Nicole and David

Posted Monday, October 13, 2008 2:22 PM

The Plan

Last winter, my boyfriend David wanted us to visit family in New Jersey. We had a long weekend coming up in February and he asked me if we could go then, but the problem was that Friday was Valentine’s Day. He knew I wanted to do something special together for our first Valentine’s Day, so he suggested that we spend the day in New York City. I immediately agreed. He knew that I had always wanted to go ice skating in Rockefeller Center so he offered to take me. When I told my cousin about our plans, she was certain he was going to propose, but I told her that David said he wanted to wait a few years.

The Day

We got to the city early in the day and checked into our hotel. It was very cold, but we spent the day walking around the city. As we approached 5th Avenue, I spotted Tiffany & Co. and begged David to go in with me. He reluctantly agreed to go in after I promised not to make him look at rings. Our ice skating session was scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m., so David decided we would go late so we wouldn’t get too cold or tired. So we’d skate a while, then rest, and we even stopped to make some phone calls. I called my parents and my best friend just to chat and tell them about the city. My dad asked if I had gotten engaged, but I told him we hadn’t. David pretended to be put off by all of the predictions they’d made. We went back out on the ice after our phone calls. By the end, my toes were freezing and the boot was digging into my ankle.  I was ready to take off my skates and warm up, so when they called for the ice to be cleared, I took off and left him on the rink. He tried to persuade me to wait with him, but I was in too much pain! I got in line to return my skates and was surprised when David came and asked me to come back out with him. I finally walked back over to him.

The Proposal

Suddenly, David began to skate back out on the ice and pulled me with him. The song “I Do” started playing over the speakers as he led me out to the middle of the rink. I was completely confused and asked him, "What are you doing?  We're not supposed to be out here." All he said was, "Don't worry, I took care of it." He turned to face me and gave me a kiss. Then he dropped down to one knee and pulled a Tiffany ring box out of his jacket. He began to cry as he asked me to marry him. Hundreds of people around the ice rink were watching. The crowd was cheering so loud that he didn’t hear me say yes at first. I pulled my glove off and he slipped the gorgeous ring on my finger. When he stood up, we kissed again and then he asked, "Is that a yes?"  I answered again, "Yes!" We got to skate around to rink a few times to enjoy the moment and then celebrated with a champagne toast in the Rock Center Cafe. 

The Media

As if the proposal itself wasn't wonderful enough, we have photos and video of it too. When David bought the package and set up the proposal, the manager of the ice rink had contacted the media to notify them of the anticipated proposal.  Since it was Valentine's Day, the Channel 2 News and the Daily News had sent photographers to capture the moment. It was surreal to watch ourselves on the news that night as they showed the video of our engagement. A friend was able to record the news for us and we also bought copies of the Daily News so we'll always have reminders of that amazing night in New York City!