It all started on a salsa dance floor at the Copacabana in New York City.

During their first year of medical school at NYU, a group of students organized a salsa night, and that’s where they officially met. Technically, they already knew of each other (thanks to the class Facebook page and daily lectures), but had never really interacted. Sarah’s first impression of Ignacio? “Extremely obnoxious.” (A description that, to this day, still holds a little truth, but has since become more endearing than annoying.)

Things started to click when they realized they were always the first ones on the dance floor at post-exam parties and usually the last to leave. Somewhere between spins and salsa steps, a friendship turned into something more.

Our Story

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From the very beginning, it was clear they were total opposites. Sarah is very organized, cautious, and always just a little bit anxious about something. Ignacio is calm (maybe overly so), a procrastinator, and a bit of a daredevil. They work in opposite fields. She’s a pathologist: a thoughtful, thorough, deliberate field. He’s an emergency medicine doctor: a specialty known for its unpredictable and improvisational nature. He loves horror movies, haunted houses, video games, and his ideal vacation is a beach with an umbrella drink. She can’t handle a jump scare, has no idea what an analog stick is, and prefers sightseeing and exploring on trips. She will not tolerate shoes in the house and he… just had to learn to live with that one.

But somehow, it all just works. Over nearly a decade together, they’ve grown through multiple stages of life, surviving medical school, long-distance years on opposite coasts, and now navigating early careers in academic medicine side by side in Los Angeles.

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As for the proposal, Sarah told Ignacio to “surprise me.” And he took that instruction to heart. During a vacation in Japan, he proposed at Tokyo Disneyland in the pouring rain, mid-fireworks show, with Sarah wearing a poncho. It wasn’t exactly what she imagined, but it was unexpected, joyful, and full of love (and laughter).

Today, they’re still best friends, dance partners, and lifelong opposites, and they can’t wait to celebrate the next chapter together. (And Ignacio now agrees that it’s insane to wear shoes in the house.)

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