PW Reader Ring: Heather & Michael!

Heather’s ring!

The couple: Heather Vanolinda and Michael Vann from Norristown and West Philadelphia.

The ring: Mike and I both love to shop and we have a great sense of each other’s style and taste—any time we walk past a jewelry store we’re always attracted to the same piece of jewelry, whether it’s a necklace, pair of earrings, or a ring. My engagement ring is a princess cut diamond frame three-piece bridal set in white gold that Mike picked out all on his own from the Zale’s Outlet at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.

The proposal: It was the day of our daughter Gia’s 2nd birthday party, Saturday, August 27, 2015. I had absolutely no idea that the proposal was coming, especially since all of my attention was geared towards making sure everything for the party was set up and running smoothly.

The party was going great and I had just finished opening gifts with Gia when my mom asked me for Excedrin for her headache (that’s so typical of her). We went inside and my mother-in-law was in there as well; the three of us chatted about the party and eventually headed back downstairs to rejoin the group.

As I am walking down the stairs, I see a path of red rose petals that are leading me outside to where Mike is standing. The song “Real Good Hands” by Gregory Porter was playing in the background (there’s a line in the song that goes, “Mama don’t you worry ’bout your daughter cause you’re leaving her in real good hands. I’m a real good man.”). I quickly looked back at my mom and then glanced at my dad who was just standing there smiling and all of a sudden Mike was bending down to get on his knee and everyone just swarmed us into this big circle.

The music went from loud to soft so everyone could hear Mike say, “You know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, right? Will you marry me?” I could feel my face begin to shed a tear of joy when I said “Yes!” I hugged him so tight and then I started to feel everyone run up to join us. It was such a special day for both my daughter and I that I wouldn’t have wanted my proposal to go any other way!

The band: My engagement ring came with a wedding band, but Mike decided that he’ll get me another sparkly band to go with it, too.

Read other PW Reader Ring stories here. 

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