Jenna Oltmanns, a California Baptist University graduate, would not get out of the car. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, she knew she did not belong among the well-dressed guests inside.
“’I’m not getting out of the car, I look ridiculous. I’m not getting out of the car,’” Oltmanns said. Darren Whitty, her fiancé, felt the same, donning a CBU soccer jacket and a pair of sweats. All they wanted was to see the opening of Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows: Part 1.
Oltmann’s sister, Kimmie, had other plans for the soon- to-be-wed couple. She pushed until Jenna and Darren surrendered. She wanted them to join the guests of the Jewelers Touch 19th Anniversary party, a jewelry store in Placentia, Calif.
Who could have known what the night held for them.
A flier for the event arrived at the Oltmann’s house shortly after Whitty purchased the engagement ring he planned on giving Jenna.
A beautiful piece with small diamonds embedded in the band and an ornate setting, the ring was ready for a generous one-karat diamond, the only size capable of fitting -a $5000 diamond.
“I couldn’t afford that, so I put a manmade stone in there instead,” Whitty said.
He planned on purchasing one for Oltmanns when they celebrated their one-year anniversary. This would give him a chance to save for it.
Whitty proposed in Laguna Beach, Calif. at the site called Top of the World, the same place he took her for her birthday. After she accepted, they met her family for dinner and celebrated.
Oltmanns’ mom had been hiding the flier for weeks, ensuring that Jenna wouldn’t find it and the proposal would remain a surprise. It worked; Jenna was shocked.
“I guess I should have caught on but I didn’t. That’s just how I am,” Oltmanns said.
The flier for the Jewelers Touch event came with a napkin, which granted the recipient a piece of carrot cake on the first night of the three day event. Inside of the three-tiered ornate jewelry box cake, a one- karat diamond awaited one lucky winner.
There were about 200 people in attendance. Kimmie weaved her way through the throng, with Whitty and Jenna reluc- tantly in tow, finding her way to a small table on the outskirts of the activity.
Soon after, slices of cake began to circulate among the guests. Once again Jenna found herself pushed to the front of the line by Kimmie.
“I’m not a very pushy person, and I felt bad for just shoving my way to the front and other people had been standing there already,” Jenna said.
She let other guests step in line ahead of her, kindly handing them a piece of cake as if to apologize. Kimmie watched as guests walked their cake away, wondering if their slice contained a piece of treasure. That is, until she saw the on-stand- by camera crew hone in on the cake.
“Kimmie started saying that I should take a piece of cake soon because people were starting to move. She was saying, ‘This is your last chance, grab a piece of cake now!’ I was just trying not to be rude,” Oltmanns said.
When Jenna began to walk back to her table, the camera crews followed. Her fork uncovered a silver cylinder pressed into the cake, hidden by frosting.
“I don’t understand, is this it? I don’t understand,” Jenna repeated, not knowing that she was holding the canister upside- down, the small window revealing the diamond facing the cake she pulled it from.
“No, this stuff doesn’t happen to me. This can’t happen. But people were watching me, and I was feeling awkward,” she added.
Then she flipped it over and saw the diamond.
“Oh my gosh. This just happened,” thought Oltmanns, through gasps. She was in shock. Whitty stood nearby, gathering her into his arms with joy. Kimmie was screaming.
When the owners of Jewelers Touch asked what she would like to do with the diamond, the answer was obvious. Jenna’s beautiful engagement ring would be made whole, the one-karat diamond replacing the manmade stone. Just minutes later, the ring on her left hand was 100 percent real.
From 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Whitty, Jenna and Kimmie Oltmanns, and other Oltmanns family members celebrated with the guests of the party, many of which congratulated them. The Jewelers Touch 19th Anniversary Party was a success.
“They couldn’t have asked for a better story,” Jenna said.
Darren Whitty and Jenna Oltmanns will be married on May 14, 2011.
