The Proposal

Proposal: (verb) 1. The event a girl waits for her entire life. 2. A romantic story leading to the lifetime union of a man and woman. 3. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love, boy buys expensive ring, boy asks girl to marry him, girl screams with excitement, which is her way of saying 'yes!'

How do you identify with the word proposal?  Was it something out of a fairy tale?  An accident? Funny? A wake up call to dump him?  A proposal packs a large punch, and the lead up to the proposal can be full of uncertainty (mainly for the guy!).  I used to imagine how my own proposal might go.  Romantic Movies (aka chick flicks) and Nicholas Sparks books definitely influenced the picture perfect ending I had in my head.  Every love story is unique and every proposal is unique.  Some fiance's spend months and months preparing for the event, and others are just so nervous and excited they can't wait to pop the question.  There are so many great stories to share, but I want to share just a few romantic proposals.

A styled photo shoot turned proposal.

Kim and Devin are good friends with photographer Stacy Kokes.  Being that they are such a photographic, adorable couple, she uses them occasionally for styled photo shoots.  When Stacy asked them to do another session, Devin got the idea to use this as a way to propose to Kim.  To keep Kim none the wiser, Devin gave the ring to Stacy's second shooter, Joe during the shoot.  Then Stacy suggested Joe take some separate shots of Devin, which Stacy photographed Kim.  This is when Joe gave the ring back to Devin right before he was about to propose.  Everything went as planned with the photo shoot, then out of no where, from Kim's persepective, Devin, reaches into his pocket and bends on one knee.  The rest is history :)  Such a romantic way to propose, and so thoughtful!  You have to visit Stacy's blog to see this shabby chic styled shoot turned engagement photo session.  Stacy is a very talented photographer and you will love love love this post!

See more at Stacy's Blog

The crossword puzzle engagement

You may have read about this story in the news about a Virginia man who got creative with his proposal to his then girlfriend-- now fiancee!  Here's the low down.  Marlowe Epstein loves to do the Sunday crossword puzzle in the Washington Post, and Corey got into it after he fell for Marlowe over a year ago.  Corey contacted veteran crossword creator, Bob Kahn to help his dream become a reality.  He was able

to get the crossword puzzle in the Saturday, April 16 paper after a few months of work.  An excerpt from the Washington Post article by Ellen McCarthy

-39 Across:“ ‘Casablanca’ screenwriter Julius or Philip.” Answer: Epstein.

-37 Across: " 'Shakespeare in Love' role." Answer: Marlowe

(So creative! I just keep wondering how on earth anyone can find a clue for Culicchia!)

"Am I losing my mind?" Marlowe Epstein wondered.  It wasn't until she landed on 51 Across that she figured out what was going on.

-"Words with a certain ring to them," she read aloud. Answer: "Will you marry me," she suggested, and looked to her boyfriend Corey Newman, for agreement.

He agreed more than she realized.  Newman pulled out a diamond ring.  Down on one knee, he repeated the words back to her.  "Marlowe, will you marry me?"

"Oh!" she whispered, "Yes, of course!"

Marlowe didn't realize how many of the clues were related to weddings.  Corey had originally planned to propose on Sunday, but a city wide scavenger hunt planned for Sunday bumped his plans to Saturday.  Only one problem- Corey couldn't find the Saturday paper with the crossword in it!  He went to several places to buy a paper, all sold out!  He did find one in front of a building, and since no one was there to take his money he swiped a copy so nothing would get in the way of his carefully thought out proposal.  (Although Corey said he has every intention of going back to pay for the paper.)

Check out the full story, including a video, here.

This proposal is my absolute favorite... Mine! :)

My thoughtful fiance asked if I wanted to go to dinner after my last exam to celebrate the end of college. We had met the second day of school and started dating shortly after, so our whole college career was spent together.  My last exam was 20th Century Music, and any music majors who have had to endure this class, especially Dr. Erdmann's class, knows how exhausting it is!  I was completely brain fried and not in the mood to go anywhere because of my massive headache.  Todd insisted that we go even though I wasn't in any sort of mood to go.  He made reservations at our favorite place in Greensboro, NC called Lucky 32.  The day was rainy and overcast, but that didn't stop Todd from wanting to stop by the Greensboro Centennial Gardens before dinner.  Now, if you know Todd, you know that nothing stands in the way he him and dinner time; Yet he still insisted we stop because he wanted to show me the gardens.  We had been talking about engagements and marriage, so the thought definitely crossed my mind as we pulled up.  Todd didn't want to put anything in his pockets, which I thought was strange.  He held his keys in his hand the whole time we walked around the park. Little did I know, thats because my ring was in his pocket and he was afraid it would fall out or something might happen.  We were walking around for a while and nothing was happening, so I suggested we just go on to the restaurant because it's drizzling and I was hungry.  He said well lets just go look over here, and we kept walking.  Todd was getting sentimental talking about the first time we met, and that he was glad we got to experience so many great things together.  Then, after I suggested we make our way to Lucky 32 for the second time, he started to walk a little slow and then knelt down on one knee.  I always talked about the line that guys use to propose, or at least they do in the movies.  Todd must've been listening and he put his basic math skills to good use with his proposal.  As he got down he said, "We've been together for exactly 1,322 days, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?"  I was excited, kind of shocked because it was actually happening and I wanted to laugh all at the same time.  I kept saying, "Are you serious? Yes, of course!" And, "This better not be a joke."  It was great evening.  So delightfully us with the way the night paned out.  I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Let me also put a side note in: Todd used my entire camera battery taking pictures of the rain as we were driving to Greensboro, so by the time he actually proposed we could only take about 5 photos because my camera was so dead.  So these are not the best, but like I said- so us.

Trying to take pictures after- No one was around!

SO Excited!

The exact spot where he proposed