Boston Engagement Proposals: Ben and Rita
One of our favorite Boston engagement proposals this month was with Ben and Rita. A beautiful day at Common Salem turned into one neither of them will ever forget.
He invited Rita to tour at Boston Salem, but had a secret surprise planned! Our sneaky photographer was there, hidden, to capture the big moment Ben was planning. When she least expected, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Of course, Rita said YES! And, to top it all off, the newly-engaged couple shared with us how they met and fell in love. It was one of our Boston engagement proposals stories that we won’t forget.
How and when did you guys meet?
We are actually a tinder success story. We matched and I thought that she was way out of my league so before we even started talking I showed a bunch of my friends her pictures and they all thought she was ridiculously attractive too. On October 13th, 2015 I reached out and all I said was “Hey” because I wasn’t sure if she’d even give me the time of day and I didn’t want to come on too strong. We both happened to be on tinder for laughs and neither of us thought anything good would come from having one but looks at us now! Our first date was at Dave and Buster’s and we were both so nervous but to this day we still argue about which booth we sat at on that date. Our next date was a haunted hayride followed by a scary movie. We don’t even remember what the scary movie we saw was and we only went to it because we didn’t want our date to end. Our third date was on Halloween at a friend’s place. We ended up going to my favorite bar from my college days where we had our first kiss that night. With all that said, Halloween became our thing early on.
What was the first thing that attracted you to one another?
Besides how pretty she is. She’s just such a genuinely good-hearted person. She cares about everyone in her life, she’s a daycare teacher so she’s really great with kids and she appreciates all of the small things. She’s just perfect! She loves making puns and I love making dad jokes so it all just works. Her friends and family like me and my friends and family like her and you know that’s a great combination right there.
When did you know that they were the one?
After we spent our first Holiday Season together I knew. I gave her a Kindle for Christmas and she cried because she said no one has ever been this good to her. I knew she wasn’t going to be someone that just expected things but I also knew that I wanted to give her the world. Towards the end of January 2016, we drove out to see a Brad Paisley concert because he’s her favorite and during “She’s Everything” I told her that I loved her for the first time (that became our song), and we’ve seen him in concert 7 times since then.
Why did you choose to propose where you did?
I thought of Salem because we’ve both talked about going there and with how much we both love Halloween it just worked. I wanted to do something memorable and not too far away so that if we ever wanted to relive the moment it wouldn’t be a situation where we’d have to travel far. We actually got engaged three years to the day after I said “Hey” on October 13th so it really just worked!
Did anyone help you plan the proposal?
Nope! This one was all me, I chose the town, hotel, and location for the proposal. I went back and forth between doing something very “Halloween” like in front of the Witch Museum in Salem but decided for the more romantic park proposal in Salem Common. You guys were an amazing help telling me where to stand and how she should be facing so we could get the perfect reaction pictures too! The idea was to propose as soon as we got there because after the proposal and photography session we’d check into the hotel where there’d be roses and champagne waiting for us. After relaxing for a bit and sharing the news with all of our family and friends we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating in Witch Town!
Where did you purchase the ring?
I purchased the ring at Kay Jewelers about an hour and a half away in Massachusetts from where I live in New York. I found it online and spent weeks trying to see if I could find something comparable because I didn’t want to jump on the first ring I liked. But after weeks and weeks of searching various websites and going to various jewelry stores, even trying to build the perfect custom ring online, nothing added up to the first ring which is the one I went with. I even had to take a half day at work without Rita knowing so I could drive out to Massachusetts to buy it. I know I made the right choice because every time I look at her now she’s staring at that ring.
