There's nothing like a major event to bring people together.

Or, in the case of Shelly Burkert and Jason Fellers, food poisoning.

The two, who lived in southern California, had been dating for about five months before they decided to take a trip to Guatemala in February 2004.

Toward the end of their 10-day vacation, the couple ate some bad sausage-and-cheese pizza. They spent the next 24 hours in close proximity of the bathroom.

"You know you like the person for better or for worse when you can have food poisoning and you still like each other," said Burkert, 29, now an education specialist at the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center in Kaka'ako. "Dating was officially over."

Burkert and Fellers met in September 2003 on a blind date in California.

Fellers was an air traffic controller at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. Burkert had recently moved home to Saugus, Calif., from Spain to live with her mom after her dad, a graduate of 'Aiea High School, passed away.

A mutual friend, whom Burkert met in Ireland, put Burkert and Fellers in touch.

"It wasn't like she was setting us up," Burkert said. "Not at all."

The two met at a bar after work. They had a couple of drinks, talked and split.

Over the next few weeks, though, they started talking on the phone more. Their conversations sparked an interest in Fellers.

"I liked that she was really focused on what she wanted," said Fellers, 32, now an air traffic controller in Honolulu. "She's headstrong in a good way."

But at that point, Burkert only thought of him as a friend. That all changed when Fellers went to Burkert's house to help her set up a TV stand from IKEA.

"When we were setting up the stand, he touched my hand," Burkert said, smiling. "That's when I knew he liked me."

After a few months of dating — and the bout with food poisoning — the couple got serious about the relationship. In fact, in March 2004, Burkert told an administrator at the school where she worked that she felt Fellers was going to propose soon.

"Jason is the nicest person in the whole world, he really is," Burkert said. "But at that point everything in my life had changed so much. I didn't know if that was the right time (to get married)."

That summer, though, they hadn't talked seriously about marriage, the couple looked at engagement rings. Fellers took notes.

On Nov. 12, 2004, the two made plans to spend a weekend on Catalina Island. Fellers brought the ring, hoping to find the appropriately romantic time to pop the question.

Instead, Fellers, tired and sweaty, wound up proposing at the summit of a hike.

"When we got to the top, I figured I'd better do it then before I had a heart attack," he said, laughing.

He had planned to deliver an elaborate speech about how much Burkert meant to him. But all that came out was, "Will you marry me?"

"Everything was just gone," he said, laughing.

Four months later Fellers sold his condo and moved in with Burkert, who was still living with her mom.

They discussed for months where to have the wedding. Most of Fellers' family lives on the East Coast, while Burkert's is split between California and Hawai'i.

Since most of Fellers' relatives could fly out to California anyway, the couple decided to make an event out of their wedding. They chose to get married on O'ahu.

But they didn't want the traditional church ceremony and hotel reception.

Burkert had attended a wedding in Chile where the bride rented an entire farm and turned the reception into an all-day event. There was a pool, a volleyball court and a soccer field. Everyone had a blast.

"It was the best wedding I had ever been to," Burkert said. "It was so mellow and so relaxed."

They decided to rent a beach house, where the guests could stay, and turn their destination wedding into a mini-vacation for everyone.

"Our families really hadn't met," Burkert said. "So I really wanted to get a house and have everybody get to know each other."

They hired local wedding coordinator Mona Hirata and set out to find a beach house that could accommodate about 50 people.

After months of searching, they found the perfect spot: the Hale Kimo home on Sunset Beach.

"The house was full," Burkert said, smiling.

About 50 people attended the nuptials on Nov. 12, 2005. Fellers serenaded his bride to "Butterfly" by Lenny Kravitz. Burkert danced hula to "Ku'u Pua Mae 'ole" by Keali'i Reichel. Guests went surfing and hiked into Waimea Valley.

"Everyone had so much fun," Burkert said. "It was relaxed. It was like a vacation."

In March 2006, just four months after their wedding, the couple moved to O'ahu. Fellers got a job working at the air traffic control tower in Honolulu, while Burkert took a position at the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center. They rent a downtown condo.

Right now they're enjoying their new life together in Hawai'i, hiking, snorkeling and visiting Burkert's family who lives here.

And soon they'll be expecting company.

Burkert's mom is moving to the Islands sometime this year.

"I just think it's so cool to think you can have your best friend with you always," Burkert said. "So far, that's the best part about marriage."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.