Proposal: Pumpkin Carving

I don't know anyone who doesn't love Fall. The weather is lovely, the associated foods and traditions are anticipated all year long. Hay rides, pumpkin carving, hot cider, corn mazes, apple picking, fairs and festivals. The unique opportunities to propose are endless.

This proposal is adorable. I imagine he carved out the pumpkin from the bottom to put the ring in the top. I wonder if they every got around to finishing carving their pumpkins!

Etsy Monday: Magnetic Attraction

It has been a while... my apologies.  Back at it again. 

These magnets are a fun way to propose.  Think of all the magnetic surfaces where they could be applied: kitchen appliances, mirror, car, mailbox... (If you can think of more put them in the comments!). 

Marble Magnets by Sideproject

While this project could definitely be done at home (I have made similar magnets myself), I must say a person about to propose probably has better things to do than try to find time for a secret craft project.  Additionally, it might be tough to explain why you need a glue gun.  Splurge on these magnets for $20. 

Etsy Monday: Shiba Inu Proposal

One of my facebook followers (and an Etsy seller) posted this youtube video of a proposal last week.   Watch to see the cute puppy that was an added bonus to the proposal!

I love how the dog is playing with the ring before he proposes!  Good thing the diamond was bezel set so he couldn't do too much damage!

Half-Bezel Set Engagement Ring

Proposal: Elephants and Limos

It was a Wednesday night and I was supposed to meet my boyfriend at his house, about an hour and a half away, to depart on a long weekend away with my family.  I left work early and didn't tell him, thinking the surprise would be on him.  He called me while I was on my way, and I admitted how far I was.  He asked me what I wanted for dinner because he was going to pack sandwiches for the road.  I requested a PB&J.  A little further along, he called me again asking where I was.  I got to his house, just about right on time.  I walked in saying "Honey, I'm home!"  He hollered "in here" from the living room.  The first thing I saw as I rounded the corner was a slide show of black and white pictures of us.  In the background, I could hear the song "Marry Me" by Train and I could smell the lilies that were on the coffee table.  He finally came into my view, in a suit on one knee.

My initial reaction was "No, this isn't happening here."  He asked me to sit down on the couch, where to one side of me he had thoughtfully put a box of tissues.  He read me his profession of love from a Congratulations on Your Engagement card, that he later gave to me as a keepsake.  When it came time to ask the important question, he pulled a custom made mahogany box out of a porcelain elephant dish (I collect elephants).  The box had the last 5 lines of his proposal and two elephants kissing on the top.  Inside, it had the date and said "Marry me beautiful, I will love you forever."  Once I stopped crying, I was able to see the ring: a beautiful round solitaire with pave stones in the band.

Elephants Magnetic Kissing Salt & Pepper Shaker Set

The night was not over!  We popped some champagne and he took me upstairs to show me the color he had painted what would now be our bedroom.  Hanging from the closet door was a selection of three new black dresses with a pair of my black heels sitting on the floor.  I picked out one of the dresses to wear and a limo came to take us to dinner.  We had a private room reserved for us and we took some time to call our families.  After dinner, we went to the bar where we first met, and then to a hotel where he had scattered rose petals and had an edible arrangement waiting.  I couldn't have asked for a better day or a better fiance.

We departed on our vacation the next day and celebrated all weekend long with my family.

- Still waiting for my PB&J, Massachusetts

Proposal: Lesson No. 1: Tying the Knot Tight Enough

(From wikimedia)

A recent every-day proposal made the news the other day.  A man had decided to propose on Cape Cod.  He tied the ring to a sand dollar and placed it on a jetty.  When his soon-to-be fiance picked up the sand dollar, the ring was too heavy for the knot and it fell through the rocks of the jetty.  The couple and passers-by searched for four hours with no luck.  Sadly, the center stone was an heirloom.  Thankfully, the man's mother had it fully insured! Read the full story here. 

 

Was there a fluke in your proposal?  What would you do if this happened to you? 

Proposal: A Flipbook Story

I am so excited to share this engagement story, even though it is already posted online, for a few reasons:


1.) It is absolutely unique.  
2.) I am a nerd at heart, well even a little bit on the surface too, and so I appreciate the nerdiness of this story and the technology that made it happen.
3.) As a reader, you can really get to know this couple and this story from a her other blog posts, namely: Ok, Maybe You CAN Love a Fat Girl (You can also read Kepa's account of their romance here)


I have pulled this story directly form Mary's blog (with her permission of course!).  Kepa's account is on his blog.  Aside from her enviable romance story, Mary blogs about "happy and healthy living."  Check it out.  (Oh, and by the way, a picture of the ring is here, in her initial announcement about her engagement!)

I knew it was coming eventually because it’s hard to be completely smitten with someone and not discuss the future together. I am moving to New Zealand in August and that has been the plan for quite a while. My only uncertainty was when exactly Kepa would ask the question and how. He had taken my mom to coffee without me, so I figured he had asked her permission then, because we are all traditional like that here, but I didn’t know for sure. He likes to keep things secret and surprise me so I really had no idea. I guessed one of his plans, but since our road trip plans changed it completely threw me off the scent. I had no clue.

Yesterday before we went to lunch while I was getting ready, Kepa asked me to stay in the bathroom. He had tried to get someone else to get me out of the house but everyone was at work or busy. So he just asked me to stay in there… or go outside. Since it’s hot I chose the bathroom/bedroom option. I saw him putting post it notes all over the house but didn’t think much of it because he has done that before for me. (We like using post its.) I figured it was just something fun to do to make up for the house being so boring.

When he finally said he was ready for lunch we walked outside. I asked if it was okay to leave the notes around and if I should just ignore them being there. And then after a few steps toward my car, he said I could go back inside. HA! Okay!

So I went inside and started at the beginning, walking around the house collected the post it notes that all said sweet things (they are in the video below if you want to see what they say). My youngest brother actually interrupted in the middle, which was funny. At the end of the notes they told me that Kepa made something for me and I needed to go watch it.

He made me a flipbook video! It was the cutest thing ever and he worked for so long on it. I absolutely freaking loved it. It’s got my favorite song, our story condensed, and lots of pictures from when we were together in New Zealand. He made it a while ago and it’s been on YouTube secretly, because he showed it to some of my best friends to ask if it was okay.

If you want to watch the flipbook video:

Obviously the end of the flipbook video is the proposal. I saw that then looked at Kepa and he was on one knee. AHHHH! Then he said the most awesome, perfect for me, amazing speech ever.

From the day I first saw you, I was smitten.

Every day since then, my feelings have only grown deeper.

I love you, Mary.

I love you for everything you are.

You are everything flowers and hearts and sunshine and butterflies and rainbows.

All the magic and wonder in my world.

You know why I hold on to you so tight?

Because life is a maze full of twists and turns and I want to get lost inside with you.

Because when I’m with you the world stops turning and gravity disappears and it’s all I can do to stop floating away.

I want to be the one you take great leaps with and face lightning storms with,

the one who holds you up above the waves and laughs with you all the while being drowned,

the one you split your desserts with,

the one who’ll sit in the seat facing the wall so you can have your back to it,

the one who will push you around in shopping carts,

and the one who knows just how important it is to never put pickles in anything.

You would make me the luckiest man in the world if you would say yes to this next questions….

Will you marry me?

Yes he really talks like that. And it’s amazing. And I cried.

And I obviously said YES!

It really was amazingly sweet, romantic, perfect-for-me proposal. Kepa knows me so well and it’s obvious from how much thought and work he put into this to make it special. I am in fact the luckiest girl ever.

We had the best day afterwards as well, telling everyone we loved and also going to all my favorite eats in Memphis. It was the best day ever.

I’m so happy with my new fiance! Fiance!

If you would like to watch the entire engagement video, it’s below. Kepa recorded everything (I had no idea) so you can see the whole event from the post it notes to me saying yes and all.

Proposal: Skating in Boston

As told by a bystander....


Last November, I was skating at Frog Pond in Boston on the season opening weekend.  It was a Friday night, right before Thanksgiving, and I was on a blind date.  There wasn't any snow yet, and the air was just cold enough to keep the ice solid. Skating seemed like a great first date:  an activity so lulls in conversation wouldn't be awkward, slightly romantic yet not overly so, and plenty of people watching.  After a while on the ice, they cleared the crowd so they could bring out the zamboni.  The typical popular soft-rock music changed to "Boston and St. John's" by Great Big Sea.  The pace of the song blended in with the others that had been playing, but the abrupt change mid song and the reduced popularity of this song made my ears perk up.  (It was a high school favorite of mine, but I knew it did not have much radio presence.)  It was then, that I glanced from my date to center ice, where all alone, in front of a small crowd of people, was a man on his knee with a ring in his hand and the woman of his dreams in front of him.  When their moment was over, and they came off the ice, everyone clapped and cheered.  In my mind, they too must have come to Frog Pond for their first date.  I could tell that he had long awaited the opening of this season for his chance to seal the deal.

Nothing ever did come from that first date, but it was warming to observe such a wonderful proposal.

- Wistful Observant, Boston

Proposal: Your Story Here

Want to share your engagement story?  Please send it to us at ringdrunk@gmail.com.  We would love it if you included a picture of the two of you, the location of your proposal, and/or a picture of the ring! 

 

Posting your engagement story on a blog has many benefits!  Here are a few (yes, I love lists):

1.) Easy link to send to family and friends who ask for the story.

2.) Details permanently saved for you and yours to reflect on.

3.) Inspire others searching for the perfect way to propose. 

Proposal: Five years in the making

My boyfriend and I had been dating for about 5 years; we met in college and happily stayed together through him traveling 3 hours away to attend a live-in firefighting academy, me going to grad school 2 hours away, and are currently living about 2 hours apart. In that time we had begun to seriously plan our future. He had plans for us to move in together, to merge finances, a Fall 2011 wedding, and even plans to adopt the Greyhound I'd been wanting for as long as I could remember. The only problem was that all of these plans hinged on us getting engaged! I knew that as of a few months ago he had the family diamonds we planned to use for the ring, and around the same time he had me call a particular jewelry store in my hometown to speak with someone directly about the setting. Still, the time for me to turn in my own lease for another year was rapidly approaching, and there was no ring! I went home to Maine for a week or so at the end of June for a family event, and I had really been hoping I would be able to celebrate my engagement with my family. Unbeknown to me, during my vacation he had traveled from upstate New York to Maine and back, all in a day, to collect the ring! A week later he asked me to visit him (very unlike him - he usually says I am always welcome and he would always love to see me!) so we could spend the 4th of July (my favorite holiday!) together. We went for a walk over the water early in the day, and halfway over a beautiful bridge he came up behind me put his arms around me and had in his hand the ring of my dreams!  
--Browsing Greyhounds, New York

Proposal: Old Spice

Have you seen the new old spice commercials? I feel like I could watch them on YouTube all day along and apparently, I am not alone. Old Spice launched a unique question and answer campaign a few days ago, although the approach seemed more like Simon says or truth or dare. The Old Spice Man started a twitter account, accepted questions/requests, and replied via YouTube.   where he responded to questions and requests. Some examples: sing happy birthday, are eyebrows considered facial hair, and what would you do on a day with the Stanley Cup?

One request really caught my attention: a marriage proposal! Johannes S. Beals asked the Old Spice Man to propose to his girlfriend. Luckily, she said yes.

Anyone else wonder what a love plant looks like? Would you accept this unconventional proposal?