Engagement Story - Finally
I made a post a while ago titled "Limo Review and I Got Engaged" - I finally read the responses and had a good laugh - it should have read Limo Review, and I Got Engaged.
Anyways, I said that I would share my engagement story, but I never really got a chance to sit down and put something together - it's a long weekend, so here it is.
Planning started back in September - I knew I had to marry this girl and I wanted to ask her the right way. Not at a hockey game, not at the Calgary Tower, etc - nothing wrong with those ideas, just not my style. She and I had talked about it and we both wanted the same things out of life, have similar values, etc - I hate hearing stories about a guy who was nervous about her saying yes - a dumb situation to put yourself and your significant other in. I met with her parents, explained my feelings to them, how I felt about her, what I was willing to do for her, how I felt about family, how I felt about them - the works - if they had any doubt in their minds about what kind of life I planned on giving their daughter, I'd hope they'd all but been quashed. They had nothing but good things to say and were very supportive/happy. Stage 1 -Asking Ma and Pa - Complete.
I never told her that I talked to her parents. We casually went ring shopping over the next week and she ended up finding a ring she absolutely loved. I kind of brushed it off as an "alright, let's keep it in mind". The next night I made some excuse to get away for a bit and ordered the mount from the store. I then went on BlueNile and bought a diamond (after doing a shitpile of reading/reviewing/searching for a few days) - ended up getting an excellent, IF, colour E diamond - GIA certified, sparkles like crazy, very happy with it. When I took it to get set, I showed the guy the GIA cert, found the engraving on the girdle, and then asked him what he would've charged me for it had I bought it there - his price was slightly under double what I paid (a lesson for you guys out there - buy online from a reputable source like BlueNile - if you don't like it, you simply send it back). They had a hard time finding the GIA engraving when I got it it back, so I bought a $60 USB microscrope and was able to find it when I got home - polishing made it harder to see. Stage 2 - The Ring - Complete.
Now the fun part. I do a lot of project management at work and did not expect this day to be so difficult to plan. I contacted her 3 closest friends, her mom, her dad, her sister, her grandma, and a decorator. I put an ad for a decorator on Kijiji and found someone within a week (she was incredible and insanely inexpensive). It took >50 emails to coordinate a date that worked for everybody and to brainstorm places that they could go to for the day. I had the types of places I want them to go in mind, but not specific businesses. The decorator and I had about 30 emails back and forth with ideas, photos of my yard, website links, etc. We set the date for a Saturday in February and off I went ahead with the booking process. I came up with a schedule for the day, booked everything, ordered supplies, and crossed my fingers. Stage 3 - Planning and Booking - Complete.
The night before the big day, I ran out and bought ~$400 in groceries, booze, and candy. I parked out back and unloaded it all in my rear garage and beer fridge. Had I brought it in the house, she would've known something was up.
The next morning, I packed a bag and took off around 10 a.m., as I was "going to hang out with the boys from back home for a night". With a few lies told over the past 2 weeks, she believed she was being met at 11 a.m. by her 3 friends to go to the spa, as one of her friends had won one through a charity fundraiser at work (sucker). Her friends show up and they have a few drinks, then a Navigator limo shows up at noon. She has no idea what is going on. I left letters (on some grossly expensive metallic paper - I added corner flower/design borders to in granite coloured envelopes - looked super classy/good) numbered 1-5 in a drawer in our house that one of her friends knew about. When the limo arrived, she was given the first letter. It stated that she deserved the world and that I hoped she had a good time with her friends during a very special day I had planned for her (along with some quotes) - she said she knew what was going on at this point, but had no idea when/what/how it would happen.
So off they went, with the candy, champagne, and letters, travelling to Deerfoot Meadows to a nail salon to get their nails done. When they arrived there, she was given letter #2. They got their nails done in about an hour and were off to their next location.
They then headed over to Chinook to Chop, where I had made reservations for 7 people. She was given letter #3 here, which stressed the importance of family and said that while all of her new guests are important, there is one very special guest waiting for you inside. Inside, her mom, sister, and grandma met her. Her grandma is from Victoria and is a pensioner - she typically makes one trip a year out here (which is covered by family). I had flown her out 3 days before and she was staying an extra week after - a big win for everybody involved. They had lunch, caught up, drank, and laughed. At this point, she is pretty floored by everything (in a good way).
Next, they had back to the limo for some champagne and she is given her 4th letter. It explains that she is to go to Chinook Mall and get a whole new outfit - shoes, dress, jewellery, the works - whatever she wants. So all 7 of these half-cut women head over to the mall and she gets this amazing dress, new shoes, some jewellery, and her make-up done (I did not suggest this in my letter - any guy should be smart enough to know not to book his significant other a make-up session and, to be honest, I've never been a big fan of make-up).
They head back to the limo and she is given her 5th letter. I told her there was one more place that she needed to go to before I saw her. The girls then blindfolded her, took a few wrong turns, then drove to our house. Her friend walked her up the driveway, through the side-gate, down the sidewalk running alongside my attached garaged, until she arrived at the backyard. Her friend then removed the blindfold and I was on the other side of the backyard, waiting for her. From where she entered, there is a brick/cobble sidewalk leading to a large BBQ/seating area, which is where I was waiting.
What I didn't mention yet is that while she was out all day, I was at home working feverishly with the decorator to get the backyard looking amazing. We set up a white/pink backdrop, about 150 candles of different sizes, laid 3000 rose petals along the walkway, and lit up the tree with LED lights wrapped around it. Also, the house was filled with our friends and family when she got home. The only person outside, however, was the decorator and the two of us. It was a personal moment and we didn't want everybody out there/peeking through the windows.
Anyways, I got down on my knee, asked her to marry me there, then we went in the house and had one hell of a party.
Was it excessive? Yes. Do I regret it/think it was stupid? Not at all. I plan on only every having to do that once, so I'm happy I was able to give her such an awesome day/gift.
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Originally Posted by DonJuan
wow, so much planning, I couldn't do it.
