Any Suggestions are VERY welcome!

[castilloa]

Hello everyone, I''m new here and I need some advice and suggestions on my proposal idea.

Last year I gave my girlfriend a hand-written love letter for valentines day (a lost art, sadly.)She loved it and saved it in an envelope in a scrapbook. In the letter I included a secret message. If you take the first letter in every sentence, it spells out her name and will you marry me.

Well, one year later Valentines day is coming up and her B-day right after on the 15th. I plan on finding a really cute high-lighter (if they exist) or a nice pen in a box and have her get the envelope and circle the letters to reveal the message.

My problem is LOCATION-LOCATION-LOCATION! and how should I present the envelope? lol...any suggestions?? I was thinking NEW YORK but not sure. I''d like to make it just the two of us. Any ideas, advice or add-ons are GREATLY appreciated. She''s a painter and art teacher if that helps. THANKS!!!

 

[esguy27]

Very clever, what a great idea! I think how you put the secret message in her letter from last V-day will make your memories of the actual engagement even better!

 

[CourtHorn]

I don''t really have any suggestions, I just wanted to say what a creative and romantic thing to do! The fact that you did that last year makes it so much more special! Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[JDgirl]

What a great idea! Such foresight! Were you planning on circling the letters or having her do it? I might tell her some story about how you read about how some historical letters reveal treasures and secrets when you take the first letter of each sentence and put them together. Then, suggest that she try it...maybe on the letter from last V-day. Then, have her reveal the message. I think it''d be really fun and more engaging to have her reveal the message. Again, though, let me say that this is VERY sweet no matter how you do it!

 

[icefisher]

Yeah, that is a great idea. Since she''s a painter & art teacher maybe take her to a museum for the deciphering; tell her that there''s a personal "da Vinci Code" for her to unravel....

 

[ellewoods]

Hello!

What a fabulous idea! How wonderful that you had the foresight to know 1 year ago....and to keep it a surprise this whole time!

I think that''s the best proposal idea I''ve ever heard!

Here''s my comments....I''m sorry its such a long post!

In my personal opinion, I would love a fancy weekend in New York for a proposal. There''s so much to do, so many wonderful restaurants, so much great shopping...its a very decadent city and I would like to feel like I get to indulge in everything on the proposal weekend. So if you''re thinking New York already, I''d say go for it!

Here''s my idea as far as how to do it. Wherever you choose to propose -- hotel suite with roses and candles, Central Park in a secluded area, fancy restaurant -- tell her you have her present. Then reach into your pocket and pull out the original letter, tucked into a new envelope. She''ll open the envelope and find last year''s letter -- and be really confused.

At that point, you say something like "Now I know I gave you this letter last year, but its your gift this year too." And at that point you can pull out a cute pink highlighter or nice pen of some sort and ask her to highlight or circle the letters out (like you planned). And then you propose.

But I think it would be great to simply put the original letter in a new envelope addressed to her. That way she''ll know its a card/letter of some sort, but she certainly won''t be thinking it contains a proposal. I don''t think you need much fanfare in presenting her the envelope since the best part is the secret message.

Other options would be going to a fancy dinner and order dessert -- but arrange beforehand that there is no dessert and instead your letter is served to her with a cover over it. Then when they take off the cover, she''ll be confused and surprised to see an envelope instead of a dessert. Then you propose.

You could also do something like take a walk in Central Park and have your guys'' portrait drawn by one of the sidewalk artists. When the artist is done, he can hand you the picture and also an envelope with your letter in it -- maybe say its an extra drawing thrown in for free, or a flyer for his upcoming art show or whatever.

Or as you''re walking away from the artist, arrange earlier with him to be in on it, and have him say "Hey Miss, you dropped something." And then he gives her the card. I like the idea of involving someone you guys don''t know, because it will totally throw her off track. Then you find a romantic place in the park to propose -- or somewhere special closeby like near some of the museums, etc.

Ooh I have 1 more idea!

Take her to the Brooklyn Bridge, to walk over the Bridge to Brooklyn from Manhattan. It''s a beautiful view and there are always tons of people walking across. Go around 4 so you can be there when the sun starts to go down. So you guys go to walk over the bridge. Then when you reach the middle area, arrange for someone to say "Miss, you dropped something." And hand her the card. Then you propose.

Or you could even have something special waiting at the middle of the Bridge, like a chauffer dressed in a nice suit or tux, holding roses. Maybe he hides a bit so she doesn''t see him earlier and get suspicious. Have him say "Excuse me miss, you dropped something." And then he gives her the card. She opens it, you explain and propose. Then he escorts you both to a waiting limo (which you''ve already arranged) and drives you to a fancy dinner to celebrate and a night out on the town. That''d be awesome!

 

[monarch64]

Love, love, LOVE your idea! And I loved icefisher''s idea of incorporating a museum a la DaVinci Code. Of course, only if you think she''d be into it. I have to say this is one of the most creative proposal idea I''ve heard of, and I love the fact that you''ve been thinking about your plan for so long! Let this be an inspiration to all those on the LIW thread! I like the highliter idea, but have you thought about bringing along a super nice paintbrush and watercolor type paint instead? Just a thought since she''s an artist/teacher...

 

[TxBlonde]

I love the idea of the card and the museum thing but if shes not into them it may not be the best. I know I would love the museum probably just because I love that book!

 

[Hansel]

THAT'S THE GREATEST IDEA EVER! let me think on the location thing...

I like Ellewoods ideas, ending up in the park would probably be better, because the bridge might get noisy or smelly (I don't know I have never been on the Brooklyn Bridge). Also, you may want to photocopy the letter or rewrite it, because she may not want to write on it thinking that she would ruin it our something. But that might be silly. So are you going to plan a romantic date and at the end give her a box which contains a high lighter and the letter. What are you going to say to get her to realize that she needs to highlight the first letter?

 

[paliquito]

Can anyone help me in my engagement proposal? I''m currently in the military, and stationed in Texas. I''m originally from SoCal, and so is my girlfriend. I have little time left before being deployed to Iraq, so I would like to get married before leaving to the sand. I''m not a fan of getting married in a court or library at a moments noticed; I am more old fashioned, but because of my circumstance i have no choice.
I''ll be arriving home 23 Jan 06, which is two days before my girlfriend''s daughters birthday, but i''m not sure when to pop the question, or when to marry her before her daughter''s B-day or after.
When should be the appropiate time? Should her daughter be there at the little court ceremony? Where is a good spot (restaurant) around the beaches to propose? Please, i am open for your suggestions.

 

[JulieN]

Daughter should be at the ceremony!

 

[paliquito]

Thanks for your advise. Here is a stupid question to ask, but I plan on having an actual wedding ceremony done in a church when i get back from Iraq. Should my "wife-to-be" and I celebrate our wedding anniversary by the first ceremony (at a court house), or should it be celebrated on the actual church ceremony? I still don''t know wheter to get married before or after her daughter''s B-Day.

 

[robdog]

wow and I thought I did a crap load of planning for my proposal, you have planned this for a year.

I think the shock and awe factor of how she had this information in her hand for a WHOLE YEAR will make this proposal so crazy for her.

Nice one with the highlighter idea.

 

[castilloa]

Thanks for the ideas and advice!

I found a really nice looking highlighter thats silver plated....who knew they made those?? lol.

I''m still a little stumped on how I can get her to highlight the letter, I guess I''m just gonna wing it. LOL

 

[GGLW]

Wow, I am so amazed you were able to keep a lid on this for a whole year. Now that is restraint! I think your proposal is so romantic. I''m sure however you get her to hi-lite the letters she will love it.
I do like the suggestion about telling her she has her own "DaVinci" code to unlock.
Let us know how it all plays out!

 

[XChick03]

Date: 1/23/2006 2:03:51 PM
Author:castilloa
Hello everyone, I''m new here and I need some advice and suggestions on my proposal idea.


Last year I gave my girlfriend a hand-written love letter for valentines day (a lost art, sadly.)She loved it and saved it in an envelope in a scrapbook. In the letter I included a secret message. If you take the first letter in every sentence, it spells out her name and will you marry me.


Well, one year later Valentines day is coming up and her B-day right after on the 15th. I plan on finding a really cute high-lighter (if they exist) or a nice pen in a box and have her get the envelope and circle the letters to reveal the message.


My problem is LOCATION-LOCATION-LOCATION! and how should I present the envelope? lol...any suggestions?? I was thinking NEW YORK but not sure. I''d like to make it just the two of us. Any ideas, advice or add-ons are GREATLY appreciated. She''s a painter and art teacher if that helps. THANKS!!!

I have an idea. If you decide to go to NY, you could do this in the hotel room, but it would work at home also.

After a day of sight-seeing around NY, go back to your room and get her to take a long bubble bath or something else to keep her busy. While she''s occupied, make like a little scavenger hunt and leave clues all over the room. You could have one clue to lead her to the highlighter, another to lead her to the letter, maybe a few that are riddles, and something to tell her to what to highlight. After she''s figured it out, present her with the ring.

I have another idea, but it would be tricky to put together. You could take her to an art gallery in New York and have the letter on display with a sign saying to pay attention to the first letter of every sentence. Offer her the highlighter and let her highlight away!

Hope that helps a little. Let us know what you decide to do!

 

[Matt_Denver]

Great idea by the way.

Sounds like you bought the highlighter but one thought I had when reading your post was a black light and black light pen.

That way you can present the same letter again and without black light it will look untouched, turn on the light and the letters will pop off the page.

I''m sure if you can come up with the letter the remaining details would be a breeze.

Whatever you decide to do, Good Luck

Matt

 

[Hansel]

Black light is a good idea... I think you could say something like "I heard something about secret codes on the Discovery channel. One of them was on the bible, looking every ten words or something. ...Blah Blah Blah...There was even this really silly one where it was the first letter of every sentence. I think it is a bunch of nonsense. Just to see what sort of funny stuff we can find buried in some of the letters I wrote to you.

You could even warm her up by giving her some simple one to do first(not this, but something funny and simple). For example,

Your love, when we first met, was like a babbling brook eroding the walls of my heart.
Our love has blossomed and grown together, for me it is one love.
Unique though our situation has been, we have managed through good times and bad.

Something wonderfull always happens inside me when you are by my side.
My heart wakes with anticipation everytime I arise to see you in the morning.
Everyday, it is like a fire within me grows stronger and hotter igniting my passion for you.
Likewise, I am sure I think we need to take another step.
Love, that's what your love means to me.

After some funny ones you can give her the real thing...And while I admit "You smell" is not terribly romantic, you get the idea.

Let me know what you think.

 

[luckygirl333]

Love, love, LOVE the black light idea!

 

[Hansel]

No body liked the You Smell message...?

 

[indecisive]

lol I could see my BF doing the you smell thing first... funny but I would have to smack him! I love the blacklight idea too!

 

[Hansel]

The only reason why I wouldn''t do the black light is it is sort of giving her the answer. It might be more fun to watch her figure it out. But I am only basing this on my girlfriend, and that is what I think she would want. So if your girlfriend is a different type of person then I would do the black light.

 

[castilloa]

Wow. Hadn't thought of the blacklight idea....but that's why I put up the post. I like it. I may give it some more thought, but it does sound cool...because half way through the highlighter, she'll get it anyways!! Not much to figure out after she highlights "Will you marr..." Blacklight would be instant...very cool!

Does everyone agree with the blacklight? I better go bulb shopping!!!

What a great forum...you guys rock!!!

 

[Hansel]

I think the black like is a fantastic idea, but I guess it really comes down to asking yourself, why did you put the secret message in the letter to begin with? The blacklight does have its advantages to any other way,

1) It won''t take as long.
2) It won''t be that difficult to execute.
3) There is pretty much no way that she won''t figure it out.

I think 3) is probably the most important thing in favor of doing the black light. Personally, I think it maybe more fun for her to figure it out for herself. If you lead her with some simple ones and then at the end give her the old love letter, it would help her along without giving the surprise away. I would think that way would feel more like a self discovery and if it were my girlfriend I think she would like that more, but it is not my girlfriend so the decision is up to you. Also, by using the black light ink pen you may inadvertantly damage the letter, so I would photocopy it. I know whenever I highlight my notes the ink always runs. If you dont want to photocopy it you should check on a similar piece of paper and with a similar pen to make sure that the black light pen doesn''t smear the ink.

That''s my story and I am sticking to it. Maybe.

 

[luckygirl333]

Here''s a black light kychain that you could wrap and give to her along with the letter you have "pretreated" with the special pen.

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1433?PHPSESSID=9620fe35a1556ac2411529c04eaefd39