It all went down in Vegas with Tiffany saying, “I do…” No, no…it’s not what you think; you didn’t finish reading the sentence!  ;)

“I do…not know how you managed to get the ring!” exclaimed Tiffany as she stared in amazement at the beautiful, glittery ring on her finger. Alex proposed to Tiffany on Saturday, April 21, 2007, in Las Vegas, NV. Tiffany was so surprised that Alex was able to surprise her because she usually gets to the bottom of everything! The following is a revised rendition of the story of the proposal.

 

The Preparation

March 1, 2007

Through many ring shopping excursions, Tiffany was dazzled by a particular ring she saw at Derco’s in San Francisco. However, the jeweler told her that even if Alex did order the ring, it would take at minimum six weeks for fabrication. Tiffany tried many attempts to subtly (haha…OK fine, for those of you who know Tiffany well, you know that she’s not so good at being subtle) relay this information to Alex but was met with Alex’s stoic, “We’ll see.” All Tiff knew was that the ring would take 6 weeks to make, and that Alex had not attempted to order the ring.   

Unbeknownst to Tiffany, Alex had been scheming with his brother-in-law, Jansen, during the 4 weeks prior to the actual engagement. He had known that he wanted to propose for months, but it was a matter of finding the right moment and obtaining the right ring. In the meantime, he had sneakily thrown Tiffany off so she thought that they wouldn’t be engaged until at least her following trip to visit Alex in Texas in May. He supposedly had to save money, order a ring, etc., etc., etc.

Alex wanted to have the ring ready in three weeks so he could propose to Tiff in Vegas for her birthday. At that time, Alex was a general dentistry resident at Sheppard AFB in Texas and was unable to go to Derco to purchase the ring. With Tiff’s birthday looming ahead in three weeks and the jeweler saying that they needed twice the amount of time, Alex was in a bind so he recruited the help of Jansen. Fortunately, Jansen was adept in his negotiating skills from years of practice growing up in Oakland Chinatown and was able to convince the jeweler to make the ring in less than 3 weeks!!  (Thanks Jans!) 

The ring arrived in Texas via UPS one day prior to Alex’s departure for Las Vegas. Nervous about losing his prized ring, Alex wore the ring around his neck for safekeeping. He rehearsed in his head his master plan of proposing on a romantic gondola ride through the Venetian hotel.

The Engagement Day

After carrying the ring for two days around his neck and thwarting Tiff’s inquiry about what the pouch around his neck was for, Alex attempted to convince Tiffany to ride the gondola with him. Unfortunately, Tiffany was craving cute French desserts at Paris hotel. So, Alex had to think quick on his feet and resort to another plan—should he plant the ring inside one of the pastries? Too messy. Should he put it at the bottom of her beverage? Too risky. He decided to surprise her the tried and true way of asking on bended knee. 

So, at Le Café Ile St. Louis in Paris hotel, Alex & Tiff became engaged with many onlookers clapping and cheering. What a memorable birthday that was…the rest is history.