When we first met with Christina + Hunnan over a Skype meeting about a year ago-we knew they were THE ONES for us! We were excited they traveled from L.A. to Oregon to have their engagement session with us at Leach Botanical Garden. They are completely hysterical and should have their own romantic comedy tv show and could probably get picked up from someone since they do live in L.A. after all! Christina is easy to talk to, someone you get excited to get an email from, beautiful, kind and extremely thoughtful. She is like the best friend you could want and she would definitely keep it light hearted and lots of laughter all the time. Hunnan is a centered, driven, successful guy. He has a never ending smile, polite, stylish and you can see the love he has for Christina is soulful. We’ve been looking forward to your wedding for like a year now guys! Can’t wait to see Hunnan drink from a sweaty shoe, see all the details Christina has planned out and to make some beautiful pics together. Let’s hope your fur-kid holds off on his extra curricular activities for awhile today! Hahaha Read below and see how we made it to wedding day. But be WARNED: You will laugh your ass off…have some kleenex ready.
How did you first meet?
Christina: We first officially met on a warm September day in 2008, right before I was going to start my first (transfer, 2nd year) year at Oregon State University. My friend, Fides, invited me to go to a car wash held by her friends (a fundraiser for their fraternity). I remember Fides introducing me to Hunnan because she pointedly said that she and her friends would try to get him to take his shirt off, and it was a running jest to get him to be topless. Side note: There was an event where he did take his shirt off and Fides and her friends/my sorority sisters hooted and hollered but the only reason for the partial nudity was because Hunnan and I got projectile puke on us from a random drunk at a highlighter party. Ick.
Hunnan: We first met at a car wash that my fraternity was putting on. Her brother’s girlfriend at the time was in a sorority that my fraternity was friends with and brought her to meet us since she was new to Oregon State and she was looking for a job. I was hiring at a Cultural Center on campus and Christina applied and was chosen as one of our staff members. We may have met at the car wash, but we really got to know each other through our time at the Cultural Center and when she joined the sorority that we hung out with a lot.
What made you fall in love? How did you know he/she was the one?
Christina: We had been dating for about 6 months and one day it just clicked in my mind where I felt like this relationship was going really well and I liked a lot of things about his personality and how well we got along. He’s driven, responsible, dependable, romantic, caring, dedicated, and more. I felt that I could begin to really see a future with him. So I enlisted my friend/his fraternity brother, Uriel, to teach me how to play a song on my acoustic guitar I bought from one of my best gal pal, Juliet. It took me about 3 months to learn to play Colbie Callait’s Falling For you. I planned this romantic evening in my apartment living room with dinner, candles, and playing this song to him to tell him how I felt.
Hunnan: Honestly, for a long time I cared a lot about people I knew, but always had a hard time telling them that I loved them for various reasons. However, I knew that Christina would have preferred me to say the 3 magical words “I love you” when she did, but I hadn’t really been able to process my feelings into words, or what love was supposed to feel like. Eventually I did vocalize it, but I had been in love with her for a lot longer before that. I’d imagine, I first knew I wanted to be with her when we went on a trip to Mary’s Peak, a hill near Corvallis, and I held her hand because there was this creepy dude coming towards us at night (don’t worry, he kept walking). To know when I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life and that I loved her, that question is almost impossible for me to answer, because I had to figure out so many things about that at the same time, but honestly I knew by seeing the person she was. She made/makes me happy, keeps life adventurous, treats others with kindness, is supportive, has similar values, smart, and most of all I just know life would not be as great everyday if it wasn’t for her.
We’d love to know something silly or quirky about each of you! This is your chance to embarrass each other =)
Christina: Hunnan is sometimes in his own little world and if you’re having a conversation with him you have to bring his thoughts back to reality, who knows what he’s thinking/daydreaming about. And he used to have really long hair because of his Native American culture.
Hunnan: Hmmm, Christina is actually kind of geeky in that she is definitely a book geek and likes anime, especially Sailor Moon.
Let’s hear about the proposal! Was it a big event? A quick intimate moment? Did you know it was coming? Were you freaking out?
Hunnan: So we had discussed getting married before and even a couple weeks before I proposed we went to look at rings just to see what she was interested in and how much they cost and realized the prices weren’t as crazy as I was thinking in my head. When I really decided to was when I was in a meeting with some of my friends and they knew we were going to Denmark the following week and asked if I was going to propose and I said nah, gotta pay a lot for a ring, but then realized this would be our first trip internationally together and in Europe and thought that sounded like a great idea. I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so all I had to do was propose. So my niece came in the weekend before we left for Denmark and I had her help me pick out a ring. I got it from the same mall that Christina and I had looked at rings together, but not a place we had actually looked at. I got a ring that incorporated things she wanted, such as no diamonds (amethyst and white sapphire instead), an infinity circle, rose gold, and something that pops out. I then had to hide that I got the ring all the way to Denmark and even until the next day after arriving. Also, in the few days before we left on our trip and after I had gotten the ring, I knew that I might not say what I wanted in the moment out of nervousness so I wrote a note with a message of me proposing, which I also thought could be kept as a keepsake. With the note I even got nice paper, a nice pen, wrote several drafts, and ripped the edges until I got it how I wanted it. I didn’t know exactly when I would propose, but I brought it with me in case (btw Zales uses huge ring boxes, good thing I had layers on). Our group decided to go on a canal tour of Denmark and one of the guys on our trip suggested that this would be a good place to propose, just joking around…little did he know. So I asked another one of my friends on the trip if he thought this place would be a good place to propose and he said “Sure!” So I said “Well I’m going to…like right now” and handed him my phone to take pics. So when we got a really pretty part on the tour called Nyhiven, I asked her to come out up to the back of the boat. She reluctantly did so after some prodding (it was really cold) saying that I wanted to show her something. As soon as she stepped out, she was looking at the side to see what I wanted to show her and then when she looked back I was on my knee with the ring out. Her first words when she saw this was “What the fuck?!?!” I tried miserably to utter anything, but I was nervous and it was super cold, so I handed her the note and tried my best. I eventually ended with asking her “Will you marry me?” and she said “No” jk, of course she said “Yes!” Put the ring on and took some photos together. Also, while I was proposing, we were still moving and along the side a group of kids saw us and started cheering us on, super cute.
Christina: It was our second day in Copenhagen on a cold morning and some of our traveling buddies wanted to go on a canal tour to see the city. The canal had two decks on each end and the middle was a covered and heated portion. At one point I thought I’d stay inside and view the city through the arched windows that covers the top half of the canal boat. We were reaching Nyhavn, the area with really colorful buildings, and Hunnan asked me to come onto the deck. I told him, “No, I’m cold,” but he persisted and I eventually gave in. I walked up the short steps and was looking up around me asking, “What do you want me to look at?” My eyes finally found him bended on one knee with the ring box in hand. I was so surprised. Usually, I try to be classy and sophisticated but sometimes I think it’s all pretend because more often than not I find myself acting ridiculous. So instead of being one of those girls who act demure and sweetly surprised and cute, I have my eyes wide open and say, “What the fuck?!” I somehow find my way towards him with my mind in a jumble and I know he’s talking to me but I don’t really register what he’s saying. He hands me a note and I’m reading it but the words still don’t register because I’m overcome with emotion and my thoughts are racing. There was a point where I thought he was asking me if I would marry him and I’m thinking, “You have one job and that is to say ‘yes’ so let’s hope I’m saying it at the right time.” I got my part right and done so then there were a lot of hugs, laughter, and pictures. And a few kids were on a bridge yelling and congratulating us which made the moment even more funny and memorable. It was like something out of a movie. It was perfect.
Besides actually getting married – what is something you are really looking forward to on your wedding day?
Christina: I really don’t like being the center of attention so I’m a bit nervous about that aspect. But I am looking forward to celebrating this new chapter with Hunnan with our family and friends. I really like to dress up so getting glam and also eating good food and dancing the whole day.
Hunnan: Having all our friends that have been there with us from the start and new ones to share “celebrating us!” Also, I’m gonna be happy to have actually completed this, and not to have to think about all the planning, financial, logistics, since it will be done!
X’s + O’s
jD + Chris