Denise: The first time I heard of Alejandro was on my mission in San Diego. My sister, who was serving her mission in Los Angeles at the time, sent me an email with one of her p-day pictures and told me about an "Elder Jimenez, who goes to Harvard." I didn't hear much about him after that, but the second time I heard of Alejandro was a couple years later when my sister Grace and her then-boyfriend, now-husband Benson concocted the bright idea to introduce us (for which they still take credit for to this day--and rightfully so!). Alejandro: I was in Utah for my brother Brian's sealing, so I jumped at the chance to make dumplings with Sister Han's "smart, cute" sister. And smart and cute she was! For the next few months, we loosely kept in touch, but I was back in Cambridge, and she was back in Provo, so it didn't make much sense to jump into anything. And then COVID happened. We were kicked off campus, and I ended up back in Utah. Denise & Alejandro: Well, the rest is history. (Come find us if you want the longer, more dramatic version haha.) Many of you were there with us as we fell in love. You came with us on our late night cherry limeade runs, star-gazed with us on Utah camping trips, rolled your eyes through our Russian literature debates, quarantined with us during our COVID-19 scares, welcomed us to Cambridge after our cross-country move, and more. Each of you holds a special place in our hearts. We are so honored that you would come celebrate with us as we begin the next chapter of our lives.

Alejandro had been committed to surprising Denise. But how was he going to surprise her if she already knew he had the ring? Denise: Two weeks before the proposal, Alejandro started taking me on surprise dates. The first was on our one-year anniversary, and each date seemed so well-thought out. I kept thinking, "Well, he has to be proposing today!" But date after date, he still hadn't proposed. Pretty soon, I just figured he'd never propose! Alejandro: I knew I had to really throw her off my scent. On the day I asked Denise to marry me, I told her we were going on a picnic. I'd pre-planned the location, and my sisters had helped me set up. My friend Miguel was even there to help take pictures. But even then, I asked Denise where she wanted to go for our picnic, and I kept acting indecisive--asking her if she wanted to head back even as we were headed to Buffalo Point where I'd planned to propose. She felt as if the ball was entirely in her court. Denise: But the minute we walked up to the site, I started crying because I knew! There was a small koala (my spirit animal) and a beautiful blanket set-up--complete with tea lights and a charcuterie board. Alejandro: I knelt down with tears in my own eyes and asked her to marry me. Denise & Alejandro: So here we are today!

After our wedding, Alejandro will return to Harvard College to finish his last semester. He will graduate in the spring, and Denise will finish her research position at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School at the end of June. Then, we'll make the move to New Haven, where Denise will start her 1L year at Yale Law School, and Alejandro will commute to New York City for work. We don't know exactly what the future holds, but we're sure excited to face it together.