A Mud-Covered Meet-Cute
It’s not often that you can say you met your soulmate at a Tough Mudder race, but for Raffy and Maria, that was exactly where they had their first mud-covered meet-cute. For the two Zillow employees, this would be the start of the couple catching each other’s attention and interacting at Zillow events and parties. The adventurous pair went paddleboarding on their first date, and, according to Raffy, “the rest was history.”
Feels Like Home
Maria appreciates how Raffy is the planner in the relationship and how she can fully trust his lead. As an “extroverted introvert,” and someone who loves alone time, Maria felt things click for her when she realized she never gets tired of spending time with him, saying “even if I do need space, he is gracious enough to give it to me. But we always come back together and it always just feels like home for me.” Raffy knew quickly that Maria was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, sharing, “we could just be watching a movie and having the best time of our lives.”
Little Sunflower
Raffy worked with jewelry design consultant Kendall at Wove to create a custom ring design that truly captured Maria’s personality. It was Maria’s nickname “Little Sunflower,” given to her by her best friend, and the way she “lights up a room,” according to Raffy, that was the inspiration behind incorporating a sunflower into the ring’s design in yellow gold to stand out from the rest of the white gold base. Reflecting back on seeing the ring for the first time and hearing Raffy share about the personalized elements that made the ring one-of-a-kind, Maria shared how the ring is a perfect representation of how Raffy makes her feel seen and loved in their relationship.
A Home Try-On Ring by Day, Adventure Ring by Night
Raffy used the try-on ring to propose to Maria during a skiing trip in Whistler, British Columbia, and they both loved not having to worry about losing something of such high value. Raffy reflected, “having that peace of mind that, if by any chance this ring fell out of my jacket pocket or I had dropped it or the wind blew and the ring flew away, at least that’s just the adventure ring and not the real thing. And that really made me want to go with Wove.” For Maria, the home-try on experience allowed her to see how the ring fit on her finger, which could fluctuate in size depending on what she was doing, so they could choose the perfect ring size for the couple’s active lifestyle.
A Ring by the Rings
On the day of the proposal, it was a beautiful morning at Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort and Raffy was nervous. He knew what was going to happen, and as the group boarded the gondola with their friends to the top of the mountain for a day of skiing and snowboarding, he was trying to play it cool. After a locker room pump-up session, it was time to pop the question, and Maria had no idea what was about to take place. It was in front of the Olympic Rings that Raffy got down on one knee and asked if Maria was up for their biggest adventure yet, to which she said yes!
