Jamie Frausto and Dan Maguire had long dreamed of living in La Jolla. When they got married in Ellen Browning Scripps Park this summer, it sealed the deal.
Frausto and Maguire eloped in La Jolla on June 10, 2026 with a ceremony including just the bride and groom, and their photographer and officiant. Their ceremony came nine years after their first date. Based on their experience with the ceremony, the two have plans to move to La Jolla later this year.
The pair, who currently live in Denver, Co., met when Maguire was working at a cocktail bar in nearby Boulder. Frausto, then working in the area for a tech startup, would often visit on Fridays.
“She would pull up her laptop at the bar and work at the bar sometimes,” Maguire recalled. “It kind of sparked up a conversation, I started to get to know her and I asked her out on a whim.”
The two got engaged in 2024, and a year later Frausto got to searching for a location to get married. While Frausto and Maguire had spent their whole lives in Colorado, they both felt drawn to San Diego and specifically La Jolla.
“I always come to California for my birthday, which is really close to our anniversary,” Frausto said. “So I told Dan, ‘we’re already engaged. We’ve been talking about La Jolla. Let’s bring it to life.’”
Jamie Frausto and Dan Maguire said they dreamed of having their wedding in La Jolla for years before the ceremony. (Roman Podria)
Their criteria was simple: no big wedding venue or party, a small setup and views of the ocean. So Frausto wandered around Scripps Park and La Jolla Cove, scouting the area out for wedding spots. With Maguire back in Colorado, she sent him photos and videos of where they could elope.
While La Jolla had long been a target for the two of them to settle down, they also looked at a handful of “contenders,” she said, including downtown San Diego and specifically, Little Italy. Ultimately choosing Scripps Park for their elopement, the two wed in the small ceremony they had planned.
Just not as small as they thought.
“While we were in the park, the crowd of locals started gathering around,” Maguire said. “We had people yelling out of cars saying ‘you guys look great.’ It really reinforced that feeling of community we picked up while we were there. People were there, they don’t know us but they supported us. It’s really warm and welcoming.”
That experience confirmed that La Jolla was the place for them. “The wedding was when we were like ‘people who live here are so blessed and so lucky,’” Frausto said. “I want that and we want that.”
The pair plan to move to La Jolla late this year and hope to soon develop strong camaraderie with their neighbors and the local art community.