Live from SoYoureEnGAYged.com…it's us!

Kelly Prizel Bio | Posts

Welcome to my (soon to be “our”) debut blog on SoYoureEngayged.com! First, I want to thank the creators/collaborators  of www.SoYoureEnGAYged.com for creating such a wonderful resource to all gay couples out there…our community needs more proactive innovators like yourselves. It’s going to be quite an adventure, and I’m thrilled to be part of such an exciting project. So, on behalf of myself, my partner and our fellow members of the gay community, thank you!

So, with that said, let the blogging commence…

I’m going to start my first couple blogs anonymously, well, simply because I haven’t actually proposed to my girlfriend yet…and I don’t want her to accidentally stumble upon this website. So, in order to “protect the identity of those involved” for now I’ll refer to my girlfriend Glinda. (a reference to one of our favorite Broadway shows, Wicked) A more detailed introduction will follow after I officially pop the question. (YIKES!)

“The Ring”. Shopping for an engagement ring has been interesting. Throughout our relationship Glinda has managed to casually “point out” styles of rings she likes, and somehow she managed to make sure I knew what ring size she wears.  Love her to death, but, she just doesn’t believe in subtle hints apparently, HA! So, I had been looking at rings for a couple months now, and was waiting for the right time to actually make the investment. Glinda went out of town for a couple days, so I took advantage, the time had come! I dedicated 2 days to seriously shopping, with wonderful moral support of course…my step-mother and my best friend. It was a bit surreal at times…not because I was shopping for a girl, but, that I had finally come to that point in my life when I was ready to make such a commitment. As confident as I am that Glinda is who I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with, I was muy nervioso!! So, there we were bouncing in and out of jewelry stores….comparing settings, carat sizes, talking endlessly about color, clarity & cut…it was an experience. At times, we got a good laugh, when the sales person would suggest I treat myself to such a beautiful “right hand ring”, so I would simply say that it’s not for me…it’s an engagement ring for my girlfriend. Some of the sales people would just politely say, “oh…” and continue with showing me rings, etc. Whereas, others just lit up…they loved that they were part of something so unconventional, yet traditional. I answered many curious questions ranging from “how long have you been together?” to “so, is she going to buy you a ring also? because…she should…you deserve it!” (My guess is that they were just trying to upsell me to be more, in case you haven’t heard, the economy isn’t so great these days).

Finally, after running from store to store for 2 days, there it was…what I will refer to as ‘da ring! It was a beautiful white gold, 1 carat asscher cut diamond ring. F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S (yet very modest, trust me)! I was thrilled, as was my BFF who was with me…she gladly modeled the piece for all in the store. I knew Glinda would love it, so, I bit the bullet…and threw the money on the counter. My sales guy, a lovely English chap, was thrilled to see the beautiful ring go to someone as excited as I was. So, there ya have it, I bought my first (and lets hope only) engagement ring…for a woman…and it was perfect. The process was so much fun, and ironically enough, very traditional also. All of the vendors were incredibly supportive for this “alternative” engagement…which gives me a tremendous amount of hope that the wedding planning will be just as seamless. At this point, I just hope the ring is beautiful enough to compliment the gorgeous girl’s hand I intend to place it on within the next few months!!

Stay classy -

Elphaba