Alani and Zach Got Married Halloween 2025!
This love story begins the way all the great romances begin: with a follow on Tumblr, about twelve years ago.
Zach Garcia is there, sharing the things he likes. Alani Reck is a high-schooler and he catches her attention, she becomes one of his first followers. She thinks he seems pretty cool based on the stuff he puts out into the world. From his side, Zach notices they share the same interests. His first impression is simple and steady: she seems nice and sweet, and he figures they could be good friends.
Then he starts sending pick-up lines. One becomes two, and pretty soon it’s a daily thing. It’s not flashy, just consistent, like a small porch light that’s always on. From the first day he messages her, Alani feels a little jolt — her heart skips a beat. He seems like a sweet guy who cares about her as an individual. He takes time out of his day to be supportive when she’s down. He has a gentle heart in the world and isn’t afraid of showing it. Zach, watching this routine take shape, keeps thinking: same interests, easy conversation, this could be a friendship that sticks.
And then they actually meet in person. For Zach, that’s when the impression really lands. She seems sweet and shy. There isn’t any fuss to it; they just click, right away, like they’ve been saving a seat for each other all along. In February, Zach asks if he can fly over to see Alani — a promise he’s been making for years, the kind you tuck away until the money lines up and the calendar finally cooperates. June 2020 rolls around, and he does it. He flies up to Oregon. Alani picks him up at the airport. It’s simple: bags in the car, a quick stop at his hotel to drop things off, and then she points the day toward Silver Falls State Park.
She doesn’t say much about the plan. She certainly doesn’t say “seven point two miles.” There’s no brochure, no warning label, just a trailhead and the kind of confidence that says, “this’ll be good.” Zach, for his part, wouldn’t call this a first date. He’s keeping a promise, finally visiting. Alani, though, calls it their first date, and the park seems to agree: it’s a long walk with a destination you can’t see from the parking lot. They spend the whole hike talking, getting to know each other more now that they are adults. No rush. Just the steady rhythm of footsteps and conversation, the kind that expands in the space between trees and trail markers. It goes really well. Well enough that, when the miles add up, no one is tallying anything but stories.
Over the days that follow, they make Oregon their itinerary. More hikes. The beach. Any interesting places around. It’s not grand gestures, just side-by-side days, the kind you remember because you didn’t try to make them perfect. He calls it “not exactly a first date.” She calls it their first. Everyone can be right at the same time.
And that date leads to the next, and soon, Zach and Alani are building a whole life and a future together. By now, national parks are their thing. It’s the running theme in their travels — maps on the dashboard, trail names in the notes app, that sort of rhythm.
They’ve been talking for a while about getting married, even looking at rings. Alani figures it’s coming, just not sure when. There are a few trips where she thinks, “this is it,” and then it isn’t, and the ride home feels longer than the drive there. Zach has a couple of almost-proposals lined up that don’t quite land. Not the best time, not the right spot. He keeps carrying the question anyway.
September 2022 arrives, and with it, Arizona, for a friend’s wedding. And of course, if you put them in that part of the world, they’re going to find a trailhead. Zach will tell you they’re hiking around Sedona National Park. Alani will tell you it’s a hiking trail at Saguaro National Park. Either way, it’s Arizona, it’s a trail, and it’s them doing the thing they always do.
There’s a hiccup. They have to leave to get Gatorade. It could tip the day off its rails. But they don’t let it stop them. Back they go, back to the trail, back to the quiet decision of one foot in front of the other. They reach the end of the trail, the way you do, by simply getting there. Zach says they should take some pictures. In his telling, he props up his phone. In hers, she does — timer set, practical as ever. They take two pictures. While she sets up a third, he prepares himself. She sits back down next to him. He pulls out the ring. He pops the question. He’s a little nervous, but he’s glad he does it.
Alani is absolutely elated. She says yes right away and pulls him into a kiss. The phone, meanwhile, does not catch the moment. The proposal shot is gone to the great digital beyond. It doesn’t matter in the end. He keeps it personal, just as she always imagined.
Afterward, Zach jokes that the Gatorade detour could have ruined the whole plan. Alani answers the way she does, with a shrug you can hear in her voice and a little circle of her hand in the air: “we can go back right now. I’m fine.”
Later on, she finds out that the other almost-proposals at other parks didn’t pan out because she would get dehydrated before they reached the spot he had in mind. Even then, the day in Arizona holds. Two pictures, a missed shot, the right question, the right answer.
And here we are today.
It’s because of the moments in this story and many others that Zachary can say of Alani, when I asked him what he loves about her:
"What I love about Alani is that she's just authentically her. She is sweet, caring, and just overall someone you want to be around. So, it only makes sense to want to spend my life with her right? She truly loves with all her heart and puts everything she has into the people and things around her. She's also a pretty funny lady without even trying. She can make someone laugh just by being herself."
And Alani says of Zachary, when I asked her what she loves about him:
"I love how caring and thoughtful he is. He is completely understanding of my mental health issues, and he takes the time to help me work through the jumbled mess my brain makes. He has always shown me the love I provide to others. He has a gentle heart and is always open to loving new animals. At the end of the day his focus is always on keeping our relationship happy and loving our pets. He has shown me what true reciprocal love is. I cannot thank him enough for taking the time to learn, grow, and be with me. He means the world to me, and I could never see myself with another person. I’ve honestly been in love with him for the last 12 years. No matter what, if he messaged me, I would drop what I was doing to respond to him regardless of distance. He is my soulmate, and I couldn’t do life without him."
project: @alani.rayann @imkindazach venueue: @thegardensatwestgreen officiant: @TheIDoLady photographer: @thelimelightsa dj: @northern_lights_dj
@reunioncoffeecart caterer: @guacandlimecatering makeup artist: @love.lipstick.andlashes
Zach Garcia is there, sharing the things he likes. Alani Reck is a high-schooler and he catches her attention, she becomes one of his first followers. She thinks he seems pretty cool based on the stuff he puts out into the world. From his side, Zach notices they share the same interests. His first impression is simple and steady: she seems nice and sweet, and he figures they could be good friends.
Then he starts sending pick-up lines. One becomes two, and pretty soon it’s a daily thing. It’s not flashy, just consistent, like a small porch light that’s always on. From the first day he messages her, Alani feels a little jolt — her heart skips a beat. He seems like a sweet guy who cares about her as an individual. He takes time out of his day to be supportive when she’s down. He has a gentle heart in the world and isn’t afraid of showing it. Zach, watching this routine take shape, keeps thinking: same interests, easy conversation, this could be a friendship that sticks.
She doesn’t say much about the plan. She certainly doesn’t say “seven point two miles.” There’s no brochure, no warning label, just a trailhead and the kind of confidence that says, “this’ll be good.” Zach, for his part, wouldn’t call this a first date. He’s keeping a promise, finally visiting. Alani, though, calls it their first date, and the park seems to agree: it’s a long walk with a destination you can’t see from the parking lot. They spend the whole hike talking, getting to know each other more now that they are adults. No rush. Just the steady rhythm of footsteps and conversation, the kind that expands in the space between trees and trail markers. It goes really well. Well enough that, when the miles add up, no one is tallying anything but stories.
Over the days that follow, they make Oregon their itinerary. More hikes. The beach. Any interesting places around. It’s not grand gestures, just side-by-side days, the kind you remember because you didn’t try to make them perfect. He calls it “not exactly a first date.” She calls it their first. Everyone can be right at the same time.
And that date leads to the next, and soon, Zach and Alani are building a whole life and a future together. By now, national parks are their thing. It’s the running theme in their travels — maps on the dashboard, trail names in the notes app, that sort of rhythm.
September 2022 arrives, and with it, Arizona, for a friend’s wedding. And of course, if you put them in that part of the world, they’re going to find a trailhead. Zach will tell you they’re hiking around Sedona National Park. Alani will tell you it’s a hiking trail at Saguaro National Park. Either way, it’s Arizona, it’s a trail, and it’s them doing the thing they always do.
There’s a hiccup. They have to leave to get Gatorade. It could tip the day off its rails. But they don’t let it stop them. Back they go, back to the trail, back to the quiet decision of one foot in front of the other. They reach the end of the trail, the way you do, by simply getting there. Zach says they should take some pictures. In his telling, he props up his phone. In hers, she does — timer set, practical as ever. They take two pictures. While she sets up a third, he prepares himself. She sits back down next to him. He pulls out the ring. He pops the question. He’s a little nervous, but he’s glad he does it.
Alani is absolutely elated. She says yes right away and pulls him into a kiss. The phone, meanwhile, does not catch the moment. The proposal shot is gone to the great digital beyond. It doesn’t matter in the end. He keeps it personal, just as she always imagined.
Afterward, Zach jokes that the Gatorade detour could have ruined the whole plan. Alani answers the way she does, with a shrug you can hear in her voice and a little circle of her hand in the air: “we can go back right now. I’m fine.”
Later on, she finds out that the other almost-proposals at other parks didn’t pan out because she would get dehydrated before they reached the spot he had in mind. Even then, the day in Arizona holds. Two pictures, a missed shot, the right question, the right answer.
And here we are today.
It’s because of the moments in this story and many others that Zachary can say of Alani, when I asked him what he loves about her:
"What I love about Alani is that she's just authentically her. She is sweet, caring, and just overall someone you want to be around. So, it only makes sense to want to spend my life with her right? She truly loves with all her heart and puts everything she has into the people and things around her. She's also a pretty funny lady without even trying. She can make someone laugh just by being herself."
And Alani says of Zachary, when I asked her what she loves about him:
"I love how caring and thoughtful he is. He is completely understanding of my mental health issues, and he takes the time to help me work through the jumbled mess my brain makes. He has always shown me the love I provide to others. He has a gentle heart and is always open to loving new animals. At the end of the day his focus is always on keeping our relationship happy and loving our pets. He has shown me what true reciprocal love is. I cannot thank him enough for taking the time to learn, grow, and be with me. He means the world to me, and I could never see myself with another person. I’ve honestly been in love with him for the last 12 years. No matter what, if he messaged me, I would drop what I was doing to respond to him regardless of distance. He is my soulmate, and I couldn’t do life without him."
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