Expectations

[Renaissance Jake]

For as long as I can remember, I''ve always assumed & expected that whenever I finally popped the question to that special girl--whoever she would be--, it would be in grand fashion. I always thought it would be very big, on a near-national scale, very showy, but romantic, but not cheesy.
Flash-forward years later. I''ve met the girl; we''ve been together for 3 years now. We''ve discussed our future, and feel that it''s a given we''ll get married in the next few years, but haven''t taken it any further than that. We''re both very close to each of our families, and have grown to love each other''s family as if they were our own. I''ve spent months searching for the perfect ring. It just arrived today. It''s beautiful. Over the course of the last few weeks my plans for the proposal have changed. I think I''m going to opt for a small, intimate event with her family.
Her aunt (who is hilarious, and who we both LOVE) is a pastor, and we''ve always felt it would be great for her to marry us. Well, this weekend that aunt, along with my girlfriend''s grandmother, will be flying down from up north to her parent''s home in Atlanta. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to propose. As I said, she is very close to her family, and I really think it would be special to do it with them around. This is a really different than I always envisioned I would propose, but I love this woman, and I understand that it is best to opt for a smaller event, than a huge gawdy monstrosity.
I haven''t decided on exactly how & when to ask the question. We will be driving up (5 hours) late Friday afternoon (after work). We''ll stay until Sunday, and probably leave around noon. I don''t think it''s a good idea to propose on Friday night, because she''ll probably be exhausted from working all day followed by a long drive. I don''t know if I should do it Saturday evening, because we would be leaving Sunday morning (noon at the latest). I think it would be nice to have an entire day with the family after the event, so I think Saturday morning (after we''re all dressed & awake) would be ideal. Early in our relationship, I remember doing a couple of magic tricks for her. I''m no magician, but I could do card tricks. There was one that she loved. We were both sitting Indian-style on the floor of the living room. I handed her a deck of cards, she drew a card, put it back in the deck, put the deck in its box, and handed it to me. I pulled the deck out of its box, rummaged through the deck to find her card, but it was not there. After looking puzzled for a bit, I looked up, stood up, pulled the chain to turn the ceiling fan from its setting on high to off. As the fan slowed down she her jaw dropped as she saw that her card was attached to one of the blades of the ceiling fan. I think that was one of the days that I really impressed her. She would later tell me that she found herself fascinated by me (not just by my stupid magic tricks, but other stuff).
I want to do a similar trick for the proposal. What I thought is that I''d do a couple of tricks where her mother & her aunt picked cards & I produced them in some magical wey. Then, I''d have my girlfriend pull two cards. They''d be the queen of hearts & the queen of diamonds. Just like what happened in the trick I did early in our relationship, the cards would not be in the deck. I''d tell her to walk over to the fireplace mantle, where she''d find both cards with a folded note saying "turn around". When she turns around I''d be kneeling with the open ring box, saying say something to the effect of "You''re already the queen of my heart, and today you''re the queen of diamonds. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?".

I think she''ll like it, but I''m kinda wondering if it''s too cheesy or not memorable enough. This is (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I want it to be perfect.

I''m sorry for the long post.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Jake-Great Idea.

In response to the following:
This is a really different than I always envisioned I would propose, but I love this woman, and I understand that it is best to opt for a smaller event, than a huge gawdy monstrosity.
You doing what is comfortable to her and proposing with her family around will no doubt make her feel more comfortable and it will also help her realize the effort you put in to it by proposing on an occassion where she is surrounded by the people who love her most.
When she turns around I'd be kneeling with the open ring box, saying say something to the effect of "You're already the queen of my heart, and today you're the queen of diamonds. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?".
Jake I think this is a really classy way of going about your proposal. It is very interesting that the strategy you have for proposing incorporates a time which you both became more awestruck with each other early in the relationship. I think she will love it and no doubt the way your proposing will flood her with those same memories of the earlier time in the relationship both of you shared.

I wish you the best-Thanks for sharing a great story and keep us updated-

Josh Rioux
Sitka, Alaska

 

[Renaissance Jake]

Another note: Friday night I'm going to ask her father for his blessing. I'm bringing a good SLR camera, and, since her father will be the only one "in the know", I'll ask him to use my camera to take pictures of the proposal. I really would like to have the moment preserved forever, and would like to be able to share the photographs with my own family & friends, which won't be there. I just hope he takes some decent shots (zoom in, fill the frame, low & interesting angles, good composition). I wish I could split in two and take the pictures at the same time I propose. Thanks for the well-wishes!