The Love Story From London To Australia: 10,000+ Miles Apart

The Love Story From London To Australia: 10,000+ Miles Apart - Eternity

The Love Story From London To Australia: 10,000+ Miles Apart

25th May 2023

Welcome to Real Couples, where we speak to couples about their proposal, wedding planning process, the lead up to the big day, and any advice they have for couples currently planning their wedding.

In this post, we’re featuring the beautiful overseas love story & proposal of Annika & Nav, who met despite living 1,000s of miles apart. They are newly engaged and in the early days of wedding planning.

Annika runs a crypto / stocks marketing firm that runs via her YouTube channel Finpact where she talks all things related to markets, investing and finance.

ABOUT THE COUPLE

How did you meet?

I met my fiancé on Hinge. He was living in Australia and I was living in London when we matched. He was planning to move to London for work. We facetimed every single day, morning and evening for 2 months until his move to London finally took place.

I went to the airport to pick him up – and this was also the first time we were going to meet in person! I was so nervous, as was he, but it was the most natural, wonderful feeling meeting finally and everything just fell into place after that and both of us felt that it was always meant to be (even though I didn’t really believe in destiny).

Whose the bigger planner, out of you & your partner?

I am the main planner but my partner has given great inputs and I run most things by him because he always gives great ideas and feedback!

The proposal

How did you / he propose?

After spending a beautiful 10 months together, he wanted to take me to his hometown – Melbourne in Australia. He immediately booked our tickets in January (for May trip) and started planning a jam-packed trip filled with Melbourne’s best experiences.

On our trip to Australia, he introduced me to his family, friends, lifestyle and his home. It was the most wonderful trip filled with many activities including wineries, a hot air balloon ride, visiting an island where you can see thousands of penguins, visiting great ocean road, going on treetop rainforest walks, bathing in natural hot springs and spending plenty of time with his lovely family.

Nearing the end of the trip, he drove me up to Dandenong mountains (a mountain range near his home that he holds great memories of). As we drove up the mountains, we listened to our favourite songs and I was expecting a casual dinner up there that we were supposed to do at the beginning of the trip. We came up to the top and there was a glass conservatory restaurant near the top. He told me we were early and it hadn’t opened yet (it was only 5:30pm). So I thought nothing of that and we waited and walked up to the view point where you could see the view of Melbourne and mountains.

He then told me the restaurant should have opened and we should have a drink at the bar. At the bar we were greeted with champagne and suddenly these large black curtains opened up and I saw this beautiful walkway covered in petals, candles, hearts and a “will you marry me” sign at the end. I also saw his sister (who I am very close to) was there with her friends with my parents, sister and grandparents on facetime! I was completely surprised (especially as I walked in with leggings and a casual top).

He then told me to get changed into a red dress he bought for me! I quickly changed and came to the conservatory and he then bent down on one knee and said some very special things to me followed by him asking me to marry him! I immediately said yes whilst holding back tears! Honestly, it was the most beautiful moment for us!

He had arranged champagne, and a 3 course meal with a private butler and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. After this we went to one of Melbourne’s loveliest hotels in the city centre that had a gorgeous view of the city to celebrate! The following day we continued celebrations with a hot air balloon experience that he booked for us.

TOP PROPOSAL TIP
If you are having an intimate proposal, think of how & if you want to get your close family involved in some way. Whether it be on Facetime or seeing them afterwards to celebrate.

Did you have any idea that he was about to propose?

I knew that we wanted to get married and we had discussed it. He told me he wanted to propose to me and had bought the ring and I suggested he did it in Australia. I didn’t know when it would take place on the 2 week trip to Australia, and when it happened it was a complete surprise!

How did you tell your family & friends?

I only told my immediate family and closest friends first before we announced it to everyone because I wanted to enjoy the beautiful moments surrounding the proposal before I received everyone’s well wishes.

The wedding planning process

How much have you started so far?

I have started the engagement party planning which we are treating as part of our pre-wedding celebrations. It’s been incredibly fun because my fiancé and I have planned everything from start to finish.

We have been extremely involved in the process from pre-ordering our bespoke outfits and getting them custom made together, down to arranging the catering menu, the set up and the cocktail list for bar. There are many more elements we’ve worked on that are still a work in progress.

We also have a fair amount of family flying from all over the world for our party (given that we are both from different countries) – but that has added more fun to all of it because we want everyone to have a lovely and memorable time!

What are you most excited about for the wedding?

THE OUTFITS!!!!!!!! Indian outfits are some of the most beautifully crafted unique outfits I have come across and the designers in India recently have been absolutely smashing it. I am fortunate that one of my friends is a top designer in Delhi and will be making bespoke outfits for my wedding as per my taste – especially because I know exactly the styles I like and want! Planning this is the most exciting part for me!

What are you most nervous about for the wedding?

The wedding is going to be pretty international, therefore I am nervous about the coordination of it all. It’s a lot easier to coordinate something in your home country than internationally but nowadays I do think there’s a lot of help and options available given how globally interconnected we are.

Are you finding Eternity UK useful, to help you plan?

Incredibly useful – the cake supplier I have used for the engagement party is from Eternity! I will be certainly using Eternity for the wedding planning (especially for any events we keep in the UK).

Want to share your story? Get in touch with our team by emailing at info@eternity-uk.com to feature your big day.