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After reading “Unique Ways To Announce Your Engagement,” Amanda shared how she announced her engagement to her mom:

My boyfriend proposed via a [pictogram], so I sent a picture of the [it] to my mom by email and asked her if she could figure out the riddle. When she couldn’t, I sent a picture of my ring and told her that the picture might help her figure it out. She did.

We asked Amanda to send us a copy of the cryptogram. Here it is:

Pictogram Proposal

“Will you marry me?”

Amanda’s boyfriend took his best (screen)shot and she said “Yes.” Congratulations Amanda and Aaron! Who knew a computer could be so romantic? You two make such a cute couple!

Is He Speaking in Code?

Communication is so important in relationships, but sometimes it’s fun to use code. It can be very exciting to try to decipher a coded message, particularly when it has such a happy message. Sure, you can just get down on one knee and propose in short, clearly posed proposal (“Will You Marry Me?”) but why not make it your own unique memory?

Big Fat Ideas

Here are some of our own big fat ideas for how you can make your wedding proposal unique with codes and puzzles.

Please Mr. Postman – Letter Jumble

Cut out the letters for Will You Marry Me and then mix them up. Mail a few letters inside an envelope each day. Once your intended receives all of the letters they can start to rearrange them to decipher the message (they will probably start trying earlier, so keep this in mind when you decide which letters to send).

Another great idea: include some extras in each envelope – perhaps mementos of your time as a couple.

Crossword Question

If your special woman (or man) is into crosswords, you could make your own and have all of the answers relate to your couple-dom. You can do this yourself (use a program like Excel or an online program) or order online from a company like romancebetweenthelines.com.

Big Fat Examples

Are You In A Love HTML Relationship?

Here is one good example of a time when you are HAPPY that he is speaking to you in code (HTML code, that is…) The creators of the webcomic The Joy of Tech agree to use their powers for good by helping one of their readers propose to his girlfriend (click here to see the comic).

Image: Nitrozac and Snaggy, Joy of Tech, geekculture.com

Geek Love

In another example, perlmonks.org user Falkkin posts this:

Thirteen minutes later, user Vortacist replies with “Yes! ”

Spell It Out For Me

Not really ‘code,’ but this Wisconsin Marquette University student still gets an ‘A’ for effort.

We Want To Hear From You!

What do you think? Do you have an interesting story about that engagement ring on your finger?

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Last post, we gave you some proposal ideas for Christmas. Here are some ornaments to consider for the tree this year if she has already said yes.

Christmas Ornaments for Engaged Couples

Here’s a gift for your bride or husband-to-be to commemorate that moment when the engagement ring came out and the question was popped! You can hang it on your tree every year and remember those romantic exciting months when you were engaged to be married. Consider making it the first ornament in a tradition for your new family unit: add a new ornament to your tree each year to celebrate a special memory (first house, new baby, new pet, special visit from relatives, new job, graduation, move to another city, etc).

Here is a beautiful Christmas gift for your fiance – a collection of wedding ornaments with a personalized certificate. These ornaments from ornamentshop.com have a vintage look which makes them even more romantic.

Here is another classic looking ornament made from glass (also from ornamentshop.com).

ornamentshop.com

Did you buy that engagement ring at Tiffany’s? If so, your fiance can follow his purchase up with this ornament – the iconic blue gift box will always remind you to look down at the big rock on your finger and smile!

Here’s an ornament that you can personalize – available at personalizedfree.com. You can add your names (as pictured, below) and personalize the banner to say “Engaged!”  The banner message is up to you – you could even have it say “Will You Marry Me?” and use it to propose!

Another personalized option, this time from santasornamentshop.com.

Another great choice from ornamentshop.com: make sure you get a photo of your proposal and then remember it always in an ornament picture frame!

For more big fat advice, please read “Proposal Tips for Men and Christmas Proposals” and Christmas Gift Ideas for Newlyweds. Or, join us next week for a selection of Christmas ornaments to celebrate your engagement!

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Christmas can be very romantic: perhaps it’s all of the twinkling lights, the music, the good food, the cozy fireplaces… it all adds up to a perfect setting for a wedding proposal! Here are some ideas…

The Brightest Light On The Tree

Preparation: Hang the ring with a round ornament (string it through the hanger so that it rests on top of the ornament).

Proposal: Admire the tree together and ask her which ornament is her favorite. When it’s your turn, point out the one with the ring on it and wait for her to notice… when she does: drop to one knee!

Decoration Declarations

Ornament Sneak Attack

Preparation: If you already live together, sneak a “just married” ornament into your collection.

Proposal: Decorate the tree together and let her pick the new ornament up and wonder, “how did this get in here?” Don’t let her put it on the tree until she’s put your ring on her finger!

Just DIY Do It

Preparation: Paint ‘Will You Marry Me?’ on a glass ornament.

Proposal: Decorate a tree together and make sure she hangs this one up. Even better: get a group involved and make sure everyone else knows to let her pick up the proposal ornament!

I found this ‘will you marry me’ ornament for sale online if you’re not crafty…

Love Is Like a Box of Chocolates

Preparation: Remove one chocolate from a fancy box of chocolates and replace with the engagement ring instead. Set the stage: wrap the box and add a big bow (some candy stores offer this service) – make sure you send the message that this is not just any ordinary box of chocolates!

Proposal: Watch closely, she’ll see the ring and then look up at you – be ready to drop to one knee and ask her to be your wife!

Stocking Stuffer

Of course, if you spend Christmas morning together you can put the ring at the bottom of her stocking. Or, even better – put a pair of diamond earrings at the bottom of the stocking! While she’s still freaking out over the earrings, get on your knee, whip out the ring, and say “I was hoping they would go with this!” An engagement ring shouldn’t count as her Christmas present, after all – so the diamonds are a nice touch!

For more big fat advice, please read “Proposal Tips for Men and Christmas Proposals” and Christmas Gift Ideas for Newlyweds. Or, join us next week for a selection of Christmas ornaments to celebrate your engagement!

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Dream Girl Update

Here is an update on Jennifer Hudson. Note that this is also a great example of a real-life scenario for last week’s article  “Should Men Wear Engagement Rings?”

Dream Life Turns to Nightmare

Last September we featured Jennifer Hudson’s engagement in the article ‘Dreamgirls Jennifer Hudson is on her way to her dream wedding’. Tragically, the next month, she lost her mother, brother, and nephew – murdered.

December 2008

William Balfour “estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, and the stepfather of one of the victims, 7-year-old Julian King” is charged for the crimes: three counts of murder and one count of home invasion (cnn.com).

January 2009

Jennifer Hudson makes her first stage appearance after the tragedy when she sings the The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl (starsjournal.com).

Jennifer Hudson looking wonderful in white

February

Monstersandcritics.com reports that a source has told them that Jennifer Hudson is going to marry her fiance David Otunga “real soon”. There are rumors that they might get married on Valentine’s Day.

Jennifer Hudson wins a grammy for best R&B album and also performs at the event. She also wins the Outstanding New Artist, Best Album, and Best Collaboration awards at the 40th annual NAACP Image Awards (cbc.ca).

March

Still apparently unmarried – Jennifer Hudson talks wedding plans with Access Hollywood. She tells them she wants her 3 dogs (names Oscar, Grammy, and Dreamgirl) to be in the wedding and that she is going to design her own wedding dress. She confirms that a secret wedding date has been set during an interview with Ryan Seacrest (tvwatch.people.com).

April

Hudson reciprocates and proposes to Otunga on his birthday (he originally proposed to her on her 27th birthday). She gives him a 5 carat platinum and diamond engagement ring (People.com).

Here are some examples of platinum and diamond wedding rings that would also work as engagement rings if you’re going to propose to your man!

May

Family and friends throw Hudson a baby shower in Chicago, confirming rumors that the engaged couple are expecting a baby (chicagotribune.com). The baby’s due date has not been confirmed. It makes sense that the wedding might be postponed until after the baby is born…

July

Jennifer Hudson performs at the Michael Jackson memorial service, she can’t hide her pregnancy anymore at this point but has never publicly confirmed it either.

August

Jennifer Hudson gives birth to a 7 lb 14 oz baby boy, named David Otunga Junior after her fiance (binsidetv.net). His birth day indicates that she was approximately 8 weeks pregnant in February (the discovery of this good news may be what delayed the couple’s wedding?!).

September

It’s now September and I predict a Fall or Winter wedding, once the new mama is settled in with baby and ready to wear her wedding dress again! Let me know if you hear anything!

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An interesting topic was raised on the View today:

Should Men Wear Engagement Rings?

Why do women have to wear a ring to show that they are ‘taken’ when men do not?

It would definitely make it easier for single women out there if men also wore a symbol that they are bound for a walk down the aisle, right?

3 Points of View

My friend Sally* had this to say, “Times have changed. Many couples live together and share mortgages and families before they get married – I didn’t want my boyfriend to spend more than $500 on my engagement ring and I definitely wouldn’t want the extra expense of buying him a ring, too. We’re already married but now that I think about it, I wish he had worn a ring too during our engagement – we could have found two rings for $500 online, I’m sure…”

$500 Ring

Actually this 14K White Gold Engagement Ring with sapphire side stones was listed for well under $500 and it’s beautiful!

danforthdiamond.com

$500 for Two Rings

You can buy both of these rings for under $500.

danforthdiamond.com

danforthdiamond.com

Tina* said this: “Wearing an engagement ring would make me feel like a piece of meat. I wanted to get married but wanted to skip the whole big flashy engagement ring part. We decided to get married during a discussion and there was no ‘popping of the question’ which I find kind of offensive (like I’m supposed to wait around for him to finally pick me?) and no ring. We picked out our wedding bands online – it was an easy process and we are both very happy, we will both wear our wedding bands all the time.”

Shannon* feels this way about her engagement ring. “I wanted the big ‘rock’ and romantic proposal that I had dreamed about growing up, but found that it did not fit into my lifestyle. It isn’t practical on the job (I work as a landscaper) or at the gym, and I don’t feel comfortable wearing it on the subway. I wear it on special occasions only, so most of the time no one can tell I am engaged to be married – so it doesn’t bother me that no one can tell this about my boyfriend either. After we’re married we will both have very simple wedding bands on all the time.”

The Big Rock

Here is an example of a simple (yet sizable!) 2 karat diamond solitaire engagement ring.

danforthdiamond.com

Simple Wedding Bands

Men's

Women's

*names changed

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Chocolate is all-purpose – it’s supposed to be an aphrodisiac and it’s tied up with ideas of romance (first dates, Valentine’s Day, gifts from your sweetheart); but it’s also there to console you after a break-up or on pretty much any day when you feel like you just need to treat yourself (at least, that’s chocolate in my life…).

Here are some ideas to sweeten up your wedding proposal…

Edible Engagement Ring Box

conversationpieces.org

This box from conversationpieces.org comes with a candy ring but you could just replace it with a real engagement ring.

Or it would also be a cute favor at an engagement party!

Who’s the Lucky Girl?

Another option, from the same company, you could order chocolate fortune cookies – they let you personalize the fortunes inside! Why not have them all say, “Will You Marry Me?”

conversationpieces.org

A Very Personal Message

You could also write a message on yourself if you think your true love would find that tasteful!

victoriassecret.com

Ask “You Wanna?” With a Pinata!

Check out the cool pinata cake below and just imagine that there’s a diamond engagement ring inside when she cracks it open! How cool would that be? There’s a recipe for this type of cake at the Australian Women’s Weekly website.

simplesong.typepad.com

Hand Over Your Heart

A simple, yet romantic gesture – order one of these sweet little boxes of chocolates and replace one of the candies with the ring (bonus – you get to eat one of them!). Then wrap it all back up and bring along to present to your sweetheart during the perfect romantic date…

godiva.com

Sweeten your love story by giving these boxes out later as wedding favors. The really sweet news is that you can order them online for only $7.75 at godiva.com,  leaving more money to buy the engagement ring, like this tasty 2K treat!

danforthdiamond.com

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Who Picks the Engagement Ring?

Some families hand down a ring through generations by tradition. Some women go pick out the ring all by themselves. Some women drop hints and hope for the best. Some are completely surprised by the ring that he chose all by himself.

World’s Ugliest Ring #1

“But, honey, I thought it would go well with the warts all over your hand…” Yuck.

My Big Fat Poll: Who Picked the Ring

We polled 20 random women online and here is what we found out:

60% of their guys picked out the rings with little, or no, help at all.

“I’d rather it that way, [it] shows he actual took time and thought about it.”

15% of the women picked out the ring all by themselves.

“My husband wanted me to pick out mine. He said that since I was going to have it forever, that he wanted to be sure that I liked it. So, we went together to the jewelry store and I showed it to him, and that’s the one he got me.”

The other 25% of women polled:

“He picked it out himself. He looked at my other rings and just started asking which one of my regular rings i like the most and what about it… but the proposal really was a surprise. I was expecting it soon but not how he did it. I loved everything about it.”

World’s Ugliest Ring #2

“Because I’m in love with your brain, not your body.” Too bad you didn’t use your brain when you were shopping!

Tips for Him

Of course, if you really want the proposal to be a surprise you will have to pick out the engagement ring all by yourself. It is never a good idea to propose without a ring…

In most cases, she is probably expecting a proposal – if not, I would question the decision to propose: perhaps it is too early in the relationship or she doesn’t feel the same way that you do.

Next Week:

Next week we resume our Las Vegas series with Part 3 – Planning Group Trips tips. See You Then!

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Wedding Proposal Tips for Men

There are so many ways to get engaged but what is most important is that it suits the both of you. Think about your history as a couple and make your proposal fit. Did you meet at church? Set up a proposal with the church staff. Do you both enjoy hiking? Propose at one of your favorite spots. Consider your girlfriend’s personality before proposing. Not every woman dreams of a big public spectacle. In fact, a private proposal could be much more romantic. Also, consider the fact that you will be asked to re-tell your proposal story to your friends, family, and kids for the rest of your lives. Proposing to your girlfriend while you are in the throes of passion may not be a good idea because you will have to censor your story or fabricate a new story. Also, your girlfriend may also question the proposal’s credibility if she thinks you’re not thinking straight.  Similarly, it’s not a good idea to propose while you are drunk, under the influence of drugs, or during traumatic moments in your life (death of loved one, just got dumped, you get the idea…).  Don’t steal anyone’s thunder! Proposing at someone else’s wedding is very rarely appropriate. This rings true for announcing your engagement, as well – if someone else makes a big announcement before you do, consider postponing your announcement. 

Wedding Proposals

Christmas is just over a week away so I thought we’d get in the holiday spirit and focus on some Christmas Wedding Proposals (with some others thrown in for fun).

Christmas Lights

Funny with a Capital P

A Trick Question

Proposals on Ice

Romantic Rockefeller

Cute Couple

Strange Mating Ritual?

Need some proposal ideas?  If you get engaged this Christmas, please send me your video! 

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Your first Christmas as a married couple is a special event. Here are some ideas to help you make it a memory to cherish in the years to come!

Christmas Memories

Wrap up a set of special Christmas tree ornaments that you can hang on your tree to commemorate this special year. 

Just Married

 Is your first Christmas as “man and wife” also your first year in your new home?  

         

Home Sweet Home

Start a Tradition

Then, start a tradition for your new family unit –  add an ornament to the collection each year! Here are just a few ideas of the special times you can honor with an ornament: pregnancy, baby’s first Christmas, new career, vacation destinations, new vehicle… you can find an ornament for practically everything! 

Picture Perfect

Surprise your honey with a sweet photo of your honeymoon! Here is a photo we took in Monaco on our honeymoon. We love this picture because it brings us right back to exactly what this beautiful part of Europe is like. 

Honeymoon Photo

Pick your favorite honeymoon photo and have it turned into a piece of art, like I did!

The fabric is professionally stretched over a wooden frame and will look good anywhere in your house – look at it and remember the romantic getaway when necessary, it might just save your marriage! 

Canvas Print

Have Fun Remembering Good Times

Or, you can have your photo turned into a high quality puzzle! The pieces are made out of a durable wooden base with a waterproof laminate so you can enjoy putting them together for years and years. 

Photo Puzzle

I received my photo canvas and jigsaw puzzle from www.bagsoflove.co.uk in just a few days, so I’m sure there is still time to get your gifts in time for Christmas! 

Heirloom

How about surprising her with a beautiful ring? If you eloped or you were unable to buy your lady the perfect ring when you proposed, this is the time to knock her socks off! What a wonderful reminder of your first year together and an heirloom that can be passed down to that daughter that is now only a sparkle in your eye! 

Christmas Colors

Your Snow Angel

Does she love the outdoors – particularly when there is snow on the ground? This ring is reminiscent of a delicate and gorgeous snowflake. 

Ice for your Princess

Not Married Yet?

Christmas time is a perfect time to propose! Invite her over to decorate the tree and then hand her this ornament – just make sure you’re ready to drop down to one knee and pop the question!

Sweet Proposition

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DON’T bug her while she’s working! 

That’s Steffi Graf – a great tennis player and she thinks fast on her feet too! 

DON’T Say “I think I’m going to puke” After You Say Yes.

Normally I would also say DON’T interrupt her favorite TV show but I think the above was a pretty awesome exception. My eyes misted up a little bit but I’m not sure whether it was over the cute couple or the fact that my favorite show, Veronica Mars, got cancelled. Oh how I miss that feisty teenage detective.  

DO Hire a Psychotherapist? 

Weird, but she has an interesting angle and the pictures she included in her commercial were pretty sweet. 

DON’T Do It Over the Phone

Okay that’s not the best example because if his girlfriend is a technogeek she would probably think an iproposal is very charming. But for heaven’s sake, don’t just call her and propose over the phone! 

DON’T Cover It In Dog Spit 

I’ve heard of hiding the ring in a piece of cake or at the bottom of a champagne glass – but in a dog’s mouth? Well, I guess if it’s a superdog it makes it more romantic!

DO Have a Ring!

I don’t have video of this, but the first time my husband proposed he just said “How about it? You want to get married?” casually over the table. When I said, “Sure, where’s the ring?” he slipped an elastic band off of his crutch (he had a broken ankle at the time). I said, “Forget it” and then I had to wait around wondering if he was ever going to bother to ask me again. So maybe this rule should actually be “DO say yes the first time he asks if you actually want to marry him”. Hmmm….

Waiting for a proposal when you want one can be stressful stuff. But what about proposing? Now that has to be much worse! Here is a funny skit from the “Just For Laughs” gags:

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• About
• We’re Engaged! Now What?