A Surprise Post: Proposal from the Guy’s Perspective

Today’s post is a surprise for a special reader who was recently engaged to a very special guy who happens to be close enough to be my brother (AKA my best friend’s brother).  Sarah - are you out there?  This one’s for you :)

Everyone always loves to hear proposal stories {ok, fine - at least I do!}, but today’s comes from the most amazing perspective of all - the man behind the plan!  So today I’ll turn it right over to Mark, the recent fiance of a lovely bride-to-be, Sarah, to give us his story behind the proposal:

“In the summer of 2008, while out at a happy hour in Washington, DC a friend of mine had an idea. “I know the perfect girl for you!”, she said, “She is from Maine and is fabulous! Let me set you up.” While the idea did sound tempting I, like most people, am not a big fan of blind dates and proceeded to avoid making plans for the next six months. Finally on January 7th, 2009 I got my arm twisted into participating in a chaperoned meeting for drinks after work. The night turned out to be a more than pleasant surprise. Sarah was beautiful, even coming in out of the rain, and we had a great time getting to know each other. Drinks turned into dinner and eventually an exchange of numbers in the Metro.

The next two years turned into an incredible ride. Once we began dating, there wasn’t much time that we didn’t spend together. We explored DC and took trips to Maine, Cape Cod and California. We survived Snowmageddon while cooped up for days in her small apartment. We moved in together, got a dog and starting enjoying life.

While Sarah had grown increasingly annoyed at me for avoiding the topic of marriage this past holiday season, I had been quietly planing how I was going to propose. While I was home in Connecticut for Christmas, I thought that it would be a great time to look at rings. On the Monday after Christmas, I set out to do some shopping. My sister and my friend took me out to lunch and we had a few drinks and talked for a couple hours about my plans. I just wanted to get an idea of what I should be considering I thought, with no need to buy soon. Turns out that the previous night’s snow closed every jewlery store in the state, and we got all worked up for nothing. The next morning my sister and I decided to try again. After looking through the usual selection, I saw the perfect ring, a sapphire set with diamonds. While I didn’t set out to buy anything that day, when I saw that ring (and it was in her size) I thought “what am I waiting for?” Later that afternoon, I went back with my mom and went home with a ring!

Sarah and I drove back to DC from New England on a Thursday afternoon. The whole time, I kept thinking about the ring that I had in the trunk and when I was going to propose. My original plan was to wait until later in January, but after tossing and turning all night, I decided that I needed to do this sooner rather than later. The next morning on New Years Eve, after walking the dog and relaxing for a bit, I decided it was time. I went upstairs and told her I couldn’t find her slippers, and when she came up (annoyed) to get them for herself, I sat her on the bed and proposed. She was shocked beyond belief, so much so that I had to remind her to say yes, and that she had to actually wear the ring! That night, we celebrated New Years and an engagement with friends. It was a great way to ring in 2011!”

Look at the gorgeous ring Mark chose for Sarah, the lucky bride-to-be.  I cannot wait to follow them along their planning for their 9.10.11 New England Wedding - it is sure to be a complete labor of love and a gorgeous one at that :)

Congratulations and lots of love to you both :)