Clear Cut Couples: Alyssa and Justin
Alyssa and Justin met twelve years ago when Alyssa had just moved to Las Vegas for college and was downtown at a hotel room with a big group of friends. Two of them went downstairs to get some chips, and that’s when she saw Justin walking into the elevator. Alyssa says, “I thought ‘wow, he’s beautiful!’, so I turned right around and followed him in. I still had no idea what my plan was, but as each floor started unloading, it ended up being just the two of us left. J jokes that he wondered at the time if I was following him or if he was following me. We both turned the same direction, and as luck would have it, a mutual friend had invited him to hang out at the same hotel room. Six weeks later, he asked that friend for my number.”
As for their official first date, that’s still a subject of contention! They were technically friends for seven years before they officially dated, but to this day, they disagree on if their first time hanging out was Ihop or a local hotel cafe. Alyssa still says it was the cafe... she remembers the exact booth they sat in!
Since then, they have been together for five years, but they’ve known each other for twelve! They actually hadn’t even spoken for months prior to starting their relationship. She had told him that she didn’t want to just be friends anymore, so they should go separate ways before it gets too complicated. Six months later, she got a text out of the blue saying their story wasn’t over and “let’s make this happen.” He realized that he didn’t just want to be friends either! They made it official the next day, and now here they are!
One of the biggest topics of conversation when they first met was their mutual agreement that they didn’t want to get married. It was never the plan for either of them. Alyssa says, “I look at us and laugh all the time at how life has changed.”
Alyssa says that her proudest moment was watching him work so hard and dedicate himself to becoming a firefighter. It had never been in his plans, but they talked it over one night, and she immediately thought it’d be a perfect fit. She went and researched all the classes and certifications he’d need to apply. “The next day, he was enrolled, and seeing him achieve that was huge! He’s really the hardest working person I know.”
Justin proposed on June 9, 2020! For months, Justin and his mom had been telling Alyssa about a fancy dinner for his parents “30th anniversary”, so they were all dressing up and going out to eat. On the day of, nobody would actually tell Alyssa a restaurant name or any info, but thankfully, she didn’t think much of it. Fast forward, they get to the downtown area and as they’re walking up to the pavilion area, she sort of feels like all the restaurant patios of people are staring at them. They walk towards a middle area, and there’s a heart outline of candles filled with flower petals.
“J starts pulling me into it, and I’m yelling at him that we’re ruining someone’s setup (lol). Next thing I know, he’s on one knee, there’s a puppy handed to me, and I turn around to see our families and my best friends. He said the whole walk he kept thinking ‘don’t ramble, don’t ramble,’ but once he was on one knee, he could have said anything- I blacked out so I don’t even remember! I don’t even think I actually said “yes”! He had my dad and brother fly in from out of state to surprise me, which was such a special moment that meant so much to me. We had 3 animals at home already and had been discussing getting another dog for over two years now! I tried to convince J on almost a weekly basis, but he always said it wasn’t the right time. So everything is a blur after I saw the puppy! We named her Finley, and our family feels perfectly complete now! I still can’t believe the day was real!”
Alyssa had known about the ring since they worked together with Olivia to design it. It had been finished for a while, but the actual proposal was not something she expected at all. Justin says that Alyssa is impossible to surprise, so she didn’t even think he could pull something like that off without her finding out. Seeing the ring for the first time in person when he was on one knee, it was even better than anything she could have imagined. Plus, she had no idea about the puppy!
As for their wedding, their style is more of an adventurous elopement with just the two of them and a photographer… plus their three pups will be the guests! They’re not sure about the date yet. Alyssa says, “It could be this year, could be 2021, we’ll see where the wind blows us!” Congrats you two! We are SO happy for you!!
Incredible photos were taken by Feel and Focus Photography: https://feelandfocusphotography.com/