Anne walked into the gym with an interest in TRX and ended up with the phone number of a charming personal trainer named DJ. She was drawn to his “calm and patient energy,” and he was taken with her beautiful blue eyes—and the fact that she was a scientist.
After four years of dating, DJ prepared a picturesque North Lake Tahoe proposal under the guise of visiting their friend, Rob. They started the day with a stop at their favorite area breakfast spot and decided to go for a hike. When Anne suggested they invite Rob, DJ quickly parried, saying Rob was working and would meet up with them later. Little did she know, Rob was in on the proposal. In fact, before the hike they saw Rob in the grocery store parking lot, and though DJ chalked it up to a work errand, Rob was actually buying the celebratory bubbly they’d be enjoying within the hour.
The pair enjoyed their hike and the beautiful sunny day with a backdrop of glittering snow on the mountains, and when they reached an overlook, DJ got down on one knee. Their friend Rob not only caught the special moment in photos while hiding behind a bush, but also brought out the chilled Champagne for a toast to the newly engaged couple.
“I’ll never forget FaceTiming our family members up on that mountain,” Anne recalls. “DJ surprised me with the most beautiful private cottage right on the beach and a five-star dinner. It was absolutely perfect!”
They got to planning right away, and their wedding date just happened to coincide with the five-year anniversary of their first date—a fact they didn’t even notice until after they’d booked their venue.
DJ’s must-have list for the big day was pretty straightforward. “The only things I felt I needed to have are the people I felt were most important to me, and for my beautiful bride to have a good time and the wedding of her dreams,” he says. For Anne, that meant keeping the event local, so that her 98-year-old grandmother could be there. She also wanted to have the reception outside on a warm summer evening for dancing under the stars.
Their ceremony was a traditional and intimate Catholic mass (Anne recalls that “the church is so beautiful and hardly needed [any decorating], so we kept it very simple”), and the reception was at The Yolanda Ranch. Guests enjoyed lawn games like oversized Jenga and Connect Four, and cocktail hour included not only drinks and hors d’oeuvres but popsicles as well, on account of the summer weather.
For DJ a memory that sticks out is when they had just been introduced as Mr. and Mrs. for the first time, and they sat down at their sweetheart table at the reception. “It was a surreal feeling looking around at all our loved ones and knowing everyone was there to celebrate us,” he says. Anne fondly recalls having all of their favorite people together to celebrate, but also says that a favorite moment of hers is when she and DJ were riding to the venue together in the limo—just the two of them, having a quiet moment to toast their love.
The couple are looking forward to building their life, their legacy and their family together. “Our love and relationship has only gotten better and better throughout the years together, and I can only imagine how great it will be with a lifetime to build and work at it,” DJ says.
—Jennifer Resnicke
