Our story begins not in San Diego, but in El Dorado Hills, California.  We first met in 2012 as the boy and girl next door (literally next-door neighbors) and as members of the same Bible study with our families. 

Were we friends?  No, not really.  Did Quinnton turn down an invitation from Sumner to hang out directly?  Possibly.  Was it because he was too nervous to talk to a beautiful girl?  He will never admit it.  Was there some sort of mutual attraction neither truly wanted to acknowledge?  I guess we will never know… 

The story continues when the two individually moved to San Diego for college – UCSD in 2013 for Sumner and SDSU in 2014 for Quinnton – but except for fleeting touches of contact through our late teens and early twenties, our story would not continue very far.   

Our reconnection about ten years later – and the true continuation of our story – begins how any modern romance does, with technology.  In a moment of weakness, Sumner had redownloaded Hinge, and in a moment of bravery, Quinnton reached out through the dating app.  Trepidatiously, excitedly, we agreed to meet. 

Because we share a lack of ability to respond to a text, we quickly decided to meet up in Balboa Park and talk in person.  It was a sunny Thursday afternoon in July, two days before the Pride Parade.  This meant we had chosen one of the busiest days at Balboa Park possible.  Sumner was uncharacteristically late (wonder why?).  And, Quinnton was so worried about being late that he showed up 40 minutes early.  (It took that long to find parking.)  Over cold beers (the only one Sumner has had since we started dating), we caught up on life.  After the spark of the first date, we decided that we should arrange a second.  So Quinnton promptly invited himself to hang out with Sumner and her friends a few days later at the Parade, and Sumner agreed.

Our story continued over the next few months as we learned that we have a mutual love of our wonderful city, board games, delicious food, and cheesy jokes that are actually really clever –  and that we have an amazing number of shared experiences.  Our relationship was beginning to move towards a real future together.  The sudden loss of Quinnton’s beloved grandfather brought Sumner in contact with almost all of Quinnton’s family much sooner than either had expected.  But through that trial, we learned that our partnership could be relied upon in joy and sadness.  

With new trust in each other, we began our worldwide excursion.  Our first stop, New Orleans: the bachelorette party of a lifetime and an opportunity for Quinnton to meet some of Sumner's family.  We left New Orleans at 2 a.m., having gone straight from dinner with Sumner's Aunt and Uncle, to karaoke, to our flight, all while losing an hour to the Daylight Saving time change.  Our next stop: two more weddings in different parts of the country.  First was Washington, then Michigan.  After working hard to earn our frequent-flyer miles, it was time to cash them in: seizing the opportunity of Sumner’s choir’s international tour in England. After completing our grand tour of the United Kingdom we knew that there was no adventure we were not ready to take on. 

Which was good, because our next adventure was the holidays with both families.  After everything we had done, Quinnton knew it was time.  During Christmas with the Caesars, he asked David and Lisa for their blessing.  And on January 30, 2025 at one of our favorite restaurants, Sumner asked Quinnton for seemingly the millionth time when he was going to marry her, and Quinnton replied, “When I’m ready!”  Little did Sumner know, “ready” was just 20 minutes away. 

Now, kicking off the next chapter of our story, we are proud to welcome you all to the celebration of our love!