The rose gold engagement ring from Dublin Village Jewelers for client, James Scott
I adore a good love story; any that includes two people getting engaged and married. Even better are stories that include creative, unique wedding proposals – that planning, attention to detail, and consideration of the proper time, place and environment that makes it perfect. The person asking should consider the couple’s history and how they enjoy their time together, whether it be quietly on a beach, with family or in the middle of chaos in Times Square.
Many people enlist the help of their jewelers when selecting or designing a ring, and sometimes they ask for assistance in the proposal itself. I asked a few Dublin jewelers to share their stories.
Beth Cevasco and her husband, Scott, have owned Scott’s Custom Jewelers for 17 years, and with that comes tons of experience designing unique engagement rings. One of their clients was planning to propose to his New York theater actress girlfriend.
“He had an elaborate plan worked out, and wanted a real ring and a fake ring made,” says Beth.
The man went to his girlfriend’s New York apartment and started an argument. When they were in a heated fight, he opened the window, showed her the ring, indicated that he was going to propose and threw the fake ring out of the window.
Obviously shocked, the girlfriend screamed in horror and disbelief. That’s when the gentleman bent down on one knee and pulled out the real ring for the actual proposal.
“He said a dramatic girl deserved a dramatic proposal,” says Beth.
The groom also had one more surprise up his sleeve: He designed the rings so that when she put her engagement and wedding band together, the rings make up the beginning bars from the bride’s audition song, “Somewhere Out There.”
Beth and Scott have designed several exclusive rings for their clients, including one for a man who proposed to his girlfriend at a checkpoint while hiking Mount St. Helens. They had the coordinates of the checkpoint engraved inside both of their bands, and his wedding ring has the silhouette of Mount St. Helens etched on it with a diamond at the checkpoint location.
Kevin Laudick is one of the owners of Leo Alfred Jewelers, and my query made him immediately think of a proposal that he and his uncle, Tom, also an owner at the time, were a part of.
“My uncle, Tom, owns and has flown a hot air balloon for years,” says Kevin. “One of our customers asked if he would take him and his girlfriend up for a ride so that he could propose.”
Kevin and Tom agreed, made the ring and headed to Marysville Airport for an evening flight on a very calm night. They had enough propane for a 30-45 minute flight and, after 20 minutes, the man still had not asked the question.
“We were wondering if he was getting cold feet,” says Kevin, laughing.
It was so calm that they weren’t moving much at all, and they began to worry about where they could set the balloon down, avoiding power lines, tree lines and farmland. Finally, the customer proposed, the woman said yes, they took photos on their camera and everyone was happy, but one more decision remained. Knowing they were low on fuel and running out of places to land, Kevin and Tom concluded that they should set down directly next to the high wire fence on the property of the women’s correctional facility.
Not three minutes after they landed, several guards in patrol vehicles showed up, one armed with a shotgun, and informed them that they were trespassing. The guards said they saw Kevin and Tom taking pictures of the prison from the balloon and that they had to confiscate the camera.
“The bride-to-be probably didn’t think marriage would lead to prison,” says Kevin.
Months later, the couple got their camera back, but the memory card inside was empty.
“We still have a good laugh with them about their engagement story every time we see them,” Kevin says.
James Scott, the engineer, and his fiancee with the rose gold ring.
Annie and Yury Verbitsky own Dublin Village Jewelers, and enjoy getting to know their
customers. A recent example involves an engineer client who had a very specific ring request for an extravagant proposal. He wanted a unique rose gold setting with a champagne pink sapphire in the center, and a halo of white diamonds surrounding it. The Verbitskys ordered several stones before finding the right sapphire, and then had to rush to create the ring in time for the proposal.
The engineer’s girlfriend was from Taiwan and had planned a trip to visit her family. He said he couldn’t go on the trip, but had actually called her family, asked for permission to marry and planned to fly out secretly to meet up with her. It took planes, trains and automobiles, but finally he arrived in her hometown and was able to surprise his bride-to-be, and propose to her on the banks of the Love River.
“We were so excited when he flew over for the engagement,” says Annie. “Then he called us when he returned and brought his fiancé in so we could meet her, hear all about the surprise and see how perfectly the ring suits her.”
Colleen D’Angelo is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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