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Ariff Hassan had strict orders – stay away from the dazzling bridesmaid Liliya at his friend's 2018 destination wedding in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The groom's instructions were crystal clear. But when fate intervenes, even the most explicit directives can be swept aside by forces beyond our control.
Ariff tells CNN Travel that from the moment the confident, friendly Liliya entered the pre-wedding dinner, the well-traveled Singaporean Ariff felt an unmistakable magnetic pull toward her. Despite his awkward attempts to keep his distance, they inevitably found themselves chatting late into the night at the raucous destination wedding afterparty.
"We just started talking about all these adventures and travel plans, where we want to go..." Liliya reminisced about their whirlwind romance. Two explorers at heart bonding over their shared wanderlust. An electric spark was lit.
On a whim, Liliya invited Ariff to visit Kazakhstan the following month for her 24th birthday. To the surprise of many, he actually went - immediately hopping three planes for the 19-hour journey to see her again after their chance destination wedding encounter. Those 10 days together sealed the deal for this wildly infatuated new couple.
"We decided we were going to get married," Ariff stated matter-of-factly about their unconventional spontaneous commitment. Worries about their whirlwind pace were waved off as they blazed ahead.
Within a year, Liliya had quit her master's program, moved to Singapore with Ariff, and celebrated not one, but three multicultural destination weddings combining Kazakh and Malay traditions across multiple continents. Ariff's mom didn't even wait for a proposal before enthusiastically wedding dress shopping with her new daughter-in-law.
"We're all one big family now," Liliya gushed about their multicultural marriage, the bride who sparked this love story remaining a close cousin and confidant.
Years later, even after periods of ocean-separating distance with Liliya's studies at Oxford, the spark remains electrifying for these thrill-seeking partners who continue gleefully making blind leaps of faith side-by-side after that fateful destination wedding.
"We like to take risks, both of us, daily," Ariff declared proudly. After that fortuitous whirlwind romance collision, their epic love story has never stopped feeling wildly, exhilaratingly new.
