Here are some of our favorites shot of Bhavika & Runjan’s beautiful wedding. We are glad to share their love story, both how they first met and when Runjan proposed. This is a beautiful love story and you really have to read it to understand the immense love they have for each other. Enjoy!
BHAVIKA’S Version of how they met:
It was a typical Saturday night during my second year of residency. Not only was I post-call and tired from working overnight on Friday, but it was also a freezing winter night in Atlanta (come on now, it’s all relative says the girl raised in Phoenix). I had no motivation to leave my comfy apartment when my friends called to invite me out. I hadn’t seen them in a while so I decided to rally for a night out. We ended up at an Irish restaurant in Midtown called Rira.
One of my friends ran into a group of her other Atlanta friends and we all ended up chatting in a big group. The guy next to me started telling me about his recent trip to India. We exchanged stories about doing jatras (tours) in India. We joked about the bathrooms out there and how old ba’s (grandmas) would push you over in a heartbeat to get darshan at the mandirs (temples). Before we knew it, we had been chatting for 30 minutes. Albeit a little late into our conversation, we introduced ourselves to one another.
He said, “By the way, my name is Ranjan.” I said, “Excuse me?” He said “Ranjan.” I looked at him puzzled “Isn’t that a girl’s name?” He snickered and said “Ha, no, it can be a guys name as well.” “That may be so, but that’s my Mom’s name!” We both looked at each other and laughed at the odd coincidence.
As we were leaving, my new friend asked me for my phone number. Once we exchanged numbers, I wondered how I should add him in my phone contacts- “RanjanBoy”? “Ranjan2″? “RandomRanjan”? RanjanATL it was.
In between my shifts, we started chatting on the phone and meeting up for movies and dinners. In addition to learning more about his hobbies, interests, and passion for life, I also learned that he actually spells his name with a “U”- R”U”njan. Although the spelling was dissimilar from my mom (Ranjan), I saw similar traits in his ability to love and care for others. His good heart and vibrant energy are contagious. The more time we spent together, the more I began to love him as a person. Runjan really lived up to his name as he soon became my best friend and soul mate.
RUNJAN’S Version of how they met:
“Wait, your name is Runjan? It can’t possibly be…My mom’s name is Runjan! There’s no way—that’s a girl’s name!” That conversation is where it all started. While I’d like to think that I would have made an impression on Bhavi regardless of my name, I can’t thank my parents enough for naming me Runjan as it actually gave me something to talk about and allay the nervousness that I felt when I first met Bhavi.
After we came to a mutual understanding that Runjan was an acceptable male and female name, we talked for about 20 minutes—just enough time for me to make a good impression without making a fool of myself. Since we met through mutual friends who were then going out at different places, we said our goodbyes and I left knowing that Bhavi was someone that I could only be so lucky to be able to meet and spend time with again.
I can’t tell you how excited I was when Bhavi followed me to the place that my friends and I went. She might tell you that it was just a coincidence, but I think that she just wanted to get another glimpse of my impressive dance moves. Knowing that my dance moves would probably end any chance that I might have, I made sure to take my sister’s advice and not dance the way that Runjan does. If you ask my friends, they’ll tell you that I couldn’t stop talking about her the rest of the night. Anyways, we had a great time hanging out and I violated every rule in the book by calling Bhavi the next day. To my disappointment, Bhavi played hard to get and I didn’t get a chance to see or talk to her that day.
At the time I traveled every week for work and I had a few weekend trips planned so I didn’t see Bhavi for a few weeks. During this time, I was driving myself crazy wondering if I’d ever get a chance to get to know her better. When I finally got back to town, Bhavi was working nights but we found a way to meet up after one of her long shifts. I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous to talk to anyone but after the first few minutes, things just flowed. As usual, Bhavi asked me a lot of challenging questions but it definitely helped remove the awkwardness out of the conversation.
I continued to travel for work throughout the first year of our relationship but I soon found myself making excuses to leave late on Monday and sometimes even coming back on Wednesdays. Although I got stood up on an airport date one time (Bhavi was coming back to Atlanta and I was leaving), we were basically inseparable once I was back in town. Nothing that we ever did felt forced and I knew that Bhavi was ‘the one’ fairly early on in our relationship. Every guy says it but I know that I am the luckiest guy in the world and never knew that it was possible to love someone as much as I love Bhavi.
Bhavi is in DC for a month as I write this and I can’t stand being apart from her. Knowing that we’ll be spending the rest of our lives together is all that I’ll ever need.
April 24, 2011 when Runjan Proposed to Bhavika:
It was a big weekend for us–my birthday is April 23rd, our one-year dating anniversary is April 24th, and Runjan’s birthday is April 25th. With all that’s going on, Runjan asked me months ago to request that weekend off from work. Runjan kept the destination a surprise and all that he told me was to pack “beachwear.” When we got to the airport, I still did not know our destination. Runjan went to great lengths to keep it a secret but when he was distracted, I glanced up and saw that the airport code was “UVF.” I wasn’t sure where UVF was but the first thing that came to mind was UVA. I thought, oh ok, we’re going to a beach somewhere in Virginia.
Finally, I heard the flight attendant announce that our flight was on its way to St. Lucia! Nothing against Virginia, but I was definitely thinking that he went all out for the weekend. After celebrating my birthday on the first night, we spent the next day at the beach but Runjan forewarned me that I had to be ready by 5:30 PM for our dinner date. I thought, wow, we really are old now to be eating at 530 PM with the senior citizens. I was definitely surprised when we were by the beach at sunset and Runjan insisted that we got TONS of pictures of us together. This was especially odd because Runjan never insists on pictures, let alone having someone there just to take pictures.
We walked past the restaurant in our hotel where I thought we would be having dinner. Instead, we walked down about a 100 stairs that led to the beach at the bottom of the cliff that our hotel was on. At the bottom, there was a large rock in the water that had a single dining table on it. We took a path that led to the secluded table and once we arrived, the sun was setting, candles were lit, the table was decorated with flowers, and my favorite music was playing. It was simply perfect and I was speechless. I thought to myself–Bhavi, you didn’t even bring an anniversary card?!
Somehow, Runjan had already arranged the menu with my favorite meals. Our server had to go back and forth up the 100 stairs to get our meal and drinks but he was a good sport about it all. At the end of dessert, I thought the server was acting a little “shady” and distracted, especially because it was dark and we were all by ourselves at the bottom of a cliff. I asked Runjan what he thought and he reassured me that everything was fine. It seemed like the waiter was hiding off to the side and I noticed that he was looking into the distance. Intrigued by the behavior of the waiter, I turned to see what was capturing his attention.
I then saw a picnic basket coming down a zip line from the top of the cliff to the Rock that we were on. I hadn’t even noticed the zip line the whole time that we were at dinner. When the picnic basket got to the dock, the waiter took it off of the line and quickly walked away. I asked Runjan what he thought of the basket and he said “I don’t know, it’s probably just some supplies for the waiter.” He suggested that I go check it out but I just looked at him like he was crazy. It was dark out, we were in a foreign country, and there was no way I was going to go look in an unknown picnic basket. He kept insisting that I check it out and I kept saying no and even said “No, what if there’s an animal in there!” Runjan sighed and said “Ok Bhavi, I’ll come check it out with you.”
I reluctantly opened the basket and pulled out a little box. I opened the box but there was nothing inside of it so I looked over to Runjan with my typical look of confusion. As I looked over to him, he began kneeling on the ground and that’s when it all clicked. He said “Bhavi, that box is empty, but my pocket isn’t…” He reached in his pocket, grabbed my hand, and then asked me “Bhavi, will you marry me?” I immediately said “I could be so lucky.” That’s what I always say to my Runjan—“I could be so lucky”. He looked right back and asked “That means Yes, right?” I screamed “Yes, of course Ill marry you, Runjan Jain!” Still kneeling on the ground, he endearingly asked “Bhavi, what hand does the ring go on?” The other guests from the restaurant above were watching and he turned around and put his thumbs in the air. They all cheered and our server was in position to take tons of pictures. We had a great time the rest of that night and could not wait to get back to the room to inform our family and friends of our news. I continue to feel just like I did at that moment—like the luckiest girl in the world.
Vendors who made this possible:
Sangeet / Garba Venue: Le Soiree Banquet Hall
Wedding / Reception Venue: Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliff Resort Phoenix
Wedding Planner: Jo Ann M. Grant of Apropos Creations
Makeup/Hair: Jewel Di Fabio & Kim Roberts of ArtisticFreelance
Ceremony Décor: Linda & Renee Wendell of Wendell Design Group Florist, LLC
Photographer: Sameer & Sonia of Sameer Soorma Photography
Videographer: Eric Ludwig of Ludwig Productions
DJ: Adi of In The Mix Entertainment
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