Calyxta Engagement Stories:
Jay Hernandez and Tamara Pineda
November 2, 2017 at Kyoto, Japan
Can you give us a quick introduction of yourselves? What do you do?
Hello! I’m Tamara and I’m a makeup artist. My Fiancé is Jay owns a Pharmaceutical Company.
When did you start dating? How did your love story start?
Our story started seven years ago when we were classmates in college. He was very subtle with his approach actually. Every time I would make my way to class, he would be waiting somewhere near the classroom just casually talking to his friend. And when he would see me, he would ask if I was going to class already. I’d say yes and he’d ask me to save him a seat. At that time, I thought nothing of it. I didn’t even notice that he was making “moves” na pala on me. Hahahaha!
What was the initial reaction after the proposal? Can you share with us the story?
It’s quite a funny story actually. When we got to Japan, it was already 12 midnight and by the time we got to the hotel, it was around 1:30 AM. We were all super tired and I already changed into my pajamas. At around 2 AM, Jay suddenly wanted to go for a walk outside. I said, “What? Are you crazy? It’s so cold outside and it’s so late na!” but he kept on trying to get me outside, but I was really SO LAZY. Then, I laid down in bed already, really ready to call it a night! I guess when I laid down, he accepted that I wasn’t going anywhere. Hahahaha! So, he told me, “Okay, fine. Can you sit up for a minute?” I asked him “Whyyyy?” and he said, “I have something to give you” and then he brought out a black velvet box from his bag. I immediately got up and said, “OMG, babe?!” We were roomies with his brother, Chino, and he was in the shower while this was all happening, so it was just us two. He got down on a bended knee and popped the question, “Will you marry me?“ Of course, I said YES! I was so excited, nervous, and extremely happy. Surprisingly, I did not cry because my default is to laugh when I’m nervous. The proposal was simple and intimate, similar to how he asked me to be his girlfriend seven years ago.
Who was the first person you shared your engagement with and why?
It was late at night when he proposed, so I tried calling my sister hoping she was still awake. I called her through Facetime and she answered! So, she was the first person I shared it with.
What was the first thing you thought about right after the engagement that’s related to the wedding?
Hmmm. I think we thought about when we want the wedding the to be held. I didn’t really want a long engagement, so the sooner the better! Choosing the month was definitely one of the first things we thought about.
Night of the Proposal
November 2, 2017 at 2AM (in all our glory!)
Since it was just the two of us when it actually happened, there were no photos taken during the actual proposal.
Taken at Fushimi Inari-Taisha in Kyoto.
This was where he originally planned to pop the question, but we weren’t so sure yet if we were really going to go. We ended up going anyway so we just took post-engagement photos here.
Want to share your engagement story with us? Shoot us an e-mail at [email protected], and we’d love to hear more about it!