The Tamesis
Owen Huelsbeck remembers meeting Alexa Yarnell at Casey’s Irish Pub in downtown Los Angeles during their first week at Loyola Law School in 2019. After their first meeting, Owen immediately excitedly texted a mutual friend to introduce Alexa. However, she wasn’t too enamored. “I had just moved back to Los Angeles from New York and started law school, and I was so excited that I wasn’t particularly focused on meeting anyone,” Alexa admits.
As the semester progressed, each morning, instead of doing homework, Owen would sit outside and work on the New York Times crossword puzzle with a mutual friend. “Sometimes I would stop by and say hi to my friends and help them solve a problem they were having,” Alexa recalls. “They were in the evening part [at school]I was in the morning section, so when I left campus and they started class, our paths would cross for a few minutes. They know I love Broadway musicals, and you’d be surprised to know how often these show up in crossword puzzles! “
The two met during this time, but it wasn’t until Alexa applied to join the board of directors of the Criminal Law Society, where Owen already held a position, that the two truly connected. “After reading my application, Owen congratulated me and approved my application,” Alexa explains. The congratulatory message sparked a long conversation about their passions — his for criminal justice reform, hers for health care reform.
Both of their schools have moved to remote classes due to the pandemic, but Alexa and Owen decided to get together in real life. Irving, who was back home in Tacoma, Washington, drove the 18 hours back to Los Angeles so they could go on their first date, and they’ve been a group ever since. “Owen had the foresight to save the bottle from that day and after we got married it became the glass he stepped on,” Alex said. “You could say he had a sense of where things were going.”
Irving proposed to Alexa in March 2023 on the beach at Three Arches Bay in Laguna, a “special place” for the couple because it was where they studied together to become California attorneys. “He created a scavenger hunt,” Alex recalled. She knew the engagement was coming and had prepared a ring to propose to Owen because she wanted him to also be a physical reminder of the commitment they had made. “Owen stacks his two rings right now like I do,” Alexa explained. “We’ve even inspired some friends to do the same. This is just the beginning of our wedding journey, something a little different and unique for us.”
In the fall of 2025, two and a half years after their engagement, Alexa and Owen’s wedding weekend in Montecito kicked off with a welcome dinner at Bettina’s, followed by a s’mores and charcuterie bonfire party. “In the spirit of our encounter, Alexa and I created a crossword puzzle that connects our guests through shared experiences, passions, and fun facts,” explains Owen. “We envisioned a huge love affair for our wedding weekend and within five hours we had to remind people to go to bed because we would be seeing each other again in the morning.”
