Engagement Stories

Normally we aren’t that riveted to entertainment news (Ok, I am; Dan is definitely NOT) but our curiosity was piqued because today is the anniversary of our engagement and, like so many others, no doubt, I feel it is a story worth telling.

We had not known each other that long and had only been dating for about a month, but we both knew that we had stumbled into something pretty special when we found each other. In fact, I think that we’d told each other we were “the one” after our fourth date. Anyway, we were on a weekend visit to my parents’ home (they live near Victoria and we were living in Vancouver at the time) when the “proposal” took place.

This is how I remember it. My folks have a lovely waterfront home and as it was a gorgeous summer day, Dan and I decided to take our pre-dinner glass of wine down to the beach. We were sitting on a big rock, watching the birds and the gentle waves. As I recall we weren’t saying too much of anything, just enjoying a very comfortable, companionable mid-summer moment. Then Dan says, “You know, I really like you (code for he loves me!) and I want to marry you.”

I was rather surprised as we’d only been dating for a short while (though, I was not at all freaked out) and I was a little confused. Was that what I thought it was? Was that a proposal? I had to answer carefully. “Uuuuuh….uhhhhh….I could get on board with that”, was my, admittedly rather odd, reply (I didn’t want to look too eager in case I had misread the statement!). This was followed by silence. It seemed to last quite a good long while, but in reality it was probably only a few seconds after which Dan asked, “Was that a ‘yes’?” and I famously replied, “Was that a question?”

I don’t exactly remember what was said after that. No doubt Dan said something like, “Oh man, I can’t believe that I goofed that up!” and I of course must have said “yes”, but I really don’t recall. What I remember is more a series of feelings: surprise, happiness, joy, excitement, adoration…oh yeah, and here’s a bit of a shock: I cried! There was no ring, and I was totally OK with that. Let’s face it, how could a person I had only known a short while know what I might like in an engagement ring. We picked it out together later that week.

After I collected myself, we left the beach and went up the stairs to my parent’s house. The difficult thing was the fact that my mother was at work and I didn’t want to tell my dad without my mom there, so the two of us had to sit through dinner with dopey looks on our faces and not say anything about what we had just promised each other. We made some excuse about going camping near my parents’ house the following weekend and came back and told them then. They were thrilled and, interestingly, not at all surprised or worried despite the short time we had known each other. (We later learned that THEY got engaged after two dates)

Meanwhile, Dan’s parents were at a family reunion all the way across the country and had already been telling extended family members the good news that Dan was engaged. This was before he had even asked me! I guess he had told them what he was going to do and they could tell by his tone and excitement that he was reasonably sure what my response was going to be.

Feel like sharing your engagement story with us? We’d love to hear it.

For more heart warming engagement stories there are zillions on confetti.co.uk. Check it out for the entertainment value or if you need ideas on how to propose.

Happy Couples, Happy Planet!

PS We at CouplesQuestions.com don't necessarily advocate getting engaged as quickly as we did, but it worked for us. Furthermore we were engaged for over a year and completed pre-marriage counseling before we tied the knot. Always a good idea.

posted by Heather and Dan @ 3:31 PM