How We Met
Raj & I first met on a White House Tour that a mutual friend had set up when he was in Washington, D.C. to visit and I happened to be living there. We didn’t hit it off until we both happened to be at the same wedding a year later (for a friend who was also on that tour). Raj and I hung out at the wedding, spent the next day touring Chicago, and when he finally dropped me off for my flight – I ended up missing it and getting to hang out with him a little longer. #Destiny By the time I got home the next day, I had a cute note with a box of macarons from Olivia Macaron in Georgetown, DC. Two weeks later, I flew back to Chicago to go on a real first date with Raj. He asked me to be his girlfriend after our first date and the rest is history!
How They Asked
It was a beautiful summer day in Chicago so Raj told me he had planned a whole date day/night for us and to get ready. He showed up in a full summer suit (fairly standard for Raj) and I didn’t think twice. Our first stop was Gibson’s Italia. We sat on the patio looking overlooking the river and enjoying our meal. All of a sudden, the waiter told us that it’s about to start raining and moved inside. Raj ordered us a couple of drinks and disappeared to the bathroom (little did I know he was panicking at the fact he had a whole set up outside that was about to get poured on). We enjoyed our drinks and prepared to head to our next spot: afternoon tea. Since it was raining Raj told me he ordered us an Uber and asked if I wanted to walk to the back of the restaurant to see what they had in the little cafe area.
I held his hand and walked into the back where he opened the door and I immediately saw a long Red carpet leading to the most beautiful proposal set up. There was a guitarist, playing our song – “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran, a picture of us, and a huge sign saying “Marry Me” and I immediately burst into tears. He had to basically drag me down to the rose petals in the shape of a heart down the carpet because I couldn’t stop crying happy tears. When he got down on one knee and asked, it was the easiest and happiest “yes” of my life.
But there’s more… once the photographer took some photos of us, Raj told me we were heading to Navy Pier for a private dinner. When we got there, I was quickly diverted to a Yacht instead, where I was surprised with ALL of our family and friends that flew in from all over the world!
We sailed into the evening and it reaffirmed to me – that our love story will always be my favorite.
