We’re (finally) Getting Married!

Due to COVID-19, we've made the decision to postpone our wedding to Saturday, July 17, 2021. Family and friends are most important to us and we could not continue with our June 2020 date, knowing the possibility of not having all of our loved ones with us to share in the biggest day of our lives. We know that we will be anxiously awaiting July 2021 to arrive, but know it will be well worth the wait and an even greater celebration!

From the Groom.... Back in 2011, I had a unique opportunity to undergo a Study Abroad in Paris while pursuing my Undergrad Degree. I have always had a particular fascination with France and its charming medieval villages. Maybe because the French Revolution is largely responsible for the relatively free world that we enjoy today, and such a major historical event had the Versailles Palace as one of its main witnesses. One of the first things I did in Paris was to visit the Versailles Palace and its Gardens. I might have gone there a handful of times, sometimes by myself and some other times with family or friends. I clearly remember once that I went there with a bottle of wine, a speaker, and watched the sunset over the Garden's Lake, all alone. I just fell in love with it. Every time I visited the Gardens, I especially noted that there were rowboats for rent on that lake. I never had the opportunity to have someone by my side to go for that ride, since then, I promised to myself that I would come back and do it with the girl of my life. Nine years had to go by for that day to come. I had known Asha for a year and a half, and her personality, beauty, and a million more things made me take the greatest decision of my life. I was going to ask her to marry me on the Europe trip that we had planned. For that special day, we had a whole day in Versailles planned–an unforgettable bike ride through the Versailles Palace Gardens, a visit to The Estates of Trianon, lunch on medieval downtown Versailles, and an ending with the rowboat ride of my life. It was perfect. Months of planning came to an end with the most beautiful "Yes!" I have ever heard, and I got to keep my promise.

Asha Solomon had lived all of her life in California's Bay Area. Alejandro Vela had lived mostly in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They met in Santa Barbara soon after moving there, they were both 29-years-old. For them to meet, a lot of things had to happen specifically how they did. Asha came to a time in her life where she started desiring a change – beach, warm climate, change of scenery, and career growth. She had been passionately working for Four Seasons in the Bay Area for eight years since graduating from University of San Francisco, and she wanted to expand her experience into selling a resort property. Thousands of miles away, Alejandro's passion for sustainability, fueled by a great concern for our planet, led him to pursue a Master's Degree at UC Santa Barbara – he had always seen California as the place where everything is possible. Asha was close to deciding to move to Hawaii, and Alejandro was close to deciding to attend UCLA. God had a say. Alejandro moved to Santa Barbara in September of 2017, Asha, one month later in October. They met in March of 2018, and here we are, July 17th of 2021, they are getting married.