{About Akhila and Arun}

Akhila and Arun got engaged right after their two year dating anniversary. They were long distance for the whole two years. About two weeks before Thanksgiving, which was the next time they planned to see each other, Arun showed up at Akhila’s door, completely unexpected.

Enjoy Akhila’s telling of the proposal story.

I was up early on Saturday morning to go on a hike followed by a visit to my future in-laws who recently moved to the area. I was going to spend the afternoon helping them unpack.

(ShaadiShop: what a good DIL you are!)

That was my plan, until I heard a knock at the door. I looked at my roommate and said, “are we expecting anyone?” She casually replied, “no I don’t think so”. I opened the door and there was Arun. I stood there, staring at him for a good 7-8 seconds – not understanding what was happening. “He looks so familiar. He can’t be here. It’s not Thanksgiving yet is it?” were all thoughts going through my mind as I stood there staring at him.

He had to say “hey, open the door” for me to realize he was actually there.  That’s when I freaked out – asking him too many questions for him to answer at once. He explained that he wanted to surprise me since we hadn’t spent a lot of time together recently. He told me to get dressed in something nice but comfortable, to head to SF for the day.

I was looking at my roommate this whole time, searching for any clues that she knew about this, but couldn’t detect anything. And Arun was very believable too, so I went with it.

Arun didn’t give me the details of everything he planned for the day, but essentially he recreated our first date in SF. We went to the Cal Academy of Sciences, Tony’s Pizza in North Beach, Buena Vista Cafe, and Sausalito, where he handed me a first aid kit because I actually got a minor nose bleed there on our 1st date. He reminded me about that incident, and sweetly followed up with,”next time if that happens l’ll still be there to take care of you.”

Our last stop was the Marin Headlands. We’d taken some photos in a particular area on our 1st date, but that day he drove passed that area. When I told him that he replied with, “no we’re going to a different part of the Headlands today.” We kept driving up, up, up and when we got out of the car he looked like he was looking for someone. I didn’t see anyone and just kind of blew it off and enjoyed the views.

Then Arun said, “ok I have one more special surprise for you.” That’s when I knew. He got down on one knee and very sweetly told me he wants to spend the rest of our lives together and  asked me to marry him. After exclaiming “yes of course!” I turned around to see my roommate and Arun’s brother filming and taking photos of the whole thing! 

The surprises didn’t stop there. Arun worked out his work schedule to be able to stay with me for a while instead of heading back to work, organized a formal engagement ceremony with our families at my parents’ home on the East Coast on Thanksgiving weekend, as well as a celebration that night in SF with our friends. I was so surprised! And I had no clue that our families kept all of this a secret for so long! The arrangements, flights, party planning – everything was already in place!

I couldn’t have asked for a more special day.

Congratulations Akhila and Arun! And thanks for trusting ShaadiShop to help you find your wedding venue

{Proposal Photos}

{Engagement Ceremony Photos}

Photography: DeJohn Davis

{ProTips}

1. At each place on the date, tell your date the significance of visiting there and where you’re headed to next. It’s sentimental and you’ll keep your date on his/her toes.

2. At each celebration, have guests sign something that you can turn into a keepsake, like a guestbook at a wedding. Akhila’s roommate had friends write celebratory notes on scrap book paper when they arrived at the lounge for the celebration in SF, the day they got engaged. Her roommate then turned it into a beautiful scrap book.

3. For multi-location dates/proposals like this, do a full run through beforehand, especially if you’re not from the city where you’re planning it. The day before Arun proposed, he and his brother went to every location and planned out all of the details – from parking, to which restaurants/cafes took cash only.