It's finally happening!

You might be wondering why we want to have a wedding on a Monday ;) 24/25 holds a special place in our hearts and symbolizes when we came back into each others lives after the heart break of losing each other. To have found each other again, almost a decade later, is something we will never take for granted. We are excited to have a wedding day that means more than just numbers for years and years to come.

Let's set the scene. (Crystal's POV). I've just wrapped up with a very fancy dinner at Bucca di Beppo with my dance team in San Francisco. We're a wild bunch of 18-22 year olds and everyone wants to go out to the club—I realize I'm not dressed for this, nor am I 21 years old. Luckily, when your older friends know people who know people, they can get you in to the clurrrb. So let's go dancing! We walk in, the lights are blue and Usher's "O.M.G." is playing. It's packed and we're making our way through to another section when I lock eyes with this cute girl, she's in a cute dress, curls in her hair, and she smiles at me. I smile back. And then that was it, I walked off and met my friends. You'll never guess what happened next. As we often find ourselves in dance circles so we can dance in a group—I was showing a random boy how to do the robot 🤖, when someone says "I don't think he's into it!" I look up and there she is. The cutie from before. Turns out, we were there with the same people. Bay Area's pretty small huh? We danced, sat down to talk, and danced some more. We were both oddly responsible and didn't bring our cellphones in so we had no way to exchange contact info. Oh nooo! After a few days and asking a friend for her number, we were finally connected. If you haven't guessed, that cutie from the club is Jonah dearest. We dated and practically spent all of our non-work/school hours together. The Lu house has always been the place to be, then and now. Now, we're 19. We're young, immature, and Jonah's getting ready to move to San Diego. We eventually part ways and go on dating other people, do some growing up, and just living life. We don't speak often, but there's never a doubt that we're cheering for each other from afar. Happy Birthdays, Congrats, and Merry Christmas, we were always supportive in our own way. One year, in 2017, I said Happy Birthday, as I do every year. She mentioned she would be home for her birthday and as always, she invited me to her party. At the time, I was all packed up and getting ready to move to London for school in a few days. In my year of "YES," I showed up to the party. I remember the shock on her face, not bad, but truly shocked. Long story short, since that night, I've spent each day falling a little more for Jonah. She was my rock through university—we pushed each other constantly to never settle. We were determined to build a real foundation of trust and communication. Two years of long distance. Living in San Diego. Internship in Portland. Back to Daly City. Throw in a pandemic. Career Changes. Old friends. New Friends. Fast forward to today, as our loved ones visit this page to celebrate our journey. Guess what? The cute girl—who almost got away—proposed. So pay whoever you made that bet with because Jonah proposed <3.

Whoever my partner was, woman or man, I always envisioned my dream proposal. Little did I know that I would fall in love with someone equally as strong and well, let’s face it, low key as stubborn as I was, we both wanted our proposal. This hilariously would result in one of the longest standing bets amongst our friends. People would joke about proposing for us, because if they didn’t, who knows if it would ever happen. Yes, you know who you are! Despite the crossroads we found ourselves at, after finding each other again and five wonderful years together, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Crystal. In 2023 Crystal made her second trip to the Philippines with my family and I. This was huge. None of my partners ever made it long enough to visit the extended family once let alone twice. As I watched Crystal taking shots, keeping up with the fam, playing with my nieces and nephews, and making the most genuine memories with my family, I seriously contemplated the urge to make her my wife. Side note: With the pressure of marriage, both from family, friends (all positive), and ultimately society, it was extremely important to me to propose on my own time. I wanted to be ready—I didn’t want to propose because I felt the performative pressure to check a box on life’s list of milestones. So as we were celebrating birthdays in Batangas, there was a heated game of bato bato pick (rock paper scissors) happening. I turned to my Kuya Badgie and I said, “Kuya, if I win, I will propose!” Ohhhhh buddy, ya girl made in the top 3, sweating bullets before losing. But you know, I was okay with that. It wasn’t meant to be, I wasn’t mad at it. After many heart to hearts with my cousins I felt their unconditional support for Crystal and I. I was excited at the thought of them being present for the day we celebrate our love. I came to realize that it would be pretty unlikely that my family would be able to attend our wedding in the U.S. I thought to myself, if they can’t be there at the wedding maybe they could at least be there for the proposal. DECISION MADE. The night before our week-long Korea trip, I decided! I’m proposing! But when? When will everyone be together again? My parents were set to have their vow renewal party and I reluctantly asked my mom if it would be okay to propose to Crystal on that day. An emphatic yes and immediate commencement of planning warmed my heart so dearly. Okay wait though, that means, I have to plan this surprise proposal, while I’m in Korea, without Crystal finding out. Call in the calvary! My mom and the TPC (tita planning committee) helped me plan the magical moment in my grandma’s iconic tree house. Though Crystal wouldn’t stop asking why we were going up the treehouse, she was left speechless when I got down on one knee. The next few moments are a blur of emotion and joy but—she said yes. I look over the edge of the treehouse to my family and yell out “she said yes!” while popping open a bottle of champagne! My family cheered so loudly, rose petals on the floor, a rainbow cake, champagne in hand, and at that moment I realized, this was better than any dream proposal I could have ever envisioned. Now we can’t wait to celebrate our love with all of you by our side. With all of you there, we know it will be better than anything we could have ever dreamed.