In the summer of 2019, we were orientation leaders for Georgia Tech. As orientation leaders, you sign up for different tasks each session. Haley, being proactive and enthusiastic as always, signed up AS SOON as she could to get the task she wanted the most: Info Table. Sapan, on the other hand, did not know sign-ups had opened and was the LAST leader to sign up, meaning there was only one task left. As fate had it, it was INFO TABLE, supervised by our very own best man, Kirtan! Between working, we talked non-stop about our favorite foods, our families, and food again! Before we knew it, we were quickly falling for each other and becoming best friends.

After becoming official, Sapan planned a date for them to fly in a small plane over Lake Lanier during sunset, followed by a nighttime view of the Atlanta skyline. Haley was thoroughly impressed that he went all out on the first date. In college, we saw each other every day - we ate together, watched shows together, studied together, and socialized together. When we graduated, we went on what we both regard as our favorite trip ever. We went to California and did 7 National Parks, drove down the PCH, surfed in Malibu, and tons of sightseeing along the way. Since then, we have always tried to blend our trips with a little nature for Sapan and a little city for Haley. Fast forward a few years, many trips, fun nights out with friends, a couple movie marathons, and countless memories later, we were ready for the next step...

The months leading up to the proposal, Sapan would give very sporadic answers about when he was thinking of proposing. Sometimes a month, sometimes 2 years. Through all the jokes, Haley was suspecting Sapan was procrastinating and hadn't even started the process yet. But Sapan had already designed and ordered a ring, made a custom ring box, asked her parents for permission, and was planning the big day at Cloudland Canyon State Park. The issue was that it was August and there were no weekends available until the next year. Sapan called two of Haley's close friends, Olivia (bridesmaid) and Grant (bridesman), who had plans with Haley one weekend. Sapan told them what he was planning and asked if they could cancel their plans so he could ask Haley to go on a last-minute hike with our new free weekend. They very excitedly and immediately agreed to help him "trick" Haley (thanks). Once they cancelled, Sapan asked to go on a day hike that weekend. Haley agreed with some gentle persuasion from her mom (thanks), with a stipulation that she didn't want to plan anything. That was perfect for Sapan. He booked an Airbnb for after the hike and a surprise dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The night before, Sapan had Haley's parents secretly pack an outfit in Haley's car for dinner (thanks). As the hike started, Sapan eyed potential spots to propose since the main attractions were crowded and we both wanted the moment to be more private. Early into the hike, Sapan spotted a clearing with a great view and no people and immediately decided to go for it. Haley thought this was another one of his "funny" jokes at first, but soon realized it was the real deal. Clearly, she said yes, and Haley spent the rest of the hike learning about all the secrets Sapan kept to pull it off!

When talking about how we wanted our wedding to look, Haley shared that she only wanted to walk down the aisle once, and if we were blending our lives forever, we should blend the ceremonies too. Sapan agreed, and so we started coming up with ways to combine both Catholic and Hindu traditions into one marriage ceremony. We are so excited for all of you to celebrate our marriage in a unique way very special to us both!