After a month of texting and late night phone calls getting to know one another, Darshan planned our first date and we decided to meet up at a restaurant in Georgetown, DC for brunch and boy, was I hesitant to go through with our brunch plans. On the morning of our first date, I contemplated bailing on him (lol), however my sister, Jaanki and brother-in-law, Sarthak convinced me into going and just having fun with an open mind. I guess they were right- I had a great first date! Darshan was charming from the second he walked through the door, flowers in hand and all. It was so easy to talk to him and I just knew there was something so special about him. We spent the day walking around Georgetown and I had no idea how the day just flew by. I'd say we hit it off from the get-go! I'm so glad my sister convinced me into not bailing on him because here we are...five years later...GETTING MARRIED!

The story of our proposal began with months of planning leading up to Jan 2019. I knew how much Bans loved Dubai from her visit when she was younger, so the location was an obvious choice. It worked in my favor that our usual route to India had a layover in Dubai, so suggesting we make a pit stop on the way for a few days to explore the city was not a hard sell at all. Now that I had the city down, I just had to plan the “where” since Dubai has so many beautiful locations. I wanted to do something unique and special. We were staying at the Shang-Ri-La hotel for our trip so the answer was under my nose the entire time. As I was casually looking at the hotel website to see how the rooms looked, I noticed that they had a terrace on the 42nd floor with an amazing view of the city. At that moment I knew this was it, I reached out to the hotel and asked if anyone had ever done a proposal on the terrace and it turns out they had not. Now that I had the place finalized, it was time to share the plan and get the most important people in her life involved. The moment still lives vividly in my mind when I shared the plan with Bans' sister and parents and them providing all the love and support I could ask for. Jan 2nd had finally come and I could not have been more nervous and excited at the same time. Bans noticed I was in a bit of a rush throughout the day but could not seem to figure out why. We got to the hotel and I met with our photographer who I had been messaging all day to make sure we got the perfect shot of our moment. When I arrived at the terrace, I knew this was the perfect place. As I waited for her to arrive for a “quick drink before dinner” on the rooftop, my nervousness and excitement kicked into high gear as I knew this was finally it, I get to ask my best friend to spend the rest of our lives together! As she entered the rooftop, all I could think about was how I cannot wait to get on one knee and pop the question. As you may have guessed, she said YES!