Today is National Proposal Day! I’ve partnered with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group to share with my engagement story with you, as I can’t believe it’s been 3.5 years and I’ve never told this story!
Since Mr. R and I just had our first child, I thought it was high time to shift the conversation (briefly) from motherhood, fashion and design, to celebrate my man, our special day, and his wonderful taste (in women and in rings- hah!). He picked out the ring all by himself, and completely surprised me with the engagement, so needless to say you can see quite a bit of shock in the pictures to follow.
So let me tell you about the day…
Mr. R and I had been together for 6.5 years, but by year 5 every trip we went on my friends would tell me ‘”Oh, he’s definitely going to do it this time!””. I would constantly be expecting a proposal around every corner, and although I was never disappointed, it did start to weigh on me that it could happen at any moment.
So at 6.5 years I pushed him to go to France, a place that I hadn’t been to since I studied abroad. He wasn’t really that keen on going to France, but I convinced him that he would absolutely love the food, the wine, and the way that they approach life. Although it felt like pulling teeth, we planned this trip. He said he wanted to go to a wine region while we were there, so I let him plan out a day or an overnight trip. He settled on Reims, also known as the Champagne region of France, for it’s closeness to Paris and the fact that his mother’s cousin lives nearby so he could give us a small tour of the area.
Fine, I thought- whatever will make him love France! We got up early and took the train the Reims, where he told me we were meeting this distant cousin in a park with a red pagoda. Since our phones had crappy service we had trouble finding the place, and you could tell he was getting a bit frustrated. Of course I asked why the cousin couldn’t have met us at the train station, but he shrugged and said he didn’t really know. Typically, I would have lambasted him for poor planning and communication, but for some reason this morning I was just happy to be in France so I went with the flow.
Soon we stumbled upon a park and I saw the red pagoda! Thrilled, I started looking around for anyone who might resemble his mother’s cousin. No one but a single woman on a park bench was there, so I figured the cousin was also running late. The pagoda was beautiful, so obviously I climbed right up those steps and asked Mr. R to take some instagram photos of me. He said sure and started digging through his pocket. Then I noticed the woman on the park bench had come over and started taking photos of me. I am embarrassed to say that my initial thought was that she had heard of The Style Safari, not that anything else was about to happen in my life.
I turned around to Mr. R to point out that she is also taking photos and see him at the base of the pagoda with a poem book in hand. He started reading our favorite poem to me. He was at least halfway through the poem before I realized what was happening and allowed myself to realize that this woman was photographing my engagement.
After Mr. R finished reading the poem, he got down on one knee, on the stairs of the pagoda, and asked me to marry him, with the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.
I was in shock!
I had NO CLUE that when I woke up that morning I was going to be proposed to, and immediately had 429,058 questions. Where was the cousin? Was that person even real? Where did he get the ring? How long has he been carrying it around? How did he bring it on the plane? How long had he been planning this?
It turns out his mother does have a cousin who lives in France… but nowhere near where we were. He had had the ring for a week or two, and had it taped inside a notebook, inside a folder, inside a secret compartment of his backpack. He apparently was more nervous that he would lose the ring while traveling than for the actual proposal. As he should be! The ring is beautiful, and every day that I look at it I am reminded of what a generous, caring, and meticulous man I married.
It is a three-stone ring with all Asscher cuts, with the center stone larger than the ones flanking it. It is set in platinum with a very simple setting and band, which allows me to stack it easily and wear it with other jewelry well. He picked it out all by himself, knowing at least that I liked Asscher and Emerald cuts best. He worked with an independent jewelry designer in New York, which meant he got to maximize look and value: i.e. not overpaying for a big name brand. While he did get a great deal, this ring is definitely still the most important thing I own (and most valuable- other than our house) so I take great caution in caring for it and making sure it was insured from day one.
Let’s give a round of applause to Mr. R for making our engagement such a special one!
Thank you to Jewelers Mutual for partnering on this post. If you’re looking to insure some jewelry or re-evaluate your current plan, click here to get a free jewelry insurance quote from Jewelers Mutual. You can also read a little more about jewelry insurance with this handy dandy Jewelry Insurance 101 infographic, and most excitingly, learn what Brides-To-Be WANT in an engagement ring here!
If you would like to read more about our wedding, here are some of my most popular posts!
The Dress
The Venue
The Invites
The Tables
The Paper Goods
