Customer Stories
The Perfect Pacific Sunset - Frank & Kara
Once
that I'd decided to propose to my girlfriend, Kara, on a trip that we had
planned to San Francisco in December of 2008, I knew that Dondero's would
be the place to start.
Upon my first visit to the store, Ken took the time to fully explain the engagement ring diamond selection process and throughout the 2 months we worked together, he provided his time and thoughts to help plan my surprise proposal.
Ken even did the impossible. With the ring near completion I decided to add engraving which pushed the completion date to mid-week of our trip. Ken mailed the ring to our hotel and I was able to trick my sleuthing girlfriend into the greatest surprise of her life on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean.
In the airport before we left for our vacation, Kara jokingly asked, as we were going through security, if I had anything shiny in my bag for her. I said, "Wouldn't you like to know?" and she replied, "Actually, I would." She then thought it would be funny to look through my bag on the plane but when she came up emptyhanded, I could tell she was heartbroken.
Well, our week in San Francisco completely took her mind off rings and
proposals and was packed with sights and adventures including a tour of Alcatraz,
walking the Golden Gate Bridge, exploring the Muir Woods, and enjoying the
views of the city. On our last night there, Kara and I made our way off a
trail down a steep, rocky slope to an isolated protrusion of cliff into the
Pacific Ocean at Lincoln Park. As the sun set, Kara turned to me and said, "Well,
I had a great time in San Francisco." As she looked down in disappointment,
I counted the seconds before I knew she would be smiling from ear to ear. 
As I stood, and asked her to stand with me, I took the ring box out of my jacket pocket and wrapped my arms around her. I began with "Over the past 27 months" and ended, on one knee, with "Kara, will you marry me?" I slipped the ring on her finger, following her "YES!", and she cried twice before she even saw the ring!
When I told her later that the ring had arrived in California just the night before, she too was grateful at the lengths that Ken had gone for us to make our special day amazing.
With the perfect proposal, diamond, and couple, our trip could not have been more complete. Wwe thank Dondero's for that special moment on the cliffs of the Pacific.