Kelly's Personal Engagement Story

In honor of engagement season, I thought it would be fun to share my own engagement story! Read on for the tale, along with some takeaways that you may wish to apply in your own personal proposal planning.

As some of you know, in addition to Signed & Sealed, I am an Account Director for a public relations agency based in NYC. I spent five incredible years working in Midtown Manhattan (it really never got old!), but after a COVID-driven move back to Michigan, I was lucky to be able to continue working remotely with the agency. It has been fun to take several trips back to the city for client meetings and events, one of those which took place in October of 2022.

At that point, I had been dating Jeff (my now husband) seriously for quite some time. We decided it would be fun for him to fly out and join me for part of this work trip, and then we could do some NYC sightseeing over the weekend. And sightseeing we did! We hit some classic NYC eateries, including Lombardi's for pizza and Katz's Deli for sandwiches. We walked around Rockefeller Plaza and we listened to jazz in the West Village.

On Saturday morning, I had to work for a few hours at a client event. Jeff sweetly came down to visit me at the event, waiting in line to enter just to give me a friendly wave while I accompanied reporters throughout the festival.

That afternoon we had planned to visit the Cloisters, which we were both looking forward to. It was a gray & rainy day, but we didn't let that deter us. I remember on our walk to the subway station I asked Jeff if he was excited to visit the Cloisters again (he had gone a few years ago with his sister, before we knew each other), and he said "more than you know!" I didn't know at that time how eventful our visit would be.

We spent a couple of hours visiting the entire museum. There was just one more garden to visit, but the rain had picked up again. Jeff suggested we get an iced tea from the cafe and wait it out so we could see the final garden. Although I didn't think it would be a big deal to skip the final garden, I really thought nothing of his suggestion, as I love an iced tea. Once the rain finally subsided, we made our way through and stopped at the edge that overlooked the Hudson River.

Jeff set down the map and umbrella he was carrying, and that's when I finally got the feeling that something big was happening. In that beautiful spot, he got down on one knee and proposed. Of course I agreed enthusiastically!

The garden was essentially empty because of the weather, but some nice ladies saw us from across the way and offered to take our picture, an offer which we gladly accepted.

I remember feeling so excited for the rest of the day. I wanted to buy EVERYTHING in the gift shop before we left the Cloisters (I think we landed on a pack of pretty notecards...), and we called our families. We splurged on an Uber rather than taking a subway to get back to our hotel - hey, I had never worn a diamond like that before and I was admittedly a little nervous about keeping it safe! We went to dinner & drinks, and then stopped at a bodega to get a bottle of celebratory champagne. I told the cashier we were celebrating because we had just gotten engaged, and in somewhat typical NYC fashion, he replied, unfazed, "That will be $29.99." :)

Here are some of the things I absolutely love about our own engagement story, and that I hope might bring you some inspiration if you are planning to pop the question soon:

1. I love that we got engaged in a place that meant something to both of us. Jeff fell in love with the Cloisters on his first visit to NYC before we met. He knew that NYC was special to me, so it was an ideal location for us to make it official.

2. I love that it was just us. Everyone's personality is different, and you know your partner best. But I do NOT love an audience for big moments, so it was special to me that no one else was watching.

3. I love that we did a little pre-planning. I believe fairly strongly that a proposal should not come as a total shock. If you're in a serious relationship, it makes sense to have some discussions about marriage, your proposal, and what you might like that to look like. For us, that meant Jeff had asked me what style of ring I would like, and I expressed that I would like him to ask my dad before popping the question. No one is a mind reader, and I believe that things go more smoothly when you communicate and set expectations.

4. I love that I was surprised in the moment. With all of that said about pre-planning, I also love that I was completely surprised on the day that it happened. I didn't know when Jeff would ask, and I thought he wouldn't want to travel with the ring - it was so much fun to be genuinely surprised!

I'd love to hear your stories and what you think of the points above. Happy engagement season to all!

-Kelly