It's a gay nerd's dream wedding date: 3.1415. Avinash Thadhani and Nelvin Adriatico jumped at the chance to wed on March 14, 2015 -- or Pi Day as the more intellectual types call it.
"Our wedding day fell on the perfect Pi day, the mathematical ratio of a circle's circumference," Nelvin says. "This is the only time in our lives that it will be Pi Day, representing the wedding rings' endless circles of love for each other."
Nelvin, 41, is a real estate consultant with Adriatico-Thadhani Investment Group, LLC, and Remax Heritage. He is a native of Olongapo City, Philippines, and attended Far East University before moving to Houston in 1999.
Avinash, 35, is currently a portfolio manager of multi-family investments for AST Management, Inc. He was born in Houston but grew up in Sugar Land, Tex., where the couple now resides. He went on to attend the University of Houston and is now looking to enroll in law school soon.
Avinash and Nelvin first met through a friend a decade ago.
"We have a mutual friend who owns a club called Guava Lamp, but we never really connected during that time," Nelvin shares. "He was not attracted to me and the feeling was mutual. I left Houston and was gone for almost two years due to work. Then December 26, 2012, two weeks after moving back to Houston, I was heading home after a coffee date when I decided to turn around and visit our mutual friend at the same place we originally met. There he was in his white and blue stripe shirt. I didn't even recognize him because he lost some weight."
"For some reason, I made a U-turn and went to the same bar though I had not planned on going," Avinash says. "But I saw him walk in the door from the corner of my eye and could not take my eyes off him. It was fate because at our first meeting I was not ready to be in a relationship. I was finding myself as a closet case in my early 20s, more into partying and all that comes with it, and he was in a relationship at that time. So it was fate to not be together 10 years ago, and fate to be together now."
So no surprise marriage was in the cards for these two. When asked who proposed, they both say it was a "double proposal."
"I am a planner so I planned my proposal for three months," Nelvin laughs. "I wanted every moment to be memorable and unique, but of course I had asked my son AJ's permission first. Christmas has always been hard for Avi because it's the month of his Mom's passing. I wanted to create a new memory for him without discounting the memory of his Mom, so I decided to propose on December 25. I asked for the help of my friends Ricky and Ella to host a lunch get-together for us without Avi knowing about my plan.
After eating lunch, I started to unbutton my shirt to expose a shirt I was wearing that said 'Will,' then I asked my friend for coffee using a coffee mug I had ordered that had the word 'You' and 'Me,' and then my son AJ was wearing the baseball cap that had the word 'Marry.' After all is set, I handed him a spiral notebook that had his name on it along with a Christmas card as part of my Christmas gift. As he was reading the message and poem I wrote, I noticed he still did not put all the words together, so I got down on my knees and I popped the question. I was already a nervous wreck and bawling at this point. His response brought me to tears because it was unusual but magical."
"I knew a proposal was coming," Avinash reveals. "I had an inkling and picked up on some signs. I had bought a ring and kept it with me for three days, waiting for him to pop the question. After he proposed I did not say yes or no; rather, I pulled a ring out of my pocket, got down and I proposed back, telling him I would marry him on one condition: only if you will marry me."
"I was in shock and speechless because I was not expecting him to propose as well," Nelvin says. "So we kissed and then our son hugged us both and we all cried."
The two had the ceremony at the Beverly Hills Greystone Mansion, officiated by Dr. Shukavak Dasa. Much like the unique date they picked, they also picked a special tradition. "We wanted a Hindu ceremony," Avinash shares. "But it was difficult finding a Hindu priest that was willing to officiate a same-sex wedding. However, with the hard work of our wedding planner Michele Gott, she found us one that would do the ceremony. And we planned the perfect wedding -- from the intimate garden welcome breakfast to the beautiful horses, the venue, an all-out Mehndi [Henna party] at a music recording studio where many singers have recorded at and a beautiful reception with extravagant lighting and flowers."
But little did they know the hurdles they would face leading up to the ceremony.
Avinash: "On the way to L.A., our plane was delayed two hours because they could not close the door on the plane in order to takeoff. When we arrived at the hotel, also the venue for the reception, we were welcomed with a jackhammer and construction going on in the front -- we ended up getting it stopped for a few days. It was also the weekend of the L.A. marathon and there had to be certain adjustments for vendors to get to the venue."
The trouble didn't stop there. "We wanted to be traditional so we decided to ride in a separate limo along with our groomsmen," Nelvin recalls. "On our way to Greystone, our driver missed so many turns and was having a hard time maneuvering because of the hills. A few minutes to the venue I started smelling gas inside and kept telling the driver but he was not paying attention to me -- not until we heard a loud sound like an explosion and the front started smoking because the engine overheated and our tire blew up and got caught on fire.
"So everyone ran out from the limo for safety, scared that the limo would blow up -- and mind you, my best man's wife was pregnant and due to deliver that week, so we had been trying to keep her stress-free so she wouldn't pop the day of the wedding since she was having contractions the day before. Then we all started walking towards the venue; I see people driving and looking at us all walking in the Indian outfits and probably wondering what the hell is going on. Thank God my cousin drove by on the way to the venue."
"With the mishap prior to the ceremony, we didn't realize the best part was yet to come," Nelvin adds. "After the wedding ceremony, we had everyone transported back to the hotel for the reception. Avi and I stayed put because we were waiting for our getaway car to take us back to the hotel. But as luck would have it, after waiting and waiting for our car, the limo was a no-show. Avi and I were stuck at Greystone Mansion without a ride. Our wedding planner and personal photographer were freaking out -- bless their hearts they were trying their best to comfort us. Our wedding planner then decided to call us a cab to take us back to the hotel. So I guess we can say that Uber saved the day.
But we survived it all as a team and made it through the hurdles. We put on a beautiful wedding that was flawless to the guests; some who called it the wedding of the century."
