Long Island couples share their engagement stories
Quick Summary
Everybody loves a good marriage proposal. Here are five amazing proposals by Long Islanders.
Photo credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa | Craig Lynn of St. James wanted to give his girlfriend of seven years, Kerri Wilson, the engagement of her dreams. He had a nice blueprint to go by. Wilson had fallen in love with a commercial in which a guy proposes to his wife on the Spanish Steps in Rome; and Lynn, 46, president of Southampton Brick & Tile in Old Bethpage, was determined to recreate that moment for her.
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Everybody loves a good marriage proposal. TV shows and the Internet, especially youtube.com , are filled with so-called best proposals ever.
We decided to get in on the act and found five amazing proposals by Long Islanders. Here they are:
Marriage Proposal, Act 1
Jennifer Li, 26, a fifth-grade teacher at Gardiner Manor in Bay Shore, is a huge fan of "Spring Awakening."
How huge? She saw the Broadway musical, which won eight Tony Awards, six times.
The last one was the charm. That's where James Beneduce, her boyfriend of five years, proposed to her.
"She's obsessed with the play," said Beneduce, 40, a professional actor and a teacher at Five Towns College and Suffolk County Community College.
The two attended the Aug. 21, 2008, performance at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in Manhattan, and had seats onstage, which was unusual. After the show, actor Hunter Parrish, who played the lead role of Melchior Gabor, called Beneduce to the microphone.
Beneduce, who had hidden the engagement ring in his sock, then called Li center stage. He knelt before her and proposed.
"There was so much screaming from the audience that I was sure he couldn't hear my answer," said Li, "so I just nodded my head and then jumped into his arms."
"A lot of people have talked about how I've set the bar really high for anyone else proposing," said Beneduce, who lives in Ronkonkoma with Li. "I wasn't thinking about any of that. It was just the perfect way to propose to my Jenny."
In this castle, I thee ask
When it comes to marriage proposals, Mom knows best. Just ask Katie Donofrio, 25.
On Dec. 9, 2005, her mother insisted she dress up for her dinner with her then-boyfriend, Mike Donofrio, 26.
Katie didn't feel like changing out of her jeans since she had been home all day because of a snowstorm. Still, she did. And a good thing, too.
"He took me out to dinner to Matteo's in Huntington Dec. 9 and told me of his plans for a surprise night of wine-tasting at Oheka Castle ," Katie said.
"We had been to the castle the year before for Valentine's Day, and I was actually speechless by its beauty -- a rarity. Naturally, I was thrilled to go back."
The wine-tasting, of course, was a ruse.
Michael guided Katie to the Gatsby Suite.
"I walked through the garden archway covered in romantic white lights to see rose petals and candles beautifully gracing the elegant room. At that point, Mike got down on one knee and proposed."
They were married in July 2007 and now live in Commack.
In Rome, romance steps up
Craig Lynn of St. James wanted to give his girlfriend of seven years, Kerri Wilson, the engagement of her dreams. He had a nice blueprint to go by.
Wilson had fallen in love with a commercial in which a guy proposes to his wife on the Spanish Steps in Rome; and Lynn, 46, president of Southampton Brick & Tile in Old Bethpage, was determined to recreate that moment for her.
The Spanish Steps, which has 138 steps, is one of the most majestic staircases in Europe.
Lynn convinced Wilson, 30, an aesthetician, to accompany him to Europe to attend a conference; they would take a short vacation afterward.
On the morning of Sept. 30, 2006, Lynn took Wilson to the center landing of the Spanish Steps, dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him.
She said, "Yes." And the applause of hundreds of onlookers exploded around them.
Wilson immediately called her parents on her cell to tell them the good news, gushing, "I'm so excited, I wish you were here."
They were, and so was her brother and sister-in-law. Lynn had secretly invited them.
"This was, like, forget it," said Wilson about the proposal. "He knows how important my family is to me, and he wanted them to be a part of it."
A betrothal on the bay
Courtney Haas once believed that her fiance, Russell Riley, could never surprise her.
The two, who live in Lindenhurst, had dated since they were seniors at St. Anthony's High School in Huntington; and Haas figured she could read him easily after 10 years.
Not so.
"We were watching a Yankees game when he suddenly suggested we go for a boat ride," Haas, 27, said.
They went out into the Great South Bay in Riley's grandfather's boat. Haas' seat is the one above the engine. So, when the boat stopped, she became annoyed when she had to move to give him access to the motor.
"At first, I didn't even notice him kneeling in front of me with the ring," she said of the June 8, 2008, proposal that came one day before her birthday.
Her answer: "Yes."
Riley, 28, even surprised Haas, a budding civil engineer, with the ring. A few months earlier, he asked her opinion about a friend's engagement ring. "I explained how I liked straight lines and a few other things," Haas recalled. "The ring was perfect. It is one large square stone with a smaller square stone on either side."
A proposal grows in Planting Fields
Gabriel Cruz was determined that no one would spoil his surprise for then-girlfriend of three years, Cynthia Ortiz, not even Ortiz.
"The week before was our three-year anniversary together," Ortiz, 28, said. "He had told me he had a special gift for me. I just knew it was an engagement ring."
When they went to dinner that evening, Cruz, 30, told her that her special gift wasn't in yet and she'd have to wait until it arrived. The next week, he told her to come downstairs to the car. "I was expecting a ring; he gave me a new bike," Ortiz said.
"Then he suggested a walk at Planting Fields Arboretum [in Oyster Bay], but didn't want me to take my new bike."
Cruz, who works for the State Parks Department, had taken her to Planting Fields before, and she loved it. "I knew it was the perfect place," he said. "It was drizzling that day, and I wasn't sure where to stop and ask the question. Finally, we stopped under the big tree by Coe Hall."
There, he proposed.
"He picked the perfect time," said Ortiz, who added that they could hear a jazz concert in the background. "I was so surprised."
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