Every little girl grows up with the dream of finding her prince charming, having a beautiful wedding, and living happily ever after. I am one of those lucky little girls whose dream came true.
After two and a half years of dating my boyfriend, John, I was not sure that my dreams of getting married would ever come true. Both of us were working full time jobs, and he was going to school. So, finding time to spend together sometimes seemed impossible. John told me to plan a night out, he would do whatever I wanted. Not thinking that this was going to be different than any other date than I had planned in the past, we went out to dinner, then went back to his house to hang out.
I had decorated his house for Christmas that year and still hadn't taken down the three foot Charlie Brown christmas tree that was in the livingroom, even though it was the middle of January. John is pretty sarcastic, so when we were sitting on the couch and he repeatedly kept making comments about the christmas tree, I just assumed it was some not so suttle way to tell me to take it down. After about the fifth comment, I was in mid sentence when I saw a small box wrapped in gold paper with a gold bow on top. It was sitting underneath the tree. My heart stopped. I asked what the box was. John responded with, "what box?" (I didn't think it was very funny either!) He went and got the present and let me unwrap it. As he opened the box, I was in shock. It was the most beautiful ring ever, and it was exactly what I had dreamed of. Then he got down on one knee, told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes!
We were married in July of 2005 and have been living happily ever after since. So I guess the dream that I wished did come true!

Well, it hasn't happened yet....but I've got it all planned out. I have been dating my boyfriend for about three and a half years now and I know that eventually we will be married. I'm just waiting for him to pop the question. Even though I'm usually not one to beleive in fate, we met under interesting circumstances so I know that we are meant to be together.
I was vacationing in Las Vegas with a friend. My boyfriend was doing to same with his friends. We bumped into each other in a casino and he asked me where I was from. I told him I just moved to a small town on Long Island that he probably did not know. Whe I told him I live in Floral Park, NY. He responded, "Oh my God!! So do I" My initially reaction was to run the other way. I really had no interest in starting a new relationship and I knew he felt like it was some kind of destiny that we just met across the country. When he asked me to go out that night in Las Vegas I said no. But when I bumped into him again the next night I knew that we must be meant to meet. I gave him my number and when we got back to NY we began dating and have been madly in love ever since.
My dream proposal from my dream man would be for him to take me back to the small bar in the casino where we met, get down on one knee and ask me to marry him. Its plain and simple but exactly how I imagine it. This time I promise I won't tell him that I have other plans!

I finally found the man of my dreams, one whom I didn't think even existed. We had an instant connection and he has made my life complete. There is a lot to be said about true love and happiness!!

After being with my sweetie, Monica, for over a year and a half, I was ready to pop the question. We had been talking about rings, what shape stone she liked... finally, I was pretty sure I knew what she wanted, but how to ask? I decided that I would propose on her birthday in March--what better way to remember when we got engaged?! I really wanted to make the occasion special, so I arranged to have a birthday party, inviting various friends and family, but unbeknown to Monica, I told everyone that this would be a surprise engagement party! It was about two months in the making--getting the ring ready, getting the invites out, making sure everyone kept quiet. My plan was working out perfectly.

One day before the "big day," I received an e-mail from a co-worker which was copied to Monica about some dinner plans. The communication was very matter-of-fact, but I wanted to let my co-worker know about the big day coming up that weekend. So I shared a bit of the big-secret-proposal plan. Now, here's the
rub: I didn't hit "reply," but I didn't realize that.
I hit "reply ALL."

Later that day, Monica and I were talking on the phone. I brought up the subject of the dinner plans, and Monica, somewhat mysteriously, somewhat innocently, replied, "I didn't get any e-mail." So I pressed her again, insisting that I sent her some e-mail about dinner plans. She then repeats shyly, "I didn't get any e-mail." Silence on the phone. It starts to occur to me, like that feeling when you're outside on a cold and icy day that you're about to slip on the ice and you know you will fall and hurt yourself, but you can't stop falling. That's how it felt. I'm thinking to myself, "oh NO!" The well-kept secret I've been trying to preserve for the past two months--all for naught! I was so upset that I started to cry! I called out on the phone, "YOU DIDN'T GET ANY E-MAIL!!" And Monica echoed, "No. I didn't get any e-mail." I think I repeated myself a few times.

So..... the next day, Monica's birthday, arrives. At least in my faux pas I didn't reveal exactly WHEN I would be proposing--just that it would be coming. I was at least successful in diverting her away from my apartment where the party was to be. I drove her down to the waterfront (I live by the Hudson) and asked if she'd like to go for a walk along the water. I knew she knew this was it, but I didn't care. I was going to make this as special as I could, given the circumstances. We walked hand in hand and eventually got to a nice place to sit. I asked my sweetie to have a seat and I held her hands and looked in her eyes. I got down on one knee, looked up at her, and declared my love for her. I told her that she meant the world to me and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I got out the ring and received a big smile.
We laughed. We cried. She said yes. We hugged tightly against the March wind. We then both agreed it was too cold to stay outside and got back in the car.

We drove back to my place where everyone laid in wait.
A shout of "surprise," and "congratulations," and the party was on! At least I was successful in surprising Monica with the attendees. Our wedding is coming up this June. I do intend to surprise Monica again, but I'll try to leave the e-mail out of it!

Cantor Erik L. Contzius
New Rochelle, New York

Below is my engagement story:
>
> It was a the summer of 2005. Neal, my then boyfriend, sent me a
> website for a charming bed and breakfast in Mystic, CT. He showed me
> how each room was unique, and asked me which one I liked the best. He
> said his brother was taking his wife away for a romantic weekend, and
> that was the place they suggested. I thought to myself, "that's so
> cute! Why doesn't Neal do something like that for us!"
>
> Fast forward several weeks later. It was a Friday afternoon, and Neal
> had spent the day at a work event.
> He pulled up in a shiny new convertible that he had rented and told
> me to pack a bag for the weekend.
> He
> would only tell me we were going away--he wouldn't share the
> destination nor the occasion. We drove off in the convertible, top
> down, on a perfectly sunny summer afternoon.
>
> A few hours later, we arrived in Mystic, CT at that very Bed and
> Breakfast Neal had emailed to me--and lo and behold, we were staying
> in the room I liked best!
> The story about his brother, needless to say, was made up. We
> unpacked and relaxed before heading out for a romantic seafood dinner.
> He was a little fidgety, but only in hindsight, did it all make sense.
>
> We came back to the room, made a fire and enjoyed a nice, relaxing
> evening together.
>
> The next morning, we woke up and got dressed for breakfast. While I
> was waiting for Neal to get ready, I noticed a journal over the
> fireplace where previous guests entered their thoughts and sentiments
> about their stay in that room. I commented to Neal how it seemed that
> it was a popular place for engagements!!!
>
> We had an uneventful breakfast and headed back to the room to plan our
> day. We started getting a little silly and began taking goofy
> pictures with our digital camera. Neal was posing for various
> pictures, and the next thing I knew, Neal was down on one knee. I
> literally fell down right beside him, as he proposed.
>
> It was such a special moment--we were both laughing and crying all at
> once.
>
> Naturally, I said yes, and once my heart palpitations had stopped, we
> went to the Seaport to enjoy the day.
> We rented a row boat, where Neal confessed he had intended to propose
> there, on the boat, but was afraid he'd drop the ring into the water!
> It's a good thing he didn't wait till then because we ended up losing an oar and had to get rescued!!!!

Now, a year and a half later, we are happily married!!!