Ameera and Leo

It’s a funny story! We went to the same high school when we were 14, but did not know each other, though we shared mutual friends. Fast forward 6 years later, we were finally introduced by those mutual friends and instantly started spending time together. We found out we went to the same University, started going out on dinner and movie dates, and eagerly bonded over our fandom love for Disney and Harry Potter! Time has flown since we officially started dating in October 2013, and we’ve been inseparable ever since!

The proposal planning took place about 9 months prior to the date, when I went out for lunch with Ameera’s mom. She was very kind and graceful in allowing me to ask for her daughter’s hand in marriage, and still supports us to this day. From there, I reached out to well-renowned Toronto Jeweller DiamondBoi in March to create a custom made ring for her. We had planned a Euro Trip to Lisbon, Paris and Venice, and the trip was always going to be when I proposed. I chose Venice because of how unique it is compared to the rest of the world! I wanted to go somewhere where you couldn’t replicate the atmosphere anywhere else, so I reached out to Serena Genovese, an amazingly talented photographer in Venice, to help plan and capture the proposal moment. On August 26th, the plan was to meet Serena for a romantic gondola surprise proposal, and when she gave me the signal, I would get down on one knee and propose. Once I stepped onto the boat I was nervous on so many levels. Serena was also on the boat acting as a “guide” showing us around on the gondola tour. I’ll never forget the next moments. As we went under the bridge Serena said, “the sunset is beautiful, let’s take a picture!”, that was my queue. I leaned over…told her I loved her…and then BAM…GOODBYE GIRLFRIEND, HELLO FIANCÉE. For real though, it was the happiest moment our lives, and she was freaking out so much that I thought the gondola was going to flip over. All in all, thank you Serena, Sergio and everyone else involved!