Akbar and Kavya met on August 15, 2022. It was the first day of their MBA and four years before their wedding — to the day!

Akbar fascinated Kavya when she saw him carefully set up his name tag and look eagerly towards the lecturing professor. She remembers musing to herself, "Do I know this guy? There's something special about him.” Kavya caught Akbar's eye as she was chatting with other classmates and her (then purple) hair glinted in the lunchtime sun. He recalls thinking, "Damn, she's gorgeous.” There was an instant connection that neither had ever felt before. But, there were also a dozen reasons not to date.

Yet, thanks to class, their filled MBA social calendars, and fate, Akbar and Kavya seemed to run into each other all the time. And those (love at) first sight feelings only grew. Akbar's quick humor, steadfast values, and outrageous dance moves charmed Kavya, while her boundless empathy, goofiness, and expressive eyes intrigued him. Akbar would share slices of his orange with her during class. And once, Kavya jokingly said she'd marry him in a round of a classic game (iykyk). But, if you asked them if they had feelings for each other back then, they'd laugh at you and deny it outright…trying to convince themselves too.

On a class trip to Colombia, when Kavya stepped into the party looking cute (as expected), Akbar told himself, "I'm going to regret it if I never say something." Later, when Akbar was tearing up the dance floor (as expected), Kavya told herself, "He's dancing out all his hydration." As she brought him water, Akbar took her care for him as a sign. He mustered up the courage to say the smoothest line he's ever said: "Are we ever going to talk about the fact that we're into each other?"

The week that followed felt like a movie with scenes from airplanes, beaches, and disco parties. Akbar realized then that he'd marry her. Kavya, meanwhile, realized that despite all her claims that she's a woman of science, she actually does believe in soulmates. Within 3 days of deciding that they were, in fact, "into each other," they professed their love to each other while on a Catamaran in Cartageña...and if that isn't a title for a song, movie, or something, we don't know what is.

When they boarded their separate planes back to Michigan, Akbar and Kavya realized they had never been a couple but were already in love. While they couldn't help but dream about their future, they first had to tackle...well, dating. To ground themselves in the present, they began saying a mantra, "Day by day." It wasn't seamless, but the challenges helped them grow closer than they could've imagined. Day by day, they enamored each other's families, navigated different cultures figured out career changes, managed long distance, and beyond.

Most importantly, day by day, they've fallen deeper in love. In the years since meeting, in each other, they found dependable partners, travel buddies, sous-chefs, career cheerleaders, concert fans, kitty co-parents, and best friends. Despite the long distance and long hours, they are eternally grateful that their most serendipitous of love stories came to be. They are so excited to celebrate their love, marriage, and life with you.