The fairytale begins as all fairytales do. Long ago, in a far away land, we ended up in the same small law school class in Birmingham, AL. During orientation, a professor remarked in a speech, "many of you will end up meeting your future spouse in this room." We had no idea this statement would apply to us.

The friendship bloomed into love. All it took was one phrase in Italian.

After law school came the bar exam, the move to Miami, the start of our careers, the most perfect puppy added to our little family, and our first home purchase. We have also had plenty of fun in the meantime, from traveling to incredible places and giving Haley her first roller coaster experience, to teaching Juan the wonders of true southern barbecue.

The combination of Haley's culture from Alabama and Juan's culture from Ecuador is perhaps one of the coolest things in our relationship and we are excited to have a wedding which likewise incorporates both cultures. There are differences to be sure, but there are a surprising number of similarities.

You may be wondering about the story behind the proposal pictures you see on this website. Read on if you'd like, but know that there's the story of what was supposed to happen and what actually happened:

We've enjoyed going to carnivals as a casual date activity. Prior to Haley learning of the fun and thrill of roller coasters, Haley would play carnival games instead. Memories of our amazing carnival dates in addition to Haley's love for the beach made for a very apt proposal for us. As a side point, lighthouses have sentimental significance to Haley. Thus, a beach location was selected and a photographer hired.

Juan and his mom went to multiple places to buy the things necessary to bring to life a carnival booth with various games at the beach under the pretext of simply doing a special date for Haley. No one knew it was coming. The plan: the photographer would pretend the carnival setup was for his company and he needed a willing couple for promotional pictures. This was the rationale for the booth and the excuse that allowed the photographer to take pictures of us playing the games. Importantly, the last game was a piñata which provided the perfect cover for blindfolding Haley. The piñata would burst with rose petals for the picture-perfect moment while Juan was on his knee.

The day of the proposal, Juan told Haley the date involved a nice dinner for which she needed to dress nicely. Meanwhile, despite Juan's family's herculean efforts to bring to life Juan's crazy ideas, the wind that day proved too strong. The booth setup was knocked over. The carnival themed balloons and games flew away.

While en route to the proposal spot, Juan had to stall by making various stops while the remnants of the setup were put away so as not to raise suspicions. The photographer instead pretended to be an amateur photographer who wanted to build his portfolio and take advantage of the fact we were dressed nicely. A few poses later, Juan was able to sneak into position and get down on his knee to pop the question.

And here we are.

We have had many amazing adventures together and cannot wait to have this next great adventure with everyone we care most about at our wedding!

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