Engagement Stories
I Knew the Rings I Wanted In 1970, I was living in Athens, Alabama and teaching Home Economics at Athens High School when I applied to the Department of Defense for a teaching job overseas. When I was accepted and getting ready to leave north Alabama for the first time as a 30 years old single teacher, I went by Grogan Jewelry's to talk with Mrs. Irma Summerhill who worked there and was a good friend of my mother. As we were visiting and I was looking at all the pretty jewelry, I spotted a beautiful set of wedding rings. Of course, at that time I didn't even have a boyfriend, much less a prospect for a husband, so the wedding rings were not to be mine. Mrs. Summerhill said she could sell me just the engagement ring which was an emerald surrounded by diamonds. Mrs. Summerhill said, "Elaine, you should go ahead and buy it andenjoy it because there will come a day when you don't want things like this." Well, I didn't have much money and didn't know what was ahead for me since I was leaving the comforts of north Alabama, so I left the country without the beautiful ring. I left for the Azores for my first teaching assignment overseas and Buddy Poorman left at the same time from Hutchinson, Kansas and there we met and fell in love. In the spring of 1971 he asked me to marry him and I said yes and told him I knew the rings I wanted and he said that was fine with him. Whatever would make me happy. So in June of 1971 we flew back to Florence together to get married and one of our first stops was Grogan Jewelrys to see Mrs. Summerhill and to buy the rings. When we got there the rings were still in the window, but when I told her why we were there, sadly told me that she had just sold them the day before but the couple who was buying them was not getting married until the fall. Since Buddy and I were getting married the following week, Mrs. Summerhill said she could give us that set of rings and order another set for the other couple. So happily we got the rings I had wanted and I have enjoyed them for 34 years. THE END
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She Said Yes!
It is official. I proposed to Lindsey, and she said
YES! |
The Luckiest Guy My girlfriend, Amy, and I were just sitting around talking one afternoon and I looked over at her and asked, "Is there anything you would ever change about me?" And she was like, "No! Of course not! I love you!" And then she got kind of curious as to why I had asked such a question and then turned around and asked it to me. Of course she was expecting me to be like, "No...you're perfect!" but I looked at her and said, "Well...ya... there is one thing that I would change about you." And you could tell that she was thrown off guard and was a little upset so she was like, "Well what is it?" And I replied, "Your last name..." She immediately started crying and said yes! I'm the luckiest guy in the world! Tim Partridge |
True Love Never Dies! I met my fiance many years ago when I was 14 years old. My parents had divorced and I moved to another town with my dad. Clayton was the first young man I met at my new school. I fell in love with him at 14 years old. We were together for 8 years but then sepatated and had very little contact for 10 years. Then one day I wrote to him basically to see how he was doing because he had been on my mind alot. He called me on February 10th, 2005 and asked me out. Six weeks later he asked me to marry him and our wedding day arrived September 17, 2005. This is just one example of how true love never dies and can transcend all time and space.... Susan Balch |
My Parents Engagement! This is the story of my parents engagement. My dad asked my mom to marry her as they traveled from Michigan to Illinois to visit my maternal grandparents. However, the rule was that my dad had to ask my grandpa for my mothers hand in marriage. So when they took my grandparents out to dinner, my father proceeded to ask my grandfather for permission to marry his daughter. My grandfather flat out told him "No". At this both my mother and grandmother turned to him while my mother said "What?" Unknown to both my mother and grandmother my father and grandfather had gotten together before hand and had cooked up this scene. Though obviously I was not there, it is one of the highlights of my parents courtship which they have shared with myself and my brother. Cheryl Doty |
Engagement Shock! My husband, Darron, and I had been dating for less than two months when he asked me to marry him. He was almost 26, I was 19. He took me to a romantic spot on the lake, got down on one knee, and popped the question. Since we had known since the day we met that we would get married, I of course said yes. We were so excited! We got back in his truck and he called his parents to tell them I had said yes. When he got off the phone, I said, "So what did my dad say when you asked him?" ALL of the color left Darron's face. He started shaking and he had a look of absolute horror on his face that I had never seen before and haven't seen since. I said, "You didn't ask him, did you??" He said that he had forgotten in all the excitement. Well, my dad is about 6' 4" and outweighs my husband a good 100 pounds. I love him, but I admit, he can be a little scary. When we got back to my house, my sister figured it out first. While my mom sat in silent shock and disbelief, my sister ran to tell my dad, who was in the back of the house. She said, "Daddy, come quick! Kim and Darron are getting married and Mom's in shock!" Daddy walked in the living room, and squeezed down into the couch between Darron and me. I really believed Darron was going to pass out. But, all turned out great. We've been married for over six years. We have a beautiful two year old little girl and a boy on the way. AND- Darron is like the son my dad never had!! They love each other! Kim Hood |
Swimming with Dolphins! Hi, my name is Daniel. When I first meet Ashley, and we were getting to know each other, she expressed to me that her life long dream is to swim with dolphins. As our relationship progressed, I truely began to understand her never-ending love for dolphins. Ashley noticed an ad for "Discovery Cove" in Orlando, FL. "SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS!" We had been wanting to take a vaction to Orlando alreay because Ashley had never been to Disney World. I used Disney as a deterrent for the engagment surprise. Cleverly dropping hints about the Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom. She had her hopes up about Disney, and that was the plan. Everything was set. Flight. Disney. Discovery Cove. Now Ashley knew we were going to Discovery Cove, but she had no idea what I had planned. A "Special Occasion" Dolphin Swim Package. We chose to go to the airport a day early and stay at the hotel because we had an early flight that we certainly did not want to miss. Traveling the airport, my vehicle was totaled on the interstate. We spent the night in the Emergency Room and feared missing the flight the next morning. Fortunately, we were still able to make our flight and have our trip. On the second day of our vaction, we visited Discovery Cove. We checked in, and the young girl at the counter did a wonderful job of keeping everything a secret. Already knowing from speaking to the special occasions director on the phone, I knew I had to sneek them the ring. I met an associate in the restroom so that Ashely would not see me give them her ring. After checking in, everyone had to wait in the lobby until everything was offically opened for the day. Ashley couldn't understand why all the associates were looking at us, smiling and whispering back and forth. Our Dolphin Swim was scheduled for after 11 a.m. so we spent the first part of the day swiming in the "Tropical River, Coral Reef, and Stingray Lagoon, and walking through Exotic (Bird) Avery." From the beaches you are able to watch other dolphin encounters. This is something that is breathtaking and amazing. You have to realize, this is something that is not seen often, and very rarely are you this close. When our "Swim" time arrived. We were divided into groups of eight. Our group's dolphin name was Cindy. The trainers taught us many things about dolphins. We each got to feed, pet, even kiss the dolphin. Next came the dolphin swim. We swam to the middle of the Dolphin Lagoon and waited to be pulled back by Cindy. When this was all done, the trainers asked us all how well we thought Cindy did, and if she deserved a toy? Obviously we said yes. Ashley was "randomly picked" by the trainer to receive the toy from Cindy. Cindy swam to the other end of the lagoon, where another trainer gave her a bouy. She swam back with it and placed it directly into Ashley's hands. The top of the bouy read, "ASHLEY". Ashley was somewhat confused. As she rotated the bouy up to read the bottom side, she read, "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" Immediately, she was shocked. Then tears broke and she was speechless. She then said, "YES!" From there, our pictures were taken with Cindy and the boy. Shortly after, we walked back onto the beach where we were met by the special occasions director. Holding a treasure chest, she told Ashley, " I think Daniel has something to ask you." She opened the chest, I reached in and took the ring; got down on one knee and asked, "ASHLEY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" With the biggest smile on her face, she said, "YES!" With a hug and a kiss, everyone cheered and came to congratulate us. After viewing the pictures at the photo booth that had been taken, we hurried to the phone to call our families. DISCOVERY COVE, Cindy, and all of the associates hold a special place in our hearts. With Ashley's love for dolphins, this was the only way that I felt I should ask her. A special Thanks to everyone at Discovery Cove who made our engagment so speical. Also, Thank you to Grogan Jewelers for helping me to build the ring of mine and Ashley's dreams. Thank you, Daniel |
*Everything Was Perfect!* Tiffany and I met in 1999 during our sophomore year of high school at Mars Hill Bible School. After dating a few months we "officially" became a couple on December 17, 1999. We graduated high school together, went on to attend NWSCC, and now are in our senior year at The University of Alabama. June 4, 2005, was the day that Tiffany and I had been looking forward to for over five years. We had been talking about marriage for quite some time, and I recently began seriously hunting for the perfect ring. I purchased the ring at the beginning of April and held on to it for the perfect time to "pop the big question." Finally, that time had arrived! One week prior to the engagement, I was relaxing on the Tennessee River when I spotted a little island in the middle of the river. I got out to the island, starting looking around and visualizing everything in my mind. I had finally found the perfect place to surprise her. I was going to bring Tiffany to this island for a candle lit picnic on the water with the sun setting in the background. It would be perfect! On Saturday June 4, 2005, I got everything ready, carefully making sure that I remembered to pack the ring before I headed out to the river to set up for the evening. When I arrived, I became very excited as I began to clean up the place, making sure everything was perfect. Tiffany called before 5 pm and I told her to meet me at Sheffield Park, that I had a surprise for her. When I arrived at the park, Tiffany never spotted me coming up on the boat. So I called her and told her to meet me down by the water. She walked down to the pier with a very confused look on her face, but excited none the less. I guess she was wondering why I was taking her out on the river when she and I both were dressed up. She couldn't believe it when we arrived at the island, she simply couldn't quit smiling. I docked the boat and went to prepare the picnic. Tiffany and I both sat down and began eating. All of this seemed enough for her, but there was one last surprise. I could not hold it any longer. All of a sudden it started to hit me; this was the moment that we had been waiting for! So, I told her to close her eyes because I was going to blind fold her. I went to the boat and pulled out the wooden box from Grogan Jewelers. As I began to open it up I got down on one knee. I told her to go ahead and take off the blind fold. Immediately, she put her hands to her mouth and her eyes got really big! As I searched for words, I suddenly felt very nervous not to mess anything up. I told her, "Tiffany, I feel so blessed that God has put you in my life, and I am so glad that we are together." I took the ring out of the box while holding her hand and asked, "Tiffany Howard…will you marry me?" Her eyes filled up with tears as she softly said, "Yes." We both embraced knowing that one journey is now completed, while another is just beginning! Chris Holt |
Total Surprise! On Valentine's Day my boyfriend bought me a new tv. After we set it up he handed me the remote to check if the tv was working. Well it wasn't. So I turned the remote over to check the batteries and he had put my engagement ring in it. Total surprise!! Haley Whitton |
Priceless! Eleven years ago, My husband was to nervous to propose so he wrote his proposal out on a piece of paper and left it for me to find. I had to go outside to give him the answer. One thing he said when he proposed that I will never forget: If you were a flower in an entire field of flowers..I would pick you...at one time we had several bills due but he still wanted to give me a gift.. he made it special because he took time to be creative and found a very inexpensive but cute ring with a 3d flower in the center of it..the ring probably only cost $10-15 but I would not take anything for it. I occasionally wear it and get compliments on it because it is very unusual. And often, my husband will find simple things to do or say that have to do with a flower. Now, I have nice jewelry but some things are just PRICELESS! Kimberly Olive |
Worth The Wait! My fiance, Frank, and I have been seeing each other since April 6, 1980. He bought my first diamond cluster, from Grogan's, in July 1983 and my first solitaire, from Grogan's, in April 1986. We had never been broken up until March of this year and after 3 and 1/2 months apart, he decided he could not live without me, so we got back together at the end of June. Of course we have been engaged for a very long time, but this is a true love story and would make a great book. We are soul mates and will soon be married. He is 53 and I will be 50 in September. This is his second marriage and my first, but he was worth waiting for and we belong together for the rest of our lives. We have separate homes, but will soon be living together. This is why I deserve the $100 gift certificate. Debbie Balentine |
Happily Ever After! My fiance and I met about 7 years ago. We dated for a while but it didn't work. Last August we caught up with each other! We started talking again and...TA DA...we fell in love!!! He said that he wished we could have made it work the first time, but I told him that obviously God intended for us to be together now! We are getting married August 26 of this year! Happily ever after...can happen the second time around! Heather Martin |
True Love! In Feburary 1995, I applied for a job driving a truck and that when I met Luther, he gave me a road test. In march of 1995 we began talking and going out, and everything was just perfect. I met my true love! He is a "one of a kind" man, the most sweetest & kindest person that you would every want. December of 1996, we were sitting in the living room watching tv and he came over to me and and got down on his knee in his underwear and took my hand and proposed to me. I was in shock, it took my breath away. And it was the most sweetest and an unusal proposal. I said yes, and I will never forget that day. We were married on December 16, 1996 on my birthday. He is the most perfect man I could have ever wanted. We had our tenth anniversary this past year, 2006. Sheila Clemmons |
House Shoe Surprise! My now husband Rick and I had just went to Grogan's to make a payment on my engagement ring. we had discussed that we would be getting it very soon. I just didn't know how soon. Later that afternoon I went to work. He went back to the store and got my ring and placed it in a new pair of house shoes. (I love house shoes!) When I got off work that night, he made me stop by his house on my way home. I was so tired and wanted to go home and take my shoes off and go to bed. Well, against my wishes I went by his house. He told me that he had a surprise for me. I looked at the house shoes and gave him a big hug! Cause like I said, I love house shoes. Well, he said "Look inside the left shoe." Inside I saw the green box. I started to shake and when I turned around, he was on one knee. It was so romantic! We have been married almost five years, and I still get so excited when I get a green bag with gold foil! Laney Wroten |
The Air Up There! Matt & I have been together for four years. One cold morning this past March, Matt woke me up at 6:00 a.m. Oh my goodness. Not cool. I was not happy about it AT ALL, to say the least. After all, it was the first day of our spring break! He shook me awake saying, "Wake up. Come on, wake up! I want us to watch the sun come up." Not at all excited about getting up to look at the sun, I pushed him away. I said, "Let's wait until Friday. It's supposed to be warmer Friday." He wouldn't leave me alone. "Come on, Whit. Wake up! I don't want to miss it!" I said, "What time does it even come up??" He said, "6:50" to which I responded, "Well wake me up in 40 minutes!!" (I mean, my goodness. Why in the world would I want to wake up 40 minutes before the sun came up just to sit around and wait on it?!?) He did leave me alone...for a little while. (Matt later told me that while he was waiting to wake me up for the second time, he tried to go back to sleep, only to realize he couldn't because he was sweating to death. Matt had already bundled up, ready to go outside. Then he realized he had no idea what he was going to say to me. So he got up & ran around frantically trying to think of something to say. He ended up writing down his thoughts because he knew he could never remember them if he didn’t.) After all of this running around - that I had no idea was going on - Matt woke me up again just about 20 minutes after the first time he woke me up. He had already laid out some warm clothes for me. Against my will, I got up & started getting ready. On our way out, I asked him where we were going to watch the sunrise. He said we were going to climb the water tower. I’m pretty sure at this point, my heart skipped a couple of beats because of the sheer terror roaring through my body. There is a water tower on Matt's land that we used to climb quite often. We would sit up there for hours talking about anything and everything, but we realized how dangerous it was - being 80 feet in the air - & how easily we could die, so we stopped. On our way out the door, he stopped to look in the refrigerator. I asked him why he needed to rummage through the fridge, to which he replied, "I need some bait to throw to the dogs that live at the top of the hill." This was actually a good idea, considering these dogs - Great Pyrenees - bark excessively. Matt ended up finding a bag of VERY leftover popcorn shrimp! He shrugged his shoulders & decided the fried crustacean - now quite chewy - would suffice. We started towards the water tower, & sure enough, here come the dogs. Barking...barking...barking.... Matt yelled, "You run on up to the tower & hide around on the other side. If they can't see you, they'll stop barking." Hard for me to decipher what he said over the persistent explosive cries of the canines, I did what he said: I ran ahead & hid on the other side of the water tower. Matt tossed the dogs the "bait." Surprisingly, they went for it. After all, they were dogs... When Matt came around the water tower to get me, he said, "Now the ladder is not what it used to be." With a "What have I agreed to?" look plastered across my face, I said, "What does that mean?" He answered, "The bottom rung of the ladder is about 8 feet from the ground." Lovely. How in the world was I supposed to jump 8 feet when I only come in at 5'3"?? We went around to the other side to start climbing. I got on Matt's shoulders, but I still lacked about two feet before I could reach the bottom rung. He lifts me up as high as he can & I latch on. I'm not strong enough to pull myself up, so he had to hold my feet - cheerleader style - & "bicycled" my feet until I could get a good start climbing up the ladder. I still don't really know how HE managed to clear the 8 feet of nothingness! So we began the long climb. The very long climb. It usually took us about 15 minutes to reach the top, but this day, in particular, I was very afraid, so it took closer to 30 minutes to get to the top. When we finally reached the peak, we barely had time to sit down before the sun started coming up. (Matt later told me that he was very relieved that we made it in time. He just knew that we were going to miss it.) We talked for a while just like we used to. Then Matt started acting awfully sweet. (Keep in mind: at this point, I still had no idea what was about to happen. Since we used to climb the tower all the time, I had no reason to think that this time would be any different.) Then he pulled a piece of paper out his pocket & read me the sweetest note that anyone has ever written. It goes without saying that it made me cry...a lot. Then it happened: he asked me to marry him! I was so busy crying, hugging his neck & saying, "YES! YES!!" that he barely got the chance to interject, "Well can I give you the ring??" Woops! I apologized & said, "Oh! YEAH!! Sorry..." So he pulled the box out of his pocket & opened it. It was definitely THE prettiest ring I had EVER seen & it's safe to say that it's the prettiest ring EVER. Of course, I may be a little biased. He took it out of the box to put it on my finger & there was a piece of dental floss tied to the ring that was at least two feet long. The other end of the dental floss was tied to the inside of his jacket pocket. When I gave him a funny look that clearly said, "What's up with the dental floss?" he said, "I really didn't want it to fall off this water tower..." A classic man. After I made all of the required phone calls (parents, family members, friends, the neighbors, the mail man, the veterinarian, my 2nd grade teacher, the bank teller, etc.), we began the climb down the tower. This resulted in being harder than the climb up. When we reached the dreaded 8-foot drop, Matt just jumped down. He was scratching his head trying to figure out just how he planned on getting me down. In the midst of his pondering, I turned my head & spotted something that could turn out useful. As I pointed, I said, "Why don't you just use that ladder?" Sure enough, the ladder that hooks onto the ladder attached to the tower was laying no more than 10 feet away from the water tower itself. The ladder that was there the entire time, mind you. The ladder we could have used when we STARTED our climb! Our engagement story could not have been better. We laughed, we cried, we got engaged. We can't wait to laugh & cry together as we start a new chapter in our lives: marriage. Whitney McCafferty |
A Cinderella Story! My boyfriend (now my husband) went with me and my mom and dad to Disney World last July. He had already talked with my parents before we went to ask permission for my hand in marriage. When my mom asked him "Do you really love her?" he began to cry and said "oh, yes ma'm." We get to Disney World at the Magic Kingdom were he tells my parents that he is going to ask me to marry him in front of Cinderalla's castle. We go all day long sweating and stinking and at the end of the day at 11 pm we all watch the light show and the firework show. They sang a song at the end and it talked about how they wish all your dreams would come true. After the firework show and light show were over my mom asked us if we were ready to go and Clay and I both said yes. We were exhausted and ready to leave. My dad and mom walked off and my dad asked my mom "I thought he was going to propose?" My mom said don't say anything. He might have changed his mind. Let's just go back to the condo. When we were walking to the front of the park to leave Clay wanted one more picture in front of the castle. I didn't think anything about it I just wanted to hurry and get that picture so we could leave. When we stood infront of Cinderella's castle my mom was right there with the camera and Clay got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes, we cried, and got our picture taken. It was very sweet! We have been married now for 17 weeks and are very happy. God sent him my way and b/c of that I have been blessed with a wonderful husband! Megan Goode |
Man Of Few Words! My husband proposed to me in a small restaurant. Got down on one knee w/ the Grogans box beautifully wrapped and just said.. "well..yes or no"!!! Being an Engineer, God love him, he was and still is a man of few words. But needless to say my answer was, of course, YES!! Peggy Helton |
Surprise Proposal! Our story is a little funny. My Hawaiian husband and I had been planning our wedding for a couple of weeks and had already ordered our wedding bands from Hawaii. I never expected an engagement ring nor had he ever really proposed. One night he took me fishing at the pond where we were getting married and as I am getting the rod and reels ready I hear him fall down the steps to the pavillion. He is in agony, he's crying about hurting his knee! I am So upset because he is about to leave for the Army in a month, how could he have hurt his knee? I am so scared! Then I finally get to the steps, he is at the bottom with the most beutiful smile on his face and a gorgeous ring in his hand. Of course I said yes! Even though he is now deployed, I still tell him every so often that when I get over being so excited about the ring and the surprise proposal that I am going to beat him up for scaring me so badly! Susan Akau |
Story Book Love! Well it started in Montana, where I was working at a Bar as a waitress, and my husband (boyfriend at the time) was working about 3 miles away at the Verizon. I was unable to go pick him up from work but I sent a couple of people to go get him. Well they never showed up for him so a nice customer of Verizon asked him if she could give him a ride. Chris arrived at my place of buisness with a big Verizon bag, so of course I asked "What's in the bag?" he tried to tell me nothing but I kept pushing, the person that was sitting with me say's "She knows what's in the bag you might as well just give it to her." So he handed me the bag. By this time I had a clue just a slight one but thought he was just going to buy a necklace or something like that. So I opened the bag and there was a Jewler bag inside, so I got excited till I saw the box, it was huge, big enough for a necklace. Till I opened it and a beautiful White gold diamond ring was looking at me with a little Love story book. (Which made the box bigger) Then he got down on 1 knee in front of everyone and asked me to marrie him. I said yes and we've been married for 2 wonderful years and have a 2 year old. Angela Collier |
Extra Special Carriage Ride! On December 7, 2006 I asked my wife to marry me. The entire day she had been busy buying a car, and just wanted to take a nap. I finally tell her we are going some where, and dont worry about getting fixed up. I know you will enjoy lets just go. We went on a carriage ride in downtown florence. We passed by Grogan's and she pointed out we needed to stop in there one day. Little did she know that I went. Near the end of the carriage ride she said we havent taken any pictures yet hurry, and get your camera. She is thinking that I am getting my camera out, and I get down on one knee in the carriage and ask her to marry me. She said yes and started crying. We had to rush a wedding because I am in the ARMY. We have been married almost a year, and she still loves the ring that I bought from Grogan's. Christopher Muse |
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