The Engagement
The proposal and engagement all happened fairly quickly. Here’s a run down of what happened!
The Proposal
To give you some context, I’m of South Asian background which means you usually know you’re getting married to someone before you get proposed to. This means I knew a proposal was coming. I just had no idea WHEN it would be and HOW it would turn out. So, that was the element of surprise for me.
The proposal was perfect. It was everything I could have asked for and I’m so grateful for Armin and friends for helping put this all together.
So here’s the story:
We were in one of my favourite cities in the world, Medellin. I was all dressed up for our couples shoot in Envigado and thought that was all that was going to happen that day. Our photographer Maylis mentioned that a friend of hers would be doing a picnic setup to help her build content for her Instagram account and I happily agreed because, well, why not?!
One of the photos we took before the proposal.
Once we got to the location, my best friend and her husband told us they were going to go check out the view while we stayed at the front of the house to take a few shots there. I thought nothing of it, I was just so grateful that the fog was starting to lift from the valley.
Eventually, it was time for us to shoot from the viewpoint. Maylis informed me that her friend who was setting up the picnic (@thebasketeventos) said the fog was a lot better so we could head up. This in itself was quite the adventure, especially when you’re in heels and wearing a very white dress.
We finally got to the top and when we did, Armin’s best friend (who also happens to be married to my best friend) handed him a rose and was playing one of Armin’s favourite songs. I still thought nothing of it. I just thought the picnic setup person had done an incredible job with the set up and had an extra rose left.
There was a trail of roses leading to the picnic space and I yelled “aww this is so cute” and walked towards it until I finally read what was written out in roses. It read “Marry Me”.
In that moment, I was in shock. It finally clicked. I finally was aware of what was happening and all that came out of me what a mix of crying, laughter and a series of “OMGs'“.
He was proposing!
He got down on one knee and kept his “speech” short and sweet and then he proposed. He pulled out a ring (which I was slightly perplexed about because it was not the real ring but of course I was the one who told him we cannot take expensive jewellery to Colombia so he improvised with a fake ring), I was still in shock so it took me few seconds before I agreed.
We celebrated for a few minutes and then Maylis got us back on track to continue with the photoshoot.
The Engagement Shoot
So, the engagement shoot actually took place simultaneously with the proposal. We loved the photos so much, we didn’t feel there was a need to do one in Toronto as well.
Maylis (@the_french_paisa or thefrenchpaisa.com) took the most stunning photos at a beautiful location that she helped us choose. Maylis is super sweet and she was so helpful throughout the whole process. If you are in Medellin and are looking for a photoshoot or a photo walking tour, I would highly suggest you book her. She is reasonably priced and very talented!
I did an outfit change in between and voila, I got some beautiful photos that tie in with a beautiful memory that will last us a lifetime.
The Engagement Party
The engagement party was not necessarily my idea (my dad loves a good party) but we really enjoyed being in the company of our family and friends that day.
The photo backdrop area at the Engagement.
We were in the midst of a polar vortex and I planned the entire thing in less than a month as things went from an “at home” event to a banquet hall event. However, given the short amount of time we had and considering I was in Colombia for one of the weeks, I would say we did a decent job!
The event was held at the Kennedy Convention Centre in Scarborough and the owner was super helpful throughout the process. If you are interested in booking the hall, connect with me and I can refer you. They also did our decor (backdrop) in house. The remainder of the decor were purchases I made from Michael’s, Simons, The Real Canadian Superstore and were based on my vision that my friends so beautifully executed for me!
One of my close friends Sama (@jesuissama) did our photography.
Selfie from the engagement day.
My hair and make up was done by Jen Evoy Make Up Studio and my outfit was from Dulhan by Mischief.
We got our AV equipment from Long and McQuade and we had our food catered from Pak Centre. If you are interested in catering from Pak Centre, feel free to connect with me and I can refer you as well. Our cake was from @adibakes and the topper was from Etsy.
And there we have it. That is a recap of a series of events that took place during our engagement process. The next post in this section will hopefully be a recap of the bridal shower, and then I’ll continue on and recap the wedding events as well!
Until next time!
Mahreen
