The Garden Wedding

It’s not easy to try and be different, especially when it comes to something that’s once in a lifetime. I remember the agonising process of deciding what would be a suitable gift to propose with. On one hand, I wanted to be different yet at the same time, I was afraid to be different.

The solitaire ring has been the de facto standard for proposals. Most guys would save up for a large piece of rock to propose, and some of the girls I talked to said that they expect nothing else but a solitaire ring from their boyfriends. However, to me, I felt that a solitaire ring is so common (and I don’t want my wife-to-be to get something that almost every other woman has) and it has little significance (aside from bragging rights to other women about the size of the rock, which seems pretty dumb to me).

So, I thought about what would be something that’s meaningful. It then dawned on me that a key would be a nice idea. After all, if I am going to devote myself to only one woman, what else could be a better gift than the only key to my heart? By giving her the key, it means my heart is closed to any other woman other than her, for she has the key to it.

Of course, giving a real key is really tacky in my opinion. So I decided to see if I could find a pretty key shaped pendant. I never recalled seeing any in Singapore in all the jewellery stores I’ve been to, so I thought I might have some luck online. After a few minutes of searching on Google, I found what I was looking for. I didn’t buy it immediately, though. I actually sat on it for a couple of months, thinking about it and asking some female friends for their opinions. None of the friends I asked thought that it was a really bad idea (except for one who insisted that a solitaire ring is the only way to go), so I got the pendant shipped in from the States.

I also tried to dig some information out of Peiying before I bought the pendant. You know, women sometimes say one thing but actually, they are secretly hoping for somethng else. She did tell me before that she felt that diamond rings are a waste of money but I just wanted to be sure. So, before I bought it, I had a small discussion with her about diamond rings and wedding proposals in general. I was quite sure that she wasn’t expecting me to propose anytime soon (I never talked about it at all), the answer she gave should be the complete truth. So, with the reaffirmation that she doesn’t want a diamond ring, I could set my heart at ease about getting something unconventional.

I’m glad she liked the idea (or else I got to do it all over again ). It really wasn’t an easy decision to make because being something that’s once in a lifetime, a mistake would just spoil everything. And, we now have a new joke about throwing the key away so that other women will be permanently locked out of my heart.