Proposal Ideas

[Philociraptor]

Direct from her: "As for a proposal, I don't want it to happen at a sporting event. I basically want it to be us doing our couple-y thing, fireworks, flowers, friends, and I want you to make sure that I'm all dressed up. Lol. Possibly throw in a carriage and a banner too And some wind."

I responded with "Dang, and I already paid off the Jumbotron guy ;)" and got back an "ITS LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME AT ALL!"

So it looks like it's gonna have to happen on a warm evening with friends. I will probably try and make this happen several times before I actually do it.

[Guest Gemeaux]

My husband and I were engaged twice -- the first time was really an "engaged to be engaged," as we were 21, living in separate cities, and had NO idea when we'd be in the same place at the same time again. We 'cancelled' (really, postponed) that engagement because the idea of explaining that we were engaged, and might continue to be engaged for three or four years before we set a date for the wedding, was just a little too much of a hassle. Anyway - I proposed that first time. And I like to tell our kids that I asked daddy to marry me before he asked me to marry him.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying - if you have a romantic proposal plan, don't assume it has to be the GUY who implements it.

If I were still with my boyfriend I would have proposed this year .

[Shortkaik]

My husband and I were engaged twice -- the first time was really an "engaged to be engaged," as we were 21, living in separate cities, and had NO idea when we'd be in the same place at the same time again. We 'cancelled' (really, postponed) that engagement because the idea of explaining that we were engaged, and might continue to be engaged for three or four years before we set a date for the wedding, was just a little too much of a hassle. Anyway - I proposed that first time. And I like to tell our kids that I asked daddy to marry me before he asked me to marry him.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying - if you have a romantic proposal plan, don't assume it has to be the GUY who implements it.

That's an interesting story! And a nice thing to be able to tell the kids.

I know it doesn't have to be the guy, but... I feel like it would be nice for him to get a chance to do the something romantic, I don't think he's ever even really planned a single date for us. So, I'd just like him to do this one thing so at least it's not just me running the show all the time! Plus, I'd probably be doing the hard part - planning the actual wedding!

[Rosie]

Direct from her: "As for a proposal, I don't want it to happen at a sporting event. I basically want it to be us doing our couple-y thing, fireworks, flowers, friends, and I want you to make sure that I'm all dressed up. Lol. Possibly throw in a carriage and a banner too And some wind."

I responded with "Dang, and I already paid off the Jumbotron guy ;)" and got back an "ITS LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME AT ALL!"

So it looks like it's gonna have to happen on a warm evening with friends. I will probably try and make this happen several times before I actually do it.

4th of July - Fireworks, friends. It might even be a windy evening!

[ellystar]

A couple things to consider:

~Does she like surprises? Some people hate them. If she does, this might not be the way to go.

~Would she like a public proposal? If my BF proposed while we were having dinner out, I'd be OK with it as long as he did it quietly. Jumbotron? I'd be horrified and very uncomfortable. Movie theater trailer? I'd be distracted thinking about how annoyed the other patrons would be getting.

These are really important to keep in mind. After my friends had a very public proposal (which worked for them), I told my now-fiance that I didn't want that at all, ever.

One thing I would recommend is to make sure she's not in a bad mood, because that's what happened to me, lol. My fiance proposed on my birthday last October, which was a Thursday. Thursdays usually mean trivia night with a couple of his fellow teachers and their spouses, which I still wanted to do even though it was my birthday. That afternoon he texted me saying we weren't going to trivia that night because the other people weren't going. I was pretty bummed because I love going to trivia, but he said he would take me out wherever I wanted instead, so that was okay. After work I decided to get a manicure, which I had never done before, as a treat to myself. The nail polish was put on too thick, so it wasn't completely dried when I left. I ended up smudging a bunch of nails and had to take off all the polish and repaint them myself, which put me in a bad mood. Meanwhile, I'm hungry and he's running around and I think he's getting ready for dinner (it's not out of the ordinary for him to run around all discombobulated). So I'm waiting in the living room, getting impatient but going with the flow, when he says "let me give you your birthday present."

Now, he's never been good at giving gifts. I don't expect expensive gifts, but I feel like he should know what I like and although he's gotten better over the years, I've been disappointed by gifts I haven't liked over the years (like the Christmas I bought him three different awesome things he really loved, and he got me a toaster oven >.<). I know it's shallow, but I've told him that all he has to do is buy me a nice $20 pair of earrings or a video game that the guy at the counter recommends. I just really like giving gifts I know people will love, not matter what the price.

So he handed me a big gift bag and I opened up the card. It had beautiful note about how much I mean to him and how much he loves me and how he can't wait to spend the rest of his life with me. We've been together 10 years now, so these topics weren't new to us, but it meant a lot to me. But, I was in such a weird mood because I was getting impatient and still annoyed from the botched manicure that all I said in response was "that's nice." Part of me was thinking "what did he get me this time?"

I said "that's nice." I still can't believe that's what I said. Then I looked in the bag, but there was nothing in there except tissue. I look up, and he's on one knee with the ring and asked me to marry him. Oh man, he was so nervous. And even though we've been together so long and knew we were eventually going to get married, I was totally blindsided. The change from be being in a weird funk to completely shocked and overwhelmed was a lot to handle.

So tl;dr, make sure she's not in a bad mood or in some kind of funk beforehand because it's quite jolting. Set the mood first.

P.S. The toaster oven thing has become such a joke with my friends that when I called one of my best friends to tell her, I first told her he bought me a toaster oven for my birthday. After she said basically WTF, I told her that he proposed. Also, to add to the joke, six months after I got the toaster I accidentally set it on fire. Whoops.

[Fink]

Although nothing can top msuroo and his awesomeness, I'll tell mine. I took my wife to Washington DC for her birthday all with the intent of proposing. We walked around all day going to museum to museum, all with the ring in my pocket. I wanted to do it in front of the reflection pool at the "magic hour" but on one of the last stops we had to go through a metal detector and of course it went off. The security guard made me pull the box out of my pocket, right in front of my wife. She started crying so I just purposed right there. All I can say is make it personal and make it memorable cause it's gonna be a story that gets told for a long time

[msuroo]

Although nothing can top msuroo and his awesomeness, I'll tell mine. I took my wife to Washington DC for her birthday all with the intent of proposing. We walked around all day going to museum to museum, all with the ring in my pocket. I wanted to do it in front of the reflection pool at the "magic hour" but on one of the last stops we had to go through a metal detector and of course it went off. The security guard made me pull the box out of my pocket, right in front of my wife. She started crying so I just purposed right there. All I can say is make it personal and make it memorable cause it's gonna be a story that gets told for a long time

Rofl, that's awesome. How in the world did you walk around museums all day with that box in your pocket? I had my wife's on me for like an hour and I was never more nervous about a "bulge" (har har). Seriously, it felt like a boulder in my pocket.

[Fink]

Rofl, that's awesome. How in the world did you walk around museums all day with that box in your pocket? I had my wife's on me for like an hour and I was never more nervous about a "bulge" (har har). Seriously, it felt like a boulder in my pocket.

It was October so I had a hoodie on to help hide the bulge and I made a strong effort to keep her on the opposite side of me. Its funny now but I was so bummed out at the time

[ellystar]

Although nothing can top msuroo and his awesomeness, I'll tell mine. I took my wife to Washington DC for her birthday all with the intent of proposing. We walked around all day going to museum to museum, all with the ring in my pocket. I wanted to do it in front of the reflection pool at the "magic hour" but on one of the last stops we had to go through a metal detector and of course it went off. The security guard made me pull the box out of my pocket, right in front of my wife. She started crying so I just purposed right there. All I can say is make it personal and make it memorable cause it's gonna be a story that gets told for a long time

I absolutely adore this story. Did the security guard say anything after he saw what it was? I don't know how you were able to carry the ring with you all day without seeming all nervous.

[Fink]

I absolutely adore this story. Did the security guard say anything after he saw what it was? I don't know how you were able to carry the ring with you all day without seeming all nervous.

She laughed and said "well I hope she knew about this"