It’s a known fact that surprises are hard to keep from your other half when you’re already living together, spending your weekends together and knowing the other’s timetable of where and when they should be at work or home. They might not admit it, but those surprise Christmas and Birthday presents that you thought were so well-thought were probably somewhat expected. So, when you’ve finally realised that you’ve found ‘the one’ and you’re ready to take the plunge, how do you do it without giving anything away and keeping it all a surprise? We’ve listened to our customers and collected some of the best tips on how to keep it all a secret, even when you’re too excited and at risk of breaking the news yourself!
1. Money Saving
When you’ve made the decision that you’re going to propose, the first thing that you’ll need to think about is how to save your money in secret. Most often at this stage of your relationship, you’ll be sharing bank accounts so your surprise will be ruined straight away if you start stockpiling your money in plain view for your other half to see.
Our favourite suggestion to keep this a secret is to choose a trustworthy family member and ask them to set up a new savings account in their name so that your other half won’t see money going missing and won’t be receiving mail for your new account at your joint home address. Have your employer deposit a percentage of your salary into this separate account until you’ve saved up for the ring. Want to go one step better? Time this alongside your yearly review. If you get a pay increase, have your increased amount deposited into a separate account and your other half will never suspect a thing!
2. Choosing the Ring
When you’ve saved up the money that you’ve budgeted for a ring, don’t be obvious about figuring out what style of ring your other half would want. Asking questions or casually stopping by a jewellers like you’re purely browsing is too obvious and you will be suspected. These days, a lot of wedding planning happens through social media platforms like Instagram or Pinterest. We suggest looking at what Instagram accounts your other half has followed or what they’ve pinned on Pinterest to get an idea of the style of ring that they’ve always dreamt for themselves. And if you can’t find any clues from there, make an appointment booking, ask us for an empty box and propose with the promise that you’ll be attending your appointment together to choose the perfect ring.
3. Tell Nobody!
When something is exciting, people have the tendency to blurt it out and we’re talking about all people, not just you. If you tell someone about your plans and they’re just as excited as you are, you are now risking the surprise be ruined if both of you can’t keep your mouth shut. The problem gets exponentially worse when you tell a whole circle of people - you’ll feel yourself becoming stressed whenever your other half is near the people you’ve told and we don’t recommend that! The safest thing is not to tell anyone about your plans and if you really have to tell someone, tell your dog, cat or a small child who can’t talk yet. These are your only true options if you want your secret to be kept safe!
4. Distract them
Whilst you’re in the biggest planning phase of your life, you want to make sure your partner is completely distracted by a separate big project or life event that ensures they’ll never suspect a proposal is coming. Projects that are expensive or take up a lot of time are ideal, like planning to buy a house together, renovating your existing home or preparing for a big holiday together. If you’re putting all your time and effort into this, they won’t even stop to think that you could be planning something else at the same time.
5. Where to keep the ring
One of the worst mistakes couples can make is buying the ring and bringing it home with you too far in advance of your planned proposal date. At SH Jewellery, we offer a hold service where we can keep your purchased ring on site for a limited time, allowing you to pick it up just when you need it.
Alternatively, our customers have said they’ve hidden the ring inside their tool box in the garage, inside the pocket of a suitcase that won’t get used before the day or in the pocket of a seasonal piece of their own clothing like a woolen coat during summer.
6. In the lead up
So you’ve saved the money, bought the ring or have your appointment booked with the jeweller and you’re in the home stretch. Now it’s time to plan the perfect proposal and ensure that all your hard work of keeping the surprise isn’t ruined on the day by poorly executed plans.
When coming up with your idea, make sure not to stray too far from your usual routine. Anything slightly out of the ordinary will raise a red flag immediately. If you’re away on holiday together and your usual routine doesn’t involve pre-planning your days, an overly planned day is going to stand out as unusual. Instead, aim to suggest the places you’d like to go for the day and be prepared to change your plans or your proposal day last minute if they win the discussion.
If it’s just a usual weekend near home, plant the seed early and make sure that nothing seems out of the ordinary. Start talking about a new restaurant that you’re really keen to try out or plan ahead for an event like their birthday or your anniversary. Usually, people trying to keep secrets give it all away when they’re trying not to let their other half in on any plans, but if you start talking about where you’d like to go in a couple of weeks, they won’t suspect a thing!
7. On the day
You made it! You’ve followed our tips and kept your entire proposal planning a complete surprise and now you’ve arrived at the big day. Most couples want their special moment captured on camera, so try and arrange for a photographer to be somewhere in the distance who might be able to capture the moment you’re down on one knee. Once he or she says yes, they’ll probably be overwhelmed and won’t know what to do next. Have a celebration drink planned at a special location and whisk them off for a romantic beverage before all their friends and family arrive to continue celebrating your engagement. Our newlyweds have often said they wish the proposal lasted longer, so extending the night out into a party is the best way to keep it going!
Need help finding the ideal engagement ring?
Our friendly sales team have many years of experience and can help you find the perfect ring for your loved one. Simply visit our SH Showroom in Springvale and take advantage of a free consultation to discuss your jewellery and diamond requirements. However, so that we can better serve you, we recommend that you book an appointment for your consultation, especially for weekend times.
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Alternatively, contact our team, or shop our collection of engagement rings online today.
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