Jeweler collecting ‘she said yes’ stories, good and bad

Washington--Mervis Diamond Importers launched its “She Said Yes!” contest last month inviting consumers to share the story of how they got engaged, and the retailer’s not limiting entries to proposals that were perfect.

Former Mervis Diamond Importers client and current NFL player Greg Jones proposed on the field after the NY Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012, inspiring the retailer to launch the “She Said Yes!” contest.Winners of the best engagement story will receive $1,000 toward a platinum wedding band, and the worst proposal will win $500 toward a platinum wedding band. In both cases, the money can be applied to any jewelry if the couple already has wedding bands.

Mervis began taking submissions for the contest in early November, and received more than 60 entries for the Best Marriage Proposal contest, with entries ranging from surprise getaways, private plane adventures and dinner surprises.

Each week, the company will feature 15 of the proposals on the Mervis Facebook page for voting, and the top two from each week will move on to the finals.

Week two of four closed for voting for the best stories Thursday night at midnight. The company only received two submissions for the “worst” proposal, so both automatically will move on the finals.

Finalists will be announced on Jan. 13.

The inspiration for the contest came from Mervis client and current NFL linebacker Greg Jones, who proposed to now-wife Mandy after his team, the New York Giants, won the Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. The two were married in July.

“At Mervis, we don’t just supply D.C. with engagement rings. We spend time cultivating our client relationships and they become a part of our family,” said Jonathan Mervis, director of business development. “We are often involved heavily in the proposal process and love hearing all of their happy stories after the proposals. There is nothing we love more than a great proposal story, which made this contest the perfect fit for us.”