Colorado travelers who met while sitting next to each other on a plane get ENGAGED eight months later — as the bride-to-be reveals, she knew she’d found her husband-to-be just an HOUR after the flight
A pair of travelers whose romance blossomed after sitting next to each other on a plane are now saying “Yes.”
Sasha Ebrahimi, 25, was on her way to London from her native Colorado in April 2022, with an itinerary that included a stopover in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Her presence in the terminal at Denver International Airport was not overlooked by another passenger on the flight, Daniel Gutierrez, 35, who was also on his way to London.
“It’s funny because I had already noticed her at the airport,” he said People in a profile about the couple and their meet-cute.
Daniel Gutierrez, 35, and Sasha Ebrahimi, 25, were on their way to London from their native Colorado when they sat next to each other on a plane
The two struck up a conversation – and it quickly became clear that they had undeniable chemistry
“About an hour into the flight, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to marry this man,'” Sasha, who works in contract management at Lockheed Martin, recalled of her first interaction with Daniel.
“I thought she was beautiful when I first saw her,” said Daniel, who works as a network engineer at Vail Resorts, when he first saw Sasha at the Denver airport.
“I thought she was beautiful when I first saw her,” added Daniel, who works as a network engineer at Vail Resorts.
After boarding the first leg of the Icelandair journey, a flight attendant asked that Sasha be moved from her initial seat assignment.
“Oh god, this isn’t what I wanted,” Sasha—then a graduate student at Pepperdine University who now works in contract management at Lockheed Martin—remembered at first.
But as soon as she saw she was going to sit next to Daniel, “I thought, ‘This is going to be great.'”
Daniel felt the same. “I was like, ‘Now I get to sit with a beautiful woman before the seven-hour flight,'” he described.
The two struck up a conversation almost immediately.
“About an hour into the flight, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to marry this man,'” she told People. “And as soon as I got off the plane, I texted my friend Claire and said, ‘I just met my husband.'”
Of the instant connection she felt, Sasha speculated, “I think it was his sincerity… He was very calm. I am a very chaotic person. It was easy for us to connect. And I think that was the most important thing, like I didn’t feel like I was trying too hard. The conversation just flowed naturally.’
By the time they returned to the United States, the two had become “inseparable.”
Last December – after less than a year of dating – Daniel proposed to Sasha on the beach at a romantic dinner in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic
According to People, the lovebirds will tie the knot on August 12, 2023 in Broomfield, Colorado, in front of 270 friends and family members.
An hour before landing for her 10-hour layover in Reykjavík, Sasha casually asked Daniel for his number.
It would be his first visit to Europe – while she had studied abroad in Paris and traveled all over the continent – and she told him she wanted to text him recommendations.
“I think I said something like, ‘Oh, give me your number and I’ll send you some places to see,'” Sasha said.
But she admitted the question was “also a trick” to get his grades.
A few days after they arrived in the UK, Sasha was disappointed she hadn’t heard from him, but she chose to send the first text herself.
The couple live together in the town of Lone Tree in their native Colorado
When he texted back, “I had butterflies, which doesn’t really happen to me.”
Not long after, the pair accidentally bumped into each other on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile Street, where a moment worthy of the silver screen unfolded.
When Sasha walked out of her hotel, a huge crowd had gathered in the street. When it finally spread, Daniel was on the other side.
“We had our first kiss in Edinburgh,” he said of the whirlwind romance officially underway from that day’s meeting. “Sparks flew.”
They eventually met again in Amsterdam and by the time they returned to the United States they had become ‘inseparable’. according to their wedding website.
“Sasha and Daniel got quite a reputation when they toured the country together. From the Rocky Mountains to the South to the Pacific Northwest and everywhere in between, Sasha and Daniel continued to strengthen their bond,” the site’s “Our Story” narration read.
It wasn’t long before they also moved in together in the town of Lone Tree in their native Colorado.
And last December – after less than a year of dating – Daniel proposed to the beach for a romantic dinner while the couple vacationed in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to mark Sasha’s birthday.
According to People, the lovebirds will tie the knot this Saturday in Broomfield, Colorado, in front of 270 friends and family members.