Vanessa Ray is off the market! While the Blue Bloods actress hasn't exactly been hiding her new status on Twitter (she gushes how her ‘fiancé’ facetimesThe Bachelor for her among other wedding sentiments), HELLO! can exclusivelyreveal exactly how musician Landon Beard proposed recently, and it is seriouslyso sweet!
Vanessa and Landon met during a rehearsal six years ago Photo: Kelly Sullivan
“He convinced me to go for a walk to one of our favoritespots — Pier 84 — on the Hudson River in the freezing cold,” Vanessa tellsHELLO! of the moment a few weeks ago on her "lazy day off."
“I literally spent the morning reading food magazines and doing nothingbut surf Pinterest for cool side braids," says The PrettyLittle Liars star, 33, before the two headed out for a winter walk in Manhattan.
“Thinking about it now, I could feel his heart poundingeven through the many layers of clothing we had on out there," she continues. "He pulled out thering, we cried, and I started asking a million questions. ‘Did you ask myparents? My brother? Does Kelly know? Does she like the ring?’"
The moment Vanessa said "Yes" was captured by her best friend Kelly Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Ray
Actress and wellness guru Kelly Sullivan is her best friend, and thanks to Landon’splanning, not only knew but was able to witness the entire January 23 proposal. “Totally unbeknownst to me,he had Kelly fly out from L.A.,” she explains. “She was disguised in a blackwig pretending to be a tourist taking pictures during the whole thing.”
Once Vanessa began to understand what was going on, Landon, who is currently touring with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, turned to the “photographer” to reveal herself. “It took me a long time torealize the lady with the camera was my best friend and she'd witnessed all ofit,” Vanessa mentions. “There was a lot of dancing and tears of joy. Onlyregret: Not wearing waterproof mascara.”
One other thing missing was a fresh manicure. She jokes, “Landonhad tried to set up some girlfriends to take me so my nails would look nicewhen everyone inevitably would be looking at my hands that day.” It didn’twork, but the sparkler was still on full display for everyone to see.
“My ring is just the prettiest pink gold sparkly ring customdesigned by Jeano Georgiano,” the blonde beauty says. “Landon is the best andmade sure to get as many friends’ opinions for me as possible. He took Jillian[Bell, the Workaholics actresss] with him on the day he bought it, I trust her taste implicitly.”
Vanessa's gorgeous ring by Jeano Georgiano Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Ray
And now that they have beenengaged a few weeks, the planning begins!
“Thinking about it, dreaming aboutit, but I have not made one decision,” Vanessa admits. “My costar MarisaRamirez was like, ‘You must get a wedding planner! Details aren’t so much yourthing.’”
As for her male costars WillEstes and Donnie Wahlberg, “They really just lovingly tease me calling Landon asaint for taking me on!”
What wedding planning advice do you have for Vanessa? Tell her (or just offer your congrats) on our Facebook page.