On Cloud Tonkin

Matthew & Charissa Met ~17 years ago. Charissa & her sister were homeschooled and her parents wanted them to be involved with the community so they decided to both coach recreational soccer. It just so happened that Matthew was a player on the team. That was when they first met. In 6th grade Charissa was sent to public school where her and Matthew were in the same grade. They would see each other during band because they were both clarinet players who sat next to each other all of middle school and part of high school band. They would attend music related events and Charissa claims to have a few photos of them on her old flip phone 🙈 Matthew referred to Charissa by her first and last time and up until about 4 years ago Matthew was 'Tonkin' to her and still is to most of their friends. In high school their friendship grew, and during Junior year they ate lunch together every day. They created a 'secret' hand shake for anytime they passed each other in the hall and even ended up going to the same college. At high school graduation Charissa's grandmother, Ann, asked who Matthew was and why they were not dating while proposing that one day they would be more than 'just friends'. Ann says she knew it was him all along. One night of Sophomore year in College she came home after a party to find Matthew outside the dorms selling hotdogs to raise money for a college club 😂 After, He walked her up to her room and as they chatted something happened, he leaned in and kissed her! Needless to say the rest is history. They began dating the beginning of their Senior year and Matthew claims “this was the plan all along! I’ve known since the first time I saw her blonde curly hair on that soccer field!" They will forever be so many different things to each other, but one could assume it was always meant to be. ❤️

After dating, buying a house, and dating for 5 years it was time for Charissa and Matthew to take their first flying vacation trip as a couple. They decided to visit Matthew's cousin, Nate, in Los Angeles California. Charissa had been joking for a while about an engagement ring and had just attended one of her good friend's beautiful wedding, but she explains the proposal was not on her mind. After visiting Cape Cod for her Birthday the year prior, where she thought it might have happened, she had pushed the thought of proposal out of her mind and focused on having a great vacation. They flew to California on June 21st 2016 (the summer solstice) experiencing the longest travel day EVER! Once they arrived in L.A. Matthew suggested they go to the beach before dinner to catch the sunset (Charissa's favorite nighttime activity). As they were getting ready for the night Matthew dressed with a bowtie and a fancy hat. This prompted Charissa to follow suite and dress in something a little nicer than she had planned. The whole time she did not believe that anything magical would be happening, since there was NO WAY Matthew would have traveled all this way with a ring. As they drove to the beach the clouds began to thicken and completely covered the view of the sunset (June Bloom is what those out in California call it). Yet, this did not stop the plan! As they walked down to the beach Matthew asked a stranger to take a picture of them, but it was a video. He got down on one knee and Charissa nearly fainted. She could not believe how beautiful the ring he designed was nor that it was actually happening! She obviously said YES and they fell in love all over again.

Please enjoy our engagement trip video. Matthew pops the question while in California and Charissa shows off the ring! Copy and past this link into your web browser to watch----> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hcZzjbVBx6RvcVn5OGecUsgOxPwEsqse/view?usp=sharing