Weddingbee Blog

The road to our engagement was not particularly interesting or story-worthy. Neither was the decision of what kind of engagement ring to get, but the journey Mr. Porcupine took to get the ring was pretty funny and fitting of him.

We were together for three and a half years when he proposed. We didn’t have a soap-opera-worthy road to the altar. We did hit a few snares—like his nine-month-long unemployment that put the engagement on hold for some time. We knew we wanted to get married, but for a while the timing just wasn’t right. Along with that, we’d lived together for two years by the time the engagement talk came around (feeling pretty married-ish already), which meant if he was going to get a ring without me suspecting anything he would have to be diabolically sneaky.

Image via Platinum Engagement Ring

As my friends started to get engaged around me, the question of what I liked in an engagement ring started to come up. Although I’m a big believer in not picking it out together (I like surprises, but that’s just me), I knew he would need some guidance. I always loved the traditional Tiffany setting and made it pretty easy for Mr. Porcupine. Almost a year before I would get the ring, I started showing him “ideas” of my style/taste. I told him the rest was up to him, and to keep it all under wraps. So he knew I liked a thin band, diamonds in the band, no side stones, and a simple cut.

Fast forward a few months, and I was off to a weekend bachelorette party. Mr. Porcupine decided he would travel home to visit his family while I was gone and go to a baseball game. It sounded normal to me, and I only slightly suspected he might be ring shopping with his dad. (They have an acquaintance who is a jeweler near his hometown.) I thought nothing more of it when I returned home from the trip. (Except for a slight heart-attack moment when he told me to check the fridge for something he brought home. Inside the fridge was a little cake box with a cupcake. I definitely had a WAIT A SECOND??? moment as I opened the box, though—can’t lie. No ring in the cupcake, but it was tasty.)

Fast forward a few more months, and things start getting very fishy around the apartment. Mr. Porcupine definitely started acting a little wacky, joking about us NEVER getting married (a blatant lie…I was not fooled), and acting overall extremely on edge. I had a feeling something might be happening soon, but I had no clue how a ring would have been acquired. I knew he wouldn’t buy it in NYC, and I really didn’t think anything had come of that weekend many months ago in his hometown. I was stumped, but hyper-vigilant of every little word and nuance…

Did you feel something was amiss right before the big ol’ question was popped? I’ve heard from most friends that their fiances had a pre-engagement nervous breakdown right before proposing.