We're so excited to celebrate with you!

We met through a dating app and while we only intended to meet up for happy hour on a Thursday just to say that we met...what ensued was nothing short of unexpected. Sounds like a cliché, but this was love at first sight and happy-hour turned into our first date at The Raymond 1886. Karan was definitely struck by how beautiful Sejal looked in that flowing dress when she walked in towards him and Sejal was impressed by how well-dressed (and tall) he was. We spent 8 hours across 3 different restaurants that evening and before we knew it, we were holding hands walking down the street to our next adventure like we naturally belonged. We emailed the local speakeasy during our time at restaurant #2 (The Magnolia) and went hunting for the hidden door through the alleyways of Pasadena, where we ended the night sharing our first-kiss.

Living hours away, we took many road trips both to & with each other. We shared views and conversation at one of Sejal's favorite spots at Top Of The World in Laguna Beach. We took-in winding drives on the backroads of Santa Clarita to discover a hidden lake. We traveled to Downtown LA and enjoyed a weekend at the Ace Hotel where we tried the most disgusting lasagna ever made, filled with dandelion! We would often meet in Pasadena to explore the city where our relationship began, sharing coffee dates and long-walks during the day and finding new restaurants to try in the evening. We'd go to the movies and take turns enjoying our comfort food restaurants in each other's hometowns. The local ramen place was one of Sejal's favorites and the local Thai place Karan's go-to. It wasn’t too long after in the relationship when we were enjoying a night-in, an innocent romantic moment led to an “I love you” without a moment’s hesitation from Karan and Sejal said it right back. It felt so natural.

Our love for Pasadena led us to move-in together into a cozy top-floor apartment at The Stuart. Life together in the same space after months of driving back and forth was a boon and along the way we discovered our very opposite personalities. Our day-to-day life was and still is one of the best parts of our relationship even when our work schedules rarely ever matched up. We turned time separated into consistent home-care where Karan would make restaurant-style meals on his off days in the middle of the week and Sejal would plan new adventures in nearby downtown for the weekend. We explored our surrounding area in Pasadena as often as we could with The LA Arboretum becoming a quick favorite go-to, so much so that we became Annual Members and in turn receiving our first piece of mail with both our names on it!

The week before the proposal, Karan accidentally spilled the beans in front of Sejal of the time, date, and location (LA Arboretum). However, fortunately, with the tremendous help of Sejal's friends and family, Sejal was surprised to find them all coming out of trees at the LA Arboretum and were also waiting to surprise her back at our apartment. Afterwards, we enjoyed a small gathering at the rooftop of The Granville with close family to celebrate.

Like it did for so many, 2020 was the most challenging year and continues to be. But we made the most of it with countless nights-in turned into creative date nights from pillow forts to movie marathons to game nights...we were locked out from the world and locked-in to each other. We had to put hold on all of our wedding planning, which was incredibly challenging with the constant uncertainty. We had to reschedule the wedding twice and had to do much of the planning and browsing virtually. Luckily, we had Sejal's family and our friends to help us every step of the way of the new processes that came with pandemic planning.

We always wanted to get our registry marriage done on a day special to us prior to our ceremonial wedding. With moving our wedding so many times during the pandemic, at one point we both felt quite hopeless that we might not get wedding at all. It was decided that at the end of 2020 we would get court married on the same day that Karan proposed to Sejal - January 12. The Court marriage was over zoom with the Orange County clerk's office. We got dressed up in our best wedding-ready outfits on hand. Karan went out and got a fresh bouquet that morning and in the middle of our living room and got married! We celebrated and were blessed with a surprise gift from Sejal's parents with a stay at The Langham in Pasadena where we able to enjoy our union and the beautiful resort.

We had frequently flirted with the idea of getting a dog during the lockdown, it felt like the right time and just what we needed. Sejal found a great rescue foundation (The Labelle Foundation) where almost daily we scrolled through new litters and an overload of cuteness looking for one that spoke to us. We knew what we wanted: a smaller-medium breed female with short hair and a good health outlook. We applied to many of them daily and, one day, Zuri (advertised as Lima Bean at the time) popped up. Now as the Pandemic restrictions allow, we are just as excited to share our story with you and look forward to celebrating our union with you!