Ariana and Thad first crossed paths on Pepperdine University’s campus in August 2016 as they both were new hires in the Pepperdine Athletics department. Thad was a new administrator and Ariana was a women’s soccer coach. Their offices were steps away from each other across the hall. Both were focused on their jobs during the first semester on campus yet eventually, a friendship began to blossom. With privacy in mind, Ariana and Thad began "officially" dating in January 2017 with a first date on MLK Day, which Ari and Thad both had a rare day off. A second date followed to a Laker's game, which Thad had gotten free tickets for through a Pepperdine connection. Ariana was so impressed with the lower level tickets that she offered to buy dinner at the game. Thad and Ariana share a love for sports and it has been the foundation of their relationship and careers. On the weekends and weekdays, you can find them at sporting events as athletic administrators and a coach supporting the countless athletes they aim to support. After eight years together, Ari and Thad have moved in together, quarantined through a pandemic, bought and renovated a home, traveled, and spent countless hours on bike rides together in Santa Monica. After years of building memories and dreams, we decided to team up for life! We can't wait to celebrate our wedding day with the same love and excitement that brought us together.

We had been dating since January 2017 and discussions began to turn towards the big question of “when?” Behind the scenes in the fall of 2022, Thad began ring shopping and deciding when the best opportunity would be to pop the question to the suspicious Ariana. A hard one to surprise, Ariana was unaware why Thad was asking so many questions about the Martinez family traditions around the Christmas holiday as Thad would be attending Martinez Christmas festivities for the first time. As Ariana would later discover, Thad was prying for information to find the perfect moment. Ariana and Thad spent Christmas 2022 at Julie and Jose’s home in Fallbrook, CA and after a late Christmas Eve party at Aunt Patty’s house, Ariana and Thad assembled in living room with Jose, Julie, and Ariana’s sister, Xandrie, to begin opening presents. Thad had wrapped up the ring in a small box and stashed it in the back of the tree, far away from any prying eyes. A large box was wrapped up at the base of the tree, addressed to Ariana, and included a letter from Thad. While Julie was passing out presents for family to open, Thad made sure to set aside the special present in order for it to be opened last. As Ariana was presented with the big present, she ripped it open and began to the read the note. As she read, her eyes began to water and Xandrie was the first to notice something was off. Ariana was lost for words and simply passed the letter over to be read. Thad nervously waited for Ariana to make her way over to the tree to search for the little box. After poking around, Ariana found the wrapped box and ripped off the wrapping paper. Thad was able to finally speak up and took the unwrapped box from Ariana and slowly knelt down to ask her to the big question.