Ladies, PLEASE tell me how this sounds

[Konrad]

First...Let me set some things up here. I've been with my current girlfriend for almost a year. She was actually my ex-girlfriends best friend. I'm planning on proposing sometime in summer '04. Since I was 18, I've saved a bit of my paycheck to put in an "engagement fund". Being 21 now, I've accumulated quite a bit of money. I wanted it to be the most incredible time of both of our lives for whomever I wanted to be my wife. for about 4 months now, I've been accumulating car batteries and power inverters to light up a small grove of trees with white christmas lights. I'm going to have one of her friends drive her to the remote location. She'll then be told by her friend to "follow the signs". On a tree, there will be a lantern with the picture we took from our first date right below it. there will also be a discman with a burned cd with our song on it. Cotten twine will be wrapped around a nail on the tree that will lead to another tree with another picture. This will happen about 10 times until the final tree will have a remote control on it saying "press me". When she presses the remote, a circle of 25 foot trees with millions of white christmas lights will come on. I'll be standing in the middle of the clearing, in my tuxedo. She'll walk to me, I'll make my speech, get on one knee and present her with the 1.5 carat Tiffany's I have picked out.

So there we have it. I'd love feedback on how I could make this better for this incredible girl. If you have ANY comments, please respond. Thanks!
-Konrad-

 

[lovesparkles]

One word: WOW

Did you already purchase the ring?

 

[Konrad]

No. haven't purchased the ring yet. Still waiting to take that plunge.

 

[diamondlil]

This is soooo sweet. Please keep us informed by posting updates and pictures of the ring!

Diamondlil

 

[Arlington]

I'm not a lady, but it sounds pretty good to me if you can get it to work right.

 

[mike04456]

Just be careful with those car batteries. I don't know how you're planning on setting it all up, but if you hook enough of them together the wrong way, you can cause an explosion.

That said, it's one of the more original ideas I've ever heard.

 

[honeynut]

Ok, I ahve a few issues with your post. I hate to do this but I need a few questions answered. of course, your life is none of my business, but you posted here for an opinion...

I've been with my current girlfriend for almost a year. She was actually my ex-girlfriends best friend. A year is not a very long time to know someone, however I feel you can 'know' from the beginning. I am curious how long you were with your ex, if you broke up with her for her best friend, and if you were planning to get engaged with your ex before breaking up with her.

Since I was 18, I've saved a bit of my paycheck to put in an "engagement fund". Being 21 now, I've accumulated quite a bit of money. I wanted it to be the most incredible time of both of our lives for whomever I wanted to be my wife. Um - what exactly do you mean by 'whomever I wanted to be my wife'? This makes me concerned that you want to get engaged more than you want to share a marriage. An engagement is a memorable loving surprise, a wedding is a day long celebration... a marriage, is a lifetime of shared pain adn happiness and stress and debt and sickness and health adn lost jobs and children and parents dying and bad habits and mowing the lawn and paying bills and remembering how much you love each other and how great it was when you had no responsibilities.

for about 4 months now, I've been accumulating car batteries and power inverters to light up a small grove of trees with white christmas lights. If you've been with her for less than a year, you've been accumulating batteries for one third to one half your relationship. Sweet, but also reinforces my point...

I'm going to have one of her friends drive her to the remote location. She'll then be told by her friend to "follow the signs". On a tree, there will be a lantern with the picture we took from our first date right below it. there will also be a discman with a burned cd with our song on it. Cotten twine will be wrapped around a nail on the tree that will lead to another tree with another picture. This will happen about 10 times until the final tree will have a remote control on it saying "press me". When she presses the remote, a circle of 25 foot trees with millions of white christmas lights will come on. This is a very romantic idea, very sweet and totally original, however there are logistical problems, and another point that concerns me: I'd like to know if you took that picture on your first date in case you'd eventually propose to her. If so, I strongly suggest you undertake some long and serious soul searching before you do this. You will not have a lifetime of engagements to light up your future like a million christmas lights. You will be left with a marriage and all that it means. I really don't mean to burst any bubbles. You're a grown man, you're going to make your own choice, but it would be very wise to be completely realistic and honest with yourself. The logistical problems center around permission to appropriate the forest like that, as you will need to advise the county and be granted a permit. They will have safety and environmental concerns. You'll need to take it all down after. It would suck to have your proposal ruined by the authorities.

I'll be standing in the middle of the clearing, in my tuxedo. She'll walk to me, I'll make my speech, get on one knee and present her with the 1.5 carat Tiffany's I have picked out. Is this the ring she wants, or just the ring you think you should get her because it's over a carat and it's a Tiffany's? I wouldn't want that ring. Tiffany's is overpriced IMO and the high setting wouldn't suit my active lifestyle - it would catch on all my clothes and I might damage or lose that incredible diamond. Furthermore, have you checked into the price of one of those things? Their website calls it "the ring by which all others are measured"... is this why you think it is appropriate?

http://www.tiffany.com/shopping/tiffany_setting.asp?mysid1=E172456B480B416AA02094676C83D26C&cntry1=1

Furthermore, I checked on Blue Nile for the price of a 1.5 solitaire. I used their interactive diamond search to locate diamonds that they deemed balance in quality and size. A 1.5 carat loose diamond goes for between 9 and 13 thousand dollars US...

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00518933&filter_id=3&sec=&query=12&page=&sortby=size-d

This is a deal, too - if you buy that diamond retail, at a Tiffany & Co. store you're going to pay between 40 to 100% more. A 'Tiffany' setting is a 6-pring setting in a simple band, which you can get anywhere. Please shop around.

You asked for ANY comments on how to make this better - those are mine. Be SURE of what you're doing!!! Be sure that you are doing what she wants too, not just satisfying a lifelong dream of your own. While I think that doing so is absolutely wonderful, it is something you will share. For the rest of your life, hopefully. I am sorry if I have been insulting in any way, while that was not my intention I realize my comments may not sit well with you. If you are sure, yo've thought all this out, you know it's possible and you're not wasting batteries on something that will be prohibited, she loves a tiffany setting, wants that size diamond, you want to spend all that money on all this becuase she is the love of your life and it can't be any other way for you both, then good for you for following your heart while using your head. I guess i just wanted to make sure you were doing that. All the best,

HN

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Konrad,




Sounds like this is going to be quite the show...Please keep us updated......

 

[Konrad]

In response to "Honeynut", I will try to explain my planning of this post. Its almost as if Honeynut is playing devils advocate and judging my dream proposal in order just to find flaws. the pessimistic point of view represented greatly concerns me and I wonder if the person that posted this reply is happy with their own life and maybe not just posting an unbias opinion. I honestly don't feel a need to justify my actions to a complete stranger, but I don't think that he/she quite understands my intentions. SO here it goes...

In response to my current girlfriend, I have been friends with her for approimately 6 years. I knew her during the entire relationship with my ex. I did not break up with my ex for her best friend. We waited some time before we even started talking after the breakup occured. I was in NO MEANS planning on getting engaged to anyone at anytime when I broke up with my ex.

In response to the engagement ring fund...I knew that someday I wanted my engagement to be memorable, sincere, and with complete love. I knew that someday I would find the one I would want to marry and I would ot want to marry someone else. I have to admit, that I do not know what all of married life has to hold for me and my future spouse. I do believe however that whatever life may throw at the both of us, we will do our best to overcome the hardships TOGETHER. Being on my own and completely financially independent since 17 years of age, I believe I can truely say that I know what responsibilities occur and I know that life is not a cake walk.

"logistical problems"--
I by no means intended to use the picture of our first date for a proposal item. It was just a first date picture for crying out loud! I thought it would be memorable and sweet. Maybe someone is reading into this too much. FYI. The "forest" is private property and I have arranged everything with the property owner (a good friend).
I'm so, so sorry that you would not want that ring. (Not really because it doesn't really matter what you want.) We've actually been looking for rings lately and she fell in love with the Tiffany's. What better to get my future wife than the perfect engagement ring. Forgive me for buying retail. I know its a tragedy to many. Hence why Wal-Mart is doing so well.

In conclusion, The response that I received from "Honeynut" actually got me to thinking. But I'm sure its not the way he/she intended I would think. I'm beginning to wonder what has affected "Sparkly" so much that he/she has to ridicule a young mans dream proposal. Granted, some questions were valid. I naturally assumed that the general population would give me some credit in actually thinking those questions about myself/girlfriend/marriage in advance before proposing. I honestly feel for you Sparkly. I detect bitter words of resentment in your post. Please don't pass judgement on other people's plans and future just because (possible) yours did not turn out the way you intended them to. I would love any response to this post in any disagreements/agreements.

-Konrad-

 

[honeynut]

Hi Konrad,

Nothing of what I said was meant to ridicule or cause offense. I just thought you needed to think about a few things, if you had not already. I am actually in a very happy and loving relationship, engaged to be married, 26, financially independent, employed fulltime as a supervisor at a multinational financial institution while simultaneously pursuing a degree at University, also full-time. I have had many relationships and been in love before. I am a veteran hope and romance addict and recovered heartbreak addict. If anyone knows about letting your heart get the best of you, I do.
I am glad that you're considering what you both want, and that your decisions are made out of true love and thoughtful planning rather than simply romance. I think that if you read your original post objectively, without getting defensive, you may understand why a woman like myself may ask the questions I asked.

All the best,

Honey

 

[tomatoe]

honey was just trying to help and i am sure that she had no ill intentions in the questions that she asked. sometimes we need another's opinion to really open our eyes and see things for what they are. if she seems to be the devils' advocate maybe she was just being honest and telling u how it sounds to her. which is what u asked for in the first place.

if u didnt want any comments or questions that may 'seem pessimistic", u shouldnt have posted this thread. no1 will tell u what U wanna hear constantly, different strokes for different folks.

p.s. i dont know honeynut at all but just felt u were being rather ungracious of the opinions she voiced.

 

[myself2115]

I'm not a lady, but great ideas so far. One VERY important thing to remember, from a car expert to you:
The car batteries will work alright for this, as long as they are good quality ones. Inverters run best if you are running an engine. Make sure they are at least 750 Cranking Amps, possibly more. Less would work, but why the heck would you take chances at this important moment?

And one other thing: DONT SET THEM ON THE GROUND. Not sure if you knew, cause some people don't, that a car battery sitting on the ground outside will lose it's charge, due to I believe a form a radiation interaction between the two. especially rock or concrete. I've found that the best soultion to this is to simply place it on top of an overturned 5 gallon pail. Oh, yeah, remember to make sure they are freshly charged. Sitting for as little as a week can cause them to lose charge.

Awesome proposal, though. Should work awesome if you plan carefully. And she won't be able to say no. Good Luck.

 

[Volred]

That is some proposal. Just simply WOW!!!

Might I suggest a dress rehearsal to make sure the friends dont get stuck in traffic, or that the wind will not blow your stuff away.

And to make sure that all the batteries work in that cold weather.

Take pics, heh

 

[diamondboy]

Hmmmm....doesn't seem very original. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought I saw that in a De Beers comercial last year.

 

[Nicrez]

Konrad, Congrats! I really applaud ANY guy who can save up money for a ring like that, with such anticipation. To me, it's just plain responsible...like saving for your children, or for a rainy day...BRAVO!

As for the idea itself...it is so unique and lovely...I hope everything works out perfectly! And if not...remember to smile, to laugh, and it everything else goes wrong, sweep her up in your arms and just kiss her. It always works!

As for the ring...I do agree with honeynut. I went to Tiffany's and saw all their rings, Lucida, round, etc...I PERSONALLY am not a fan, and my BF and I decided that we preferred a stone (Radiant Cut) at 1.75-2.0, F color or better, VVS2 or better, with a perfet square shape, in a simple, low set platinum W prong setting. It doesn't catch and it's cheaper because we live near the Diamond District in NYC, and we know enough that we won't get ripped off... That diamond is averaging at $12.5K...far less than a Tiffany stone. You chose name and luxury, which may be what she wants, so bless you both. Me, I am the kind of gal who won't rest until I find those Manolo Blahnik shoes for half the price...or that name brand bag bought cheaper at the home country where it's actually made. Me? I would walk into a diamond dealer in SOuth Africa or a Belgian market and find my own diamond, but what can I do? I wanted unique, elegant and the best for my money. If Tiffany's is the best for your hard earned money, than God bless you both and enjoy your very special day!!! Keep us posted!!!

 

[amelia]

Konrad,
great idea!! does your love have any idea about any of it? make sure you think everything out, also. like a back-up plan for foul weather or the lights not working. and, to follow up with most of the people who have commented on this, make sure a tiffany's ring is what she wants. for the money you could get not necessarily a better ring, but you could definitely get more. oh, and what does the ring look like beyon just 1.5 carats?? is there more to it we just don't understand?
something else i just thought about . . . if you're going to be dressed in a tux and the girl just thinks she's going out with friends, how are you going to have her dressed and how are you going to cover for that?

-amelia-

 

[Mara]

1.5c Tiffany ring is pretty self-explanatory IMO...everyone knows what the Tiffany ring looks like!

Float onto their website and check it out. It's their classic engagement ring.




I think it sounds AWESOME! I'm not into the Tiffany markup either and think there are better ways to spend the $$, but since she fell in love with it and you have been saving, sounds like you know what you want and if you can afford it...why not. Now if you were saying D IF Tiffany...I would have to stage an intervention.

Kudos for creativity AND for sounding so mature at age 21! I was definitely not saving for anything at age 18-21, much less anything this big...sounds like you got a good head on your shoulders and have found your gal.




Best of luck and keep us posted!