June 29, 2018, by Liz Cass

Surprise proposal at University Park

It was the perfect spot for a picture, back at the University where they met and with the Trent Building in the background. But when Gracia posed for a photo with her boyfriend Geraldo little did she know it was all part of a carefully orchestrated wedding proposal.

The pair met when they were both students in Nottingham in 2012. Giovani Gracianti (Gracia) was studying an MSc in Maths while Geraldo Tegouch was studying a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Both hailing from the same country they became friends after joining the Indonesian society and attending the same church.

Over the years friendship grew to something more and even when Gracia graduated and moved back to Indonesia they continued their relationship.

Geraldo, now 26, works for Romax Technology based on the University’s Jubilee Campus. When he discovered Gracia was attending a conference in Germany and would be able to visit Nottingham as part of her trip he decided to ask her to marry him.

He said: “I said we should go back to the University so I could show her some new gardens near to the Trent Building. I’m really lucky because lots of my friends agreed to help out. Gracia hadn’t met all of them so I could have some of them strategically positioned outside the building and she just thought they were students or members of the public.

“I persuaded her to have a photo with the Trent Building behind us. It was a little worrying because she was a bit reluctant at first as there were lots of people in the background but she eventually agreed when I suggested that we could just crop them out of the picture! When she turned around for the picture (which I had asked one of my friends to take) there were the balloons saying Marry Me on them. I had ordered a ? balloon but it didn’t arrive in time. Gracia initially thought they were for someone else but I was down on one knee and she said yes!”

The couple are now planning the wedding while will take place in Indonesia in 2019.

Geraldo said: “Indonesian weddings in general are a little different to UK weddings as we usually have a big number of guests who are the parent’s friends, not just your friends and family. We are still working out the arrangements but we are so pleased to have marked the engagement in Nottingham and at the University. It’s such a beautiful campus, we loved our time here.”

Posted in AlumniInternational