How We Met
It all started 9 years ago, back in high school, where we first fell in love. I asked her to come over to my house and help me “study“ for a Philosophy class we were taking together. Let’s just say, we have been inseparable ever since.
how they asked
Her side – October 21st is definitely a day that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It all started with a weekend getaway to NYC for my 26th birthday. My boyfriend and I had never been, so we figured it would be the perfect opportunity to explore the beautiful city. We arrived the Thursday, did some sightseeing, shopped and watched a Broadway show. Little did I know that the next day, would be the best day of my life! That Friday morning, my boyfriend and I had early reservation for breakfast at a quaint spot right across the street from Central Park. The weather was very gloomy and there were talks that there was going to be lots of rain our way. We packed 1 umbrella with us just in case we got stuck in the rain while sightseeing. As we made our way to Central Park after our delicious breakfast, it began to rain. Of course, Vito insisted for me to keep the umbrella so that I wouldn’t get wet, in turn, the poor guy got soaked!
We were hiding under a beautiful bridge waiting for the rain to stop, but it just got worse. So we decided to hail a cab and drive to a local mall to grab another umbrella for him, a hat for me (as my hair became all puffy), and then make our way back to Central Park. When arriving to the mall, we noticed that the stores were still closed, and we had to wait for them to open. At this point I can tell Vito was very nervous and fidgety, but I thought it was because we were on a tight sight-seeing schedule as it was our second last day in the city. Once purchasing our items, we took a cab back to Central Park and made our way to Bethesda Fountain.
As we got to the fountain, Vito and I were in absolute awe with its beauty. There wasn’t a soul in sight and we practically had the whole park to ourselves. As Vito and I were taking some pictures of our surroundings, he began to tell me how special our love was, what I meant to him, and began to get down on one knee.
Of course, I freaked out, and started to cry! It was the most magical moment of my life! I couldn’t believe my best friend of 9 years was asking me to spend eternity with him! As he began to put the ring on my finger, I spotted a man taking pictures of us. Vito immediately reassured me that he had arranged a photographer to capture the moment. After that, we met our amazing photographer Armando, who made the day even better with his talent and professionality. Armando knew all the right spots to take us in Central Park, and captured the most amazing photographs ever! Although it rained throughout our whole photoshoot, the experience and memories made will last a life time for us. New York, the rain and Central park will always be part of our amazing proposal story.
Now that we are back in Toronto, we are excited to celebrate our love with our amazing families and friends. We cannot wait to start this next chapter in our lives and we are excited to see what the future holds for us!
His side – I always knew I wanted to propose to her and surprise her in a unique way. We had never been to New York City, so I surprised her with a trip to the city that never sleeps for her birthday with the intention that I would also propose to her that same weekend. Capturing the special moment was also part of my vision.
Four months prior to proposing, I emailed Flytographer and chose an amazing photographer who made my vision come to life! What better way to experience love in New York than to propose in Central Park. The morning of our proposal, my fiancée and I shared an amazing breakfast at Sarabeth`s. Of course, I was a ball of nerves texting Armando (our photographer) and keeping him up to date with our schedule. The morning started off gloomy, and I was really hoping that the rain would hold off. After breakfast as we began to make our way through Central Park, it started to rain cats and dogs! I was trying to keep my fiancée dry under an umbrella, as I knew we had a photo shoot coming our way. Nothing is worse than having frizzy hair and wet clothes for a picture. Unfortunately, the rain did not hold off, and our photo shoot got delayed for over half an hour. It was a pretty pressure packed couple of hours, trying to keep calm and not give anything away. I remember Francesca asking me why I was adamant on walking through the park in the pouring rain.
We had to make a trip to the mall to buy an umbrella for myself and eventually a brand new outfit because I was absolutely soaking wet. I was getting so discouraged at one point that I was seriously considering dropping to my knee in the middle of a shopping mall! Imagine coming all the way to NYC after months of planning and having that be the end result. Thankfully Armando’s moral support through several text messages helped me stay with it and continue on with the plan. Some last second changes that Armando had suggested changed our meeting spot as I originally wanted to meet at the Bow Bridge. We would eventually decide on the Bethesda Fountain and it turned out to be a much better backdrop for the moment.
Once we arrived I could see Armando hiding in the distance, and I knew the time to ask Francesca to be my wife was quickly approaching. We had agreed on me taking a selfie of us as our signal so that he could prepare to capture the moment I would propose to her. As we took our selfie, I dropped my umbrella, got down on one knee and asked my best friend of 9 nears to spend eternity with me. We shared each other’s embrace in the rain as Armando captured the special moment. The feeling was surreal. The moment was so very special, and the rain became an important part of our engagement story. We embraced the beauty of the weather and had an amazing engagement shoot with Armando. He took us to the most amazing spots in Central Park and captured our love in every shot! It was the best day of our lives!
