My women friends and relatives keep asking me how I proposed (the men ask “why?”), so here’s how it went down.
I bought the ring on an impulse over a week and half ago at Doyle and Doyle, our favorite jewelry store. She had cleverly dropped hints over the last years, so I knew size 6, platinum setting, brilliant cut, and a little fancy. I found a antique from the 1930s with the original stone and setting that fit the bill and even impressed me (I’m not so into jewelry).
I had planned to propose during a vacation some time this fall or winter, but once I picked up the ring, it became like a hot potato. It just was impossible not to tell her. We had planned to visit her parents on Saturday, so Friday night (also the 13th, in a strange coincidence) was to be the day.
We had a “date night” planned on that night, which is the girlfriend’s way of saying I have to shave and that we are going to a restaurant rather than eating take-out in front of the TV. So I tried to make dinner reservations, but I called her and she told me she had a training session at the gym at six. I asked nicely, “Can you cancel? I really want to go out.” To which she replied “No, I really want to go to the gym. It’s been a few days.”
So I waited in her apartment (clean shaven, black velvet jacket, jeans and sneakers–sharp, but comfortable), pacing. She was supposed to be home at 8. At 8:20 she calls and said she was out of the gym and showered and asked if I could meet her at a restaurant. I ask her to just come to her apartment and then we can decide. Already, she though I was being weird.
She got home, used the restroom, and then headed back for the door. I told her to wait, and now she knew something is up. I asked her to sit down because we needed to talk. Her stomach hit the pavement. She sat and said, “If you are breaking up with me I will kill you!” but her voice cracked and her face was ashen. She really did think that I was breaking up with her.
I stuttered, obviously nervous, “Actually, it’s the exact opposite.” As I pulled the little blue box out of my coat pocket, “Well, it is true I don’t want you to be my girlfriend anymore…I want you to be my wife.” I handed her the box. She looked at the box, her eyes were glossy and she said “If this is a joke, so help me, I will punch you!” During the past year, I had not really appeared to be open to the idea of marriage, so this was fair claim on her part.
And then the box was open and the ring was on her finger with an audible pop! She put it on so fast, that she was gazing at it before the box hit the floor. I said a bunch of stuff about love and best friends and forever that I can’t remember.
Then I told her to pack a bag, because I have room reserved at the Waldorf. She tried to pack, but once stops in front of the closet and says “I have to do this” and then proceeds to jump up and down like a contestant on The Price is Right who has just spun a dollar.
We then had a perfect night of just enjoying the engagement without telling anyone.
We checked into the Waldorf after a sushi dinner. We told the girl at the desk that we had just gotten engaged and that she was the first to know. She got super excited and then said “I’m getting you a huge room and a stack of drink vouchers.” We sat in the lounge (Sir Harry’s) together until 1:30 AM, she drank pomegranate martinis while I finished a bottle of pinot grigio. I also had a bucket of ice sent up for a bottle of champagne, so in the morning we had mimosas and the full breakfast in our fluffy white robes. After calling the world, it was time to go home.
The answer to why is simple and mushy, because I love her very much and I am lucky to have her.
As to the date and plans, while we appreciate the questions, we are just enjoying being engaged right now. We have some moving plans in the next few months, which are already stressful, so we need to take one major change at a time. Please email your wedding suggestions to gfy@seantconrad.com.
Links:
– I’m not sure if this is gauche, but some ladies (all) have requested it, here is the ring.
My women friends and relatives keep asking me how I proposed (the men ask “why?”), so here’s how it went down.
I bought the ring on an impulse over a week and half ago at Doyle and Doyle, our favorite jewelry store. She had cleverly dropped hints over the last years, so I knew size 6, platinum setting, brilliant cut, and a little fancy. I found a antique from the 1930s with the original stone and setting that fit the bill and even impressed me (I’m not so into jewelry).
I had planned to propose during a vacation some time this fall or winter, but once I picked up the ring, it became like a hot potato. It just was impossible not to tell her. We had planned to visit her parents on Saturday, so Friday night (also the 13th, in a strange coincidence) was to be the day.
We had a “date night” planned on that night, which is the girlfriend’s way of saying I have to shave and that we are going to a restaurant rather than eating take-out in front of the TV. So I tried to make dinner reservations, but I called her and she told me she had a training session at the gym at six. I asked nicely, “Can you cancel? I really want to go out.” To which she replied “No, I really want to go to the gym. It’s been a few days.”
So I waited in her apartment (clean shaven, black velvet jacket, jeans and sneakers–sharp, but comfortable), pacing. She was supposed to be home at 8. At 8:20 she calls and said she was out of the gym and showered and asked if I could meet her at a restaurant. I ask her to just come to her apartment and then we can decide. Already, she though I was being weird.
She got home, used the restroom, and then headed back for the door. I told her to wait, and now she knew something is up. I asked her to sit down because we needed to talk. Her stomach hit the pavement. She sat and said, “If you are breaking up with me I will kill you!” but her voice cracked and her face was ashen. She really did think that I was breaking up with her.
I stuttered, obviously nervous, “Actually, it’s the exact opposite.” As I pulled the little blue box out of my coat pocket, “Well, it is true I don’t want you to be my girlfriend anymore…I want you to be my wife.” I handed her the box. She looked at the box, her eyes were glossy and she said “If this is a joke, so help me, I will punch you!” During the past year, I had not really appeared to be open to the idea of marriage, so this was fair claim on her part.
And then the box was open and the ring was on her finger with an audible pop! She put it on so fast, that she was gazing at it before the box hit the floor. I said a bunch of stuff about love and best friends and forever that I can’t remember.
Then I told her to pack a bag, because I have room reserved at the Waldorf. She tried to pack, but once stops in front of the closet and says “I have to do this” and then proceeds to jump up and down like a contestant on The Price is Right who has just spun a dollar.
We then had a perfect night of just enjoying the engagement without telling anyone.
We checked into the Waldorf after a sushi dinner. We told the girl at the desk that we had just gotten engaged and that she was the first to know. She got super excited and then said “I’m getting you a huge room and a stack of drink vouchers.” We sat in the lounge (Sir Harry’s) together until 1:30 AM, she drank pomegranate martinis while I finished a bottle of pinot grigio. I also had a bucket of ice sent up for a bottle of champagne, so in the morning we had mimosas and the full breakfast in our fluffy white robes. After calling the world, it was time to go home.
The answer to why is simple and mushy, because I love her very much and I am lucky to have her.
As to the date and plans, while we appreciate the questions, we are just enjoying being engaged right now. We have some moving plans in the next few months, which are already stressful, so we need to take one major change at a time. Please email your wedding suggestions to gfy@seantconrad.com.
Links:
– I’m not sure if this is gauche, but some ladies (all) have requested it, here is the ring.
