The birth of your first child is a pretty special moment, what could possibly make it better? Well, how about a marriage proposal? That was this new dad’s exact thinking when he decided to involve their newborn baby in his adorable proposal.
Scott Gretton and Rachel Taylor from Hartlepool in England welcomed baby boy Oscar into the world on Tuesday, March 31 after a gruelling 25-hour labour.
While Scott was there for the birth, he was not allowed to stay due to strict COVID-19 measures in place. He returned the next day and secretly plotted with the midwives to dress baby Oscar in a custom-made babygrow that read, “Mammy, will you marry my daddy?”
Credit: Facebook / University Hospital of North Tees
Speaking to the Hartlepool Mail, Scott explained, “I have discussed with Rachel about proposing before – I’d bought a ring a couple of weeks ago and got two yeses from her family so I was ready.
“I’m not sure she expected me to ask the question while she was still in the delivery unit though!
“Luckily it all worked out – she saw the message and said yes!”
“I’m so grateful to all of the maternity team. The care was second to none and the midwives were so helpful setting up the big surprise.”
Credit: Facebook / University Hospital of North Tees
Feature image: Facebook / University Hospital of North Tees
“Under the sea / Under the sea / Darling it’s better / Down where it’s wetter / Take it from me”. Who knew the lyrics from ‘Under the sea’ could be taken so literally? This couple love being underwater so much, they got engaged in the Caribbean Sea!
Ethan Studenic and Morgan Whittaker are passionate scuba divers, so naturally Studenic wanted to extend this love by literally popping the question under water. He spent 5 years planning out this elaborate proposal to his girlfriend of 10 years to make sure its nothing short of perfect. He proposed during a scuba diving excursion at the Caribbean island of Bonaire, where the couple spent their very first holiday together.
“Five years ago, I had the idea of an underwater proposal. I thought it would be cool, really unique and interesting,” Studenic told Fox News. “I decided to propose on the first reef we dove together.”
“I wanted it to be a romantic proposal and I’m not the greatest at that kind of thing,” Studenic said. “I thought if I could go back to Bonaire, I could recapture that magic of our first vacation away together.”
Studenic had seaglass saved from their first Bonaire trip embedded into the engagement ring, which he kept hidden inside a seashell.
For the big moment, the couple swam down for a good spot, and Studenic pretended to find a seashell. The words “Will you marry me” were written inside the shell. Of course, Whittaker said yes!
Watch the video of their proposal below:
“I was pretty shocked,” Whittaker remembered. “When he first reached down, I honestly thought he was picking up a wild animal.
“When he was opening up the shell I was seriously worried and then I just sat there in total shock. I said absolutely yes.”
“Ethan introduced me to scuba diving and it is one of the things we love most in the whole world so it was wonderful to have the proposal in that setting,” she added.
The couple plan to officially tie the knot in April, and its sure to be amazing.
One year after their engagement, Katy Perry is giving us an inside-look into her and fiance Orlando Bloom’s celebratory party.
In an Instagram post, Perry shared never-before-seen images from the couples engagement party. In the black-and-white images, the happy couple can be seen celebrating with their friends and family. Guests are seen wearing matching ‘OK’ hoodies to represent Orlando and Katy.
The pair became engaged on Valentines Day 2019 when Bloom proposed to Perry with a unique, flower-shaped ring during a private helicopter flight. Bloom and Perry had previously dated from 2016-2017 but amicably split. Luckily, their love proved too great and they reunited in 2018.
“One year ago I said yes to a life of love and evolution… and definitely never a dull moment ?”, she captioned the series of images on Instagram. Take a look at their awesome party below.
With a party like this, we can’t wait to see their wedding!
Deep blue is the colour of royalty, so it is no surprise a rich sapphire stone would centre Kate Middleton’s engagement ring. Once belonging to Princess Diana, this iconic ring caused sapphire sales to skyrocket in 2010 following the royal engagement announcement. Even before this proposal, however, sapphires have been adored and coveted for their intense colouring.
The name of this precious gemstone comes from the Greek word ‘sappheiros’ and the Latin word ‘saphirus’, both of which translate to mean blue. Despite the name, however, sapphires come in a range of colours from blue to yellow to pink. The only colour is cannot present as is red as it would then be considered a ruby. Naturally, blue is the most coveted colour variant.
Sapphire is one of the four main precious gemstones, including diamonds, rubies and emeralds. While found all over the world, the highest-quality and most prestigious sapphires come from Kashmir, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Montana.
The stone is believed to have healing properties, and is regarded as the stone of mental focus and order, inner vision and psychic awareness. Chakra theory also believes that sapphires help open one’s third eye, thus allowing wisdom and insight to enter.
This stone is much loved by celebrities such as Princess Diana, Penelope Cruz and Elizabeth Taylor.
Coloured stones have been trending in the engagement world for the past few years, and sapphire makes an excellent choice because it can double up as your ‘something blue’. When picking one out, always refer to the four Cs: colour, cut, clarity and carat.
House Bunny star Anna Faris is showing off her new sparkler. In an Instagram picture, the actress officially announced her engagement to cinematographer Michael Barrett by showcasing her giant yellow diamond ring.
Faris and Barrett have been dating since 2017, a few months after she split from ex-husband Chris Pratt. In late 2019, Faris was spotted wearing an engagement ring, and her Mom co-star Allison Janney accidentally confirmed the engagement.
The actress recently shared an image with fellow actor Jason Biggs, who was a guest on her podcast Unqualified. Her cushion-cut yellow diamond ring, however, was the star of the show.
Speaking to Us Weekly, Kathryn Money, VP of Strategy & Merchandising for Brilliant Earth says, “Anna’s beautiful ring features an estimated 3-carat yellow cushion-cut diamond surrounded by a diamond halo and set on a white gold or platinum diamond-adorned band with a subtle split shank.”
After weeks of speculation, the Royal Family have officially announced that Princess Beatrice will hold her wedding reception at Buckingham Palace in May this year.
Princess Beatrice of York and her fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi will say ‘I do’ on Friday, May 29 2020 at The Chapel Royal, St. James Palace.
“Her Majesty The Queen has kindly given permission for the ceremony to take place at The Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace,” reads a statement from Buckingham Palace. “The ceremony will be followed by a private reception, given by The Queen, in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.”
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi join other royals to marry in St James Chapel such as Queen Victoria to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg on 10 February 1840 and the then Duke of York and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (later King George V and Queen Mary) in 1893.
The wedding is most likely to be more low-key than other royal weddings. Both BBC and ITV have decided not to live broadcast the wedding as a result of the controversy surrounding her father, Prince Andrew.
Talk about a cheesy proposal! Popular restaurant chain Domino’s is giving one lucky Australian patron the chance to win a pizza-shaped engagement ring to the value of $9,000 (R133 398).
Domino’s Australia recognises that pizza is such a big part of relationships, so it makes sense this Italian treat would feature in an engagement.
“How many great love stories have started over a slice? How many awkward dates have been saved by the arrival of the pizza delivery?” Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Allan Collins explains. “Pizza is made to be shared with the ones we love, so this year we want to honour that with something really special and help create the greatest, if not the cheesiest, proposal ever.”
The ring up for grabs is made of 18-carat yellow and white gold and features a pizza slice on top of it made out of ‘cheese’ and ‘pepperoni’ rubies.
To stand the chance to win the ring, customers must submit a 30-second video on their official contest page explaining how they would involve pizza in their proposal.
We’re only one month into 2020, and we have yet another celebrity engagement! Model Jourdan Dunn took to Instagram to announce her engagement to rap artist and streetwear label owner Dion “Sincere” Hamilton.
The model shared a playful picture covering her eyes and letting her new bling take centre stage. She captioned the image, “Jourdan Dunn Hamilton ……. has a nice ring to it! ????”
Andrew Brown, WP Diamonds CEO, estimated the ring to be worth £22,000 (R432, 965)
“The ring on Jourdan Dunn’s engagement finger looks to be a 2ct oval with a large halo and diamond band. A nice colour clarity combination of G VS would retail for around £22,000.”
The pair began dating in 2019. Dunn is notoriously private about her relationship with Hamilton, and the only picture the couple have together covers Hamilton’s face.
Talk about a slam dunk proposal! This groom wanted to combine his love for basketball and his partner with a creative public proposal, and we definitely think this engagement was on the ball.
Eli Lunzer from New York knew that he wanted his proposal to girlfriend Yosefa Heber to be memorable.
“I knew I had to go big,” Lunzer told The Jewish Week. “I wanted it to be epic and memorable and kind of crazy. I wanted it to be unexpected and I love the Knicks and the Garden.”
He had reached out to Madison Square Garden to plan a proposal but his request was denied. Luckily for him he had a few good contacts who were able to made this dream a reality.
He crafted a plan to have a staring contest between him and his girlfriend during the timeout in the second quarter of the Kicks game in front of 20 000 other basketball fans. A few seconds into the staring contest, Lunzer reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring box before going down on one knee to propose.
“I was nervous as hell and I didn’t sleep [the previous] Friday night,” Lunzer said. “I knew she’d say ‘yes’ but didn’t know if she’d agree to the staring contest.”
Luckily she did, and even cried tears of joy when Lunzer proposed. “Even though there were 20,000 people, it felt like it was just the two of us,” she said.
If you’re recently, or about to get engaged, and choosing your own ring, it’s important to know what to look for. Of course, not all engagement or wedding rings have diamonds. You can choose any stone, crystal or gem you want!
If, however, if you’re leaning towards a girl’s best friend, we share some advice from experts on how to make sure your diamond is of good quality, suits your style and band, and is the best value for its price.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has created a universally used system called the Four Cs of Diamond Quality. These categories are your go-to method for assessing your sparkly rock.
Cut
The shape of your diamond is a personal choice, and refers to the way a stone is hand- chiselled to reveal its proportions, symmetry and polish. In fact, the cut is the only way a jeweller can make a diamond unique and stand out. Cutting diamonds is a great skill, and the quality of the cut determines how the stone’s facets will interact with light and ultimately how much it sparkles. Choose a cut that catches your eye. Trends come and go, so don’t just go with the current most fashionable shape. Go for the one that shimmers its way into your heart.
All diamonds bear ‘birthmarks’ – small imperfections inside the diamond, called inclusions. The number of these imperfections determine a diamond’s clarity and more flaws mean a less brilliant stone.
The GIA’s 11 point diamond clarity scale ranges from flawless to heavily included. Stones that are flawless or very slightly included are virtually perfect to the naked eye. However, diamonds with inclusions can be just as radiant, beautiful and perfect for you.
Here’s a spectrum on which you can find the clarity of your diamond:
Credit: Shiny Rock Polished
Colour
Diamonds naturally occur in various different colours. However, in the traditional white diamond, white is highly sought after. The presence of other hues, especially yellow, lowers a white diamond’s value.
The GIA grades white diamonds on a scale of D (colourless) to Z (darkest). All D-Z diamonds are considered white, even though they contain varying degrees of colour, while coloured diamonds are graded on a separate scale. Do bear in mind that the colour of the band can also influence the stone’s appearance. If you’re going for the ‘pure’ look, choose the whitest rock you can find (budget allowing). However, don’t shy away from yellow diamonds, as they posses a beauty of their own.
Most people think of carat as a stone’s size, but it actually refers to weight, with a metric carat equalling 0.2 grams. Diamonds are measured meticulously using 100 ‘points’. Very large stones are incredibly rare, as fewer than one in a million mined rough stones are large enough to produce a finished 1 carat diamond. As the weight of a stone increases, its value therefore increases exponentially, with a 3 carat stone potentially costing 9 times as much as a 1 carat equal stone.
Take a look here:
Credit: Shin Rock Polished
When going ring shopping, bear in mind that no one factor can determine a diamond’s value and that more expensive isn’t necessarily more you.
