After swiping right for each other on Dil Mil on August 31, 2017 and getting to know each other over the phone for months, we finally met in Virginia in December 2017. Noteably a trip to India and a trip to Hawaii originally got in the way. But a psychic convinced Tara to get her act together. She booked a ticket to see Paras. He hates the psychic part of the story. The part he loves is the fact he swept Tara off her feet using the elements. Specifically, he snookered her into a snowy walk through one of his favorite locations in Virginia, Tarara Winery. Tara thought Paras picked it because it had her name in it. What impressed her most was that he was honest that he had a membership 😉.

The Proposal was straight up out of a comedy skit. Two days before the big event, Paras thought it made sense to start a fight with Tara to throw her off the track. What it actually did was make her stay up all night and get frantic on her flight to Virginia. Then on the long drive from Virginia to South Carolina the next day for the Annual Kinariwala-McGee Family trip, Paras claims to have provided Tara clues by playing Shaggy’s Seasons which at one point has the lyrics Ring, Ring, Ring. All Tara remembers was falling asleep. The next day, the pair took a drive to Charleston, SC with the family. After checking into the home they were staying, Paras put Tara in charge of a place to dine. After what was ultimately a subpar meal at the Five Loaves Cafe where Jasiri, Paras’s niece had an accident on her dad, the group made the trek over to The Pineapple Fountain, one of Charleston’s iconic locations. Paras told Tara to go scout out locations for pictures while he got his camera. Tara complained that Paras should have just brought his camera in the first place (because that is the logical thing to do). Ultimately when Tara came looking for Paras, she found his shiny head bobbing behind the Fountain. He had placed two movie boxes behind the Fountain spelling out Marry Me Tara. He dropped down on one knee and Tara said Yes before Paras could even articulate “Will You Marry Me”. Paras’s brother in law, Jaymon, filmed the whole debacle (or most romantic story ever). Random strangers took pictures with the couple!

The Raghavans and Kumars (and a few other friends and family) headed to Greenville, SC on November 16 and 17 to meet up with the Kinariwalas and McGees. Tara’s mom decided to stuff Paras’s mom, sister and brother in law with tamarind rice and badam cake. Paras's mom decided to follow suit and fed the entire gang with all kinds of Gujarati delights. A fun Mehendi session and dinner followed. The Ceremony on November 18 at the Vedic Center of Greenville was an emotional event presided over by the temple priest. Food, music, and a gift exchange followed. Several friends and family flew in and made the event very very special.