Harry Belafonte, actor, singer and political activist married Julie Robinson on March 8th, 1957. Julie, a former dancer with the Katherine Dunham’s Dance Company, has been a true partner to Harry since their first union. Not only has Julie taken part in Harry’s many causes, but they even performed together in the 1972 film, Buck and the Preacher.
Though Harry aided the civil rights movement in the United States, he has created much negative criticism for himself with political comments he made in 2002. So after good times and bad, 53 years of marriage, three children and numerous career success, this couple is still going strong. Congratulations!
Last week, Laura and Wesley became the first couple to win back-to-back weekly contests. Will they go for a three-peat or will one our new couples knock them out of the competition? You decide!
You can vote once a day for your favorite couple, so make sure to come back tomorrow and cast your ballot for your proposal of choice!
UPDATE: You may have the noticed that the poll was down for a few hours today. We have reposted and for the first time in Proposal of the Week Contest history, we will have our poll close on SATURDAY to give our contestants equal time. So you have until Saturday (March 13th) at 12:05 am to vote!
1. Laura Clontz & Wesley Hargrove
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Date: November 25, 2009
Wesley & Laura
Laura writes: Wesley and I have known of each other since elementary school. He was in love with my best friend in fifth grade.
We “went out” in eighth grade for a month or so. Different middle schools was so rough, and it didn’t last. In high school, we became great friends and started dating again sophomore year. When it was time for college, I stayed in our hometown, and he went off to Santa Barbara, California, where he’s been most of the year for the last four years. Even with the long distance, we knew that we were perfect. In total, we will have been together for six years this March.
In November, I came to visit from Texas for Thanksgiving and Wesley’s birthday. He took me to a beach that we often visited during the summer we lived in Santa Barbara, with cliffs overlooking the beach and the ocean. It was sunset, which is our favorite time of day. As we sat and talked on the cliffs, Wesley said he wanted to go down to the beach. We both stood up, but instead of walking down the cliffs, he knelt down, took the ring out of his pocket, and asked me to marry him.
I said yes, and he told me that the people behind us with cameras were his friends taking pictures of us, so we now have pictures from the actual proposal! We spent the rest of the night on the phone with family and friends!
We’re now planning our marriage on October 23, 2010 here in Texas. And even though we’re still 1600+ miles apart, we know that there is nothing else that we would rather be doing. This is love.
2. Jessica Glassberg & Derek Heeren
Location: The Griffith Observatory – Los Angeles, CA
Date: December 20, 2008
Jessica & Derek
Jessica writes: The morning of Saturday, December 20th, 2008, Derek said, “Let’s go to the Griffith Observatory!” I had a lot of errands to run, but excited by his spontaneous enthusiasm, grabbed my camera and headed out.
After falling asleep in the planetarium (it’s cool and quiet… don’t judge), I thought we should go… my errands weren’t gonna run themselves. But Derek insisted we walk outside to take pictures…
We strolled to this secluded area with a great view but my camera ran out of space. Derek said he was going to tie his shoe, which I shrugged it off with a sarcastic, “good for you,” and proceeded to concentrate on my camera. When Derek started to tell me how much he loved me, without looking up, I nodded with a “Yeah, yeah, I love you too.”
And then I started thinking… “Man, Derek has been tying his shoe for an awfully long time.”
It was then that I realized he was down on one knee with an opened ring box. The rest was a blur of screaming, excited cursing and confusion, “What the %&*^ is that?” lots of “‘Oh my G-d, oh my G-d.” And of course… “YES! YES YES!”
3. Kayla Maxwell & Cameron Bailey
Location: Overlook of the city in Pittsburgh, PA
Date: February 7th, 2010
Cameron & Kayla
Kayla writes: Cameron and I had planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day a week early this year so we could avoid the packed restaurants. He chose to take me to The Melting Pot since neither of us had been there, and he wanted us to go somewhere that our city didn’t have. The day before our dinner it started snowing really hard and we ended up getting about a foot of snow. But he was determined we were going anyways.
When we got to Pittsburgh, the roads were horrible but he insisted on taking me up on the mountain to the overlook of the city. We finally made it up to the overlook after trying about four different roads, and the view was absolutely gorgeous.
After taking some pictures he decided he was going to give me my Valentine’s Day gift early. So he handed me a little black bag and in it was a very pretty charm bracelet. He put it on me and then asked me to read what it said, he had it engraved to say “Will you marry me?” He then pulled out the ring box and asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes!
Now that you’ve read their stories, it’s time to vote for your favorite.
Cast your vote below. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and vote. The results will be posted on Saturday!
Hey, it's the coolest bird around! This guy looks awesome in feathers, so just leave it to the expert.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an idiot bride in feathers.
Listen, if you don’t want to feel like the a lot of the brides of the ’80s feel about their ugly dresses, do not attach feathers to them. Trends, especially kitschy ones, are not a good idea for a wedding gown. You probably would like to look at these photos when you are old, unless you get divorced. Even then, it will still be nice to see how young and hot you were and you don’t want to be ashamed!
Feathers add nothing to a gown except bulk and confusion. Is it toilet paper? Is it ruffles? Is it a real bird? Is it plush? Is my friend an idiot? I can also imagine the brides that can’t afford top of the line feathers molting everywhere. I think this is a trend all brides should pass up.
Unless…
I think feathers are awesome accents for head pieces, bouquets, or any other subtle detail of the sort. Flowers and expensive tiaras are for divas so if you want to be a little different, I’m fine with it. Like I always say, keep it classy.
Check out some dos and don’ts concerning this feathered trend.
