PW Reader Ring: Paige & Ray!


Paige's ring!

Paige’s ring!

The couple: Paige Barrow and Ray Jaffe, from Philadelphia.

The ring: My ring is so special. The large was my maternal grandmother’s. She left the diamond for my mom when she passed away. We had always thought my brother would get the diamond when he got engaged. (He is older than me). Little did I know, my mom saved the diamond for me. When Ray was ready to ask my parents’ permission to propose, my mom gave Ray the diamond. This of course made my engagement that much more special!

He took it to get reset at Barsky Jewelers on Jewelers’ Row. They were amazing, and helped him choose the design.

The proposal: My family are huge fans of the Phillies, and for over 20 years, it’s been a Barrow tradition to go to Opening Day—my brother had even flown in from California to go to it. The game ended and we all said our goodbyes—my brother Nate would be flying back to LA in the morning—and then Ray and I got on the subway, and I bugged him about what we would do for the rest of the day. (It was a Monday at 4pm, I wanted to enjoy our day off together!)

We got back to our apartment and Ray told me to hold the elevator while he went to get the mail. He came back as I was literally holding the door open, threw a big white envelope and a red rose at me, and said, “See you soon!” Next thing I saw was the elevator doors closing.

Then I was standing in the lobby by myself shaking as I tried to open the envelope. There were two 3×5 cards, the first of which announced that this was the start of an adventure planned for me, but that I had to follow each instruction that would lead me to my next clue.

The first clue was that I had to go to the place where Ray and I had our first date. I bolted out of the door to to the lobby of Hotel Palomar—all while hysterically crying, since I had an idea of what was going on! The woman at the front desk handed me another white envelope and red rose, and a box of tissues. That clue led me to my favorite store on Walnut Street, Lululemon. I ran to the store, and the woman at the register yelled, “Here you go, Paige!” She also had a white envelope and a red rose for me.

That clue led me upstairs to our apartment. I knocked on the door, and there he was, down on one knee. The entire apartment was covered in red roses with a huge picture of the two of us surrounded by champagne. I cried … a lot. And of course I cried even harder when I looked down and saw the most special ring in the world.

Ray then told me that we had dinner reservations at Butcher & Singer so to hurry up and get ready. As we walked into the restaurant we were welcomed by both of our families! It was truly one of the best days of my life.

The band: We loved Barsky so much we’re going to get both of our bands there!

Read other PW Reader Ring stories here

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