My wife Sonia and I had the absolute pleasure of capturing Ariana & Amardeep’s Fusion Iranian / Punjabi wedding at the beautiful Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa in Phoenix Arizona! This gorgeous wedding was beautifully planned by Suzanne Taussig of Suzanne Taussig Wedding & Event Design! Below is a glimpse of Ariana & Amardeep’s love story in their own words:
Enjoy!
The Beginning
by Amardeep
We met Labor Day weekend 2006 in Chicago, IL. Ariana was working for IBM at the time, and had come to visit DeJeana, Stacy, and Joslyn for the long weekend. I was in medical school in Peoria, IL and was hanging out with part of the A-team (Arun, Amreesh, Atit). Incidentally, I had Amreesh buzz the sides of my head. Rathi then flat-iron and gelled it into a foe-hawk . Fast-forward a few hours – full of confidence (from the new ‘do), I saw Ariana across the bar (Transit) and asked her, “let’s dance?”
The dancing lasted all of 1 minute after which Ariana had a “headache.” Then a flash went off as DeJeana and Joslyn started taking pictures. We posed for one, which has since become legend. I offered to buy Ariana a drink and she replied “I don’t drink.” “Ok, well I’m getting a drink so come with me and I’ll get you a water,” I said. Reluctantly, she agreed.
In waiting, I could see Ariana was getting impatient so I asked, “can I have your phone number?” She obviously denied me with a firm “No!” but I shot back with, “But I really want that picture we took together – will you email it to me?”
That’s the story (and picture) of how we met.
Our Story
by Amardeep
After that night, we kept in touch occasionally and in July 2007, Arun, Amreesh and I were planning a trip to San Francisco. Ariana and Erica met us in San Francisco for dinner. After that evening, Ariana and I talked more and eventually became an item – traveling across the country to meet.
Fast forward to June 2009, we saw each other once a month in Peoria and Washington, D.C. When I started interviewing for Radiology positions, Ariana would meet me in the various cities. We met in New York and Saint Louis (ask her, it was her favorite). After finishing my intern year, I moved to Washington, D.C. until she finished business school.
After settling in Phoenix in June we went to Napa to celebrate her birthday.
The Proposal
by Ariana
Once we got to the hotel I could tell that Amardeep was anxious to get to the first winery. After a couple glasses of vino we enjoyed the weather, walked through the vineyard and headed to our second stop, Domaine Carneros Chateau
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We were seated on a private terrace on the second floor – the view was incredible. A few tasting glasses in – Amardeep started telling me about how special I was to him, how he has loved me …
I don’t remember much between the sweet beginning and the eventual proposal because I was so nervous that I kept interjecting with smart remarks. This didn’t stop him as he knows I am terrible with surprises … he carried on. On one knee, he presented me with a beautiful ring and a smile that I will remember forever.
After he proposed I asked him if he was nervous, and he said, “NO.” I regularly joke with him that I want a “proposal do-over” – one where he is nervous and I am not 3 glasses of wine into my day. I’m still waiting …
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