The Story of Ben & Megha
We were married on September 8th, 2018 in Ithaca, NY. Ben says that it was the best party he’s ever been to, Megha says that it was…fine. The weekend kicked off with a garba night that featured lots of dancing, an amazing spread of BBQ and chaats, and beverages galore. The wedding ceremony brought chillier than expected weather (which meant lots of chai and coffee), a delayed baraat (blame Janice, she blocked the DJ’s car), a very low flying drone, and some interesting words from the priest, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way! The reception kicked off that night and lasted into the early morning with the DJ blasting trap music at 1AM. The weekend ended with a waffles brunch on Sunday, featuring Neil’s famous recipe and some complaints from some misinformed guests who claim they were told they could only have one (FALSE!).
While not entirely a surprise (Ben and Megha had ring shopped together) Megha wasn’t sure exactly when the proposal was happening. Ben decided to pop the question during a trip to Kings Canyon National Park, though he didn’t plan the exact moment. While hiking the Mist Falls trail they came across an amazing vista and he decided he would do it on the way back. When they reached the vista for the second time he suggested they stop for a snack break. He was planning to ask while they were taking in the view but the second they finished eating Megha was up and ready to go. While Ben tried to convince her to take in the view a bit longer a large group came up to the vista and made the proposal a bit too public for Ben’s taste. Luckily after a short walk down the trail, with the view still in front of them, they got a break in people and Ben asked Megha to marry him, to which she said “oh, fuck”….and then yes.
Ben and Megha made the big move out to San Francisco after Ben graduated from NYU. Coffee, beer, and great Mexican made the transition a bit easier but the bagels have been sorely lacking. However, croissants have helped fill the bagel void.
After dating for a number of years Ben and Megha moved in together while Ben attended NYU. An apartment in Astoria had everything they needed: bagels, coffee, beer halls, and a great Mexican food truck.
Megha met Neil and Sally first and was basically thrown into the fire as they all spent the weekend together in Ben’s small Philly apartment, but they hit it off immediately. Ben met Mahesh, Kala, and the whole Patel crew at New Years later that year. It wasn’t actually the first meeting for Ben and Mahesh as they had met quickly once before when Ben was picking Megha up from her house. Due to only getting a quick glance at Ben, and all of Ben’s gray hairs, Mahesh thought Ben was significantly older than Megha and wasn’t thrilled, luckily he was quickly corrected.
A month or so of phone calls led to Ben asking Megha out to dinner during his next visit to Philly. Knowing she was into food he did a lot of research and ended up selecting Zahav, an excellent modern Israeli restaurant. It must have a been a good meal because a month later they were dating. In keeping with their foreign holiday tradition, their first date was on Canada Day!
After a few unsuccessful attempts of connecting, Ben and Megha hit it off at a karaoke night in Philly where Megha was wowed by Ben’s rendition of TI’s Rubberband Man and their Adele duet. Even as Ben returned to Florida they stayed in touch with increasingly frequent phone calls and text marathons.
Ben and Megha met on Cinco de Mayo 2010 at Landmark Grill on Drexel’s campus while having drinks with mutual friends. They connected later via Facebook (though Ben had to ask his friend Brandon who Megha P was) and stayed in touch. Ben’s friends were convinced Megha liked him because she liked so many of his posts (Megha strongly denies this!)