time to time, we’d head down to the SDSU market for snacks or to the campus Starbucks for coffee—sometimes with friends, sometimes just the two of us. We found opportunities to talk about school and work, about music and movies, about arepas and empanadas, and about so, so many TV shows. And in these small, friendly conversations, something started happening. At the time, the focus was 100% on school, 100% on academics, and 100% on our professional futures—nothing else could be more important. But as JC can tell you, he was finding himself at the library for more reasons than just studying and seeing friends. Someone had caught his eye, and he wanted to be there in hopes of catching hers. After work, he would head to the library and find his friends at the same table where they always studied. Littered across the table were water bottles, snacks, books, and laptops—and in front of each laptop sat one of his friends, all except for one: Jasmine. Unbeknownst to him, on Tuesday evenings Jasmine attended a weekly church service. But eager to find her there, JC would head straight to the library hoping to see her. For hours he would wait, hoping she’d appear, delaying his gym trip further and further. After a bit of schoolwork and plenty of goofing around with friends, he would eventually give up and head to the gym, hoping to catch her the next day. Often late into the night, the group of friends would stay in the library working and studying. Many times, JC would walk Jasmine to her car just to spend another few hours standing outside it, talking and laughing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about her made it impossible to walk away. Each night they would eventually part ways, only to find themselves glued to their phones at home, texting each other and continuing where they left off. This continued for a few weeks into March, when the news we had all been dreading finally arrived: COVID had come to San Diego. The school sent out an email notifying students that classes would now be remote and that no one was to physically come to campus. It was horrible news—this might be the last time they would see their friends for a long while. Everyone put on face masks, downloaded Zoom, and made plans for final study meet‑ups. The last days passed, and fewer and fewer students remained on campus. Friday, March 13th, was to be the final day on campus—the last day to work on‑site, but also the last day available for one more thing: a date. Now, it wasn’t a normal date, but given the circumstances, nothing about this was normal. Everywhere, people wore masks and kept their distance. Something as common as a sneeze caused alarm, and a cough was enough to clear a room. But still, they wanted to see each other one more time—and that’s exactly what they did, at a small Thai restaurant across the street from campus. They spent a few hours together until it was time to go. For all they knew, this was it. The world was in lockdown, and they were to stay cooped up at home for the foreseeable future. It was in that moment that JC realized something: this pandemic threatened not only his health, but also something that had only just begun with Jasmine. This was exactly the kind of situation that could create distance between two people, make them grow apart, and ultimately forget about each other. And in the back of JC’s mind, something nagged at him—something urged and warned him, as if to say, “If you let this girl go, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”And so, in the quiet uncertainty of a world shutting down, something unexpected began to open between them—a small, steady light neither of them had seen coming. What grew from long evenings in the library and conversations that wandered from music to movies to the tiniest details of their days slowly became the first lines of a story they hadn’t yet realized they were writing, a story only just beginning to unfold.

Our Story

Feel free to donate to our house or honeymoon fund:Venmo: @CaptShlief

Wedding Registry

Photos

Pros Dish on What to Wear to a Wedding

40 Affordable Guest Dresses to Save Money

Affordable Suits? They're a Click Away

Dress Code

Wedding Party

Q + A

Travel

San Diego Zoo/Balboa Park

Birch Aquariam

Seaport Village/Gaslamp

Shopping: UTC Mall or Fashion Valley Mall

Theme Parks: SeaWorld & Legoland

La Jolla Shores & La Jolla Cove

Mission Trails (easy/moderate)Rancho Penasquitos Trail (easy)Torrey Pines State Beach/Trail (easy/moderate)Cowles Mountain (moderate)

Hikes

Things to Do

Registry

Juan & Jasmine

Juan & Jasmine

J&J

Wedding Day

4:00 PM

Ceremony

6:00 PM

Reception