Groom Saved Up $1,650 to Rent Out Rockefeller Ice Rink for 5 Minutes to Propose: 'I Lost It When I Found Out!' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Love is in the air this Christmas!

On Dec. 6 at around 8 p.m., Philip Cho, 32, popped the question to his girlfriend of six years,Heather Nguyen, 29, in a proposal she never saw coming.

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho with their family and friends.Joe Marte

Joe Marte

Ahead of her proposal, Nguyen — who currently works in cinema advertising and was previously a flight attendant — was in Thailand for an airline crew reunion. Midway through her trip, Cho texted her saying that he wanted to take her on a “romantic date” when she got back and asked her to block off the proposal weekend.

“I said, ‘Sure, love!’ and didn’t think anything of it until I got back to the states,” Nguyen recalls. “Because at that point, that was all I thought it was. Just a little loving date.”

Flash forward to the night of the proposal, and Cho tells Nguyen to wear something warm but doesn’t give any other details.

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.Joe Marte

“We’re running late due to holiday traffic, wiggling through the crowd to get to the rink. There are thousands of people,” Nguyen says. “We are elbow to elbow with people, moving to the rink so I realize, we’re going ice skating!”

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.PHOTO:Joe MarteHeather Nguyen and Philip Cho.PHOTO:Joe Marte

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.

Heather Nguyen and Philip Cho.PHOTO:Joe MarteHeather Nguyen and Philip Cho.PHOTO:Joe Marte

About 40 minutes into ice skating, it’s announced that the rink must be cleared to add new ice.

“Everyone’s skating off but Phil asks a worker, ‘Is it all right if we get a picture?’ He’s so nice and says he’ll take a few. A few become many and we’re the last ones on the rink,” Nguyen says. “I turn to Phil nervously and say, ‘Babe, are you sure we shouldn’t get off? We’re last.’ The over-thinker in me is thinking we’re about to get in trouble or kicked off, but the worker keeps snapping away so we keep laughing and posing.”

“Phil pulls me in and I already see tears pouring down his face, body slightly shaking (from the cold? I’m not sure),” Nguyen says. “‘And it was enchanting to meet you…’ plays so loudly as I look around at the thousands of people surrounding the rink. Phil points over and the biggest signs appear spelling, ‘WILL YOU MARRY ME?’ I’m so far in the middle, I don’t even realize until after, it’s my South Carolina family and friends and NYC loved ones holding each of the letters!”

Cho spent almost two months planning the proposal, which involved hours of coordinating, secret trips to the airport, and a year of declining guys' nights to save up. It cost him $1,650 for five minutes to rent out The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

He bought the rink’s"Special Moments"skating package, which includes two classic VIP skating tickets (including skate rental) and the individual’s choice of song to be played during the proposal.

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Perhaps most special is that he invited 27 of their friends and family to witness the proposal. Most of their loved ones flew in from South Carolina, where Nguyen was born and raised.

“I lost it when I found out,” the bride-to-be says. “I just know they dropped everything to be here.”

After getting down on one knee, Cho held his girlfriend’s hands and gave “the most thoughtful, heartbreaking, heart healing speech that [she’ll] remember forever.” It included wisdom about love that his late grandmother, Halmeoni, gave him.

Nguyen instantly broke out in tears.

Heather Nguyen shows off her new engagement ring.Joe Marte

“I don’t think he even gets to the ‘marry me’ part before I scream from my diaphragm a huge ‘YESSS!!’ My whole heart feels like it’s bursting and the room feels like it’s raining and exploding all at the same time,” she says. “The crowd echoes in applause and the peak of Taylor Swift’s ‘Enchanted’ hits. The timing was unreal.”

She continues: “I feel our lips crash into each other and I flick my leg up like a Disney princess. I was blown away. It still feels like something I dreamed because of how surprised I was.”

Afterward, the couple was showered with high fives and congratulations.

Cho and Nguyen, who met on the dating app Tinder, are considering eloping at New York City Hall and having a fun photoshoot with friends within six months. In a year, they hope to have “a huge, epic Vietnamese and Korean modern wedding ceremony and reception in South Carolina.”

source: people.com