so a glanced over at my gf's laptop

[Pony_Boy]

....and into the gutter we go!

Hi-ho, Hi-ho....hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho

[dalesys]

Hi-ho, Hi-ho....hi-ho, hi-ho, hi-ho

Who you callin' a stoned...?

[Jester]

Jester's advice is so good I intend on using it myself.

High praise. Thank you.

I'm not gonna lie my heart skipped a few beats when I saw her perusing diamonds

I have irritated a few women (including my last girlfriend, Nurse Betty) when I have made it clear that I will never, ever, ever buy a woman a diamond ring. The one woman I was engaged to, The Brit, did not have a problem with this. For her, I was looking at something like a platinum ring with a sapphire with diamond accents. But a diamond ring? Fuck that. Overhyped bullshit, and I won't do it. Yes, it's her ring. But it has to represent my feelings for her, and I find diamonds to be bullshit. So, fuck no.

[iradney]

Doesn't have to be diamonds - I've seen some beautiful engagement rings with pearls, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, etc.

[Pony_Boy]

one of our friends didn't want to buy his now wife a diamond for reasons similar to Jesters. When the time came, he and his lady went prospecting somewhere ( the give you the equipment and teach you how) They ended up finding a few precious stones, including a big emerald, which they used to make her engagement ring.

[Rapscallion]

You don't have to be worried when your girlfriend start perusing ring site.

Now, when you catch her on plentyoffish or match.com - that's when to worry...

Rapscallion

[tollbaby]

See, now I've never understood the excitement about engagement rings... Granted, the one time I was proposed to, he was very theatrical about it and I felt trapped (he proposed in front of my entire family at Christmas... what was I supposed to do?). My ex-husband never bothered proposing... at one point when our son was about a year old, I said I wanted to get married, and his response was "fine, if you want to."

I'd never wear an engagement ring (I have this weird freak-out about jewelry) but I would wear a wedding band, as long as it's not yellow gold. My ex wouldn't buy me a wedding band, since he figured we hadn't needed rings when we got married, why would we need them two years down the road? (our wedding was VERY low-budget - we were broke, and we did everything ourselves).

If the opportunity should ever arise with SO (which is currently unlikely since I'm not yet divorced from my ex), I would want a wedding band, but not an engagement ring. Waste of good money, as far as I'm concerned. (and I'm not saying I wouldn't want the opportunity to arise... I very much would - just haven't gotten around to getting the divorce yet. But I would never feel the need to leave hints lying around for him to find LOL)

[Treasure]

Custom made is all well and good, but its nice if she at least has some idea of what she wants

Jester - I <3 you! I hate diamonds, and gold - I want something unique in an engagement ring, but i wear rings on all but my first finger and that includes 2 on my right hand ring finger - i get asked if its a wedding set, but 1 - wrong hand, and 2 its a Celtic-trinity knot behind a dragon holding a moonstone "egg" - the point of the knot fits perfectly in the "vee" behind the dragon's head, created by the wings - all my rings are silver, except my class ring - which is "antique gold plated" (school colors were black and gold)

Tollbaby - I would've said NO on principal alone, see I've said for years that i don't want to be proposed to on New Years, Valentines, either of our birthdays, thanksgiving, christmas, an anniversary (ours or a relatives) or at the wedding of someone else etc; because i think that kind of proposal is cliche - its trite, and over done, and there's no real thought to them and the last one is disrespectful (congratulations on your big day, but let me steal your thunder an announce that Sally and I are gonna do the same thing!)
but then again I'm a little spoiled in the "spontaneous proposal" department - my dad asked my mom "so when do you want to do this?" while she was scrubbing the kitchen, 20 years later it must have been the right thing to say

[AdminAssistant]

my dad asked my mom "so when do you want to do this?" while she was scrubbing the kitchen, 20 years later it must have been the right thing to say

Hmmm...part of me says that I would (obviously) say yes whenever or wherever my SO asked. The other part of me would think, "Really, right now? You couldn't wait until a romantic dinner or a walk in the moonlight?"

[Treasure]

She did have to ask "is that a proposal?"
"yes"
"awful damn sure of yourself, don't even give a girl a chance to say yes or no, just when?"
"ok, fine, let's back this up, we'll do it your way.... Will you marry me?"
"....... yes" *
"Ok, now then, back to my original question, when do you want to do this?"



*Previously they'd been discussing why mom never wanted to get married again,(2x divorcee, with 3 kids) and why dad was a confirmed bachelor - and in the convo both basically shot the other's theories so full of holes that a spaghetti strainer would hold more water lol So decided she must the right one... and asked when the thought occurred to him...

[Becks]

I always swore I wouldn't have a diamond engagement ring...but I have one anyway.

[AdminAssistant]

Well, now that you told the whole story...that's actually kinda sweet. The real secret to a proposal, IMO, is making it personal.

My sister's proposal didn't go as planned, but it was for the better. A week before their fancy V-day dinner, they were at Mazzio's (pizza place) with a bunch of friends, and my BIL and his daughter. His buddies goaded him into asking right then, because they had cameras and he had his daughter. While Sis could have been miffed at how casual the proposal was, the fact that they were able to get pictures made it a lot better.

[KiaKat]

My sister and brother-in-law went to the Pocanos for their 7th-ish anniversary. What my sister didn't know is that my brother-in-law had asked my mom for a family ring. She brought down our grandmother's ring, and her ring (dad died several years ago), and he chose grammy's. It's a gorgeous antique diamond wedding set from the 1940's, and it holds a lot of meaning, since it was grammy's.

They went for a walk (my sister claims she knew something was up), and when they sat down on a bench, he dropped to one knee and proposed.

Then again, pretty much everything about their relationship has been storybook. I'm slightly envious, but really proud.

Their wedding was earlier this month, and absolutely gorgeous.

If you want to be technical about it, mine proposed by saying he wanted to replace my claddagh with "a real one" when we were about a yearish into our relationship. But we've been lazy about getting around to it. He really wants me to have an engagement ring, so I've been looking at sapphire (my birthstone) vintage platinum rings. Not sure when we'll actually push the envelope and get it though. We set the general date for next October (2011), and we'll re-set my mom's ring (sapphires and diamonds, both of our birthstones) for the wedding band.

[Jester]

Doesn't have to be diamonds - I've seen some beautiful engagement rings with pearls, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, etc.

I agree with you, but you are not American. American women in general (don't throw things at me, ladies!) seem to be of the mindset that if it isn't a diamond, it doesn't count. These are the same women that flat out told me that if there was no ring, it was not a real engagement.

I don't think I need to reiterate my position on THAT pile of cow shit.

Jester - I <3 you! I hate diamonds, and gold

Because you have taste, because you have taste, and because you have taste.

congratulations on your big day, but let me steal your thunder an announce that Sally and I are gonna do the same thing!

I agree with you on that, though I have actually announced an engagement at a wedding. But it was a joke, so I don't think it's the same thing.

At my one friend's wedding, in addition to the best man and maid of honor making toasts, myself and a female friend of the bride had made it clear that we also wanted to speak. We were both the "wild childs" of the entire bridal party, and pretty much the only people there who (a) weren't afraid of the bride, a control freak and a lawyer, and (b) could say anything to the bride and actually get away with it, because we both went back so far with the bride (high school).

So when I got up to give my speech (still possibly one of the best ones I've ever done, and I am pretty good at these), at one point I believe I announced to the entire celebration, "Me and Wild Child have an announcement....we are getting married on a Key West beach in three years!" Half the people laughed because they knew it was a joke, as Wild Child and I had basically just met (though we hit it off fabulously). The other half were confused until the joke was explained to them.

But other than that, yeah, using someone else's big day to make your announcement is a bit cheesy.