The Rise Festival is a very unique event where participates are able to release lanterns into the air at night time. Being that this is a very romantic and photo worthy moment, Vanand decided he wanted to propose to Ani at this festival,  however, a little security issue got in the way of him being able to take the ring into the event venue. How was Vanand able to avoid Ani finding out about her proposal? Well he completely changed his plans last minute and did something extremely romantic and on the spot after getting home from the event. We spoke with Ani to got all the details & we're thrilled to share with you Vanand & Ani's magical proposal!

High school sweethearts Eduard and Renita dated for 7 years before Ed popped the question! Ed really kept Renita on her toes when he took her on an anniversary get-a-way. Even though Renita was sure he was going to propose, he still found a way to catch her off guard and surprise her. Renita tells us the whole story from how they met, how he surprised her, and how they decided on a wedding date. Ed and Renita will be getting married next weekend on 8/18/18 in Los Angeles. We're thrilled to share their romantic proposal story and can't wait to share their wedding day with you soon! 

Renita's Story:

Ed and I met during my Senior year in High School. I can clearly remember the night I ran into him at a friend's birthday. September 18, 2009 - that's when we really felt a connection and hit it off. After a few months of dating, he made it official and asked me to be his girlfriend on January 24, 2010. The timing was perfect, we attended Senior ditch days together, Senior Prom, and celebrated graduation together.

It takes a very special bride to be able to wear a 60 pound dress, but it takes an even more special bride to rock it in 120 degree weather! Edita gave us all the details from her heavenly wedding at Taglyan Cultural Complex, including her emotional Father-Daughter dance, having to change her photo location last minute due to the LA heat, and her impeccable dress. We are so excited to be sharing Edita & Manuk's love story and wedding day story with all of you! 

Can you briefly tells us about how you met Manuk and how he proposed?

For Rostom and Tatiana, keeping their Armenian heritage and traditions alive was a very important part of their relationship. While every girl dreams of the day her true love proposes, Tatiana wanted to keep true to her Armenian roots and have a traditional Armenian engagement.

On February 9th, 2018, Rostom and his family came to ask Tatiana's family for her hand in marriage. While Tatiana hid away from all the guests, her parents gave their blessing and all the women from Rostom's side of the family went to find Tatiana and bring her to her future groom. We reached out to Tatiana and Rostom to learn all about their love story and all the beautiful Armenian traditions the couple incorporated them into their special day.

Tell us a little bit about how you & Rostom met and all about the proposal.

Smiles, laughs, tears; there are so many emotions that a bride and groom go through on their wedding day. Narek & Sandi's wedding was a great example of this rollercoaster of emotions. Jay Jay Productions captured this amazing moment and, here at Harsanik, we knew that we had to find out what caused this cluster of emotions. Sandi tells us all about that iconic moment as well as all the fun traditions she & Narek incorporated on their special day. 

Tell us about Narek and how you met.

My husband and I met when he came in for an interview at Best Buy where I was working. And as soon as I looked at him I remember telling my co-worker, “I’m going to marry that guy.” She thought I was crazy but sure enough it was fate! Narek proposed on a Gondola boat ride. I picked up a bottle with a note inside from the water and there was the proposal letter and he was holding the ring! 

How does a Disney-obsessed groom propose to his equally Disney-obsessed bride? With a Churro Bouquet of course! We recently stumbled upon this extremely cute and personal proposal at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and we knew we just had to feature it. Tara and Patrick tell us all about how they met all because of Disney and how Patrick incorporated their Disney love into their proposal. First up, we spoke with Tara.

We recently stubbled upon pictures of a beautiful wedding at the stunning Pelican Hill Resort. We got in touch with the beautiful bride, Jamie to get details on her extraordinary wedding day. We loved hearing about the way the couple met and all the little personal moments and surprises planned on the wedding day. Jamie and Anthony share their planning methods and advice on how to ensure your day goes by smoothly.

We're thrilled to feature Andrew and Maria's breathtaking wedding that took place in Venice, Italy! For those who may not know, there is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon that houses an Armenian Catholic church since 1717. San Lazzaro Island has been the home to the monastery of the Mekhitarists and many Armenians who visit Venice take a day trip to this island. We spoke to Maria and Andrew to hear all about their wedding planning experience. And since planning an Armenian wedding in Italy is no easy feat, we connected with Sylvie from My Italian Wedding Planner to get all the details and photos of this gorgeous wedding!

First up, Maria and Andrew share their story with us:

"Our story begins in September 2013, when we met after introduction by mutual friends. Andrew proposed during our trip to Paris in February 2016. After a busy day spent visiting Marche Bastille, Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the Catacombs, and Les Invalides, we returned to our apartment in Le Marais district with a few of Maria's favorite things in tow (ranunculus, champagne, and macarons). It was there that Andrew proposed!

We recently stumbled upon a very creative proposal at the Micheltorena Stairs in Silverlake. After getting in touch with bride-to-be Sareen, we got the full story of how her and Gevo met and what lead to their beautiful proposal. We're thrilled to share their love story with you!

How did you and Gevo meet?

Gevo and I met while we were both students at Woodbury University. He was studying Architecture and I was studying Graphic Design & Marketing. I was studying late with a friend one night on campus and we went to the architecture studio to work at her desk. I saw Gevo maybe 60 ft down the hall, and thought he was cute. Little did I know, he also noticed me across the hall and thought I was cute too. I told my friend (who was also his mutual friend) to introduce us. This was in November of 2012. We've been together for 5 years, since January 17, 2013. We've been engaged for one year since February 12th, 2017.

So tell us about the proposal! That must have been a hard one to pull off.

Recently we featured Alexis Ohanian, Sr. and Serena Williams' gorgeous wedding on our blog. We were honored to have met Alexis Ohanian at the Hustle While You Work event hosted by Open Listings, and pleasantly surprised when Alexis answered our questions about his and Serena's wedding in New Orleans. As if talking to Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit and now founder of Initialized Capital) was not enough, we loved hearing about his love of Armenian food and the fact that Alexis and Serena chose to serve khorovats at their wedding!

Now, just a few months later, we are thrilled to come across a Twitter post by tennis journalist David Avakian with the following quote from Serena herself:

As an Armenian, I simply had to ask Serena how big of a role the background of @alexisohanian plays in her life. Happy to hear she is more than embracing it... pic.twitter.com/neFGt1ICL9

— David Avakian (@Davavaki) May 31, 2018

"I'm married to an Armenian, and I have learned that Armenians are incredibly proud. So I'm learning a lot about the culture. My daughter is half Armenian. I'm an honorary Armenian now, so it makes me feel really good. It's a great, great, great feeling. Yeah I love how proud they are. Some things just happened recently over there [Velvet Revolution]. I'm planning on actually going to go visit there. I don't know when, but I think either this year or next year..."