Only fair seas and skies for this on-the-go couple as they learn that a little help from family and friends can go a long way.
Benydic “Beny” Empedrado and Lyka “Lyks” Jamelie Pluma are high school sweethearts that are constantly on-the-go – as a seaman and flight attendant respectively, it seems their love has long overcome the battle with distance. But when a connecting flight to Doha literally brings the two together, Beny realizes then and there that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Lyka, and sets forth to plan the most epic proposal ever.
How They Met
Beny and Lyka first met back in high school, and though Beny had fallen for her first, it wasn’t until third year that he decided to court her. But as graduation grew closer, Beny believed his efforts were for naught, as thoughts of college and distance would further separate the two, and decided to stop all forms of communication. One of Lyka’s best friends at the time eagerly messaged Beny, filling him in on the whole story: that Lyka was deeply hurt when he stopped messaging her, that she had been in love with him this entire time, and that ultimately, she had been too shy to say ‘yes’. This information was all Beny needed to reach out to Lyka once again and finally ask her the age-old question: “Tayo na ba?” to which she finally answered “Yes!” – but this was just the first of many yes-es yet to come!
Planning for The Proposal
Naturally, since the couple is constantly moving about, they’ve found time for themselves in their shared holidays and vacations. But one magical moment brought the two together while they were both on-the-job.
Beny had been under contract for an onboard job for 10 months when he finally had a layover at Doha, only to discover that Lyka had just landed in Doha as well. It was almost as if fate had brought them together, finding each other quite literally halfway around the world. It was spending time with her at Doha Airport – strolling amidst strangers and strollers and planes flying overhead – where Beny decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
With Holy Week approaching, Beny decided to tie in the proposal with their vacation in a resort in Taytay while awaiting for Lyka’s next flight date. He had called the owner and caretaker of the resort, who already helped him set-up the decorations for the proposal – when Lyka suddenly decided that she didn’t want to go to Taytay anymore!
The “Rush Job” – What happened on the day of the Proposal?
Beny now only had 9-10 hours to set everything up before Lyka arrived from her flight. Luckily, Beny could depend on his brothers for help. While he made multiple rush orders for booking a room, preparations for food and balloons, his brothers happened to be interior designers and excellent bouquet curators. One of them began to decorate the room while the other designed the bouquet. Beny also made sure to find the perfect spot to hide his camera, even going so far as to mark an X in the room to perfectly capture her reaction. And even though Beny had help from his family, ultimately he wanted the actual proposal to be only between him and Lyka.
Cue Lyka, arriving at the venue exhausted from her flight, with sleep the only thing on her mind after multiple glasses of red wine. Imagine her surprise as she walks into a fully decorated venue, a specially crafted bouquet, and Beny down on one knee asking her to marry him. Both of them regard this day as full of emotions, and it was especially so for Lyka, who cried the entire time and was not even able to answer her “yes!” It only finally sunk in for her the next morning as they were moving the things he prepared for her together.
Beny’s Proposal Planning Tips
A lot of planning definitely went into this proposal, even though it had been what Beny calls a “rush job” – but our groom-to-be happily shares with us three tips on how to keep it the perfect moment.
- Be prepared for ANYTHING. His initial idea was “grand” and “epic” but there’s only so much you can do when something suddenly changes.
- Preparations are difficult (especially since he’s currently the one doing all the planning for the wedding as well!) – but at the end of the day, be sure and grounded that you are proposing to “the one” and someone you’d like to build a family with in the future.
- Help from family and friends can definitely go a long way!
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