Wedding: Local Couple Takes Gelato For Two

Graham Burford, 30, asked Brittny Tacker, 28, to marry him on their Hawaii vacation together in September as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, allowing the three-stone princess cut diamond engagement ring to gently sparkle in the warm light. It was what Tacker "always wanted."

"Of course I will marry you," she exclaimed.

The two have been inseparable since early last year, when Burford started going to Paciugo Gelato for his evening gelato fix. New to Hermosa Beach, Burford moved away from his hometown, Camden, in Australia 10 years ago. 

Tacker, who moved to the South Bay in 2004 from the midwest, said that she remembers Burford would never eat more than one flavor at once, which is often allowed at the shop. Then, she recalled, she began to run into this "new guy" outside of the gelato cafe and around town. They were both part of the Prank Money's flag football league, for example.

Tacker, a naturally outgoing person, was taken aback when one day the shy and reserved Burford asked her for more than just his signature single-flavor gelato scoop. He asked her out on a date.

 "When he first asked me out I didn't think anything of it but then I thought to myself, 'Hmm, he's a nice guy and he's from Australia - exactly what I'm looking for," Tacker giggled.

The couple dined at The Bottle Inn Italian restaurant on 22nd Street, which neither had been to before. Tacker remembered the romantic atmosphere. After the two talked for hours, Burford remembered looking at his watch thinking, "where has the time gone?"

"What felt like 20 minutes of talking to her was in reality two or three hours," he said. "It's very hard to find someone you feel comfortable with straight away … I knew that there was a connection when we were out on our first date."

After dinner, the couple walked along The Strand and shared a first kiss.

"I wouldn't call it 'love at first sight,' because there is so much about Brittny that you can't see at first," Burford said. "You only get such a small part of her when you meet her."

Tacker and Burford agreed to go on more dates, learning more about each other along the way. They enjoyed jogs on the beach, biking, and playing beach volleyball. Their first time hiking was with each other and Tacker admitted she loved the shared experience.

"We're doing all these things around Los Angeles that neither of us have done before and we got to do them together," she said.

For two months, the athletic duo dated, until Burford left town for a month-long business trip to Australia. Though they were separated by nearly 8,000 miles, the couple spoke on the phone everyday and text messaged each other often. That's when Tacker knew Burford was special.

"I knew I was in love with him, he's just the greatest guy ever," she said. "He's just so sweet, so sincere and caring, someone I just wanted to be with for the rest of my life."

Once Burford returned from Australia, the couple moved in together. Tacker said that she remembers seeing a frame that read, "live laugh love," in Burford's apartment before they moved. It was the same motto that she's lived by since she could remember. At that moment, she knew he was "the one."

"For a guy to have that, I love him," she said. "Now the motto is all over our apartment."

Burford said that after they moved, he knew Tacker was "the one," and he was already planning their engagement.

"I planned the surprise for her after we talked about it a little," he said while explaining the vacation to the lustful Hawaiian Ko'Olina resort was planned all along. Tacker thought the two were simply experiencing a first vacation together.

"I had an idea he was going to propose," she said. "Nothing gets passed me."

Before Burford popped the question, he said he made a few phone calls to Tacker's parents, one of which was quite difficult to win over, Tacker's mother and co-owner of Paciugo, Monien Ibarra.

"My mom knew that I had never talked about a guy like Graham before and she felt a little hurt," Tacker explained. "She felt as though I was leaving her, but I obviously wasn't and will not be… I'm still here. Just sharing my life with someone else now."

Eventually, Ibarra grew to trust Burford. Now, with their parents' blessings, the couple said that they're focusing on the trust that they share. Each stimulates the other in ways that were inexistent in previous relationships, they said. For Burford, he did not want the traditional stay-at-home wife that he was all too familiar with in Australia.

"I wanted someone (who) challenged me," he said. "Brittny is outgoing, has her own goals, does her own thing, and I learn something new about her everyday and I want to keep on learning about her."

After hearing this description of her, Tacker was so touched that she grabbed Burford and gave him a big kiss. She added that when she first met Burford, he was the opposite of the "typical, California guys who are all into themselves," she had lucked out.

"Those guys aren't the ones who will help make me a better person and teach me things that I don't know," she said. "Graham has traveled all over the world and has done stuff I've never done so I've been learning a lot from him."

Some would call this relationship fate, but Burford flat out disagreed. While Tacker laughed at her fiancé's blunt response, he explained, "Good things happen to good people and when you stop looking, that's when you'll find love."

As for the next 10 years, the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Burford plan on traveling the world, seeing places that they've never been before, such as South America. After enjoying the married life for four to five years and becoming financially stable, the couple plans on having children.

"In 10 years, I can see us living a happy life in Hermosa Beach, serving gelato for kiddies, and us doing our jobs," said Brittny. "It's every girl's dream."

Mr. Burford and Ms. Tacker are to be wed on Sept. 25 in Turtle Bay, HI, where their closest family and friends will be present.

Do you know another local couple tying the knot? E-mail: jacqueline@patch.com