Lauren was born in Oakland - if you know her, she’s reminded you of this multiple times. Ryan is from Minnesota - if you know him, he’s reminded you of this every day. They both come from families of 5 that know how to love each other deeply. 2,000 miles apart, Ryan and Lauren chose the same career path: account people in advertising. After living 29 years in the North, Ryan decided to head West for The Bay and a new gig. A couple months later, Lauren found herself accepting a job at the same place. On her first day at ARGONAUT, she was greeted by a barking dog and an annoyingly attractive Ryan. Shit. Their love story didn’t begin instantly. They started as kinda-sorta friends. If you ask Ryan, Lauren was a workhorse and standoffish - hella cute, tho. If you ask Lauren, Ryan was corny. But both of them will agree, they loved each other quietly. On a fateful night in November 2014, they went out in Oakland with a coworker to a dive bar called The Avenue. This was their first time hanging together outside the office and they were trying hard to play it cool. But when Ryan hit the pool table, it was over. Lauren finally let her guard down and decided the tingly magic she felt around Ryan couldn’t be ignored one minute more. At the same time, Ryan was simply trying not to throw up at the reality he was actually out with the girl he had previously considered unattainable. They found themselves alone, separated from their other coworker, just the two of them bar hopping and dancing. Soon after they were having a cartwheel competition on Telegraph Ave., laughing like psychos. And so instantly began the start of a laughter-filled and passion-fueled relationship.

When researching wedding venues, it was hard to consider any place other than Oakland. It’s where we fell in love and where we live today. This place is wild, but it has our hearts. We want to share the special, crazy town with every special, crazy person in our lives and can’t wait to host this party!