[NEVERSWEAT]

I will contribute..I will condense it best I can but you have to get in my head for this one for several reasons. Please be patient t/.y
I play softball for our local fire dept. We were playing in Vegas for the spring fire tourney. Ca. state gets invited to compete and party.. so there is most likely 50 or more teams. I have been playing for 24 years at that point so I have tons of partners on these other teams. A grand time had by all. My GF had heard of it as her bro is a FF down southern Ca. I have dated her at this time now for 2 years.

..The set up..

Let me back up one step. We are cruising local mall here in town. I purchase little stuff for her at a nice little jeweler. I build a repoir with the place's manager and one day her and I are cruising through. I spot a ring that grabs me. It is perfect but it is big by huge by pricey. 2.2 carats..table top damn near flawless. I love it and as we walk by I say kiddingly that would look great on your finger one day.. we laugh it off after she dies thinking what a nice ring I could have picked if it wasn't so expensive. Basically she thought I had taste.
So I ask her to go to Vegas for the tournaments. She agrees. I now have a mission. I had to buy that ring.. such a beautiful ring. So, I had 3 grand in bank.. I had to open three credit cards to pay for it totalling 15.700 so between that and two and a half months, I got that ring.

She didn't know. We go to vegas.. play ball ,party for the first couple days. Now then comes Cinco de Mayo..I'll never forget it. I tell her. hey lets go ride a Gondola at the Venetian. I have the ring. She is clueless. We get there, she goes in a little shop.. I tell her I am gonna sit out and look at the architecture.. yeah right.. I haul a$$ over to the gondola ride and tell them what my plan is which is to ride the boat and get down on one knee while he is singing his a$$ off. it works they dig it.
So we go get a bite because we have to wait for about an hour and a half for our turn and I am nerve racked.. sweating .. can't eat.. nothing.. too much nerves. Now the tough part of this is me. I am 48 years old when I propose and we marry. I have never been married and I am used to the single life..I am the eternal bachelor sworn to fun, loyal to none up until this point. I love to party, chase women and just play around ,period. So this is an eye opening experience to say the least. I now know, I am done if I make this move.. (I had been done since I met her, she was a keeper and I knew if I screwed it up I would kick myself forever) but felt real good about it.

Story goes on...
She knows I am not myself but she cannot pin point it while we are at the restaurant. I slide on it. No dinner. Just too nervous. We head for the ride. She goes back in one little shop and there I go again, running my a$$ off to the ride, this time I give the manager the ring, who in turn gives it to our Gondoleer. I have my eye on the whole show so there will be no running out with my ring on his part.
We load up and away we go.. I am watching and waiting for his cue. We have to wear this goofy little seat belt.. I don't know why the water is only 3 feet deep, maybe a liability issue. We are closing in on the cul de sac which is the turn around point.
I unclip the belt.. she starts this please don't do it.. I am confused like WTF?? then realize she is saying.. please don't dive in the water. Whew.. she is still clueless..good, thought I was going in the drink. Well unbeknownst to me the manager told a bunch of people ..- anyone who was near I guess.-. what my plan was so as I approach the turn, there are people and cameras and the place is packed out.. I am thinking man this place is crazy.. so many people how could you want to come here. Among the people are many of my friends from so many other teams here in Ca. I told them already, all FF's and their wives/gfs. Up on the second story too, packed out. No standing room around the bannister. I notice this because I am thinking it will be kind of quiet and it will go off without a hitch and there will be a few of my friends. She notices and recognizes some of the folks.. now I have the belt off and her begging don't jump .. so boatman is singing extra loud too.
On this high pitched note I look up, he hands me the ring, in box, and she is still looking at many familiar faces. I drop to one knee, lean into her and tell her how long I have patiently waited for someone whom I thought would never arrive... again the eternal bachelor. She can barely hear me and then I pull that ring out.. the very same ring we looked at together 3 months prior. Now, with all the noise, yelling ,screaming, I am almost sick, literally sweating, and I asked her to be my bride. She says yes and the place ignites. I mean literally goes off!!! All on Cinco de Mayo 2003
That was proposal.

Marriage was easy.. same place and now riding in the white gondola. I would marry her a thousand times again.. it was so much fun. My dad was my best dude. He is real old and about 5'6", I am a little over 6' 5" and folks who heard he was my dad were like

I think it made his whole life at that minute. Anyway I was in the pool with bro-in-law drinking mixers, throwing a football less than an hour before I had to be downsatirs at the bridge. Walked up the stairs as she was rounding the corner.. my face was burned to a crisp, almost fire engine red, but I was alive! We were the last couple to wed on the southwest bridge. It ws gone before we left the tower. Smoked cigars ,drank my favorite expensive scotch (Johnny Blue) and gambled all night with families. Small wedding but massive reception back home. Lots of my female friends were on hand so my workmates were well fed that night. Her folks sprung for the Wedding penthouse for 5 days.. up on top of the Venetian. Like a secret place up there. nothing but room service.. first two days.. enough said. Just incredible.. she is still and always will be my beautiful bride.
there you have it

now.. back to forum...got work to do here.

[06slvrrubi]

We were riding around in my Jeep, just cruisin around during a blizard on back roads. I pulled off the road. We made out a little, as we were kissing I used one hand to get the ring box out of my jacket pocket and open it, (I'm talented like that, haha). So when we stopped kissing, I flipped the dome lights on and proposed.
That was the day before thanksgiving, 05. We just got married 8/2/08, and it's been great so far!

[TanTJ04]

lol I didn't pull out but we are happily married going on 4 years now!

[Prot]

Neversweat, there is no way in the world I would ever pay that much money for a ring or any other jewelry even if I was Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

I got married in 1994 and divorced in 1995.

In 1999 I popped the question while sitting down in bed facing each other to which she said an overwhelming yes. Before we got married some stuff happened and the relationship ended horribly and I was saddled with a mountain of debt. Most of you know I am debt free and make a very comfortable living. I guess I had the last laugh.

"A vow unto his own, that never from this day, his will they'll take away."

[bono426]

Originally Posted by roperidewrestle

lol I didn't pull out but we are happily married going on 4 years now!

hahahahahahaha

i just read that really long one then just came to yours and spit water all over the place!!!

[melius]

Heres how I did it. This is taken off our website. Enjoy, Kinda long so if you wana skip feel free......


The Grooms Side of the Story
The Set Up
You see, Crystal has a love for dolphins, so I thought what better way to propose than while on a sunset cruise out watching dolphins in the Atlantic Ocean. So I booked tickets for the cruise while both of our parents and were down at VA beach for a long weekend. Now the hardest part of all was trying to ask her dad and mom for their blessing/permission to ask their daughter to marry me. The only way that it was able to work out was I had to leave work at noon to meet up with her dad the day before they left to go camping at the beach. We met up in front of the Rescue Squad to talk since Crystal was home (school had just gotten out for the summer). Man was I nervous! We had a nice long talk and he gave his blessing/ permission to ask his daughter.



The day of
So we are at VA beach with both of our parents camping for a long weekend. I had announced that day we were going to go out on a fishing charter that evening for something fun to do. I suggested that we ask our parents to tag along. We get to Rudee's inlet and we are all standing around looking at this huge tuna that a boat had just brought in. Perfect time to slip away. I sneak over to the boat we are going to be taking out on this Sunset Dolphin Cruise. There they had the tickets I reserved and I met with the captain. I arranged with the captain to play our song "You Had Me From Hello" over the intercom of the whole boat at a particular time.

I snuck back over to the group. However, I was noticed being gone. As I was walking back to everyone, I opened the envelope with the tickets and brochure for the cruise. I handed Crystal the brochure. At first she didn't realize what it was or what we were doing. Then she saw "Sunset Dolphin Cruise" and realized we weren't going fishing but dolphin watching instead. Crystal was like a kid in a candy store.

As we headed out on the cruise, Crystal was bouncing off the railings pointing out at all the dolphins jumping and playing around the boat. Right at 8 p.m. with the sun setting over the beach, the captain came on the intercom and announced that he was going to slowly turn the boat around and head back to port. Crystal and I went over towards the railing at the back of the boat to watch the sunset. As we headed back, the captain came back on the intercom again and said there was a special announcement, then there was a long pause, all of a sudden our song started playing for the whole boat to hear. Of course, Crystal picked up on the song before any lyrics. As she went to give me a big bear hug, I slightly eased her back from me as I dropped to one knee and said "Crystal Lynn Gilbert, I love you with all my heart. You had me from hello I would be honored if you would spend the rest of your life with me, Will You Marry Me?' By this time she was in tears and said YES!!! Then the boat exploded in cheers. We were so happy and started taking a ton of pictures with our parents. This is how the adventure started!!
The Brides Side of the Story
It all began the week of June 16th, 2008. Mark had been acting weird all week long. By weird I mean he kept saying weird things that was frustrating me. For example, we were watching a movie and I picked up Mark's phone to see what time it was. He immediately grabbed his phone from my hand and took it away from me. I asked him why I couldn't see his phone and he told me that I just couldn't. I asked him why he was acting weird and he respond "I'm not." Little did I know but Mark had been texting my dad about a good time and place to meet up with him to get his permission. Mark had forget to erase the messages and he didn't want me to see them. About a month prior to this weekend my parents had made plans to go to VA Beach to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary. That same weekend Mark's parents had made plans to go to VA Beach but they were going to be staying at a different campground then my parents. Mark's parents asked us if we would like to go down with them for the weekend. I was extremely excited because I love taking trips with Mark.

The Brides Side of the Story
It all began the week of June 16th, 2008. Mark had been acting weird all week long. By weird I mean he kept saying weird things that was frustrating me. For example, we were watching a movie and I picked up Mark's phone to see what time it was. He immediately grabbed his phone from my hand and took it away from me. I asked him why I couldn't see his phone and he told me that I just couldn't. I asked him why he was acting weird and he respond "I'm not." Little did I know but Mark had been texting my dad about a good time and place to meet up with him to get his permission. Mark had forget to erase the messages and he didn't want me to see them. About a month prior to this weekend my parents had made plans to go to VA Beach to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary. That same weekend Mark's parents had made plans to go to VA Beach but they were going to be staying at a different campground then my parents. Mark's parents asked us if we would like to go down with them for the weekend. I was extremely excited because I love taking trips with Mark.

Friday. June 20th, 2008
Mark, his parents, and I went to Sandbridge Beach for the day. It was a beautiful day and we were all having a great time on the beach. Mark and his dad were catching fish and his mom and I were relaxing on the beach. Mark and I decided to take a walk down the beach. As we were hold hands and walking down the beach, Mark saw a boat way out in the ocean. He told me that he really liked that boat and wouldn't mind having a boat like that someday. Then he continued by saying but why am I telling you that already we have a couple of years before anything like that were to happen. I asked him, "Really a couple of years?" He said yeah, a couple of years sounds like good timing to me. I became a little frustrated because we had talked about things and I didn't think it was going to be a couple of years. I decided that I wasn't going to say anything to Mark right then because I was enjoying our walk on the beach but I was going to saying something to him later that night. I thought that maybe he was second guessing things and I was becoming confused. Right at 3:00 p.m. Mark told his parents and I that it was time to go and that we needed to get back. I didn't know why he was in such a hurry and why we had to get back and get ready. I was told that we were going to go on a fishing boat later that night. Mark and I both love fishing so I was excited about that. We get back to the camper, everyone gets ready, and we have an amazing dinner. 6:00 p.m. rolls around and Mark is pushing everyone out the door. I asked him if I looked okay and he said of course without even looking at me. I was wondering why he wouldn't make eye contact with me and why he seemed so stressed out. As we pulled up to the fishing place I notice my mom and dads truck. They were going to go with us. As we got out of the truck, Mark took off and left for the longest time. After about 20 minutes he returned holding a white envelope. He took a piece of paper out of the envelope and as he handed it to me he said "We aren't going on a fishing boat we are going on a dolphin cruise at sunset." For those of you that don't know I love dolphins. It is a dream of mine to go swimming with the dolphins one day. We had a wonderful boat ride spotting dolphins left and right. Right before 8:00 p.m. Mark pulled me aside and asked me to join him on the back of the boat. With our parents on the opposite side of the boat taking pictures Mark and I were taking in the beautiful sunset and enjoying spotting all the dolphins jumping out of the ocean. Right at 8:00 p.m. the captain of the boat came on the loud speaker and made an annoucement. First, he reminded everyone about the snack bar and said that he was going to go ahead and turn the boat around and start heading back to port. Then he said, "I have a special annoucement for a special young lady." Right at the moment our song (You Had Me From Hello by Kenny Chesney) came on the loud speaker and Mark dropped to one knee. He said Crystal Lynn Gilbert I love you and and I would love for you to be my wife. Crystal would you Marry Me? I do remember saying YES! He jumped up gave me a huge hug and everyone on the boat started cheering for us. The girls standing beside us said, Wow this is something that I have only seen in the movies. Mark and I were so excited we could stop smiling and hugging each other. Our parents kept taking our pictures and they were extremely happy for us also. Friday, June 20th, 2008 was one of the greatest days of my life. I will never forget this day and I am very excited for many great days to follow with Mark in my life.

Well thats how I did acording to both sides....

[mrcleanstj]

I had it set up to ask her at my parents house. You know party and all that jazz. About mid morning i realized it was Friday the 13th. I'm not really superstitious. Didn't know if she was or how she would feel about being asked on a Friday the 13th. Plus asking such a big question.
So i decided to wait till Saturday. During the whole party everybody kept looking at her hand or asking her what she said. She would just give them this confused look. They almost blew it for me.
Well after holding out for the entire day and night. I woke her up about 5am tossed her the box and said "well Friday is over will you marry me?"
She still laughs about today!

Next april will be 20 years!

[JPete]

I wrote my proposal on a piece of parchment, burned the edges to make it look old and weathered (and it really turned out great), and then rolled it and tied a piece of ribbon around it. I took an old whine bottle and put some sand and small shells in it and then put the letter inside (message in a bottle). We went to the Outer Banks for vacation, so I buried the bottle on the beach so that just the tip was sticking out of the sand. I put it right where high tide came up during the night so there were lots of shells and debris all around it.

I took my girlfriend out for a walk to look for shells in the evening and made sure that we stumbled upon the bottle. She picked it up and had no idea what was going on, but was excited because she had always wanted to find a message in a bottle. She read the note and was a little confused, so she read it again. By that time I was down on one knee beside her, holding out the engagement ring.

Needless to say, she got a little emotional.

[NEVERSWEAT]

Originally Posted by Prot

Neversweat, there is no way in the world I would ever pay that much money for a ring or any other jewelry even if I was Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

I got married in 1994 and divorced in 1995.

In 1999 I popped the question while sitting down in bed facing each other to which she said an overwhelming yes. Before we got married some stuff happened and the relationship ended horribly and I was saddled with a mountain of debt. Most of you know I am debt free and make a very comfortable living. I guess I had the last laugh.

"A vow unto his own, that never from this day, his will they'll take away."

I know.. but I have to look at this constructively.
I have never been pressed for diamonds or jewelry again.. although, I will buy her things.
Here is my trade off. I have a 06 Jeep Rubicon I paid 21 Grand
I have 12 grand in extras in this Jeep and will still add some things, I have 11 grand in an 02 F-350 diesel monster truck and another 7 grand in my 77 Big foot monster truck.. mind you this is over the course of several years so the 15 grand in the wedding ring at one time was very well worth the trade off.

Now then on top of that I have a small descretionary stock market account I get to piddle with (if you can call losing $$ in piddling) and I have another account deferred that I max out yearly.. she has made some sacrifices along the way.. How can I complain? I can't.

I get no complaints about anything.. I did well in the compromise

[Prot]

I still don't see the value in jewelry and never understood women going gaga over diamonds.

[88yjCrUiSeR]

I waited till i was home on christmas leave, took her out on a off the wall 4 wheelin trip in my unkles full size dodge. Once i got up the courage... the truck accidentaly came out of 4 wheel and we were stuck on a icey/snowy hill. From there i said " i gotta get out and check the hubs real quick somethin just dont seem right" I got out went to the front of the truck got down on my knees and took a couple breaths. Got back up and said "Get that d*** 13mm outta the tool bag, somethin needs tightened up on this hub". with no 13mm in the bag she kept routin through there because she did nt feel too worthy about trying to get off the hill in 2wd. I had put the ring in the tool bag earlier and after a while of looking around i seen her face light up, thats when i went back to the drivers door of the truck and asked her. after a couple tears and laughing she gave me a yes and were gonna be gettin married in 2011 unless i get pulled for the next deployment to afghanistan.

[Slenny]

I proposed at Universal Studios where jaws comes out of the water.

[DeadFrog]

The wife and I had been living common law for about 6 years prior to me popping the question. I was not in any big hurry to make it official, but I knew she was. Christmas was always my wife's favourite time of year so I knew I would do it on Christmas day. So for about 6 months before Christmas I played it off like I had zero interest in ever getting married anytime the subject came up. I always told her living c/l suited me just fine. Then on Christmas morning after all the presents were opened, I got down on one knee and asked. She started bawling her eyes out, said yes, and then proceeded to beat the living hell out of me for tricking her the past 6 months.

We were married the following fall at Caesar's Palace in Vegas and spent our honeymoon shortly after doing a 14 day Caribbean cruise. Damn I miss the Caribbean!

[Mobile_Homie]

Jeez, what a a bunch of saps........
How about drunk in a hot tub in Tahoe. She said yes but didn't want to get married right away, so.........















.......I knocked her up.

[89YJmoneypit]

I went on a trip to Dallas with my parents, brought her back a coffee cup from Southfork Ranch. She thought I was giving her a crappy coffee cup, ring box was in the cup. The cup handle has been broke for a while now but she refuses to throw it away.