Erin Cummings of The Astronaut Wives Club is Engaged!

 

When I saw on my Facebook thread Erin Cummings ’ engagement announcement, I was really impressed by the care her boyfriend Tom Degnan took to come up with a thoughtful proposal. Erin’s break out role was in the TV series Spartacus as Spartacus wife Sura. She is now one of the wives of the CBS series the Astronaut Wives Club which just started recently to rave reviews.

You are an engaged woman and have been for a few days… Do you feel any different?

I do feel different. Even though Tom and I had been talking about getting married for months, had already started planning the wedding and were even already referring to one another as “fiance,” there was something about actually having the ceremony of a proposal and the symbolism of the ring to really make everything feel “official.” He and I both felt more connected and even more of a team than before. It was just one more threshold we had crossed as a partnership.

We saw your post on social media and have to tell you. He IS a keeper. He managed to come up with the perfect proposal for YOU. We give him even extra points for having your friends and family involved. How meaningful was it for you that he went through all these steps to personalize your proposal?

I agree – he IS a keeper! I knew that he was planning something special because he was a bit stressed out in the weeks leading up to it, but never in my dreams would I have imagined a more perfect day and I was blown away by all of the specific details that made it special for both of us and the people we love. I told him that I didn’t care about the ring or the diamond because I would wear a band-aid if it meant I could spend the rest of my life with him. I did, however, say that he needed to make the proposal “a story I would tell our grandchildren.” I may have used words like, “epic” and “YouTube worthy” and stressed that a restaurant proposal in front of a thousand strangers was not an option. No pressure! He went above and beyond by incorporating so many places in New York City, the city where we met and fell in love, and gathering so many friends who are special to us so that I could celebrate with them along the way. So many people played a part in our developing love story that it was a unique and exciting way for the story to continue unfolding. At each stop, I was able to reunite with friends I hadn’t seen since moving from New York. I recorded myself at each stop, reading the clues with the friends who were there. However, it was the final clue that made my heart explode. His parents had come in for the proposal and were waiting on a bridge in Central Park with the final clue. I immediately burst into tears and was so overwhelmed with the thought and preparation he had put into making this a story for a lifetime.

Tell us about the ring! Did he pick it alone? 

Although I would have worn that band-aid, he knocked it out of the park again with the ring! He worked with private jeweler Carlos Carmona to design the ring, with minimal input from me early on about what styles I responded to. They decided on an oval diamond with a halo of pave diamonds and a pave diamond band. I am drawn to vintage – fashion, hairstyles, tv shows, etc and the oval is just such a classic, timeless shape that exudes elegance and an other-era feel. There is one very special and unique aspect of the ring that makes it a one of a kind. He and the jeweler came up with a way to spell something in pave diamonds on the band. It’s our little secret. I show the diamond to the world, but when I open my palm and look at the band from that angle, I am reminded this man GETS me. He is my best friend and knew exactly how to make my ring something that would always make me smile.

Have you picked a dream wedding dress yet? We love the vintage inspired dress you wear on the red carpet. …

I am so blessed to be friends with designer Rochelle Rodriguez. We were on the same dance team in college (The Kilgore College Rangerettes) and have stayed very close ever since. She makes one couture dress every year for a special wedding and I thankfully had her locked in as my designer even before I met Tom! We are working together to design a show-stopping dress that is befitting the majestic location of our wedding next summer – The Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame University, Tom’s alma mater. I won’t tell you much about the dress, but I will say that it’s going to have a romantic, Liz Taylor feel, combined with Rochelle’s signature breathtaking design. She designed a Grace Kelly inspired dress for a friend a few years ago and you could hear the crowd gasp when she appeared in the aisle, it was so stunning and like nothing any of us had ever seen. That’s what I want in a wedding dress. If I’m only going to wear it once, I want to make sure it’s a dress to remember!

Your upcoming show, the Astronaut Wives Club takes place in the 60s. We are very excited to watch it. What can you tell us about your character? What do you love about her?

Marge Slayton immediately spoke to me when I read the script for The Astronaut Wives Club because she is sassy, brassy and hides a whole closet of secrets, namely, her divorce prior to marrying Deke Slayton. In our story, based on the Lily Koppel book, Marge masks her insecurities about her rough and impoverished upbringing on the mean streets of gang-ridden Los Angeles in the 1940s with humor, sarcasm and an old Hollywood-style bad girl gone good attitude. I am so excited to share this story of women who’ve been hidden from history with the rest of America and the world.

 

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