Jeremy, if your plan is to propose while exploring the city on Friday, I would highly recommend letting the emotion take you where it may. There are so many fantastic "undiscovered" sights in NYC, and you may very well come across something that makes it the perfect moment.

As you plan out your day, you may think of certain "maybe" places...but I would venture to say that if you have THE perfect place in mind, you may find yourself preoccupied rushing her to that particular place and bypassing a lot of the rest. Wait until the moment FEELS right, and just when she thinks the day can't get any better- there you are on your knee!

I happen to think a little bit of planning is a good idea. Otherwise Jeremy will be preoccupied all day with finding the perfect moment. That sounds more stressful to me than a little advanced planning for the perfect setting. I say keep the ideas coming! I like the Central Park idea and the museum too...

Planning or not is definitely a personal choice. I'm way too "type-A" personally to just wing it! I'd get stressed-out looking around for that moment, as cherie points out.

I'd agree with the idea of a Central Park proposal. IMO, nowhere in NYC is as romantic. It's classic. If the weather were warmer, I think the top of the Empire State Building would be great too ("An Affair to Remember," "Sleepless in Seattle").

Jeremy -
Your soon-to-be-financee is a very lucky girl. You are very considerate and romantic!!!! It sounds like this is going to be a weekend that neither of you will ever forget.

I don't have any suggestions for proposal locations (although top of the Empire State Building and Central Park both sound like great ideas).

I can't wait to hear her reaction!

Don't know what time you're arriving in NYC, but what about a helicopter ride and proposing in the air?

I arrive just before 1pm...there are so many ways to do it in New York I am learning.....heck, I could do it right outside the busy train station as a kickoff to "Engagement Weekend," the middle of Times Square, just about anywhere...I am very excited.

The concierge, Chris, at the W Union Square has been unbelieveable. He has emailed me at least twice a day to check on my plans and with advice. Really above and beyond. Made me a reservation at Union Square Cafe in the event we don't want to do Daniel that night. I guess Union Square is a good spot also, I called to get a 8:30 there either night with no luck, but he got it for me.

The lean right now is central park with some privacy, going to search for a good spot in the park.

Is it a bit sad that we all seem to be as excited as you are???
I feel like I'm getting engaged.
Go Jeremy - if you can make us all feel this nervous and excited for you - imagine how Mrs Jeremy will feel !!..

No kidding. This is fantastic!

Whooohoooo! Go Jeremy and furture Mrs Jeremy!

Jeremy, I found the coolest thing to help you in your search for a great romantic place in central park.... go to www.centralpark.com
Then click on "Maps" and there's an interactive map (which uses satellite imagery) and you can zoom in and see all the famous places in the park, read info about each, look at pictures, etc. It's TOO cool. Anyway, check it out... maybe this will help.
Carol

Carol....that is awesome!!! Thank you!

So last night we are watching the NCAA tournament games (what a woman right, she really could probably care less but pretends she does AND cheers for my teams. But I do put up with a lot of Laguna Beach and other weird shows)...anyway, it was just killing me! I was dying to drop a hint.

I am almost positive she knows I am planning something for next weekend. I did ask her to not make any plans so we could spend some time together before her new job, and she asked if we would be leaving town. I lied and told her we would just hang in DC.

Friday's are awesome, great for research since I have worked my a** off this week!

Thanks again, glad you all are feeling it like I am. I promise to post after with the full rundown. Her and I could have a blast doing just about anything. Heck, we made a fort a few weeks back and just holed up in my condo for the weekend and had a blast!

This however, will be awesome.

Oh, and as a bonus, I totally forgot about my tax refund. Meeting with my tax person today so that is definitely going to add to the weekend. Isn't amazing the way things work sometimes?

Dude, you are soooooo right about the refund....Mine was posted overnight....Now I'll spend the weekend thinking how to spend it...hmmmmm....

Don't drop any more hints to her!
She will love all the surprises.

Good luck and congratulations in advance.

check out luxury link... we bid and won a suite in the towers at the ny palace for my 40th birthday. the same package is up for bid, follow the link below. it was an amazing and extremely luxurious experience. if you win the auction for the opening bid, it is a very good deal (and includes taxes which really add up to a lot in nyc AND an incredible breakfast and other stuff too).

http://www.luxurylink.com/auctions/a...=128892&save=1

if you bid, call the hotel first to make sure they have space. we stayed there over thanksgiving which you would think would have been blacked out but it wasn't... they were VERY accomodating.

You all make very good points that NOT planning a proposal site might in fact be more stressful.

I just want to clarify that while I think it's good to have an option in mind, if the mood strikes you, don't be afraid to change plans and go with the emotion of the moment!

Here is a little thought. One of the more romantic places in NYC is the park in Brooklyn Heights. You can see the whole NYC skyline from this park. You can access this area via the Brooklyn Bridge. If the weather warms up and the winds die down, you might consider walking the bridge. There is also nice restaurant there called the River Cafe. They claim to see more engagements than any other restaurant in NYC.

When I got I engaged in NYC, my husband booked a show at the Algonquin Hotel. Harry Connick, Jr. played here early in his career to give you an idea of the type show they produce. The whole place gives a sense of a bygone era.

Oh, and good luck. This is really sweet that you are putting so much thought into this.

Jeremy,

How's it going? did you manage to hang out over the weekend and not say anything? you must be getting soooo excited. Let us know how you are going.

I did well, but was definitely aided by the fact I have a pretty bad cold so I spent most (make that all) of the weekend on the couch. Oh well, at least it means I will be 100% for this coming weekend!

Let's see...any new info??? Well, my bigger than expected tax return allowed me to upgrade us to the Acela for our trip. I made a reservation for Buddakan for Saturday night, that really sounds like a cool, new place.

I just need to narrow down the place where I pop the question in the next few days. I am definitely taking all of these into consideration so thank you very much! Central Park is in the lead but given how awesome you all have been with suggestions, I am defnitely open.

Haircut, drycleaning and the other essentials are getting taken care of today!

Jeremy

Flyingmaltese, that is a pretty sweet idea! I just found a site with pictures of the park and the walk along the bridge. Didn't know you could take the walk along the bridge. Here's the thing, we get to the hotel around 1pm Friday and I want to do it that afternoon. Wonder how long it would take me to get from the W Union Square to the brooklyn bridge, walk across, spend some time in the park and maybe have a glass of wine somewhere nearby..then take transportation all the way back since we will have already walked one way on the bridge.

If time allows, that is a very cool idea. I have seen pictures from that park before, just never knew that it was from there.

Jeremy

Weird to think I am going to be living out this thread in about 4 days time!

You should see how the weather is before walking the bridge. It can definitely get very windy there. In fact, it could windy at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. Proposing outdoors might not be comfortable with your cold. The weather is still quite windy in NYC.

How about proposing at a romantic spot of a NYC museum. The Met is very popular but might be too crowded with tourists. A good place in the Met might be the armory collection--you could be her knight in shining armor. The temple in the Egyptian collection is pretty and was a film scene for When Harry Met Sally, but this section is often crowded. There is an European Sculpture and Decorative Arts wing, which I always like to visit because there are floor to ceiling windows of Central Park, and this area is usually calm.

A lot of proposals happen in restaurants. You have a restaurant reservation at Daniel's. That is an excellent restaurant, and I am sure that they can help with a creative marriage proposal. My friend's husband had ordered a bottle of champagne, and he had the waiter put the engagement ring in the glass so that it would ride with the bubbles. He got down on one knee as the waiter poured the champagne. No girl could refuse a proposal like that.

Also, be flexible with wedding proposal plans. My husband proposed to me at an outdoor site in NYC. He chose the Observation Deck of the Empire State Building, despite an elevated terror alert for NYC. Once on the Observation Deck, we could see helicopters clustered where there was the greatest terror threat. There were 3 helicoptors above the Financial District, 2 helicoptors above the Plaza on Central Park, 1 helicoptor above Yankee stadium, and 8 helicoptors surrounding the Empire State Building. At least we learned how King Kong felt.

Remember, if you are planning an outdoor proposal spot, have an indoor Plan B if it doesn't work out because of bad weather.

Jeremy,

You can do what my Jeremy did last June . . .

http://www.alphadreams.com/pics/proposal/proposal3.jpg

It was amazing!