We are getting married in the city where we met on the exact day we met - February 9th!

Prateek had recently moved to St Petersburg and was working extremely long hours at his new company. He was looking for a place to unwind with his good friend (and now groomsman!) Jason after a tough weekend of being in the office. They took a recommendation to check out BayWalk, which at the time was a popular dining/nightlife/shopping district in downtown St Petersburg. Mary just so happened to have a weekend job at the restaurant and bar where they ended up going for dinner. Prateek and Jason sat in Mary's section that night...and the rest, as they say, is history!

(Mary's version) We decided to take advantage of the Christmas holiday weekend in Nassau. We were fortunate for the opportunity to stay at the beautiful historic Graycliff Hotel, which also housed a fabulous 5 star restaurant, and decided to splurge on dinner at the restaurant on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday. We enjoyed a great meal, shared a bottle of wine, and reflected on the past year. As the evening progressed and we were just about the last ones left in the restaurant, Prateek excused himself to go chat with the owners while I finished my glass. A few minutes later I walked up to the front to meet him. He was standing next to a beautiful Christmas tree that the hotel created out of wine bottles. (I had been gushing the entire trip about how much I loved this tree.) The Maitre D' asked if we'd like our photo taken in front of the tree, which I of course happily obliged to. He took a few photos... then took a few more... then kept. taking. photos. I was amused at the multitude of pictures being taken, so I turned to Prateek to laugh about it. Prateek then started saying a bunch of really sweet things about me and about us, and about the year we had in 2017, wanting to move into 2018 in the best way possible. He dropped to one knee, I gasped and cried and of course said yes -- and as a bonus, thanks to Prateek's creative idea, we now have the photos that captured the moment!