A paragraph here about how Dian and Gizelle love each other. ♥
Dian was a DJ at Bourbon Street in his free time. A few months after the Covid restrictions on alcohol were lifted, Gizelle started working there as a bartender.
At first they didn't become friends (because Gizelle thought Dian was a bit of an ass). She stopped working at Bourbon Street a few weeks later, and they didn't see each other often.
Every two or three months, Gizelle would go to Bourbon Street and catch up with the people there, and over time grew more fond of Dian. She even brought her parents to Bourbon Street and introduced Dian to them.
Their first date happened more than a year after they met. At 3AM on a Saturday.
They ran into one another at Bourbon Street, and after hours of talking, Gizelle got hungry. The only places available to get food at that time of day were horrible fast food, so Dian offered an alternative: They could drive through to Johannesburg, where you can get pizza 24 hours a day.
While it was initially suggested as a joke, Gizelle was sold on the idea - so they drove an hour and a half to get some pizza. They sat at the Andiccios24 for about an hour, and ended up back in Potchefstroom after sunrise. They had spent the entire trip talking, and had leant a great deal about one another.
❝ Gizelle used to show me dozens of TikTok videos every day... It became a bit of a ritual.The moment he first knew he loved Gizelle:
When she left town over her December break from University, she didn't want the ritual to stop - so she would bookmark a bunch of TikTok videos every day, and in the evening we would get on a video call together to go through everything.
We'd spend more time talking than looking at videos, so it went on for hours sometimes. It was great.
One evening while we were going through her collection for the day, we ended up talking about our pets - Her dogs would run around in the background, and she got emotional about having to leave them once she comes back for her studies. She stepped away from the call for a minute, and came back holding Freddie (a female spaniel). She kept putting Freddie in front of the webcam so I could talk to her, and gave her a ton of pets.
Between the effort Gizelle put in to collect TikToks for me each day, and the affection and attention she was giving Freddie, I saw a side of Gizelle that I fell in love with.
She put a lot of effort into spending time with me, and made me a core part of her life. I felt like I belonged.❞
❝ He didn't rush in to impress me; he simply was. Steady, kind, and safe. I hadn't realised how much I needed that until I had it.The moment she first knew she loved Dian:
With Dian, I never feel pressured to look perform. He sees all of me... the dramatic for no reason, the overthinking, the sensitive bits, and the playful nonsense. He doesn't get tired of it; he just stays. That staying is everything to me. I think I knew he was the one in the small moments, not some grand gesture. It was the way he listened when I spoke about my day as if it truly mattered or tried to make me as comfortable as possible no matter where we were/are like in this picture Dian was sewing a heated bean bag for me to use... The way he made ordinary days feel warm. The way imagining a future with him didn't scare me; it felt natural, easy, like choosing him was the most obvious decision.
He feels like home to me not loud, just safe, steady.
Even when I'm being dramatic for no reason at all and testing him with nonsense, he still chooses me. And I choose him right back.
Every time.❞
Afterward the "first date" two were inseparable. They spent almost every minute with each other, and went everywhere together - especially Bourbons.
Gizelle would sit and sometimes sleep in the DJ Booth while Dian was performing. Dian would go to places with Gizelle even though he hated leaving his house. From there on, they really just started loving and trusting each other.
This went on for a few months, until Gizelle allowed Dian to finally ask her out officially. They went to a photo studio and did a 1920's themed shoot, during which Dian asked her out.
Initially, going to Japan was a happy accident.
They were originally supposed to go to Korea. Gizelle absolutely LOVED watching Korean convenience store videos at the time, and often showed them to Dian.
He mistakenly thought the videos she had been showing him were of Japan - so when he decided to plan a trip for them, he took her to a totally different part of Asia. Gizelle never corrected Dian on the mistake, and so they went!
Luckily, Japan also had plenty of convenience stores, very similar to the Korean ones they had seen.
Dian was grumpy for 3 days due to jetlag, yet Gizelle still stayed with him and made sure they were on schedule. They not only learned a lot about foreign culture and lifestyle - they got a chance to truly get to know each other.
In November 2024, Aldo (the best man) was invited to DJ at a rooftop party. Gizelle tried to convince Dian to join as a co-DJ, and after more than a week of continuous effort, she succeeded.
Because of this, new posters had to be made which included both DJs, to replace the current posters that were out in the wild.
Dian and Aldo decided to include Gizelle and Christelle (the maid of honor) to join in on the photoshoot, so that the poster wouldn't be too empty.
Due to the nature of the event (rooftop party), it was decided that the photo shoot would happen on the roof of one of the buildings at the Potchefstroom University campus.
On the day of the photo shoot, props were carried up to the roof for decoration. A table, DJ deck, cables and other sound equipment. At golden hour, the photographer started taking group photos - and after a few minutes, did a few individual shots as well - so that a poster could be manually designed using individual shots if need be.
As Gizelle was having her individual photos taken, the photographer had her turn around to shoot different angles of her. As she did so, she saw Dian kneeling. Holding a ring.
It had all been a farce. She was hoodwinked. Bamboozled, even.
There was no rooftop party. All the previous posters were fake. Gizelle had been coaxed into a proposal.
"What the f___?"