Welcome to the Trumpet Tribe Emily & David!! This adorable San Diego couple got engaged with the Late Art Deco Springwood ring in a field of flowers at the DTLA Flower Mart! (Is there anything more romantic?!) Read along to hear Emily's take of their budding romance.
How we met
In the age of internet dating, our love story seems nearly impossible. We met more than 15 years ago as teenagers in our mutual hometown of San Diego. David and I both grew up performing in musical theater and while we never shared a stage, we shared about 100 mutual friends acquired through the theater community. We went to camp together and found ourselves in the same social settings but were always more like friends of friends then actual friends. I also might have toilet papered his house once.
As luck and fate would have it, David and I both ended up living in LA. Ironically, David and I did the unlikely thing of moving to LA and never acting again. I started a career in PR and David spent several years as a production coordinator for touring musicians before settling into his current role at Walt Disney Imagineering. Despite theater no longer being an active part of our lives, our “theater friends” from growing up were still our good friends and as adults, we found ourselves once again in the same social circle and even going to the same church. We would hang out occasionally with friends but that was it. We were friends.
Then one November day, I scanned through my phone looking for someone to go and see the Hunger Games with me. I arrived at his name and internally my thought was “bingo! David will totally go and see the Hunger Games with me”. He agreed and showed up shortly after driving the production van for a pop star because he was coming straight from a rehearsal for the American Music Awards. That movie turned into going to the ballet several days later which turned into looking at Christmas lights several days after that which into eventually lead to falling in love.
The day we got engaged
I had been on high alert in the months leading up to our engagement. David and I had completed premarital counseling with some mentors of ours and I had good reason to believe my “dream ring” had be purchased from Trumpet and Horn. While I might say I am insatiably curious, other people say I am a snoop. Keeping a secret from me isn’t an easy task. Especially when I was very aware that a proposal was coming. I am the keeper of the calendar in our relationship and tend to be the one who fills up our time with plans. I literally stopped making plans to allow for time in the calendar to get engaged. Pulling off a surprise was not an easy task.
Nine years ago, I was basically adopted by a family here in LA. I lived with them for 3 years and their 15-year-old daughter is the closest thing I have to a sister. We frequently have “sister dates” and I didn’t bat an eyelash when Rhyen suggested we have a sister date and go to the flower market, one of my very favorite places. I picked her up. We went to egg slut and took pictures along the way. Little did I know, Rhyen and her parents were co-conspirators with David and this “sister date” was actually a guise to get me downtown so David could propose. Shannon and Chuck had picked up David and they were tracking us throughout downtown on Rhyens “Find Your Friends”, watching our little blue dot move around town.
There, in the middle of the orchid stand – David suddenly appeared. I was confused and trying to place why he was there when I saw Shannon and Chuck behind him with camera’s rolling. I believe the next words out of my mouth were “oh. THIS is happening”. David got down on one knee and asked to choose me and cherish me for the rest of our lives. It was the easiest yes ever. The surprises continued as we went on a scavenger hunt of sorts around downtown finding different friends until we ended up having a picnic with about 40 of our friends and family in Pasadena.
