In 2020, they relocated to Ms. Naini’s parents home in Dallas for a few months after the pandemic set in. There, they became even more confident in a future together. Ms. Naini’s grandmother was also living with her parents at the time and bonded with Mr. Elofson. “She taught him how to make Indian tea and how to count to ten in Telugu,” Ms. Naini said.
By that August, Mr. Elofson was ready to ask her to marry him.
He first attempted to propose when the two went hiking through Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in Plano, Texas, but decided against it because the temperature was above 100 degrees. “We were both sweating so bad,” Mr. Elofson said.
He then decided to do it on a second hike at the Woodland Basin Nature Area in Garland, Texas. This time, Mr. Elofson accounted for the weather by planning their excursion in the early morning. But he didn’t account for Ms. Naini’s mother asking to join them at the last minute.
Following his third try — which was unsuccessful for a minor inconvenience that Mr. Elofson can’t exactly remember — the couple returned to Washington. For his fourth proposal, he converted their apartment into a French restaurant complete with flowers and a printed menu, and dressed their cat, Mooshika, in a bow tie.
“I was very surprised and knew immediately what he was going to ask,” Ms. Naini said.
On April 16, the two married at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel. Nagendra P. Sankaramanchi, the chief priest at the Sri Lalitha Peetham Hindu temple in Plano, officiated at the ceremony, which took place on the third day of the couple’s four-day Hindu wedding celebration. Mr. Elofson arrived at the venue in a baraat, a traditional procession taken by grooms, traveling on horseback and dancing to “Think” by Aretha Franklin along the way.
At the reception that followed, the couple and their bridal party surprised guests with a performance set to songs from popular Bollywood movies, including “Chogada” from the film “Loveyatri” and “Main Tera Boyfriend” from “Raabta.”
“Judging by the crowd’s reaction, we came pretty close to nailing it,” the groom said.
