Sabrina Pierpoint and Justin Wilson

Justin Wilson, a lance corporal machine gunner with the U.S. Marine Corps, was getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan when he met Sabrina Pierpoint in March 2010.

“I knew I was in love from the start,” said Wilson, but Pierpoint didn’t want to get involved with someone who was going overseas.

Still, they kept running into each other because they hung out with the same crowd. And every time they met, they wound up going off by themselves to talk.

One night, everyone met at a bar, then agreed to continue the party at Wilson’s house — but their friends had something else in mind. They drove Pierpoint to Wilson’s house, then ditched her, believing the pair was meant to be together and just needed a nudge. With the help of a bonfire in the backyard, their romance ignited that evening.

Just before Wilson left for his tour of duty, Pierpoint said, “I realized I loved him more than anything and wanted to be with him.” While he was stationed in Helmand Province, she never missed one of his calls and often sent him thoughtful gifts. “She really stuck by me,” he said.

Wilson, 22, is now stationed at Camp Pendleton, and Pierpoint, 23, is a culinary student at the Art Institute of America in Santa Ana.

They were married on Oct. 22 in an oak grove at Limoneira La Campana Ranch in Sylmar. “You always dream about this day as a little girl,” the bride said, “and this was even better.”

—Maxine Nunes, Custom Publishing Writer