Savannah Sellers is engaged!
The NBC News and TODAY correspondent told TMRW that her boyfriend of almost four years, investment analyst Alex Yaraghi, proposed on Friday night while the two were on a trip to California.
"We have talked for a while about getting married ... And I've always thought, pretty much since the minute I met him, that we would end up together," said Sellers, who is the co-host of NBC's "Stay Tuned" and "Morning News NOW" on the network's streaming service. "Now, just the fact that it's official is so much fun. It just feels so good when you feel like somebody knows you so well and gets what you like and what's going to make you happy and feel the most celebrated and loved."
Sellers thought the pair were headed to Torrey Pines, a natural reserve park that contains a golf course and other landmarks, to watch the U.S. Open and attend a cocktail party. Instead, Yaraghi surprised her by getting down on one knee.
"Alex had seeded it months ago that he really wanted to come out here and go (to the U.S. Open) with my dad and some of our friends, and that was believable enough a few months back," said Sellers, adding that the night of the engagement, she was told they were attending a welcome party. "I started to pick up that something might be going on but I didn't want to fully let myself think that then actually end up at a work party. I didn't want to fully let myself go there."
A photographer captured the sweet moment, and their families made a surprise appearance to congratulate the couple.
"Our siblings were there so they ran up and joined us and then we went back to my parents house. And what do you know, both families are there and I hadn't seen his family at all," Sellers said.
Yaraghi had also coordinated with friends to make sure they could safely travel to California and celebrate the couple's engagement in a "huge surprise party" at a clubhouse in Sellers' parents' neighborhood.
"That totally blew me away, because I had friends from all over the country and a bunch of my best friends from New York who had been posting (fake) Instagram stories from New York to try to throw me off and not think that anything was up or that they would be over here," Sellers said. "It was crazy ... They had known about it for months. It was just so much fun."
The festivities continued past Friday night. Sellers said that Yaraghi had planned a "whole weekend" of beach days and dinners with their family and friends.
"Alex had planned all these cute details through the whole weekend ... down to the music at the party and gift bags for when everybody checked in and a whole itinerary. ... It already felt like a wedding," Sellers said. "I literally said to Alex, 'Oh my gosh, you should have just had a pastor come in, we should have just gotten married at the end of the day.'"
Sellers told TMRW that she was "completely blown away" by the ring, which is a custom-designed engagement ring from David S. Diamonds that was inspired by a piece of jewelry Yaraghi bought for her on their first vacation together.
"That trip was when we (first) said 'I love you' and the first piece of jewelry he ever bought me was an emerald ring on that trip," Sellers said. "Because of that, I knew I wanted an emerald involved in the engagement ring. That was really the only specific thing I had said about a ring, and Alex killed it! He designed the whole thing after going with my sister to meet with several jewelers.
"Alex is quite traditional and the ring is so unique. I was stunned by it and just keep staring at it," she continued. "The reactions to it have been pretty funny, too. It's obviously not something you see everyday, so some people have been like 'Huh?' It is so me and I couldn't have dreamt up something more perfect."
The pair has yet to make any solid wedding plans, but they're considering a destination wedding next summer.
"The biggest thing is that I just want it to be as relaxed as possible and just feel like a crazy fun dinner party. I want it to just be family-style bowls of pasta and just very relaxed," Sellers said. "Honestly, part of the reason I would love for it to be in another country because then I feel like somebody else kind of just plans everything. I don't want to have to pick any colors or anything. I just don't have much preference on those kinds of things, so we'll see what ends up happening."