He picked her up at the airport in New York City with a bunch of flowers, waiting right at the gate. He had a huge grin on his face which she thought made him look like an adorable little boy. The photos she had seen of him didn’t do justice to his eyes; they were brown and warm, filled with emotion. The flowers, she said, were such an endearingly old-fashioned gesture that she immediately felt safe meeting him for the first time.

Theirs was not a traditional boy meets girl love story. They met online–she in Iowa, he in New York–and grew to know each other over emails and phone calls. Sanjay says that when he first saw her profile online, he said to himself, “This is the girl I want in my life.” Three months after their first correspondence, she had landed in NYC to meet him.

They will wed this fall at Cedar Ridge Winery and, after hearing some of the details of the ceremony, I’m already a little weepy over it. Theirs is a sweet, sweet love.

Before their engagement session, I had them fill out a survey from their own perspectives about how they met, what attracted them to each other, their favorite things to do, etc. They had me print out their answers so they could give them to each other at their session. It was so romantic!

Emily described the proposal (the first one) to me and I adore it so much that I have to share parts of it: “He was visiting me in Iowa for the first time in April and we were watching the movie ‘Friends with Kids’. … This is all kind of hazy and I can’t remember the order in which it happened, but he asked me if I thought he would be a good father, to which I replied, ‘Yes.’  

“He then asked if I thought he would be a good husband. To this I also answered, ‘Yes.’  

“He tentatively asked, ‘Would you like to marry me?” and I said, ‘I think so.’ He asked me what had changed my mind [about a long-distance, fast-moving relationship]. I told him that I had been thinking about it lately and slowly the hesitations that I had before were mattering less and less and in the back of my mind, I had quietly noticed the qualities that he possessed made me happy and were those I truly valued and held close to my heart.  This was a person who would always care for my feelings and love me for the rest of my life. What more could I possibly ask for?? 

Go on, girl!

Emily & Sanjay, I am so thrilled to be part of your wedding day! It has been so much fun already with you two…just imagine what a whole day will be like!

Xoxo, E