I just love a good, weepy story! And some of the best weepy stories are wedding proposals.
And today’s wedding proposal is full of soo much awww, you definitely need your tissue box!
Tina, the bride-to-be, contacted us about her wedding proposal with Jatin. There was so much excitement in the email, it was really hard to contain myself too! And we’re so thrilled that you want to share your story with everyone, it is truly special.
Without further ado, I present, Tina and Jatin.
Tell us a little about yourself and your Mr-To-Be.
I was born in Bombay (hence my love for Bollywood), and lived there for almost 15 years before our family moved to Amarillo, TX. Jatin was born and brought up in the Panhandle area – he’s a true Texan.
We first met at a Diwali show practice – we both love dancing/performing and are fond of Bollywood music. Amarillo, being a small town, has a very close knit Indian community that celebrates every festival on a huge scale. Jatin saw me at practice and realized I was a new girl in town and being the super friendly person he is, he came up to me and introduced himself as “Jet.”
Yup, that’s the name he goes by. I thought it was super funny and I burst out laughing. We met a couple of times after that just at the Indian events.
It was not until college that we started hanging out and getting to know each other, partly because we had a lot of common friends. And the rest is history.
The past three years has been a long distance relationship with me in Houston and he in Dallas. It has helped us grow into more responsible and stronger adults and our love for each other becomes stronger despite the distance.
Tell us about the proposal!
June 28th 2013 – Jatin’s younger sister JUST “happened” to be in town for some work. We were all supposed to go for a friend’s “birthday” dinner. He “apparently” had to go early to help, so his sister and I rode together to the Fort Worth. We were supposed to meet him at Starbucks before heading to dinner.
We waited for him for a few minutes and then the lady at Starbucks asked me if I was Tina and handed me a scroll. As soon as I opened the scroll I saw my friend come around the corner with a handy cam, I was a little confused.
I read the scroll that had a very sweet and personalized poem written in it. Once I read that they took me across the street to the entrance of the Water Gardens, where another friend handed me a scroll – another sweet poem. By this time, I had a feeling where this was headed.
They then took me to the fountain area where few friends handed me a third scroll with a poem. I was getting very anxious at this point, and asked them where Jatin was, but they said I had to wait a little. They took me to another spot, where to my surprise I see my mom, dad, mama, and around 15 other close friends.
Seeing my parents there was definitely the highlight and made the evening so much more special for me. My mom handed me the last scroll and then my friends guided me to where Jatin was waiting – he was all the way on the bottom of the waterfall area of the gardens.
I walked down, scared for my life (I was in heels and thought I was going to trip and fall into the water and make a fool of myself! Haha!!) When I finally made it, I hugged him, and he said there is another surprise.
He covered my eyes and turned me around and when I opened my eyes I saw a huge sign held by my friends that read, “Tina, Will You Marry Me?” When I turned around he was on his knee with a beautiful ring. Ofcourse, I said YES!!
Later that night we celebrated with our friends at a restaurant in Fort Worth downtown.
Jatin is not much of a planner, so for him to pull off what I think was a beautiful/swept me off my feet proposal is HUGE. A big thank you to his sister and everyone who helped him to make this day so special and unforgettable for me.
And a special surprise for you’all! Jatin shared his behind-the-scenes with us!
Where do I start? One of the amazing and grateful things about Tina, is how she goes in and out of her way to do the impossible for others. I experienced it first hand, for example, for everyone one of my birthdays, she has never failed to surprise me with either the party itself, or a gift, or just the presence of everyone there.
She knows that I am happy with just her presence, but she also knows that my friends are part of my family. We are alike in that notion. We like to do things for others, even when not in our reach we find a way to pull it off. So that being said, I wanted to do something for her that she wouldn’t expect.
God knows that I am the worst planner (Tina isn’t joking!), but am getting progressively better because of her. I wanted to do something that would fill her with pure bliss, excitement, and unexpectedness and the proposal was the perfect opportunity.
After coming up with three proposals, I applied to the city for approval. And all three were denied by the city! Just my luck, but then I remembered the Ft Worth Water Garden that we had visited, she loved how beautiful and peaceful it was so I decided to give it a go.
Finally this proposal was approved and now thinking to myself, “HOW THE HELL WAS I GOING TO WRITE A POEM?”. I have never written a poem in my life, well maybe in English class back in the 5th grade. I can say for sure that it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but quite enjoyed it.
Nights had gone by, and finally Icame up with something straight from my heart; hoping it would bring tears of memories and joy to her face.
This is the video that one of friends took to capture the whole event:
I cannot forget about my friends, Jay and Vidhi, and my sister, Jessica, who helped me pull it all together. And the friends that held the scrolls and attended the proposal. But I knew it wouldn’t be the same without her family and my family there. I could not have imagined that it would turn out as awesome as it did, and I am forever thankful to everyone that was there, because it made it that much more memorable.
Wow, hope you are all sniffy now…back to Tina with the big engagement party and plans for the wedding…
Tell us about the engagement ceremony
I am South Indian and he is Gujarati, so initially it was hard for us to understand the rituals. But, it all came together really well. The engagement ceremony was held in Amarillo, TX.
Jatin’s sister would call me everyday to make sure everything was the way we wanted – décor, cake, etc. His family welcomed our side with open arms and made our stay very comfortable. The rituals included a Ganesh puja, exchange of rings and then both of us were presented with gifts from the families.
This was followed by cake cutting, performances and dancing. Jatin and I had put together a 13-minute dance performance with our friends and siblings – we had practiced for months. They played a very important part in helping with this engagement party and we are so blessed to have them in our lives. They are just like family!!
It was wonderful to see family and friends flying and driving in from different cities/states. The entire Amarillo Indian community was present to celebrate this day and was very special for us.
Do you have a theme for the wedding?
We both love Bollywood – yes the larger than life love stories and songs and dances, haha! This is why he wanted to make the proposal like a Bollywood movie for me.
Infact, our upcoming wedding in August 2014 is completely Bollywood themed – it’s called “JaTina, A Love Story” – combining both of our names.
Anything else you would like to add for your husband/family/friends to read?
Jatin and I both love our families and are so grateful that they are going above and beyond to make this journey and celebration so much fun for us. I have family across the globe that is waiting to come down to celebrate this special weekend with us in August 2014!!
Our friends are also helping us wherever and whenever possible, which means the world to us.
A big thank you to Jatin, my fiancé, for being so patient and understanding in this entire wedding planning process. I can’t wait to take this next step in our life and see what the future has in store for us!
{Wedding Proposal Suppliers}
Pre-engagement/preview photoshoot – Prashanti Photography, Lawrenceville, NJ
Engagement outfit (lehenga saree) – Studio D, Dallas
Engagment ceremony photography – Niraj Design and Photography, Austin, TX
Décor – Amarillo Elegant Affairs and Jatin’s family
Hair & Makeup – Yesha Patel
Cake – Andrea from Carrie’s cakes, Amarillo TX
Music – DJ Freddy Mac from Riz Entertainment, Dallas TX
Congrats Tina & Jatin! We wish you a wonderful wedding and future together!
