The Marriage Proposal
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When you meet someone that you are ready to marry, and spend the rest of your life with, you have to decide when and where to pop the question.
When my husband proposed to me, we were at home. There was no sun, sand or sangria, no candle lit dinner but it was the second happiest day of my life, after my actual wedding day.
Whilst the atmosphere may not have been the most magical for his marriage proposal, despite having lots of engagement rings >> to select from, his choice most certainly was, a white gold band with a beautiful emerald stone. I don't like diamonds, so my husband had made the perfect choice for what I intend to be first and last engagement ring :)
Where you choose to propose to the one you love can play such a significant part in creating the right atmosphere.
Here are a list of some of the most popular, and budget alternative, places to propose to the one you love.
The Eiffel Tower, France
One of the most romantic settings in the world, Paris could be the perfect place for you to say, Je t’aime.
Blackpool Tower
It might not have the spender of the Eiffel Tower but it can have all the magic as you and your partner step out onto the Walk of Faith, where you can see wonderful views inland and over the Irish Sea.
Venice, Italy
Like Paris, Venice has a reputation as being a city for love. Why not propose on a gondola while traveling down the Grand Canal?
Cambridge
Go boating along the banks, or up river to Grantchester. Don’t try punting yourself as it's far more difficult than it looks. You will have enough on your plate with trying to choose the right moment to pop the question. Book a private tour with a chauffeur punt instead, this way you can relax and take in one of England’s most famous colleges.
Niagara Falls, Canada and America
There are three falls; the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Canadian, Horseshoe Falls. All the falls are magnificent but I must confess while on honeymoon, I was overwhelmed by the Horseshoe Falls with its sheer power and beauty.
Ingleton Waterfalls
England too has many of its own waterfalls. They may not be on the same scale of that of Niagara, but the Ingleton Waterfalls walk has some of the most spectacular waterfalls and woodland scenery in the North of England.
Empire State Building, New York
The Empire State Building is one of the tallest buildings in the world. Why not re-create the scene from Sleepless in Seattle where Tom Hanks and Megan Ryan where united.
London Eye
The London Eye is the world’s largest observation wheel standing at a height of 135 metres. Hire your own private capsule and as you climb slowing into the sky ask your loved one to say I do.
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is the most famous natural attraction in the whole of the USA. The South Rim has the most popular visited viewpoints of the Grand Canyon so why not head for the North Rim, which is just as impressive and will offer you and your loved one with a stunning intimate view.
Snowdon
Snowdon is the highest mountain in England and Wales, with superb views all around. If you are not keen on the 1085m hike then why not take the train to the top.
Where did you propose?
Let us know where you proposed, or were proposed to, so that we can place details here and maybe give inspiration to others!
"My boyfriend gave me a guidebook to Rome for Christmas and told me he was taking me there for my 25th birthday which was in March. He was really stressy the day before we left and I even threatened to stay at home and let him go on his own, but he managed to sort himself out and we flew out early on the Sunday morning (9 March).
Had a lovely day walking around Rome, weather was gorgeous! Went to the Trevi Fountain which was lovely and had some pizza and an Italian beer. Went out in the evening and Andy (my H2B) was adamant that I wrapped up warm! Went to a lovely restaurant and then strolled back to the Trevi Fountain...
H2B seemed really bothered that it was still busy at 11.30pm! We sat on the edge of the fountain and we held hands and each threw a coin over our shoulders and made a wish! Then he said he had something he wanted to ask me and before I had time to question it he was down on one knee!!! So romantic!! Got lots of cheers and some street seller thrust a huge bunch of red roses in my hand (boy did he make us fork out for them after!) and it was absolutely lovely, so I floated for the rest of the holiday!
Sorry, rambled a bit there...still finding it all very exciting! The only thing that worried my H2B was that one of the first things I said was 'oh my god I've got to plan a wedding!" Kim Short
"My partner of five years proposed on the 24th Jan on top of a mountain in France! I somehow managed to say yes through the tears and then we skied down with our friends before celebrating that evening in a gorgeous mountain restaurant. Perfect." Christine Hembling
"A friend of mine from university was staying with me for the week, as I hadn't seen her in about a year. She'd only met Aiden briefly at the beginning of the weekend before he left for Ireland to visit his parents, or so he told me. On the Saturday of my friend's stay, we went into London to go shopping. After we'd shopped for a few hours and had lunch, we were walking past a jewellery shop. Anna wanted to look in the window display at the watches and as I was pointing out a nice one she asked me 'Isn't that Aiden?' as she pointed through the window of the shop.
Sure enough Aiden was standing at the counter talking to a sales woman. I pulled Anna into the shop to find out why Aiden had lied to me. When I said his name he turned around and all the colour drained from his face. The sales woman called to him and handed him a small velvet box. I asked him what it was, even though it was completely obvious. 'I guess I'd better do it now then.' Aiden said before he got on one knee, in front of the whole shop (which was quite crowded on a Saturday afternoon). 'Please don't be mad. I'm sorry I lied to you but I knew I was going to do this and I'd have been too nervous if I'd seen you all weekend. Can you forgive me and maybe want to marry me?' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry so I decided to do both. With my lips shaking I said yes, still laughing as Aiden slipped the ring on my finger. He stood up and kissed and hugged me. As he was hugging me I said to Aiden, 'I'm still mad at you though.' Linzi
"We had been together 6 years and we'd just bought our first house together. We'd talked about marriage on and off over the years, and I'd tease Jamie about how he'd have to ask my dad first, and he'd always reply by saying we'd never make it down the aisle if that was the case.
So on my 22nd birthday (2 days after valentines), he'd given me my card and my presents, a bar of chocolate and some new slippers.... which I was rather miffed about as all he'd got me for valentines was some plastic coat hangers!!.... then after I'd expressed how disapointed I was in him we both went to my parents for lunch.
We hadn't been there long when I noticed he didn't look very well, he said he wanted us to go for a walk so he could get some fresh air. As we walked I was complaining all the time about how it was freezing cold and I wanted to go back to get warm. When we eventually made it to the top of the hill we'd been walking up (where he'd taken me for our fist picnic) he turned to me, got down on one knee produced a diamond ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him. Well I was in shock, and when I eventually managed to said yes it started to snow.
On the walk back to my parents house he confessed that he'd asked my dad 2 weeks ago, and had been waiting for the perfect moment to ask me since, and that moment couldn't have been more perfect. I then felt really guilty about the grief I'd given him that morning about the slippers..... But I'm now looking forward to planning our wedding." Sarah
"My partner and I had just moved in together, and we were flat broke, so we said we wouldn't do anything about Valentines day (which is also out anniversary. I did however get glammed up, and cook his favourite meal as a surprise. When he came in he had a card and a teddy bear. I started crying on the spot as I felt terrible that I hadn't got him a card. He said it was a lovely thought about the meal and that he was over the moon because of the effort I'd put in.
I looked at the card, but did't really take it in. I was crying so much that I couldn't see the card properly, he asked me what I thought, and I said, "About what?" When I looked at the card properly I realised the card had a beautiful diamond ring attached. After lots more tears I managed a yes, I was on cloud nine and called everyone I could think of, we are getting married this year, I can't wait." Sue
"My now fiance proposed to me on New Years eve just before we were bout to have a party at a lovely hotel in Warwickshire. It was simple and there were no gimmicks just him telling me how he feels about me. It was made really special by the fact that my family were there. The ring is a family heirloom too so it s really special to him and it made me so happy that he decided to give that to me." Amanda Hoyle
"A few days before Christmas 2007 i gave my boyfriend his card. He opened it, read it and thanked me but said I couldn't have mine until Christmas morning (which made me think he hadn't bought it yet!) So then, on Christmas morning, we opened our presents and then all that was left was a very large box for me.
I unwrapped it and it was a pampers nappy box. Inside that was my card and a very small neatly wrapped package. I opened the card and it said "to my fiancee" After reading that and his message inside saying "Will you marry me" i cried for ages in his arms (through happiness of course) and then i opened up the neatly wrapped box to find the most beautiful and perfect ring i had ever seen in my whole life. It was amazing. I'm still in the clouds after almost 2 weeks." Karen
"On the 4th August 2007 was the best day of my life... so far!
Will had never been romantic I didnt think he knew how! I had met Will when I was 15 and we knew we were meant to be. Will told me how he NEVER EVER wanted to get married so I had to come to terms with the fact that I will never have my big day as long as I loved him! years went by and I gave up on the idea! but oh my god did he shock me!
His aunty was getting married on the 4th august and I had been involved in a lot of the organisation (which is probably why I was so oblivious to the plans that were going on around me! normally I can read Will like a book and can always tell when he is up to something!) the day came and it was beautiful I got a bit upset to know I wont be the one walking down the aisle but I was so happy for Will's aunty she looked beautiful.
That night after the speaches were done the time came for the first dance. Wills aunty and uncle had a short speach prepared before the dance so they got on the stage and with everyones attention read out my car registration number and told the owner of the car to come to the front. "great" I thought what are they going to embarrase me with this time! as I got to the front in front of all Wills family they announce they had a special surprise for me... with that Will appeared in front of me and told me things I never thought he noticed about me... how I was the one person who understands him and that no-one has ever put up with him longer that a week let alone 4 years and that for some time now he had been planning to do this and never been so sure about anything before!
with that he got down on one knee and produced a ring so perfect I couldnt have picked it better myself and with the whole family whistling and 'awww-ing' in the back ground asked me to marry him. unfortunatly after his little speech I couldnt stop crying let alone speak but somehow I managed to nod my head and say yes! of course the music for the first dance came on it happened to be OUR song as well as Wills aunty and uncles song so that worked out ok.
many family members were crying as much as me and were so happy! after of course I found out exactly who was in on it.. none other than my mother! she had known for 3 months and it killed her to keep it quiet lol! we are getting married on 22 november 2008 and I turns out we are pregnant and we will have a little addition to the wedding crowd!
I have never been so happy and I cant believe how perfect that moment was! I love him so much! " Hana Donaghey-Brace
"My boyfriend took me for dinner the day before my 30th birthday and told be he hadnt got me a present yet and can we go shopping for it the next day, I was not that impressed by this as it was my 30th I thought he might have got me something special!!
He then told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand because he had something else to give me, thats when he put a small box in my hand, I opened it and asked him what it was !!! Then burst into tears... bless him the ring was perfect and 4 weeks later im still in shock. Perfect proposal in ever way." Cassie Foote
"My fiance proposed 2 days before my birthday 25th august 2007 behind the cinema were we went to watch the simpsons movie in the beautiful garden of a pub." Leanne Hunt
"My fiance directed a local amatuer dramatic show of Sweet Charity, which I was in. On the last night, just after the bows, he came on stage and proposed in front of about 150 people!! Almost everyone, except me, knew what he was going to do. It was amazing and I will never forget it." Lucy
"It was the morning of our two year anniversary we gave each other our cards and to my disapointment all I got was "love you, thanks for the past two years" well compared to the lovely card I recieved on our first anniversary this was disappointing, so I had a go at him accused him of not caring!, he told me to go and have a shower while he thought of something better to write, I told him it was too late and it wouldnt count, so off II stormed into the shower.
When I went back into the bedroom he sat me down on the bed got down on one knee and read the most beautiful poem he had written to me and asked me to marry him he even had the dimond ring ready! I said yes cried and then appologised for being mean!" Meryem Ahmet
"My now fiance proposed, hardly planned at the races last weekend. We were watching the horses before a race, and he was eating a pcket of love heart sweets which all you late 70's early 80's children will know what I mean. He pulled one out of the packet, which said will you, and then pulled out the next one which to both of our surprise said marry me. If that was not fate then Im not sure what it was. He turned to me and said well..... what could I say? After 20 blissfully happy months together, I accepted and look forwards to our big day in July 2009." Anna Chester
"We have been together for 6 years now and I wasn't expecting a proposal any time soon. Marriage wasn't big on his priority list, or so I thought. It turns out that he just wanted me to think that so that it would be more of a surprise.
Anyway, we had been for a night out and were walking home at about midnight (we were both sober). We got to about 20 yards from our house when he suddenly got down on one knee. I thought that he'd fallen over!
He proposed to me right there in the street. He said he was planning on doing it on Christmas day, but couldn't wait any longer. It was the happiest moment of my life.
We are now massively into planning our wedding. Infact I am doing a Wedding/Event Planning course and am planning to take it up professionally part time after ours. We are also going to start trying for a baby as soon as we're married.." Karen
"I proposed whilst in the geothermic water of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland." Martin
"I proposed in my local pub."Thomas Spencer
"I remembered my marriage proposal as if it were yesterday. My Fiance asked me over the phone "will you marry me" at first I couldn't answer. It was a early Sunday Morning. And I was so nervous because I knew when that day comes that it was going to be for real. Before, I can give him answer. I told him to hold on because, I was crying.
So, I got back on the phone and I told him to give me sometime to think about it and we will talk about it later. Well, I thaught about it and that evening I told him to ask me the question again and the answer is yes. That was the time of my life, I was on cloud nine for a few days."Ronie Ferdinand
"Me and my fiance had only been together for 2 months before he joined the army. We only got to be together when he could get time off so it was hard for us. He always worried that I would leave him because it was a long distant relationship but I stayed strong. We grew closer every day all though we were miles apart. We rang or texted every day from 5 o'clock when he fished work. When he came home I would stay with him and we would just hold each other for ages.
7 months into the relationship he rang me one night from his camp at midnight and we were just talking about our day and how much we missed eachother when he aked me if I would marry him I said "yes". He said he was so glad that I said yes and that he loved me so much and that he would stay with me for the rest off our lives. "You dont know how happy you've made me" he told me.
I couldnt sleep that night I was so excited and couldnt wait for the weekend when he was coming home. I know it wasnt very romanic on the phone with his mate snoreing in the back ground but it was still special to me.
When he came home we went to his room and there were rose petals sprinkeled on the bed he held me tight in his arms for ages and was very quiet until he sat me on the end of the bed and he went down on one knee and held my hand and again asked me to marry him holding a gold diomond ring. It was perfect and so was our engagement party.
We plan to get married in 2011 when am 20 and then I can join him in camp where we can get a house." Mel
"It was last Christmas Day- we opened all our gifts and I went to have a shower. Left the shower and went into the living room with towel round my head, fleecy pyjamas on and there he was - on one knee at the Xmas tree! It was our first Xmas together in our own home - it was wonderful!" Jodie Hunter
"My boyfirend proposed to me on holiday last week in Turkey. The sun sets there are so beautiful and I had no idea he was going to do it! He managed to choose the most gorgeous ring and managed to hide it for the first 4 days of the holiday - i was absolutly thrilled when he got down on one knee on the pier and i burst into tears and managed to nod - later i said yes properly! " Pamela
"I was away on a course and finding it really hard as I had never been away from my boyfriend for this long before. I left my phone in my room everyday to stop disstractions during lessons. As I was climbing into bed my phone beebed. It was a text from Michael saying "will you marry me?, I promise I pressed send on one knee" I just read the text over and over then checking it was real.
I cried tears of happiness whilst I left him waiting for my reply. (keep him in suspense!) Obviously it was a yes. I was day dreaming about the big day in every lesson from then but somehow managed to pass the course. I returned home to my hubby to me then went shopping together to buy my beautiful ring. We are getting married in March 08 and I can't wait!" Helen
"Me and my now Fiance had been looking forward to a couples holiday camping in Devon that we had arranged with another couple we are friends with. Half way through the holiday me and my boyfriend thought it'd be romantic to go and sit on the private beach at around 10pm, when we got there, we sat on the pebbles. There were fireworks going off not far away and the reflection of the full moon was shining up at us from the sea and illuminating the cliffs.
I had never felt so content in my life as I did then, just cuddling him and watching the beautiful view. Then from out of nowhere I heard him say 'Rhia...Marry me?' at first I wasnt sure if I should take him seriously or not (he's a real joker sometimes) but to prove it he stood up infront of me and got down on one knee and asked again and ofcourse, this time I answered YES without hesitation. That was the happiest night of my life...so far! " Rhia Williams
"The day Jamey proposed was one of the best of my life, he got dressed and pretended to go to work. He then rang me later on told me he had finished early was on his way home, to pack a bag as he had a surprise for me!
I packed an overnight bag as instructed absolutely clueless. We drove down the motorway and we got to Coombe Abbey Country Park a place i loved as a child (However Jamey had never been!) we walked in grounds and he said lets go in hotel it looks nice, lets go for a look around. Nervously we looked around and a lovely staff member handed us a brolly recommended we walk out on to the balcony take a look at the full view of the lake and the gardens.
Outside with an amazing view of the lake, Jamey got down on one knee and proposed and the lovely staff member (who was in on the whole thing) jumped out from hiding with a camera! Jamey then took me up to the huge room he had booked for us filled with roses and champagne and i proceeded to ring everyone i knew to tell them! I am so lucky! Bless him! (Blush!)" Nikki Holland
Marriage Proposals 1
