From the bride Sami: " Chad and I met at work when I was leading a week-long workshop and he was a participant. He was never my favorite student. He asked too many questions during my presentations. He emailed me before and after class with a lot of useless feedback. I thought he was giving me a hard time. By the time he asked me out a few weeks later, I was so shocked that I didn’t give him an answer. I finally realized that he was simply nervous all those times and not mean-spirited. After plenty of scheduling difficulties, we had our first date. It was a BAD date. So bad that promised me the following week that our "2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on" would be better. He kept his end of the bargain and we’ve been happily together ever since.

"Chad and I were doing long distance before he proposed. I was working in DC while he was working in Djibouti, Africa. In trying to keep some semblance of a normal relationship, we often played Scrabble together online. I typically won. After 6 months of doing long distance , we decided to meet in Dubai to ring in 2012. Knowing that the desert is one of my favorite places in the world, Chad scheduled a group desert excursion for us. I was confused when the car showed up empty with only the driver inside. Chad said that the other people canceled. I said "Awesome" and high-fived him. As the sun was about to set, Chad asked if I was hungry because he brought us some snacks. He asked the driver to park so we could snack on some fruits, cheese and crackers. While my mouth was full of crackers, Chad asked that we play one last Scrabble game in 2011. I thought he was joking until he pulled out a Scrabble board game. When I opened the Scrabble board, there were letter tiles spelling out: Sami, will you marry me? As I screamed YES, the driver brought out a bottle of champagne letting me know that the excursion was meant for just the two of us all along. It was the best scrabble game ever."

Vendors:LA River Center & Gardens//Omni Hotel//Phoenix Bakery//Donut Farm//DJ Dais//Furiwa Catering//BHLDN (bridesmaids dresses) //Drunken Pixel//Imperial Party Rentals//Susie Chhuor Hair & Makeup Studio //

Sami's first dress of the day by Tadashi Shoji, was so unique and beautiful!! It was different then anything I'd ever seen and I loved it!!

This is Emmy. She is such a well behaved and loving dog :)

Chad's groomsmen gifts were axes:

Sami & Chad opted to do a First Look at the Omni Hotel, which meant more time for portraits of the two of them! :)

I love love this picture of Emmy that Adam took!

Sami's best friend Kevin married them. It was so special!

Instead of rice, bubbles, confetti, flower petals, etc., they chose to have guests toss paper airplanes as they walked back down the aisle!!! I had to post this series of pictures because of how hilarious and awesome their reactions are :)