Get ready to celebrate with us!

Meeting: We met in March of 2016 during a fun night out at Flick’s in San Diego’s Hillcrest district. We were both with our own group of friends but after our initial greeting (Dylan approached Mandarin), we spent the rest of the night chatting and laughing a lot before exchanging numbers. Our first date was delayed by two weeks as Dylan was scheduled to go out to sea, but we stayed in contact. We finally had our first date at Mike Hess Brewing Company in North Park, San Diego and have been inseparable ever since. San Diego: We moved in together later in 2016. Mandarin started a new job with the City of San Diego as a Chemist and Dylan transferred commands to his second ship (luckily still in San Diego). Our relationship grew as our circle of friends expanded, we traveled frequently, tried new restaurants and breweries, and grew more confident in our careers. In 2019 we received orders to Millington, TN. We were excited to start new adventures and move closer to Dylan's family, but we were reluctant to move from San Diego and Mandarin's family. Memphis: Our 5 years in Memphis were extremely successful! Mandarin was accepted into a PhD program at the University of Memphis in Biology, Dylan earned his Master’s degree and transferred into the Navy’s Human Resources community, we met very special people and made lifelong friends, we bought our first home (!), and we got engaged!! But most importantly, our family grew with the addition of our beautiful French Bulldog Jackson. In 2022, Dylan received impromptu orders to Djibouti, Africa for an 11-month deployment. With the help of family and friends, we easily sailed through being separated due to the deployment and then received orders to our next duty station, Norfolk, VA. Leaving our life in Memphis was bittersweet, but we were excited to start new adventures! Norfolk: We moved to Norfolk in June 2024 for Dylan’s current job as the Training Officer onboard the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER. Mandarin stayed busy finishing up writing his dissertation (which has since been successfully defended!) and recently becoming an uncle to his nephew Ezrah. Even though we are officially already married, we decided to have a wedding ceremony to celebrate our love with our family and friends who have been with us every step of the way. After our first visit to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, it was clear that this was the perfect venue for us. We aren’t sure where our story will continue but we are excited that you are a part of it!