My husband proposed to me in Las Vegas 12 years ago this weekend. Although this post doesn't have the best travel advice for a Vegas holiday, it's a pretty incredible story. I hope you enjoy. Make sure you read to the end!
I
suppose it all began back in March, 2005 when I decided to surprise J by
visiting him at MIT in April. I sat in my apartment bedroom in Fry C 103
anxiety stricken about the details. The plan would be for me to drive to PHL
right after my classes on Wednesday afternoon. Service Day was Thursday (an
annual event at my alma mater where classes are canceled and all of the
students participate in some kind of service project) and instead of doing a
service project like a good little student, I was going to play hooky Thursday,
skip classes on Friday, and go see my beloved boyfriend at school. Finally,
with a jolt of impetuosity, I clicked the final button to book my flight, and
set the first wave into motion.
At that moment, everything was perfect. I booked a late flight, so I could get
to PHL regardless of traffic or weather. I planned on taking a cab directly from
the airport to where J lived. He was completely oblivious, and I hoped things
would stay that way. The first thing that went wrong was my COMPLETE inability
to keep a secret. I didn’t tell J that I was coming to visit him. I did worse.
I created a series of clues and puzzles and sent them to him. I must have been
quite tricky because he figured out that they were all numbers, but he didn’t
know what those numbers meant. Each clue eventually came down to a countdown of
the weeks until I arrived. He figured out that it was a countdown to something,
but he couldn’t figure out what. (Or did he?)
When I arrived in Boston, I went going over the different things that I could
say to him when I got there. My plan was to call him and pretend that I had
just gotten home from work, make it seem like I missed him so much, but then
magically I was there. When I arrived, I stood right outside his door. I called
him and said, “I wish I could be with you.” He said the same, and then I said,
“well, maybe if you just opened your door…” and I hung up the phone and knocked
on his door. No answer. NO Answer? I knocked again, and then I called him back.
Finally, one of his roommates answered the door, I apologized for waking him
up, told J he was a moron for not opening the door, hung up the phone again,
and walked into his room. He was absolutely stunned. It was an amazing moment
and he was incredibly surprised!!
The
next day, he had class and work. He said he would meet me that afternoon at the
Galleria (the local mall). All morning I just putzed around. At one point, I
opened up his middle bureau drawer to see what items of mine he still had. In
the past, I had left perfume, soap, lotion, etc. and I was curious to see what
was still there. (Please keep in mind that the next series of events are
completely my fault, and I am fully aware of how horrible I was.) In the back
of the drawer, I wouldn’t help but notice a small mailing box. I pulled it out
and saw that it had his parents’ address on it. Rather puzzled, I opened the
box, and saw a large, rectangular jewelry looking box inside. (It looked like
the kind of box that would hold a necklace.) Intrigued (and YES nosey) I opened
the box to discover a jewelry box inside, with a small piece of paper sticking
out. When I realized it wasn’t jewelry, I was still curious about what it was.
I looked at the piece of paper and it had a bunch of different markings in
pencil on the four corners. One said .90kt, another E-F, and one said VS2. Any
girl who has done research on engagement rings is well aware of exactly what
these strange characters mean. Carat, color, and clarity, all of the above
being quite incredible. Very slowly and carefully, I unfolded the paper (yes, I
know, how horrible could I be?) and discovered a very delicate, round diamond.
There was no setting, it was just a loose stone.
Absolutely unable to contain my excitement, I called my college roommate
immediately. She shared in my joy, but warned me that I could not reveal to J
what I had discovered at the risk of ruining my own proposal.
*Just a side note, J and I were in the midst of planning a weeklong trip to Las
Vegas in May to celebrate my 21 birthday. I (along with my whole clan of family
and friends) was expecting him to propose in Vegas.
Carefully, and trying to calm myself down, I put the stone back, folded the
piece of paper, placed the box back exactly where I found it, and attempted to
pursue a normal day. That afternoon, I met J around 3 at Kendall Square. We
took the Wave (a free shuttle) over to the Galleria, and we had lunch and did
some shopping. Well, like the clues I gave J about my trip to Boston that
revealed my inability to keep a secret, I walked around the Galleria with the
face of a guilty puppy. The moment I saw J, he had the look on his face like,
“What did you do?” We walked around the mall for an hour or so and pretty soon
our conversation became a lot like this:
J: “Just tell me what happened? I already know, so just be honest.”
Me: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t want you to hate me.”
J: “Just tell me. You know I love you!”
Me: “If you already know, why do I have to tell you?”
Finally, I came clean with my discovery, but J’s reaction what not quite what I
expected. He absolutely freaked out! He started yelling at me about invading
his privacy, and about how he would never give me that stone (pay very close
attention to this section). He was planning on proposing in Vegas, but now
there was no way he could find another stone and have it set in a ring in time.
He wasn’t even sure he wanted to propose to someone so nosey and who would
actually ruin her own dream proposal. On and on he went. I didn’t know what to
do or how to react. I just kept apologizing profusely, and he apologized too
saying that he had the perfect proposal planned, but now he couldn’t do it. I
was absolutely devastated! This trip was supposed to be a fun surprise, not
something that would turn into a huge fight questioning our entire
relationship.
Eventually we came to an understanding, but our future was still a little
shaky. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend, trying to put that horrible fight
behind us. Right before I left to go back to PHL on Sunday night, J asked me
not to tell anyone about what I had found, except A who already knew. By that
point, A also told the other 2 girls in our apartment, but the secret of the
discovered diamond was confined to Fry C 103.
I really had no idea how the week in Las Vegas was going to go. Should I expect
a proposal anyway? Would we ever get engaged? We arrived in Las Vegas just
before midnight of my 21st birthday. A taxi took us to the Excalibur hotel, and
we checked in. J’s parents gave me a birthday card with two quarters taped on
the inside for me to use in the slot machines. Without even getting settled in
our room, we hit the casino floor for an hour of fun before turning in for
night. We had a full week of activities booked, but at midnight on your 21st
birthday, who doesn’t want to gamble a little and get their first legal drink?
I drank a fuzzy navel, and I don’t even think I gambled away $10 before I was
ready for bed.
On our first day in Las Vegas, we had planned on exploring about 1/3 of the
“strip” before our evening activities. The day, however, began a little earlier
than I planned when someone knocked at the door. J quickly leapt out of bed and
greeted the room service delivery. How thoughtful! He arranged for room service
on my birthday. Only, he seemed just as surprised as I was. He didn’t arrange
for room service? Who did? J thought that maybe his parents called and
preordered it for us. After calling his parents and me calling my parents, we
were still unsure of who sent my birthday breakfast. On the tray sat three
silver covered plates, syrup, butter, and orange juice. Under the first silver
platter was a small note and a square, navy blue ring box. Terribly excited, I
shrieked with joy and excitement. J, on the other hand, went from looking very
confused to furious when I opened up the delicate ring box to reveal a large,
ostentatious diamond ring. Even more mysterious than a ring from an unidentified
sender was the note that accompanied it. It said, “My darling princess when I
saw you enter my castle last night, I was immediately enchanted by your beauty.
Please accept this small token of my affection. If you wear the ring, it will
work its magic and bring us together.”
Now my furious boyfriend became both worried and enraged. Worried that there
was someone stalking us in the hotel, and horribly jealous that this was
actually from another boy. I, on the other hand, found the whole thing rather
comical and ate my fill of the pancakes that were under the other two silver
platters. I wasn’t about to let this strange breakfast scenario ruin our first
day in Vegas.
We
ventured out of Excalibur, and started walking around the Las Vegas Strip. We
toured different hotels like New York New York, Aladdin (which is not be there
anymore), Luxor, and the MGM Grand. We ate lunch at the Rainforest Café inside
the MGM Grand which was decent but looking back 12 years later, I would never
go to a chain restaurant on a vacation like that. After lunch we were walking
by the huge MGM Grand fountains, and J got this sheepishly romantic look on his
face, took my hands, and said, “How romantic would it be by the fountains in
Las Vegas?” Honestly, at that moment, everything just seemed wrong and very
awkward. J got down on one knee, gazed into my eyes, and as he said, “Corinne
will you mar…” he held up a ring with the center stone missing. I exploded with
laughter and relief that this was not a real proposal. (I had explained earlier
that I didn’t want a public proposal, and that I would like it to be a quiet,
private atmosphere.) J, on the other hand, was absolutely freaking out. (He is
apparently very good at that.) He frantically searched his pockets and the
ground for the stone. I just stood here laughing because I knew he didn’t
actually mean to propose right then. To humor him, though, I still wore the
empty setting on my finger until the sharp prongs started catching on
everything.
That evening for dinner, we went to the buffet inside Excalibur. After our
first round through the entrées, we both went to the restroom. When we got back
to our table, there was another small note on our table resting up against a
glass. The instant I saw it, I froze. What happened that afternoon at MGM was
funny, but the breakfast ordeal was still slightly confusing. The notes,
however, were identical in size, shape, and handwriting (which was not J’s).
This time, the note from Merlin said, “My darling princess, when I suspected
that false suitor would attempt to take you from me, I cast my magic and stole
away his cheap glass. The ring I have given you contains magical powers, and
when you wear it, its magic will draw me nearer to you.”
Although I was extremely puzzled, I rather liked this mysterious adventure I
felt I was on. If I really sat down and pondered hard on the various notes I
would be receiving throughout the week, I’m sure I could have uncovered the
mysterious plan, but I was in no hurry to do so. Adventures are more exciting
when you don’t know what’s coming. The note made me laugh, but again, I wasn’t
about ready to let it ruin my “birthday” trip, although J’s choice of stalker
words did have me slightly cautious.
No room service woke us up the next morning. Instead we had plans of exploring
more of the Las Vegas “strip.” Our primary destination was the Paris hotel. We
bought tickets to go up in the smaller scaled Eiffel Tower in the afternoon.
When we were at the lookout tower at the top, J got this whimsical look on his
face like he was seeing a rainbow for the first time. I knew the look. It was
the same look he wore outside of the MGM Grand. I gave him a very sharp glare
because there were a lot of people around. That would have been a very public
proposal. (Thinking back, this was all before smart phones. Imagine how many
people would have been videotaping us with their phones if this had happened
today.) Despite all of that, he took my hands, gazed into my eyes, got down on
one knee…and again pulled out another stoneless ring. Relieved that this
incredibly awkward situation was yet another ruse, I pulled a blushing boy up
to his feet
.
For dinner we ate Chinese quickly in New York New York before a Cirque Du Solei
show that we booked weeks ago. If you ever go to Vegas, you have to see a
Cirque show. They’re absolutely incredible. We spent very little time and money
gambling in Vegas. There was just too much else to do and see. When we arrived
back at Excalibur, a note lay right on the inside of our hotel room door. As
fun as this adventure was, my naiveté (and J’s false concerns) did cause some
concern when I thought a potential crazy man could know where our room was
located. Still, I figured in the back of my mind that if any of this actually
worried J, he would be all over Vegas security. I knew in some way he was
milking my fear and innocence.
Wednesday morning we accidentally got suckered into going to a timeshare sales
pitch, but we got some great free stuff out of the deal. For giving them 2
hours of our time in the morning, we received a free gondola ride at the
Venetian hotel, free tickets to the Mme. Tussaud’s celebrity wax museum
(tickets that were $30 each, but such a cool museum), and free lunch at a
beautiful restaurant at the Venetian Hotel. The gondola ride was lovely
complete with the singing hostess. The wax museum was far more incredible than
my pictures depict. My camera flash made the wax figures look shiny and
obviously fake. In person, there were several statues that we watched, waiting
for them to blink or move because we honestly couldn’t tell that they were wax.
At the Venetian restaurant, we had a 3-4 course prepaid lunch that overlooked
the canal. In what other setting could you envision a more romantic proposal? I
could name a few, but once again ladies and gentlemen, my darling J gazed into
my eyes, and gave me the sheepish smile. This time, however, he did spare me
the whole one knee act. At this point, I guess he suspected that I would know
whatever ring he pulled out of his pocket would only have broken prongs and an
empty setting. Instead of asking me to marry him, he asked me to be his best
friend forever. What girl could say no to such a humble request? We finished
our lunch, enjoyed the rest of our afternoon window shopping, and had great
seats to see Celine Dion live in concert at Caesar’s Palace.
Now, by this point, I knew I should be expecting a note to appear somewhere
from my mysterious admirer, “Merlin the M”. Sure enough, once we got back to our
hotel room, there was a note somewhere on one of the beds. Much like the
others, this too talked about his magic, his love for me, and his ability to
give me what I wanted: a huge diamond ring. He also warned me that the time was
coming closer when we would be united. Fairly used to this routine, I didn’t
give it too much thought.
Thursday, May 19, we woke up far too early in the morning and boarded one of
those huge tour busses with the TVs. It took several hours to get out to the
Grand Canyon, so we made a few stops. We stopped first at the Hoover Dam, and then
at a local Native American restaurant for lunch. J paid extra money so we could
take a helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon something I highly recommend. To
accommodate us, the bus stopped at the location for our flight, and said they
would meet us at the next location. Unfortunately, they failed to specify what time
and where exactly the next location was. The helicopter flight was an
experience too incredible for words, but what happened after that, led to a
series of phone calls when we got home and them refunding half of our money.
After our air tour of the canyon, we waited around in the gift shop for over an
hour. Finally, one of the flight instructors told us that they had to take us
to meet our bus, so they drove us in one of their vehicles. We ended up missing
one stop along the canyon completely, and no one seemed to know when the bus
would be arriving at this location. After realizing we had several hours to
kill, we got some ice cream, and did some sightseeing of our own. On one very
scenic outpost, what do you think happened? It’s almost redundant at this point,
right? Same silly look, same empty ring, same confused laughter. Keep in mind
that our flight home was the following evening around midnight, so I knew
whatever was going on had to be solved by then. Our bus came after a little
while, and we made our way safely back to Las Vegas.
For future reference, be very careful when booking a tour like that. What we
didn’t realize was that we were one of the only couples scheduled for the
helicopter tour, but the driver announced that if anyone else wanted to take
one, they could just pay the extra amount and hop off the bus. The company
later told us that the bus driver was wrong, and that the problem occurred when
too many people were waiting for rides. It took the helicopter company several
hours to meet the demand. J and I were the first in our group to go since we
had a timely reservation. Since no one else in the group had a reservation,
they had to wait until there were openings. The bus, instead of coming back to
the helicopter site (like it had originally planned) told the company that it
would just meet us at the last location. Essentially, J and I had our schedule
flight as planned. The bus should have picked us up and continued to the last
two stops, but because of the driver’s error, we missed a stop completely, and
waited for several hours in two locations, really uncertain of how we were
going to get back to Vegas. Needless to say, the bus company did not put up
much of a fight when we asked for a refund. They couldn’t refund the whole
thing since we still got a helicopter ride out of the deal, but we were
satisfied with getting half back. Okay, back to Vegas and the culmination of
our story…
Friday morning we had plans to explore the north of the strip including the
Stratosphere and Circus Circus. (If you’re ever traveling to Vegas with kids,
these two hotels are so much fun for those under 21). Our flight home was at midnight,
so we packed our belongings, checked out of the hotel, and stored them at the
hotel for the day. At the top of the Stratosphere (the tallest building/hotel
in Nevada) was also a mini amusement park (featuring the tallest rollercoaster
in the world). Those rides were thrilling and terrifying because some of them
dangled you over the edge of the building where you saw nothing but the hard
ground thousands of feet below you. At Circus Circus we played all sorts of
arcade games that we definitely preferred over gambling. We even dueled it out
in side-by-side Dance Dance Revolution. For some reason when we finished our
three round segment, J fell to one knee and again offered a broken-pronged ring
that was obviously made out of some cheap metal and was grossly too big for
even my thumb. I laughingly pulled him up again, and we hurried to our last
show in Vegas. Our culminating event was a dinner show at Excalibur called the
Tournament of Kings (similar to Medieval Times, if you’ve ever been to one of
those).
It was one of the first shows we booked, and we were able to get front row
seats that were very close to the action (knights, horses, jousting, that kind
of thing). I also kind of remembered by the event description that Merlin the
M-agician would be doing the pre-show. Unsure of what to expect, we made our
way to our seats. The arena was full, and out came Merlin in his white beard
and blue magician suit. Trying to deny the reality, I shrunk down in my seat as
I saw Merlin walk right up to J and introduce himself. Merlin asked J if he
wanted to do a magic trick together, and sure enough something “magically”
appeared in J’s pocket. (I know what you’re thinking…”awww how cute.”
Unfortunately, that’s what EVERYONE though. Again, imagine if people had smart
phones or social media back then. I’m so glad there wasn’t!) J reached into his
pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. Almost instantly, everyone in the entire
area simultaneously went, “awwwww!!!” Much to their disappointment, it was not
a ring box that J held in his hand, but the necklace shaped jewelry box that I
found just a few months earlier in J’s dresser drawer. Thoroughly confused, I
opened the box and found the same folded piece of paper that once contained
that precious stone, and one last note of the same genre as those I had been
receiving all week. Merlin (the actor) also displayed a very puzzled look and
quickly too the focus (and spotlight) off of us once he realized that there was
no proposal.
I read the note that said, “Dearest, the time has come. Please meet me after
the show at Sir Galahad’s. After you have chosen that which is most important
to you, all of your dreams will come true.” (FYI: Sir Galahad’s was a fancy
steak house near the buffet in Excalibur that’s no longer there.) I unfolded
the bluish tissue paper with the same care as in April. To my surprise and
extreme bewilderment I did not find a single stone, but instead, I found 6
single stones. I laughed very anxiously, and the lady sitting next to me leaned
over and said, “Okay, this one you’ve got to explain.” I mumbled some vague
answer back about having to pick out the real diamond among the CZ’s.
I can’t even tell you what we ate, or what the show was about. My mind was
focused on Sir Galahad’s and what would happen afterwards. I do remember the
excitement and anticipation. (My heart still beats quickly when I think of it.)
The show ended with the evil knight being defeated and the chivalrous knights
in triumph. As people slowly left the arena, J joking said, “You’re not really
going to meet that guy are you?” We arrived at the restaurant entrance and the
host took us to our reserved corner booth. This picturesque scene was
priceless. I sat at the table with the stones lying out on the paper with the
note out of the envelope and unfolded. After carefully examining the stones, I
concluded that there was no way I could tell any of them apart. I reread the
note, and suddenly something stood out above everything else. The line that
said, “after you have chosen that which is most important to you…” set off
obvious red flags. I refolded the note, put away the stones, looked into J’s
eyes and said, “there is nothing in this world that is more important to me
than you.”
That must have been the right answer because J gave a very soft smile, slid out
of the booth, around to my side, and got on one knee…for real this time. He
pulled a square black box from his pocket with the most dazzling diamond right
inside with six enhancing side stones. He spoke several tear worthy words that
I only remember because he gave me what he typed up and memorized. Ending of
course with, “will you marry me?” I must have slightly stalled because he
followed that by saying, “This is where you say yes.” With my breath taken
away, and tears strolling down my cheeks, I was able to utter a yes.
Conclusion: and the reason for reading this whole thing. Yes, we’re now
engaged, but there’s so much more to the story…
We had awhile to wait at the airport since we were very early. J looked at me
and said that he was going to wait until later, but there’s no time like the
present. I had a diamond ring on my finger, was on cloud nine, and was utterly
dazed and confused. He handed me a Hallmark card that congratulated the newly
engaged couple. I gave him a sly smile, and told him he was lucky I said yes.
Inside the card was a typed letter from Merlin the “M.” Not Merlin the Magician
as I has suspected the entire week, (with good reason) but Merlin the Mongoose.
(The mongoose is an inside joke that goes all the way back to J’s years in high
school. I was familiar enough with the joke to understand and be amused.)
The note said that J had to find a way to make me think that he wasn’t going to
propose in Vegas, and I only made that too easy for him. J, (being the smart
MIT man that he is) figured out my clues immediately and knew that I was
surprising him over that weekend in April. (Yes, this is why I made you read
about that in the beginning.) J also knew that I was a helpless snoop…so what
do you think he did? He planted the loose diamond in his dresser drawer. Only
it wasn’t a diamond. It was a CZ the whole time. He PLANTED it, KNOWING that I
would snoop and find it. Throughout the weekend he even switched out a few
different CZs to see if I would notice a difference between them. Of course he
would never give me that stone because the real diamond was already at the
jewelers. The whole reason behind this was to make me feel so guilty about
snooping that I wouldn’t look in his bags in Vegas when he would have the real
diamond ring, and also so that I would eliminate any suspicions that I had
about him proposing then. What fun is a proposal if you expect it, right?
Clever, intimate, elaborate, how I always dreamed my proposal would be. It was
perfect!
Thanks for reading!
- Foxy the Traveler
