Melissa & Ross
MelissaSantana
&RossSantana
November142025
East Haddam, CT
Our Story
How We Met
Ross and I knew each other long before we decided to take a chance on one another. As coworkers with mutual friends, it was only awkward for a brief time before I finally decided maybe I should date “the hot gym teacher” and Ross actually realized I was back on the market. One after school happy hour, a summer of endless dates, and a month that was going to either make or break us, with Ross away traveling another corner of the world (his favorite activity & one of my favorite qualities about him) the rest was history! During that month we made a promise to one another to FaceTime every day, even if just for a few minutes to say hello. Well we kept that promise and we both agreed to keep making promises to one another that we would keep. Falling in love after that was easy. When Ross returned home I picked him up at the airport with a big sign that asked him to be my boyfriend. Since then, we both cultivated the kind of relationship & love we had been searching for, and here we are!
The Proposal
A beautiful summer trip planned throughout Turkey, starting in Paris and ending in Egypt. Before leaving for the airport from Cranford, Ross realized he forgot his carryon at home back in Perth Amboy so his mom quickly drove him back to get it and thank gosh she did because the ring was in there. When we got to the airport, thunderstorms started and we got delayed for a few hours, I had already started looking for flights to Turkey, thinking we’d miss our layover in Paris. But thankfully we didn’t. When we finally arrived at our first destination, we enjoyed walking around marveling at the Eiffel Tower and then sitting down for yummy Nutella crepes and waffles on the cutest, most romantic street in Paris. Paris was everything I had every dreamed it would be! After fueling up we continued walking & exploring the city until we got to the river where we saw a boat of partygoers celebrating life (maybe a bachelorette party, we weren’t sure) but as I was squinting to figure it out, Ross had me turn to him as he said “I have a question for you, what are you doing for the rest of your life?” And he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him by spending the rest of my life with him. I was in shock. While I was hoping maybe a proposal would happen on this trip, I was certain it would happen a few weeks later as we soared above the city of Cappadocia in a hot air balloon! I was wrong. Ross had told all of our family before leaving on the trip & secretly hired a Parisian photographer for this special moment. I was in disbelief. After I got out most of my tears and got myself together, we went around the cutest corners of Paris taking engagement photos & soaking it all in. It was surreal to be making the promise of love, in the city of love but it was absolutely perfect! Paris will always have a special place in my heart and we can’t wait to return there, where it all started, someday soon.