With This Ring…

True Stories of Love, Proposals and Happily Ever Afters

Nancy and Dick Hungate
Wedding Date: October 7, 2000

Love was literally in the air the day that Dick and Nancy Hungate met. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” says Dick, who is a mid-day radio personality for 96.5 The Planet. “I was doing a remote live broadcast at Bloom Brothers Furniture at Southpark Mall one afternoon. Nancy, who was on her way to a nearby store, was listening on her car radio and decided to stop by to enter her name in a contest I had mentioned. When she walked up to where we were broadcasting, it was love at first sight for both of us. Of course, at the time we didn’t say anything to give this away but after she left, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I’ve been in the radio business 35 years and nothing like this had never happened to me before.”

Seizing the moment, Dick gave Nancy a call the very next day and asked her out. She agreed and they met a week later at Appleby’s for what would be the beginning of a wonderful courtship. While dating, Dick realized Nancy was the girl of his dreams and decided to propose to her. “It was a Sunday afternoon and we were on our way to a restaurant to grab a bite to eat after church,” recalls Dick. “As I’m driving down the road, Nancy suddenly realizes that we’re not heading towards the restaurant. When she asks me about it, I casually tell her that I’ve changed my mind and that I want to eat someplace else, when actually I’m heading towards Southpark Mall. At the mall, I get out of the car and stand at the spot where we first met. I motion for Nancy to join me and when she does, I say to her, ‘Will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?’ When she said yes, it was one of the greatest moments in my life.”

Rejena and Bill Carreras
Wedding Date: June 19, 1970

Bill Carreras, President of Carreras Jewelers, Ltd., knows the value of a gem when he sees one. As such, it’s only fitting that he proposed to his wife, Rejena, in 14 karat, solid gold style. “We had been dating for some time,” says Rejena fondly of her early years with Bill. “He was going to New York City on business for Carreras Diamonds and invited me to come along. As an art major who had never been to New York before, I said yes and was so excited, I couldn’t stand it.

Knowing my love of the fine arts and the theatre, Bill arranged our entire trip around things I’d like. He made it a very special weekend for me, taking me to all the places I love, such as the Metropoliation Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the then-controversail Broadway musical, Hair. It was as we were leaving this production that Bill proposed to me. As we had been dating for some time, I had always expected he would propose, but it was still a wonderful surprise when it happened. Of course I said yes.

The irony of it all was that though Bill sold diamonds at the time, he didn’t present me with a ring as he knew I was particular about what I wanted,” says Rejena. “It was a sapphire engagement ring that I picked out and helped design.” Of course, as Vice President of Carreras Jewelers, Rejena knows that diamonds really are a girl’s best friend and she got one of those too!

Anne Holton and Tim Kaine
Wedding Date: November 24, 1984

Destiny certainly played an important role in the successful marriage of Anne Holton, a Judge of the Richmond Juvenile Court, and Tim Kaine, Virginia’s 39th Lieutenant Governor. “After my first year at Harvard Law School, I took a one-year leave of absence to work with Catholic missionaries as the principal of the Instituto Tecnico Loyola, a vocational school teaching carpentry and welding to teenagers in El Progreso, Honduras,” says Kaine, who is the same age as his wife, but because he had finished college in three years, was a year ahead of her at Harvard Law. “When I returned to Harvard, Anne and I ended up in a class together and were involved in the same student organization. Harvard’s a pretty big school — if I hadn’t taken a year off and we hadn’t been in the same class when I returned, we probably wouldn’t have met.”

Grateful that they did, the pair began dating, juggling school and careers as their relationship grew. “After law school, I worked in Macon, Georgia and Anne in Richmond,” Tim says. “We dated back and forth during this time and it was on one of our dinner dates that I asked Anne to marry me. She said yes, but because we had to focus on where to live so we could take the bar exam, our wedding plans were very brief at this point.”

Eventually deciding on Richmond, the couple studied for the Virginia Bar while settling into the area. “We took the bar exam at the end of July and got married that November at St. Elizabeth’s Church, so basically we planned our wedding in 2 « months,” says Tim with a small laugh. Two children and 20 years later, Anne and Tim are still going strong. “To celebrate our upcoming 20th anniversary and how we met, I’m taking Anne to Honduras to visit the area where I worked,” says Tim.

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