For all you married geeks out there....

[JackTheTripper]

I searched and could not find this (off) topic, so.....

How did you propose to your husband or wife. Was it your standard nice restaurant candle light dinner proposal or something flashy? (http://home.comcast.net/~pin87a/pwned.wmv)


Me: Wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were at an all day concert. The sun was setting. We were sitting on the grass area above the seated area waiting for one of our favorite bands (Cake) to come on. I got up to get a little snack from one of the "cigaret girl" type peoples that sell candy and glow sticks, etc.... While there I saw she had these big ugly florecient green rings. They were about 1 1/2 inches in diamiter. When you push the top of it red LEDs flash under the semi-transparent plastic of the top of the ring. So I bought one ($5.00) and went back to our blanket on the grass. I knelt down, took her hand and put the ring on her. She smiled and jokingly said "What, are you asking me to marry you?" I pushed the top of the ring and the lights went off. She giggled. I said "Yes." She laughed a little more and said "Sure, OK." I then let her know I was serious. Then we both cried and enjoyed the rest of our concert (and lives) together.

Don't worry, we went out the next day and got her a proper ring, but she keeps that ugly green thing on the night stand on her side of the bed.

[ale2999]

That is one of the most romantic stories I have heard! thats great

[Jeff Rutledge]

Agreed. That's a great story. I proposed to my wife at Shushwap Falls in B.C, Canada. It's close to where she grew up and very beautiful. It's also one of the spots we visited on our first trip to visit her parents so it had special meaning. I was living in Toronto at the time so I was able to get the ring and work on the planning without her knowing. I had already asked her parents' permission, and her mom packed us a secret picnic lunch, whick we enjoyed down by the falls (after she had said "yes").

We still visit the spot often when we go back that way. Not overly romantic, but she said yes and that's the main thing. :lol:

[JustinGTP]

but she keeps that ugly green thing on the night stand on her side of the bed.

Now I know exactly what to steal! :twisted:

But seriously, that is so funny, she said NO!! Hahaha! That poor guy hehe

-Justin

[ironguy]

We bought our engagemnt ring through my brother-in-law. He's a custom jeweler that works out of his house in Pebble Beach. We went to pick up the ring and I had planned to take her to dinner later that week. Rather boring wouldn't you say? We geeks often lack imagination in the areas of romance...

Instead, we hauled our behinds down to Spanish Cove to see the sunset. Spanish Cove is a beach right next to Pebble Beach. I had secretly brought the ring with me. I knelt in the sand among all the large round rocks and proposed. The details are a personal.

That was 12 1/2 years ago. Time flies!

[Pat Logsdon]

I proposed in our backyard. I had NO money, but I'd managed to scrape up enough to get her a nice emerald in a nice little leather and silver box. She was totally surprised, and said yes. Hurrah!

Almost two years later, the emerald cracked when she accidentally smacked it against a large rock when she was gardening. She was pretty devastated about it, so I obviously had to do something.

I had a bit more money then, so I rounded up 22 small, but high quality diamonds, and a largish ruby. I had our jeweller set the diamonds in a starburst pattern around the ruby. I also got a sterling-silver beehive-shaped box to put the ring in.

Then we went on vacation in the mountains, 300 miles from home, where we go every year and stay in a beautiful little family-owned log cabin. I brought the ring with me, and hid it from her for several days while I scouted for the proper location. A few days later, I dropped on my knee on a wooden bridge over a little stream by a lake. The weather was perfect, the sun was out, and the there was no one around - the only sound you could hear was the wind in the pine trees and the water over the rocks.

She was totally and completely stunned. We go back to that same spot every year, and we just celebrated our 7th anniversary two weeks ago. :mrgreen:

Regarding geeks lacking imagination - my wife and I had custom wedding rings made. They're simple gold bands, but we thought we'd do something a little interesting with them, so we had the jeweller cast and attach three gold carrots (yes, the vegetables) on the outside of the ring. They look great, they have a special (personal) meaning for us, and of course, it's always fun to show new acquaintances your "three carrot ring". :mrgreen:

[JackTheTripper]

...and of course, it's always fun to show new acquaintances your "three carrot ring". :mrgreen:

I've got crackers. And obviously you brought the cheese. :wink:

(J/K) That's a great story. thanks for sharing.

[i_spock]

I was going to propose to my wife during a basketball game by having it shown on the scoreboard, had it set up with the arena and everything. A few days before it was to happen, we were watching someone propose on TV when she said to me "Don't you EVER propose to me in front of a big crowd of people, I would be so freaked out!" Well, so much for that idea! Fall back to plan B: propose to her in private during a friend's halloween party. The friend who lived in the house having the party was going to set up his bedroom with roses and candles, the whole 9. So the night of the party, I go up to his room with my future wife, and not only find no candles, no flowers, but him (drunk) in his bed sleeping! Not to be discouraged, I had him "removed" from the room and still went through with it. When I proposed I was dressed up as a woman, and her as the queen of hearts. And afterwards she got to go downstairs and announce that I proposed and show off her new bling.

That proposal fit in pretty well with our wonderfully non-traditional relationship- we met, then moved in together after knowing each other for only 3 weeks, and got married 1 year to the day of our meeting. Our wedding was a handfasting ceremony where the men wore kilts (her family is Irish), her maid of honor was a guy and my "best man" was a woman. That was 8 years ago this May!

[Kati Compton]

I had already asked her parents' permission
If my husband asked my parents's permission before asking ME, I'd have never said "yes"!

It's cute and quaint... and may have been perfectly fine in your situation (I'm not trying to say you did anything *wrong*), but it's not something I'd be comfortable with. ;)

[Kati Compton]

Well, near when we started dating, I told my husband that I'd like to marry him someday.

Then a couple years later when we graduated high school (yes, I said years, and yes I said high school), he proposed during his valedictory speech. ;) It was planned, as I needed to make sure to sit in an aisle... We had spent months and months beforehand saving up for engagement rings (why should the chick be the only one to get a ring?).

Got married ~5 years later (wanted to finish ugrad first to placate parents).

[Jeff Rutledge]

I had already asked her parents' permission
If my husband asked my parents's permission before asking ME, I'd have never said "yes"!

It's cute and quaint... and may have been perfectly fine in your situation (I'm not trying to say you did anything *wrong*), but it's not something I'd be comfortable with. ;)

Interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way. I didn't consider it a requirement by any means, but I was glad that our vacation changed so that we ended up going back to B.C. (where she's from) so that I had the opportunity to ask them first. I didn't feel obligated, but it was nice to be able to do it. I guess I'm a little more traditional in these things. And I know my in-laws are.

Having said that, I wouldn't have changed my plans had they said No. ;)

[Kati Compton]

Having said that, I wouldn't have changed my plans had they said No. ;)
Good! ;)

[Jeff Rutledge]

Having said that, I wouldn't have changed my plans had they said No. ;)
Good! ;)

I found your post really interesting though. It didn't even enter my mind that my wife may have been offended that I asked them first. Good thing I guess eh? ;) I don't think they would have taken my ring back. :lol:

[Wiggster]

I'm still debating on how to propose. I want to propose two months before the 2-year anniversary of our first real date, if only to throw her off for no reason. So far, my favorite plan is to go to the aquarium as for our one-year anniversary, and as we walk through the tunnel, have a diver pull out a white board with a little picture I draw of me on my knee with a huge cheesy-looking ring, and "Will you?" written above it. While looking at that, I'd have to get down on my knee to match the picture.

Either that or rent a suit of armor, as Ed frequently did in the recently-ended show of the same name.

I'm still shopping around for ideas.

[Jeff Rutledge]

That's a pretty good idea you've got there. Is the aquarium a special place for the two of you? It would definitely be a surprise.

I know the struggle you're going through right now. I went through a few ideas before I ended up settling on one.

I considered getting a puppy (we had talked about it a few times) and tying the ring around the collar. But then I pictured my wife getting excited and emotional and this poor dog getting choked. :mrgreen: (Plus I didn't know what kind of dog we wanted).

I then thought about hiding the ring in one of my moving boxes and having her "unpack" it. But I ended up unpacking my stuff on a visit before the ring was ready.

So I ended up going with a simple walk to the waterfalls and getting down on one knee. It ended up not being a great story but, for us, it was a great moment.

Either way, good luck. Be sure to tell us how it goes!

[JackTheTripper]

Story Re: Asking the father for daughter’s hand....

We have 2 friends who have been married about 8 years. He is Jewish and she was born in Vietnam but moved here while less than 1 year old. They fell in love but because he was not Vietnamese her father (Who did not speak much English) did not like him. (Very common for a traditional Vietnamese family.) He was also in college to become a teacher at the time. As part of his schooling he moved to Vietnam for a year and a half (without her BTW) to teach English to children there. When he returned he was fairly fluent in Vietnamese. Upon returning he went to her families house. At an appropriate time when he was alone with her father he asked, in Vietnamese, for his daughters hand. Her dad was so moved he actually cried and hugged him.

They had a Jewish/Vietnamese wedding with each of them in traditional dress. Bagels and egg rolls were served as appetizers.

[55Kevy]

My wife and I married a little later in life. It was the first time for both of us (I was 40). No way, no how was I going to spend the kind of buck$ on an engagement or wedding ring without her input. So I made up a selection of 'rings' using pipecleaners and alumimum foil for the 'diamonds'. She had an emerald cut, an oval cut, and a marquis cut to choose from. And these were mammoth stones, believe me!

I proposed on one knee in front of the fire just before Christmas. She said yes. We designed a ring together and then went to a recommended jeweler in the LA jewelery mart (living in Santa Barbara at the time), picked out the stones and had the ring made up.

Kevy

[buckyg]

Our friends & family members kept asking us when we were going to get married. We knew we would one of these days but it was never the right time. Finally, a good friend that we respected very much was talking with us about it. By the way my girlfriend looked at me, I knew I was in trouble. So we just kind of agreed then & there we were going to get married.

Then she tells me she had considered us engaged for quite some time, basically married except for the ceremony. I knew we were serious, though I hadn't quite thought of it that way until she said that.

She was worried what her dad would say. I wasn't, her dad was a great guy, I sure miss him. We were visiting her folks for a week at the time. I was out working with her dad in the yard. I said that by the way, we had decided to get married. His response, "Sounds good to me". That's exactly how I figured he'd respond.

My now fiance was stunned. I'm still not sure what she thought he was going to do. She got me back later that evening. She said I hadn't officially asked her. So when I did, she busted up laughing at me. For the rest of the engagement, she kept telling me, "You're going to marry me whether you want to or not!" Of course, 9 1/2 years later, she denies ever having said that...