He proposes live on TODAY — with ringer for royal ring

It had been a year since he first floated the idea of tying the knot, even going so far as to ask her what sort of ring she might want when the time came. And though Rachel Bickle-Stone secretly hoped that her boyfriend, Dan Silverstein, would at long last propose during their trip from Nevada to New York, no one was more surprised than she was when, in front of hundreds of onlookers on Rockefeller Plaza outside the TODAY show’s Studio 1A — not to mention a national television audience of millions — Silverstein dropped to one knee.

1. Stories from
   1. 
   2. Prince William Is 'Very Excited' About Becoming a Father
   3. Try Top Chef Winner Hung Huynh's Tuna Tacos
   4. Ex-tra Close Exes: Stars Who Stayed Friends
   5. See This Skip, That: From Fast & Furious 6 to The Hangover Part III - Your Weekend Movie Plan
   6. See Amanda Bynes's Mug Shot

“I love you,” he said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for you, and I came out here to ask you to marry me.”

At first Bickle-Stone only nodded, speechless. But then, as Silverstein fished a jewel box out of his pocket — a box containing the same spectacular sapphire she had chosen online a year earlier — she found the word she was searching for.

“Yes,” she said, as the onlookers broke into applause.

Related: Hey, that’s my dress! Kate’s gown rings a bell

Actually, Silverstein, a lawyer working in the Public Defender’s Office in Las Vegas, had been planning the surprise proposal for some time. “I wanted to do something special; this girl deserves it,” he told TODAY.com.

TODAY

Rachel Bickle-Stone’s ring bears a strong resemblance to the one given Kate Middleton by Prince William — but she insists she chose it first.

“I know somebody at NBC. He suggested [the on-air proposal] and said it was a possibility and I said, ‘Absolutely, I want to do that.’ ” It took a bit of subterfuge, of course: Silverstein knew that his soon-to-be fiancee had never visited New York City, and also that she was a big fan of TODAY.

“I had to lie to her a little bit,” he admitted. Carefully guarding his plans, and stashing the ring where she’d be unlikely to find it, he told her “we were coming here to see Matt Lauer.”

Even so, somewhere deep inside, Bickle-Stone, a fellow Las Vegas attorney, was harboring a secret wish that Silverstein would propose on the trip. “I was hoping it would happen in New York but I didn’t want to get my hopes too far up,” she told TODAY.com.

1. More on weddings
   1. 'You're not invited' alerts: New wedding trend stirs controversy
      

      featurepics stock
   2. Want wedding advice? Ask 'Say Yes to the Dress' star Randy Fenoli!
   3. Princess bride: Over-the-top Disney wedding a viral hit
   4. Rossen Reports: Brides say company ruined their wedding day
   5. Couple honored for longest marriage

The couple arrived in the city Tuesday, and nothing happened. Wednesday passed; still nothing. And then, on Thursday morning, Silverstein popped the question on the plaza.

“I can’t believe it happened on the TODAY show,” she said. “I watch it every morning.”

Related: Bret Michaels proposes to girlfriend on show

Now sporting the ring that she had selected a year ago, Bickle-Stone admits that it bears a striking resemblance to the one given by Prince William to Kate Middleton, the same ring that had been worn by his mother, Princess Diana.

But Bickle-Stone insists her ring is no copycat. “I came up with it first,” she said. “She copied me!”

The couple have not yet set a date for the wedding. But Silverstein already knows that whenever and wherever it happens, it will have to be pretty spectacular to outdo the proposal.

“I think I set the bar really high,” Silverstein said.