Black-Tie Engagement Session in the Hills of Malibu

The Proposal

We always get this question, and for context, I am an investment banker and Greg is a scientist turned consultant. So we are both a bit nerdy and I'm really dry. Our proposal story reflects that. We were already living together with generally interconnected lives; so we casually sat down one evening and jointly decided it was time to solidify and upgrade our existing partnership into a marriage. I think we had both just reached a point where we realized that our lives just didn't work as optimally separately, and we were really in it for the long haul. Immediately after the decision to wed was made, the “when” question came to mind. As a data-driven decision-maker, in both my personal and professional life, I was immediately compelled to build a financial model to evaluate the tax consequences of marriage to help figure out the “when”. When our friends heard that I built a model about our marriage, they all looked at me crazy, but it was truly a model to determine "when", rather than "if". The marriage penalty is real; I happen to think more people should consider optimizing their "when". I'm sorry if that's not the sappy love story that you all may have been looking for, but for us marriage means a lot more than love. It certainly includes love, but partnership, commitment, stability, dependability and an allowance from one another to remain an individual are equally important parts of the equation. I feel blessed and grateful to have found a life partner where I can both "have it all" and yet still maintain my individuality.

Tell us about your ring:

I opted for a very rare blue/violet Tanzanite engagement ring set with a diamond halo. The gemstone was given the name 'tanzanite' by the infamous Tiffany & Co. after Tanzania, the country in which it was discovered. For all who know me, Zanzibar, Tanzania is my favorite place in the world; Tanzanite is found in only one place on earth, the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa in a very small mining area (approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide) near the Mirerani Hills. We hope to go see and climb a portion of Mount Kilimanjaro (probably a small portion) for our honeymoon.

How did you choose your wedding venue?

We have chosen to get married in the raw desert. We both come from religious families but we wanted to get married outdoors and in an awe-inspiring natural location rather than a church or other man-made structure. We chose a wedding venue that we believe exudes both of our personalities: natural, classy, understated, and a little dry.