Today is Valentine’s Day, so I thought it would be the perfect day to share my proposal story! My fiancé and I got engaged on June 1, 2020. I was so surprised and the way it happened was so perfect for our love story. Let’s dive into this proposal story!
Backstory
My fiancé, Herb, and I have been together for 11 years. I met him when I was 14, we started dating when I was 15, then we got engaged when I was 26. I’ve seen him grow over the years and vice versa. At first I never wanted to get married. I used to be the person to tell people that I didn’t believe in marriage. But one day out of nowhere, my feelings changed. I realized how much I loved Herb and realized I wanted to spend my life with him.
In 2018 we started having conversations about getting married and planning a future together. We talked about it for months, but he never proposed, so I wasn’t sure how serious he was about wanting to get engaged.
Engagement Plans Postponed
Fast forward to summer of 2018, I decided I wanted to move to California to pursue my modeling career. I told Herb I wanted to move to California. I asked if he wanted to move with me, but he wasn’t ready at the time. I ended up moving and we become a long-distance couple. He wasn’t thrilled about this at first. Later I found out from a friend, that he wasn’t thrilled because he had been planning to propose the month after I moved. This definitely put a dent in his plans
Accidentally Saw Ring
In February 2019, Herb moved to California and moved in with me. The day he moved in, he asked me to help him unpack his boxes. While we were unpacking I saw a business card from Andrea Bonelli Jewelry – the ethical jewelry company I told him I wanted a ring from.
I didn’t realize he had inquired about the ring or that he had gotten information on the ring. As I was putting his stuff away I also found a “How to Care for Your Engagement Ring” card. I was like okay I don’t think I was supposed to see that. I was curious because I never told him what ring style I wanted (I honestly never looked at ring styles, so I didn’t even know what I liked.)
Later that day, I looked in the box again on accident, and he saw me see the card. His face dropped! We both pretended that I didn’t see anything and never spoke of this incident again. I wasn’t sure if he had actual bought the ring, but I had a feeling he did based on what I saw.
Suspected Proposal
Herb loves going to Disneyland. That’s usually our go-to date spot. So now that I knew (or thought I knew) he had the engagement ring, I thought he would propose at Disney on a major holiday like Valentine’s Day. We spent several holidays at Disney in 2019 and early 2020 but he never proposed. Then next thing we know, Disneyland shut down because of COVID. I had no idea how he would propose if Disney wasn’t in the mix.
You May Also Like: Zero Waste Disneyland
Our Actual Proposal Story
Fast forward to May of 2020. Herb and I attended our first ever protest. It was a George Floyd protest. That was our first time attending a protest and it was a very emotional bonding experience. Going to the protest was scary and overwhelming. But it also gave us a sense of hope because so many people showed up to fight for an important cause. The protest was life changing for us.
At the protest, an Anti-Protestor revved up his car from miles away and he drove full speed into the crowd of us protesters. His car released black fumes so we couldn’t see anything. I ran onto the sidewalk and was terrified. I even fell down at one point and my glasses flew off my face. It was the scariest moment I’ve ever experienced. The anti-protestor literally tried to run us over.
The police came soon after and the city passed a curfew. Herb and I went home and reflected on everything we experienced.
The next day Trump went live and basically threatened to implement martial law on cities that were “allowing” BLM protests. It was super scary and felt like a dystopian novel. It freaked me out a little bit. Soon after, Herb came behind me and hugged me. I could hear his heart pounding. I was like did Trump scare him? Usually I get freaked out by Trump’s rhetoric, but Herb never has a scared reaction.
Herb went into our closet and pulled something out from the cabinet. He walked away then came back and hugged me again. His heart was beating even louder this time. I asked him if he was okay and he started telling me how life is short and there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. He said he was waiting for the perfect moment but realized the perfect moment may never come. Then he got onto his knee and asked me to marry him!
I said yes, with tear falling from my eyes. The moment was so sweet and so perfect. Oh and apparently his heart was pounding because he was nervous to propose to me, not because of Trump.
Failed Disney Proposal Story
I told Herb I always thought he would propose at disney. He told me he tried to propose at Disney once but the security guard ruined it.
When we went to Disney, Herb had the engagement ring inside his backpack. When we were going through security, the security guard checked the backpack and pulled out the ring. He questioned Herb about the ring case (the case is unique and it doesn’t really look like an engagement ring case). Herb whispered “it’s an engagement ring” to the security guard and the security guard apologized.
Herb thought I overheard the conversation and he thought I saw the ring, so he decided not to propose that day. I actually had no clue that conversation even happened. I was in my own little world.
Herb’s Finesse With Choosing a Ring
I asked Herb how he chose an engagement ring without me telling him my ring size or giving him ring style suggestions. Apparently he went to Andrea Bonelli’s website and looked at pretty much all the photos of rings. Since I was the hand model on the site, he was able to see how the rings looked on me. He chose the ring that he thought looked the best on me and the ring that he thought matched my style the best.
He also contacted Andrea Bonelli and told her he wanted to propose but needed my ring size. The two of them came up with a plan to get my size without me even knowing. When I went to my scheduled photoshoot, Andrea sized me. I thought she was sizing me for the photoshoot to make sure the rings she made would fit. Little did I know, she was sizing me for my engagement ring.
Raw Emotions
I posted my raw feelings in an Instagram caption after getting engaged. Here’s the post:
The Wedding
I’m super excited for the wedding planning process and am curious to see how unique our wedding will be. With everything going on we aren’t sure if we will have a Zoom wedding, an elopement, or wait until it’s safe to get married in a small gathering. We shall see. No matter what we decide, I know our wedding will be super unique and perfect for our love story – just like our proposal story.
What kind of wedding planning content would you like to see from me?
