Sharon & Michael ~ 09/20/2011

How She Saw It:

On the morning of September 20, 2011Mike and Sharon woke up at Mike’s Oma’s house. They had decided to play some cards, go to the pool, and do some shopping, etc. that day. When they got home from shopping with Oma, Mike asked Sharon if she had wanted to go for a walk, Sharon declined. Mike seemed sad. Dinner was almost ready at this time and Sharon didn’t want to be rude and just take off. So, dinner was served and Mike barely ate anything. Today something was different with Mike. After dinner had just finished, Oma asked Sharon to have coffee. Mike interrupted the coffee and asked Sharon to go for a walk. Sharon said no to not be rude to Oma. Mike gave Sharon a look of defeat and sadness. Mike announced “I’m going for some air” and walked into the backyard. Very odd for Mike’s behavior.

Sharon followed Mike into the pitch black night sky. Sharon called to Mike, and saw him standing at the fence looking over the hill with houses in the distance. The sun was just setting at this time, and was very romantic looking. Sharon walked over to Mike and asked him what was wrong. Mike kept saying nothing, but was hugging her non-stop and kept saying “Give me a hug, give me a kiss”. He was acting like a complete… WEIRDO! He then went and turned the light on over the bench and asked if she wanted to sit… Sharon said no because there were bugs on the bench and Sharon hated bugs! Mike had been pulling/touching his lower pocket so she asked what he was doing. He replied with “I’m just scratching”, but it was really odd the way he was doing it. She told him that she wanted to go in because Oma had yelled that coffee was ready. Mike asked Sharon to stay out a few minutes longer and finally she went and touched his pocket, because he was being so weird…nothing but his phone in there… hmmm… Oma had walked out a few moments later and Mike decided to sit on the ground. They weren’t sure what he was doing. Oma said \”What are you doing some kinda Muslim religious thing or something?” and went back in. Sharon went over and helped Mike up and started tickling him and having a “play fight”. Sharon announced she wanted to go in but Mike grabbed her and led her to the pathway. When they got to the pathway in the backyard Mike announced “Yep, this is a good spot” and got down on one knee and said “Will you marry me”. Sharon replied with “Yes… no wonder you were acting so weird!”

How He Saw It:

Mike started planning the proposal back in February of 2011, then by May he had come up with a pretty good plan of when and how, so he felt ready to purchase a ring. He had asked my sister, Sarah, to help him as she was the best person that he could trust, other than Sharon (of course).By the time he found a day off work that Sharon hadn’t made plans for them it was July. He had told Sharon he was helping Sarah find a dress for their cousin’s upcoming wedding that they were all attending. Though Sharon thought it odd for me to go shopping with my sister she bought it. Mike and Sarah looked around a bit, until he found the perfect ring. The next obstacle was asking Sharon’s dad, Darrell, for his blessing. This turned out to be a much bigger obstacle than he had originally planned but eventually, 2 days before leaving to California he decided to just give him a call. After what seemed like the longest call of his entire life, he had given Mike the blessing for his daughter’s hand! Now it was just a flight and a couple days away from the big day he had been planning for so long. After a very nervous wait in the airport watching carefully as the distrustful baggage boys ignored his luggage, they were finally on their amazing vacation, and all that was left was for him to ask. Finally, on September 20th 2011 he asked Sharon to come for a walk with him. She said no. So a couple hours later he asked her again if she would like to get some air and take a walk with him, she responded “how about after dinner? “So he patiently waited the whole afternoon and then after chowing down his food he asked for the last time if she would like to join me in an evening stroll. Sharon brushed him off once again. At this point Mike was starting to become frustrated. However Mike managed to keep his cool and lead Sharon into his Oma’s backyard after numerous attempts to get her to come sit with him on the nicely lit love bench which was covered in bugs. Mike finally walked her to the lit portion of the patio, knelt down on one knee and asked the question she had been waiting to answer since she was 5 years old. She, to his relief and excitement, said yes!

I was not one of those little girls who played out her dream wedding with dolls or who knew what kind of dress she wanted since the age of 5. I never really thought about my wedding until I got engaged on December 23, 2008. Then, it hit me: I was going to have a wedding and I was going to have to plan it. Of course, I didn’t start planning it until 8 months ago because I wanted to enjoy being engaged for awhile first.

Planning things is a gift of mine, so I didn’t think it was going to be too difficult. I immediately started making lists and felt that these would keep me in check. They did not. I did not realize that wedding planning takes more than lists and that it encompasses using a vast amount of social etiquette.

This first thing that we decided was the date. Since my fiancé and I met on December 23, 2006, and he proposed 2 years later exactly, we went with December 23, 2011. A date that would eventually cause a number of dramatic issues. We chose this date because it was and is important to us. It will mark our 5 year anniversary together since the cold, snowy, December evening that we met. Simple enough, with a touch of romance and sentiment.

The second thing we discussed was the location. I am a Maritimer, born and raised in a small community in Nova Scotia where most of my family still lives. My fiancé, on the other hand, has lived in Alberta all his life. Now came the question of which family was going to have to fly across the country right before Christmas. Since I am rather frugal, and because I did not want a large wedding, we decided to have the wedding in Alberta to save ourselves the cost of flying and having to put our three pets in a kennel for a week. Besides, after looking into what it would take for me to plan a wedding in Nova Scotia while living in Alberta, I decided that I am rather fond of my sanity.

Then came telling everyone. With such a small wedding, we didn’t do invitations, we just sort of called them and casually mentioned that they were invited to our wedding that was a few months away.

That was an adventure on its own. Not only was I asking my family to fly here, I was asking them to do it just before Christmas. The response to that idea was, “Why so close to Christmas?”, “Won’t it be too cold?”, “Can’t you change the date?”. The date and location have caused a sort of snowball effect in our wedding planning, as you can imagine. But, we stuck to what was important to us. We have made some changes to our initial idea in order to accommodate our guests, but only to a certain extent.

Some people choose their date based on the availability of the venue, some people choose it based on a statutory holiday, some people simply pick a date at random. You have to decide what is important to you and your fiancé and work from there. If the venue is more important than the date you get married on, get it when you can. If you want your guests from out of town to have more travel time, plan it around a holiday. Whatever your reasoning behind the date, make sure that it is your own. You are allowed to be at least a bit selfish when it comes to your wedding, so use that while you can.

Shawn and Renee ~ 11/22/2012

Shawn and Renée’s anniversary was on April 09, 2011, Shawn had planned to take Renée out and he had the evening all planned as a surprise. At 6pm Shawn pulled up in a limo and met Renée at the door with 11 red roses. While Renée laughed excitedly saying, “Oh my God Shawn, you didn’t have to get a limo to pick me up! I thought you were picking me up in your car, your car would have been just fine.” Shawn laughed under his breath nervously. Renée and Shawn got into the limo and started on their drive. Shawn poured wine for the two of them and took a swig. He then got down on one knee and presented Renée with a single rose with ribbon binding a ring to it. Renée was shocked and surprised, she grabbed Shawn and hugged him as a few tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. And of course she said “YES!!!” Shawn then fumbled with the ribbon to try and get it off and put the ring on Renée`s finger. The evening continued with a ride around Regina and a romantic dinner for two at Lakeshore Steak House, ending with a romantic sunset drive around Wascana Lake.

History of Engagement Rings

Engagement rings have always been a symbol of a loving bond and even historically, have had a place in our society. The earliest engagement rings were often created out of thread or rope. In Roman times, iron rings were used to indicate the intent to marry and later on, rings were made out of precious metals.

In the western world, it is a custom to wear the engagement ring on the left hand ring finger. In other parts of the world, this varies considerably. In Ukraine, it is common for the engagement ring to be worn on the right hand while in Germany, the left ring finger is used while engaged but moved to the right hand after marriage. In Poland, my hometown, both the engagement ring and wedding and worn on the right hand. Today however, these practices vary.

The tradition of wearing engagement rings on the  left ring finger is quite appropriate.  In ancient  Egyptian myth, the left hand represented the left  side of the body connected to the heart, which sits  slightly left of the body. Of all the fingers, this is  also the only one which contains a special vein,  known as the vena amoris or love vein, running  directly to the heart.

The Royal Engagement Ring

The Royal ring was designed for Princess Diana  originally. When Prince Charles proposed, he didn’t have a ring to give her but instead wanted to give  her time to think about how her life would change  as a result of marriage.

Eager to put on a ring on her finger, Diana decided to choose one from the Royal Jewelers selection. Most of the rings in the royal family had been either handed down as heirlooms or specially designed. This was quite a break from tradition and a bit of a controversy began to stir in the eyes of the public. Dianas wishes also meant that the public knew the value of the ring- 28,000 at that time.

Future Royal Couple - Kate & William

The 18 carat blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds set in 18 carat white gold was loved by all who saw it and copied for its design even today.

The latest royal ring in the long line of extravagant engagements rings is Kate’s. The late Diana’s ring apparently fit so perfectly, that no alterations or sizing was needed. As Prince William himself said, it was meant to be and a way to keep his mother involved in their future life plans.

The wedding ring is yet to come, April 29 2011 at Westminster Abbey, that is. We shall see what the wedding ring will look like, but one thing is almost certain- the ring will be formed out of 80 year old pure Clogau Welsh Gold, used for generations of Royal Wedding rings.

We can’t wait!

Here is a proposal that truly swept the bride off her feet:

Tara & Jeremy
August 7, 2010