Elisha Saini & Kurren Gill's Wedding

How We Met

The Proposal

It’s hard to come up with the perfect proposal, and as the groom-to-be it can be quite stressful because you want the moment to be flawless. Did I pick the right place? What kind of flowers does she like? Does she know? Does the ring fit? Should I hire a photographer? Is there a view? Who else needs to be there? How should I do it? What am I going to say? What are we going to do after? And what if she says no?”
For Kurren, the stress lasted for months. Not to be insensitive, but with the pandemic, finding the right time to propose was difficult, to say the least. Wanting to make the proposal special is an understatement. He wanted to surprise Elisha. He wanted her to smile like never before. But, surprising Elisha is no easy task! This story is about the emotional roller coaster Elisha finished on Saturday, July 11th, 2020.
The first thing to note is that Kurren rarely plans outings, as that is one of Elisha's strengths. So, when out of the blue, Kurren suggested spending a weekend at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, Elisha immediately became suspicious. Knowing that Elisha would be suspicious Kurren decided to leave bread crumbs that would lead her in another direction. On the Thursday before their scheduled trip, Elisha asked Kurren if he had made any dinner reservations. He said, “Yeah, I picked this Italian spot. It’s a mom and pop type restaurant.” Elisha immediately looked up the restaurant on Yelp. It was dingy, small and definitely NOT somewhere she imagined getting proposed to. She thought to herself, “Why did he want me to wear 5 inch heels for this?” Unable to hide her confusion, she let Kurren know she did not want to dress up to eat at a place that looked like a shack. She asked if they could dine at one of the Ritz Carlton’s restaurants since they were staying there anyway. Kurren pushed back at first and then conceded to eat there. Little did she know that Kurren actually had 3 separate reservations, including one at the Ritz already. He knew they shared a calendar and that any dinner reservations might automatically show up for her to see.
After “agreeing” to change their dinner reservations, Kurren and Elisha discussed their itinerary for the weekend. The plan was to leave San Francisco early in the morning so they could go on a hike to start the day. They would then have lunch and explore downtown before heading to the hotel and eventually get ready for dinner. But, Kurren had another curve ball up his sleeve. Earlier in the week Kurren had instructed his father, Gurpal, to call him around 3 pm on Friday. Not thinking too much of it, Gurpal made the call that Friday. This was Kurren’s chance to show off his acting abilities. He answered the phone and very loudly, in front Elisha, said “Yes Dad, I can come tomorrow and help you move furniture.” Elisha turned her head, utterly shocked and confused. She was so sure that Kurren was going to propose tomorrow. Her mind began racing, “Why would he do this the day of the proposal? Does this mean there is no proposal and I was completely wrong??” When Kurren hung up Elisha immediately blurted out, “What do you mean you have to help your Dad? We are going to Half Moon Bay tomorrow?!?” Kurren replied, “Elisha, that’s my father. If he’s asking for my help I have to go.” Elisha knew she could not get mad about this, but internally she was fuming!! Kurren’s reasoning for helping his father was fair and hard to argue with, so she couldn’t legitimately get mad. Knowing there was nothing else to be said or done, Elisha continued about her work day.
The big day finally arrived, but Elisha did not wake up in the best of moods. She consoled herself thinking they will still manage to have a good day, even if they leave at 2pm instead of their original 9am plan. Kurren left early in the morning for Alamo to help his Dad out. But, what she did not know was that he really left to go to the Ritz Carlton to make sure all of the arrangements for the evening were in place. He brought flowers and champagne to the hotel concierge. He also secured an area to be blocked off by the cliff with two chairs and a table ready for the moment. He checked in with the photographer to confirm she would be there as well. If you ask Kurren what was going on in his head during this time he will smile just thinking about it. The sweat, nerves, and just wanting everything to be perfect was all he could think about, it was all so surreal. After finishing up at the hotel Kurren made his way back to SF. He got back “from Alamo” on time as promised to pick Elisha up and leave for Half Moon Bay.
The car ride was like a scene from the movies. Already acting like a married couple Elisha stayed silent for most of the ride. She was happy they were getting away from the city, even if it was not for long, but not knowing whether Kurren was going to propose was tormenting her. She had even told herself that it would be ok if Kurren did not propose, despite the whole past month of her thinking that he would. They arrived and wandered the streets of downtown Half Moon Bay, popping into the occasional store, and admiring the small town vibe. They also decided to grab a bite at a Mexican restaurant that had some live music. At this point, Kurren sensed that Elisha had accepted the day for whatever it would be, and that she was just going to make the best of it. After eating they made their way back to the hotel.
Fast forward to the evening, when Elisha and Kurren are getting ready for dinner, Elisha noticed that Kurren was putting product in his hair. He barely ever uses hair gel, maybe a few times out of the whole year. This was strange to her, and so she became suspicious again, or as she likes to say “cautiously optimistic”. Once they were all dressed up, Kurren said to Elisha, “I have a gift for you.” Trying to hide the fact that she was starting to think maybe this is the day after all, she said, “what is it?” Kurren handed her a black blindfold and said, “I want you to wear this until I tell you to take it off.” Her first thought was, “He wants me to wear a blindfold in 5-inch heels!?” At this point she was about 99.99% sure he was about to propose but she still was nervous, not truly knowing what was about to happen. Kurren guided Elisha out the door, down a long hallway, down 3 floors in an elevator, across a dining room, around the outdoor dining patio and up a hill with at least 100 viewers watching Elisha in a blindfold and mask, before getting to the reserved section that Kurren had arranged. Kurren’s brother, Vikram, and Elisha’s sister, Ravina, and brother, Karran were there waiting for them. They stood quietly as Kurren and Elisha positioned themselves by the edge. Kurren had Elisha facing the sun, while he took a knee behind her waiting to make one of the most important decisions of his life. Kurren said to her, “take the blindfold off and slowly turn around.” When she did she saw him on his knee with a ring in his hand, with their siblings surrounding them. Kurren proceeded, “Elisha, I love you! You mean everything to me, you make me so happy and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
Elisha exclaimed, “Of course I will!” and he put the ring on her. The rest of the evening was a blur. It all happened so fast. The champagne bottle got uncorked, there were hugs and smiles for everybody, an hour worth of pictures on the beach, and just pure joy all around. Elisha was glowing and Kurren couldn’t stop looking at her. Kurren felt a huge sense of relief that this moment he had been planning for so long finally happened. He was so happy to be with someone he could build a future with. Elisha was on cloud nine and happily mad with Kurren for spending the entire week misleading her. It was all an act, so that he could surprise her. Elisha may have known or had her suspicions, but he certainly threw her off. And while she may tell you how angry she was during that week, she definitely has a smile on every time she tells the story.