Austin Katz didn’t want a spectacle. He wanted something that felt like them.
He and Heather had been together two years, and the plan he landed on was simple enough to describe in a sentence: propose on their anniversary, at the restaurant where they’d had their first date. Full circle, no audience.
The part that made it work was the two years of misdirection that came first.
Austin had been telling Heather for ages that he already had the ring and was hiding it in her junk drawer — mostly as a running joke, partly as an increasingly transparent attempt to get her to finally clean it out. She never cleaned it out. She also never believed him.
So when the moment actually came, in Dania Beach, just the two of them, she had no idea.
They weren’t quite as alone as they thought. Seconds after she said yes, a security guard drove past and delivered a perfectly timed “WOOHOO!” out the window of her vehicle. Austin says it made them both laugh and somehow improved the whole thing.
Two years after their first date, they walked out of the same place engaged.
The ring
Austin came to us with an inspiration photo and a clear description of what he wanted. What he left with was a platinum ring with a lab-grown round brilliant center stone at 2.59 carats, F color and VVS2 clarity, certified by IGI.
The detail work is where it earns its keep. Lab-grown diamonds run three-quarters of the way around the shank, and there’s a hidden halo set into the underwire beneath the center stone - 0.49 carats total, D-;F color, VS clarity. It’s the kind of thing you don’t see straight on and can’t stop noticing once you do.
I gave them a photo of the ring I was using as inspiration and described exactly what I was looking for, and somehow they managed to exceed my expectations. The finished ring is legitimately perfect and came out even better than what I had originally envisioned. Their ring builder technology was also really cool and made it easy to visualize the design throughout the process. It’s not often that you give someone an inspiration photo and the final product actually turns out better, but that was absolutely the case here.
From our bench on Jewelers’ Row to a quiet anniversary dinner in Florida, congratulations, Austin and Heather. And to whoever was working security that night: well played.
Planning something of your own? Whether you arrive with a photo on your phone or nothing but an idea, Engagement Ring Specialist Brett will help you design it. Browse our Philadelphia engagement rings or book an appointment with House of Milner to begin.
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