Rebecca & Dan
Sunday, the Twenty Seventh of May , Two Thousand and Seven
In the Beginning
For those of you who don't know, we met on JDate, a website for Jewish Singles. Back in January of 2005, Dan sent his first e-mail to Becca and quickly received a reply. After a few rounds of e-mail, a trip to Israel for Becca, and a few phone conversations, we decided to meet. On February 5, we met at Islands in Manhattan Beach. Our second date followed about a week later in Huntington Beach. A few months later, we were spending every weekend together. The more we got to know each other, the closer we grew. After a year and a half we decided to get married. We are so lucky to have found one another and we very much look forward to sharing our lives together.
The Proposal
Dan completely surprised me! Which is amazing since we designed the ring togther. Here's our story...
On July 3, the day we left for our cruise with the whole Nudel clan, Dan and I went to the jeweler to select a diamond and design my ring. He said it would be done in about 10 days to two weeks. Since Dan couldn't take time off of work to come pick it up and he was concerned that it may get lost in the large mail room at his work, we decided to have it sent to me. The only stipulation was that I promised not to open it or tell anyone what was in the package. Those of you who know me know that this plan was going to be a personal test for me, but I was up to the challenge and after giving Dan my word there was no way I was not going to follow through.
On Thursday the week after we got back from the cruise, I asked Dan if he had heard from Kobi (the jeweler). He said no but that he would email him in the morning. Dan forwarded me an email that Friday in which Kobi told him the ring was not ready yet, but probably would be by the middle of next week. I was disappointed but what choice did I have but to wait.
We were to be in OC that weekend and on Sunday morning had made plans to meet Jake and Eric in Laguna Beach--at Las Brisas to be exact. Dan said he wanted to get there a little early. On our way there, I asked him if he remembered what happened at the gazeebo on the cliff behind Las Brisas. He only played coy for a second and then said, "of course." For those of you who dont know, that was the place where Dan first told me he loved me.
When we pulled up to the restaurant Dan suggested that since we were early and it was such a beautiful day, we should walk around. We went to the gazeebo but there were some people there so we looked for another place to appreciate the view. We found a bench overlooking the ocean and sat down. Dan said "hang on, let me get my sunglasses." I said "ok." When he turned to me he said, "look what I found in my glasscase." I looked down in his hand then at him, then at his hand again, thinking "how did he have a copy of the ring made so fast when the real one won't be done until Wednesday?" I looked at him and said, "is that my ring?" (it was so GORGEOUS!! more beautiful than I'd even imagined, and boy did it sparkle in the sun-light!!) He nodded and got down on one knee, told me he loved me, wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and asked me to marry him. I was speechless and stunned but of course I said yes.
I was so happy and surprised that I didn't even cry until 15 minutes later. We had brunch at Las Brisas, called my parents (spoke to Dad, so we could surprise my Mom), and then drove up the coast to surprise his parents in Reseda. The 4 of us then drove up to Oxnard to surprise my Mom. The 6 of us spent the afternoon together and celebrated over dinner.
As it turned out, Dan created the whole email back and forth to Kobi and the ring was shipped to him at his house on Saturday morning. (luckily I'd slept in that day, so I had no idea).
It was a perfect plan which Dan worked hard to put together perfectly to surprise me, and that he did! I had no idea it was going to happen that beautiful morning in Laguna.
Save the Date
Save the Date!! Friends and Family, we would like you to save the date of May 27, 2007 and join us at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa. The ceremony will be called for 5:00pm and will be followed by a black tie optional reception.
