How We Met
In April 2019, my sister was planning her own wedding for November 2020 (Pre-Pandemic). She sat me down and laid down the law: “Alisha, if you’re going to bring a plus one, it must be someone you’ve dated for at least a year. So you have until November 2019 to meet him.” I could not stop laughing and assured her that there was no way I would end up bringing someone to her wedding as I could care less about dating in 2019. Little did I know what fate had in store…
A friend introduced me to a dating app called “The League,” which uses your LinkedIn to connect you with young, educated professionals. While casually browsing the app, I matched with a guy named Vivek.
After a couple of weeks of talking, Vivek took me to Medium Rare due to our mutual love of steakhouses for our first date on November 1, 2019. Vivek almost ruined the date by talking too much. But somehow he convinced me to walk with him around western Arlington and the rest of history!
How They Asked
My birthday was Monday, June 21, so Vivek told me he wanted to take me on a very fancy date the following Saturday morning to celebrate. He told me to wear black-tie attire and not to ask him any questions about where we were going.
He took me to a building, which from the outside on the ground level looked like a dry cleaner. While riding the elevator, he faced me in such a way that I wouldn’t be looking outside. When I stepped off the elevator I was in awe. In front of me, was the most spectacular view of D.C. with the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Capitol all in plain view and lined up! He walked me through a long red-carpet hallway leading up to a door to the outside.
There I stared in shock to see our families and my closest friends had flown into D.C. from all over the country. Not only did he manage to have everyone fly in; he also coordinated decorations with a custom flower arrangement by his brother and our initials in big lights!
Vivek gave a speech in front of our loved ones sharing his love for me. He got down one knee, pulled out a box housing the most spectacular ring I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t help but scream, YES!!
From there the champagne was popped and poured, but it was not my last surprise of the day. What followed was a trip to my favorite restaurant, Ambar, for bottomless brunch. Then we partied ’til the next morning with our local DMV friends. It was truly a day to remember!
