we like to call this small-town love. troy has lived in stockton all his life, while tara left stockton and ventured off to college. as tara was making her way back closer to home, she found herself looking for a place to live in stockton, and then - boom! a "for rent" sign on the way to her grandparents' house in morada popped up out of nowhere. after visiting the location for a second time that weekend, the landlord, theresa, couldn't contain herself any longer and asked tara, "are you single!?". "why yes, thank you", she replied. "i just have the perfect person I want you to meet!" and so it was, three weeks later, troy and tara met at his best friend's birthday dinner at the neighbor's (the landlords) house. and the rest is history!

troy planned a surprise weekend in san francisco, not giving away any details about the weekend until they pulled up to tara's favorite hotel in the city, the mark hopkins intercontinental. after an evening cruise around the bay, they ended up back at the mark hopkins where troy proposed to tara at "the top of the mark", a lounge on the top floor of the hotel with a view overlooking the sf skyline.

troy’s dad, greg, and tara’s dad, kevin, used to work together at budweiser back in the 80’s. a few years in, greg decided to pursue a career at coors, where he still works. since it’s in their blood, beer has always been a fundamental part of troy and tara’s relationship. it’s bud vs. coors!

tara's aunt and uncle, laurie and joe baglietto, lived across the street from troy's family for ten years while troy was growing up. uncle joe will be the officiant at the wedding and his daughter, cousin talia, is a bridesmaid.