Thank you to everyone who participated in our proposal contest, it was a huge success!  We were happy to congratulate Raychel Robbins on her heartwarming proposal from her fiance Peter. 

 Peter’s proposal was an almost unanimous decision by our judges.  They each read the stories individually and 4 out of 5 voted Raychel’s as their favorite.  Our florist, Abby of Abby’s Floral Designs said, “it was simple but really touching.”  Brett, from Black Tie Events loved how Peter involved his children in the proposal. 

A huge thanks to our other judges, For Goodness Cakes, Homewood Suites and Celso’s Cakes  for all your hard work reading and judging the entries. 

It wasn’t until after the contest that we realized Raychel was also a Payne-Corley House bride!   All of the entries were handled by our marketing partner Vine Branch Designs so we were thrilled that Raychel won the contest.  She will be having a lovely bridesmaids luncheon at the Park Cafe before her wedding on February 19th.  

Here is the winning entry from Raychel:

It was a typical evening at home with Peter’s three kids. When baseball, soccer, girl scouts, and/or boy scouts doesn’t get in the way, it’s become part of our routine for us to have dinner as a family. His daughter and I will often end the evening with a bedtime story before Peter and I both tuck her in for the night.  On October 30th, something was different.  As soon as she and I finished reading, Peter and the boys came into the room and Arden jumped up off the bed and grabbed something from the corner of her room and hid it behind her back.  I immediately knew what was going on and I started to cry!  Peter said something like, “…we love you and we want to be with you today, tomorrow, and everyday.”  Instead of asking if I’d marry him, he asked, “Will you join our family?” My answer was, “Of course!”  He presented me with a unique and meaningful ring that has four diamond pave hearts; one for each of them. I always had a hunch that Peter’s proposal would somehow involve his children, but I never expected it to be so emotional for all of us!  The audio on the video is hard to hear, but you can really see the excitement and the love from everyone there…even the dog!

Danielle Hendrick

The back story here is relevant and almost unbelievable, but a true story. …Our relationship started out in a way that no other has…or that we’ve (or even Paul Tacorian of Tacori Jewelry) has ever heard of; and he knows relationships!  We had known each other for years prior to dating, but only as casual friends.  Over the years, we had lost touch until we ran into each other at a concert.  After talking on the phone, Facebook-ing, and texting almost non-stop, we went out again a couple weeks later (to that same bar we reconnected at) and ended up with a “court”-ship we’d never have imagined.  I don’t want to spill too many details, but let’s just say that our first “photos” weren’t exactly album worthy. Yes, we’d like to thank a certain unnamed PD for their part in our future civil union…  -From that moment on, we knew we were inseparable, even though we weren’t handcuffed together~

We both went to D. Geller & Son to pick out the ring.  He knew that I wanted a vintage/antique style ring, but we figured, if I’m only getting one of these for the rest of my life, I’d better love it.  Consequently, we both had picked out the same ring!  Of course, I could not have the ring immediately.  He even made me go outside so I wouldn’t know what level of the house the ring was on when he hid it.  Cruel, right?  Every once in a while, I’d get to look at it and admire its beauty, but not get to wear it.  I came home from work one day to find a ring box on the bed with a note by it.  I was excited; then, I realized that the ring box was black, not blue…  I knew it wasn’t the engagement ring, but was curious.  The note was a poem written about how since I could not have the ring for my left hand it was only fair for me to have one for my right.  It was signed, “The Evil Karat Dangler”! That ring is beautiful as well )

Fast forward to the proposal ~October 15th, 2011~ There are two things that make Evan smile more than anything ; well, three now ;o) ~but, they are:  the city of San Francisco, and the band, Journey.  I had never been to the west coast or to a Journey show, so when Evan saw that they were playing in SF, he promptly booked us on a flight to the City by the Bay with two 3rd row tickets to the show! We stayed at the elegant Fairmont Heritage Place, right in Ghirardelli Square (Whoops!  One more thing that makes him smile, Ghirardelli Chocolate – the collection around the house is becoming problematic). 

From the second we got there, I thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever been.  I was perfectly content with the awesome view, rich food, and amazing company; but little did I know, there was one more surprise up ahead.  The next morning, we rented bikes and headed toward the massive golden beast that, without fail, makes you want to sing the Full House theme song upon site.  Boy, was I out of shape…Evan, who had just had hip replacement surgery 6 weeks before our trip, was smoking me! 

In the midst of our stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures of the scenery, it took us over 2 hours to even get up to the bridge.  What did I care?  I was on vacation…No worries or a care in the world.  I was just soaking it all in.  Once on the bridge, Evan said, “Let’s stop here.”  I, and my quads-on-fire, happily obliged.  Evan had me look over the edge and frame up some shots of sailboats and the Marin Headlands.  I snapped a few pictures before he said, “Ok, that’s probably good.”  I turned around to my left, only to see him down on one knee.  I was speechless!  He was staring at me with a look in his eyes that I will never forget, and said very quickly, and like he had practiced it in front of the mirror many times, “Will you marry me?”  

For a moment, I forgot we were on a bridge: with wind blowing in our hair, car horns beeping and bicycles whizzing by.  For just a moment, everything stopped, and we were the only ones there.  Sounds were muffled, except for a lone seagull in the distance -all light was focused on him.  It was like a montage scene from a movie with different clips from different camera angles and everyone was watching our story of joy, -feeling like they were a part of our magic moment.    Of course, as I type this story today, I said, “YES!” only to be immediately followed by slight applause of some onlookers nearby, seeming like they didn’t really know what to do.  Do they come up to us offering congratulations; do they just smile and say, Awww?  It was absolutely perfect.  -Every detail of it!  It made sense why in the weeks leading up to our trip I’d always catch him looking at me all funny and whimsical-like. 

Now, don’t let him fool you.  When he tells the story, he will say that he proposed in the “middle” of the Golden Gate Bridge…it was really in the first third of the bridge.  He was much too excited to wait until the middle.  I think he was relieved that the plans he’d had for months were not foiled.  I very easily could have gone through the luggage and found the ring.  How he got it from the hotel to the bridge without me seeing, I’ll never know, but I’m glad it happened the way it did.  I’m glad our relationship started the way it did.  Our story was intense from the beginning and every chapter we write from here on out will have an equal, if not greater amount of passion and love.  There is so much character and integrity between the two of us; it’s built an undying strength to last a lifetime.

Lauren Kelly

 John and I were planning to celebrate our year-and-a-half anniversary in June of 2011, and I thought it would be fun to go out on the town in Atlanta.  He seemed to have a different idea, letting me know that he would rather celebrate at his house cooking our favorite meal together and just spending time there.  Even though I thought my idea was better at the time, I am so glad he had something else in mind. The morning of what I thought would be a ‘low-key’ date night, he told me to be at his house at 6pm because he had something special planned.  Of course I had many questions, and he would not answer any of them! We didn’t talk much the rest of the day, and it turns out he had been so nervous/anxious that he was just pacing around his house in preparation for me to get there at 6.  I walked in to find rose petals laying around the house and candles lit. He is a romantic person, but I had never seen him go to this extent- It was like a scene out of a fairytale! He told me to come sit on the couch, where he had prepared a pail of water with rose petals in it.  He told me that if he was going to lead me in life, he must learn to serve me as well.  This is so special because we work to keep our relationship focused on God, and in the bible, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as a sign of service and love. He then took my shoes off and washed my feet one by one.  I was sitting still as a statue, not knowing what to do with myself! He said “You can start crying now”, which would have been normal because I tend to be very sensitive.  But I was so in shock, I couldn’t even find tears to cry! 

Then he said your second gift is in the next room, and he went to go get it.  He came out holding the ring box behind his back and told me to stand-up.  As soon as I got up on my feet, he dropped to his knees and asked if I would marry him! I was so shocked, I just stood there with my jaw dropped.  After a couple of seconds, I asked him if he had asked the permission of my mom and my grandparents (the three most important people in my life other than him).  He let me know that he had called my grandparents, who live in Pennsylvania, to ask for their permission.  He had also taken my mom to dinner the week prior to our engagement, asking for her permission as well! I said YES and he slipped the gorgeous ring on my finger.  The ring is also very special because the main diamond in the ring belonged to his grandmother first, then belonged to his mom, and now has been passed down to me! I am completely grateful of such a one-of-a-kind gift. The next few hours of that night consisted of calling our loved ones and letting them know the news, though most of them already knew, and cooking our favorite meal together. Thanks to John, I will never forget that night and look forward to our wedding at the Payne Corley House!

Here are a few pictures of our engagement story! The dog sniffing the water is John’s sweet dog, Roxy.  She will be like our first child when we get married!  A wonderful addition to our story.

Thank you!
Lauren Kelley