Two years passed. Boyd moved to Hawai'i. But the first time she met Joaquin was at a family dinner that came at the wrong time for romance. They were seeing other people.

Besides, Joaquin said, "I thought, 'She has a boyfriend. Broadcast star. She's out of my league.' "

They met again at another dinner, and that time, they made plans to paddle to the Mokulua Islets off Lanikai for a picnic. Sparks were flying, and their families were thrilled when they heard the two were dating.

"They were very optimistic that we would hit it off," Tannya said. Yet, her sister says, the family didn't want things to backfire.

"Both families were kind of hesitant to push them," Reilly said. "They're both strong-willed personalities. We knew if they were just around each other, it would happen."

And it did.

Joaquin, 30, a Kaiser High School grad and Aloha Airlines pilot, has an affinity for water sports and discovered his newscaster girlfriend wasn't high-maintenance at all. He taught her to wakeboard and sail and is still working on her surfing skills.

Boyd, 31, said he passed all her tests. He could cook, a skill she has yet to conquer. And she fell for the way he would make sandwiches with evenly distributed mustard and mayo. She thought the way he would uniformly apply sunblock was cute.

He forgave her when she brought home a tiny dog, a Jack Russell terrier/chihuahua mix named Pronto, without telling him.

Pronto was the ring-bearer at their wedding.

Joaquin proposed on Lanikai Beach, where their relationship began, and they were married July 24 at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider in Waikiki to vows they wrote themselves. A keiki hula halau started off the celebratory dancing.

The bride is now Tannya Joaquin on the morning news, and she sometimes talks about their son the dog. No word on whether the families are pushing for more family additions.