Can You Get Engaged on the Moon? Ben Kaplan's Romantic Wedding Proposal Weddings Relationships

When Ben Kaplan, an American author and CEO of PR Hacker, decided to propose to his French girlfriend, Virginie, he had to think outside the box. Virginie didn't want a diamond ring and isn't big on cliché. But Ben had an idea. Because Virginie had once put a French twist on English idiom by telling him, "I love you to the moon and back and forth," Ben located the place in Hawaii that was closest to the moon, then recruited a photographer to capture the moment.

Ben's custom-made ring for Virginie, designed and forged in less than two weeks, was made for the lunar setting. The ring shows the earth and moon in an infinity loop – going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Five photographers said altitude and weather made an engagement at the top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano, nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, a bad idea. But the sixth said, "Go big or go home!" And the rest is history. 

Here is Ben Kaplan’s engagement announcement:

“Over one year ago, I walked into an open door and heard myself say an audible ‘wow.’ Sitting at the counter was the most spectacular woman I had ever seen.

Who was she? How could I talk to her? Was she single?

I stole one more glance, hoping she wouldn't notice I was creeping. She smiled.

Little did I know, my world was about to be spun around and turned completely upside down. One day, she even told me: ‘I love you to the moon and back and forth.’ I loved the French twist on the English idiom so much that the ‘and forth’ stuck.

It was a little challenging to figure out how to propose. Virginie doesn't wear jewelry, doesn't care for diamonds, doesn't love rings and isn't big on cliches.

The observatories at Mauna Kea, at nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, is as close to the moon as you can get in Hawaii.

Her ring shows the Earth and the moon in an infinity loop … going back and forth, back and forth, and back and forth again.

In broken French, I asked her to marry me. She said, ‘oui.’"