Join The Wedding Edition as we interview influencer, radio host, and tv personality Tanya Rad and her fiancé Roby Yadegar, and discover the details behind their sweet Beverly Hills engagement.
The Story So Far…
Tanya: We matched on the 1st of November, 2019, and went on our first date four days later. I was a big believer in not letting conversation linger in the apps for too long. Get out and meet the person IRL and see if you have any chemistry— that was my motto. To be honest, at the time I did not have high hopes for my first date with Roby. I had just ended something with yet another guy, and was feeling defeated and depleted in the love department.
My coworker forced me to go, saying it would be good for me to get back out there and that Roby “seemed like a great guy” based on his profile… little did she know, he would be the most incredible man I’ve ever met.
Roby: Tanya made the first move by liking my photo on a dating app (although she claims I made the first move by starting the conversation!) Whatever side of the debate you’re on (my side or the wrong side) the connection was immediate… Little did I know that her friends were actually the ones writing her messages to me on the dating app, but regardless, I was very excited for our first date a few days later.
The moment I laid eyes on her I knew she was special, and a date that was supposed to last an hour lasted five. Neither of us wanted it to end, and the rest is history…
Dropping Hints…
Tanya: I’m the opposite of subtle, so Roby was fully aware of my eagerness to get engaged early on in our relationship. I was never shy about my intentions with him or this relationship, and fell for him quickly.
When it came to the ring, I realised I’d never had a daydream in mind of what that looked like. I quickly made plans with my best friends to go around town and try on all the rings so I could give him some direction. By the time I had made my rounds, he knew the vibe I was going for and he absolutely did an amazing job!
Roby: At a certain point in the relationship it became an express topic of conversation. We both knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when. I had a very specific vision of where to do it that was particularly meaningful to us, but it took longer than anticipated to get the ring in order and organise everything.
So I while I knew it was going to happen soon, she didn’t, and let me tell you, there is nothing harder than being in Paris at the Eiffel Tower at midnight with your fiance who is expecting you to propose and…. not proposing…. In the end, where we did it was so much more special and perfect for us (and was well worth the wait!).
The Proposal…
Tanya: First of all, let me tell you he proposed to me on a Sunday AFTER a Jonas Brothers concert, and if anyone is looking to throw their partner off when it comes to when you’re going to propose, that is the time to do it. I had no idea whatsoever!
There is a specific courtyard in Beverly Hills where i spent many afternoons (by a certain fountain) praying for my future husband, who I hadn’t met yet. Meanwhile, my future fiancé was parking nearby every single day, passing through this courtyard— maybe even right by me multiple times— and we had never even known it— until we met several years later. To us, this courtyard is our “invisible string” (for all my fellow Swifites out there). It’s the place that always gave me the feeling that we were meant to be together, soulmates just waiting to meet at the perfect time.
This courtyard is on the side of The Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills, and we go to their spa for couples massages from time to time. He had arranged for us to have a couples massage that Sunday. When we got to reception they explained their couples massage room had a leak and they’d have to split us up— which I have to admit, I was kind of annoyed about! But towards the end of my massage, the therapist handed me a note fro Roby:
“My angel, It’s been a long journey but we are finally here… your dress, shoes & makeup are waiting for you in the locker room. Please take your time to get ready and meet me on the garden terrace outside the spa… Love, me”. I knew right away, and was an absolute mess while trying to get ready— I couldn’t stop crying long enough to actually put on the makeup Roby had left for me!
After I said yes, he’d had our immediate family, and my best friends waiting in the corner to celebrate. It was the most incredible and also overwhelming feeling I’ve experienced in my entire life. I’ve never felt so loved, I’ve never felt so cared for, and I’ve never felt so excited to start the next chapter of my life.
Roby: Tanya was expecting a proposal “any day” at the time, so I really wanted to make it a surprise. It was very important to me to have our immediate families (and a few of her closest friends) there to share the moment with, so once I finally had the ring in hand, I started a group chat with her group of her 6 closest friends (who are also basically family). Everyone did a alarmingly good job of lying and misleading her— including the group of them who were at all the Jonas Brothers concert with her the night before while fully knowing what was going to happen the next day….
Once the date was set, I coordinated with the hotel (the staff at the Maybourne Spa were incredible and were fully committed to helping to pull it off) and the restaurant (for the after party) – all of which came together in just a few days.
While Tanya was getting her massage, I ran to my car, grabbed my suit and her clothes (which I had picked) and makeup (which I had put together with the help of her friends on a video call) and ran back to the spa so they could put her dress and makeup in her locker for when her massage was done. I then changed and met everyone on the balcony terrace which is where the proposal was going to happen.
As soon as she said yes, my kids ran out first, hugged us and it was one of the most special moments of my life. I almost come to tears just writing about it. Then everyone else ran out, congratulated us, and took photos, before heading downstairs for dinner and champagne at a restaurant nearby to celebrate.
The Ring…
Roby: It was important to get a ring that represented what I felt was the embodiment of Tanya’s beauty and our love. Tanya is a classic, elegant, radiant beauty, and our relationship was founded on four pillars (trust, respect, love, lust) so when I started to think about rings, an emerald cut seemed perfect… classic, elegant, radiant, and with four corners representing the four pillars.
Tanya had also made comments about other people’s rings over the years and always seemed to like emerald cuts, so I knew she would love it. I wanted to find a ring company that used ethically sourced diamonds, and friends recommended a company called Brilliant Earth. They were incredible to work with, had unbelievable stones and design options to choose from, and we put together the absolutely perfect ring that embodies Tanya’s timeless beauty and our love.
The Celebrations…
Tanya: After we got engaged, Roby invited our family and my friends down in the courtyard for a champagne toast where we drank, had cake, ate some food, took some pictures and I continued to cry, cry, and cry a lot! I felt covered in love – which is such a crazy feeling. It was all the people who are closest to me in my life (aside from my parents who were in Serbia for a few months but they were on FaceTime for the festivities). I wish I could bottle that feeling up forever.
The Outfit…
Tanya: I had ordered this white co-ord set that I loved so much, and was saving it for engagement festivities. I’d mentioned it in passing to my fiancé like “I’m saving this for engagement” and he obviously clocked it and remembered and had that exact outfit waiting for me.
Another element that I thought was SO precious was the makeup. When I left my house to pick my best friends up for the Jonas Brothers concert the night before we got engaged, my fiancé FaceTimed them the minute I left to go through my makeup drawers and pull the necessities. I’m so grateful my girlfriends recorded this exchange, because it is one of my favorite videos of all time. I’ll never not laugh at him picking up my eyelash curler and him saying “This feels important” before throwing it in the bag! The fact that he had the thought and care to go that extra step to make sure I had the right products made me so emotional!
Roby: She had been ordering white clothes for many months prior to her proposal (hint hint), but there was one dress she ordered in specific she had told me she wanted to wear to one of her engagement events, so I knew it was the one… I also picked out what I thought were the PERFECT shoes (which it turns out she hated, and has become a running joke) and totally screwed up the makeup, but it all worked perfectly in the end.
Wedding Plans So Far…
Tanya: Roby and I want our wedding to be a really fun celebration of our love and our lives. We love hosting and bringing people together, so this is the ultimate experience for us. At the moment, we are leaning towards a destination wedding, because we really want time to create memories with our guests and for them to create memories with each other. We already have some fun ideas of how we want to bring people together and we want the weekend to be filled with the love we have for each other oozing out of every detail of the weekend!
