The Proposal...
"You make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way" - Friends
Her story...
Sagar proposed August 31, 2013 in downtown Chicago, right by the river. His proposal caught me totally off guard; I had no idea he had been planning it for months with my family. My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins were all visiting from Canada and I thought nothing of it because it was a long weekend.
On the day of the proposal, Sagar and his family came over to meet my family. During lunch, there were about twenty people at our house, and every single one of them knew that Sagar was proposing that evening, but me. I am still amazed that they all managed to keep it a secret!
Sagar had told me that we needed to go to his friend’s engagement party that evening. I was pretty annoyed about this because I wanted to spend the evening with my cousins and I tried really hard to get out of it. But Sagar was relentless, we had to go, even if I was sure I was going to be bored. So after Sagar’s family left, I went upstairs to change and my sister tormented me about how she was going to hang around in her pajamas with my cousins. Needless to say, I was in a pretty bad mood by the time my dad dropped us off at the train station (Sagar claimed he didn’t want to worry about parking so it would be easier for us to take the train downtown).
When we got downtown, Sagar said we were a little early so we went to the W hotel for a drink where Sagar kept texting, adding to my annoyance. It was finally time to go to “the party” and we walked towards Michigan Avenue. Apparently, the restaurant was right on the river so we went down the stairs by the bridge and we stopped by the river to talk for a minute. Next thing I knew Sagar was on one knee asking me to marry him! Before I could even grasp what was going on, a bunch of our friends and family popped out from behind the bushes! Including my sister and cousins who were supposed to be at home in their pajamas! I could not have imagined a better proposal. I am so thrilled that our friends and family got to share that special moment with us. I am amazed at how much thought and planning Sagar put into it, not to mention how stunning the ring is.
After about a million pictures, Sagar had a horse and carriage waiting, and we took a ride around downtown before meeting our friends for dinner. It was truly a magical evening.
His story...
It was after her graduation while her parents were visiting Denver that I first expressed to Surbhi’s dad my plans to propose on August 31, 2013. I went to New Jersey the week before to pick up the ring that I had had custom made for her after consulting with Zarna and Kanika. During that final week, I verified the details with both families. I made sure her nana, nani, mama, mami and two little cousins were going to join that weekend from Vancouver, Canada along with my extended family and some of our friends.
When I picked up the ring I knew that it was meant for Surbhi. My family and I got to the airport extra early only to find out that flights were delayed due to bad weather. By the time we got on a flight, I was a nervous wreck. But luckily I had plenty of encouragement and support from my family and friends. Even the flight attendant made an announcement to wish me luck!
I had orchestrated the weekend to be a meet and greet of the families and told Surbhi that my family would come have lunch at her house. We had a wonderful meal together, and then I insisted Surbhi go get ready for a friend's engagement party. She was not happy about this since she wanted to stay home and spend time with her cousins. Her dad dropped us to the train station since I figured the train would take longer, giving everyone enough time to get to the proposal spot.
When we arrived in the city, not everyone had made it to the proposal spot yet. So I stalled by taking her to the W for a drink. On the way there, we saw a homeless guy holding up a sign that said smile; I took that as a good omen. Once I received word from my buddies that everyone was there, we took a water taxi down the river to Michigan Avenue. I told her that the hotel was near the river walk. As we were walking down, I saw my friends and family, but luckily, Surbhi didn't notice them. I asked her to stop and take in the city for a minute. I could tell by this point that she was really annoyed. I then said, "Can I ask you something?" and she responded fairly irritated, "What?!"... and while I had a whole speech prepared, I was too nervous to say anything beyond, "Will you marry me?"
I was on one knee and she was completely surprised. But the height of her happiness truly came once she looked around and saw our friends and family cheering us on. She looked at me with eyes full of tears and said "Yes!" It was truly a perfect moment. After the many hugs and pictures, I walked Surbhi over to Michigan Avenue where I had a horse and carriage waiting so we could steal a few moments just for us.
We ended the night with a wonderful dinner with friends and the celebrations continued through the weekend.
© 2014 Sagar Shah and Surbhi Garg
Until the big day!