On July 7, 2006, Vanda had drove to Cuong’s apartment so they could leave for dinner at Café de France to celebrate Vanda’s return from a month-long vacation in Thailand. No one answered the door, so using her key, she walked through the door only to find 200 red and white rose petals scattered across the room and dozens of glowing candles. On the computer in the background was Eric Clapton playing on iTunes.

Finally, her attention drew towards a large box wrapped in Christmas paper (typical of Cuong). Vanda had gone to open it only to find another box, and another box, and another box…until she finally got to a ring-sized box. When she opened it, the box itself was empty (ring-less). Slightly confused and aggravated, she went to the front door to see if Cuong had returned only to find him standing in the doorway spruced up in a suit. There in his hand he held the ring. As he got down on one knee, he asked, “Is this what you were looking for?” The rest is history.

View our photo gallery of the proposal→