Three years ago, Chong was on her way to visit a former secretary of Washington University in St. Louis, where Chong had gotten her medical degree. The secretary now worked at another St. Louis institution, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where Chong was going to start her four-year residency in radiology.

Chong stepped into the elevator and met Gelbart, who just happened to be heading to the same floor.

It turned out the person Chong was visiting was Gelbart's secretary. "It's a huge hospital," said Chong, 31. "And to think that's how we met."

The spark was there in the elevator — in his friendliness, in her smile — and the flames followed a few months later, after a Yo-Yo Ma concert and dinner afterward.

"It was actually talking with him at dinner that I thought he was really interesting," Chong said. "He's really funny. He makes me laugh. He's one of the few guys who can make me laugh all the time."

Six months into dating, the couple took a trip to Hawai'i, first to O'ahu to visit Chong's family before heading to Kaua'i, which would be the backdrop to his proposal two years later. He popped the question at Ke'e Beach, while watching the sun set into the ocean off the Na Pali cliffs.

They were watching the sunset when Gelbart asked a tourist to take their photo. What Chong didn't know was that Gelbart had whispered in the man's ear that he was about to propose.

"I knew, from the first time we went out to dinner, that there was a spark there," said Gelbart, 34, a sports medicine radiologist. "She's so bubbly and personable, full of energy — smart and beautiful, obviously. It was a good fit. We get along really well."

But before she could plan the wedding, Chong had a big decision to make. And it wasn't about colors or cakes. Gelbart is Jewish; Chong isn't. In order to have the Jewish wedding Gelbart wanted, Chong would have to convert to Judaism.

"I chose to do it, more so because I wanted a structure for our kids," said Chong, whose family is Buddhist.

Their wedding, held March 6 at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, was almost entirely Jewish. The couple flew in Gelbart's childhood rabbi from Ohio and even had a custom-embroidered ketubah, a Jewish marriage contract.

But Chong managed to incorporate her Chinese heritage and local roots into the occasion. Following Chinese tradition, Gelbart and his groomsmen had to "bid" for Chong. Behind three doors in the bridal suite waited her family and friends. The men had to barter with them to move onto the next door. By the time Gelbart finally reached Chong, he had shelled out about $800, sang "Lean On Me" and breakdanced with his groomsmen.

Chong's local roots emerged during the reception, which featured a lion dance, Hawaiian music and a Tahitian dancer.

"There was no other place I could even think about getting married," said Chong, who grew up in McCully but now lives with Gelbart in St. Louis. "No place compares to the beauty of Hawai'i. I wouldn't feel right getting married anywhere else."