Vanessa & Julien

The week of our engagement Julien had the idea that he wanted us to have a 2-day date. The first day, I would be picking the agenda and taking him out an an all day date. I chose for us to go miniature golfing, bowling, and to go out to lunch. On the second day, it was his turn to take me out. We layed out at the beach, went to K1 speedway, and then he wanted to go down to our favorite spot at the beach and he said we would walk around and then go have a nice dinner. So we went home and got all showered and ready to go out, we arrived down at balboa beach right as the sun was getting ready to set. Julien had brought a blanket since it was geting chilly. He layed behind me and was holding me in his arms on the sand right above the water, as he starting to tell me how much I meant to him. The water was twinkling like diamonds as the sun had just set. As the moon lit up the night he pulled out a ring and asked me to be his wife!! It was so overwhelming all I could think to do was grab him and kiss him; a few seconds later he clarified if I had said yes or no (ha ha) since all I could do was kiss him. I laughed and said yes and he put my ring on my finger. It was very romantic!!! We concluded our date night at Ruth's Chris restaurant for dinner and went out with our friends to our favorite bar The Canyon Inn. At the bar they knew us very well since we went there every Tuesday night and the DJ even gave us a shout out saying that Julien and Vanessa were now engaged.

Brea & Colin

We had just gotten back from a Golden family trip to Panama and were still resting before going out with our friends for New Year's Eve. Colin told Brea to be ready by 6pm, even though dinner reservations were not until 8pm. We drove to the restaurant and parked the car then started walking towards a trendy bar near by. After having a couple of drinks together we started back towards the restaurant where 12 of our friends were waiting for us. As we were walking, Colin became very complimentary telling Brea how much he loved her and giving her sweet kisses between sentences. Colin stopped walking and looked Brea in her eyes as he asked her if she would make him the happiest man in the world. He then proceeded to get down on one knee and asked her if she would marry him! The proposal was perfect - intimate and unexpected and at that moment the whole world stopped around us. Of course Brea said yes and minutes later we were surrounded by all of our friends and were able to celebrate with them.

Stacey & Justin

I got the BEST proposal. Justin popped the question on Christmas Eve 2011 when we went to visit my parents in Sanger, TX for the holiday (his first time). Little did I know, he and my best friend Katie had been plotting the proposal via email and Facebook while he was still deployed in Afghanistan. I was completely clueless that he was transporting the ring with us from California to Texas even when he told me to go to a different security line to "race" through (I didn't think anything of it because it sounded like something we would do). When we reached my hometown he asked if I could take him around the neighborhood and to the lake to just "mosy" around. That sounded great to me especially because it had stopped raining. It got dark by the time we drove the golfcart down to the lake and we pulled up to a lit up tree, decorated with ornaments and tealights illuminating a path to it. He asked if people usually decorate the trees and I said no, but that it's been about a year and a half since I'd been home so maybe some new neighbor had. He said let's go take a look at what's underneath it. There was a medium sized box on top of a bigger box wrapped like presents. He told me to open the medium sized box...I told him that I didn't want to open someone else's stuff. When he told me to open it again I FINALLY started to clue in on what was going on. When I opened the box it was a BEAUTIFUL, sparkling Solitaire diamond tied to a ribbon to the box and he was on one knee asking me to marry him. Through tears I said yes of course! I put that ring on my finger without even disconnecting the ribbon and box ;) In the bigger box, Katie and her family had put a miniature sized bottle of champagne and two glasses (which was a surprise to Justin as well). We celebrated just the two of us with our champagne and then drove back to celebrate with the rest of the family. Everyone knew, but my mom. Needless to say she went pretty catatonic staring at the ring on my finger. The rest of the holiday weekend was perfect. Even though the tree was barren from the winter (without the lights and ornaments) it'll always be my favorite tree <3

Anglea & Oscar

We got engaged the evening of December 9th, 2011
I wanted to suprise Angela with an unexpected proposal but couldn't find the perfect place to do it.  A restaurant? Too common.  A romantic hotspot? Nah!
The perfect place?? Our house!!  Why?  Well, it represents the foundation of the home we'll build together.  This place is our beginning and the security of a life where we'll share our mornings and evenings, a place where we'll raise our children and where we'll create lifelong memories.

I was planning on poppin' the question right before Christmas to share the good news with our families but nothing seemed to line up and on the afternoon of December 9th she called me when she was out of work to tell me that the kids weren't spending the weekend with us so I put the entire proposal site together in 2 hours!  About 100 tealight floating candles were lit up and put in the pool and spa, then 4 dozen roses (yellow, red and white) were readied and setup to float on the pool as well as a path of petals from the backyard sliding door to the place were the proposal would take place.

Angela drove to the house and was stuck on traffic, while I was waiting nervously for her to arrive with everything ready. When she finally showed up stressed and tired from the traffic and long drive, she wanted to relax with a glass of wine but I couldn't wait... I was so nervous I simply pulled her arm and told her I wanted to show her something.... we walked outside and as I led her to the spot where I would propose she was in shock and kept asking what was going on.... what are all those candles and flowers doing in the pool?  Finally, I got on one knee and handed her 3 roses: a yellow rose representing our friendship, a red one for the love we have for each other and finally a white one for the purity of our love.

We used to joke about a girl that got a 3 carat ring (or is it carrot?) but wanted a 7 carat rock from her hubby instead so as a joke I made a ring with 7 carrots (baby carrots) on top and handed it to her and asked: "will you accept this ring?"  Angela laughed nervously and said: "No" so I threw the carrot ring away and then reached and pulled out the real engagement ring.  The ring box had a light that lit up the ring in the dark and she stared at it, unsure of what was going on so I asked her: "will you marry me?".  What followed was hilarious!  She started laughing, asking if I was kidding, laughing nervously and in disbelief and laughing some more but now hugging me so tight I was out of breath and still.... after a few minutes went by.... she didn't say "yes"!!!  Now I was nervous so I finally asked her: "soooo.... will you marry me?" - she finally answered with a happy and cool "YES!" (wheeeewwww!!!!)
Oh.... and I finally served her the glass of wine she wanted while she admired the engagement ring!  ;-)

Kalee & Derek

I was completely and utterly surprised by the proposal.  About one week prior to our 3rd year anniversary, we got a puppy...Mahi!  As a way to celebrate our anniversary, Derek suggested we take Mahi on her first visit to Catalina Island and have a nice relaxing weekend....
So we set off early Saturday morning on August 6th.  As we started to leave the harbor out into the open ocean, Derek said something happened with the engine and started opening drawers and flipping switches.  Of course I didn't offer to help and just kept looking out over the water.  A moment later, Derek started talking and as I turned around he was on one knee holding a ring.  He told me that near the spot we were at, his grandparents had their first date at the beach across from us, his parents went on their first date on his dad's boat, and we met for the first time on the Dorado leaving out of the harbor.  He then asked me to marry him, and of course I said "Yes"....good thing too, otherwise he would have made me swim back to shore!!
We then took off to continue our weekend in Avalon, on Catalina Island.  When we arrived, Derek had me doing alot of tasks to get the boat ready to get on the mooring.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  As we got settled, a friend pulled up and asked us if we wanted a ride into shore.  I wanted to take Mahi in and let her walk around, so we took him up on his offer.  Even when he started going away from the dock, I still didn't think anything was up (see a trend forming here of my oblivion...).  It wasn't until we nearly ran into Derek's parents boat filled with some of our close friends and family, did I realize that this was not going to be a relaxing weekend!  I guess it's a good thing, especially for Derek and his surprise planning, that I don't catch on to subtleties.  
We had an awesome time celebrating the occasion with everyone, and will never forget that weekend....especially the ceremonial  "Jumping of the Buffalo". 

Krystal & Matt

On September 17th, 2011 Krystal turned 24 years old. Little did she suspect, that this would also be her engagement day.

After arriving in Florida the weekend before, starting their new jobs in a new state the Monday after, they were exhausted. All week Matt had asked what she wanted to do on her Saturday birthday. Since their new place in Florida was still filled with moving boxes her resounding answer was "unpack and move in, I just want all these boxes out of here."

After a long day of unpacking Krystal was worn out. And although Matt had dinner reservations for the night, she did not want to go. She just had accepted the fact that this was just going to be one of those 'bad' birthdays. But Matt was very persistent, and Krystal finally gave in.

On their way to dinner, to Krystal's surprise, Matt drove them to the beach where he had a bottle of champagne and a birthday card. They sat on gorgeous Juno Beach, watched the sunset, and sipped champagne.

Krystal was starting to think that her birthday was beginning to look up. Matt pulled out her birthday card for her to read. At the very bottom of the card it said "PS I have one more surprise for you." Before she could look up, Matt was down on one knee. Krystal cried and just shook her head yes! Of course, she had absolutely no idea. She ended up with the best birthday of all.

Kristen & Paul

Paul proposed to Kristen New Years Eve 2010 on a Gondola ride in Naples, Long Beach.  The same location of their very first date 4 years earlier.  Afterwards they met for dinner at Smitty's Steakhouse in Pasadena with their parents and grandparents.  The next day Paul surprised Kristen again by flying them out for a relaxing week's vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.