Our Story

James and Kala first met over 16 years ago at South Lake Middle School, where James became friends with Kala’s twin brother, Justin. It was through their friendship that Kala and James got to first know each other. While they went to different high-schools, Kala and James would chat almost everyday via AIM, under the screen names Beachgrl1523 and Rc10solidus, respectively (“so embarrassing” – Kala).

Neither went far from home for college – James going to USC and Kala to Cal State Fullerton. Whenever Kala would visit her girlfriends up at USC – she always made a point to reach out to James to meet up and hang out. Over time, their friendship grew and communication became more frequent – Kala always made sure to call James whenever the USC football team lost a game! (“very rare“– James)

Following college, it’s safe to say they hung out almost every weekend, since they both lived near each other in Costa Mesa, CA. Not only weekends either, they would go to lunch too as both of them worked in Aliso Viejo, CA. Although all this time their friendship was strictly platonic, there was a special bond between them. James always knew when Kala and her crew were going out, it was sure to be a fun night.

Fast forward to a night nearly 5 years ago, James decided to take a leap of faith and kiss Kala! From that moment, their friendship and lives would change forever. Both knew that going forward, knowing how close their friendship was, it would be a serious relationship. And both were ready! (btw James cleared it with Justin of course…which took some time for him to warm up to the idea!)

Once they were officially an item, “FB official” to be exact, their friendship and love grew stronger each day. From random trips to Japan and Hawaii, to family trips in Seattle and New York, they loved being with each other. Not to mention James fit right in with the Shahani clan, adding to Ajit’s collection of horrible dad jokes.

It was only a matter of time before James would ask Kala to forever be his wife.