World's Smallest Marriage Proposal

Most men go out of their way to think of the largest, most extravagant proposals, but physics student Elad Dekel decided he’d do the opposite — create the world’s smallest proposal. He achieved this by inscribing his proposal on the back of a 1 square centimeter gold coated chip.

So how did he do it? Well, Elad came up with his own unique formula to successfully print the 0.0001 centimeter proposal on the chip.  He also added a photo of him and Chen, his girlfriend, on this chip as well.

When Chen came to visit Elad in Germany, he gave her a tour of his lab. He then sat her down and showed her his work on the chips.

“Elad put the chip under the microscope lens and I started looking to see what was there,” Chen told a publication. “I looked for quite a while, zooming in and out, magnifying the image and finally detected a weird shape. I magnified it and slowly began to realize it was a photo of the both of us. I magnified it more and saw there was something written, and then I realized it said ‘Chen, will you marry me? Elad’.”

The happy couple is currently planning their wedding, and Elad is working on entering the proposal in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest marriage proposal in the world.

Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minnillo are Finally Engaged

After four years of dating, and one break up last summer, the couple is finally getting engaged. Nick, who’s best known for his public relationship with Jessica Simpson, started dating Vanessa in 2006. As for the engagement ring? According to Us Weekly, Nick proposed with a platinum, asscher cut diamond with trapezoids on the side from Bader & Garrin. There are no pictures of the ring yet, but, going on just the description alone, we’re betting the ring looks similar to this asscher cut ring by Natalie K.

Maria Sharapova on Engagement Ring: "My fiance Has Great Taste"

If your mouth has been watering over tennis player Maria Sharapova‘s massive engagement ring given to her by fiance Sasha Vujacic, you’ll be pleased to find out that the L.A. Laker purchased the ring all on his own without anyone’s help.

“He did good,” Maria told Usmagazine.com. “Thank goodness my fiance has great taste!”

The couple, who just recently got engaged, aren’t planning a wedding just yet.

“We’re taking our time,” she said. “Right now we’re just happy to be engaged.”

Win a $20,000 Ritani Engagement Ring

There’s currently a $20,000 Ritani engagement ring hidden somewhere in L.A. right now. If you’re lucky, you might find it! The L.A. Diamond Dash, an event sponsored by Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, is a city-wide treasure hunt where couples play and follow clues to find the coveted prize. Competitors are given challenges via text message and must trek around L.A. by foot (or bicycle, but cars are prohibited) on a hunt of a lifetime.

Spots, however, are limited. So if you want to participate in the event, you must register here.

The Diamond Dash takes place on Sunday at 12 p.m., but if you want a sneak peek of the entire Ritani collection beforehand, check out the Ritani trunk show at Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers this Friday and Saturday. Mention Engagement 101 to receive a free gift!

"Ugly" Couple Gets Engaged

We hear all the time about couples who meet on Match.com or Eharmony.com and later get engaged. But now a dating site devoted strictly to ugly people (their words, not ours) has its first engaged couple. Meet Tom and Janine. The two met on TheUglyBugBall.com and went on four dates before Clifford decided to pop the question.

Tom, who says he’s so ugly he “makes children cry,” instantly fell in love with Janine after seeing her profile.

“I appreciate that Tom isn’t Brad Pitt,” Janine said in a statement. “But then I’m no Angelina Jolie either. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to me Tom’s the perfect, handsome prince. I’m just so pleased to have been able to meet him, and I’m head-over-heels in love.”

To celebrate the site’s first engagement, The Ugly Bug Ball is giving the couple a free honeymoon. Aww, how sweet!

Guy asks Gizmodo to Propose to His Girlfriend

We see a lot of proposals at Engagement 101, and sometimes it seems as if nothing surprises us anymore. But this proposal is genuinely one of the best proposals we have seen.

Sean, a reader over at the gadget blog Gizmodo, asked the community if they would help him propose to his girlfriend Katie. The entire community sent in videos of themselves popping the question to Katie. After everyone submitted their videos, Gizmodo edited their favorite submissions and pieced them together into a proposal video. When Sean played the video for his unsuspecting girlfriend, she cried and said yes.

Unfortunately, the video won’t embed, but you can watch the proposal video here.

10 Celebrities Who Eloped

Think spontaneously jumping on an overnight flight to Hawaii for a quickie wedding sounds romantic? It did for these celebs. Check out these ten surprising celebrities who all decided to elope:

	Adriana Lima and Marko Jaric The Victoria’s Secret model tied the knot with the NBA guard in a secret ceremony on Valentine’s Day with only their closest family and friends present. The two later threw a large wedding reception in the summer to accommodate the rest of their friends and family. “We are so excited about our future together,” Lima told People earlier this year. “And we are really looking forward to a big romantic wedding this summer with all of our family and friends.”
	Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds The couple side-stepped the public eye when they chose to exchange their nuptials at a remote wilderness retreat in Vancouver in 2008. According to People, the outdoor wedding had such “wedding” activities as fishing, horse back riding and mountain biking.
	Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem The two Oscar winners had always been secretive about their relationship. That’s why it was no surprise when the couple flew out to the Bahamas for a secret ceremony. According to Hello Magazine, the bride wore a John Galliano dress, but unfortunately for the public, only her close friends and family were able to see it.
	Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford The long-term couple, who have been dating for eight years, finally tied the knot in New Mexico this year. The ceremony, which took place at the governor’s mansion, took everyone by surprise. The wedding guests had no idea the couple was getting married.
	Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher After eight years and one daughter together, the couple tied the knot in Paris in March 2010 with only six guests present. According to People, the couple wanted the wedding as private as possible, and the guests weren’t aware of the couple’s plans to marry until a little before the ceremony.
	Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr The Lord of the Rings hunk and the Victoria’s Secret model were hush-hush about their engagement and (possible) pregnancy. So while the rest of the world was still pondering over rumors, the private couple had a secret ceremony in an undisclosed location, according to Hello Magazine. A month after they officially announced their engagement, they dropped the bomb about their secret wedding.
	Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon Unlike other more private couples on this list, Mariah and Nick were quite public about their affections and engagement. But when it came to the wedding, a quick secret ceremony on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera suited the couple best. The couple later had a second ceremony to celebrate their anniversary.
	Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos The Live from Regis and Kelly host and the soap opera star decided to elope the old fashioned way — in Vegas! After dating each other for one year, the two tied the knot in Las Vegas on May 1, 1996, according to Us Weekly.
	Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter The Dexter co-stars, who play siblings on the popular show, not only surprised everyone with their New Year’s Eve elope in 2008, but they also surprised everyone with the news that they were simply dating! The public had no idea the two were an item.
	Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott The two eloped on a private island in Fiji in 2006. The two had a second ceremony in May 2010 to renew their vows.

The $2 million Bra

Check out the new Bombshell Fantasy Bra by Victoria’s Secret. The bra, designed by Damiani Jewelry, is comprised of 3,000 brilliant cut diamonds, sapphires and topazes all set in white gold. The bra features 60 carats of diamonds and was meticulously crafted by hand, taking 1,500 hours of labor to complete.

We saw the last Bombshell Fantasy Bra up close and personal at this year’s Jewelry Fashion Week. It looked much better in person!

Watch This Engagement Video

This engagement video, produced by Belvedere Films, chronicles the blossoming relationship of Felicia and Sean. The couple met and fell in love in Gainesville, Fla., so it was only appropriate for the couple to return to their little town to relive their college days, splash around in the local lake and paint the walls with their wedding date. The video is well-shot and simply adorable.

Announcing your engagement or wedding date via video is a unique idea for those who want to do something besides the standard paper invitation. Watch:

Would You Wear Two Wedding Bands?

Earlier this week, a blogger over at WeddingBee wrote about her dilemma with having mismatching rings. Her engagement ring, which is a vintage design, is vastly different from her wedding ring, a piece she bought off Etsy. After brainstorming for two months, she finally came up with a solution: she’ll buy a second wedding band and wear them both on alternating hands.

I’m a lover of all things mismatched yet complementary, so this idea has really gotten me excited! I also like the idea of being able to wear one or the other or both depending on my mood or on any other factors.

This is actually a trend that has been growing in momentum lately. By mismatching the engagement ring and wedding band you can create different styles depending on your mood or depending on what function you’re attending. Below is an example:

Here we have a simple solitaire engagement ring by Fusaro. Now, if we wanted to spice things up, we could add a splash of color with one of these sparkly bands from Etienne Perret.

Another idea you can create is to pair a conventional engagement ring with a unique band to give it an extra bit of oomph. When paired with our simple engagement ring above, this Alishan band creates a more vintage look.

Or, if you have two very similar or identical bands, you can create a “sandwiched” look by stacking a band on each side of the engagement ring. The result will create a similar look to this floral ring by Katherine James.