Well I am about to do it.

[patdunk]

Well the time is rapidly approaching. I purchased the ring, I received the father''s blessing, and I made all the preparations. Now I just need to build up the nerve to do it. So here is my plan, tell me what you think. I plan on taking her on Dec 17th to a huge out door/ indoor garden that is set up for Christmas with lights and decorations, its call Longwood Gardens I heard it is really beautiful this time of year. She has no idea, at least I think she doesn''t that I am going to do it that night so it should come as a surprise. I plan on walking around for a little bit with the ring in my pocket until I find a nice secluded spot to pop the question. It’s a really big place so it shouldn''t be a problem to find a private spot. After I propose I made reservations at the nicest hotel in the city for a romantic overnight stay which includes champagne, roses, a set up bubble bath for 2, and breakfast in the morning from room service. I also made reservations for dinner at the hotel for 8:30 so we can have time to go to the room and I can change into my suit that I will bring. So all in all I think I am pretty much prepared I just need to trick her in to bring a nice change of clothes that will be suitable for the hotel restaurant. I am planning to tell her that I will pick her up around 5 to go to Longwood Gardens (since its cold out she will most likely dress for warmth instead of style), and to bring a nice change of clothes for dinner reservations I made for 8:30. I tell her something like "we will go to Longwood gardens first and after we are done we will go back to my place and change for dinner reservations I made for 8:30." So tell me what you think. Hopefully I can pull this off with out any problems.

 

[anchor31]

This is a prefect proposal!!! Everything is wonderful. In my opinion at least...

My dream proposal is something like this.

Good luck, keep us posted and post RING PICS!!!

Hand shots, of course...

 

[Kaleigh]

That sounds perfect. I love Longwood Gardens at this time of year, you must be in my neck of the woods. The hotel with rose petals is icing on the cake. Have fun and take lots of pics. It will be the perfect proposal. Good thinking!!!

And post pics of the ring when you have a chance. Lots of hand shots are a must around here.

 

[JDgirl]

That sounds sooooo great! And romantic! And sweet! Good planning! Let us know how it goes, and don''t forget hand pics!!!

 

[indecisive]

That sounds so great and I love the idea about the fancy hotel!! Really great tough. The only thing that I think could be tweaked is the asking her to bring close. If it were me I would be tipped of right away and think something was up. Maybe not a proposal but something, unless it is something you do often. Is there anyway you could find out her size and what type of styles she wears and buy her a great dress. That way everything after the proposal would be a surprise and every time she wore that dress she would remember how special the night was. You might want to let her best friend in on it though, so she could help you. It sounds like such a great idea though, and you have to tell us how it goes. I would love to see pictures of the proposal site too!

 

[patdunk]

Thanks for the responses. Like I said before, if all goes as planed it should be a very special night for her. As for the bringing of the clothes, she usually stays at my house on the weekends, so it won't be anything out of the ordinary if I tell her to bring something nice to wear because we are going out to diner afterwards. I like the idea of buying something nice for her to wear, however unlike my great taste in women’s jewelry, my taste in women’s fashion would be most likely in left field somewhere. I will just have to tell a little fib to her

so this goes as planned. I am sure she won't mind. As for the garden that I will be proposing in, here is the web site. http://www.longwoodgardens.org/

 

[indecisive]

Wow, those gardens look gorgeous!! Your GF is one lucky girl. I am just gonna give my thoughts on it one more time then I won''t say anything else about it, I promise!! I think that if she knows that you guys are going to those romantic gardens and then out to a fancy restaurant she might suspect something, where if you told her "hey, lets go see those Christmas lights then grab some fast food" she wouldn''t expect it at all. Unless you guys go to fancy dinners every weekend, in which case disregard my whole post! If you did it this way you could even propose and then be like alright, lets go to Taco Bell but then drive her to the hotel so it would be like a double surprise. If you got her a little black dress that would work on almost any body type you couldn''t go wrong really, and a gorgeous black dress in a beautiful garment box with a single red rose on top would be stunning. Here are some styles that might look good because modest v-necks flatter everyone and bring attention to the collar bone and face, which are sexy on any woman and something that comes in at the waist the floats off the body to create an hour glass figure looks great on absolutely everyone. And maybe have a simple black cardigan to wear over it if she gets cold. Here are some examples:

http://store.nordstrom.com/product/product_brandboutique.asp?styleid=2883884&boutique=dresses_n_occasion&category=2376776~2374327~2374331~6001765~6001769&NextStyleID=2876396&PrevStyleID=2878009

http://store.nordstrom.com/product/product_brandboutique.asp?styleid=2878025&boutique=dresses_n_occasion&category=2376776~2374327~2374331~6001765~6001769&NextStyleID=2880681&PrevStyleID=2872345

http://store.nordstrom.com/product/product_brandboutique.asp?styleid=2843728&boutique=dresses_n_occasion&category=2376776~2374327~2374331~6001765~6001766&NextStyleID=2842457&PrevStyleID=2846996

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod69196641&catId=cat82162

Wow, you can tell I am trying to procrastinate and not study for my finals. That said, you know your future fiancé best so go with what feels right. Your proposal will be amazing no matter what I''m sure... good luck!! And sorry if the dress thing really isn''t what you want to do, I didn''t mean to offend or push with my post!

 

[patdunk]

Thanks for the recommendations for those very beautiful dresses, however I will elaborate on my plan to get her there and to bring an outfit with out her even knowing what’s going on. I started setting this up like a month and a half ago when I mentioned to her about Longwood Gardens and how they decorated for Christmas. She was really excited and said that she has wanted to go there for a while now and we really have not had the chance to get there together. Being that next weekend (Dec 17th &18th) is my only weekend off in December we planed on going there, so she knows where we are going. Now for the dinner reservations part. I was stressing over how I would get her to bring an outfit, but an opportunity presented its self on Monday. My GF works for a major bank in my area and on Monday they gave her a $50 Certificate to a very nice restaurant in the city. My plan is to tell her that I made reservations to go there on Sat. but could only get them for 8:30 giving us time to go to Longwood Gardens go back to my place and change and go out to dinner. I will tell her on Saturday that I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do and that I will pick her up at her house instead of her driving to mine. I will tell here that I will be in that area and just to bring stuff to stay overnight w/ clothes for dinner and I will bring her home the next day. She won't even think twice about it. I will pack all my clothing, including my suit for dinner. After I propose and we decide to leave I will take her to the Hotel and check in then have a romantic dinner just the two of us, all while being a complete surprise to her, and making myself look like a true romantic and creating a story for her to tell all her friends and coworkers.

 

[indecisive]

OK, now that I have heard the whole plan it sounds much more surprising than I thought it was. It is almost like everything just fell into place. Must be fate! (and good planning!) Plus she will be able to pick out her own special outfit which can be just as great. Your proposal idea got me so excited I wish you could be the one to give my BF advice!!

 

[ello]

I would definitely say YES! Good luck - it''s going to be so wonderful!

 

[goldengirl]

That sounds like a great proposal!

Best of luck and make sure to come back and tell us how it went!

 

[snuga]

The proposal sounds great, and SOON!! Congrats! I''m sure that she will be thrilled. let us know how it goes

 

[patdunk]

Here is an update of my story. On Saturday night I took my then GF to a very crowded Longwood Gardens. After looking for a secluded spot to pop the question, I found one that was quite and did it. Of course she said yes and was very surprised that I did it that night and was taken aback when she saw the ring that I gave her. I then told her that I didn''t make reservations to the restaurant that she thought but instead were going to a very nice hotel for an overnight stay and having dinner in the French restaurant that is in the hotel. She could not get over the fact that I kept this a secret as long as I did, being the type of guy that can''t hold a secret to save my life. All in all everything went as planned and my now fiancé has a wonderful story to tell her family and friends of how I proposed. By the way the ring was a huge hit, I have to say thank you to James Allen for helping in the purchase of a very beautiful ring that hopefully my Fiancé will cherish.

 

[hilbake]

Yay! Congratulations!

Do you have any pics to show us?

 

[HeeBeeGB]

congrats!

 

[SoonIHope]

Congratulations!!!

That really sounds perfect, and I''m so glad you pulled it off!!!!!

Pics now please.

 

[Mimikins24]

Congratulations patdunk!!! It sounds like everything went off without a hitch. I''m sure your girlfriend (fiance!) will cherish the ring and the memories for a lifetime!!! Please do come back and show us some hand pics too!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

That''s great!!! Congratulations, sounds like an awesome proposal. You have to come back with some hand pics, pretty please??

 

[curlygirl]

Congratulations!!! So glad it all worked out. Now we definitely need some hand shots!

 

[anchor31]

Congratulations!!! Your fiancée is such a lucky woman!

I second the request for pics!

 

[MissCongeniality]

We need photos please!
And congrats! Your proposal sounds so sweet!!!!