My name is Jackie and I married my wonderful husband Ryan in January of 2010. I found tons of inspiration for our wedding on PW but I never made a profile or interacted with others on the boards as much as I would have liked. We are expecting our first baby in September of 2012 and I now find the baby groups to be a great source of information for this exciting time in our lives!

Ryan and I entered the same biology graduate program at UCLA in Fall 2002. Aside from knowing his name, I didn't know a thing about him for the first year. At the end of the Spring quarter, we both chose the same lab to carry out our research. Our friendship evolved over the next six years. For a long time I found him incredibly annoying and arrogant. After a while I got to know him much better and found out he was a sweet guy whom I had judged too quickly. 

We were both involved in relationships for most of grad school but friends, students and professors thought that we were in a relationship or thought that he liked me (which ticked me off to no end). I think those rumors planted the seed in my head that maybe I could see him as more than a friend. In June of 2008 he began sleeping on my couch to avoid a psychotic roommate. We shared some drinks and began to flirt a bit. He told me that he saw something special in us and I freaked out and told him that we needed to remain friends.

A few weeks later I traveled to Spain for a couple of weeks. We chatted online most nights/days. Towards the end of my trip I realized that he was very special to me and that I missed him and wanted to talk to him more than anyone else. He picked me up from the airport on a Wednesday, flowers in hand. That night he insisted on having dinner and I managed to stay awake through my jet lag. The next night he asked me to hang out again. On Friday night his new roommate (and our fellow co-worker) threw a party that I attended. Ryan was at a Dodger game when I called to inform him that I was at his apartment. I had this moment where I realized that I really liked him. It reminded me of that scene in Clueless where Cher walks by the fountain and has a revelation about her love for Josh. Corny I know. Ryan came home that night and the flirting picked up again. We dated over the next week before I left for another two week trip to Colorado. While in Colorado we discussed getting married and our future together. Things moved incredibly fast but after years of friendship it felt natural. Six months later we were engaged and a year after that we were married!

Our engagement pictures were taken by our wonderful friends at Sakura Photography.

All wedding photos were taken by Sakura Photography. I'm omitting photos of family, bridal party and wedding guests because I know some of these people would kill me if they found their faces online!

First up was hair.

Followed by makeup...

Meanwhile, Ryan went to get a straight razor shave.

Then it was time for me to put on my dress!

We were ready to go!

We had an afternoon wedding at a small Catholic church. 

The reception took place in an old citrus packing station. I love the dark wood and exposed brick.