Ivan and Gabby met in 2011, during their freshman orientation for high school. Ivan had recently relocated to Maryland from California and Gabby noticed a new [handsome] face amongst many familiar. She playfully told her father later that day “that’s my future husband”. Of course, at the time, Gabby was purely infatuated with a new high school crush and Ivan…well, he was just trying to get adjusted to a new environment. Time would pass and the two would finally ‘meet’. Gabby quickly realized that there was so much more to love about this young man. Ivan‘s integrity, patience, gentle spirit, compassion and humility reminded her of a few special men in her life, but more importantly, Christ. If you let Ivan tell it, he was “captivated by the way Gabby carried herself, enthralled by her gentle demeanor and fascinated by her intelligence”. The two went on to become best friends, the classic high school athlete and cheerleader combo. Their platonic friendship blossomed and Ivan knew he wanted to solidify this bond. On April 18, 2012, he worked up the courage to ask Gabby to be his girlfriend. Through the highs and lows, Ivan and Gabby stood by each other’s side, proving that true love knows no bounds. Fast forward to today, the couple is excitedly waiting to celebrate their special day with you, their closest family and friends.

Ivan knew he would be up for quite the challenge with surprising Gabby. With that in mind, he elicited the assistance of Gabby’s sister, Ronisha. The two (Ivan and Ronisha) devised a plan for Gabby to fly to San Francisco for what she thought would be a “sister’s weekend”. On October 27, 2023, Gabby naively got dressed for a photoshoot with her sister. Unbeknownst to her, Ivan traveled over 2,000 miles overnight to pop the question. With the beautiful California sunset for their backdrop and the crashing waves as their soundtrack, Ivan asked Gabby to marry him and she said, “YES”!