Customer Testimonials

Regarding Debbie McClay, Sales Associate:

The story of Chris Griffith & Rebecca Byrd’s engagement

We left on June 28th 2007 for Seattle to embark on a 7 night cruise up the coast of Alaska. Let me tell you how unbelievably NERVOUS I was about getting caught with the ring going through airport security and then security again getting on the ship! I hid the ring in my wallet and placed it in my laptop bag, which never left my sight. Once we got on the ship we had a safe in our room which is where I left the ring for the next 2 days.

July 3rd 2007. We had been on the ship now for about 48 hours and we were both very much looking forward to getting off the ship. We stopped in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, where we had about 6 hours to do whatever we wanted. I had arranged for a helicopter to pick us up right at the port which flew us about 20 miles into the Alaskan mountains. After about a half hour beautiful flight we landed on the Mendanhall Glacier at a dogsled camp where there were 300 dogs training for the Iditarod. This is where I was planning on proposing. I had no idea where and when this was going to take place; I just figured I would wait for the right moment. We met our musher and took off on the dogsled in the middle of nowhere, on top of a frozen glacier in the middle of July! We stopped to take a break a few miles in where I asked the musher if he could take our picture. He took 2 or 3 pictures for us, which turned out great. Becky started walking back to the dogsled when I asked our musher if he could take just one more picture. I reached into my pocket, dropped to one knee and asked Becky to marry me right as she turned around. Freezing, with one knee in the snow I hear, "Oh wow!" from the musher. Becky covered her mouth in disbelief and replied, "Is this a joke"? Shaking she took the ring and said, "Of course I will"! She than placed the ring on the wrong hand and gave me a long hug. The musher told us he has been working on the Mendenhall Glacier for years and he had never seen or heard of anyone ever proposing on top of that Glacier at the camp.

Becky and I are getting married in Mexico, April 27th 2008, with 85 of our closest family and friends. I knew absolutely nothing about rings, sizes, clarity, color or carat until I met Deb. I have received so many compliments from people telling me what a great job I did picking out the ring all by myself. I happily take credit, but really, I owe it all to Deb from Benari Jewelers in Exton. Thanks for making our trip that much better!

- Chris Griffith
  BENARI Client