[Real Couple] - Arif & Gurjit's Autumn E-Session

When I come across a truly amazing love story, I of course have to share it with you guys.  Today I'm sharing Arif & Gurjit's sweet story and their engagement pictures to go along with it.  And to top it off one of their first dates was on New Year's Eve - a perfect way to finish out the year.

How they met (from Gurjit): Arif and I met online, and it was love at first conversation! It felt like high school all over again! We would spend hours and hours on the phone each day. After a week of non-stop conversations, it was time to meet. After the expected nervousness wore off, our connection was unlike anything either of us had ever felt! It felt like we had known each other for years. Our third date was New Years Eve. I know what you're thinking:  "Wow third date on New Year's Eve. That's a lot of pressure!" Don't worry, we were thinking the same thing. But my best friend Nicole commented, "how amazing would it be to say next New Year's Eve that your third date was New Year's Eve?!" And sure enough, our first New Year's together was everything we had hoped it would be! It was like we had been together for years, but we still had butterflies seeing each other!  Over the next 8 months, we couldn't spend enough time together. After a road trip together, it became very clear that we both wanted to spend our lives together - and so the wedding talk began! Arif believed that his future wife should pick out the engagement ring of her dreams - reason number 4,231 why Arif is the perfect man for me! He would always say "You're the one that has to wear it for a life time, I want you to love it as much as you love me!"

The Proposal (from Arif): After the ring was found and was being created, I began devising my master plan to take my beautiful girlfriend's breath away with a proposal.  I bounced a seemingly endless number of ideas in my head, and finally decided that I wanted to do something that was simple and personal (which eliminated the possibility of proposing at a Canucks game - which I'm sure Gurj was thankful for!). I began to work feverishly on creating a photobook of memories of our first 8 months together. I began spending longer days at work, and lunch hours and minutes in between clients arranging, editing, and compiling the book. Now for the hard part - to make the proposal a surprise.  Since Gurj already knew that her ring would be ready for pickup on September 16, my bright idea was to purchase a 'temp' ring from my local high end jeweler, Walmart, and try and ambush Gurj prior to the 16th! On September 12, I put my master plan into effect. I bought Gurj's favourite bottle of champagne, and packed it up with a pair of champagne flutes, loaded up my car with champagne, and I was ready to go! I called Gurj at work, and told her that I wanted to go for a walk after work. Now this wasn't any ordinary walk, I took Gurj to Sendall Gardens in Langley - a beautiful park with a spectacular gazebo, and a tremendous Greenhouse with exotic plants and birds. Now the hardest part of the plan was to find a way to have the photobook with me while we were walking. So as we got out of the car, Gurj asked me why I had my laptop bag with me. I replied, "Because I've got a bottle of water for us!".  I quickly started to walk before Gurj had more suspicious questions for me; after all, I knew how ridiculous it looked, me in my shorts going for a walk with my laptop bag.

Proposal Story Continued: After an exhausting 3 minute walk, I realized that the sun was going down, and I needed to get Gurj to the gazebo to show her the book, so I did what any respectable, and smart man would do - I faked an ankle injury. So I walked...errrr.... limped over to the gazebo and we both sat down. I said I had a surprise to give to Gurj who seemed very puzzled by all of this. I pulled the wrapped photobook out of my bag and gave it to Gurj. From the second Gurj saw the book, she was in tears. It was surreal sitting together and looking at the book, thinking about how much we had done together in only 8 months.As she got to the second-to-last page.... I reached my sweaty, nervous hand into my pocket and I was prepared! And then..... I got down on one knee, pulled out my beautiful Walmart ring, and asked Gurj to marry me! Now I know you think that the rest is history, but wait! Before Gurj said yes, there was about a minute of questioning about where I had gotten the other ring, and where her real ring was! This is Gurj again! Just to interject here, I was just so confused... I honestly loved the Walmart ring he gave me until it gave me a rash on my finger! Now back to you Arif...  Shortly after she composed herself she said yes and the rest truly was history!

 

So that brings our little story to where we are today - preparing for the greatest day of our lives! We have had a blast planning our dream wedding, and we are so excited to share our special day with all of you - the most important people to us! And we know this sounds cliche, but on April 6, 2012, join us - Eat, Drink, and get ready to party!

 

Congrats to Arif & Gurjit!

Photographer: Alexandra Hunt Photography