There’s nothing like a beach wedding – and we love how Neysa and Tom made the most of their seaside setting on the California Coast with bright colors, beautiful tropical flowers, and a chuppah right on the cliffs above Pismo Beach!

Keeping with the vibrant color scheme, Neysa and Tom chose a beautiful ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor 1800ketubah.com. The brightly colored Tree of Life design was personally meaningful to the couple, and aesthetically it fit right in with the joyous look of the day! Don’t miss it in the photos by Stephanie Secrest of Secrest Weddings.

Looking at this glorious day, you’d never guess Neysa and Tom pulled it off while adjusting to life as new parents – but that’s exactly what happened: they welcomed their first child just two months before the big day, and little Tyce was an adorable VIP at the wedding!

Now over to Neysa…

How We Met

Neysa and Tom met in South Bend Indiana in 2014 while Neysa was in law school and Tom was in business school. Tom likes to say he helped Neysa move into her apartment. Neysa likes to say that he put a box in an elevator for her and went on his way. Tom was wearing a cut off tank top, which is why the thought of dating Tom did not initially cross Neysa’s mind.

Over the next year, Neysa and Tom would occasionally run into each other around campus, mostly at the local bars. Neysa could easily spot Tall Tom’s head sticking out from across the bar and come up to say hi and Tom would buy her a drink. After a few of these chance encounters, Tom finally worked up the courage to ask for her number. But it wasn’t until finally hitting it off at a joint MBA-Law School tailgate at a Notre Dame game that Tom and Neysa really caught each other’s attention. Tom asked Neysa on a first date, dinner at Rocco’s (pizza obviously) and drinks at ‘That Place’ (yes, that’s the actual name), which was followed by a second date…Neysa’s first time ice skating. And that leads us to where we are today.

About 6 months after their first date, Tom and Neysa both graduated from Notre Dame but unfortunately moved to completely opposite sides of the country. Tom moved to Washington, D.C. for a Management Consulting job and Neysa to Los Angeles for 2-year fellowship working with foster youth. The long-distance was hard but Tom and Neysa did everything they could to make it work and took FULL advantage of all the travel points that Tom racked up with his consulting job. Over the next 2 years, Neysa would come to DC, Tom would travel to LA, and they would meet everywhere in between (Banff, Denver, Florida, Dallas, Chicago, etc.).

After a long 2.5 years (and a LOT of patience from Neysa), Tom finally convinced his company to transfer him to a project in Calgary, Canada that would allow him to be based in Los Angeles. Tom finally completed his move to Los Angeles in May of 2018. Either way, neither of them could have known that a short random encounter would lead to forever.Continue Reading