WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!

March of 2015 Alvin and Whitney met at a business networking meeting. We met a few times throughout the year and in October 2015, Whitney was substituting at Alvin's networking group for a photographer (our wedding photographer, Brian Geraths!) we had a conversation and Whitney initiated getting together. According to Alvin, Whitney asked him out on a date and according to Whitney, she was scheduling a networking meeting. Our first meeting/date was after a long work day, Alvin showed up with some fruit in case Whitney was "hangry", putting his best foot forward to impress the intelligent and attractive young lady. We had dinner and a great time talking. The first few dates Whitney thought we were networking and friends, while Alvin thought we were dating. Alvin won Whitney over with his thoughtfulness, fun personality, and contagious smile. We were quickly on the same page and officially started dating. Our first "official date" was a hike through Forest Park leading up to the Pittock Mansion.

Whitey and Alvin's first OFFICIAL date was hiking a trail at Forest Park that lead up to Pittock Mansion overlooking Portland. It was a typical Oregon fall day pouring rain. We both did not mind and enjoyed waiting under some cover at Pittock Mansion for the rain to die down. After the hike, we went to Casa Verde in NW Portland where we continued our lively conversations over some hot plates of food. We both enjoyed chips and salsa with margaritas!

Alvin was planning to pop the question for quite some time. Whitney was growing impatient and dropping major hints. Whitney was showing a little frustration after countless opportunities including the Philippines, long trips to the coast, and romantic dates. Alvin decided to ask THE question at Pittock Mansion on her birthday. Whitney was taken aback because their plans were very last minute and she did not see an outline of a ring box in his pants pocket when they left for a birthday dinner celebration. Alvin was thinking that since it was a weekday, Pittock Mansion would be less crowded.... It was not. They arrived to find a catering company setting up for a large event and a van of tourists enjoying the view. Alvin stalled and took Whitney to another part of the courtyard. He waited for the opportune time and luckily the moment was capture on camera by some tourists.

Alvin and Whitney are both fans of numerology. Alvin was looking at the calendar for a good wedding date and found 8-18-18 to be on a Saturday. He liked that the date is a palindrome, the numbers are read the same forwards and backwards. In this particular sequence, the mirror and reverse images are the same. Whitney agreed on the date as the number 8 is a very lucky number in Chinese numerology as well as it symbolizes infinity.