Jessica and Daniel’s Private Estate Vineyard Wedding

How did you guys meet?

We met online in October 2014 in Ventura County. Even though we are the same age and from two cities in the same county, we had never met before 2014 and didn’t even have any mutual friends. Jess was back home working for a year before getting her master’s degree in London, and Daniel was also living at home and going to school. Neither of us was looking for anything serious at the time, but since the first night we met, we have talked on the phone or been together in person every day.

What was your first date like?

Our first meet-up was at a bar the night we matched online, but we went on our first dinner date about a week later. We went out to Yardhouse, which is like a nice sports bar, and a few hours before the date, Daniel realized that he had no clothes that he felt good wearing on a first date. Panicking, he showed up to the shopping center where Yardhouse was located about an hour early and went directly to H&M. He asked one of the people working there to help him get a first date outfit and walked out of the store with a new pair of pants, a button-down shirt, and jacket!

Can you tell us about the proposal?

After being together for six years, Daniel proposed on a long weekend trip to Joshua Tree National Park. He had the whole thing planned out – we would drive there in the morning, go to lunch, drive into the park and then go on a short hike to a gorgeous view of the Barker Dam. He would then drop down to one knee in front of the beautiful reflection in the water and propose. What he didn’t plan on, however, was the fact that this was October and that California was in the middle of an extreme drought…

After having to stealthily readjust the ring box in his shorts pocket in a park bathroom filled with bees, Daniel was ready to get to the proposal so he could start enjoying the weekend and not stressing. When we arrived at a VERY dry damn, Daniel’s exclamation of “wait, what?! where’s the water?!” seemed a bit disproportionate to Jess, but she didn’t think much of it as they walked back to the car.

This is when Daniel really started to panic. He had the AirBnB host put a bottle of champagne in the house, so he knew he had to propose before they got there for the night. Deciding to wing it, Daniel pulled over by the side of the road on the drive out to the part to “take pictures.” He set up a small phone tripod and set it to video and then popped the question! Even though it didn’t go to plan, it was the perfect proposal.

Where did you guys honeymoon?

After our wedding, we spent a week in Santa Ynez at the family house where we got married. We spent that week eating, drinking wine, and reminiscing about the wedding. It was nice to be able to take some time alone to relax and start married life!