If you’ve been planning to surprise your girl with a proposal but haven't  found the perfect date and time, have you considered a fourth of July pyrotechnic display as a backdrop to your romantic question?   Sure, you two already make your own fireworks, but consider the possibilities:  

• You will always remember your engagement, and in fact, there will always be fireworks to celebrate the anniversary.
• You can probably take her completely by surprise, since packing a picnic basket with Champaign, strawberries, a blanket and sparkers is par for the course on an Independence Day outing for two.
• You can pop the question surrounded by friends and family, who may just happen to celebrate the fourth with you and your beloved.

  Just in case you don’t already know this, you'll need to have the engagement ring in hand for the event.  If she has never given you a clue about what she would love in a diamond engagement ring, enlist the help of her closest confidante, a friend, sister, or mother– someone who can help you choose the ring of her dreams, and who can be trusted not to spill the beans and spoil the surprise.       Perhaps she’s a traditional girl, who would love a simple band with a one carat round diamond; or maybe she’s been doing some window shopping herself over the years, and she’s longing for an Asscher  or possibly a radiant cut diamond. There are generally 10 shapes of diamonds out there, any one of which will make a spectacular diamond engagement ring, and each girls has at least one preference.   Does she want a yellow gold or white gold, or platinum setting? Will she want to be blinded by the size of the diamond  gracing her left hand for the rest of her life, or would she prefer  a smaller center diamond surrounded by  pave  diamonds?  How about a three-stone diamond engagement ring featuring  emerald or cushion shape diamonds? There are as many choices as there are brides, but still only one ring that will prove to be “the one” for your girl.   If possible, arrange beforehand to have one last fireworks display appear after the usual finale, asking her if she’ll marry you.  Find out who is in charge of your local fireworks display, and get contact information on someone within the fireworks organization who can help you.  If that can’t be done, be prepared to get on one knee and take advantage of the finale. Make sure someone’s there to capture the moment in pictures with the fireworks display going off behind you.   Make it a moment to remember. ###