My Proposal Idea...need some thoughts/suggestions pls

[StoneNY]

thanks to all who have shared their stories, its been a great inspiration.

we are going to be celebrating our anniversary in a couple days and it seems like the perfect time to pop the question. Even though i REALLY want to surprise her, she might be suspecting it, its hard to tell, but at this point is there anything i can really do about that?

we both met and grew up about an hr away from where we live now.
she loves ice cream so I was thinking it would be perfect to take her out to one of the ice cream places where we had one of our first dates and ask her there.
our parents still live about 20 mins away from there so I was thinking of arranging to have a limo pick them up, then come and get us and drive us back to nyc.
once in the city I would have either reservations at a nice restaurant or a dinner prepared (catered) ready at the apartment.
Since its a weeknight I would try to have dinner not go too late and then let the limo take the happy parents back home.

IMPORTANT Q about timing...when''s the right time to ask...its the kind of place where you go in, order what you want, they make it and bring it to your table. do I ask after we order/before it shows up or after it shows up/while we''re eating it? I was thinking after it shows up?

What do you think of this idea? There are some problems that I''m not sure how to handle:
-we NEVER leave nyc to celebrate an occasion, especially never on a w/e. im worried as soon as she hears me suggest this she''ll know something is up. should i be worried about this or just go with it anyway?
-her dad might be working that night. i really want to ask on our anniversary so not sure what to do about that especially since I wont know if he is working until a day or two before the day. is it disrespectful to just do it w/o him being able to meet us after?
-my plan calls for our parents to spend a lot of time sitting in a car (about 1.5 hrs on the way there, 1 hr on the way back)...are they gonna get bored/annoyed or just be happy for us?
-im not sure how she will feel about a proposal in a public place. both of us are more private kind of people, but I''m hoping it wont be a big deal. thoughts?
-if somehow something goes wrong at the ice cream place it will be really awkward for our parents to show up.

I appreciate all the advice in advance!

 

[TooPatient]

I would suggest keeping it as more of a private moment and celebrating with her parents later. Maybe that weekend?


My suggestion:

Talk to the icecream people. Use a holder so that you can present her icecream cone to her with a ring stuck out of the top (use a holder so it doesn''t actually touch the icecream). Bring it back to your table and offer it to her on one knee. (asking in your own words)

Enjoy your icecream together.

Have the limo pick the two of you up. Champagne (or her favorite wine) and a single red rose waiting for her inside.

The limo takes you back to your appartment. She will think the evening is over so the next part will be a surprise.

Have a nice dinner catered in your appartment. Let her walk in first and find a candle light dinner and more roses waiting for the two of you to enjoy together.

 

[AustenNut]

I would also focus on keeping the proposal to the two of you rather than including the parents. Particularly since if she is a private person, even having the parents around could be embarrassing (I''m one of those people).

How important is it for you to not tip her off about the proposal? If it''s really important to you, then driving an hour or so out of town on a weeknight for no particular reason would probably send off a lot of alarms. As would a limo ride back to town.

If you want to incorporate the ice cream from your hometown, maybe you can buy a quart of her favorite flavor ahead of time. Perhaps have your meal catered, and then have them serve the ice cream, with the ring on the holder in hers. While you''re going down on one knee the caterer can unobtrusively shoot some photos so you can have a physical memento of the occasion. And the candlelight and rose petals around the place would be a fabulous way to add ambience.

Or if you want to do the fancy restaurant bit, ask for a private room, or for the most private table. Some restaurants may even move some potted plants around to essentially hide a table from view. So long as you are mostly hidden from view, this would also qualify as a nonpublic proposal (from my private person perspective).

Anyway, good luck on your proposal!