We met at our mutual friend, Jelena's, birthday dinner at U.S. Pizza. Joel says he was smitten at first sight, and that Dipali played hard to get. The truth is Dipali has always been a planner and had plans for the next several weekends. About two months later, Dipali's mom passed away. Dipali received a phone call from Joel. He wanted to check in and see how Dipali and her dad were doing. These phone calls became weekly and then more frequent. Throughout these phone calls, Dipali realized how special and kind Joel is, and she finally decided to say yes to their first date which was December 13, 2019. Dipali asked Joel to plan it all, and now she knows how much pressure and stress she caused (oops! poor Joel;). They could not have asked for a more perfect first date. Joel took Dipali to several art gallery showings in downtown Little Rock, and they finished the night out with dinner at Cache.

Dipali and Joel gifted Yogi a trip for his 65th birthday and planned to take him to Aruba. Joel always wanted the engagement to be a surprise, so he did not tell anyone going on the trip he was going to propose. After an exhausting day of travel, everyone arrived to the hotel and had plans for dinner. Joel asked Dipali if they could go on a quick walk on the beach prior to dinner which is very normal of him to ask, so Dipali didn't think anything of it. As they were walking down, Dipali noticed a beautiful model on the beach getting professional pictures taken and told Joel they should get out of her way. As they were admiring a building, Joel handed Dipali a hand-written booklet. While Dipali was reading through it, Joel got down on one knee and asked Dipali to marry him. Of course she said yes with the biggest smile. The model and photographer were actually there for the proposal and captured this special moment! The next day Joel planned the most romantic dinner on the beach right where they got engaged. It was an incredible way to celebrate the start of a new chapter in their partnership.