Paula's Romantic Elopement in the Redwoods

I had never thought about getting married let alone a bridal dress. My mother who is Gujarati lost all connection to her family and her homeland when she came to the United States, so I saw this as a moment for her and me to reconnect with some of the lost customs and culture. This meant going traditional red if I could. My partner and I decided on an elopement in the Redwoods of California, so I knew another variable, try to keep it light in weight. Lastly, I’ve always been drawn to nature and florals, so this Lehenga was really the only one I wanted – so much so that I chose it without trying it on first. My risky decision paid off because it truly was the most perfect outfit for our unforgettable day.

The proposal was a long one in the making. Ben knew he had a hill to climb because I held firm beliefs that marriage was the antithesis to being a free and independent woman (thank you, patriarchy). All I cared about was finding a life partner to adventure with, who needs a piece of paper for that? Knowing this and how practical I was, Ben eased me into the idea of getting married for about 3 years. Taking me to ring stores to check things out over time, many conversations, letting me pick the ring, and reassuring me that we never even have to do it if I didn’t want to. Ben gave me all the space and freedom to say no, which of course only reinforced for me why I should say yes! Once that was all sorted it was all Ben. He took us to a lantern festival in the desert of Imperial, California. I had a feeling he was going to propose here but thought he would write in on the paper lantern or something; but when he didn’t I went back to thinking this was just another adventure, but I was sorely mistaken. It was the first time either of us had gone to something like this so naturally I wanted to make sure we were doing it correctly and waited for the lanterns to get hot before we let them rise into the air. Ben was thinking about the timing of the sky and when it would be perfectly filled with lanterns as the right moment to get on one knee, which was only going to be a brief window (they burn out after a minute or two). Finally, I let our lantern go and was so focused on watching it rise into the sky to be with the rest of the lanterns, only to look down and see Ben on his knee; I had to do a double take before it set in. He said all the things he loved about me (we both sort of blacked out because specifics are blurry) and I screamed a whole lot of F-bombs followed by a “F** yes, of course I’ll marry you”. We had set up a GoPro camera to film the night but thankfully, a nice family saw the whole thing too. The grandfather spotted Ben rummaging around in his bag for the ring and could tell he was preparing to purpose, so he had his daughter get a camera ready just in case. We’re so grateful he was right because their photos ended up turning out better than our video. We met while serving in the Peace Corps in Peru from 2016 to 2018. The Peace Corps does a “staging” in the US before we all get on the airplane to Peru. The purpose is to get us all together to set expectations of what we are about to embark on; this happened on April 27, 2016 (the inspiration for choosing 4/27/24 as our elopement date). We both wanted to be early birds for the day’s events and ended up being the first two people to arrive; therefore, ending up at the same table. Our group table activities needed two representatives which ended up being the two of us; me because I enjoy taking the lead and Ben because he’s happy to do so in the absence of one. We immediately hit it off with Ben drawing ridiculous stick figures in pencil on our presentation poster, because it would be funny, and Paula countering him that it wasn’t practical because no one would be able to see it… and our relationship has been like that ever since. A push pull of similar yet opposing energy, yin and yang, two puzzle pieces… that just fit together and felt like home. We went on to have three months of training together where we began as friends (to Ben’s dislike, ha!) and eventually I couldn’t resist the gravitational pull of his spirit matching mine and we made it official at the end of our 3-month training to enter into a two-year long distant relationship during our service in Peru. Our favorite activity to do together is raveling/adventuring/pushing our comfort zones/experiencing other cultures and all that life has to offer. Our overlapping features are that we are extremely curious and in pursuit of growth and enlightenment; what better way to achieve that then experiencing the world and better yet with your soul mate who is going to keep challenging you every step of the way?! It truly is our favorite thing to do and is all encompassing of adventuring to various terrains (amazon jungle of Peru, mountains of Patagonia, ancient walls of Croatia, etc.) and all walks of life.

Just how expensive it all would be! Even eloping these days has a big price tag on it. I wish there was easy to navigate information out there that gave free budget estimates depending on the number of people as well as the location and food.