On March 26, 2008 I proposed to Bodrey Won at the Claremont Resort and Spa in Berkeley. The proposal was a surprise, as March 26th is Bodrey's birthday. Bodrey made it clear previously that she did not want to be proposed to on her birthday, New Year’s, Xmas, or any holiday. I wanted the entire event to be a complete surprise so I decided to propose on her birthday.
Wednesday, March 26th started off with me dropping her at work in the morning. I used the excuse that traffic would be bad and that it would make sense for me to drop her off and pick her up so we can take advantage of carpool. Bodrey didn't know where dinner reservations were or anything, all she knew was that after work we would go back to my apartment and change before we go to dinner. I dropped her off at work and then returned to my apartment. At that time I packed an overnight luggage with my stuff and all her clothes, make-up, and anything else that I thought she would need. Once everything was packed, I loaded up the car and headed to the floral shop.
After a short drive across the bridge, full of questions and curiosity, we arrived at the Claremont. Once we arrived, I immediately took her to the Spa to enjoy the massage and facial I had arranged. During her three hour treatment, I checked into the hotel and arranged all the small details with the concierge. Once Bodrey's treatment was completed, I picked her up from the Spa and informed her of our dinner reservations at "Jordan's". In the meantime, she was still confused as to where she would actually get ready for dinner. Little did she know, I had it all taken care of. I took her up to the best room at the Claremont, which had the most gorgeous view of the entire SF waterfront - you could see everything from the room’s windows. My friend Bekah had hooked me up and rented us the room for several hours so we could get ready for dinner. She was still confused to how to get ready without her things with her. So then, I showed her the carefully packed luggage with everything she might need. While she was in the shower, I got dressed and stuffed the huge ring box into my sock and hoped to God that she would not see the tumor in my ankle. All dressed, we headed out to dinner together. We were seated by the window with a great peaceful view and had a delicious dinner. We then shared our wonderful day with each other over dinner and dessert.
After dinner I told her I was full and wanted to get some fresh air, so we headed out to the balcony of the hotel. It was a public balcony, but I arranged for it to be exclusive only to us. It was a beautiful night… the sky was painted with hues of purple, pink, and blue. We started talking about the past and I started to get really really cheesy. I got up and wandered around the balcony and pointed to our room which was adjacent to us and said, "Wow the room is huge." She turned around and looked up at our room and noticed something different that almost blew my plans. Through the window, she saw a table that wasn’t there when we left it. I played it off and told her it was nothing and not to worry about it. While she was turning around to face me again, I started to get down on one knee. Immediately she knew what was going on, and she started to tell me "What are you doing, no, no, you can't do that yet!" In the mist of her confusion, excitement, and emotions, she said, "You can't without my parents permission!" I disregarded her statement and proceeded to ask her… "Will you marry me?" She immediately said "YES" yet still wanted to know if I had received her family’s blessing.
** Rewind ** About a month before, during one of my business trips to Southern California, Audrey, Bodrey’s sister, helped me arrange a dinner with her parents at Morton's, so that I could have the opportunity to ask for their daughter’s hand in marriage. Before our scheduled dinner, I stopped by the restaurant earlier to drop off a bottle of champagne, in preparation of celebrating the family’s approval. Since I was so nervous, I started out with a martini to calm my nerves and help build courage. Dinner commenced and thankfully Audrey was there to facilitate some of the dialogue. After some awkward moments, I was finally able to express my love for Bodrey and also outline what I had in mind for our future. Then and there, I asked her parents for their daughter’s hand in marriage. Happily, they approved and I was relieved.
As I retold Bodrey the story and explained to her that I did get her family’s approval prior to the proposal, she kinda got a little upset that nobody spilled the beans to her. Several of Bodrey's close friends knew that I got her parents’ permission and all were able to keep it a secret from her for over a month, and I'm very thankful for it. In the middle of the excitement we went back up to the “best” room with the intent to check out and head back home. Throughout the day I teased her about having to go back to work after such a nice day, keep in mind it's a Wednesday. She was pretty bummed out that we had to work the next day, but the surprises didn't end there just yet.
As we returned to our room, there was the table set up by the window that Bodrey had noticed earlier on the balcony. For celebration, on the table were chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne. We celebrated and enjoyed ourselves for a few moments, then we immediately started to call family and friends to share the great news. Just after her last telephone call, I released the next surprise… I told her that we didn't have to work for the rest of the week and this “best” hotel room was ours for the night. Without work to worry about, I told her our week getaway plan.... Napa!
Love,
Kenny Ro
