Charlie Kelly was so sure of a relationship with Jean Paul Broc Gomez that he began to think of ways to spend more time together before their first date officially got started.
“Love at first sight is a real phenomenon and we were lucky enough to live it,” Mr. Kelly, 30, said.
The pair were set up on a blind date for June 7, 2015 by mutual friends. The plan was to meet at Mr. Broc’s apartment in downtown Los Angeles before walking together to a nearby restaurant. When he arrived at the apartment, the two spoke for about 10 minutes before Mr. Kelly asked to leave his work bag in order to avoid the “inconvenience of having to carry it to the restaurant.”
“There was definitely an ulterior motive there,” Mr. Kelly said, explaining that he knew at first glance that Mr. Broc was the one, and that he wanted a reason to extend their time together.
They had dinner at Bestia, an Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, then sat at the restaurant’s bar until it closed before returning to Mr. Broc’s apartment. Mr. Kelly wound up staying for a week.
“I was just blown away by how easy it was to talk to him,” Mr. Kelly said. “It was as though I’d known him for a very long time. There was no pretense to the conversation. It just felt really natural and familiar.”
The pair began to date immediately, but a month and a half into their new relationship, Mr. Kelly, who was working for an independent film producer at the time, had to leave for London and New York as part of his job. The couple stopped talking.
“I remember telling one of my friends ‘I met this guy, and I know I’m going to end up marrying him, but he’s in London right now,’” Mr. Broc, 28, said.
Four months later, Mr. Kelly was back in Los Angeles. He contacted Mr. Broc the day he landed and the pair continued right where they had left off. This time, with no interruption.
Born in Greensboro, N.C., Mr. Kelly grew up in the Adirondack Mountains, where he split his time between his father’s house in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and his mother’s home in Keene, N.Y. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Yale, and is currently a producer for the Fox animated comedy show “The Great North.” His office is based in Burbank, Calif.
Mr. Broc was born in Mexico City and lived there until moving to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture, and is now a project manager for the real estate development company Urban Works in downtown Los Angeles.
After spending a year and a half living out of one another’s apartments in Los Angeles, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Broc signed a lease together in 2017 on a duplex in Echo Park a day after their shared birthday, on March 3. They bought a house in Los Feliz in November 2020.
Starting in January 2020, the couple began to discuss marriage. Mr. Kelly planned a surprise proposal for Mr. Broc during their annual March vacation with friends to Mexico, but the coronavirus caused them to cancel the trip.
After vaccine rollouts, Mr. Broc proposed on July 9, 2021 at San Gabriel Peak in the Angeles National Forest.
The couple married June 25 in front of 250 fully vaccinated guests in Seminario 12, a restored residence from the 17th century in Mexico City.
The event began with a three-part symbolic Latin Catholic ceremony in the house’s courtyard, which was officiated by Angelina Pérez, a spiritual guide who performs nonreligious wedding ceremonies. The couple performed the ceremony of lights with both sets of parents; the ceremony of unity with Mr. Broc’s sister and Mr. Kelly’s cousin; and the ceremony of abundance with eight of the couple’s friends.
The symbolic ceremony was followed by an official civil ceremony on the upper level, where the couple signed their marriage papers before 30 guests and Judge Susana Salcedo Ambriz, a licensed judge in the Mexican state of Ciudad de Mexico. The rest of the couple’s guests enjoyed a cocktail party throughout the rest of the house.
After they were officially married, the couple and their guests walked through Mexico City’s pride parade on their way to MIDE, Interactive Museum of Economics, for a lunch reception in the museum’s courtyard.
“We’re both looking forward to a chapter of domestic bliss,” Mr. Broc said, “where we stay at home on Sundays and do the crossword and read.”
