The two met as many couples do, at work, Island’s Restaurant to be exact. The year, 2013. Armando was 22, straight out of college, and Taylor, 18, just out of high school. Taylor mostly avoided Armando, too nervous to talk to him, and he didn’t stay long enough for anything to bloom, but fate had its plan. After he left Islands, Armando kept running into Taylor at music festivals and bars. A year later, in 2014, it was Taylor who finally got the hint and made the first move, inviting Armando to a party she was hosting. When he asked if he could bring someone, she was sure he would show up with a date. (He brought one of his buddies instead.) That night, Armando and Taylor teamed up to win the beer pong competition as undefeated champions. They have been inseparable since. The couple became official in January of 2015, when Armando asked Taylor to be his girlfriend at the strike of midnight at a New Year’s Eve concert. Apparently, he liked to mark important occasions on holidays. He said “I love you” that Valentine’s Day, and they celebrated their first 4th of July together when he moved into her Lomita apartment. On their tenth anniversary in an intimate cabin in Idyllwild, he proposed, getting down on one knee as the clock struck midnight. If it is true that home is where the heart is, then Armando and Taylor have found a forever home in each other: a place to unwind when they’ve had a bad day, a warm nook where he can rip off his tie and she can wash off her make-up and they can both hang out in comfortable sweats. A true home offers a sense of permanence amidst all of life’s changes. Although Armando and Taylor have evolved from a boy and a girl who worked for the next music festival to a responsible man and woman established in their careers, their love is the one constant. They have grown together, not apart. From the beginning, both families have shared in the joys of this relationship, and even more so now as they all look forward to the upcoming nuptials. Armando and Taylor find comfort in knowing that they are not just marrying each other; they are joining one large, loving clan of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins, and in-laws who are here to support them in this next exciting phase. Home provides a sense of belonging, and Armando and Taylor belong together. Written by: Sara Alvarez Aiello