Wedding Blog

The Friday before Valentine’s Day, FI and I were ring shopping. We found a ring we both really loved and much to my surprise, FI bought it on the spot. I was a little shocked and mumbled something about still not knowing when it was going to happen. FI looked at me and said “Yeah, right. Like you don’t know what Valentine’s Day is for.” On Valentine’s Day, we went out for dinner (long-standing reservation) and finally made it home around 10pm. At that point, FI gave me my Valentine’s Day card, which had the first clue. That lead me to the second clue (which I had to de-code), and so on until the final clue (about 10 clues later), which decoded into the proposal.

I knew it was coming, but I cried anyway–it was so sweet.

I knew a proposal was coming. My boyfriend said that my part of my “gift”–it was our anniversary–had arrived, but the other part had not and he didn’t know when it would. This confused me, as I assumed that the gift was a valuable ring, which would have a tracking number if shipped. I came home from work the day after our anniversary, and there was a wrapped present on a side table. I asked if I could open it, he said “yes,” (I could tell he was very nervous!) and when I opened it I found a beautiful art pottery vase of a type I collect called Ruskin. I admired the vase, forgetting all about the proposal, then saw a paper inside. I said, “the receipt?” not wanting to open it and see the price. My boyfriend just shrugged nervously, and I remembered, so I unfolded it. A ring fell out, and the paper read, “Will you marry me? Check ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ PS I love you.” The “yes” box was much larger. I said, “I have to get my good pen,” went and checked the “yes” box with my Mont Blanc–I always use it for the important stuff! Then I remembered the ring. Turns out he ordered me a CZ placeholder ring so I could pick out my own, that was the gift that hadn’t arrived. And then we were engaged, right there in our messy kitchen. I cried.

as much as i love being the center of attention i definitely do NOT want a super public proposal. i’ve even told him so, even nixing any sporting event proposals [mainly because i'm super into sports so i'll be focused on the game and not him...not good for a proposal eh?].

i’m sure i’ll start balling and really, i can only handle being that kind of a mess in front of him. lol. i embarass easily but i don’t want to risk being taken out of the moment by anyone else. i want to be able to celebrate and relish that as long as possible.

We got up fairly early Saturday (yes we just got engaged on the 17th!) and he made breakfast before we headed over to the observation deck of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indy. You can see how tiny our downtown is and see quite far! I’d recommend going on a chilly day as it gets quite warm up there with the sun streaming in. We rode to the top and just kept walking around the very narrow observation deck. As the visitors came in waves we’d get the deck to ourselves for a few moments and then it would rapidly fill up.

Around 1:45 we were the only ones up there after a very rowdy group of high school boys left and he put his arm around me and said some of
the most heartfelt things I’ve ever heard and then shows me the ring! I start freaking out saying yes yes yes and we hug and kiss, he then
goes you know you can wear the ring! haha! It was so nice that it was just us and it was in a public place!

We got engaged on a trip to Costa Rica (where we met). We went to a small and elegant hotel on an undeveloped beach called Playa Guiones. We had a romantic dinner at the restaurant that night, and planned on a moonlit walk on the beach but I fell asleep! So he proposed after bringing me breakfast in bed the next morning. The funny thing is, since thistleorchid’s FI had given her such a hard time, I thought he was joking and teasing me! Especially since he didn’t have the ring (he had misplaced it in the bed,) and my parents had lied to me so convincingly I thought it was a spur of the moment thing. Well, I figured out he wasn’t teasing, and we both cried, and I said, “Of course.”
A couple of days later we headed to Monteverde, where I lived and his sister still does, and she threw us an engagement party with all of my old friends.

We were in San Antonio to visit his family just before Christmas. Rob planned a dinner with his family and best friend and her fiance, who were late. There was a particular restaurant he wanted to go to, and I couldn’t figure out why it was so important. We got there and they were just closing. So his friend goes back in and convinced them to let us in - again, I was clueless, and said “why? We could have gone to Whataburger!” And after a very nice dinner on the deck overlooking the river lit up for Christmas, he proposed. I’ve never been so shocked in my life! He chose that trip because we never get to see his family, he wanted to share the event with them. I had to wait until we got back to tell my parents, which was very difficult!

In 2001 I had studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain, and longed to take him there one day so that he could experience the city I loved so much. In August 2006 we traveled to Spain for 2 weeks, and on the 4th day of our trip, FI took me out to my favorite restaurant in Sevilla. After dinner we sat on the river’s edge drinking a bottle of wine, and we talked about our life together. All of a sudden he got up and made a toast to our future together. Not knowing what was happening, I interrupted him with a toast of my own- a traditional Spanish toast. He started laughing, and then interrupted me with, “a toast to this”- and by this he meant the ring which he had pulled from his pocket. He got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I bawled like a baby. We then rany to a payhone to call our families in CA to tell them the good news. It was wonderful to be engaged for the remaining 10 days of our trip, because we got to just enjoy each other’s company and not rush into wedding planning

Our proposal story is always met with a mixatude of emotions/reactions.
Fiance & I were vacationing in Southbeach. To our dismay a “tropical storm” had hit. We heard that the storm was turning into a Hurricane (Class 1) and the radio annoucer was warning about 3 foot squalls & to stay indoors blah blah blah. We’re from Canada where Hurricanes are rare. I had never seen a squall and wanted to venture to the beachge to see what it was all about. We got into our swimsuits and raincoats (as the tropical storm/hurricane was really coming down). We saw that there were kerazy surfers in the water and just watched them. We took in the surreal color of the water, the dark skies, the wind whipping rain in every direction and the silence of being on a beach, knee deep in the ocean and both of us held breathless by what we were experiencing. That was when he proposed. Waves splashed, wind whipped, and my face was wet with salt water-rain water and tears. It was very fitting of US. It was an insane-unique moment !…we came to realize that we got engaged during Hurricane Katrina.
We were humbled by nature’s fierce display and it made us realize that despite this crazy chaotic world we love each other enough to want to be dealing with life’s unpredictable(and unpredictable) moments together.

A couple months before, he told me he wanted to go to a tech show so we needed to take a day off work. The day before leaving, he told me we’re not going to a tech show, but he still wouldn’t tell me where, but we were flying! He wouldn’t tell me where to until we were already checked in… San Francisco (I have always wanted to see the GG Bridge)! So he planned out all these touristy things for us, including a GPS self guided tour on these little motor bike thingys. We drove around and stopped at Crissy Field under a nice big tree with a bench and a perfect view of the GG bridge. There just happened to be chalk there (he says he didn’t plant it) and so we played hangman on a tree stump… it spelled out “Marry Me”! Afterwards he told me he didn’t know how or where he was going to do it, it was just good timing

I came home one Saturday last April from getting my hair cut and he was out on the deck reading the paper and drinking some wine (he was supposed to be finishing his taxes). He told me to get my sweater and come sit outside with him (it was overcast). I came outside and started doing the crossword puzzle. He said his seat cushion was a little damp and went over to the storage chest where we keep the cushions. He said, “hey, what’s this.” I thought he found a bug or something gross. I walked over and he pulled out a ring! I was so surprised! He also had flowers and champagne on ice and two new crystal champagne flutes! It was wonderful!

We got married last September and our baby is due this September!