The LEGO engagement
When designers go home, they’re still designers. There’s a tendency to shoehorn everything in our lives into some kind of organized system. So, when I proposed to my adorable girlfriend Kristin this summer, it was (not surprisingly) an overly-complex scheme that involved months of tedious planning. :)
Here’s the short story… Last September, after looking through a LEGO catalog together, it struck me just how perfectly LEGO represented our shared experience. Not only were we both huge LEGO geeks growing up, but neither of us really stopped (being geeks or growing up :). Plus, we first met at a toy store (working at Toys R Us).
Over the next 6 months, I secretly assembled three custom LEGO sets. On July 18th, I wrapped them up and gave them to her as “anniversary” gifts, during a “spontaneous” outdoor picnic. She and I decided awhile ago that we wanted the proposal to be a surprise, so I assembled a LEGO ring and box to stand in for the real thing.
The three gifts were opened in succession: #7181 Kristin & Joe, #7182 Our Favorite Things, and #7183 Engagement Picnic. The sets, the photography, and the boxes were built from the ground-up. The boxes are modeled after the 1980′s LEGO style, the era in which she and I (separately) became life-long LEGO fans.
The boxes were created in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, using a die-line traced from an actual LEGO box. The images are a combination of photography and Photoshop. The boxes were printed on a large-format printer, then trimmed and folded by hand.
There are plenty of additional photos on our Flickr gallery (including some really awesome shots of Kristin as she realizes exactly what’s happening).
Here’s the really, really short story… the wacky plan worked, she said yes, and it was awesome!
Holy crap that’s design-geek awesome, and congratulations!
Wow, those LEGO boxes look EXACTLY how I remember them from childhood. Amazing!
Also, congrats on the engagement!
Joe- I used to be a huge Lego geek back in the day- and this is unbelievable! Love it man. Congrats! Very cool story and the kits are awesome!
This is so awesome. Congratulations!
THIS IS SOOOOOOO SWEEEEEEEET!
THIS is cool! Very very nice! Can I bring my boys in to see them sometime? They’d love ‘em!
I’m just trying to wrap my head around this concept. That’s beyond fanatical. Obsessive? How about just flat-out crazy! A+
Dude-
That is amazing man, so well thought out and perfectly executed.
Well Played Sir, and Congrats!
Wow, wow, wow!! I think you’ve single handedly raised the “how to propose” bar. Congratulations.
Hyperbole aside, this is the greatest thing man has ever created.
I’m amazed and inspired, Joe. How could she have said No?
If LEGO doesn’t make a national ad campaign of this, they’re crazy. Seriously.
CONGRATS
Joe,
Very sweet dude, and very well executed. As a fellow ex-Toys R Us employee from that same era who is now a designer, I especially appreciate this idea and how appropriate it is for you two. Congrats on the engagement, I remember when you two first started dating.
Stoob’
The part that boggles my mind the most is – how you crafted the actual ring! Wow!
Superb. I feel sheepish about my own predictable engagement (many years back). Gorgeous idea brilliantly executed. Congratulations.
I could use one of those rings for my girlfriend. Do you have any 2 karat ones for sale:)?
Hey Adam — Just in case you weren’t kidding, and you actually want to make a LEGO ring, let me know. I can help you with everything but the 2-karat part.
big ups. well done sir and congrats.
perhaps i missed this somewhere along the way though, how did you come up with such specific lego pieces, i’ve been out of the game a little bit, but the really impressive thing to me is the fact the box contained, in those oh so familiar perforated bags, actual lego manifestations of the happy couple and the moment they were sharing.
Hey Sean — I’m glad you asked. Everything you see here is assembled from actual LEGO pieces, purchased individually from BrickLink. The bags are re-sealed from actual LEGO sets.
I’m waiting to see what you do when you have kids.
Hi Joe,
I’m amazed. Truely awesome – and lots of congrats to the both of you from a fellow Lego geek. Your story will definitely be featured on a danish wedding website, I’m writing for.
Wow, really great story. You’re a creative genius. I’m proud to call you my future nephew-in-law.
Joe- I have a friend who would like to propose with a lego ring like the one you created, did you have the ring made by a jeweler?
@Carrie — Take a look at the ring’s Flickr page to see to how it was assembled.