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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
S/O Poll related to Oct's sister getting engaged
I know that it's been asked before, but the story was so cute for Oct's sister that I thought we could all share since there are some new people here now:
What is your proposal story?
Re: S/O Poll related to Oct's sister getting engaged
I'll do the short version. Basically - I took FOREVER to graduate college - so DH was always telling me that there was absolutely no possibility of us ever getting engaged before I graduated. (I know some people think this sounds mean/whatever - but it wasn't.) Anyway, I was finishing in December and he was set to propose in October (2 months before I graduated) so I had NO CLUE whatsoever. This is the ONLY time in my life I was actually surprised.
Anyway, I made plans to go to Gillette Castle - I wanted to take pictures and check out the leaves and such. It was POOOUUUURRRRING out that day and DH still wanted to go. THinking back I should have known something was up - he would never want to do something like that in the pouring rain. Anyway, we drove down Rt 9 - it was still beautiful. We got to Gillette Castle and we were the only ones there. We walked around - I was taking pictures and then at one point we were near a pond and a stone bridge and he proposed.
I had flown to my parents' for the holidays. DH picked me up at the Providence airport, took me to Newport and proposed in a B&B. It wasn't a surprise that we were getting engaged- we had looked at rings and I actually listened to his answering machine at his house one day and heard the jeweler say the ring was ready. Newport was a surpise, though.
Aw! Thanks for the IHO poll! How nice! Here's mine -
DH took me to Montreal for the Jazz festival. We stayed at this incredible hotel overlooking the cathedral. He had planned the week and gotten tickets to great shows that were playing there during the festival. On the first night there we went to this amazing dinner. I was hoping it was going to happen at dinner - and when it didn't, I was a little crestfallen, but I didn't want to let on. So we went back to the hotel and DH says in the elevator, "Let's go up to the roof with some wine" I just said, "Eh, I'm kind of tired from traveling - let's just go to bed." I keyed into the room and saw rose petals on the floor and on the bed. There was music playing, a million votive candles burning, champagne chilling, chocolate covered strawberries, huge bouquets of roses in vases on every surface - and the best was - framed photos of us everywhere. He had planned the room for weeks with the hotel staff. As I was spinning around saying "Oh my god, oh my god" he got on his knee and proposed. It was beautiful. It was a movie.
Wow Angela, that sounds amazing!
Mine was very sweet. DH had been in the hospital w/ pneumonia, just another thing in a year filled w/ craziness. It was restaurant week in NY his 1st week back to work and he said he wanted to go out relax and celebrate a bit all we'd been through. We went to 14 Wall Street, a former JP Morgan residence and had a table by the window w/ a view of the Statue of Liberty lit up by night. Right after we were served dessert he took my hand and started telling me how amazing it was that we met in January and how all we'd been through in the ten months brought us closer, showed him how our strengths and weaknesses made us one amazing couple. Then he got on one new on the side of the table and told me I was the love of his life and would I please do him the honor of marrying him. The restaurant gave us a standing ovation and we toasting w/ champagne.
These are so fun to read! Here's mine:
Chris and I were high school sweethearts, we met when he was 15 and I was 16. For our first Christmas in 1996, he gave me a Teddy Bear ("Chrisbear") and the bear was holding a box with a watch in it. Forward to Christmas 2006, it was our first Christmas morning together in our new home. Chris opened all his gifts then it was my turn and there was just one big box. I opened it up and there was Chrisbear in the box, holding the smaller box with the ring in it. I freaked out, mind you I had been dropping not so small hints for a LONG time, but I was still suprised and started sobbing and apparently repeating "what are you doing, what are you doing"! He played our song and got down on one knee and proposed. Me, still sobbing, basically tackled him and burried my face in his shoulder (mascara from the night before all over his pjs!). He had to finally ask me if I said yes!
I did. Fun wedding ensued.
We were in St. Thomas on a cruise. Unbeknownst to me, DH had bought the ring a month ago, and asked my parent's permission one day while they were at our apartment for a visit (I was in the shower!!). Can't believe no one leaked it. But even though he had the ring, DH had no idea when he would propose.
He brought the ring on the cruise with us but didn't do it until the 3rd day. We had spent the morning parasailing in St. T, then we found a little beach and decided to relax there for the rest of the day. We struck up a conversation with the people next to us, who turned out to be Matthew and Gunnar Nelson (think "After The Rain") and their road manager Tami...they were the "surprise entertainment" for our ship that night. After chatting with them for a while, I went down to the water to snorkel. DH suddenly felt inspired and asked Tami to take pics of him proposing to me.
DH came to the water and told me Tami offered to take a pic of us by the ocean. So I was very confused when I stood up and he got down on one knee! I was beyond surprised/elated and I can barely remember what was said other than "YES!!" The whole thing was captured on our camera and we had the oddest set of witnesses possible (lol) but DH always said he would propose to me by the ocean and he kept that promise.
PIB!
I had been dropping hints for awhile about getting engaged. I finally gave up and figured it would happen when it happen. So it was a Thursday night. I was making dinner. I was washing the dishes and asked Eric to stir the stir fry on the stove. He then said. Is there anything else I could do? I jokingly said, "you could propose marriage" He said, "I?ll think about it". I said "you better stop thinking about it and start doing something about it (totally kidding of course)" He said "I?ll think about it" So I sat down at the kitchen table to remove my nail polish. Eric walks back into the room and says "I thought about it" He got done on one knee and asked me to marry him.
He had the ring in his pocket all along! I had NO CLUE!!! So the ring was too small. He called the jeweler and we ran to their store to get it sized then to everyone?s houses to visit and show it off!
Warning -- long!
My proposal was a COMPLETE surprise. DH and I had been dating for over a year and we both knew it was heading toward marriage, but nothing had been set in stone. We had planned a trip to Martha's Vineyard in late October, and I was absolutely sure he was going to propose there. Several weeks prior to the trip, we had plans to go out for dinner and a movie, nothing unusual. A horrible storm had come through that morning which had flooded and closed out roads. I wasn?t even sure if DH was going to be able to get to my house (we were living an hour apart at the time). Well, the storm totally cleared out and our plans were still on. We went to Southport Brewing Co for dinner and DH was uncharacteristically quiet and looked somewhat nervous. After dinner, we headed over to the Community Theater to see Spiderman 2. Again, DH was really quiet and reserved. I asked him several times what was wrong and he said "Oh, nothing." Well, it just so happened that there was a problem with the projector and the movie started 45 minutes late. Again, DH didn't say much, just sat there looking nervous. Movie started and it was great. After the movie, DH asked if I wanted to go to St. Mary's by the Sea for an evening walk, which is something we did pretty often when we were in the area. Well, as I mentioned, this crazy storm had blown through earlier in the day, so while it was clear and beautiful with a million stars, it was VERY cold out, probably in the high 30s. So, when DH asked this, I looked at him like he had three heads and put up a whiny fuss about it being too cold, too late, etc. But, he was very insistent which was unusual for him, so I finally relented. We went to St. Mary's and, of course, there was no one else there! It was beautiful with all the stars out and we had the place to ourselves. We walked about 3/4 of the way down the walkway, he took my hand and said "I have something to ask you." He got down on one knee and said "Will you marry me?" and held out a ring box. I looked at him in total disbelief and said "Oh my God!". He goes, "Ummm, that wasn't the answer I was looking for". Then I said "YES!" and the rest is history...Ok Angela, you win!!
I had been hinting, we had been ring shopping (mos before), I knew it was coming, just had no idea when. I had gotten to the point where every time Dave did or said something even slightly out of the ordinary, I thought THIS IS IT!!. And it wasn't!
His cousin got married a few days after Christmas and he ended up proposing the next morning. We had been to 13 weddings that year, and he wanted to wait until they were all over so that we would have our own moment. He had planned to ask me when we got home from the wedding, but I had had a little too much wine and fell asleep too quickly!! So he stashed the ring under the bed, and woke up at 2AM to find the cat playing with the ring box all the way across the room!! Anyway, the next morning I woke up because the stereo came on, and it made this awful banging noise and then nothing played (stereo was officially done at that point!!). I had no idea what was going on (he had turned it on to wake me up with a Beatles song we love), so he just grabbed the ring, said that he loved me very much and that it was our turn now and gave me the ring. Not at all how he planned, but so so sweet.
wow Angela- your story has me in tears!
As for mine, this is LONG- I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. He bought the ring in Nov. We had looked a couple times and then one day we were looking and I fell in LOVE w/ this ring, so Dave told me to "look around" and the next thing I knew he was at the register paying for the ring! I told him it was too soon to get engaged and he said "you're not getting that ring until I'm ready to give it to you and you aren't expecting it!"
In the meantime, he asked my parents permission (who laughed in his face btw b/c we had only been dating a couple months) and started to prepare.
For the first couple weeks I assumed EVERYTHING was the proposal, but it wasn't. Then Christmas season came and we got so wrapped up in that I kinda forgot about it until Christmas day. He must have known I expected it on Christmas b/c he gave me a tiny box as a present and I just KNEW it was the ring...well, it wasn't. It was a beautiful charm for a necklace. He must have been so proud of himself for kidding me like that. He told me not to be dissapointed, just to wait for "next year" which was only a week away.
So- the weekend after Christmas (Dec 28) we had our normal Sat plans to have dinner together. I told him I'd be there "between 6-6:30". I went w/ my parents to visit my Gram for the day and at 6 on the nose Dave started calling my cell phone "where are you, dinner is almost ready, why aren't you here" He was such a JERK I seriously considered ending things on the way over. Of course, I now know he was just a nervous wreck!
When I got to his place the door was unlocked and he yelled down "just come in" from upstairs. He always greeted me at the door w/ a kiss, so I figured he was mad at me. As I walked in, there was a plush ladybug on the stairs and attached was a note and a "clue" to the next item.
He hid item from our dates all around the house w/ new clues. The cork from our first bottle of wine together, tickets from the first movie we saw, etc...
He moved from room to room as I found clues so I didnt' see him the whole time, he just watched me from a distance.
The final clue was Eeyor holding the ring box. I picked him up, opened the box and it was EMPTY! I turned around confused and there was Dave on one knee w/ the ring and a tear in his eye and he very simply said "I can't think of anyone in the world I'd rather spend the rest of my life w/, will you marry me!"
He tells me I said "No of course not, before laughing and saying Yes...but I only remember the "yes"
Great poll! Here's my story:
DH and I were in Colorado visiting his family for Thanksgiving. On our way ou the the western slope, we decided to spend the night in Aspen. Apparently, he had a full day planned. We walked around the beautfiul town, got spa treatments at the Aspen Club and went to dinner at the little Nell Hotel. I was completely caught off gard when he droped to one knee after dinner and asked me to marry him. What was really surprising was that he proposed with my grandmother's engagement ring. I was so touched--it meant so much to me to have my grandmothers engagement and wedding ring.
Mine is weird long story. DH and I had been dating for a couple of years and we broke up. I moved back to CT, and on my last day in MA, he asked me to meet him to give me some stuff. We started talking and realized we still wanted to be together, but since I was moving we didn?t know if it would work. Fast forward a year, we?d been dating long distance and everything was working better than ever. To celebrate this year of our new relationship, we went to the casino. I got totally blasted and said to him something like ?why don?t you just marry me already since you can?t seem to live without me?. And he said ?ok?. So I took my hair elastic and wound it around his finger like a ring. I passed out; he called his best friend to say we were engaged. I woke up the next day and thought it was a huge joke. DH did not, and started making plans to find me a ring. He spoke to his parents about it, and they sent him to this jeweler that was in the family so he could start designing my ring. From the casino to the ring designing, 5 months passed and I had NO clue that he was considering us to be engaged!! I was up visiting one day and he told me we were going to a jewelry store to so I could pick out my setting. I was like ?for what?, he goes your engagement ring. I was floored! So basically I was engaged without knowing for months. He asked my dad the next month, and I finally got my ring Christmas of that year. When he gave me the ring he actually got on one knee, but I was so shocked that I had the damn thing I dropped it on the floor and paid no attention to him on his knee. I was just looking for the diamond.
We were living in Boston at the time and DH was planning to propose while we were home in CT for a weekend. I love horseback riding so he'd made plans with a stable to take us out on a trailride picnic. Well, it ended up POURING that day and the horseback ride/proposal never happened. Both of our families knew his plan but I had no clue. His parents planned to take us out to a nice dinner that night, my parents kept calling and I just kept thinking "why is everyone being so nice to us??"
The actual proposal ended up taking place when we got back to Boston. It was a Monday night after work. We went for a walk on the waterfront. I had no clue. I kept trying to get DH to go for a run so I was decked out in shorts, sneakers, sports bra, tank top.......We stopped for a minute to look at a cruise ship passing by and I was babbling about going for a boat ride sometime, all of a sudden I looked at DH and he was on one knee. It was adorable! I had looked at rings a little bit and jokingly told him the one I wanted - I thought there was no chance I'd actually get that one. He shocked me with it! I'm getting teary eyed about it now as I type!!
Erica-that's great that you didn't even know you were engaged!!
Here's mine...
Around the holidays in 2006 we had been together for 4yrs and living together for over 2 of those years. We never went ring shopping or anything, but based on conversations we had been having, I suspected that it was coming soon. We were at his parent's house for Christmas Eve and his brother was engaged the previous Christmas Eve so I never would have thought that it would happpen that day. I thought that we would get our own special day. Well, it did happen.
I was taking pictures while some people, who weren't going to be around on Christmas day, were opening presents. All of a sudden Keith takes my camera and puts it down. I was annoyed that he was taking my camera from me, and we were going to be there the next morning, so I wasn't expecting any presents. Well then he gets down on one knee with tears in his eyes and I realize that everyone is standing still and staring at us! Like GilmoreGirl, I said 'what are you doing?' multiple times. I really don't remember if he had a big speech, or if he just asked me to marry him. I said 'YES' and we hugged and cried and then, since everyone was in on it, we had a champagne toast!
I had no idea! I found out later that his parents were also engaged on Christmas Eve...then it made a lot more sense!
He had asked my parents two or three months earlier. I have no idea how they kept the secret. More impressive, is that he carried around the center stone (just a single diamond) for my ring, for 5+ years! He bought the stone when he was overseas in the Navy. We hadn't even met then, but he figured he would need it some day. I don't know how he didn't lose it, he only had it wrapped in a folded piece of paper for 5yrs and he moved three times in this time period!
My story is in my bio but.....
DH and I work at the same company so sometimes we drive in together. So on the day of our 5th dating annaversary (April 20th 2006) we were driving in together because we were going to go out to a nice dinner after work to celebrate. As we were driving in he drove past the exit for work. I was like "ummm exit?" and he said "it's a nice day I'll take the next one" so he drove past the next exit and I looked at him funny and he said "it's a nice day lets not go to work today." (He had apparently arrainged ahead of time for us to have the day off.) So we drove to Nantasket Beach (Hull Ma) where we had spent our 1st annaversary. We walked on the beach, sat on some rocks and talked, watched some puppies play in the surf. It was really nice. Then he says, "hey look an old carosel, lets go ride it." So we went over but the sign said they we closed. He just walked over, opened the door and said, "I'm Richard, can we take a ride." It turns out the reason it was closed was that he had rented it just for us. So we picked our horses and it started going around. As the ride started, he pulled a little white box out of his pocket and opened it. I just started shaking and said "are you f'ing kidding me?"
About 2 hours later he said "I wasn't kidding." and I said "yes". 18 months later we were married.
mines not that great but here it is...
well, we were going to bahamas in jan.2005. he was SUPPOSED to do it there but his friends convinced him to do it new yrs eve..12.31.04
So, he wanted to go for a walk by the sea wall since it was so nice out but i was being a beyotch bc i was sick and trying to get ready for our big night out to anthonys ocean view w/ all of our friends...
So i ruined that one.
So all our friends met at our house (2 couples we regularly hung out w/) and they all came in w/ flowers for me, and i was like WTF, why me? (i was thinking bc i got screwed at christmas and got the crappy secret santa gift) lol
and the next thing i know dom is down on one knee w/ a ring proprosing...i thought it was a joke bc the ring was a round solitare on a yellow gold band..COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what i wanted....lol and i always made it clear of what i wanted...lol oh well, i love my ring now bc we had the setting changed for my bday
not too romantic really
DH and I were dating for about 4 years and we had looked at a ring and it was an AMAZING deal and I told him he really should buy it and he said no way. So not only was I mad cause I wanted the damn thing, but cause I'm a bargain hunter and he was passing on an amazing deal. Needless to say he bought it behind my back the next day! This was in august. Over the next few months the jewelry store had called a few times, and he kept telling me it was about a sale, and I fell for it.
Fast forward to December 2nd of '06... We were headed to Quincy Market to spend the day shopping and the museum to see the "Bodies" exhibit. I thought the whole day was my idea, by DH had actually made some plans behind my back. We went to the museum, and then shopping. We grabbed lunch and I went into shops as he stayed outside on his cell phone. He was telling me that his dad was having computer trouble and that he was trying to help him. We were coming up to a flower shop that I love, and started walking ahead to go to the store and DH goes "Isn't that your mom and dad over there??" I like a complete dumba$$ turn around, and shure enough my mom, dad, sister, his mom, dad, grandparents, and family friends are all sitting on a bench. I run up to them like "What the hell are you guys doing in Boston??" I hear from DH "Hey Meg??"
I turn around, he's on one knee in the middle of Quincy Market, thousands of people watching, and I'm bawling like a fool. All I could say was "no f'n way, no you're not!!!" And all I can see is both our dads playing photographer (which I am so happy I have pics of that day). He finally puts the ring on my finger and its THE ONE I picked out that was the awesome deal (it appraised at 3 times what we paid for it).
We had people coming down in the middle of their meals at 2nd floor restaurants to congratulate us. The florist brought be 2 dozen roses, the bar we were next to came out with a bottle of champagne. It was amazing. We then went off to Vinny T's (the original one is in Boston and my fave restaurant) for dinner.
We had talked about it, and it was going to happen just a matter of when. I was extra alert to every little thing he did thinking it was the moment. We lived on the water and would walk out on the pier a lot in the evening to watch the sunset, and everytime I thought it was 'it.' We had been together for about 3 years, both out of college with real jobs and living together- what the h*ll are you waiting for??
So DH had bought the stone and the setting a couple of months prior, and the jeweler had to to re-make the prongs for the setting since it was made for a round cut stone and mine was a princess. So DH didn't know when it would be ready or when he would propose. We were in the process of moving from one apt. to another. It was DH's day off and he was supposed to make some progress with the packing and cleaning. I got home and realized he had been fishing all day and had done nothing. I was annoyed and preoccupied with going through the mail. He kept asking me to put the mail down and to come see what he had done for the day. Still annnoyed, thinking he hadn't done anything substantial I kept flipping through the mail. Finally he got me to put the mail down and sit on the couch. He brings me a box of wine glasses I had packed the night before and all I could think was 'You re-packed something I already packed? This is what you did all day?' He asked me to open the box, flips on the stereo with our song playing, and in the box was a bouquet of roses (he never buys me flowers) and a ring box. I was so surprised, and then felt bad for being annoyed with him! The jeweler had called about an hour before I was due home to say it was ready and he flew out to pick it up and buy flowers before I got home. He can't keep secrets or presents for long, so he knew he was going to propose right there and then! So even though I had been waiting for it, it was a total surprise!
The funny thing is my SIL was pre-occupied with the mail when my BIL was trying to propose too!