the happy couple, January 22nd, 2005
Not that our wedding wasn't perfect for us. We laughed through the ceremony and made fun of everything about each other in our vows. Still, seeing Dani's wedding pictures and hearing her stories got me thinking about what our wedding would have been like if we would have had one and actually invited people to it. And THAT got me thinking about our proposal.
It was the least romantic thing I've ever done and quite possibly the most romantic thing I've ever done as well because romantic I am not. And yet, paradoxically, I am obsessed with other people's romance and love stories, vintage wedding gowns and "happily every after"s.
Without fail, every time I see a wedding photo or hear about a proposal I sob uncontrollably. I AM SO MOVED! How it's possible for one to LOVE weddings and not desire to have one for herself, to ADORE proposals but gag at the thought of being proposed to, I do not know. But here I am and that is me.
Anyway! What I've been (slowly) getting at this entire time is the following playlist of wedding proposal videos, all of which I've sobbed through 78178239 times. SO. Without further ado, grab your Kleenex box and join me in five, four, three...
You're SOBBING, right?
Me too.
Again.
...And now I'd love to hear about YOUR proposals. How did you (or your significant other) propose? I'm especially interested in hearing from ladies who did the proposing. I was kind of bummed I was unable to find exceptional women-proposal-vids. Call me new-fashioned but why should dudes get all the orchestrate-a-proposal-fun? Which brings me to ANOTHER question: If you're in a hetero relationship, how would your man feel about you proposing to him?
Also, to make up for Hal's man-boob comment here is a very hot picture of him playing his guitar the summer we met/got pregnant/moved in together. ED: The man-boob thing was totes an illusion, obvy.
GGC
128 comments:
I would have totally loved to be the one who proposed, but I was ready to hop on that before my husband was, so it made more sense for him to do the asking once he was ready too.
The actual proposal, though? Was kind of hilarious. He was planning on proposing on NYE. Everyone we were with knew he was planning on proposing. (Except me.) So what did they decide we needed? Tequila shots.
Instead of proposing, my lovely husband got to listen from our hotel room as I spent 1am to 2am curled over a toilet purging myself of tequila in a spectacular manner unseen since my sophomore year of college.
The next day I was nursing the hangover from hell. So, on January 2nd, he hopped in a bubble bath with me, said "There's something I didn't get to do on New Year's," and pulled out a ring.
I can't wait to tell our kids that story. =)
I had been dreaming about & planning my wedding since I was little. I had planner books full of ideas and what I wanted. When he proposed it was a random moment in a mall parking lot. Yup. And then we were trying to plan a wedding but I had just graduated school, I was 18 and my parents disapproved so we had no help and ended up going to the courthouse. To this day I still dream about having a wedding. And I love going to everyone else's. I'm totally jealous of people who have beautiful weddings....
Those are great proposals! I actually can't wait for my boyfriend to ask me. I have no idea how he will do it. But as a wedding/event planner it would be nice to have someone do the planning and asking.
I married a farm boy, who proposed in a typical farm boy way. We were parked in the middle of his soybean field (not planted at the time obviously) and I said to him "how do you want to spend the rest of your life" to which he responded "married to you". We had known each other two months at that time, but five months later we were married. Three kids and twenty-three years later I am still madly in love with my farm boy :)
I called IC crying and told him that he was going to have to marry me for me to stay in the country (romantic?). And then we talked about it a lot. You can read the rest of the story here: http://www.decoybetty.com/2011/09/how-we-got-engaged-unofficially-part-1.html and here:http://www.decoybetty.com/2011/09/how-we-got-engaged-officially-part-two.html
We just had our small "getting married" ceremony last week and next year we'll have more of a wedding with both our families.
I wrote about my proposal here: http://www.agirlandaboy.com/journal/archives/002022.html
It was Christmas Eve, I was in p.j.s, I had our ten-day-old baby on my lap, I hadn't showered in who knows how long, and we were watching...Spider-Man 3. Not the most romantic day of my life, not by a longshot, and I think that's why I NEEDED a wedding, even though I'm also not a wedding-for-me person.
My man proposed to me in the middle of a show his band was playing, which was fitting because that's kinda how we met. I guess you could say I was a bit of a groupie. I always went to see his band play b/c they were awesome, but it was another year or so after we met before we really saw each other as more than friends. One night it just clicked. Anyway, the proposal was so sweet, in between songs he got up to microphone and asked me to marry him while the band played an impromptu wedding march on guitar(they had no idea he was going to propose). I ran up on stage, said yes while he put the ring on and we made out until the audience said that that was enough. Gosh, I hadn't thought about that in so long, I'm tearing up remembering it. It's been a long road with two separations and a lot of therapy but we're too stubborn and love each other to much to ever let go. I like you and Hal's story :-)
I have helped a million friends plan their weddings, have baked wedding cakes for people, have decorated so many venues, I have obsessed over dresses with my friends and made one rockin maid-of-honor (TWICE). But when it came to mine, I didn't care. I tried to make myself. But the interest just wasn't there. I bought a dress for 200 bucks at a crappy shop in Sacramento. Turns out, I'd rather plan yours than mine.
ps. I was proposed to at the point in downtown Pittsburgh. Nothing went as he had planned. We walked through mud, and a flock of ducks, and duck crap and climbed over public barriers because he was so determined to propose at this one spot. And he did. And it was awesome.
I love your story with Hal! I didn't propose to my husband. He took me out for a fancy dinner and then to a lighted boat show, except this is the Midwest and a lighted boat show on the Mississippi wasn't quite as romantic as he thought it would be. The first boat had blow up aliens on it. He did get down on one knee and then popped fast after I said yes. He almost hit me in the head. Seven years and two kids later, we're still just as clumsy and just as happy.
We are not romantic. I had to be convinced that marriage was a good idea even though I planned (plan) on spending the rest of my life with Chris. Someone told us that we'd get more funding for graduate school if we were married. Complete lie. My mom gave us the rings. They belonged to my Memaw, but someone else in the family had taken all the stones out. Chris replaced the stones (with a bigger diamond plus our birth stones) and had it re-sized. We were in his dorm room when he said "I was going to wait until your birthday, but I can't. I got the rings back today. Do you want to see them?". And then he asked me to marry him and I said yes.
We were married at the Chapel of Love in Vegas. It was the best thing I ever said "yes" to.
we were at my family's annual Christmas eve party and he kept trying to get me to take my dog (who lived at my parents house) on a walk. it was cold so I kept saying no until he finally told me he was suffering from some bad gas and that he NEEDED me to come walk the dog with him. so I agreed and we made our way down to the lake that butts up to the neighborhood and my dog was pulling me in all directions and I turned around and saw him there on the ground on one knee. but I thought he was just passing some gas... anyway, he held out his hand and in it was an upside down ring box with a sweet little ring. I was in shock. and said yes, and we married 2 weeks later in the county courthouse with about 40 people watching. including some inmates in orange jumpsuits and hand cuffs and ankle cuffs. amazing. wouldn't do it any other way.
My hubby proposed at the summer camp where we met when we were both camp counselors. He took me back on a beautiful spring day, after I'd been saying for a while that I wanted to check out the new camp they'd built since we worked there. We walked around and reminisced, noting the place where we first met, visiting the site of our first kiss and arguing over who made the first move. Eventually, I figured we'd seen it all and suggested we head out. He said, "But you forgot the most important spot of all!" He took me to the cabin in the woods where the staff had had a campout the first night of training. He and I had stayed up all night that night, talking next to a fire pit, wishing on stars. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him next to that fire pit, though we must have been in some sort of emotional fog, because neither one of us can remember what he actually said. Afterward, we sat there and talked and smooched and I admired my ring in the shafts of sunlight coming through the trees. Five years, 2 major moves later, we're now expecting our first babies: TWINS.
Um, I thought I was looking at Kara DioGuardi when I glanced at your wedding picture! I lobe your picture, sangli earrings, flowers over tummy and Hal's illusion of a man-boob.
My husband proposed by sending me on a romantic scavenger hunt, but big wedding - I passed. We got married in Hawaii with our immediate family ( all 15 peeps). It was perfect. Even though I enjoy going to weddings and we've been to many in the last17 years; sometime during the ceremony or day of wedding we are attending, we turn to each other and agree "we're SOOOOO GLAD we didn't do a big wedding."
So I think the best thing is to be true to what is valued and important to the couple. Big, small, elope, secret whatever. And I always say, I'd rather have used the energy and time spent on preparing for a big or traditional wedding and spent it on preparing for the marriage. That has served us well in our *almost* 17 years of marriage.
Let's not forgot the amount of moola we didn't spend on a big wedding too!
At the time, my husband and I were long distance, so when I'd drive to see him, it wasn't uncommon for us to both dress up a little for our first dinner together of any given weekend visit. So, we went out for dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants, and the whole time, he was acting so wierd.
Then after dinner, he suggested we go for a stroll along the lakeshore. So, I said sure, and we got in the car and drove down to a park near the lakeshore. We started to walk, and up ahead I saw candles lining the walkway. I (being one of the most oblivious people in the world) said, "Oh-look at the candles! They must have been from some park district thing! aww!" (Umm. Hello.). We strolled through the candles, and then I noticed that the candles cut across the sidewalk and were leading to a little alcove. And in the alcove were bouquets of pink roses (my favies), and more clustered candles. That's the moment when I gasped, and immediately began to ugly cry. Then he led me to that spot, got down on one knee, said some very sweet things and proposed and I sank to my own knees and said a very soggy yes!
I remember being struck by how romantic he was (We had been best friends before we took a risk and started dating, so we didn't often do that whole super-romantic thing.). Totally swept me off my feet.
I freaked my freak when my then-boyfriend/now-husband proposed to me. Walking on a super crowded boardwalk in the middle of a hot-as-hell August was not my idea of a good evening, so I was annoyed that he even SUGGESTED such an activity.
When he got down on one knee in the middle of said boardwalk, I felt like such an asshole, and the first words out of my mouth were, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I just couldn't believe he was asking me to marry him on the hottest day of the year. My makeup was melting and I'm pretty sure I was pitting out in my cotton t-shirt, so attractive I was not.
One nanosecond later, I was jumping up and down like an overexcited chihuahua as he was trying to put the ring on my finger, and he was shaking too, so it was just one hot, jittery mess. Of course I said "Yes!" once I find my non-asshole voice, and we hugged and kissed and sweated our way back to the house as a newly engaged man and woman.
The End.
Hal is hot. Also, the lightbulb above his head in that picture makes him look like he just thought of an amazing idea.
My husband surprised the heck out of me by proposing on Dec. 31, 1999. I knew marriage was in our future but he had had an incredibly busy first semester of school that fall and had gone home to send xmas with his family and set me up to expect nothing by suggesting that he might not make it back to my city to spend new year's with me.
In the end he made it back and we went through with the plans to spend new year's at a friend's cabin with a big group of our friends out in the woods (you know, to fully appreciate the way Y2K was going to destroy the world!). We drove up to the cabin, but never having been there, we weren't totally sure which was the right one. We pulled up to the one we thought it might be and he told me to go knock on the door to see if it was the right place. I did, but there was no answer. So I assumed that we had the wrong place as surely the hosts would have been there already. But while i was knocking, he had parked and showed up right behind me as I was walking away from the door.
He insisted we peek inside and I was mortified that he was forcing me to open the door to someone else's property when CLEARLY no one was home and therefore it was not the right place. That crosses all kinds of lines of rudeness in my mind and I simply would not do it. He kind of cajoled me into the cabin while i was hissing at him that we should NOT be doing this - it was the wrong place, our friends would be here if it were the right place. Plus, there were giant white pillar candles and decorations set up all over this cabin, clearly for someone else's NYE plans!
Next thing I know he starts LIGHTING the candles and i just about lost it!!! (Can you tell good manners are incredibly important to me?) I was furious. He lit all the candles and then eventually talked me into sitting down and it was only at that moment when he went down on one knee when I realized what was happening. It was very romantic and obviously very funny when we look back on it now. Half an hour later our friends showed up and we had an awesome party celebrating the new millenium and our upcoming marriage. Eleven years later and we're still married. Two kids, one on the way and still learning more about each other, trying to become wiser and better partners to each other and hopefully succeeding.
He proposed on Christmas day, having bought the ring the day before. We had finished opening presents when he went out to his truck and got the ring. I was completely surprised. I thought he would have planned an elaborate surprise for popping the question, but the simple and sweet way is also nice. We have yet to plan a wedding, and at this point, I'm all about Vegas.
My husband proposed to me by driving me to a jewlery store, walking me in, casually saying "Well you wanna get married don't ya" and then letting me pick out my own ring. Before you start thinking "Sweet Home Alabama" please note that this all took place 9am on a Monday morning as a completely spontaneous decision on my husband's part. It wasn't until we got back out to the car that I actually made him say "Will you marry me?". Although I give him a hard time about not writing me poetry or confessing his love to me from on one knee at sunset in Hawaii with flowers raining from the skies . . . I really wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He knew he wanted to marry me, he wanted me to know it too and right away so he took the guess work out of it.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150320964881984.340780.515706983&type=3
Mike and I started dating when we were in highschool, and though we thought it would end when he graduated two years before me, we ended up going to the same college and never stopped dating. After 6 years together, we were back home in Alaska for the summer, and Mike was planning a really romantic homemade dinner at my house while the parentals were out camping. I had no idea he had plans to propose, so invited all our friends over for a par-tay.
Mike had told everyone he was going to propose, but couldn't because I foiled his plans, so the next day before I could leave my house and get asked about it, he invited me on a hike. It was rainy and gross, but I agreed after he said there'd be wine and cheese. So we hike up this mountain and as we reach the first look-out, it stops raining. The clouds break open and there is the most beautiful view of our little town and the bay and fishing boats and glittering, shimmering ocean. We admire it, pack up, and prepare to summit. Just as I'm turning to ascend, Mike says "hey wait, I've got a question for you." I'm thinking he's going to ask to put his wet coat in my pack, but when I turn to answer, he's on one knee in front of the view, and he pops the question. I wouldn't have had it any other way, muddy, sweaty, and in the great Alaskan outdoors.
You could have not timed this post more perfectly. I just bought my wedding dress. Literally. Like bought it on my lunch hour, came back to work, checked Google Reader, and Bam! I'm sobbing through these videos.
My proposal was little more private than these. My fiance got down on one knee amidst 400 year old oak trees on a old plantation just outside of New Orleans. It was a very romantic moment with my normally not so romantic guy. He totally caught me off guard, which he apparently is really, really good at.
My fiancé had been talking about going camping before it got too cold for WEEKS, so when we finally got the chance I half-grudgingly agreed (not much of a pooping in the wild type here). So we loaded up and drove up into the mountains, to a place called Five Springs, named for its waterfalls.
We set up camp and he said we should go for a hike. I was hot and frustrated but I agreed. Once we were in the shade of the mountain it was better. There was a lovely little waterfall, but he said there was a better one up ahead. Little did I know, that meant climbing up nearly vertical boulders, slipping through mud, and getting scratched by nettles! But we turned a corner and WOW! It was the biggest, most beautiful waterfall I'd ever seen...it even had a rainbow going through it!
"Let's get closer," he slyly said. We were so close I could feel the mist on my face.
He started rummaging in his pocket, and I thought he was getting his phone to take a picture...so imagine my surprise when he pulls out a ring box!
We'd been talking about it for months, but I was still so completely shocked, I burst into tears. He managed to get down on one knee and get the right words out, I managed to say yes, and we just kissed and hugged and cried (he teared up too) for about twenty minutes before heading back to camp.
On the walk down, I realized what day it was...9/10/11! Wow. That wasn't even planned, but so perfect!
It was the best day of my life. :)
And now, we're planning an August wedding!
I'm right there with you in that paradox. I'm a wedding photographer and am not married, but am in an 11 year relationship. If I ever did get married I would elope, but I'm so sappy and gaga over the emotion and details that go into weddings. I think maybe it's more about being a spectator and experiencing it from the side that didn't contain all the stress and family politics that usually come with the territory when you get married that take away some of the magic.
He proposed to me at Disneyland this spring....it was perfect :-) .
We were living together first. I woke up on my birthday morning and received a box of chocolates- nothing out of the ordinary here but nestled inside the truffles was a little blue box from Tiffany's. I secretly did an "ooh yea" fist pump and then opened my perfect ring.
The wedding was SO perfect because we were surrounded by all of our friends and family from 7 different countries! It took days to calm down afterwards.
I can totally relate. I was also 5 months pregnant at our wedding, but it was also the most special, wonderful, funny day. (Including the train whistle that blared right during our vows.)
As for the proposal, my hubby and I had taken a trip to a lakeside camp for a vacation. The camp had a talent show at the end of the week. He signed up to do a magic trick. I was puzzled because I'd never seen him do ANY magic, but thought, "Hey, cool, whatever." His trick included a brown paper bag. He called me up on stage to be his assistant. Then he proceeded to tell the audience how I had changed his life for the better and pulled a ring box out of the bag and got down on one knee and proposed. I was totally taken by surprise and the rest of the campers/vacationers went nuts. It was very special. Little did we know I would find out weeks later that I was pregnant and due on the exact day that we had planned our big wedding. Plans were moved up, and I ended up getting married 5 months pregnant.
Maybe you and Hal can have a vow renewal in a couple of years on a special anniversary. How fun would it be to involve the kids and all your friends in all the details?
love the third proposal the most. i definitely teared up as she ran into his arms with such joy and excitement. awwww.
my husband proposed in london on london bridge, it was very sweet and unexpected. so much so that i almost dropped the ring over the bridge.
I'm totally with you on loving everyone else's sappy experiences and beautiful weddings, but having no desire for one of my own. I mean, sure, I have all these fantasies of fancy dresses and bridal parties and open-bar receptions.... but when it comes down to it, it's not for me.
I met my husband (who is Nigerian) when we were in college in Kenya. We graduated at the same time, and on the night before I was set to fly back to California, we kind of had a "... what do we do now?" moment. He was applying for a student visa to go to grad school in CA so we parted with a casual "see you soon I hope!"
Well, long story short, his grad school app fell through a month later. Our proposal consisted of an email, from me to him, saying, "well... I guess we should just get married then!"
11 months and one K1 Fiance Visa later, he moved to the USA. A month after that, we had our Hall o'Records ceremony with my parents and 3 best friends present. No rings, no flowers, and I wore a sweater.
And 3 years later, we're still married, and I'm continually amazed when people tell me that our story is just sooooo romantic. If they only knew....
I am with you--not a wedding girl, although I have loved every wedding I've gone to. I just never wanted the hassle and stress of all the planning. I proposed to my husband at dinner one night--I didn't want to wait any longer. It was never about the ring or the big to-do for me, although I think if that's what you want, go for it. Now I get to tease my husband about how we'd probably still just be living together if I'd have left it up to him...
Dannon and I got together in the beginning of November 1999 and were really, like "OK, this is forever." He spent the month of December apologizing that he wouldn't be able to propose on New Year's (Do you remember how hard the media pushed?) We'd been together too briefly, there was no money for a ring, he didn't want the man to tell him when to propose...I told it was cool, and tried hard to mean it.
New Years comes along and we go back to the place of our first date, and near midnight, we brought our champagne to the spot where we first kissed to watch the fireworks. When the countdown started, he went down on one knee. My thought? "Oh, Jesus Christ no!" "I've pressured him!" Then, as he's giving his speech, his hand goes for his pocket. I think "OMG. He has gone to some gumball machine and gotten some trinket. This botched mess is NOT happening to me." At one, I throw caution to the wind and say yes."
As the fireworks start, I look down as he puts on my finger...A REAL LIVE PERFECT DIAMOND RING! He'd been punking me for a month to surprise me, and I got a PERFECT proposal.
I love this! My husband actually spent a lot of time planning our proposal and he did a fantastic job. I was on vacation in Mexico with my mom and he was picking me up from the airport (mom flew into a different airport). I landed a little bit early and called to see where he was, he picked me up in my oh so sexy outfit of sweatpants and a jacket, no shower hungover, mexico vacation grossness and said "hey honey I have to pick something up at my friends house, do you mind if we stop"...I was a total bitch and just wanted to get home but I agreed. We got to said friends house, no one was home...He asked me to get out of the truck, I was yet again a bitch because it was cold, I was tired, etc. Well I finally got out, and we are at this beautiful ranch in the San Luis Obispo mountains (we were in college). He had me walk out to this spot to "look" at the scenery, and kept on saying "it's a beautiful night". I was like, umm yeah sure". Then I look down into the open field and a huge sign made from christmas lights (I'm talking like 20ft long sign) said "Erin Will You Marry Me". He got down on one knee and proposed. It was beautiful and romantic and I kept saying "are you for real" is this really happening. It was one of the best nights of my life and I couldn't have asked for a more sweet thought out proposal.
We are now happily married (2 years). And I just wrote a whole blog post in the comments. Sorry!
PS this is Erin P. from Sway so you can laugh at me whenever you want and I hope that we finally meet in person someday :-)
We were laying in bed together the morning after moving into our terrible basement apartment (2 years and some paint later we haven't moved out), looked at each other and I said "lets get married" and he said "Awesome, now you can have the ring I bought". The huge mountain ranch wedding was called off on account of him knocking me up and the due date being the wedding date. We got married at a seaside chapel in WA when I was 14 weeks pregnant. Wouldn't have changed a thing about any of it, even if I'd seen it coming.
I feel horrible admitting this, but I don't really remember the proposal cause it was so casual. As in "you want to get married?" "Yeah, why not?"
And it's not that I'm not romantic, but this is my 2nd marriage and it's a miracle that even occurred as the first one tainted me. LOL! I was planing a normal ceremony, but upon discovering I was pregnant, we decided to go the simple route and do a small service in the mountains of Tennessee. And THIS is the guy that married us - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7961qJwXQ8
So, yeah, kinda awesome.
Asking for me wasn't an option. I don't know why. My husband would have gone along with it, but I wouldn't do it.
Instead I told him he had to propose to mea nd I told him when. SOOO..... really I guess I kind of proposed to myself? LOL Oh man. I sound like a basket case.
But I hated my wedding dress. It was ruined by the tailor. And certain family aspects had me terrified of a big wedding.. but I did it. I did it on the cheap. And I still think it was VERY beautiful and I am very happy with how it turned out.
I'm just like you, but I never knew it until it all played out. I thought I wanted the whole wedding, fancy proposal, yadda yadda. I found out I was pregnant after dating my now-hubby for 4 months. We weren't sure if we should get married or wait until after the baby came. We definitely didn't want to get married just because of the baby or have our family think we were, so we decided to wait.
Three days after making that decision, I came home from work and Zach (my now-hubby) was acting all weird, following me around, and pacing. I was changing out of my work clothes--shirt on, no shoes or socks, pants unbuttoned--when I finally asked him what was wrong. Without saying a word, he got down on one knee right there in the bedroom of our shitty apartment and pulled out a ruby ring that once belonged to his grandmother (he'd gone to get it from his mom that afternoon!). He was shaking he was so nervous and he said a bunch of awesome stuff about how we didn't need to wait because, baby or not, he knew he'd still want to be married to me. It was a normal Tuesday night. I was half-dressed. And it was perfect.
We got married a month later at the Justice of the Peace and now have a 6 week old baby girl named Sonia. Everything about our lives has been less fairytale and more hilarious, biting reality, and I love it that way. I go gaga over my friend's fancy weddings, but mine was pretty much perfect for me.
sobbing at that 3rd story... oh you could tell she never wanted to let go!! :)
my story?
this is my version.....
It was the start of the summer and I was working at Timber Lake Playhouse as Box Office Manager. This particular Wednesday happened to be the opening night of the first show of the season, CHICAGO. After the curtain speech, and right before the opening number, I was called up on stage. I headed down the stairs, figuring it was just a work thing - maybe an introduction or something. The Magic Owl, TLP's mascot, was on stage and attempted to distract me... but I saw him. Ryan.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him sneaking out from backstage, clad in his favorite tuxedo t-shirt. Then, down on one knee, in a few simple words, he asked me to marry him. Emotions rushed in and I remember tearing up, giggling nervously, and smiling; simultaneously. As for the moment, it seemed to freeze and fly by, all at the same time. And of course I said yes! (Or at least nodded it - I don't quite remember!) It was such a surprise! The cherry on top: Ryan and I were congratulated not only by applause but a standing ovation.
And yes, the ring is to die for! Ryan did a fabulous job designing it - it is gorgeous - and I love it… even though I would have said yes had it been made of tin foil – or even nothing at all!
***and this is my husband's version:
Let’s see, where to start? How about the middle? I was driving to Timber Lake with “the ring” in my pocket. I had already set everything up. Got in touch with people from Timber Lake, got the plan down on where to be and park so Megan couldn’t see me, and I had set it up with her boss on how to get her on stage then out of the work place after I was done. I parked in the woods, walked to the back of the building, avoiding the front where Megan was, and was hanging out back where the band, actors, and actresses were. Everyone was saying, “Oh, this is the guy who’s proposing!” plus I got plenty of “awww” and “let me see the ring.”
Then it was time for the show... and then CHICAGO after that (insert laugh). It seemed like forever before the people who were giving their opening night speeches were done talking, then it was time to get Megan on stage. They told her to come down and were saying that they had something for her. Psshhh it was me who had something for her! LOL.
Then when she was on stage I came out from backstage behind the curtains and as some people in the crowd were figuring out what was going on, I heard a few "oooohs". Then I grabbed her hands, got down on one knee, most of the crowd now knew what was going on and gave us a little aww, then I asked, she said yes, and we got a standing ovation as we walked out the door.
My husband and I met in college, through the music department (I, a voice major, him a psychology major playing trumpet in the jazz band). We describe our relationship as an epic fail at a one night stand.
He saved his change from delivering pizzas for a year intending to buy a ring, then tricked me into believing the whole thing went to pay for his wisdom teeth extraction. Thusly, I was totally shocked when his brother took me to the big concert hall on our campus one night after a movie.
He talked the facilities guy into giving him the hall for a night, and treated me to a concert for one, complete with a program. He played an improv trumpet solo written for me, and sang, taking breaks between verses of "the book of love" to talk about our relationship and walk further out into the audience from the stage. He ended up singing the last verse in front of me, one one knee with the ring. I bawled the whole time, of course. :-) Been married for 6 years.
I missed my sister (my best friend) being proposed to at a family Sunday BBQ on her farm. I just get so upset thinking about how I missed it. I always imagined that my moment would include my hair slowly blowing in the wind and after many practices of how I would say yes, I thought the moment would come flawlessly... Not so much. My husband recreated my sisters proposal, outside (her farm) during a family BBQ. I was crying so hard that snot was rolling down and my hair was getting stuck to my face because of all the flowing snot. I never said yes because I was too busy howling. It was terrible looking but one of the happiest days of my life.
My husband and I met in college, through the music department (I, a voice major, him a psychology major playing trumpet in the jazz band). We describe our relationship as an epic fail at a one night stand.
He saved his change from delivering pizzas for a year intending to buy a ring, then tricked me into believing the whole thing went to pay for his wisdom teeth extraction. Thusly, I was totally shocked when his brother took me to the big concert hall on our campus one night after a movie.
He talked the facilities guy into giving him the hall for a night, and treated me to a concert for one, complete with a program. He played an improv trumpet solo written for me, and sang, taking breaks between verses of "the book of love" to talk about our relationship and walk further out into the audience from the stage. He ended up singing the last verse in front of me, one one knee with the ring. I bawled the whole time, of course. :-) Been married for 6 years.
I was recently proposed to, so I'm still in the proposal-honeymoon phase. We're getting married in February, so I am also in the omg-wedding-planning phase. Full story (and all the wedding planning details) on my blog (http://bit.ly/rESmH8), but he decided to propose while hiking the John Muir Trail, carved a ring out of wood, and then tricked me into picking him up at Bridalveil Falls at the end of the hike (I was supposed to pick him up elsewhere in the park). Where he proposed. With a hand carved wooden ring. Swoon. A few days later, he had purchased the rock :)
I wanted to be proposed to, because as much of a modern thinking feministy woman as I am, I'm a sucker for the romantic surprise, and dammit, I wanted a romantic surprise -- I knew we would get married some day, and I had *thought* maybe he'd propose after this trip, but I did a good enough job talking myself out of hyping it up that I was actually surprised.
I'm just like you not very romantic and not about weddings normally - but found this really cute, too.
A proposal at the London tube:
http://www.spiegeloffline.de/2011/11/14/spontan-in-der-u-bahn-der-heiratsantrag-des-jahres/
You no. 1 is not possible to watch in Germany....sad.
I proposed to my fiance. It wasn't really intentional, but he and I both knew we'd eventually marry each other on the 3rd date. We were, of course, totally afraid to admit this to the other, and around month 4 in our relationship we stayed up really late arguing about where our relationship was going. At one point, I sat upright in bed, snapped out that I wanted to marry him, and promptly burst into tears. Which turned into ugly-happy cry when he said he wanted to marry me too.
We found my engagement ring on Ebay about 6 months later. (Yay vintage colored diamond rings! Although mine is blue.) Then a few weeks after that, we flew to Dubai to meet his parents, where we got a custom wedding band for my ring at the Gold Souk. When we came back, he got down on one knee in our living room and proposed to me, just to cement how much he wanted to marry me, and slid the ring over my finger.
Our U.S. wedding is in 2 weeks, and then 2 weeks after that we get married in Dubai. (Ironically the Dubai wedding was planned first and always intended to be the one ceremony.) I totally NEVER pictured myself as a 2 wedding bride, but it somehow worked out that way. Go figure. :)
Eeeeeee!
I've been married for a month and had a couple of glasses of wine, so, totally ready to participate in this thang.
My husband is British and I am American. We live in the UK, and had been talking about getting hitched for awhile. We'd lived together for two years and thought, errp, being married would make life easier. All our conversations had been highly practical. I had sent him ring photos. It was not.. romantic.
But then, the night my mom was due to fly in from the States for a regular visit, I got home from work with a frantic need to vacuum. He suggested we just chill. He poured me a glass of wine. I remember thinking, "what? This is nice... but.. vacuum.." He had bought special Serbian (?!) wine from a shop. We had turned on Gilmore Girls to watch - which I always made him watch during our courtship in my shitty apartment in a bad London neighborhood while laying in bed drinking Red Stripe - and he raised his glass. We toasted. He said, "To us," and handed me a ring box.
Apparently I looked completely horrified. But I was mostly totally floored. It had been a huge secret. And lovely. Apparently he had made one of his guy friends continually try to intercept any packages from the post every single day for weeks to keep me from discovering my antique French art deco ring du jour.
I can't remember what was said, or what my reaction was, but. Obviously I said something akin to Yes. So, we got engaged in our own living room while watching Gilmore Girls and drinking Serbian wine with a cat asleep on the carpet.
My mom and her partner arrived a couple of hours later. We ordered Indian food and drank champagne and Skyped my father and stepmother in America.
It was great and very us.
I had just returned from a weekend away visiting my family. My husband came by my apartment with a travel mug full of coffee and suggested a walk by the river, which wasn't too far from my place. It felt so good to see him again after a few days apart, we walked down to the river and he suggested following a path through the trees and down to the bank. Once we reached a certain spot he suddenly turned to me and started saying all of these wonderful things. Then he was down on one knee and popping the question. I was so surprised and happy and of course said 'yes.' After the proposal we kept walking beside the river, giggling at this secret that was ours and no one else knew. We ended up at a small pub and had a celebration drink. It was so simple and sweet.
My proposal was almost as romantic as yours...
Boyfriend: So, I was thinking we could go look at rings.
Me: What kind of rings?
Boyfriend: You know, rings.
Me: Like wedding rings?
Boyfriend: Uh, yeah, if you want to.
Me: Are you asking me to marry you?
Boyfriend: Well, uh, yeah, if you want to.
It worked out in the end. :) We've been married two years and have an awesome 10 month old son.
My husband and I got married in our back yard by a pastor we found on the Internet. Then later we saw Motorhead.
I said "penny for your thoughts" and he said "I'm thinking about getting you a ring." You could have knocked me over with a feather. I felt tingly to my very toes, it came out of nowhere. So, we got a ring and it was too pretty to box up so I wore it until he needed it to actually propose...we hiked at Red Rock in Vegas and found a nice spot and he asked.
Ours was kind of a 2-parter! I too was unexpectedly pregnant, and we were in different cities when I saw the pregnancy test result and freaked out. After many frantic calls R. finally called me back, and after much discussion, at some point later that night, while on the phone, he said something like "well, we definitely need to get married before he's born". Now, this was something we'd already talked about doing before, so it wasn't the first time it was brought up, but I shouted "don't you dare propose to me over the phone!"
We kept referring to it over the next few months, and even started planning, he asked me what kind of ring I wanted or didn't want, I sent him pictures....
Flash forward to Italy, June of 2009. I was 5 1/2 months pregnant, working at a really difficult job in Milan (don't hate, I'm an opera singer, and La Scala is notoriously one of the most difficult places to work in the opera world, and it was.) Italians were all skinny and gorgeous and tan, and I was fat and pregnant and hot and cranky, pretty much all the time.
R. came for a visit and we decided to escape hot, stinky summer Milan and its lack of air conditioning, so we booked a room at a hotel in Bellagio, on Lake Como. That's more like it.
The train ride up was impossible, there was no AC, and we left really early in the morning. I was being a pregnant cranky overheated person, and when we finally dragged our bags into the room, which had a balcony overlooking the lake, I laid my pregnant self down on the bed under the ceiling fan in the air-conditioned heaven of our room. Finally, RELIEF!!
At that particular moment, R. went out on the balcony, and called to me "hon, can you come out here for a minute?"
"NO. NO FRICKIN' WAY AM I GETTING UP RIGHT NOW."
"Please? It's really important."
" ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?" (Imagine this in the bitchiest crankiest tone one could muster.)
This went on another minute or so, until, exasperated, I hauled my butt off the bed, and went out to the balcony.
...and there was R. with ring in hand, down on one knee. He proposed, I said yes, and he loves to tell the story of what a raging crankosaurus I was that day.
It was a great surprise. :)
I have goosebumps from watching those videos and reading these proposal stories. Our proposal was captured on video at the end of a Mexican cruise with friends after he lost a karaoke contest:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHkoU7x0YvE
You can also check out the wedding video here. He surprised me with a little performance of his vows:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHkoU7x0YvE
oops! second link is same as the first. here's the right one:http://erinisabel.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/its-been-a-whole-year/
I proposed to my husband! Sort of. Our official engagement sort of happened like "hey are we doing this, should we get married?" after we realized we were basically making plans to.
And then I bought him a ring and made him a card and officially asked him to marry me while we sat on our couch. Tres romantic!
I proposed to my man. I took off from work early to go home and get everything setup before my boyfriend got home. I filled our bedroom with balloons, tied a cheap silver ring around my neck with a ribbon, got naked and wrote "marry me" on my belly. He got home and came into the bedroom. There were balloons everywhere and I was holding a few in front of me so he couldn't see I was naked. I let them go and we both started laughing our asses off. He said "oh hell ya" :). It took me months to tell my family (and his) how I actually proposed.
Wild, we just got back from picking up my 'engagement ring'.
He asked one night after we had been dating for 8 month by slipping this silver band that I always wear onto my ring finger... I told him I'd move in. He had mentioned it a few times through the years, always after a few beers... I've always had zero interest in planning a wedding..
4years later, I wasn't feeling well one evening & he was comforting me, then asked me if I was still interested. I said sure.
Not so glamorous, but it's been a fun rediscovering of each other as we designed this ring and have starting planning this shindig.
I am a woman who proposed to her boyfriend, on purpose, with planning! I am very much a non-romantic person and never imagined I would get married, but my boyfriend mentioned he would like a wedding, and since he is a sentimental person I thought I could do that for him.
One of our favourite movies is The Jerk with Steve Martin, in which he sings a song to his beloved about a thermos (I'm picking out a thermos for you, not just any thermos, it's true...). My bf would sing this to me occasionally as a little I love you, and I would for him too. Just a sentimental couple-speak thing.
So I went out and bought a stainless steel thermos with a little cubby for salt and pepper. I had it engraved with "I picked out a thermos for you" one one side and "will you marry me" on the other side. I wanted him to have a token from the event because no engagement rings were involved.
I then went to Etsy and ordered custom gold wedding bands that were made by sifting sand downstream of old gold mines, since environmental and social considerations matter to me a lot (no hard rock mining, no communitites disturbed from the gold retrieval, supporting small business etc).
I planned a 4 day weekend to Kluane National Park (Yukon) where we live, and included his favourite foods and a stop at our local hot springs, the whole 9 yards for the area.
The plan was to propose at the top of a big day hike with world class views as the unforgettable backdrop. It ended up being rainy and we're not that hardcore, and when my bf started suggesting we "just go home since it's been such a nice weekend" etc, and I was getting more and more inexplicably (to him) adamant that we stay camping, I decided to propose in our tent, at the base of the hike. The rings were in the salt and pepper cubby of the thermos and I had a little mini bottle of something in the the most to toast with.
Our wedding was awesome, lakeside at my family cottage, but that's another story! Now our anniversary "tradition" is to go somewhere interesting to camp. This year will be tricky since we'll have a new baby!
PS my husband loved being proposed to, it's what made sense for us from the start. I loved it too, we both had the roles that suited us best. I took a thousand pictures (maybe not quite!) and now we have a beautiful proposal album. Other people teased him about being the proposee which he shrugged off but made me livid!
I tried pretending for a while that I was not created to be some sobbing uncontrollably, hopelessly romantic kind of gal...but that is who I have become. I love this post! Being engaged, watching the video obviously left me thinking of my engagement that happened in July.
I was in Tennessee helping my sister with a few things as she prepared to have her second son when voila, my brakes started going out and no one could get the parts in soon enough for me to leave on my departure date. I was not exactly thrilled because I knew that Matthew had something up his sleeve. I mean, the night before he BASICALLY told me that he had gotten the ring.
Fast forward--I make it home (after crying and begging, but that's another story, ya'll). He hadn't been talking to me on the phone for the past couple of days and it really confused me. He told me via text messages that I would understand once I got home.
I was sweating nearly the entire drive from Tennessee to Mississippi (yeehaw!) thinking that it was the day I would get proposed to. I pulled into his townhome's carport and got out as fast as I could, trying not to faint. He met me outside and didn't say anything but smiled and pulled me by the arm to his room upstairs. He pulled out his iphone (as he was shaking) and pressed play on a voice memo (his absolute favorite feature that he uses literally EVERY single day to help him remember things at work, and i mercilessly make fun of him for it). The memo described how he felt about me, how he never thought he would find someone who he would want to spend his life with, yada yada. Once he was done with saying all of those things, he ended with...
"and i bet you are wondering why i haven't talked to you in the past couple of days...it's because i want the first words from my mouth for you to hear this week to be...."
*he pulls a ring out and gets on one knee*
"Ashley Ruth, will you marry me?"
I almost died. ah! Anyways, sorry that was so long! I just love telling the story. :)
He proposed at the top of the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier after a day on the beach and a fabulous sushi dinner. It was a perfect July night, the stars were flung over our heads, someone was playing guitar and the music mingled with the sound of the waves crashing beneath us, it was absolutely perfect. Six years later, my heart still flutters when I think of it.
No big proposal. About six months into our relationship we decided to move in together and marry; (granted for a while BEFORE we started dating I told anyone who would listen that we were going to be married one day. I just knew it in my bones) We waited a year after we moved in together. We planned it in about a month and a half; it was a small white wedding three years ago in January.
P.S. I started a project a while back where I've been gathering "love stories" if anyone would like send theres: yourstoryoflove.blogspot.com (we'll be moving to wordpress in the coming month).
P.S. These are the BEST COMMENTS EVER.
I was a single mom to a 7 year old boy (always single, never married, broken up before her was born). After many years I started dating a man I had met in 5th grade! One night he invited my son and I to his house for "family night" which involved a picnic dinner on the floor in his living room while watching Star Wars episode I (he really waned the boy to see the pod racing). After the movie we built a fort out of blankets for the boy and I to sleep in. We all climbed in and he lit a candle to be our "camp fire" and then he said to the boy "are we a family?" and he answered "well sort of..." and then the man said "what would make us more of a family?" and the boy said "If you were married..." and the man pulled out a ring and of course the girl (Me!) couldn't breath and couldn't do anything but say "really? really?!" lol.
We just put up two proposal stories that star ladies doing the proposing! One to a guy and one to a second lady. Check us out: 2weddings1baby.blogspot.com
i was complaining that we didn't go on dates anymore since we had moved in together. he arranged a big night out. we went out to dinner that evening, and i got the sleepy kind of drunk. so when we got home, i just wanted to be on the couch and veg. he had to go out to "take his friend home who had been drinking too much," and was gone for a good 45 minutes.
by the time he got back i was asleep on the couch.
we were both in college and very busy, but the one thing we tried to do together everyday was to go get the mail. we hadn't done it that day, and he wanted to. i, cozy and asleep, did not. but he didn't let the issue go. so i finally caved, put on my coat, and walked out to the mailbox with him.
turns out the time he spent taking his friend home, he was setting up the camera and the ring in the mailbox. it was incredibly sweet.
he put this together for our three year anniversary: http://youtu.be/oQ2ZPYXpYdQ
My proposal went something like this:
We were sitting in my husband's office after sitting in on a financial planning session. He received a very nice bonus that year (as part of his company being sold) and we were trying to figure out how to pay the least amount of taxes on that money. I was a full-time student at the time and made about $3.47 that year. One of us, I think it was me, said "well, we could always get married to minimize the amount of taxes we pay." The other one, probably him but I honestly don't remember exactly, said "do you want to?" I shrugged and said "do you?"
A few days later we were walking down the street and he said "I like the idea of a destination wedding. Maybe in December." Me: "OK. Mexico?" Him: "sure."
Therein lies the least romantic proposal ever. However we had the most romantic beach wedding EVER in a little village only accessible by boat with 30 of our nearest and dearest complete with palm fronds, tropical flowers, mariachi music and fireworks.
I got engaged in August. If my boyfriend (I cannot utter the word fiance - it is too fancy for me. He is MY PERSON), had not made it abundantly clear that it was important to him to do the asking, I would have asked him years ago.
Apparently he was super stressed for a couple of years about the proposal being "amazing" and "wonderful" because, ya know, people tell the story over and over. Then he realized he was making it more about a statement of his own creativity than about what it was: promising me and asking me to promise to love forever & ever, amen.
So he made his secret plans, made it just about us, and I wrote all about it here:
http://lindserannie.blogspot.com/2011/08/make-it-so.html
I was ready to be married before he was, so it was important he proposed when HE was ready, meaning I didn't get to do the proposing. Oh well.
Anyways, we had planned a day trip to Seward, Alaska and planned to stop at Portage Glacier on the way. (We had gone to the glacier on our first date. awww)
It was stormy as anything, the wind was blowing rapidly causing raindrops to slam against our face, which felt like million of little bees stinging us a million times over.
We ran into the trees for coverage, shivering, cold, and laughing hysterically at the pure comicalness of the situation.
We smiled at each other, talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company for awhile. As we were preparing to leave he grabbed my hands telling me to wait, he needed to do something.
He got down on one knee and said some mushy gushy stuff and asked me to marry him.
I just smiled and hugged him and kissed him and cried and laughed and smiled and kissed him some more and finally he mentioned that I still hadn't said yes.
So I did. I said a yes a million times over. And now we've been thrust into wedding planning, which we decided to do ourselves to save money.
POOR DECISION. I'm not that into wedding planning and it is hellish. So wish we could afford to hire someone.
My husband talked me into going on a "business trip" with him to Vienna where I had schemed to take a train to Salzberg so I could go on the Sound of Music tour. I found out at the airport that we were going to Salzberg and when we landed he had a limo waiting for a crazy tour of all the Sound of Music sights and then he had permission from the Von Trapp family to open up the gazebo momentarily for us while he proposed. It was crazy. And it was fall so everywhere we looks the trees were on fire red and yellow. Oh then, he surprised me by flying my best friend in from Barcelona for the night so she could drink champagne with us and have dinner to celebrate. The whole thing was kind of bonkers now that I think about it. Have not told that story in ages. Thanks for asking. =)
My boyfriend and I had decided not to get married so when I changed my mind, I felt it was my responsibility to do the proposing. He was working nights and fearing I'd change my mind before he came home, I walked the few blocks from our home to his workplace at 1 AM. I got too scared to ask him in person so when I got back home I left him a note on our dry erase board asking if he'd marry me because I wanted to be his missus. He woke me in the morning to accept my proposal.
At first I thought this was the laziest proposal ever, but as time goes by I've realized it was perfect for us. We're both very practical people and ended up getting married at our county courthouse. My only regret about not having the traditional big wedding was missing out on cake.
I had a wedding, but we didn't have a big proposal. We were sitting on the couch. Then we decided we should probably get married and went and bought a ring. Romantic? Non. But we'd been together for nearly six years at that point, lived together for 4. I think any sort of proposal would have embarrassed me.
Apparently I have a heart of stone because the first few videos didn't even make me blink. But the last one was sweet! I'm not big on super public proposals -- it seems like a way to guilt someone into saying yes.
My husband and I were living together with intent the intent that we planned to marry. He refused to discuss details until he had a chance to propose with a ring. The process was super important to him and I was so dang annoyed. My clock was ticking and he was ignoring me. So for months while I was not so patiently waiting, I got my hopes up every time we did something interesting (see crazy ill-thought out hike with family, someone else's ocean side wedding, trip with friends to a lake, etc.). I was a mess.
He finally proposed with his grandmother's ring on a Saturday morning before I'd so much as brushed my teeth. I had spent the whole evening prior bitching about it to my best friend. ;) He did get down on one knee, and did a whole speech and it was sweet and a complete and total surprise.
I have a great I proposed to him story! (If I do say so myself ;) No video though.
We were going on a trip to France & Italy with my future mother & sister in law, and Mike & I would be spending my birthday weekend at a trattoria (B&B farmhouse) in Tuscany, by ourselves. I knew it would be super romantic and he wasn't going to take advantage of the opportunity, so I decided to!
Before we left, I bought him a ring (plain silver, made by a local artist and stamped with the words "unwedding ring"), and picked out some lovey poems I might read.
Our second day at the farmhouse, we went on a walk to some 3000 year old castle ruins, about 2 miles through vineyards and the quiet and gorgeous Tuscan countryside. Up on one of the ramparts, I pulled out the ring, read him a poem, and asked him to spend the rest of his life with me. He said yes!
We kept it a secret from his mom & sister for the rest of our trip, because we would be meeting up with my mom & brother at the end of our trip, and we told them all together.
It was perfect, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
A few months later, I was getting angsty and ended up deciding I needed a ring too, so he went out and bought a gorgeous garnet ring and proposed to me at the kitchen table.
A tip for ladies planning a proposal: make sure you both take off your sunglasses!
I don't think of it as me proposing to him, but in retrospect -yes, that is what happened. We had been together for about 5 years, and had broken up twice. When he wanted to get back together a third time, I was: "Look, I'm planning to get married and have a family and if that's what you want to do too - then we can be together, otherwise get lost." He was all "Totally". So then after about 6 months, we were headed down to see our families at Christmas and I had no ring, no proposal, no nothing so I said "Umm, are we engaged or what? What are we telling people?" His response, "Yeah, I thought we were." And then I said "Great, I'll call the Priest." And then we got married at the same Catholic church my parents were married in, I was the same age as my mother when she married my dad (27). Ta Da. (Although, my husband did take me on a surprise get away a few weeks after we 'decided' to get married and he proposed officially on the beach so that's why I like to tell myself he did the proposing).
My husband and I met in Paris as we walked with a tour group toward the Eiffel Tower. So there's that.
I didn't really believe in love at first sight, but when I came home from that trip, I told everyone (half in jest) that I met the man I was going to marry.
Unbeknownst to me, he did the same and began saving everything from our dating relationship - movie stubs, receipt from our first date, etc.
I went home from college one weekend, and walked into my house to find a table with a candle in the foyer. As I traced the path of red ribbon throughout my house, I found all those things he had been saving along with pictures and stories. When I got to the end of memory lane, there he was on one knee with the ring (with the diamond from his mother's ring - who had passed away the year before we met).
the thought of it still makes me a bit weak at the knees
The way my husband proposed was amazing, and I love him for it. Not just for that, of course, but I love having a story to tell our future children!
For our first holiday season living together, he got me this amazing vintage typewriter. I was an English major and had a 1930s fiction obsession at the time, so I was head over heels with the gift! That Valentine's Day our town was hit with a blizzard, and as I trudged up to our tiny apartment, kicking snow off, the power went off in the building. Shit, right?
So after feeling my way up the stairs, I open the door to our apartment filled with candles. He had typed out dozens of little fortune-cookie like paper slips on the typewriter, and they were all memories of the years we spent dating like "kissing you in Boston" or "scary Thai food adventures!" they were all tied to each other, one after another, and they eventually led to him, down on one knee. He proposed with a ring he bought for .25 cents out of a gumball machine, because we were poor college students, but in a way, that made it even better. :)
He is a delightful man.
How come your playlists never work on my iPad :( I feel so left out :(
-Kate
Nothing about our proposal or wedding was *my* ideal, but it was perfect because our whole relationship was a force that I resisted, yet knew I was meant to have.
Husband proposed at a church I used to point out to him because it is beautiful. It was fine, but cheesy, and I almost ruined it, and I was super gross and wanted no photographic evidence.
Wedding was the "gobs of people, white dress, sit down dinner" type that I grew to loathe after being in 57 of them. Not that I loathed other people's weddings, but I dreamed of immediate family only, intimate, in a stone chapel in the middle of nowhere, wearing a beautiful dress of whatever color looked good. My husband wanted the huge party. My mom demanded a "traditional" dress, and our venue cancelled so close to the date that we married in a huge church built in the 1890's that held 1,000 people.
Now I know this sounds awful, but really I love it because the person I was was inflexible and completely independent and kind of a jerk. But the whole "Our Wedding" exercise really helped me see my silly pride and learn to trust this man I wanted to be with. 10 years later I'm a whole new me who can role with the punches, loves big loud family gatherings and looks back on our wedding pictures with joy. Also, I have daughters, and I'm going to let them have the wedding they want!
i think it is sweet that it worked for y'all. (clearly)
your love for your family far surpasses most "traditional" couples' loves (mine included).
what struck me as interesting is that you have such an amazing gift of words, and yet--- you were super-simple in your 'proposal'
kudos to you for biting the bullet.
kudos to hal for being smart enough to listen.
and kudos to your entire family for living the life you lead!
my proposal story:
http://idroppedmybonbon.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-did-i-know.html
Shots of wild turkey. We downed them and he turned to me and said, " So when are we getting married?" A year or so later, after deciding that I couldn't and didn't want to deal with planning a wedding, we said our I do's in front of judge. That was about 8 years and 2 kids ago. I'm with you, the whole not being romantic but still enjoy hearing of others romanticness. It was romantic in our way. which is to make fun of each other.
Looks like me and Sascha have very similar stories! My husband proposed with a scavenger hunt on Easter weekend. He hid a bunch of easter eggs that held a clue to where the next one was along with something sweet about me. The last one hinted that there was something in his pocket and that's when he pulled out the ring.
Then we also got married in Hawaii with just our immediate family (all 18 of us). We're almost five years in and just had our first baby in September:)
if you go here : http://aftml.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/done-got-myself-a-wifey/
you will read the story of my EPIC PROPOSAL to my loverman. and he did not mind in the least me popping the question. it was lovely. and fun. and utterly fucking terrifying. we just got hitched 3 months ago and i couldn't be more pleased. xoxo
I'm not really sure why, but my husband was completely opposed to me proposing to him. I suggested it a couple of times, and he told me he would say no. Okay.
So he proposed to me in our church (in TN), the one where I wanted to get married (but didn't b/c I got married in the one (in Ohio) in which I grew up and where all my family lives...). He and his friends went ahead of time and adjusted all the lights *just so* so the ring would sparkle :) He got the ring from the same jeweler where his parents got his mom's ring (in Philly).
Then we went on a little hike and had some wine (I just found out, five years later, his mom bought the wine b/c he wasn't yet 21) and junior mints, my favorite.
Oddly enough, I was proposed to yesterday afternoon. My now fiance's favorite holiday is thanksgiving and, due to work schedules, we are unable to celebrate with his family during the actual date. So, fakesgiving it was.
His family has a farm property that his aunt and uncle live on, which is also where thanksgiving is held every year. Last thanksgiving, his mother took this beautiful photo of us standing together near a fence and pasture full of cows that ended in me flipping the bird to his brother who was ridiculing us. The obscene version of the photo is on my fridge right now and I love it dearly.
For fakesgiving, I wanted to recreate the photo because I think it's hilarious. We took a walk over to the spot and the fiance whips out a ring box, then asks if he can ask me something. I immediately start bawling, he asks if that's a yes, and I blubber that he hadn't asked me anything yet. Enter proposal and me snotting a yes into his shoulder. Adorable!
One guy said, "LEt's go and get married right now, or I'm going to drink this whole bottle of vodka." He already had most one the first bottle in him.
I'm still single, fortunately.
Mine was nothing like those videos. The night after I found out I was pregnant, I was standing by the stove stirring something in a pot. Jason came home from work and said something like "I guess we should get married" I just remember I kept on stirring the pot, I was freaking out. A court house wedding, two babies, 8 years and happy.
Our proposal story starts with... "Well, we got him really drunk on his birthday...."
And that's exactly what happened. After 14 years of "dating" it was fairly obvious neither of us was going to do any asking. So we gave him lots of good beer and his brother suggested we get married. I said "sure", he made an assenting noise and shrug.
6 months later we were married on Halloween in a small-ish wedding followed by a big-ish party in my parent's backyard. Very DIY and very us. :)
Sorry I can't give you romance, but our story was much like yours. We sort of talked about the possibility a couple times and then we started looking into officiants (we had a Buddhist monk do our ceremony). I think he might have sent me an email about the guy and I thought he seemed cool so I figured, well, if it could be like this that wouldn't be so bad...
I was six months pregnant when we got married, so I too carefully covered my baby bump :)
Crying like a little baby. I never knew engagement videos made me cry...thanks for that. Simultaneously cathartic and embarrassing. I'm notorious for crying WHENEVER i see a "first look" photos between the groom and bride on the day of. Gah! It's my weakness.
My proposal was, what my mom called, the worst kept secret in America. After 6.5 years of dating my college sweetheart, his grandmother started to complain– "I don't get this dating for six years business." So, (to speed things up?) his mom offered him the family ring that she and his great grandmother (1913) wore. Chris told me about that offer the day after it happened. Next, I was I accidentally cc'd on airline emails that Chris sent to plead for a flight change to "save his engagement plans." Then after he asked my parents for permission, my dad called me to say congratulations before Chris asked-- for a politician, the man lacks social awareness. Needless to say, I knew he was asking on our vacation in Greece. He knew I knew. I knew he knew I knew. The family placed bets on which day of the vacation it would happen. His mother told him "to make me stew" and not ask on the first day or two. He set a 48 hour minimum wait on himself and proposed in the wee hours of the morning as we were getting into bed on the second night of our trip. He couldn't wait a second longer!
We then went down to the ocean just steps down from where we were staying. We drank duty-free champagne, looked at the multitude of stars, the twinkling, phosphorescent algae (amazing!) and talked about our wedding and future together.
I'm now balls deep in wedding planning and I'm so thankful that you've reminded me where this started just two months ago.
My fiancé proposed to me this last February (I was 8 weeks pregnant but he'd been planning the proposal for months the baby just happened to want to come first). He wanted to take me to Tasmania but he couldn't get that much time off so we went to Philip Island - except I had no idea until two days before. He had called and arranged everything with my boss but decided to tell me just in case his cover got blown.
Because I'm living far away from my family (they're in Canada) he decided to incorporate some of my family into his proposal - he proposed on my dad's birthday (my dad passed away in 1996) and somehow managed to get my mum's wedding ring and hide it from me for two years.
I always said that I'd say no if he proposed in a public place (I hate being the centre of attention) so he proposed in our hotel room (it had a beautiful view, so it's not like it was just some Super 8 motel or anything!).
He's said from the beginning that I wasn't allowed to propose to him and that he wanted to do it. It's funny because we started our relationship rather untraditionally (met online) but there are a few "traditional roles" that really mean a lot to him and others he doesn't care about (like letting me put together Ikea furniture haha).
My fiancé gave me a snuggie out of the blue one day. I put it on and when reached in the pocket there was a box with a loose diamond in it. I looked up questioning, and he asked if I would marry him. Yes, that's right, I was proposed to in a snuggie. So sexy.
I love all of your posts, but I have to comment and say thank you for this one. It restored my faith in true love on a day when I wasn't feeling too sure that it existed...And yes, I sobbed! xxx
I was "told" we would just have to get married. I had just told my now husband that I was pregnant. He had 2 children from a previous relationship that had notended in marriage and that kind of devastated him. So, fast forward to a random Wednesday when I was 7 months pregnant. I took the day off from work. I had my blood sugar appt that morning and we checked out a daycare. Oh and sonic hot dogs for brunch. Then we headed downtown and married in the courthouse. We weren't even going to kiss; we were just like what did we just do!
My husband is not romantic or demonstrative of his love for his family. It can be frustrating when I'm feeling like I need to feel the love but much like you, I like the stories of romantic love but I would laugh at someone if they would have proposed to me. I cry seeing wedding photos and videos of random strangers and lately i've been "pinning"wedding dresses i like. I don't know why it makes me uncomfortable or weirded out but it does. I am addicted to romantic comedies and lately books (not cheese ball romance novels) but stories that have love stories in them.
All this to say, I love my husband and am happy with the way we were married. We are raising 4 crazy kids and the way we got married doesnt matter. We had a small ceremony with our families last year, since I totally didn't tell my mom until the day after. That's a whole other story!!
I had a beautiful outdoor wedding in a Vera Wang dress. We danced the night away surrounded by friends and family under a big white tent in my parents' beautiful English garden on a balmy June evening. The proposal was on a stone bridge at sunrise on Christmas morning. The MARRIAGE was nothing but misery and screaming for four years until it --mercifully-- ended in 2009. I got the dogs.
I remarried in May of last year. My best buddy. The weepy father of my almost-here baby girl. I told him we were getting married while we brushed our teeth in fron of a mirror at a Holiday Inn. We got married after the bond hearings at the Lake County courthouse. The bride ahead of us in line had a little puke on her outfit. I wouldn't change one single moment of my second wedding because this time around I get excited every time this guy calls to tell me he's on his way home from work.
I love my proposal story...we had dated for about 2 months and it was Dec. 23rd. We had put up our first Christmas tree together and the only ornaments on it were red bows and some of those cheap fabric balls (that you can get for like 24 for $3). The only other thing on there was one of those silly brass ornaments with our initials engraved on it. Came home the night of the 23rd and I sat down to snuggle with my to-be hubby under the sweet Christmas lights and he said "I got another ornament for the tree." So, I got up to look, couldn't find it - and he said "you can't find it, it is right there." and he had hung my engagement ring on the tree on a hanger. Took me a good 5 minutes to stop crying and to say yes. sniff sniff.
My husband told me the night he bought the ring then proceeded to hide it and told me when it felt right he would propose. I was a nervous wreck for weeks. Finally when we both had the night off I made a nice dinner and settled in to watch Spiderman 2. During the movie he said hey can I ask you a question...and I shushed him. But then it dawned on me OMG he is going to propose during SPIDERMAN 2??? I turned around and there he was with a huge ring, a smile and said "So what are you doing for the rest of your life?".
My husband took me to London and proposed to me in Trafalgar Square. It was amazing
I guess you could say it was traditional in that he surprised me with a proposal, but still... it was amazing.
It was my birthday and he took me out for an amazing dinner and then drove me home. He had told me that he had an early conference call the next morning, so he couldn't stay out late. So, he dropped me off after dinner and then drove away. I sat down and chatted with my roommate for a while.
After about 10 minutes, she told me that while we were out that night, someone had dropped a box off for me. She didn't know who or when. It was a nondescript brown box and said, "Happy Birthday" on the outside. Inside was a DVD case with pictures of my (now) husband and I and it said, "The story of Daniel and Lauren." There was no DVD inside--just a note that told me to check the TV. So my roommie and I sat down to watch a movie that was already cued up in the basement living room. She played it totally cool. I kept asking her what was happening and she kept telling me she didn't know! We watched this amazing video Daniel had made with pictures of us, our favorite songs, clips from our favorite TV shows and movies. Then at the end, the words, "You are the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" appeared on the screen, which is a line from our song (by Ray LaMontagne). As soon as the screen went black, the song started playing. I thought it was still coming from the TV, so I sat staring at a black screen for a minute until I glanced over and saw a trumpet player on our patio! I opened the doors and there was a guitarist (our good friend) and two horn players playing/singing our song. I burst into tears and listened to them sing. As the chorus started to crescendo, Daniel opened the gate. He had changed into his tux and was holding a rose. I lost it at that point--I was crying so hard. He sang to me and held me and kissed me while I bawled. The song finished, the musicians scattered, and Daniel got down on one knee. It was the best proposal ever :)
Let me start by saying that I am near impossible to pull a surprise on. Family and friends have tried hard in the past but I always clue in when secret plans are in the making...aside from the day of my proposal that is.
It was Christmas morning and I was spending it with my family. I had always maintained that I thought proposals on Holiday occasions were lame and so this is why my (now) husband knew it would blind side me.
After breakfast with my family, he showed up earlier than expected and was dressed to the nine's...which was nothing unexpected as it was Christmas day. Fast forward to the gift giving, we were exchanging gifts amongst the family when he sat me down and gave me a series of gifts. The second last gift was a digital camera, which he promptly passed to my sister (whom he instructed to take video vs. a picture) and said that we had to take a picture together before I could open my last present. So there I am smiling like an idiot waiting for the 'click' that never came...a few more seconds roll by and to my shock he gets down on one knee.
It was special for so many reasons, the whole thing was caught on tape, my family was there to share in the excitement, half way through the video you hear my father nearly take out the tree due to excitement and someone was finally able to surprise me. Three years later and I still can't get through that video without bursting into tears.
I went to visit my sister when she was stationed at AIT with the army. I met "C" there, the next day he proposed with a poem, I said YES and we had a long distance relationship for a year while we planned out wedding. Most didn't think we would make it but we are married 14 years and have 4 kids and are happy :)
Ok, firstly, the photo you your wedding day with Hal is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. You are both totally GLOWING with happiness.
An onward to my hubby's proposal....
We had talked about marriage while on vacation at a cottage, I was open to it, but not dead set on it since I had been married once before, with unhappy results obviously, but I was totally into marriage again as it would be with him. The love of my life. The guy I fell in love with on my first day of college when I was 18 years old.
He walked into my 1st class of the day and I said to myself that I was going to marry him. 16 years later, I bump into him on an internet dating site, we moved in together 4 months later and voila.
Ok, i'm getting off track again.
DH called me at work one afternoon and asked if i'd like to take day trip out to Stratford, Ontario that coming weekend for a picnic, and of course I said sure, especially since I love Stratford (total cute day-trip kinda town). It was the picnic thing that threw me off, I knew something was coming.
We were packing up for the picnic, he said he's take care of everything, so as I watched him make 2 bologna sandwiches on white bread with mustard, and a magnum of red wine, I had a feeling!
It was unfortunately raining that day, but dammit he was determined to have that picnic! We settled at a table by the river, and he cracked the wine, we enjoyed our sandwiches, then he stood up, walked behind me, and presented me with my engagement ring. He cried, I cried, and we were engaged!!!
We will celebrate our 4 year anniversary in May 2012 and I love him to bits.
Well...I was proposed to as a surprise on a trip to Italy...which sounds like a super-romantic thing, except that I had no desire to marry the guy and ended up saying yes because I was trapped in Italy with him and lived with him besides.
Once I finally extricated myself from that relationship and met my now-husband, he had heard my "ambush engagement" story so many times that he knew I had a major philosophical problem with the idea that one partner can unilaterally decide to completely change the terms and tenor of a relationship.
Therefore, instead of a ring, he got me diamond stud earrings and said "these can mean whatever you want them to mean." Since I really wanted to marry him, I said yes to a question he didn't really ask!
This just happened this week, and it's so sweet. He put a ton of thought into it. :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkg16DazAYE&feature=youtu.be
So, I instigated a crappy proposal (or hilarious for posterity's sake...via theoretical argument) and my husband ended up initially asking me during a makeout session....
but eventually a real proposal happened this way (he proposed in his parents backyard, while we were both in Phoenix for the weekend...me from school in Indiana and he from his PhD in Cambridge, England, where we met):
This may not be an English Garden, though
it is the garden of an Englishman.
So, too, these lights which hang from bough to bough
are not the stars (though we can just pretend)
But you, my love, shine brightly as the Sun
which lights the joyful path which I must tread
Home, to you, my secret heart's true heart
Here, then, is the Moon [ed: here the ring comes out]
May it be joined together with the Sun [ed: he kneels]
So they, conjoined, will always light my life.
My dearest Libbi, will you be my wife?
My Fiance and I have been friends since we were 10 years old and I was his first "girlfriend." I dumped his sorry ass because he wouldn't kiss me at 12; but we remained very close even after we went off to college, all throughout the years; seeing one another when in our respective states at the time, e-mail, phone calls, etc. In fact he was the first person to get a hold of me on 9-11 and I broke down when I got his call (I was a block away, busy, professional Manhattanite.)
We are now in our mid-thirties and got together about 3 years ago after I went through a life- changing crisis; he was there for me solely as a friend, flying to see me, calling constantly to check-in yada, yada.
I, lo and behold, move cross country to be with him.
We returned "home" this October and he proposed under an enormous, 200+ year old oak tree, a tree we played under constantly as children on our preparatory school's lawn. In high school we would return at night to climb, hang out and do what high schoolers do; I would cheer for his ultimate frisbee team on lazy Sunday afternoons, leaning against the tree and smoking my Virginia Slims. Anyway, the proposal was the sweetest damn thing.
The big rock helped, too! ;)
The day my boyfriend proposed I had gone to a movie with friends and he was expecting me home immediately after. But, my friends and I got sidetracked and went shopping, so he was waiting (probably rather impatiently) for an additional hour or so. I had 2 bags and my purse in my hand when I walked in the door and saw him sitting in the dining room reading a book, rather awkwardly, and I didn't know why he wasn't sitting in the living room. Then I saw Hershey kisses scattered all over the coffee table and one giant one in the center that had a custom tag coming out that said "Melanie, will you marry me?" My jaw dropped and I dropped all my bags and he was there with a ring. I didn't say anything except "I don't believe you" for about 3 hours. It's a pretty great story, but it's made better (at least, I think) by the fact that we called it off a year later and are still BFFs. I don't have any expectations for a romantic or over-the-top proposal the next time around. Something personal and low-key is totally cool. It's about the person asking the question, not the way it's asked, you know?
I totally feel you on the loving OTHER people's proposal stories, spectacular weddings, and tales of romantic bedazzlement, but absolutely not wanting any of those things for myself. It's tough to explain that to people, as they so often think you are judging them for their own proclivities, but that's just not the case.
I tear up immediately at any story of anyone getting down on one knee and busting out a ring, but I was nothing less than relieved when my husband and I decided to get married by, yes, just deciding one day and then going out and looking for a ring a few weeks later. Had my (now) husband gotten down on one knee, I would have taken a cheap shot to his jaw and rolled my eyes. It's just so not what either of us want, ever. But for others? It's the best, the greatest, the finest, and I love that. May we all be allowed to choose what works for us as individuals.
I was going to do the asking, since he'd asked me to move in with him (a very big deal for him. He wanted to be married first). I was going to do it at the spot of our first kiss or something, but spontaneously proposed on another occasion:
We were at an awful holiday party filled with my old roommates' obnoxious friends. The only people we liked had just left and we were waiting on another friend who had just flown in with her French boyfriend I hadn't met (they were too tired and didn't make it). While waiting we went downstairs to the patio and enjoyed the peace and quiet of a winter evening with the sounds of a party above us. He had a cigarette and we talked about the marriage issues we'd considered before.
Somehow we got on the topic of open marriages (my parents split up after infidelity and my fears about the changes we all go through made me afraid that we couldn't stay together in the long run, as passion simmers down). He said he didn't care about any of that, we could have as open a relationship as I wanted (as long as there was honesty and open talks). All he wanted was to be with me forever. I was so touched that I asked him to marry me right there.
I know, an open relationship, so romantic! I don't think we'd ever take each other up on the promises we made that evening, but the fact that all he wanted was for us to stay together as we grow old and was willing to do whatever he could to make that happen was what made me KNOW I wanted to marry him and had to ask right then.
Sheesh. I'm totally crying and I have to leave in 15 minutes.
This is one of my favorite proposal videos: http://youtu.be/bQVoAWSP7k4
My now husband proposed at the top of a stone tower at the Wildflower Center here in Austin. THEN we went for a romantic dinner at a fancy pants Italian restaurant where 30 of our closest friends and family had come from across the city and COUNTRY to be there with us. It was perfect.
i still have mixed feelings about my husband's proposal. at the time we were living in hawaii and decided to visit the mainland for a couple of weeks - he took the opportunity to get his great-grandma's ring out of safe keeping. directly after getting the ring, he asked for my father's permission, and DIRECTLY after he received it, ran up to me and proposed while i was in the middle of a conversation with my grandpa. the fact that he was so anxious was cute, but at the time i would have preferred that he asked in private. as it turned out though, my grandpa passed the day before our wedding (with no warning), which changes how i see it now (plus, my new last name was my grandpa's first name).... things come together in weird ways, that's for sure.
My husband proposed to me at an Arcade Fire concert during the song Neighborhood #1. He got down on one knee, but he had forgot the ring. We had talked about getting married 9 months earlier, and I helped pick out the ring. He waited for the perfect moment, and when it came, 9 months later, he forgot the ring.
I'm kind of like you except I'm not interested in weddings in general, not only for myself. I am not married, but neither my longtime boyfriend nor I want to get married or have kids and we both agreed that if we get married, it will be for legal reasons, not because that's what people do. Even when I was little and other girls were dreaming of what their weddings would be like, I already knew for sure I would never want it. Some things, you just know very early. Everything about a wedding is so not me. I hate being the center of attention and picking out dresses. I already told my boyfriend that if he proposes to me like the dramatic and overly planned out way that some people do it, the answer will be no. And if he gave me a ring, I would never wear it because I hate rings; they get in the way. I don't want him to wear a ring either because he would just look funny. We are very non-traditional in this way but it is good that we are both on the same page about it.
When my friends get married and have weddings, I am very excited for them and about going but I am just not one to obsess about details.
My then boyfriend asked me out for dinner while we were at work ( an office we both worked at during our study). During the day he asked me to decide where to go,but then he bitched about every option I gave him..so by the time we got to my place I told him he should choose himself. I got dressed and thought "what the hell, let´s go celebrate his diploma" (that´s what the evening seemed to be about).
We entered this nice italian restaurant and all of the sudden I was like: baby, if you ever want to propse to me, please do it right here!
He put that away with a grin, we had an exelent dinner, great wine, everything was fine. I left to the restroom and came back telling him how wonderful even the private rooms were, with mints and handlotion etc. when he took my hand with both of his hands...i think i stopped breathing! just until the italian waiter broke into this "perfect" moment asking us about dessert...in my mind I was like "get lost, you are ruining this.." but he just wouldn´t get away, asking you don´t want cake or icecream, are you sure? why not? ... so I was like, ok, I´ll have icecream. As soon as he left my boyfriend let go of my hand and leaned back into his chair! He only order an espresso for himself but had his eyes on my icecream, so I offered him some, but he said he didn´t want any, I didn´t want any in the first place, but there I was spooning in my dessert, when I suddenly felt something heavy on my tongue: his ring!
Later he told me how nervous he had been about finding the right place to propose and then about the fact that I didn´t want any dessert...it was perfect!
We were planning to get married a year and a half later, since all the big venues in Germany are booked for months ahead. Just days before we were to sent out our invitations I found out that I was pregnant! So we canceled the planned date and switched from august to june, so I could actually enjoy the party @five months pregnant. And we did rock the dancefloor until 4o´clock!
TEARS my goodness. I'm not married or engaged, and I have no interest in having a wedding, but other people's stories always get me. Some friends of friends just got engaged and they have an amazing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyE3tRuMKxU
What would we do without YouTube?
I wasn't sure I was in a crying mood, but after the 2nd one I had tears streaming down my eyes. My husband proposed after I had a long day at work. He had cleaned the entire house, so I knew something was up, and he proposed in the kitchen. A sweet memory, nothing grandiose, which is fine, because I too am not much of a PERSONAL romantic... I like observing others romance and love the hell out of my husband with sarcasm and kisses
My now husband knew that in my previous (dysfunctional!) relationship I had been proposed to casually and constantly (and unwelcomed-ly), so I was freaked out by the whole thing. I wanted to marry him, but had LOTS of baggage around the whole thing. So, we talked about rings and I knew he was designing one for me, and on Christmas Eve, in private NOT public, he gave me a little handmade coupon "good for one proposal from him" whenever I chose to redeem it.
For me, it was perfect. I redeemed it very soon thereafter, in a safe, private moment, and felt very known and loved.
We've been married since 2007 and have two little girls -- our youngest is two weeks younger than your twins.
Thanks for your great blog! and introducing me to echino fabric!
My boyfriend and I had been together for three years, living together for 2.5, when we started talking about getting married. We went ring shopping so he could see what kind of engagement band I’d like (he’d planned to use the diamond from his mother’s engagement ring, which she had passed down to him “for someday” when she remarried after his father died). I never wanted a showy, public proposal, the only request I made about our engagement was that it not be on a holiday. I hated when guys popped the question on their girlfriends’ birthday or Christmas Eve or Valentine’s Day. I thought the engagement should be its own holiday!
But shortly after we went ring shopping, my boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer, and our lives were put on hold. Three months, two surgeries and several complications later, Christmas came around and since we’d both missed so much work and were so behind on bills, for the first time ever we couldn’t get home for the holiday (we lived in Florida, our families are in NY).
This was a BIG DEAL to me, as I’m very close to my family, so he was determined to make it special. We got dressed up and went to our church’s Christmas Eve service, then came home and he made a fancy dinner, and then we took a bottle of champagne and drove around the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights.
We ended up in the tiny town square that was decked out with huge light displays, and we sat at the edge of a fountain in the middle of it all and talked about the craziness we’d just been through, and the chemo he was about to start right after New Year’s. In the middle of his rambling about how tough things had been, he said, “But you were my angel the whole time.” Then he said, “You’ve always been my angel. Will you marry me?” I said, “Are you asking me??” and he pulled out a ring, got down on one knee and asked again. I said yes! We finished the champagne and drove straight home to call my family. When we got home we noticed it was about 12:15 a.m. Christmas morning, which means he had proposed at just about the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve. I got the holiday engagement I had always dreaded, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
(Twelve years, two kids and cancer free!)
Damn, I am late to this party. My husband and I talked about marriage and I warned him that if he EVER asked my father for my hand, I would say no- and if he proposed in some gaudy way, I would say yes but very reluctantly. I am not a fan of fancy proposals. When it happens to others and they are happy about it, then YAY and sweet and cool. I wanted us deciding to get married to be just that. Us. Talking about it. Deciding. Together. And that's what we did. And he still has not forgiven me for not letting him propose :)
...but we had a fabulous Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows styled wedding, if you are interested in seeing the video (that one guest put together for us from videos she took on her camera because she is so sweet) you can. Here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1bBg86DK-8
I spent four years of college fighting the idea that I would marry my now husband. He was unmotivated, no goals, no direction but was so darn cute you couldn't help but love him. We spent two years fighting about how and why we should be together and more often about why we shouldn't. On the night of my graduation party, I asked him to marry me. Three months later I was pregnant. We were married 6 months later. To anyone on the outside, it looked like the typical shotgun wedding the would last all of five minutes. Six moves, two daughters, the death of his father, grad school, a career that suits him like nothing else could and seven years later we are happier than the day he said yes. Once I saw past everything he wasn't and saw everything he was, I couldn't stop loving him.
I love proposal and wedding stories about as much as a good birth story.
To answer your question, my husband, Jason, probably would have loved it if I proposed. He loves being romantic and being the recipient of romance. He is the perfect metrosexual for me!
Needless to say his proposal was pretty fabulous! I am a beach lover who lived in DC at the time. Around my birthday he took me to VA Beach as the sun was rising and asked if I would spend the rest of my days with him. Of course I said yes! As we stared over the ocean basking in our newly engaged glow, a pod of dolphins swam in front of us. Kid you not, they started to play and jump out of the water, spinning like they were doing a private happy dance for us and our decision to marry. It was pretty spectacular and a moment I will never forget!
I didn't do the proposing, however, my husband proposed on bended knee in a restaurant in front of 20 other couples.
The ring was placed in a chocolate Easter egg in a beautiful basket. I opened it and then that's when he proposed.
It was a magical moment in our lives. Next May 9th, 2012 it will be 20 Years!!!!
BTW, love your wedding photo and story.
On the day before my 22nd birthday, I arrived home from work and opened the door to a house with what seemed to be hundreds of candles burning and my man on one knee, ring box in hand, asking me to marry him. I said yes then told him we were late for a dinner I said we'd go to (yep, total romantic here too Rebecca). Then he asked where the bloody hell I had been because he expected me a couple of hours earlier!! Dude, it was my birthday the next day and I totally needed to rock out in a new pair of shoes!
So now I sit patiently in Sydney, Australia with our 3 boys (reading my fav blog, that cheers me up no matter what) waiting for him to skype us from the port he has pulled into during his deployment. I miss my man, and will be very sad on the 21st November, our 13th wedding anniversary without him.
These comments are fantastic! I've been meaning to write our story forever. Thanks for the inspiration and sharing all the love.
On October 1st this year,I had my 10 year high school reunion.I was quite excited about it,purely because my bestie (who I hardly ever get to see) would come visit me especially for the reunion (I still live in my home town).
On the night of the party,we were having an awesome time getting drunk and dancing and just basically trying to act like we're still 18.After about 2 hours,our class president calls all of us inside for some announcements.As I took my seat,I remembered my drink was still outside on the deck,and so I ran to get it.As I sat down,and saw my boyfriend wasn't in his seat,I didn't even wonder where he was.
The next moment I heard his voice over the mic,talking about how great it is to see everyone,etc.I started thinking how it is really strange for him to talk on the mic to my class,because he didn't know half of them.After greeting everyone,he started talking about our relationship and how much he messed up in his life,but how everything changed when we got together (awwww!).
He called me to the stage,and I was in such a daze,that I didn't suspect anything.When I got there,he went down on his knee and asked me to marry him.I immediately burst into tears,said yes and everyone started cheering.He didn't have the ring with him,since he decided to ask on the spur of the moment (also,my mom wanted me to have her engagement ring,and he could only get it the next day).
What really warms my heart,is that my boyfriend has a very bad stutter (especially when he's nervous,or around lots of people) and while talking on the mic,in front of all those people,he didn't stutter once,I couldn't believe it!It is such a beautiful memory for me,and I can't wait to get married next year.
I loved my proposal. I always said that I wanted my proposal videotaped. So, when he threw me a surprise birthday party two weeks before my birthday and had three video cameras there, I didn't even notice it. And the final birthday present I opened was a statue with a box hidden in the base. And in the box? Was a little ring. :)
And after he always said "why don't guys get proposed to?" I bought the ring he had wanted, we went to see something at the Pantages, and on the way home I stopped and blindfolded him and drove him back to the park where he'd proposed to me and proposed to him right back. :)
1. my friends were at that Royals game when the soldier proposed! so cool!
2. on christmas eve my husband told me we were going on a holiday lights tour and when we pulled up at a small local airport, he said "merry christmas! i told you we were going to see christmas lights but i didn't tell you it would be from a helicopter!"
i assumed it was my christmas present and was so excited. after about a half an hour, flying around looking at lights, the pilot flew over a really dark area. i just figured we were at the end of the flight and he was going to head back to the airport when my husband said, "look out MY window! there are more lights over here!" so i leaned over and on the ground, spelled out in christmas lights, were the words "MARRY ME." i was completely shocked and burst out laughing. the rest is sort of a blur, but the pilot (who works for our local news station) was filming the whole thing and we made it on the 10 o'clock news that night!
Let's see, we've only been married for 1.5 years so it's fresh in my head.
We were wandering around China town in Philadelphia the weekend before July 4th and ended up in Franklin Square I think, where we first kissed and we sat on a bench. The man was sweating a lot, which is what he does. He sweats, so I had no idea. A little voice in my head said "It'd be interesting if he proposed here", but not expecting it.
He offered me a piece of botan rice candy and I said, "no thanks, drinking mah hello kitty soda"....
Then he said, "Want the sticker in the botan rice candy box?"
I grabbed the box because I like the stickers and there was a ring inside with the candy!
He mumbled out what was written on the ring "wyjdziesz za mnie" ("Will You Marry Me?" in Polish, I have a Polish last name). In a moment of inspiration I said "Okay!", which is what we ordered to be put on his engagement band a few weeks later.
We're such geeks.
Here's another one for you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8hCk2Cbtw&feature=player_embedded#!
This one is also amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRsqEi47Ic
You might have to update this post, check this out . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F9WZgTgB9E&feature=youtu.be
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