Purple summer wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Anastasia and Parva, both architects, met at Kent State University while they were both studying architecture. They had a summer wedding on August 18, 2018.

How did you meet?

Anastasia and Parva met at Kent State University while studying architecture. Although Anastasia and Parva started architecture school at the same time, in the summer of 2009, they did not become friends until their third year right before Anastasia went off to Italy. While they have many sleepless nights and hard deadlines in common, they also share the same love and appreciation for each other.

Who proposed to who (or did you both propose)? Do you have a proposal story?

Architecture has been the center of their lives and relationship, so Anastasia knew architecture would play a role, therefore the natural selection was Fallingwater. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and deemed one of his most iconic buildings, the serenity and beauty of this cantilevered structure among the fall colors created a romantic autumn picture frame for the proposal. On November 11, 2017, at 11:11, they arrived at the proposal spot where they had a photographer hiding. Anastasia asked other visitors to take their photo in front of the overlook of Fallingwater, where she turned to Parva to begin the speech she had prepared.

Parva started to cry and Anastasia jumped to the last line and got on one knee and asked Parva to marry her. After a short photo shoot, Anastasia took Parva out to dinner where Anastasia planned a surprise engagement party with their close friends and family to celebrate.

What makes your relationship special? What are some of your favorite memories together?

Parva’s favorite memories are spending many nights talking into the morning while attending Kent State University. Anastasia loves most about their relationship is that Parva is her best friend, wife and sounding board. As both architects, they are able to offer great work advice to each other while critiquing designs at places they go.

What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding? How did you choose aspects of the wedding like the location, venue, attire, etc? We’d love to hear about any special meaning that pieces of your wedding had for you.

Anastasia’s favorite part of the wedding was having each member of the bridal party give a reading that was important to Parva and Anastasia including the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. The four-foot tall L-O-V-E letters that stood in front of the head table were the most talked about element during the reception. Parva’s favorite memory was Anastasia’s vision of the ceremony room and having our friends and family around. Everyone contributed in their own way to help us set up and tear down and it was beautiful.

Tell us a few of your favorite things about your partner.

Parva loves how Anastasia is always thinking ahead and planning for our future. Anastasia says that Parva is her rock; Anastasia knows everything is going to work out as long as Parva is by her side.

How long were you engaged before you got married? Why did you choose to get engaged and married when you did, and why did it feel like the right time?

Anastasia: We didn’t plan to get engaged last year. We knew they would someday. Life seemed so busy to move into the next stage of their relationship. One day we went to a jeweler to see what was available and that trip created the snowball effect and I quickly started planning how I would propose to Parva.

We were engaged for almost 9 months. Anastasia likes numbers to mean something, so the wedding date was selected as August 18, 2018, (8-18-18 same forward and backward). We dated for five years before getting engaged and in those years, we had our share of ups and downs and had to work hard to be with each other.

It was always clear that we loved each other and wanted to always be together; getting married meant taking their relationship one step further and publicly announcing our love and devotion to each other in front of our family and friends.

Do you have any advice for other couples about wedding planning, marriage or relationships?

The Knot app helped a lot with having a to-do list with dates and was the go to place for registries, wedding websites, etc. As we were planning and putting the details together, we had to figure out was us and not what other people thought was best. Our advice is do what makes you both happy. Try not to get lost in all the little details and take a moment to soak in all the love surrounding you.