Engaged: Jeffrey Xu plans beautiful marriage proposal but Felicia Chin nearly misses it

Jeffrey Xu has finally popped the question to Felicia Chin and the two actors are now happily engaged.

In an Instagram post today (Aug 11), Felicia revealed her engagement to her long-time sweetheart of around seven years.

The 37-year-old uploaded a video showing snippets of the proposal and wrote: "We promised we will let you know so here we are. I said 'yes'!"

From the video, Jeffrey, 33, said in his proposal: "I love you. I hope I can be the pillar in your life, the friend who listens to you, the boyfriend that you can rely on and the husband who will always be by your side through thick and thin. 

"Can you let me join you in this new journey? No matter what lies ahead of us, I firmly believe that as long as we hold on to each other and don't let go and turn our hearts to God, we can definitely triumph over everything.

"You are the greatest gift from God and I will surely treasure you fully."

With that touching message, Jeffrey got down on one knee and asked: "My love, will you marry me?"

There wasn't any doubt when Felicia said "I do".

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/ChG08VdFmJt/[/embed]

Felicia nearly skipped the proposal

In an interview with 8World, the lovebirds revealed that this event took place on July 29, just a day after Felicia returned to Singapore from her trip to North America and Canada.

Jeffrey said he had been planning on asking Felicia the question for a long time and bought the ring many years ago.

[[nid:584898]]

But because the two of them spent nearly every moment together outside of work, he found it difficult to plan and prepare for the proposal.

When Felicia — who left Mediacorp on June 30 this year to join the Chinese-language faith-based platform Hai Hao Ma — went on her recent overseas trip, he took the opportunity to finally make his preparations. But the proposal almost didn't happen.

He told Felicia they were invited to the birthday party of a friend's child at the Night Safari and even had a birthday invitation card.

The location itself was something special to Felicia, as she worked there when she was 18 before entering showbiz.

However, she was so jet-lagged from her trip that she nearly gave the 'party' a miss.

Said Felicia to 8World: "It was the first time I saw Jeffrey's expression like that. He looked awkward and uncomfortable, but he wasn't angry with me and didn't want to force me to go."

Felicia ultimately relented and went with Jeffrey to the Night Safari, where they toured the area together until the zoo staff completed their preparations.

Once Jeffrey brought her to the proposal venue, Felicia noticed it was filled with images of them when they were dating. She knew then that Jeffrey would be popping the question.

"She kept asking me, 'What is this about? What are we doing? Are you proposing to me? Please tell me,'" Jeffrey said.

He added, the moment he laid eyes on the venue decor, he teared up and cried throughout the entire proposal. From the video, it looked like Felicia was moved to tears as well. 

There were about 20 relatives and friends there, including veteran actors Zhu Houren, Chew Chor Meng and Rayson Tan.

Marriage on the horizon

Said Felicia: "The moment I got together with Jeffrey, I knew he would be my partner. Of course, we experienced many ups and downs in the past seven years and some people wondered why we should even get married.

"But I'm very elated that the both of us have learned to communicate well, understand and love each other — and when the time is right, we chose to take it to the next level."

Felicia and Jeffrey added to 8World that they intend to get married before the year ends. With under four months to make it happen, the two will be working with a tight schedule.

"If we really hold it this year, we'll need the help of so many people to get it completed in such a short time!" Felicia laughed.

Jeffrey added: "I want to complete our marriage this year and I just don't want to delay it any further. We might be different from others. If we want to do it, we have to do it quickly!"

ALSO READ: 'I'm only human': Felicia Chin was tempted by Mediacorp's offer; boyfriend Jeffrey Xu not surprised by decision to quit

khooyihang@asiaone.com