Really? A Pizza Hut Proposal package?

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie– it’s NOT amore. Well, that’s if you take the song literally, that is. And by literally, I mean an actual pizza.

But Pizza Hut is trying to turn the non-romantic-ness of a pizza around with their proposal package. That’s right, for $10,010 you could propose to your lady with a limo ride, firework show, photographer, videographer, a red ruby ring and of course the $10 pizza box special they’re having.

No. I’m not kidding.

At first my inner child and my eccentric tendencies thought for a split nano second– “Hey there’s a unique idea.” But then I saw the price tag.

Now before you get all romantic on me and proclaim that love has no price tag… let’s put this proposal package in perspective.

$10,010 is a LOT of money. I won my dream engagement ring with a Simon G. Jewelry contest. My ring retails at $10,000– something I still can’t fathom (Addison and I were looking at $400 rings on Overstock.com originally). With this package, you don’t even get to pick out the ring. It’s a red ruby ring with supposedly some small diamonds in it.

All I know, is that while the memory of your special day is important– it’s not $10,010 important to hire weird flashy things like a professional photographer and videographer and then skimp on the ring and engagement dinner. (Not going to lie. The limo and fireworks are KINDA cool).

Here’s the secret, fellas. If your lady loves you, all she wants is a heartfelt proposal. Get down on one knee and ask her. You want to have wow-factor? Then plan something creative. Do a song and dance. Plan a scavenger hunt. Paint her a mural. Whatever. The truth is, a real man asks a girl’s hand in marriage with his heart and with his creativity– not with his wallet.

Well..unless he spends it on the ring. THAT you can go ALL out on. See, as a lady, if I found out my man spent $10,010 on the proposal so he could propose to me with a ring I don’t particularly like just so he could do the Pizza Hut proposal, my first question would be, “Well, if you were going to spend that much money, then why didn’t you just put it toward the ring?”

Even if you do have $10,000 to blow– then buy her the kind of ring that’ll last her a life time. Or even just take a portion of that and buy a really nice ring. You can get INCREDIBLE ring sets for under $5,000 and many of them include the wedding band. I found a ring I was in LOVE with before I received my ring and it retailed for $1,200 and it was a full carat too.

But boys, PLEASE…PLEASE DO NOT agree to purchase a ring on the Internet– ESPECIALLY if you don’t get to see it first and ESPECIALLY if you buy it from a restaurant.

No one shouts, “He went to Pizza Hut” at the end of an engagement commercial or “Every kiss begins with Pizza.” I’m not saying you need a designer ring. I’m just saying that if my man wanted to spend $10,010 on me for our engagement (though I told him many times, a twist-tie would suffice) and really wanted to have pizza for dinner, I’d hope he’d buy me a $10,000 ring and then buy the Pizza Hut $10 box by itself and then do something cute and creative.

Proposals can be tough. They can be intimidating. But really? Do you really need to resort to buying your proposal online?

What do you think: Pizza Hut Proposal Package is cool or totally lame?

Nikki

P.S. If I was rich, I’d totally do something cool like this for Addison (sans weird ruby ring). Pizza Hut is both of our favorite pizza places.

How do you capture “the moment”?

It’s all the rage to actually capture the moment of the proposal whether it’s through video or pictures. I think Youtube is a testament to that.

But being able to capture the moment without the lady becoming suspicious– now that can get tricky. My own proposal scavenger hunt was completely captured by a photography student who literally took pictures of me from bushes and behind counters. Slightly creepy, but I’m so glad I have those photos forever (especially the picture of me literally leaping off the ground when he proposed). When Addison proposed, I didn’t know anyone was there. The photographer hid in the bushes. Photo by Nikki Lafaille

But take a look at this video. Given, this guy is a skilled videographer, so I’m sure this is probably super easy for him to pull off. But at one point, I seriously tilted my head to one side and was like, “Hold up! How does this chick not realize she’s being filmed? Where are the cameras?”

This video was just posted on Youtube six days ago, and while at times it’s hard to understand what’s being said– it’s really sweet and pretty clever. There are a few shots where you can see the other cameras, but apparently he had camera men sitting in a restaurant, just nonchalantly filming his girlfriend at different angles. Interesting, right? I wonder if she was suspicious at all.

The best part? He put together a real film that played at the restaurant, but somehow had it switch to a live feed seamlessly so when the door opened on the film, you could actually see the girl looking at him through the door!

Seriously trippy stuff, my friends. I think this groom-to-be wins technical points for sure.

What do you think: What is the best way to keep the girl from knowing she’s being filmed?

Nikki

Are you ready for Valentine’s Day?

It’s a week until Valentine’s Day and that means only one thing: be prepared for the expectation disaster.

What is the expectation disaster, you ask? Well, it’s a phenomenon that affects both genders.

For ladies, it’s expecting something great, huge, romantic, flashy or unrealistic and getting… well something short of what you hoped for. It doesn’t matter if it’s still awesome. It doesn’t matter if it’s still super sweet. If you fall victim of the expectation disaster, then you run the risk of ruining your own special day– and then of course blaming someone else for feeling miserable and disappointed.

For the gents, it’s thinking you’re Casanova when really– let’s be honest– you probably could have put more effort into it. It’s thinking that if YOU like something, then your lady will automatically LOVE it and have the best reaction in the world. It’s thinking she’ll do cartwheels for your awesomeness when really an “I love you” would suffice. Again, fall victim to it and you run the risk of ruining your own happiness in this moment.

Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year where the expectation disaster occurs the most. While it can happen for multiple reasons, on Valentine’s Day there are usually two main causes for it:

Ladies: You expected him to propose and he didn’t.

Men: You thought that proposing on Valentine’s Day granted you automatic romantic points when it doesn’t.

Here are three keys to keeping your expectations in line and maintaining control of your own happiness.

1) Examine your expectations early on: Have you played out the moment of Valentine’s Day in your head a dozen times and it’s not even Wednesday yet? Just stop right now. Wipe away all expectations and start as a clean slate. Decide on one thing that you need to make you happy on that night and use that as your mantra. This could be anywhere from “I’ll be happy as long as we get to go out on Valentine’s Day” or “As long as she says ‘Yes!'”

2) Put forth some effort: The thing about expectations is, if you don’t express them to someone else, how will they know what you’re thinking? Ladies, do you really think you’re going to die if your man doesn’t propose on Valentine’s Day? Well, then you probably should be dropping hints like crazy or at least tell him far in advance that’s what you think is a romantic proposal. Men, think proposing at dinner is the romance she needs when really you’ve never really asked her what she thinks is fun, cool, romantic, awesome, etc? You could be proposing to the love of your life in a way that she thinks is way too cliche and completely unimpressive. The truth is, if you really do want the end result of what your expectations command, then you need to work for it. Do some homework and communicate!

3) Realize expectations are less important than memories: If he drops the ring on the floor and spends the next 20 minutes searching for it on hand and knee and then asks YOU to help out too, will you be furious? Chances are, if you truly love the guy, you should be able to go with the flow and realize that you have one adorable story to one day tell the grandchildren. Does it really matter if he gave you the type of flower you hate and are allergic to instead box of the chocolates you had been hinting out all week? Things that seem night ruining in the moment tend to be small in the grand scheme of things. Why not enjoy the memories as they come instead of of anticipate things with unrealistic expectations?

I know, it’s tough when you really want everything to be perfect. But remember, nothing is COMPLETELY perfect. If you obsess over perfection, your chances of expectation disasters increase.

Men, please just say no to Jumbotrons

And we interrupt this steady stream of romantic awesomeness with a down-to-earth reminder that sometimes proposals go wrong.

I’m not here to tell you that this is necessarily the wrong way to pop the question to the love of your life.  I’m just saying it may not be the right way either. I must point out that if you Google search “marriage proposal fail,” 9 out of 10 times a proposal on a jumbotron or the big screen at a sporting event usually ends with the girl running away.

Sad, but true. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Now, I know it can work sometimes. It honestly just depends on the girl. But just to make sure all men out there think this one through 1000 times over before they actually execute such a proposal, here is a recent proposal that sadly, didn’t go so well.

What do you think: Jumbotrons…are they ever a good idea?

Nikki

A six year proposal in the making

Stop the presses. If I’ve ever said something was the cutest ever, most unique ever, or most incredible-romantic-you-name-it proposal ever…I take it all back.

Seriously. Men out there wanting to propose, you may not want to watch this because you’ll be discouraged that you can’t top this. I don’t know how anything could.

This couple said they believed that when you met “the one,” you always know from the beginning. They thought they did too, so over the course of their 6 years of dating, they took pictures in places with the letters “W-E-A-L-W-A-Y-S-K-N-E-W” to spell out…yup, “We always knew” to prove to the entire world if they did get married, that they knew from the beginning.

Well, for the last letter “W,” Mr. Suave has the world’s best photo bomb occur. Two people in the background of the picture being taken pull out a banner that says “Will You Marry Me?” with the “W” the two of them are holding starting off the sentence.

Seriously the most genius thing I’ve ever seen. I’m completely moved by the entire video. You must stop everything you’re doing and watch it now.

What do you think: Is anyone out there as impressed by this as I am?

Nikki

Katrina Bowden’s Engagement Ring

Image via UsWeekly

Romantic ornamentation and carving in platinum is the hottest new trend for engagements rings. Katrina Bowden’s platinum and diamond engagement ring is a perfect example of this trend. The center princess cut diamond of approximately 2 carats is set between two rounds which then taper down with other rounds set into a carved channels. 30 rocks? Maybe, it is hard to tell on the picture. At a value of approximately $30,000 the style is very romantic and unique.

If you’re looking for a similar look for a little less, check this  Judith Conway.

Michael O’Connor

A geocaching proposal

I am a HUGE fan of scavenger hunts. Ok…that’s a lie. I think they’re just ok. But my fiance Addison planned out a whole scavenger hunt around the city we met in order to propose to me. Needless to say, whenever I see a proposal similar I get all nostalgic and release a chorus of girly “Awwwwws.” I just think proposals that involve more than just being asked create an even bigger memory (then again, the memory is already pretty big so who am I to judge?).

But this is a great 2012 proposal starting the year off right. While it’s not a scavenger hunt, it’s pretty close and still just as adorable (plus it was caught on film! I extra love how groom-to-be is wearing a hidden camera too. Seriously, watch the clip!). This smooth guy proposed to his girl during geocaching. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a kind of past time where people all over the world hide items (usually film canisters with pieces of paper inside) and then post the coordinates on websites such as geocaching.com. People use GPS devices to track down the items. It’s quite fun.

So this guy sets it up to where the ring is the geocache at the end of the hunt. Pretty smooth. I just love the look on her face when she drops the piece of paper.

The best part? The end of this video was edited to be their save-the-date. What a creative idea, right? Now all their potential wedding guests can experience the excitement of the proposal with them while being informed of when the big day will be. I absolutely love it and just had to share.

What do you think? Are geocaching or scavenger hunt-like proposals too much work or totally worth it?

Nikki

Adorable hiking proposal

I think I’m going to have to call the adorable police on this one. Maybe I’m a bit biased because the backdrop for this cute proposal made me nostalgic for my mountains. Regardless, I think this soon-to-be groom did a great job pulling off a non-flashy, heart-felt proposal that accomplished three key things to a pretty awesome proposal:

1) Surprise her
2) Pour out your soul
3) Impress her with sparkly bling (seriously, check that rock out at the end!)
**Bonus Points for catching it on film**

Basically, they go hiking (and it definitely seems cold considering the way she’s shivering). He pretends to set the timer on a camera so they could take a picture with the amazing background, but he acts like he doesn’t know how to work it. She keeps beeping at him to inform him that he’s doing it wrong. I think it’s an adorable snapshot of a real life couple.

He keeps the charade going for a little while until he finally proposes and seriously, her reaction is hysterically adorable. Talk about an excited lady! See for yourself! (And because they know all the mush and gush isn’t appreciated by all, they fast forwarded their reaction which is cute and funny to watch. It definitely looks like they love each other).

What do you think: Scale of 1-10, how would you rate the surprise factor of this proposal?

Nikki

Another Cute Movie Trailer Proposal

There’s been a handful of adorable movie trailer proposals out there. Some are even filmed at movie quality. This, however, really just stole my heart.

Back in August, this girl goes to the movie theater with some girlfriends thinking it’s a typical ladies night out. Before the movie, a trailer pops on the screen looking like a home movie.

Yup, pretty standard thus far.

But instead of being flashy or made to look like a legit movie trailer, it looks like they got a ton of friends involved to literally act out this couple’s entire love story. It really is rather sweet and hysterical. I honestly don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to spoil what I thought was the best part with the future groom standing on a golf course making a bet with his golf buddy.

Also, if you’re a Gator fan, you’ll love this. It appears they may have been University of Florida students.

What do you think: Does the movie trailer proposal ever get old?

Nikki

Golden Globes 2012 Style Inspiration

Are you looking for inspiration for your wedding and engagement party? Your wedding is the day that you’ll be the leading lady of your very own production. So why not take some style tips from the women who are in the spotlight regularly and have teams of people helping them look perfect. Awards show red carpets are the perfect place for brides to do view the most popular trends, and determine what styles, silhouettes and colors will be perfect for them. Remember that these celebrities are privy to the newest designs and styles from world-class designers. Celebrities are receiving expert advice on makeup, hair and styling. So why shouldn’t you take advantage of doing some of your wedding research right from you own living room as you see who flew and who flopped on the red carpet. Some trends that we’ve started to see at this year’s Golden Globe awards:

Retro Chic:

Images via Dailymail

The reflection of the yesteryear glamour was strong at the 2012 Golden Globes. From Salma Hayek rocking a 70’s inspired black and gold Gucci gown, to Zooey Deschanel serving up the 60’s in a black and green silk Prada, to Charlize Theron in Dior channeling a cross between a 50’s Marilyn Monroe and a 40’s Rita Hayworth. For brides looking for just the perfect silhouette for their own body, this illustrates that you’ll be able to find a great variety of wedding gown styles in strapless, collared styles, as well as styles with longer sleeve treatments. Many red carpet designers also design for the bridal customer so look for your favorite elements among their collections.

Rainbow Color:

Images via Dailymail

Color has been getting very popular for weddings over the past few years. Many brides are choosing color for both their bridesmaids and for themselves, making their weddings brighter, livelier and with a contemporary flair. Designer runways over the past few seasons have been bursting with juicy fruit colors that made their way into red carpet looks. Gowns such a Sophia Vergara’s mermaid cut Vera Wang in sapphire blue, Angelina Jolie in Atelier Versace white with a slash of red, Julianna Margulies in Naeem Khan eggplant and Michelle Williams in a purple Jason Wu. From brides, the choice of color is a more avant-garde choice, however, many of the most popular colors translate well into wedding looks. Movies like Sex in the City, where each bridesmaid was is a different colore, have definitely opened up the gates for color on the aisle.

Iconic Elegance:

Elizabeth Taylor was known for her iconic elegance, which she often demonstrated via large statement jewelry pieces. The Golden Globes showed us that statement making pieces were very much in fashion today.

Image vie Hollywoodlife

Both Heidi Klum and Jane Fonda wore statement-making necklaces by Lorraine Schwartz and Neil Lane respectively.

Image vie Hollywoodlife

Kate Beckinsale and Sophia Vergara made major wrist statements with large stacked bangle bracelets. Kate wore a wide selection of Lorraine Schwartz bangles. However, Sophia took center stage with a reported 5 million dollars of Harry Winston jewelry, mainly concentrated on her bracelet-stacked wrist.

Images via Instyle

Although statement-making jewelry has been part of weddings for decades, one iconic element worth taking notice of for brides is the jeweled hair-piece. Charlize Theron caught our attention with a sparkling Cartier museum collection headband as did Michelle Williams with a vintage Fred Leighton hairpiece.

Shaken, not Stirred:

Image via VanityFair

Men too cut a striking path on the red carpet this year in tuxedo’s with color, such as Ricky Gervais in a crimson tux and dark shirt combo, or Michael Fassbender in a deep midnight blue. But overall the elegant tuxedo trend was straight from a James Bond film. Broad shoulders and peaked lapels were popular and the pocket square was seen peaking out of the jackets on a number of men.

Image via Hollywire

Male stars seem to be steering away from the previously popular long tie, going back to bowties, specifically the classic widths that were seen on Brad Pitt, Gerard Butler and Leonardo DiCaprio.

By Jewelry and Style Expert, Michael O’Connor