Hello, Happy Monday! How was your Thanksgiving? Good? Relaxing? Ours was the best ever! Our eldest daughter Sri got engaged!
The back story
The year of COVID has been sucky needless to say. But even in a year as rough as this one, there can be rays of sunshine. For us its the engagement of our eldest daughter!
For a young couple living together for the first time in the year of COVID it felt like 3 years is what Sri and her boyfriend Pranav told us. Since they were literally living together and working from home 24 hours a day for the past 9 months and survived, they realized they want to spend the rest of their lives together đ Next step – an engagement!
BF wanted to propose before year’s end in a romantic setting in Napa Valley the first weekend of December. But with the virus in full on outbreak everywhere he decided to reluctantly cancel those plans the week before he was to propose!
What’s a guy to do when his proposal plans get cancelled?
With so many venues closed BF was having a tough time figuring out where to have a memorable proposal. Enter our family, his parents and our garden. I offered our garden as the backdrop for his surprise proposal and he agreed to trust us to make it magical on Saturday after Thanksgiving. The two families (excluding Sri as this was a surprise for her) decided because of COVID to keep the celebration to an intimate gathering of just our two families.
My garden to the rescue
Those of you who know me know I am an avid gardener and take pride in my Shangrila. My garden came to our rescue for this very special proposal. The twins and I, my husband and grandpa all orchestrated the perfect setting for our beloved Sri.
Five days to plan one day to execute
With just five days to work with because all this was decided just the week before! And we were looking at Thanksgiving week with two days off! We ordered tea lights from Amazon fast shipping, the earliest they would arrive was Saturday morning. As a backup Pranav’s parents ordered more to arrive on Friday. And as another backup our little Rani ordered another set also to arrive on Friday.
Friday our family couldn’t do anything. Why? Because Sri was home with us for Thanksgiving and didn’t leave till Friday evening!
Friday evening Rani is hitting refresh on the Amazon delivery screen every 30 minutes. “En route” “En route” – 5pm, 6pm, 7pm – no delivery. Finally at 7:30pm we get a notification the tea lights arrived!! The twins rush to get the packages and test them out in a bowl of water – they work! Now we wait till Saturday to set the scene.
Rani our fashionista perfectionist
Can I just say that Rani was a sisterzilla – if there is such a word? She was obsessed with every detail of the surprise. “What about this, what about that, where is Pranav going to stand, where will Mahesh Uncle our photographer stand, make sure Sri doesn’t see him, will we follow Sri when she walks down? What about the music, what about the dry leaves?” She was driving me crazy! I was so overwhelmed I stopped talking to her đđ€šđ„șđ„șđ„ș. But its because of her perfectionist attitude and her eye for artistic details that it looked so amazing with the help of her partner in crime her twin sister Anjali!
Saturday morning setup. Shopping for flowers and setting the romantic garden scene
Sweeping the garden, floating the tea lights, placing the lanterns, setting the hidden iphone in our little lemon tree
Rose petal walkway is ready
Lights, camera, action!
How did we get Sri to look so beautiful if it was a surprise?
We told Sri to get dressed up so we could take holiday card pictures đ.
How to convince Sri to walk down to the garden?
One of the twins excitedly asked her to come to the garden to check out what crazy changes I had made. Sri responded “Mom always prunes everything in the winter, I’ve seen it before.” What to do now? The twins convinced her to come and look anyway. And so the walk down the steps began (in slow motion for the rest of us). Sri said she thought “Oh the petals look pretty.” but didn’t realize what was happening until she saw the lanterns all lite.
Twilight Proposal
Sri said YES!
Flowers for the newly engaged from her twin sisters
Happiness all around!!
Can we cry now?
Happy Parents of the newly engaged couple â€ïžđ
Family pics!
Was it a surprise?
YES, YES, YES!!!! Sri said she had no idea there was going to be a proposal that Saturdayl! We did it!!
Next post, our Indian engagement ceremony right after the proposal.
Kalpana your blog is being appreciated by all our friends & family. They are so happy for Pranav & Sri and are glad you have penned down the entire process including the sneak peek of all the preparations!! đ Priya
Itâs truly magical. Beautifully orchestrated evening for the two beautiful hearts. We are so happy for them and excited for the lovely times ahead.
Kalpana, you have very aptly described the feelings and atmosphere of that evening. We can relive the experience thru your blog. Thank you so much đ Priya and Vijay
Oh, Kalpana, this is AMAZING!
What a beautiful happy time this must be for you and your family. I so, enjoyed reading of all the preparations and viewing all of the beautiful photos of your family and your glorious garden.
Congratulations to Sri and Pranav.
I eagerly await youre next post.
You are all magical humans! Thank you for making this moment so special! Now that itâs over I can finally think about it!! It was absolutely perfect!! Thank you thank you thank you! â€ïžâ€ïž
Beautiful post.
Your family is so special.
Congratulations! To Sridevi and Pranav đŸđđ
Wow bhabhi very nice congratulations đ
Congratulations đŸđđđ
Tell her fiancé
We are still going to call her Sribaby đ€©đ€©đ€©
So so so happy for all of you
Wow. Fantastic
Congratulations đđž
Oh my god! Congratulations!!! How exciting! They are such a beautiful couple! Thank you very much for sharing the pictures, love your garden!
Wow thatâs amazing news! Congratulations so happy for Sri & Pranav and all of you! hello please congratulate Hitesh and the twins for us as well. Yes definitely need to catch up will call you next week! đđđđâ€ïž. thanks for sharing the wonderful news Kalpana so happy for all of you! đđđđ
Oh my god amazing awesome I am so excited for you guys
I love everything the couple the twins and the decorations hearty congratulations and god bless them both with Everything they want.
Wowâ€ïž
Congratulations đ
A dream engagement partyâ€ïžđ
The couple look very very handsome
And the twins look gorgeous
And you look beautiful đ€â€ïž
The group picture is a kodak moment â€ïž
Our blessings to the couple
May God bless them with a happy healthy prosperous long life together đ
Yayyyyyy!!! Congratulations to Sri and Pranav and the whole family!! â€ïžâ€ïžâ€ïžâ€ïž
Beautiful couple! đđđ
And very nice that Tata could be there to see the whole thing đ
Very happy to hear the news Kalpana !! Congratulations to all of you. Please pass on our best wishes and congratulations to Sri đđ. Beautiful pictures and looking forward to fun celebrations đđ Veena
Congratulations to Sri and Pranav and of course to you.
Such lovely photoâs of the event. Wonderful newsđŸâ€ïž Shalini
Oh wow! So romantic and beautiful. Wasnât she suspicious that everyone dressed up or is it how you guys dress all the time? Canât wait to attend their over the top wedding. This is no longer a hint but an outright âinvite myselfâ invite. Lol. Van
Wonderful news! Huge Congratulations to Sri and Pranavđđ please convey them.
Congrats to you, Hitesh and entire familyđđ
So happy for you guys!
God bless this young cute coupleđ„°
Beautiful decorations by Anjali, Rani. Picture perfect đ Lovely picturesđ everyone look amazing đ€©
What a beautiful celebration of love. Sri and Pranav look great together. The families are united and full of joy. Thanks for sharing the moments with us. Blessings to the couple and the families. Much love to everyone â€ïžđđ„łđŸđđđđ„
Our heartiest Congratulations to Sridevi & Pranav as well as to the parents!!! Weâre so so happy and excited for you all. Itâs the best and wonderful news of this year.The setting was gorgeous and both of them look very happy.
Nice family photo of everyone capturing the special moment!
Wishing them both all the happiness they deserve!
Best Wishes to you all!
Devi
Congratulations!
How beautiful!! Hearty congratulations!! â€ïžâ€ïž
Oh my goodness!!!! How wonderful! Congratulations!! What a beautiful moment and filled with so much love!!
Congratulations! Worth getting up at 2.30am!
very beautiful arrangement of engagement ceremoney. hats off to Sri’s mom for such a good idea of wellcoming the daughter n her would be.
congratulations to new couple n all family members.
That’s so sweet! You all made it look so beautiful and special. Congratulations to Sridevi!
Congratulations and best wishes to Sri and Pranav! We are so happy for your whole family! What wonderful and happy news! The setting looks amazing! Beautiful! đđŸđ„
Expression of love in pictures PERSONALLY experienced! Prayers Blessings Best wishes for Love for ever!
Awwww…. this is so beautiful!!! Congratulations!!! I’m so happy for your family. This is so exciting!! Such wonderful news!!! Yayy!!!- natachia
What a magical moment!!! Thank you for sharing Sri and Pranav’s moment of bliss! Congratulations to all – they look so happy as do the whole family! Best wishes for an eternity of bliss and happiness! Love to all!â€ïž
Your scene is so picturesque and almost out of a fairy tale! You guys did an amazing job – Pranav and his family are pretty lucky to have found Sri and now be part of your family!đ Looking forward to celebrating…đ
Wow, what a wonderful surprise! You and the girls set the stage with all the pretty details (love the hidden iPhone). I canât think of a more magical and intimate setting for a surprise proposal than your garden.
đCongratulations to Sri and Pranav – theyâre a gorgeous couple and they look so happy!đ
Congratulations to your daughter and to your family, Kalpana! I remember when she was a tiny girl. Time really does fly! Your garden is stunning and a perfect place for an engagement and a wedding too, perhaps! Best wishes to the young couple and to your family! There’s nothing more exciting than seeing your family grow!
OMG – congratulations!!!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful news – I’m so delighted for you and your family. The young couple are gorgeous, as is your entire family. Wishing them infinite happiness, healthy and joy – so happy to get good news for once! Best wishes to all,
Shashi
Congratulations Sridevi and Pranav. What a Holy Alliance of the Divine Feminine( Sree Devi ) merging with the Cosmic Sound of Pranav ( Aumkar) . Indeed,, a Match made in Heaven. Rosy and Cozy Couple. Love and Hugs.