Wedding Date on Jul 7, 2018

One sunny Santa Barbara day in January of 2011, Alli was walking down the not-so-quiet streets of Isla Vista with her roommate Katherine Gilmore when they passed a balcony Sam was hanging out on. Katherine happened to be a friend of Sam’s as well, and some time later she was walking by again when she heard through a megaphone, “Katherine, who’s your hot friend?!” Words were passed between the mutual friends and eventually Sam and Alli ended up at the same party. They began to talk just before sunset and continued almost until sunrise, swinging away at Window to the Sea park, connecting on a very deep level. It has since evolved to become something even more grand than either of them could have ever imagined. Those of you who know us well know that we met at a difficult time in our lives, both having had recently lost individuals very close to us. While life had thrown us both obstacles that no 21 year old should have to get past, we both overcame them with an appreciation for life that most people our age lacked and this appreciation is what drew us toward each other. This is the foundation on which we eventually began to build our relationship and we are certain that our gratitude for life and for each other is unique and will be a cornerstone in our marriage. The proposal: We were nearing the end of a 5 week trek through the Caribbean in the summer of 2016. Our last stop was our beloved Virgin Islands, where we had lived for six months in 2014. Sam knew he was going to propose at some point in the next few months, but when we made the plan to go on an island hopping day trip with a few of our favorite people he figured there would be no more perfect time to pop the question. Our friends who own a charter company took us to a small island with some 40 ft cliffs to jump off of into the blue Caribbean Sea. When we were the last two to jump, Sam grabbed Alli’s hand and got down on his knee and simply asked, “will you marry me?”. Then the two jumped off the the literal and figurative cliff together! The rest of the day was spent celebrating in some of our favorite places on this planet. It was all truly magical.