I didn’t have a lot of money so it took me 6 months to pay for the ring. This worked out well as it gave me time to discover a really nice restaurant and plan the event. I got the manager at the restaurant to work with me to make the plan just right. Early in the day, shortly after the restaurant opened, I dropped by the restaurant with a really nice flower arrangement and the ring. I asked the manager to make sure we had a semi-private area of the restaurant and next to a fireplace. I also asked the manager to put the flowers on the table and bring out the ring with the desert menu. He stored the ring in the safe until it was time.

When my fiancé and I arrived at the restaurant, we were taken to a great table tucked away in the corner of the restaurant and were seated. After some wine and some great food, it was time for desert. The desert menu arrived with the ring; I went down on one knee, took the ring box off of the menu and asked her to honor me by being my wife.

It was one of the greatest nights of my life and we are now happily married with two great kids.

- Jason L., Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia

FIRST - Monday night my friend Trink called me and asked if I would come have a movie and desert night with her that Friday at 7pm. I was a little suspicious because she didn’t sound like herself so I questioned her - but she gave good excuses and by Friday I completely believed it was going to be the two of us watching a movie.

WELL - I was wrong. I got to her apartment about 2 minutes after 7 and on her door it said “Dreyer - Come on in Love, Trink” So I opened the door and I noticed that the room was dark - there was a candle on the coffee table next to an open bible, with a letter on it, two champagne glasses filled with sparkling cider, and a single rose in a bud vase. I mumbled something under my breath and as soon as it came out Jared began playing his saxophone. It was beautiful and I asked him what it was when he was finished and he said “Stay with me” (or “Brass Bed” by Josh Gracin) and it is one of my favorite songs, so I begged him to play it again.

We sat down on the couch and as he began to play he got nervous and stopped. so I teased him, and he began to play again and played it beautifully. After he was finished I asked him “You want to tell me what this is?” , looking at the bible and note. He said “why don’t you go look” and I responded, “why don’t you tell me?” He responded, “why don’t you go look?” again so I said “ok” and knelt down in front of the coffee table. At the top of the note it read, Colossians 3:12-14. The bible was opened to that passage so I read it out loud. Next I read the letter out loud, and when I was done Jared asked me to stand up. Once I was standing he got down on one knee and said “Sarah, Will you marry me?” I responded with, “uh huh, YES!” He then slipped the ring on my finger and I hugged him, then ran and turned on the light to see it in the light. Turned off the light, ran back gave him another hug, then looked at it in the candle light. Needless to say I was very excited. I even got dessert - yum yum!

- Sarah D., Upland, Indiana

Where do I start? Well, I’ll start with the whole dinner plan. Before Dan even got here, probably about 3 weeks or so before he was going to come, I had made an itinerary of everything that we would be doing while he was here. Going out to Livingstone’s for dinner was on that list. Everywhere we have been we have tried to have at least one date night where we dress up and go to a nice restaurant.

Well, about 2 weeks before he was going to come he sent me a picture of a ring in an e-mail. This is what he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not saying anything by this but just saw this ring come up on yahoo and it made me curious to your style. Do you like this type of ring or what is something that you would look for in a ring? Send examples if you want, or whatever.”

I knew that it was going to come up sometime soon, but he told me that we should probably go ring shopping in the states when we are together. So I didn’t really think he was going to ask me when he was here… PLUS, it takes such a long time for something to get to Dakar, and he’s not exactly the type of person to send something express mail. So I didn’t think he was going to buy the one that we both really liked.

Anyway, back to dinner. So when Dan and I were all ready to go to dinner, I ask my dad to get a picture of us. He pulls out his camera and takes a couple of pictures (which I thought was a little weird at first… I had Dan’s camera in my hand, I thought he was going to use Dan’s), but I brushed it off my shoulder. Then my mom and little sister came out into the living room too, and just were smiling, and staring at me, which now that I think about it made it seem a little weird at the time…

So we left, and got to the restaurant took a seat next to the door (the only other option was by the window at a 4 person table with other people around) I didn’t really like it because sometimes they seat people at the same table if it’s meant for 4 people.

So we go and sit down and he’s sort of jittery. He’s like, “I have to go to the bathroom”. So he goes to the bathroom and comes back a good 5 min later. We sit down order a bottle of Chardonnay, and he was like, “These are really nice glasses. (Points to the glasses on the table [they are tall wine glasses that say Livingstone’s on them]) I wonder if the waiter would let us keep them.” I was thinking to myself “Oh, my gosh… He’s going to do it tonight isn’t he?” And so I got myself all worked up, and I was all excited, and then Dan was like, “Well, the reason for that is because our two year anniversary is in May, and since we won’t be together for it, this dinner can be our make-shift anniversary dinner.” (What a good excuse, let me tell you, Dan is really good at thinking things up off the top of his head!) So I was really excited and had butterflies in my stomach, but then I was let down when he said that…

So the waiter comes over and pours our chardonnay, and we order food. And During the course of the meal we start talking about our past together, and about our future. And all these other things that made the meal really romantic. Then he was like, “Man, I have to go to the bathroom again.” And I was like okay… I might have to go a little too, so I got up and went to the bathroom.

(What I didn’t know then was that he was trying to get me to go to the bathroom so that he could grab the box with the ring in it out of his jacket pocket to put it in his lap.)

So we get our dessert, and it looks really nice, we have the waiter take a picture. And then we start talking again, he say’s something like “I really want to be with you forever, baby” and I was like, “Well, you’re just going to have to ask me to know what I think…;)“ and he was like, “Soon sweetheart, soon.” And then he was like, “but if I ask you, that means I’m going to have to ask your dad for his blessing. Do you know how scary that is?

“That’s not scary sweetheart.” And I tell him a nice long speech, well what I would say if I was him.

“Yeah, like I’d be able to say all that. Your dad is intimidating. I’ll do it over the phone later”

“Well, I was sort of hoping that you had already asked my dad, and you were going to propose to me tonight”

“Baby, now, how would I get a ring so fast? I haven’t asked your dad yet, he’s going to say no because you haven’t finished your degree yet”

(SO, I had gotten my hopes up once again, thinking to myself, “Well maybe, just maybe, he had already asked my dad and will propose to me”… but then I was let down once again)

We finish our dessert, and he asks for another glass of chardonnay (we had already finished our whole bottle). The waiter pours us our wine, and then Dan starts out saying,

“You know sweetheart, I’m really glad I found you. You really are my best friend. You know, I never knew what other people meant when they said that they married their best friend, but now I know because you really are. We are so perfect for each other. You’re my soul mate. You are everything that I would want in a wife, a mother (in time), just everything that I need. (He stands up and starts to walk over to me… I was thinking that he had to go to the bathroom again) And because of those reasons, that’s why I’m getting down on one knee (he gets down) to ask you to be my wife. I love you Amanda, you mean so much to me, and I want to share my life with you. Will you marry me?”

Of course, I started crying when he was talking about how I was his best friend, so I started crying even more when he got down on one knee, I think I was in shock when he did it because I remember saying “Oh, my gosh”, out loud.

I said, “Yes, of course I will. I love you!” and we kiss and hold each other there for like 5 min, crying my eyes out because I was so happy. Then he puts the ring on my finger. And it’s so pretty!

- Amanda S., Kingsport, Tennessee

My man was inspired by a friend’s wedding. It was a destination wedding in Maui, Hawaii, and at first we weren’t going to go, but suddenly Martin had a change of heart and took me on our first real vacation as a couple.  Little did I know that when we were at my parents’ house for Christmas, he had formally asked them for my hand in marriage!  In February, we took off.  The wedding was on a Wednesday, and on the following Saturday, Martin took me on a long drive along the scenic Hana coast, up the side of Mount Haleakala.  When we reached the site of the Seven Sacred Pools of Hana, we walked in to the gorgeous view of the pools, and took a dip in the frigid mountain rain water cascading from several waterfalls down to the ocean.  He paused for a moment when we got out, got down on one knee between pools 5 and 6, and asked me to marry him.  To this day, the drive to Hana has been an important part of our trips to Maui.

I have pictures of the site, and the day we were engaged.

- Jody P., Calgary, Alberta

My fiancé, Nicole entered Radiance Medspa, the spa that now stands in place of the closed coffee shop in which we first met. I orchestrated with the spa owner to have the facility cleared before Nicole would be done. She showed up on time and entered the treatment room that now surrounds the area in which we had our first conversation on a soft brown leather couch. She had a couple add-on treatments that took a longer than expected, which I appreciated because I needed a few minutes to settle down and watch some World Cup.

Joining me was Jose from Mayorga Coffee, a barista who was to serve us two Chai teas and a plain bagel. At 15:45 Nicole walked out of the treatment room feeling fresh and in a rush to not keep me waiting longer. Passing the waiting area she saw the barista, and then me. (She said I looked nervous, but I doubt it. ) I approached her and told her that I wanted to bring her back to where we first met.

I got down on a knee and presented her with a temporary ring which was designed and then sculpted out of paper by the artist, Joyce Zipperer.

Nicole was flabbergasted and excitedly accepted. We sat there and looked at each other for many moments before we went for a walk to absorb the impact and the feeling of being engaged. That night we went to Colvin Run with our parents (except for her dad, who was in Caracas) and had a wonderful meal.

This perfect surprise would never have worked without the help and support of my mom, Nicole’s mom, my friend Misa, the good people at Mayorga Coffee, my buddy Kuzy, Charlotte from Radiance Medspa, and an unsuspecting Nicole (who made the dinner reservations without knowing that they were for her).

- Josh R., Bethesda, Maryland