Love was literally in the air over the Miami Carnival parade of bands last weekend, as a young couple agreed to become husband and wife following an extravagant proposal using the latest drone technology produced by LunaLite Limited.

Paris Vazquez and Shivani Ramjit met briefly in 2021 at the Miami Carnival, which was its first after the pandemic. Paris told Overtime Media the amazing story:

“I met Shivani in Miami Carnival 2021 as we were both playing with Gen X Mas. Our interaction was short and sweet, but afterward, we kept in touch by phone. However, she lived in New Jersey and I was living in Florida at the time. Over the course of two months, our daily conversations made it evident to both of us that we shared a special connection.”

Vazquez said he planned a first date in Florida, which had to be postponed due to her father’s unfortunate illness. He then made a spontaneous decision to surprise her with a visit to New Jersey. Needless to say, making the trip and spending just about two hours out with her before returning to his home solidified the connection and their romance continued to grow via “countless hours of phone calls and video chats”. Then, on Christmas Day, he decided to take things up a notch and somehow convinced Soca stars, Patrice Roberts and Kees Dieffenthaller to help him ask her to be his girlfriend. They asked on his behalf and she definitely said yes and thus their journey as a couple began officially.

Fast forward to 2023 and Vazquez is now totally in-love and plans an elaborate show to ask Shivani to marry him on the Miami Carnival stage, but as fate and Carnival energy would have it, Shivani almost missed the whole thing! She recalled:

“In the immediate moment, I was totally overwhelmed with emotion in the most positive way. I’m not typically the crying type and I never saw myself as the person to cry during a proposal, but it really took me by surprise actually though. Funny thing is… I almost missed it by not paying attention.

“I saw the Trinidad flag pop up in the sky as he pointed to it, and I just said, wow, that looks so cool and then proceeded to turn away. It wasn’t until he literally held and pointed my head up at the sky and I began to see the words ‘will you’ forming, that my emotions took over and I was filled with so much happiness because I knew what was coming next.”

Miami Carnival was in full swing at this point, with bands heading to the stage just before 8 pm and a huge concert in progress also, but the thousands of masqueraders, Carnival lovers, Caribbean descendants and culture lovers, stakeholders, vendors and organisers assembled all looked to the sky in unison as “Will You Marry Me Shivani” illuminated the night sky alongside a Trini flag and a beating heart. An audible gush of emotions echoed through the Miami Dade County Fair and Exposition Grounds, followed soon after by applause, as most assumed her answer had to be yes after a proposal like that!

“Well of course, I said yes!” She gushed.

“In terms of suspecting anything,” Ramjit revealed, “I had my suspicions but he did a great job of keeping it on the low. When we first got to Miami for Carnival weekend, he disappeared for three hours with his friend, Chris and mentioned to me that there was another friend meeting up with us on Carnival day, who I know is NOT a Soca or Carnival fan so once he said that, I definitely raised an eyebrow, but it wasn’t enough for me to confirm it all in all. I’m glad the secret was kept though because there’s nothing worse than a spoiled surprise. I’m grateful for his love and that the moment was absolutely perfect.”

As far as Vazquez is concerned, a visit to Trinidad is now at the top of his list, but the music, the culture and one Trini woman in particular has already captured his heart and mind completely:

“Your culture is beautiful,” he enthused. “From the people, food and the music… it’s a special culture… One that needs to be protected and preserved. I’m looking to learn as much as possible, so that one day when we have our children, they will understand completely who they are and where they come from. Soca music is love. I can’t wait to see the day soca music takes over the world!”

Follow @2socaloversatcarnival and @overtimett for updates on this Carnival romance in progress.