Couple with same name meet on Facebook, get engaged

Kelly Hildebrandt was on Facebook one day when she decided to do a search and see if there were other Kelly Hildebrandts out there. Surprisingly, it turned out there was another person on Facebook that shared her name, a guy also named Kelly Hildebrandt. The two started talking online, which eventually blossomed into a long-distance relationship. The couple (who call themselves “boy Kelly” and “girl Kelly”) are now engaged and are planning to wed later this year. Below is a video of their interview on MSNBC. Let’s hope their names aren’t the only thing they have in common!

Watch the video.

World’s Largest Diamonds (Part 2)

Earlier this year we made a post about some of the world’s biggest diamonds. Because we loved that topic so much, we decided to revisit it. Check out a few more of these humongous diamonds:

The Incomparable
This huge diamond really is incomparable to any other. Found in The Democratic Republic of Congo in the ’80s, this is the third largest diamond in the world ever cut, according to this blog. It weighs 890 carats. In 2002, the diamond was auctioned off on eBay, but no one bought it. I guess they couldn’t afford the $15 million price tag.

The Spirit of de Grisogono
Can you imagine walking around with this thing on your finger? This is the world’s largest black cut diamond, which is set in 702 white diamonds. The picture above is French tennis player Henri Leconte and his wife, who is wearing the Spirit of de Grisogono ring.

De Beers
De Beers, the diamond company most known for creating the motto, “A diamond is forever,” is responsible for the world’s eighth largest diamonds. The 234 carat weighed diamond was later used in a ceremonial necklace in Paris called the Patiala Necklace. Unfortunately, these days no one knows what happened to the necklace or diamond.

Ivanka Trump Engaged to Jared Kushner

Ivanka Trump just announced via Twitter she’s engaged to long-time boyfriend Jared Kushner. In our upcoming celebrity lifestyle issue of Engagement 101 Magazine we got to chat with Donald Trump’s famous daughter and she told us about how she left hints for her boyfriend. So exactly how should women let their boyfriends know what kind of engagement ring they want?

“I leave pictures on his pillow!” she exclusively told Engagement 101.

To read more of our interview with Ivanka and learn more about her jewelry line, check out our much buzzed about celebrity lifestyle issue when it hits newsstands next month!

Jon Gosselin Engaged? Marriage and the Quarter Life Crisis

Ever since announcing his divorce from wife Kate Gosselin, Jon‘s been out on the town being Ed Hardy’s new poster boy, showing off his new 22-year-old rumored fiancee, and looking like he bathed in a tub of Axe Body Spray. The tabloids are already reporting he gave his girlfriend a black diamond and skull engagement ring. I mean, seriously? Is this guy on some kind of personal mission to see how far he can look like a colossal jerk?

For the longest time viewers of the popular TLC show have painted Jon as the victim — a laid-back, passive guy being steam rolled by his controlling wife. But in the past few weeks Jon has been showing more of a peculiar side. Jon, who now has pierced ears and rides a motorcycle, is clearly going through a quarter life crisis. Jon, who went from a 20-something college drop out to father of eight in less than a few years, now seems to be making a mental regression.

It’s fascinating to watch but also depressing at the same time. Most adults know when it’s time to put their younger years behind them and to settle down and become an adult. But how come there seems to be a group of people who are never ready to let go? I guess you can say Jon is in a unique situation considering he has eight kids and a television show (two major things most people don’t have to deal with on a daily basis), but shouldn’t marriage and children force that out of you?

Regardless of the infinite amount of reasons to dissect, to watch the demise of someone’s relationship evolve the way it has in the public eye is always unsettling.

Does Cohabitation End in Divorce?

An interesting study published in The Journal of Family Psychology says couples who choose to live together before tying the knot are more likely to get divorced.

The study, which surveyed more than 1,000 couples who have been married for 10 years or less, showed that 70 percent of couples who lived together prior to their engagement had marriages that crashed and burned.

Why?

According to Live Science, the reasons for the high divorce rate is from couples marrying for the wrong reasons, such as a joint lease or share ownership of a pet. In these scenarios, it’s more likely for the couple to rationalize, “Well, we’re already living together so let’s just get married.”

But the situation that most led to divorce were couples who moved in together to “test” the relationship.

“Cohabiting to test a relationship turns out to be associated with the most problems in relationships,” lead researcher Galena Rhoades told Live Science. “Perhaps if a person is feeling a need to test the relationship, he or she already knows some important information about how a relationship may go over time.”

The results of the study are quite surprising, to be honest. I don’t think I know any couples who didn’t live together before getting engaged, so these results are quite alarming! The whole thing sounds more favorable to traditional unions where babies and sex come after marriage. But since most people aren’t that conservative anymore, what does that mean for today’s more modern relationships? Does this mean we’re all doomed?

As always, remember to sound off what you think in the comments section.

Most cherished item: The ring or the dress?

Everyone knows when planning for the big day that the two most cherished items are the engagement ring and the wedding dress. These two items are eternal, and although the dress might only be worn once, its essence lasts forever. The brides over Iman Bridal Couture (565 Cedar Swamp Rd, Old Brookville, New York, 516-656-0674) know this and that’s why they choose from her selection of exquisite wedding, bridesmaid and evening dresses. Not only do they sale dresses from today’s popular bridal designers, such as Paloma Blanca, Justin Alexander, Elma Reis and Stephen Yearick, she also has her own line of dresses. If you check out her testimonials page, you can see how each beaming bride was enthused with her dress and wedding.

Thank you so much for my beautiful wedding dress and for the exceptional service at your bridal salon,” writes newlywed Danielle. “You made me feel like a princess throughout the whole process!”

A recent bride has similar sentiments:

Thanks so much for your help in preparing me for my big day! The dress fit perfectly, […] loved the blush color!

As for rings, brides-to-be like to turn to names and brands they know and trust. For example, a user at Pricescope explained why she picked a Bergio ring:

“LOVE MY NEW ENGAGEMENT RING!!!! It is absolutely perfect!! A big beautiful amazingly sparkly white diamond with the most perfect dainty pure diamond band! It all sparkles like a fairytale – I love it..a pure diamond ring!

It’s clear couples want to make the right decision when it comes to choosing a dress and a ring, but with both purchases being such a crucial decision, if you had to choose, could you choose between having just a dress or just a ring? What would you choose?

Man keeps lottery winnings a secret from fiancee

When Joe Johnson asked his girlfriend Lisa to marry him, she had no idea what kind of surprise he had in store. Johnson, who won the lottery three years prior to their engagement, kept his wealth a secret from his fiancee in hopes she would not judge him by his money. He wore ratty clothes, took Lisa on cheap dates and drove around in a beat-up Land Rover. Her engagement ring? He bought a bargain one for less than $300. But Lisa was ecstatic about the engagement and wasn’t hesitant to say yes when he proposed.

Shortly after their engagement, Johnson finally came clean to his girlfriend and told her he wasn’t exactly strapped for cash.

“I thought he was a struggling divorce who could only afford to take me to cheap noodle bars and Beefeater restaurants,” the now married Lisa Johnson told Lottery Post. “Suddenly, he was telling me he could afford anything he wanted. It felt like a betrayal.”

Johnson kept his riches a secret because of his previous relationships with women who only loved him for his money.

“Now we are married, I’m relieved that he did lie,” Lisa said. “Because there is a 23-year age gap between us, people sometimes look at me and think I’m after his money. But I can say with complete honesty that I fell in love with a man who I believed had nothing.”

Although for this particular scenario I think keeping the lottery winnings a secret worked in their favor, but what about other scenarios? Is there ever an appropriate time to keep a major secret from your fiance/ee in hopes it betters the relationship?

Finding Love Through Craigslist (Not as Crazy as it Sounds?)

While scrounging around for blog ideas, I came across this amazing photo feature. Anyone familiar with Craigslist is familiar with the infamous “personals” section where a vast range of strange people connect looking to find love,  get laid or sell used underwear. In fact, most Craigslist personal ads are just so desperate and odd it’s hard to believe they’re written by real people. But alas, the feature shows pictures of real Craiglist posters along with their personal ad. And strangely enough, they all look reasonably sane.

Personal ads (and the people who respond to them) have always been so intriguing. What kind of person thinks they can connect on an intimate, emotional level with someone they met off…Craigslist? And I guess you can argue that none of the people featured in the article are exactly looking for a relationship, but that does not rule out the amount of people who are. I guess it’s the same as online dating, but there’s just something bizarre about hooking up via “missed connections.”

A few weeks ago, the Engagement 101 team went out to interview couples we found on the street. I remember one couple we found told us they just met the day before but knew each other online. When we asked them where they met online, they said they were too embarrassed to say. But the couple looked so in love and couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Perhaps I’m not orchestrating my thoughts coherently enough; I’m just intrigued by people who choose to play this Russian roulette game of romance. And I guess the few couples who win the game successfully really have cause to shout their love from the rooftops.

Anyone here meet their significant other via unconventional methods?

When Are Men Ready to Get Married?

There’s a stereotype that has been perpetuated for years about women rushing to the altar while dragging their reluctant fiance. But according to an interesting article at CNN, men are just as anxious to get married and often fantasize about the big day as well. The article interviews several guys as they share their experience with falling in love and the exact moment they knew she was “the one.”

The article is sweet and romantic but not exactly eye-opening. It’s sad what male masculinity has made of marriage. The article touches a bit on this topic as well:

“Real men” are perceived as committing “till death do us part” for the wrong reasons — they marry out of convenience or under duress, and they acquiesce, kicking and screaming all the way to the altar. Somewhere along the way, marriage and masculinity became mutually exclusive. But that stands in stark contrast to the dozens of men I spoke with, who admitted — no, insisted — they’ve fantasized about popping the question, getting married, even having a wedding.

What do you think? Do men really want to get married?

Is Bethenny Frankel Engaged?

Yesterday we heard through the grapevine that Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel is getting engaged to boyfriend Jason Hoppy.Her rep told Us Weekly that the couple are definitely planning to wed soon. But the engagement ring on Bethenny’s finger? The rep called it a “starter ring,” aka a promise ring. So, is anything actually official yet? Fortunately, that truth lies locked within the offices here at Engagement 101. We can finally confirm that Bethenny Frankel will appear in our upcoming celebrity lifestyle issue that hits newsstands in August.

That’s all we can reveal for now, but trust us — there will be plenty of scoops! So remember to keep your eyes peeled on Engagement 101.