SHE SAID YES!
My girlfriend and I had been together a while, and it was no secret we were going to get married. She had already picked out her setting and cut, but the final rock was still a mystery to her. To top that off her parent's who lived in central america already had an engagement party planned, even though there was still NO formal proposal. In speaking with her friends, I had heard she thought i was simply going to hide the ring in the house and she would find it somewhere. This was not romantic and I am not the type of guy that would've allowed that.
So on Friday night, 10/19/07, the night before we left for Central America, I told her to get dressed and we were going to go to dinner, not just any dinner, we were going back to where we had our first date, we had been back since, but it's not where we go all the time, and don't stop reading cause I promise this does not have a cliché ending.
REWIND
Earlier that week I called all of our closet friends, mainly the friends who most likely will be in the wedding party, and told them, "Friday night, we are having a surprise engagement party," and I told them the details.
After our first dinner we danced the night away at a nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino called Passion nightclub, and we go there quite a bit as we are both friends with people who work there and are always given the VIP treatment. But tonight I requested top-shelf VIP treatment.
As we were eating dinner across the way from the club, our friends were filtering into the nightclub into our VIP section, that the club decorated with 4 dozen roses, and heart shaped balloons as well. All the while my girlfriend was thinking where the heck is my ring, she was searching through sushi rolls, she kept getting up to go to the bathroom thinking she would come back and it would be there, and all the while our friends were text messaging me to let me know they were in place.
The dinner came to an end, and she still had no ring, I paid and we got up to leave,and she frisked me looking for the ring. I was prepared for this, I had wrapped the ring in cloth and tucked it in my wallet. She was starting to believe me that i was just going to give her the ring when we got home from dinner as I had told her all along, though she had a hard time believing this, as I am quite a flashy guy.
As we walked back to the car, we passed Passion nightclub where we saw one of friends working, she asked us if we could stop in for a drink, and we of course did.
As we were walking up the stairs to the VIP section, four bottles of Dom Perignon were being brought out behind us with sparklers spraying sparks off them, the club had a spotlight on us as we made our way to our tables where all of our best friends were waiting, and the DJ played the song by Jay-Z and Beyonce "Crazy in Love", I got down one one knee and the ring magically appeared, and as the sparklers were spraying sparks, her eyes began to tear up, mine did, too, and as I slipped the ring on her finger and she pulled me up to give me a kiss and a hug, I saw flashes going off the, the nightclub had a professional photographer capturing the whole moment on film.
It was a magical moment.
And as the waitresses were pouring the Dom Perignon in our glasses, they were shaking, some had tears in there eyes as well, I looked around and the many people in the nightclub were touched by what had just happened, they felt it too.
People even sent bottles over to out table, I had touched so many people that night, But most importantly the woman I love and cherish forever was touched in a way she had never been touched before, that was the first time she had ever had tears of joy.
J. B., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
A Strong Foundation
"Do you want to meet for a glass of wine?" Brian asked Ricardo in private at the end of a family meal. It was a Friday night in mid-December. Brian had never spent any time alone with Deborah's father. They decided to get together Monday evening at Pricci in Buckhead.
Brian knew that Ricardo suspected something." Her entire family is late for everything. I gave him a call Monday morning and told him I was very busy. We decided we would talk sometime between six and six-thirty to schedule a time to meet for a drink. No sooner had six come and the phone rang."
"All right, I'm ready to leave work," Ricardo said.
"Well, there was no way I could leave work at that moment," Brian recalled thinking." So now I was the one who was late. We decided to schedule dinner for seven thirty. We made small talk for twenty minutes and drank a glass of wine. I just blurted it out."
Ricardo told him no less than three times he had his blessing. Then he admired the ring, which Brian's stepfather had helped pick out." I couldn't have asked for it to be nicer," Brian said of Ricardo's warm response.
Deborah thought the proposal would come on Valentine's Day; and both families had their own ideas as to when it would happen. But Brian is not a red heart sort of guy. They had planned a trip at the end of the year to visit their families in Tulsa and Sarasota. On December 20th,the evening before their departure, Deborah was exhausted from working her own hectic schedule and helping Brian pack coffee for mail orders.
All that week, Brian had been "prepping Deborah to get engaged. I told her to bring over a pair of crappy shoes so we could walk around the new house construction site. I told her to come help me at work on Wednesday."
Deborah owned a condo, so the hassles of single family home ownership were new to her." Something's wrong with the foundation," Brian told her." We need to deal with this now."
A bit confused and tired, she fussed a little. Then Brian took her hand. In the dark, they plodded through the mud to where the concrete had recently been poured." The builder told me there was a problem with the waterproofing," Brian said." Tell me if you see any breaks in the waterproofing at the bottom of the foundation."
By now, Deborah was completely confused. Breaks? Waterproofing? But that was just the beginning.
Brian swept his flashlight over the cement, faking an inspection. He stood on the section of the foundation that would support their bedroom on the second floor. He lowered to one knee then pulled a winter glove off Deborah's hand. He put the ring on her finger.
"Will you marry me?"
Deborah stood there, speechless and in shock." Then I'm screaming. I do not even comprehend."
"So are you going to answer my question?"
"Of course, yes, yes! I never thought you would propose here."
"I wanted to do it here," Brian said," because this is where we are going to start our new life together."
D. K., Atlanta, GA
Since my sophomore year in high school I was head-over-heels in love with this one boy but he never loved me back. We were best friends and that's all I ever thought we'd be, and it killed me.
After we graduated we still remained close, everyone assumed we were a couple, but we never really made it official or anything, he was never up for it. I didn't date other guys, because he got jealous, and he dated a few girls, but never anything serious, because I got jealous easily and it bothered him.
A couple years of all of that nonsense, which became ridiculous, we were at my house sitting on my porch talking when I just started crying—a lot—and when he asked what was wrong, I told him I was tired of this and that I wanted to know if we were a "couple" or just friends and never anything more.
He paused for a long time and eventually said, "No, I don't want to be a couple." There was another long pause after that. At this point I was very worried and upset. Then he said, "I want to be your husband."
He got down on one knee and proposed! It was obviously one of the most emotional days of my life!
A. M., Latrobe, Pennsylvania
My boyfriend and I live together in Chicago. There is an annual event called Venetian Night where decorated boats with lights parade around the harbor. Afterwards there are fireworks.
He bought us tickets to go to a fancy party at the Shedd Aquarium that night (my favorite place in Chicago). First we enjoyed sipping champagne and wandering among the aquarium exhibits.
Then everyone was escorted to the Shedd's North terrace to watch the parade and fireworks. Midway through the fireworks he proposed.
I think I squeaked out "Yes!" somewhere between "Oh my God, Oh my God."
J. C., Chicago, Illinois
My fiance and I were backpacking across Europe. Our one year anniversary was to be when we were in Vienna, Austria.
One of the reasons for going to Vienna was the Belvedere Museum. It holds the world's largest collection of my fiance's favorite painter, Gustav Klimt. In fact, the centerpiece of the collection is her favorite painting, "The Kiss" by Klimt.
So, I brought the ring to Europe with me and waited until she was in front of "The Kiss." I stood behind her as she gazed in wonder at the picture. It was then that I whispered in her ear that I loved her and wanted to be with her always. I then held the velvet ring box between her eyes and the painting. She gasped and covered her mouth.
She wouldn't open it, so I opened it for her and asked her to be my wife. She said yes and jumped up and down several times.
Incidentally, I had been miserable leading up to this point because we locked our backpacks in luggage lockers when we came to a new city. I was panicked about the ring but couldn't say anything. Her response was always, "it's only clothes, what's the big deal?"
M. L., Morristown, New Jersey
It was our first year anniversary together and we were going out for dinner. I knew there was something up, but did not suspect this.
He planned to pick me up at 7:30, but was late. I was really upset and about 30 minutes later, he arrived in a limo. I cried it was so beautiful. I still no idea.
We went to a stunning restaurant that had a private section closed off just for us. There were my favourite rose petals all over the place. I still no idea. He was very nervous, but I just thought he planned to sing to me, which he did and so nice.
He ordered dinner for me and dessert. The dessert arrived in a treasure chest. After a while of nibbling I was told I must crack the chest open. WOW, the most beautiful ring in the middle of all the mousse.
He got down on his knee and, of course, I eventually said yes. After hugging and kissing and crying, he finally got the answer.
N. D., Johannesburg, South Africa
After six wonderful months of dating, my boyfriend and I went to the mall one day just to look at engagement rings. We shopped and we shopped and I fell in love with one ring. Without my knowing, he purchased it that night. BUT, he didn't give it to me until two years later.
Can you imagine keeping a two-year secret like that?
After we had been dating for two-and-a-half years, he took me out of town for dinner. We went to the mountains and ate at the same restaurant that we had gone to for our two-year anniversary. After we left the restaurant, we went riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He found this great place to pull over where you could overlook the mountains and, since it was nighttime, the lights and the scenery were a breathtaking sight.
It was really cold outside so he held me in his arms. After standing there for a few minutes, he began to tell me how much he loved me and how much I meant to him. He's such a romantic, so this is nothing new. Then, he got onto one knee and asked me to be his wife—BIG SHOCK—and pulled out the ring which I immediately recognized as the one that I picked out two years ago.
Of course, I said yes!
M. A., Hillsborough, North Carolina
I met my fiance in church about five years ago when he began going to my church. I had liked him but never had the nerve to go up and talk to him.
Unbeknownst to me, some friends of mine gave him my phone number and soon after we began dating.
We dated for about four years and decided that we were going to get married. In July, we planned that we were going to get married in December, but I still did not have a ring.
Then, on Sunday morning, July 22, 2007, during the service my pastor started talking about how he had been preaching at my church for about five years and had met a young man with whom he had built a great relationship. He started describing things about my fiance and then called him to come up on the stage. At this point I had no clue!
My fiance began talking about his past and his future and asked the preacher if he could bring someone up on stage with him for support not unlike when the preacher brings his wife up with him. He then asked for me to come up onto the stage. This is when I realized what is going on! He began to tell the congregation that five years ago God saved him and gave him a new life. He then said that God also brought him an angel (me) and now he wanted to make that angel his wife!
He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him in front of our congregation of 300 people!
I said YES!
T. C., Whitwell, Tennessee
My fiance and I met at my place of employment in October 2006 (I work for a bank and she brings in deposits for the company she works for). After asking her out multiple times, she finally said yes and it's been true love ever since.
We bought our first house in early March and I immediately started looking for the perfect ring. I finally decided to design the ring instead of picking one out. I asked her father for his permission to ask her to marry me and he told me that it was more than okay with him.
On Saint Patrick's Day 2007 I left work early so I could go home and make everything perfect. I bought candles, flowers, dinner, etc. I set the kitchen table up with the candles and lilies.
I had bought three different colored roses: A yellow rose, depicting the friendship that started when she walked in the bank, was set on the porch of our house; a pink rose, in appreciation and happiness that I have had for her since day one, was placed on the floor right inside the front door; and a red rose, for the love I will have for her forever, was set on the floor right before the kitchen.
When she came into the kitchen I had her favorite meal waiting for her on the table. We had dinner while talking about her day and her asking me why I had done all of this. I told her I did this because I'm so lucky to have her in my life and I appreciate everything she does. After our meal was finished, she said nothing could make this any better. I asked her if she was sure nothing could make it better and while she was saying no I pulled the ring out of my pocket and got down on one knee.
At first she thought I was joking—we had joked about it for about two months prior—and then realized I was serious and, of course, said I will.
Our wedding date is 10/18/08 and I can't wait! I have the most beautiful fiance in the world and I love her with all my heart.
By the way, a few minutes after I asked her to marry me she told me that the proposal did make the night better.
J. K., Millville, New Jersey
