Bruin couples defy national marriage trends by tying the knot

Tying the knot is coming sooner to some UCLA couples, despite a national trend in the opposite direction.

The average age at first marriage for Americans has increased from about 23 to 29 years old for men and 20 to 27 years old for women since the 1950s, according to a U.S. Census Bureau survey from last year.

According to the Pew Research Center, this is partially because of the economic recession and more young adults going to college. As a result, Americans are waiting longer to get married.

Some UCLA couples, however, are planning marriage before they leave the university.

Amelia Lowell and Isaac Cassar

Amelia Lowell looked up from her notebook in De Neve dining hall three years ago to see her future husband.

Lowell, a fourth-year global studies student, was having breakfast by herself when Isaac Cassar, a fourth-year bioengineering student, walked up to her and asked her to eat with him and his roommate Cory Schroeder, who is now the best man in their wedding.

“I ran into her at the coffee machine, and we had a conversation that ended awkwardly,” Cassar said. “Something inside me told me I had to get to know her better.”

They began dating soon after and decided a year later that marriage was in their future.

“I don’t believe in soul mates, but I do believe that love is a choice,” Lowell said. “Isaac is my best friend, so I want to choose to love him forever.”

Last September, Cassar told Lowell they were headed to meet Lowell’s sister at Zuma Beach, the same place where they celebrated their first Valentine’s Day together.

“I set up an aisle on the beach with mason jars on either side, each containing either flowers or a special photo of us,” Cassar said. “On the back of the photos, I wrote down something special to me about that memory, and as we walked through them, I told her what I had written down.”

At the end of the rows of mason jars was a little chest with more flowers, the ring and a Bible opened to 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter about love.

“I was so surprised,” she said. “I knew he would eventually propose, but I didn’t expect it to happen then. I was touched by how much effort and planning went into it.”

Lowell supported Cassar when his grandmother died last year, and he helped her through her sinus surgery last summer. He also goes with her to all of her regular injections for chronic sinusitis.

“I believe that love is reflected in commitment,” Lowell said. “You can say that you love a person, but commitment proves more than just words.”

Cassar said he spent the entire week planning his proposal to Lowell instead of preparing for his GRE graduate school entry exam, which he took two days after he made his proposal.

Lowell is writing her global studies thesis on terrorism in social media, while Cassar just received a perfect score on the GRE in preparation for grad school to earn a doctorate degree in bioengineering.

The two will tie the knot in July in Santa Cruz in a “UCLA wedding” in which the bridesmaids, groomsmen, photographers and even violinists are current students.

Jack Donway and Emily Rushing

Jack Donway, a third-year political science student and a member of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at UCLA, met his wife-to-be Emily Rushing as he was dating her best friend during freshman year at Reedley High School.

“When things were kind of lukewarm between me and that first girl,” said Donway, “I started immediately dating her best friend who is now my fiancee.”

He also said he had wanted to marry Rushing six months into their relationship.

“I would say there was a chemistry right when we first met,” Donway said.

During a Christmas family gift exchange, Donway tricked Rushing into blindfolding her as he brought the present.

Donway’s mother opened the blindfold. Then, Donway was on one knee with his mother and late father’s wedding ring in his hands.

Rushing started crying and Donway got the “yes.”

He answered without hesitation as to why they love each other.

“She is beautiful,” he said. “I think we just clicked because we are opposites in terms of personality. We complete each other.”

Rushing recently graduated from Lawrence and Company College of Cosmetology in Hanford and is currently preparing for the state exams in Sacramento.

The couple will get married in Fresno next June, right after Donway graduates from UCLA.

Teddi Pierce and Remington Lamons

Third-year psychology students Teddi Pierce and Remington Lamons found their love through boba.

“When we were in Asia, we would go to CoCo every day for boba, so I found the same boba shop in Westwood and we walked there on our first date,” Lamons said.

The two met the night before they started school two years ago. After playing capture the flag at the bottom of Janss Steps as an ice-breaker for UCLA Cru, a Christian fellowship on campus, they talked alone for four hours the same night and became friends.

They went on an East Asia mission trip together the next summer, and began dating when they returned.

Eventually, he and Pierce decided last summer that they would marry.

“We prayed together and discussed it and realized that this was part of the plan that was already set out for us,” Lamons said.

After picking her up in November for just another date in Westwood, he led her blindfolded along the path to the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, asking her to recount the story of their relationship along the way.

When he removed the blindfold, a ring hung from a string on the tree.

“We were both very emotional, but I started crying before she did,” he said.

The couple said they grew in maturity over the course of their relationship by overcoming some problems.

“Wedding planning is tough, especially considering financial issues,” Lamons said. “I’m learning how to compromise, communicate, and listen, which are all important components of marriage.”

The two will marry in July in Bakersfield.