Nothing organic here. In the now digital age, we met on an app called Tinder. We met in February of 2018 and went on our first date on the 28th. It was a Wednesday night, and Liv set the time of 8pm. We drove through Newport, took the Balboa ferry, had donuts at Seaside, and talked and talked. When we looked at the clock it was almost midnight, they say time flies when you're having fun! Liv went back home to her mom and sister and said "I just met my husband!" slightly joking of course but the best way to sum up that the date went really well. Fast forward to April 25th, we took a vacation down to Palm Desert (our fav spot) and Matt asked Olivia, in old-fashioned way to be his girlfriend! And the rest is history!

I wanted to propose to Liv in Newport. It was where she grew up, where we first met, and we lived there for two years, so it just made sense. When we first moved to Newport, we lived across the street from a brand new hotel called the Lido House. The hotel has an amazing rooftop with a great view of the peninsula where so many of our memories were made together. If you know Liv, it is extremely hard to keep a secret from her. It's like she has a sixth sense for knowing when you want to surprise her. I knew I had to be creative, so the plan was to use her sister, Alaina, as bait. Alaina was leaving on a study abroad program the following day, so I asked her to set up a goodbye dinner at the rooftop. The day before, I met Liv's mom there to go over the set up and the plan for when we arrived. Everything was ready to go. Now all we needed was to execute! The next morning (Saturday), I woke up and it was go time. We weren't meeting Alaina until sunset, so I had to keep us preoccupied. We went down to Laguna and spent the morning enjoying a breakfast burrito on the beach. When we got back home, Liv took a nap and I coordinated the last few details. Our dinner reservation was at 7 PM, so we had to leave right at 6:30 to get there a few minutes before. I wanted to make sure we got there right at sunset, so I was adamant that we leave on time. If you know me, I run on island time and I am rarely on time for anything. God must've turned off Liv's sixth sense that day, because she did not bat an eye at my punctuality. We pulled up to the hotel, and I told Liv I needed the bathroom before we went up to the rooftop. What Liv did not know was that her mom, Alaina, and our friend Rich were all waiting for us to arrive, so once I got to the bathroom I texted them to get ready. We made our way up the elevator and the rooftop hostess lead us to the lighthouse where everything was set up. As we turned the corner towards the lighthouse, there were candles and flowers waiting for her. She immediately started crying as she realized what was happening. I grabbed the ring, and got down on one knee. The next 10 minutes were a bit of a blur, but between the smiles, tears, and laughter, there was a yes in there! We were blessed with a beautiful sunset that night and as corny as it sounds, it really was picture perfect.