They celebrated their one-year anniversary as a couple in February 2024. And roughly just two years later, they said, “I do,” in one of the most watched Super Bowl half-time shows ever.
Details of Eleisa “Elli” Aparicio and Thomas “Tommy” Wolter’s love story began surfacing through news reports and social media sleuthing Monday, a day after the Los Angeles-area pair all but shed their anonymity by getting married amid Bad Bunny’s sensational performance on the field at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, during the intermission of Super Bowl LX.
Past social media posts from Wolter, 32, showed he became a registered nurse in March 2021 and then earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from California State University, Fullerton, after that.
Meanwhile, a school district’s social media post on Monday identified Aparacio as a graduate of Covina high school. A former coach of Aparicio’s told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that she represented the school’s basketball team for at least three seasons.
Wolter celebrated his first anniversary of dating Aparicio in a 23 February 2024 carousel of photos online, captioning it in part: “You have made this … the best year of my life without a doubt. I can’t wait for what we have in store for our future.”
What was in store was an October 2024 marriage proposal in Cannon Beach, Oregon. “If I could say yes a million times more, I would,” Aparicio wrote on social media after accepting, as the Tribune noted.
Bad Bunny was among the guests that the couple subsequently invited to their wedding. But the six-time Grammy winner instead invited them to partake in his Super Bowl half-time show, which served as an extravagant 13-minute tribute to the Puerto Rican superstar’s homeland.
About five minutes into the show, a smiling wedding officiant could be seen declaring Wolter and Aparicio married in a small plaza built on the field for the performance. The couple kissed with dancers and musicians surrounding them, then they parted to reveal Lady Gaga and Los Sobrinos, the Puerto Rican salsa band who has collaborated with Bad Bunny.
The artists played Gaga’s Die With a Smile until Bad Bunny came to belt out his hit Baile Inolvidable, whose title in Spanish means Unforgettable Dance.
A representative of Bad Bunny confirmed after the show that the couple’s wedding was authentic but stopped short of naming the bride and groom. Bad Bunny had served as an official witness to the nuptials while signing their marriage certificate as well; and there was even a real wedding cake, the representative added.
Aparicio later shared a clip on social media of her wedding, which was seen by an estimated audience of about 128 million television viewers. “My heart is so full,” she wrote. “This experience has been nothing short of amazing.”
Wolter wrote on social media, “An unforgettable dance with the love of my life. Cannot thank [Bad Bunny] enough for this beautiful opportunity of a lifetime.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting
