Is He About to Propose? Nope, Just Tying His Shoelaces.

Nina and Gautam
Venue: Central Park, NYC

{About Nina and Gautam}

Gautam was in NYC for a conference and Nina went with him as she had just finished law school finals. Going to Central Park was on their NYC must-do list. Below, Nina shares the story of how Gautam proposed, including a video of their engagement announcement on the Today Show!

{The Proposal}

We were at the MOMA and I was rushing Gautam to leave so we wouldn’t be late for our matinee show of The Lion King.

He looked at me and said, “ok just 1 sec” and took both of my hands and started this semi-long, soliloquy about how we’d been together for several years and how happy he is etc. Then he looked at me very seriously and said,”I just want you to know that I really like going to museums with you.”

The whole time I’m thinking, “what’s happening? This is not normal.” I knew we’d get engaged and then married but I definitely wasn’t expecting him to propose on this trip! Anyway, he did this whole build up…and nothing! I looked at him and sarcastically said, “Really?!? I don’t even like modern art!” I even checked him for a ring but didn’t find one.

The Lion King was incredible and afterwards we had drinks at the Marriott’s revolving restaurant in Times Square. Since it was expected to rain the next day, once again, I rushed Gautam to leave, as I wanted to go to Central Park. And once again before leaving, he said “ok wait, before we go let’s walk around the restaurant to check out the views.” Then he got down on one knee…and tied his shoelace. Ugh! I was so frustrated by this point!

When we got to Central Park we did a horse drawn carriage ride. I thought it was weird when he started timing the ride, as that’s not like him. (Now I realize he wanted to propose in the carriage and knew it was about a 20-minute ride). Five minutes in, he told me how he knew from the day we met, that we’d be together forever and that everyday at 11:11pm he wished for it to be true. And, he finally proposed. 🙂

Soon after, I realized that Gautam’s 2 ‘fake’ proposals were intentional just to freak me out!

{The Wedding}

We got married in October 2015 at the Avenue of the Arts Wyndham Hotel in Costa Mesa, CA. It’s a lovely 4-star boutique hotel with an outdoor ceremony space overlooking a lagoon. And we found it on ShaadiShop! My mom even used the website and found it easy to use and helpful!