Constance Katsafanas had her heart set on a Verragio engagement ring, but in her 3rd year of medical school in Orlando, it seemed a little unattainable. About four months ago Katsafanas and her boyfriend, Paul Eza, began looking at engagement rings in different stores, but it was her mother who happened upon a Verragio ring while browsing online.
“She showed me and it took my breath away,” Katsafanas said. “But I knew it wasn’t something that was in our price range, so I didn’t tell Paul about it.”
But the seed had already been planted, and according to Katsafanas, reminders seemed to be everywhere.
“The International Diamond Center has a billboard right outside my hospital and it was featuring the Verragio rings,” She said. “I looked at it every day.”
A pretty tough thing to do when she was trying to give up her dream engagement ring, that is until Verragio announced its giveaway sweepstakes. And despite not being engaged yet, Katsafanas and Eza decided to enter and take their chances.
The time around, instead of having a random drawing, Verragio allowed contestants to choose from a selection of 10 engagement rings and receive votes on Facebook. Picking a ring is never an easy process, and even though she had been looking, it was no easier for Katsafanas. But it was the detail work that interested her; particularly clean lines and classic style.
“One of my best friends, Alison, actually helped us pick it,” Katsafanas said. “We couldn’t choose.”
After selecting the Paradiso 3074 engagement ring from Verragio and writing about their story, it was up to the contestant’s friends and family to cast their votes, and Katsafanas and Eza’s came through in a big way.
“I feel so blessed that Paul and I have such amazing people in our lives. It actually makes our engagement ring even more special because our friends had such a huge part in us getting it,” Katsafanas said. “I can’t imagine anything more wonderful.”
The ball got rolling with Eza’s family, who was more than happy to help make Katsafanas an official part of their family and began contacting friends. Next Katsafanas’s friend Michael, a fellow med school student, typed up a message of support and began circulating it around to his friends as well. It gave them a fighting chance, but they weren’t done yet.
Some of Katsafanas’s closest friends work in the comic book industry, and after hearing about the contest, approached their own friends to rally around her cause. Ezra’s friend, a genuine Yo-Yo celebrity, did the same with his fans.
The response was overwhelming.
“We both heard from and got votes from people we hadn’t spoken to in years. They came out of the wood work. One of the previous contest winners (Dee) even got behind us,” Katsafanas said. “It was a bigger response then Paul or I ever expected. We’re still in shock.”
In a week’s time, at the end of the contest, the couple’s entry had received a winning total of 1,064 votes.
Although not officially engaged yet, Katsafanas and Eza plan to get married around the same time she’s set graduate from med school; May of 2012. But despite the wait, Katsafanas will never forget the support of their friends and family.
“My engagement ring will be more than just a symbol of love and of promise,” Katsafanas said. “It’ll be an everyday reminder of, not only how much love Paul and I have for each other, but of how fortunate and loved we both are.”