Darryl and Aradaisia
Meet Aradaisia and Darryl!
Aradaisia and Darryl had actually spent several months before officially meeting living their own lives very close to one another. They started new jobs on the same day, took the same route to work, and even parked in the same parking lot! As fate would have it, an invitation to a friend’s birthday brunch at Parlor in downtown Kansas City would set their love story in motion, but just barely!
“I was going to skip it,” she remembers, “but I ended up going,” – a small decision that ended up leading to a series of life-changing events.
Part of the brunch decorations included photos of birthday guests being shown on the TV screens and these were then posted on Instagram. Darryl, scrolling his feed one day, came across a post with those birthday brunch photos, and noticed Aradaisia in particular.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after this, sending everyone into lockdown. Out of boredom, Aradaisia and a couple of friends decided to try out a popular dating app. After only two days on the app, Aradaisia and Darryl matched, and they spent several days chatting on Snapchat. Then, he asked if she wanted to hang out – safely!
“The world is ending, and you want me to hang out?” Aradaisia says, laughing as she remembers it now. But, pushed by her mother and aunt who said to be safe, wear a mask, and enjoy it, Aradaisia agreed to meet in the lobby of Darryl’s apartment building.
First impressions led to a second date and a third…
When they met, Aradaisia was impressed by Darryl’s gentlemanliness and more!
“He met me in the lobby, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s tall, and he’s got nice skin,’” Aradaisia says. “In fact, there were a lot of ‘Oh my goshes’ that evening!’” After a game of Uno, dinner delivered from her favorite seafood restaurant, and hours of talking, the two made plans for a second date. Darryl and Aradaisia soon realized that they had found their perfect pandemic companion.
A little over three years later, the couple planned a relaxing vacation with Aradaisia’s family in Tampa, Florida, but Darryl was hatching a scheme that involved much more than family fun in the sun. Their families had already met and got along well, so Aradaisia thought little of it when he suggested his family join the vacation, too. However, she did find it a little odd to be “kicked off the planning committee.” Aradaisia – “Because I typically plan everything, but he said, ‘Oh, I want you to relax and chill on this trip.’”
After arriving at the hotel and taking the elevator upstairs, Darryl suggested that they have drinks on the rooftop before dinner. He quickly dashed off, and her mother insisted that Aradaisia accompany her to the ladies’ room. There, Aradaisia was a little perplexed when her mother fussed over Aradaisia’s hair and makeup. They then walked to the terrace entrance and as they were about to go out, her mother stepped aside and indicated that Aradaisia should go first.
“I see a sign that says, ‘Will you marry me?’ with roses and candles, and after that, it was a hot mess of crying!” Aradaisia says.
It wasn’t a total surprise in that they knew they were going to marry, sometime, but the engagement evening was still magical.
“It felt like time had stopped. On the rooftop, we were amid the clouds, the sun was setting, and the sky was pink and purple and orange and blue, and you could see the ocean and the boats in the distance,” she remembers. “And although we had family and friends all around, it truly felt like there was no one there but us.”
Secret Ring Shopping
Darryl had already taken Aradaisia ring shopping, though surreptitiously. He had been to a big-box store on his own but left unhappy with his experience. He took a family friend’s suggestion and visited Joslin’s Jewelry next. After talking with the staff, he knew Joslin’s would be the perfect place to find Aradaisia’s dream ring, so he returned with her, but under the pretense of shopping for a watch.
“At first, I thought, ‘Oh, we’re just going in here looking for a new watch,’ but I got the feeling that he’d been there before,” she says. “The trip kind of turned into ring shopping instead of watch shopping.”
Darryl told her to pick any ring she liked, and when she asked about the price, he quickly told her not to worry about it. Instead, he snapped a quick picture of the ring, then whisked a somewhat confused Aradaisia out the door. He later returned with the picture, but the Joslin’s staff didn’t need to see it! They made sure to note down all the details Aradaisia had liked as soon as they left – a pear-shaped diamond surrounded by a halo with a cathedral setting. And that is the very ring Darryl presented to his bride-to-be at sunset on that rooftop terrace.
Perfect Matches All-Around
“I love it, it’s so sparkly,” Aradaisia exclaims. Her dazzling ring has started a long-running joke for the couple! When they turn out the lights at night, Darryl always asks if she can turn her ring off, too!
No small part of their happiness is their experience with Joslin’s, and Aradaisia looks forward to finding Darryl’s wedding band there, too.
“It felt like family,” she says. “And we’ve decided that since we’re going to become a family of our own, Joslin’s will be our family jeweler because our experience was so seamless and amazing.”
Aradaisia loves that the Joslin’s staff also handles polishing and cleaning, and appreciated their knowledge and help with the paperwork and insurance.
“We are a pandemic love story – two people looking for different things and finding them in each other. And being able to do this with Joslin’s and the ring of my dreams is the bow on top!”
Congratulations Aradaisia and Darryl! Joslin’s is honored to be part of your love story!
Find the perfect piece for all of life’s most memorable moments at Joslin’s!
