While a freshman at UT Austin, I became really close to a senior name Anna. Her boyfriend Sam had asked if I would take photos of their proposal in the coming months which I was ecstatic about! Fast forward to August 2019 on the day of the proposal, I met Sam’s younger brother, David, who had flown in from Minneapolis where he was living at the time. I didn’t really understand why a Korean was living in Minnesota and thought he seemed pretty different from Sam, but we had a great conversation as I had just coincidentally visited Minneapolis the month prior and was able to relate from my travel. We ended up running errands and was able to chat more, but all the good impressions of David went out the door when he got us kicked out of the club that night. While we stayed in touch through Instagram and would casually respond to each other’s stories here and there, we didn’t actually see each other next until Sam and Anna’s wedding almost a year later. It wasn’t till a month or so after the wedding in July 2020 when we got reconnected. I was planning to be in Dallas for a weekend and ended up asking David to coffee at Edison Coffee Co. I didn’t really ping him as a fruity latte guy, but the conversation ended up being really fun and we started talking everyday after. Texts turned into calls into FaceTimes where we eventually planned a weekend in Austin. He asked me to be his girlfriend and that weekend is still one of my favorite memories to date. Our long distance relationship was filled with countless trips up and down IH-35, a messy situation with fleas, hours spent paddleboarding and lots of takeout food due to the pandemic. Our dating phase was short lived when we found out we were expecting 3 months later. It was a challenging time processing what our life was going to evolve to while struggling through the first trimester morning sickness. We got engaged around the 6 month mark when I found out David had planned for us to get married the week after. I still remember David telling me he managed to find an outdoor ceremony spot, something I always fantasized about. Little did I know I would say "I do" in the backyard of the church I grew up, in a yellow Target maternity dress I got through work. My youth pastor ordained us, my dad helped build the space, Anna's parents help with all the floral work - It truly was a labor of love from those who loved on us the most during a challenging season. Since then, David moved down to Austin, we had Ezra in August 2021, and closed on our house in September 2021. Our story has been one “beautiful mess” and while unconventional and unexpected it was in many ways, I’m thankful for how it's been beautifully redeemed. I'm so excited to celebrate with all of our friends and family this September!

I first met Jane in the summer of 2019. I had just flown into Dallas from Minneapolis for my brother’s engagement, and Jane happened to be photographing the event. I had never met her or even heard of her before, but needless to say, I thought she was super cute. She approached me while I was watching the Cubs game on TV (when I should have been helping out) saying that she had just traveled to Minnesota the month prior, and from there we got pretty deep into conversation. We made a snack run later that day and the conversations we had flowed so naturally and I definitely felt a connection. However, that connection soon faded, as I subsequently happened to get kicked out of the club later that evening. After months of jumping in and out of DMs and talking here and there on IG, we re-connected shortly after my brother’s wedding in June 2020. I was constantly devising clever schemes to start conversations with her through replying to her IG stories and liking her posts. After a couple weeks of this, she unfortunately shut me down and informed me that she was in a relationship. Fast forward (literally) a few days later, I got an IG message late at night from Jane saying that she was coming to Dallas that weekend and asked if I wanted to grab coffee (????). I was hella confused because of what she said a couple days prior, but regardless, I said I’d be delighted. We met at Edison Coffee in Grapevine and ended up talking for hours. In that timespan, she conveniently slipped into her “recent life updates” that she was no longer in a relationship. That, to me, was the ultimate green light and relentless game-spitting ensued from that point forward. I went to visit her in Austin in August 2020 after about a month and a half of talking. I still consider that weekend to be the best weekend of my life. There were fireworks every second we were together and everything about being with her just felt right. At the end of the weekend, I asked her the following: “…so you tryna be my girlfriend?”, to which she said exuberantly replied “yes”. I pretty much had no doubt that she was The One from the moment we started dating. I moved $500 into a ring fund the day after we started dating and started thinking about how I could move to Austin. Starting off a relationship long-distance definitely wasn’t easy, but for Jane every second was worth it. Fast forward to today, where so much has happened since we first met and started dating. Our timeline together hasn’t been a conventional one and it hasn’t always been easy. Our story has been filled with the highest of highs and lowest of lows, but our bond has only grown stronger and stronger. As I view it, our wedding in September is truly a celebration of everything Jane and I have already experienced together as a couple and signifies a continued commitment to each other and now, to our family. I have no doubt that Jane is my wife 4 life and I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate with all of our family and friends!