Our Favorite New England Love Stories

Providence, RI

Six years after they started dating in high school, Zach took Mickey to dinner in a dimly lit restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, where they were two of the four customers the restaurant had that night. “We ordered dinner and then Zach started to hum 'Call Me Maybe,' " Mickey says. But when he started singing out loud, he changed the words to: “Hey, it's been six years now, and this is crazy, I got you a ring, so marry me maybe?” “I began to laugh, which was odd because I am a crier, but I didn't cry,” Mickey recalls. “Needless to say, I said 'yes!' ” The ring: Kay Jewelers

Dennis, MA

One day, Greg told Christi he made plans for them to meet his brother and his family at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan for a fun outing together. So Christi and Greg headed to Central Park for a picnic before meeting the others. “We settled in a spot right in front of Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond," Christi says. While they were eating, a dog got off his leash and ran over to them. “I realized her butt was wet from sitting in the grass and I panicked, thinking I had had similar misfortune, and stood up quickly to make sure my pants weren't wet,” she says. Greg took that opportunity to kneel down on one knee, pull the ring out of his pocket and ask her to marry him. “Little did I know, there were no plans to meet up at the zoo together -- that was just a scheme to get me into the park and not think anything of a romantic picnic lunch there. We then went to the zoo, just the two of us." The ring: Ortman & Sheff

Newport, RI

Allie, Dale and Allie's family went on a cruise together after the couple had dated for almost four years. Although they were all together for the trip, Dale planned a dogsledding excursion with just Allie and him in Skagway, Alaska. But Adam, Allie's youngest brother, unexpectedly decided to join their little side trip. “Dale, Adam and I boarded a helicopter early in the morning, which took us to Denver glacier," Allie says. “After getting on the dogsled, Dale asked the musher to stop to take a picture, and it was then that he got down on one knee and proposed. I was very shocked! It ended up working out to have Adam in on the proposal as he was able to also capture a great picture of the moment." The ring: Mullen Bros. Jewelers

Wooster Square, New Haven, CT

Anthony and Ryan met through mutual friends at Boston University. Three and a half years later, Anthony was studying at Yale to get his PhD while Ryan lived in Washington, DC, in an apartment next to the Smithsonian's National Zoo. “Each week, Ryan sent me a new postcard highlighting different animals at the zoo," Anthony says. “One weekend in September, after dating for about three and a half years, I was visiting him. He brought me to the zoo and proposed to me in front of the gray wolf exhibit.” Afterward, they grabbed hot dogs and picked out rings together, which they wore on their right hands until their wedding day. The ring: Tiffany & Co.

Bloomfield, CT

Shayna and Dro were spending the day in Boston checking out restaurants and doing some shopping when Dro (a sneaker fanatic) mentioned that he really wanted to go to the Nike store. Shayna found pair of gym sneakers she wanted to try on and Dro went to find a salesperson to get her size. After taking her time putting on a pair of socks, Shayna turned around to find the sneakers with a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring. "I was beyond shocked!" she recalls. “I looked at Dro and he was already down on one knee asking me to marry him. I jumped up and said, 'yes!' ” The ring: David S. Diamonds