our engagement story --- its long!!
a few weeks back fh won a contest for writing about our engagement... i would like to share the story with you.. he is very proud!!
First let me start off with the ring selection. I know that my fiancée, along with most women, know exactly what type of ring they want. I’m talking details here, from the diamond cut, to the metal they like and everything in between. My fiancée, Dana, is no exception. My approach was that if I was going to get her the ring of her dreams, then there’s absolutely NO shame in asking her to describe exactly the type of ring she wants. I had a full description from her including pictures. After all, this is a purchase for life, a symbol of my love for her and, well, I can’t lie, I’m going for the “wow factor” here. I may have gotten carried away with this concept because I spent almost a year putting this ring together. I knew exactly what she wanted, emerald cut stones, white gold band, large center stone, two smaller side stones and pavé diamonds on the side of the band.
Step one was to learn what the hell was up with diamonds. I spent almost a month educating myself about diamond grades, cuts, prices, selection, you name it. Step two was to find out where to get the band. Well, I soon learned that the band was the easy part, getting the stones is where the focus needed to be so lets go back to step one.
I first started my search like any average joe by heading to the local mall and speaking to jewelers. I remember the first day one of the jewelers handed me that eyepiece that allows you to look deep into the cut of the diamond and I thought to myself “what the hell am I looking at here”. Fortunately, that jeweler then showed me all different books along with other diamonds of different grades so I could begin to see the differences within the stones. Next, I began asking all of my friends and co-workers if they had any recommendations for a trustworthy jeweler. There were a few recommendations and the first one I spoke to sounded promising. It was the parents of some friends of ours so I felt like I was in good hands. Things started off smooth, we drew out the ring, talked about making a casting of it and all, but when it came time to pick out the diamonds, their “diamond guy” was apparently stuck overseas and had some problem with his passport, preventing him from coming back into the country. A few weeks went by before it was clear to me that it was time to move on. As luck would have it, at my job, a new CIO was hired who I directly reported to and his last position was in the diamond district in New York City. PERFECT!!!! I latched onto him quickly and he was the one who was responsible for taking my diamond education to the next level. Man o man, this guy was teaching me about the origin of diamonds, how they get distributed globally, more information than I could ever imagine about diamonds. Then I hit him with the ultimate question “Sounds good but can you hook me up?” Bingo! Next thing you know, he set me up with a contact right in the heart of the diamond district with a company who doesn’t normally sell to the public. All they sell is diamonds, good diamonds, no bands, no jewelry of any other kind, just diamonds. My new boss offered to take me to the city to meet his contact and off we went. It was a Friday afternoon, we dipped out of work early and took a train to Manhattan.
Sure enough, we walk past all of these retail type of jewelry stores and end up at a building with no store front, plain as could be, you’d walk right by it if you didn’t know any better. As we enter, there’s an armed security guard on the ground floor so I knew we we’re about to be surrounded by some serious stuff. We had an appointment so we got approved by the guard, took an elevator up to the 5th floor and headed down a long hallway to a door which we were buzzed into. He announced his name and who we were here to see and we were buzzed in. At this point, we’re only in a small lobby with a view to another guard behind glass. The door to the main part of the business would not open until the first door we came in from was sealed and our contact was called to verify our appointment. After a quick call to the diamond dealer, we were allowed in and holy crap I’ve never seen so many diamonds. The whole facility was just room after room of people cutting diamonds, polishing them, and cutting them some more. I had to be surrounded by tens of millions of rocks, it was crazy.
Our contact was a good friend of my boss’s so once we were in his office, I felt welcomed but could tell this guy was all business as he jumped right into action. I spoke to him via email days before so he knew what cuts I was looking for and my budget. Next thing you know, he busts out five sets of diamonds, all based on my specifications, ranging from lesser grade to the higher grade. All of them were emerald cut and were laid out on black felt in the order they would appear in the ring, large stone in the middle, smaller ones on the side. It just felt right so I made my choice and off we went. I felt a bit nervous walking back to the train station with thousands upon thousands of raw, cut diamonds in my pocket but you do what you have to do. We made it back safely and now I could finally move on to phase two, setting these bad boys in a white gold band.
The hard part was finally over, now I knew my plan. I headed to a local jeweler that I’ve done business with before and had him design the setting for me. It took a couple of rounds of the old back and forth routine but it wasn’t long before he showed me the perfect setting that was the one. A few weeks later, I showed up with the stones and he set them for me on the spot. The ring was beautiful and I knew it was the one she’s always dreamed of.
Now it’s time to plan the engagement. I had to put a lot of thought into this one. Where to do it, when to do it and how to keep the element of surprise. There “where” part came naturally when I thought back of places that meant a lot to us. Each summer, we’d head to Wildwood New Jersey to spend time with her family on the Jersey shores. While there, we’d always spend a day in the next town over, Cape May NJ. Cape May is a Victorian town known for it’s architecture. We’ve always heard that it’s beautiful during the Christmas holiday but have always gone there in the summer time. The pieces of the puzzle snapped right into each other, we’re going to Cape May, in December, to a bed and breakfast and to enjoy the holidays in this formally known, summer vacation spot for us. It wouldn’t even seem odd because it was something we’ve always wanted to do. I booked the bed and breakfast and the plan started to come alive.
Next stop, ask the parents permission. It’s old school I know, but it’s traditional and I knew her parents would respect that decision. I stopped by her mom’s house after work one day and met up with her and Dana’s step-father. They couldn’t have been happier and neither could I. It was the right thing to do and I’d do it again if I had to. In fact, as I was leaving, I could’ve sworn I heard her mom dialing the phone with every intention of telling everyone she could get a hold of. That’s it, no turning back now, game on.
So as much as I pride myself on how much planning I put into her ring, I must admit, I’m not a planner by any means. I’m a firm believer that stars line up, destiny is real, and things happen when they’re supposed to. With that in mind, we began to pack for Cape May and although I knew I’d ask her to marry me on this trip, I had no clear plan on where, or how I’d ask her. The only planning I did was to buy a large piece of oak tag the day before we left, fold it in half making a huge card, and titling it “The top 5 reasons I love Dana”. I filled it out with my five favorite things I love about her and knew that somehow, someway, this was going to be a crucial part in my “popping the question”.
Day one went by and it didn’t happen. It just wasn’t the right night and I was ok with that. My cover was almost blown when Dana called her mom just to check in and her mom thought it was the call. I could hear her mom through the cell phone speaking louder than normal with excitement, meanwhile Dana was just calling to see how everything was at home. It was a close call but fortunately her mom didn’t come say anything to ruin the plan.
Day two came and it was time. It was cold outside, we we’re all bundled up and we’re had reservations for dinner at 7:30. I folded up my big *** oak tag card, put it in my jacket pocket, took the ring with me and off we went. In a park by a few of the shops was a white gazebo, all decked out with Christmas lights and a huge Christmas tree in the middle of it. This was it, it was time but how do I get her over there. I asked her to go over to the gazebo with me so we can take some self portraits of ourselves with our camera as we’ve done many times in the past. We had the gazebo all to ourselves and as we we’re getting ready to go to dinner, I had told her that I loved her for so many reasons. In a rush to get to dinner, she says “Oh yeah, give me the top 5 reasons why”. Little did she know that I had a card ready which titled “The Top 5 reasons why I love Dana”. The stars have aligned, this was meant to be. I said to her, “I’ll give you the top 5 reasons” and as I opened the card, I secretly had the box with the ring opened and in my hand, hidden by the card. After I read her all five reasons, I dropped the card, showing her the ring and got down on one knee. She couldn’t believe it, she saw it was the exact ring we had talked about over 1 year ago. The funny part is that she was so excited that after I asked her to marry me, she took the ring out of the box and put it on her own finger before even giving me an official answer!!! She then said yes and I asked for the ring back so I could be the one to put it on her finger. It was our most romantic night ever and I knew it was a story that we’d be able to share for years to come.
Needless to say that dinner afterwards was kind of pointless because she was so excited and nervous that she hardly ate a thing!!
I would like to add ( Dana Here--- that the gazebo was absolutely gorgeous!! I am sending a picture. And what he wrote in the card was so perfect!!! The top 5 reasons he loves me are 5. I am loyal to my friends, 4. Close with my mom, 3. Love for the holidays, 2. Great with kids, 1. Face when surprised
First let me start off with the ring selection. I know that my fiancée, along with most women, know exactly what type of ring they want. I’m talking details here, from the diamond cut, to the metal they like and everything in between. My fiancée, Dana, is no exception. My approach was that if I was going to get her the ring of her dreams, then there’s absolutely NO shame in asking her to describe exactly the type of ring she wants. I had a full description from her including pictures. After all, this is a purchase for life, a symbol of my love for her and, well, I can’t lie, I’m going for the “wow factor” here. I may have gotten carried away with this concept because I spent almost a year putting this ring together. I knew exactly what she wanted, emerald cut stones, white gold band, large center stone, two smaller side stones and pavé diamonds on the side of the band.
Step one was to learn what the hell was up with diamonds. I spent almost a month educating myself about diamond grades, cuts, prices, selection, you name it. Step two was to find out where to get the band. Well, I soon learned that the band was the easy part, getting the stones is where the focus needed to be so lets go back to step one.
I first started my search like any average joe by heading to the local mall and speaking to jewelers. I remember the first day one of the jewelers handed me that eyepiece that allows you to look deep into the cut of the diamond and I thought to myself “what the hell am I looking at here”. Fortunately, that jeweler then showed me all different books along with other diamonds of different grades so I could begin to see the differences within the stones. Next, I began asking all of my friends and co-workers if they had any recommendations for a trustworthy jeweler. There were a few recommendations and the first one I spoke to sounded promising. It was the parents of some friends of ours so I felt like I was in good hands. Things started off smooth, we drew out the ring, talked about making a casting of it and all, but when it came time to pick out the diamonds, their “diamond guy” was apparently stuck overseas and had some problem with his passport, preventing him from coming back into the country. A few weeks went by before it was clear to me that it was time to move on. As luck would have it, at my job, a new CIO was hired who I directly reported to and his last position was in the diamond district in New York City. PERFECT!!!! I latched onto him quickly and he was the one who was responsible for taking my diamond education to the next level. Man o man, this guy was teaching me about the origin of diamonds, how they get distributed globally, more information than I could ever imagine about diamonds. Then I hit him with the ultimate question “Sounds good but can you hook me up?” Bingo! Next thing you know, he set me up with a contact right in the heart of the diamond district with a company who doesn’t normally sell to the public. All they sell is diamonds, good diamonds, no bands, no jewelry of any other kind, just diamonds. My new boss offered to take me to the city to meet his contact and off we went. It was a Friday afternoon, we dipped out of work early and took a train to Manhattan.
Sure enough, we walk past all of these retail type of jewelry stores and end up at a building with no store front, plain as could be, you’d walk right by it if you didn’t know any better. As we enter, there’s an armed security guard on the ground floor so I knew we we’re about to be surrounded by some serious stuff. We had an appointment so we got approved by the guard, took an elevator up to the 5th floor and headed down a long hallway to a door which we were buzzed into. He announced his name and who we were here to see and we were buzzed in. At this point, we’re only in a small lobby with a view to another guard behind glass. The door to the main part of the business would not open until the first door we came in from was sealed and our contact was called to verify our appointment. After a quick call to the diamond dealer, we were allowed in and holy crap I’ve never seen so many diamonds. The whole facility was just room after room of people cutting diamonds, polishing them, and cutting them some more. I had to be surrounded by tens of millions of rocks, it was crazy.
Our contact was a good friend of my boss’s so once we were in his office, I felt welcomed but could tell this guy was all business as he jumped right into action. I spoke to him via email days before so he knew what cuts I was looking for and my budget. Next thing you know, he busts out five sets of diamonds, all based on my specifications, ranging from lesser grade to the higher grade. All of them were emerald cut and were laid out on black felt in the order they would appear in the ring, large stone in the middle, smaller ones on the side. It just felt right so I made my choice and off we went. I felt a bit nervous walking back to the train station with thousands upon thousands of raw, cut diamonds in my pocket but you do what you have to do. We made it back safely and now I could finally move on to phase two, setting these bad boys in a white gold band.
The hard part was finally over, now I knew my plan. I headed to a local jeweler that I’ve done business with before and had him design the setting for me. It took a couple of rounds of the old back and forth routine but it wasn’t long before he showed me the perfect setting that was the one. A few weeks later, I showed up with the stones and he set them for me on the spot. The ring was beautiful and I knew it was the one she’s always dreamed of.
Now it’s time to plan the engagement. I had to put a lot of thought into this one. Where to do it, when to do it and how to keep the element of surprise. There “where” part came naturally when I thought back of places that meant a lot to us. Each summer, we’d head to Wildwood New Jersey to spend time with her family on the Jersey shores. While there, we’d always spend a day in the next town over, Cape May NJ. Cape May is a Victorian town known for it’s architecture. We’ve always heard that it’s beautiful during the Christmas holiday but have always gone there in the summer time. The pieces of the puzzle snapped right into each other, we’re going to Cape May, in December, to a bed and breakfast and to enjoy the holidays in this formally known, summer vacation spot for us. It wouldn’t even seem odd because it was something we’ve always wanted to do. I booked the bed and breakfast and the plan started to come alive.
Next stop, ask the parents permission. It’s old school I know, but it’s traditional and I knew her parents would respect that decision. I stopped by her mom’s house after work one day and met up with her and Dana’s step-father. They couldn’t have been happier and neither could I. It was the right thing to do and I’d do it again if I had to. In fact, as I was leaving, I could’ve sworn I heard her mom dialing the phone with every intention of telling everyone she could get a hold of. That’s it, no turning back now, game on.
So as much as I pride myself on how much planning I put into her ring, I must admit, I’m not a planner by any means. I’m a firm believer that stars line up, destiny is real, and things happen when they’re supposed to. With that in mind, we began to pack for Cape May and although I knew I’d ask her to marry me on this trip, I had no clear plan on where, or how I’d ask her. The only planning I did was to buy a large piece of oak tag the day before we left, fold it in half making a huge card, and titling it “The top 5 reasons I love Dana”. I filled it out with my five favorite things I love about her and knew that somehow, someway, this was going to be a crucial part in my “popping the question”.
Day one went by and it didn’t happen. It just wasn’t the right night and I was ok with that. My cover was almost blown when Dana called her mom just to check in and her mom thought it was the call. I could hear her mom through the cell phone speaking louder than normal with excitement, meanwhile Dana was just calling to see how everything was at home. It was a close call but fortunately her mom didn’t come say anything to ruin the plan.
Day two came and it was time. It was cold outside, we we’re all bundled up and we’re had reservations for dinner at 7:30. I folded up my big *** oak tag card, put it in my jacket pocket, took the ring with me and off we went. In a park by a few of the shops was a white gazebo, all decked out with Christmas lights and a huge Christmas tree in the middle of it. This was it, it was time but how do I get her over there. I asked her to go over to the gazebo with me so we can take some self portraits of ourselves with our camera as we’ve done many times in the past. We had the gazebo all to ourselves and as we we’re getting ready to go to dinner, I had told her that I loved her for so many reasons. In a rush to get to dinner, she says “Oh yeah, give me the top 5 reasons why”. Little did she know that I had a card ready which titled “The Top 5 reasons why I love Dana”. The stars have aligned, this was meant to be. I said to her, “I’ll give you the top 5 reasons” and as I opened the card, I secretly had the box with the ring opened and in my hand, hidden by the card. After I read her all five reasons, I dropped the card, showing her the ring and got down on one knee. She couldn’t believe it, she saw it was the exact ring we had talked about over 1 year ago. The funny part is that she was so excited that after I asked her to marry me, she took the ring out of the box and put it on her own finger before even giving me an official answer!!! She then said yes and I asked for the ring back so I could be the one to put it on her finger. It was our most romantic night ever and I knew it was a story that we’d be able to share for years to come.
Needless to say that dinner afterwards was kind of pointless because she was so excited and nervous that she hardly ate a thing!!
I would like to add ( Dana Here--- that the gazebo was absolutely gorgeous!! I am sending a picture. And what he wrote in the card was so perfect!!! The top 5 reasons he loves me are 5. I am loyal to my friends, 4. Close with my mom, 3. Love for the holidays, 2. Great with kids, 1. Face when surprised
