You are cordially invited

Her side: After traveling the world and volunteering abroad for several years, Syd returned home in the beginning of 2020 at the brink of the pandemic. She always thought that she would meet that one true love serendipitously when the timing was right. Two years later, the meeting of a lifetime took place right in her hometown of Hilo and Syd knew that Alex was that very special one. His side: Alex moved to Hilo in 2012 wanting to settle down after 5 years of seasonal bird jobs around the US and to start graduate school. It only took 10 years for him to find the one! Meeting on a dating app, Syd instantly took off for Ghana before meeting in person. Then when she came back, they had one date before Alex took off for Ecuador with his dad. It seems that was fortuitous because the interest in travel caught Syd's attention. Sparks flew after returning and now he couldn't be happier.

Funny story: the proposal happened while we were taking ENGAGEMENT photos! Yes, we began wedding planning before an actual proposal was made. We were doing our last costume change at the waterfall on Syd's family ranch in Papa'ikou and just getting ready to walk down to our photo spot. It was around 5 o' clock PM and the sun was just setting behind Mauna Kea. With the cleansing sound of the waterfall and flowing river in the background, Alex kneeled down on his right knee and asked Syd's hand in marriage.