birthday proposal SF (long)

[pepperell]

I’ve been dating my GF for almost 7 years now. During the last 12 months it has been made excruciatingly clear that it’s (past) time for us to get engaged. She has given me an ultimatum (somewhat in jest

) that I have until the end of the summer to propose. However, her birthday is in a couple of weeks and I’d like to do it then (I have the ring, will ask father’s permission next week though won’t tell him when). I’ve been trying to throw her off with a combination of feigned ignorance of what ring/diamond she wants and a general lackadaisical attitude about getting engaged. I’ve also asked her if by “end of the summer” she means the start of the school year (she’s a kindergarten teacher) or the actual start of autumn (Sept 21st??). Nonetheless, I think she will be highly suspicious of anything “out of the ordinary” on her birthday.

Her birthday should provide good cover for the surprise, yet I’m still having trouble planning out the proposal. Officially, it falls on a Monday so I’ll have to get everything done the weekend prior. She’s one of those people who manages to spread the celebration out over several days (i.e. party with work friends, then with college friends, then with family…etc). I’m thinking along those lines but am trying to figure out where to integrate the proposal in.

I have a general idea of what I want to do. The devil is in the details!
Here it is so far (but I’m wide open to suggestions):

Friday we’ll have a big dinner and go out afterwards with her friends. I could also incorporate a couple proposal-like moments during the evening to build suspense, maybe even throw in a decoy bday present, though the evening will turn out anti-climatic (evil—I know).

The next morning I’ll suggest our usual weekend routine of going to breakfast at one of our favorite local spots. BUT, before going, I’ll propose .

Then… we’ll head over to her family’s house (her sisters will know, but her parents should still be surprised), have some brunch, and head up to a romantic B&B in Sonoma Saturday night. The next day we have to be back in the city for 5 pm annual father’s day/GF birthday dinner reservations with her family.

How does that sound? Any ideas? Spot any hitches?

*proposal criteria:

-first and foremost, it must be a surprise
-original and memorable
-not in too public a place (ie not in a restaurant)
-somewhere nearby so she can share the moment with her family (though they need not be present AT the proposal)

 

[AmberGretchen]

Hmmm...so if I understand correctly you want to propose Saturday am before breakfast?? How about some more information about your morning routines - does she shower in the morning? If so, this would be great cover for a surprise. Do you ever make her coffee or anything else in the morning before going out? Is there a place on the way to your favorite restaurant that you could do it? If you are doing a mock b-day present the night before, it might be cute to give it as another bday present, that way she will be thrown off even more. If she does shower in the morning, I think it would be incredibly sweet to set up something while she is in the shower, like flowers everywhere, and the ring hidden in them, or have her favorite stuffed animal "holding" the ring, or tie it to a collar of a pet...any number of possibilities.

Good luck and hopefully those were some helpful ideas - let us know how it turns out!

 

[pepperell]

i like the flowers idea. fortunately she does shower on occasion. will have to try to convince her to on that morning.

i was also considering dropping a knee some where on the way to the breakfast spot, but her street isn''t terifficly romantic.

another idea... give her a book (not sure which one) with "happy birthday ____ 2005, love ____ p.s. read the last page" on the front inset, cut out a hole in the last few pages in the shape of a ring, and somehow tie the ring in so it won''t fall out. on the last page would be the proposal. got to think of an appropriate book though.

 

[heart prongs]

I love the book idea...she's a kindergarten teacher, there's got to be a great kids book out there that conveys your relationship. Go into a bookstore and look around for the perfect message!!!

By the way, I had to read the first paragraph of your post out loud to my husband, that was him three years ago at exactly this time...right down to asking when "the end of the summer means" !!! I'm a teacher as well...So anyway...he feels your pain!!! He pulled off the surprise and we've been married since last August!

Good luck with everything...let us know how things go...and what the ring is like? And does "Pepperell" mean you're from Mass.? We live on the North Shore.

klr

Books: My Missing Piece, The Giving Tree, there's more...let me think!!!

 

[pepperell]

that''s a good idea with the children''s books. i didn''t want to have to choose some cheesy poetry book.

hmm, the book thing is sounding more and more appealing.

and yep, i''m an east coast transplant. moved to san francisco in 2000.

 

[just lookin]

if you are planning on doing something in the morning.. i can tell you my ultimate proposal dream....

.... simply to wake up (you already awake of course) to the ring on her finger (somehow you magically slip it on her finger when she is sleeping)... when she finally figures out what is going on you can say something sweet like "i didn''t think you should have to wake up one more day without this ring on your finger" ... then you can do a sweet romantic breakfast in bed!

just my .02

 

[pepperell]

i''ve thought of doing that, its just i know she''ll wake up when i slip it on. that''s a great line too. maybe if she imbibes a bit too much the night before i could pull it off, but then her memory of the day she got engaged would involve having a nice hangover.

i''ll try a test run a see if she wakes up.

 

[just lookin]

it could be sweet if she did wake up to it.. at least you would catch her off guard.. a total surprise...

when i started reading your post i could have bet my life you were my friend''s boyfriend.. she''s been waiting 7 years and afraid that when the time comes (espically if she senses its coming) that she won''t be surprised, or cry, or any of that good stuff.. she''ll just be like... "FINALLY!" .. so i think you really have to catch her off guard...

good luck .. can''t wait to hear how it turns out!

 

[njc]

Is there one thing she does every morning without fail? I know you said you go out to breakfast, but do you all drink a cup of coffee/tea before you go? You could hide the ring in the coffee beans or sugar or tea bags.

I cant say getting out of the shower with wet hair and a towel wrapped around me is my dream proposal.

 

[Newfeeflip]

Hey pepperell...here's my version of the "morning" proposal....maybe you'll get some ideas here...good luck!

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wake-up-proposal-or-beach-proposal.23432/=

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/wake-up-proposal-were-engaged.24740/=

 

[pepperell]

It was a success!!!

Sorry, I''ve been busy the last few weeks and haven''t been able to update my proposal story.

The two preceeding days leading up to sunday (father''s day) I gave her a couple nice gifts as planned. First night, a marc jacobs shirt. Saturday I surprised her with the weekend getaway (we''ll be going to sonoma in two weeks). We had a nice couple days with various friends and family. By Sunday morning I could hardly wait any longer. I woke up several times that night and morning and forced myself back to sleep. At about 7:30 am I couldn''t stand it any more so I got up and tried to make a lot of noise etc to wake her up. After rustling around in my overnight bag for a couple of minutes I pulled out a nicely wrapped book--The Giving Tree (good idea by the way). I handed it to her and said, here''s your one last birthday present. She opened it up and on the inside cover I''d written the usual birthday note... then, p.s. turn to page 1. So she flipped a couple of pages to where I''d written "From a boy, who loves her very much" (this was a mix of the giving tree story and kind of an inside joke between the two of us). At this point, she closes the book and is like "Oh, thank you very much, I''ll read it to my kindergarten class." I sat down next to her and made her open to the next page... where I''d cut a whole out in all the rest of the pages big enough to fit the ring. Needless to say she was incredibly surprised and happy (she said yes!). We called our families and then headed over to her parents house for the day.

I think it was a real success . It was a surprise, , it was original and fun for both of us, and she got to share her joy with her sisters + family.

Our wedding date is tentatively a year from now. We have a winery in Napa all picked out.

Thanks for your help. Will try to get a pic of the ring up here sometime soon. Just need to find somewhere to host it.

 

[snuflz]

Congratulations Pepperell!! What a sweet proposal!

 

[heart prongs]

Awww Pepperell, I just saw this and want to say I''m so happy that everything went well. Happy engagement!!!!

klr

prongs