Jordana Brewster & Andrew Form

Several Good Ideas for Engagements & Weddings

Meeting on the set of a horror movie might be enough to scare some couples away from the altar, but that’s not the case with one couple who announced their engagement in April 2007 and were married just one month later. Actress Jordana Brewster, who’s probably most well-known for playing Mia in The Fast and the Furious and for being named one of the sexiest women alive by Maxim in 2005, met her new husband, Andrew Form, on the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning in 2005. Andrew was one of the film’s producers.

While their romance is interesting and may be a great story for their future children, what may be more important – at least for the rest of us – are some of the elements of that relationship. For example, Andrew had a sneaky way of picking out Jordana’s engagement ring. While the two of them were browsing through shops, he noticed her admiring a particular 3.2 carat diamond ring. Of course, that’s the ring he ended up choosing for her.

The choosing of the ring may have been smooth sailing but the engagement itself proved more difficult because Jordana suspected a proposal would soon be coming, especially when he took her on a vacation to a California ranch to celebrate their one year anniversary. Because he wanted to surprise her, he waited until things were going badly – they had a big fight in the middle of a department store – and then popped the question.

Just a short time after their engagement, the couple headed to the Bahamas and exchanged their vows in a private ceremony. Unlike high profile couples, they preferred to keep their special day low-key and special instead of turning it into a media circus.

So what can the rest of learn from their romance? Well, guys especially can learn some potentially useful tricks about how to get engaged without dropping too many hints. What Andrew did right was to pay attention during their jewelry window shopping to determine which ring Jordana would love. The nice thing is that local malls are usually full of jewelry stores so browsing doesn’t have to seem any more unusual than a trip to the mall.

However, Andrew clearly made a mistake by trying to surprise her with an engagement during a special trip and on an anniversary. For surprise engagements, you really want to choose a random date. Maybe even a weekday or a day when you always get together would be a good time for asking that all-important question. You don’t necessarily have to do anything special; the engagement itself will be special enough.

Their decision to have a short engagement and a private ceremony is another idea worth considering, especially for younger couples who are just getting started with their professional lives. Lavish weddings are costly and start many couples off in debt, especially since the average wedding costs around $20,000. Another option is to have a small wedding now, then throw a much bigger celebration down the road – perhaps to celebrate your fifth or tenth anniversary. Using this approach, you’ll end up enjoying the best of both worlds.