PW Reader Ring: Paige & Chris!

Pagie’s ring!

The couple: Paige Layng and Chris Stein, Philadelphia.

The ring: My ring has a center diamond surrounded by a diamond halo and set in white gold. The center diamond is from my grandmother’s 1953 engagement ring, and Chris had the ring made by personal jeweler Ian Bralow in Marlton.

Since August, Chris had been secretly meeting with Ian at my parent’s house to look at setting options. After seeing a few different styles, Chris described to Ian what he was looking for (we had never looked at rings but when he asked me casually what I liked a few months before, I had half-jokingly told him I just wanted something sparkly and blinged-out!), and a week or so later, Ian called to say he had found the perfect setting. They met up again, and designed the perfect ring. He nailed it with this one … it’s the ring of my dreams!

The proposal: Chris proposed at Franklin Field—the exact spot where we met while running in the Franklin Relays seven years ago. It was planned flawlessly by Chris with the help of his friends and co-workers at Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.

A few weeks earlier, Chris had asked for my help breaking down a Comcast Sportsnet event at the Penn vs. Harvard football game. He asked me to arrive at 4pm, and a few minutes before my arrival, he texted me a screen shot of where to enter the stadium when I got there. In that moment, my heart dropped into my stomach because I knew that was where we met, and I knew that if Chris were going to propose, that this would be the perfect place!

I tried not to get my hopes up as I walked into the stadium, because as soon as I saw Chris, he asked me to breakdown banners! But then, after only a minute, he directed me towards the scoreboard. That’s when I saw it: “Boo will you marry me?” Chris got down on one knee and I started screaming with excitement!  His co-worker filmed the entire proposal from the bleachers, and afterwards, we celebrated with a victory lap around the track and then champagne and dinner at Butcher & Singer. It was the most incredible proposal I could have ever imagined, and nothing compares to the rush of happiness you feel when the love of your life asks you to marry him!

The proposal!

The band: After cupcakes, champagne, and making a ton of phone calls (note to future fiances: make sure you pop the champs before you make the calls, otherwise it’ll never happen!), Chris said he had one more surprise for me. He then pulled out the ring box and in there was a diamond wedding band that fit perfectly into my engagement ring. It is stunning! Chris’ band might have a little less bling, but we plan to have it made again by our favorite jeweler!

Read other PW Reader Ring stories here. 

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