Gabriella Maria Smith and Vishal Brown

It was their mutual love of dancing that brought this couple together, when they met as salsa dance partners at “Salsa Salsa Dance Studio” in Park Slope, Brooklyn a little over two years ago.

Vishal remembers seeing Gabriella at a social the dance studio was having, thinking, “That’s the one I want to dance with.”

He knew right from the start what he wanted and now they plan on dancing through life together as husband and wife.

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Gabriella works as a Project Manager for Kikkerland Design in SoHo and Vishal is a Vice President of Professional Services for an IT company called Yorktel in Eatontown, NJ.  They currently live together in a house they bought last August in historic Sleepy Hollow. 

Being that Vishal travels a great deal for work, he was unable (or so she thought) to attend a trip to visit Gabriella’s parents in St. Augustine, FL this past August. He offered to drive Gabriella to the airport, but had secretly bought his own ticket on her same flight and decided to surprise her at the gate before boarding.

He had been shopping for the perfect ring for Gabriella for over a year, but, being a true gentleman, he wanted to ask Gabriella’s father’s permission first.  Vishal had been anxiously waiting for some time alone to speak with him that weekend before he popped the question.

He finally got his opportunity to do so the last day of their vacation, and thankfully was given her father’s permission.

Vishal had originally imagined proposing on the beach, but Mother Nature had other plans.  Instead, while snuggling in her childhood bedroom, he casually mentioned that he had asked her father’s permission for her hand in marriage.

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Gabriella was touched by this romantic gesture, but did not realize there was any more to the story until Vishal said, “All that’s left is for you to say yes.”

It took Gabriella a good five minutes to actually say it because, she says,  “I was so completely surprised and taken away that I forgot to even look at the ring.”

They recently booked their wedding date at the Sleepy Hollow County Club for July 3rd, 2013, but are still in the early stages of planning.

“After looking at a number of places in the area, we liked the gothic-theme and ornate décor of the club, and especially it’s breathtaking view of the Hudson River.” Hoping to keep the wedding relatively small, they have decided to invite the remainder of their family and friends that will not attend the wedding to a celebratory barbeque the following day (Independence Day), finishing with fireworks on the beach.

 

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