We often hear stories of failed family arranged blind dates, and rarely hear about the successful ones. But in this love story, it worked! It started long before their first date, when Dawn, Jake’s aunt, started planting a seed in Marcelle, Elyse’s mom’s, ear. During Elyse's sister's wedding in September 2015, Dawn finally approached Elyse directly about her cute, Jewish nephew that lived in San Jose, about an hour away from San Francisco, where Elyse was living at the time. Dawn sent Jake a text, Elyse failed at stalking Jake due to his lack of social media presence, and a few weeks later, they met for happy hour in Mountain View. Their connection was instant. Elyse and Jake both enjoy traveling, living life outdoors, and spending quality time with family. Plus, since Jake spent many summers in Elyse’s hometown of North Miami Beach, there was no shortage of conversation. Happy hours turned to dinners, which quickly escalated to weekend trips, meeting each other's families in Stockton and Miami, and vacationing in Europe and across the US. And here they are today, happily in love, happily engaged, and excited for all of you to be part of their journey as they take the next step and become happily married.

Jake and Elyse spent Memorial Day 2017 at Point Reyes, their favorite weekend getaway spot. The day started out like any other, with a morning hike. However, when they made it to the halfway mark, a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Jake got down on one knee to start unpacking the supplies for a picnic. They had the bread, deli meat, chips, but as Jake reached into his backpack, he asked if there was anything missing. Jake then pulled out a velvet box, looked into her eyes and said, "Elyse Robyn May, will you be my partner in life’s journey?" Tears fell down their faces. The nearby hikers applauded. And of course Elyse said yes!!! Then they celebrated, as they looked out at the waves crashing against the bluff, sipped on beer handed to them by fellow hikers, and finished the hike discussing their forever life together.