Engagement 101: Getting to “She Said Yes!” 💍💍👰🏻‍♀️

A five part series on how to get your boyfriend to do your proposal right. -The male’s perspective

Step 1 💍 The type of ring to buy

First and foremost, you need to stealthily find out what type of ring setting she likes. Chances are, if she doesn’t trust you, she’s already shown you a few examples of what she likes.

But just in case she doesn’t, how do you do it? By showing her examples of friends or even celebrities who just got engaged!

🚫 Do not simply ask her: “Do you like this classic style?” That’s WAAAAAY too obvious, bro.

✅ Say something like: “Kimberly’s classic ring setting is ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS.”

And if she spiritedly defends X/Y/Z design, you know you’ve got the money answer!

Step 2 💍 Find the right jeweller

You need to know if she’s the branded Cartier/T&Co type, the natural diamond type, the lab grown diamond type or the coloured diamond type.

Lucky for you, most Singaporean girls aren’t the demanding 3x salaries kind. After all like I always say, the bigger the diamond the smaller the sofa.

A branded diamond will set you back at least $15k for a decent size while a local jewellery store is at least 5 figures. You can look for private jewellers that have offices instead of retail store outlets and you can actually save quite a fair bit of money. Their margins are lower and they are generally very knowledgeable too!

I went to a private jeweller for the stone itself and it saved me a fair bit of money for a 0.91carat, E colour, ideal cut diamond. For more information on the 4 Cs please stay tuned for my next post!

I then took the stone to my JC classmate’s retail store at Paragon and they set it up on a lovely 6 prong trinity setting ring. (See picture) Set me back about low 5 digits.

Step 3 💍 Find out what type of proposal she likes

Is she introverted or extroverted?

Does she like something on a grander scale or something more private in close quarters?

Would she want her family there?

Would she want it to be with her closest friends?

Ask the sibling, the friends or even her helper! They would probably have a clue about her preference.

Then book a venue - is it going to be in the middle of USS with a flash mob of dancers and fireworks on standby? Is it going to be a quiet restaurant at Robertson Quay where the restaurant would be mega cooperative?

I did mine at a friend’s bar where he loaned the entire venue out to me for free. 🍻

Step 4 💍 Personalise the venue

The main objective of any proposal is to make sure that your girlfriend feels special. Because if you’re going to be the luckiest man alive if she says yes, you’d definitely want to make sure she knows she’s the most special person in the world 🌎 to you.

Find some friends (hers or yours) and do something different or special. It’s okay to go over the top for this once in a lifetime event. Book an entire theatre and fill it with her friends and family or something. Put it more effort for your brainstorming! After all, time is on your side.

I roped in all my friends to decorate the bar with some items i printed and bought. (Protip 1: Fairy lights never fail to disappoint.) But I must say that my friends are the best, even if I forgot batteries or bluetack or something they’d get it resolved without even telling me.

Step 5 💍 Meet the Parents

One of the most humbling experiences for me in my entire life is picking up the phone to ask my girlfriend’s parents out for lunch - and then asking them for her hand in marriage.

I dreaded it like crazy, I was so bloody nervous and was also as awkward as I could possibly have been. But I still think it was the right thing to do on hindsight and I feel like her parents appreciated it very much.

“Auntie Uncle. Have some siewmai and hargow. Ah yes. We’re here today because Iwannamarryyourdaughter.” Like whaaaaaaaat?

Epilogue

I booked a restaurant at Duxton near my friend’s bar and kept going to the toilet to check up on the decor progress.

My trusty friends made sure that everything was done to perfection and I took my then-girlfriend out for a stroll post dinner.

As we neared the bar, someone emerged out of nowhere to hand me a huge bouquet of flowers. Then I pulled her into the empty dimly lit bar that my friends had only recently vacated.

I picked up the scrapbook that I had painstakingly put together and started to run through it with her. With her friends peering through the little hole in the door, I then got down on one knee with audible cheers outside the bar.

The rest as they say, is history.

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