My Blog: February 2009

Hey guys and gals,

Its been a long time... I have been super busy working on getting my productions company off the ground and rolling.
Find out more about TMI @

www.tmivideos.com
or
www.themovingimagecompany.com

Just in case you didnt hear, Yes I am Engaged, On January 28th 2009, Stefanie and I had an amazing dinner at the TRIO in the Four Seasons Hotel, Austin TX. Read about it here

Austin American Statesman

Engaging proposals: Hotel has propelled many couples toward the altar

By Helen Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, February 14, 2009

It was a painstakingly planned proposal. The young man would take his intended for a hot air balloon ride and, high in the sky, ask her to marry him.

But when the time came, the young woman would have no part of it.

"There was no way in creation she was going to go near the balloon, let alone actually climb into the basket," says Tommy Dean, the Four Seasons Austin concierge who booked the balloon ride for the guy.

So, Dean quickly hatched Plan B: A romantic dinner was booked in the hotel's restaurant, after which the pair retired to their room. There, they encountered a helium balloon from which dangled a little truffle box containing the ring.

Dean says he was told that the bride laughed at the balloon, then cried when she discovered the ring.

It was just one of many tricks that Dean and others at the Four Seasons have pulled out of their hats to help elicit an "I do."

"I'm not Cupid, but Cupid is certainly in my Rolodex," says Dean, who's been a concierge at the hotel for 22 years.

Trio restaurant manager Paul Duce has been up to his ears in engagements, too — 34 proposals in the year and a half since Trio opened.

He set up the big night for Christian Cisneros and Stefanie Peralez, both of Lockhart, on Jan. 28, Peralez's birthday. Duce and Cisneros used a typical Four Seasons scenario: After dinner, Duce walked over to the couple's table and suggested an after-dinner drink outside. The cool evening could have put a chill on the proposal, but Duce was ready with a blanket for Peralez, who happily followed him out to the back patio. Flowers and champagne awaited.

"I just wanted something really romantic," Cisneros says. "It was great. She started crying and said, 'Yes.' "

Dean says he can't remember a "No" in all his years. Duce says he's had two. In one case, the bride-not-to-be fled the dining room; in another the woman just laughed and said, "Are you kidding?" and kept chatting with the guy.

Most couples keep the proposal traditional, but some do ask for odd setups.

"There's always the ring-in-the-souffl? trick," Dean says, though both he and Duce say rings are seldom put in food.

"I think that's a cop-out," Duce says. "I'm old-school at heart. I think the ring should come out of a box." And, of course, the traditional presentation reduces the risk of the bride swallowing the ring or breaking a tooth on it.

Dean often sets up proposals in the hotel's rooms, sometimes placing photos of the couple in the room, turning on an LED candle ("Flames and hotels aren't a good match") and scattering rose petals on the bed ("But not red roses — they stain the sheets.")

Once, he personally delivered the ring to the couple's room tied to a rose in a bouquet. Sometimes a cruise on Lady Bird Lake is set up, and the ring is presented during the boat ride. One man popped the question in a holiday way by walking his beloved to the hotel's lobby Christmas tree, where she found an ornament that read, "Will you marry me?"

Dean says the important thing is just to propose in a way that's comfortable for the proposer and the proposee.

"She's saying 'Yes' to the guy that you are," Dean says. "Still, I have my bag of tricks to make the magic happen and maybe sway her decision."

handers@statesman.com; 912-2590

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So I am sitting here waiting for my birthday BBQ, and the Oscars tonight. Speaking about the Oscars, If you haven't see the following films, I would highly recommend that you do..