PW Reader Ring: Brittany & David!

Brittany’s ring!

The couple: Brittany Schneider and David Warner, from Philadelphia.

The ring: The center stone of my ring is is a round Hearts and Arrows cut diamond, which are precision cut to feature perfect symmetry and maximum sparkle. It’s set in a white gold band with a halo of smaller diamonds, withpavé diamonds on the band. Together and with the help of our jeweler, Michael Gilman, my fiancé and I custom designed my ring at Safian & Rudolph on Jewelers’ Row here in Philadelphia.

The proposal: We had picked out the ring together on a snowy day in January, so I knew that the proposal was coming; however, I had no idea that I would have to wait until the seasons changed for it to actually happen!

I also had no idea how incredibly perfect and thoughtful it would be. David had been telling me for weeks that he had a special date planned for the two of us on April 19, 2015, and that was no surprise given that we had become an official couple on the same date one year prior.

The morning of the proposal I was ready to spend the entire day with him, when he handed me what I would find to be the first clue in a homemade “treasure hunt.” That first clue led me to Cuba Libre, one of our favorite restaurants where I would find my mom and step-dad waiting to join me for brunch. It’s a three-hour drive from my rural hometown to Philly and my parents usually rely on me to coordinate the logistics of their visits, so as soon as I saw them, I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen.

The remaining clues, which I was given strict orders not to open until their respective times, would lead me to get a manicure with one of my good friends, to Revolution House (where we had one of our first dates) for beers with my father, and finally back to the apartment that David and I share where I would find a dress that he had rented for me hanging in the closet. I changed then called one of my best friends who lived in Chicago at the time for my final clue.

When I received my final clue, I immediately knew exactly where I was headed … We had “cut a rug” many times on the deck of the Moshulu while attending 90s-themed dance parties and what better place to find treasure than on a boat?

David was by himself on the deck of the boat, and the moment I saw him I burst into happy tears and couldn’t stop crying until after I had the “treasure” on my finger. I can’t remember exactly what he said, because even though I had known what was going on for the better part of the day, my emotions got the best of me. I do remember him saying he had one last question to ask me, and that’s when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I also remember that he had to ask me twice because he couldn’t make it out through all of the sobs! Fortunately, though, while I didn’t know it at the time, a good friend of his was hiding and got the whole proposal on video!

After I finally managed to get out a “yes,” we popped some champagne and spent some time on the deck by ourselves taking pictures. We also had dinner at the restaurant afterwards (which became leftovers because we both were too excited to eat) and then went home to call our friends and family.

The band: I definitely want a white-gold band with pavé diamonds to match my engagement ring; however I’m also considering a double band with the same size stones or one band on each side.

Read other PW Reader Ring stories here. 

Wanna submit your ring? Here’s how: Show Us Your Bling! 

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