Tell us how your SO proposed to you?

[dulcemariamar]

I don't have a story. We were just hanging out, talking about our relationship when the topic of marriage came up.
Nothing romantic. No ring. (I got one later) so sometimes I give my DH a hard time when I see a romantic proposal on TV.

And you?? Did your SO do something romantic?

[dorothyinAus]

It's not really romantic, but it's very us.

I was at my great-aunt's house for a family reunion and I couldn't sleep one night. It was about 2 am where I was, but I knew DH would be up because it was around 7 pm in Melbourne, so I called him. We talked about all kinds of things -- everything to nothing. And at some point during the conversation, he asked if I would marry him. I said yes and we casually moved on to the next topic. Later, after we had hung up and I was drifting back to sleep, I texted him to confirm he really asked what I thought he asked. He said he had.

Three years later, we were married in the same room at a family reunion.

[irish]

Kinda romantic...

I was given a free weekend away at a 5 star hotel by work so we chose to go the weekend after dh's birthday to celebrate. On the Friday we tried to book a table for dinner for the Saturday but they said they were fully booked but they would call and check again. We were on our way out to dinner that evening so dh told me to wait in the taxi while he waited for the answer. When he came out to the taxi he told me we had a table.

Saturday morning we had decided to go for a walk. It wasn't a long walk, but we needed to drive to it - it was through a forest walk to the top of the highest waterfall in Ireland. We had breakfast and got ready to go in our room but dh was messing around with his bag and I offered to help him close it (the zipper was broken). He ended up telling me to go wait downstairs (actually escorted me to the door of the suite!!). Odd...

Anyway, on the walk, which was really nice, we walked to the top of the waterfall and took in the view, but they'd done a lot of tree felling so it looked really desolate. On the way back to the car we paused to admire the view and that is where he proposed! With the ring that he'd picked out himself with no help from me. I knew nothing about it!!

So, on the Friday evening he told Reception that he was going to propose so we HAD to get a table for dinner and that is why he told me to wait in the taxi. They were expecting it to happen over dinner and were a bit sad it didn't but they gave us a glass of champagne each to celebrate. On the Saturday, he didn't want my help with his bag because he had a bottle of champagne and 2 glasses in it!! So he was getting stressed that his plan was falling apart!!

He had spoken to my parents earlier in the week to ask for their blessing - he had wondered how to get out to them without raising suspicion but I gave him the opportunity when I had to call to a friend's parents house and he stayed with my parents!

We called to my parents to celebrate on the Sunday lunchtime and then called to his parents to tell them - we managed not to tell any of his family and none found out until we told them all in person (his sisters were all in his parents house during that afternoon but arrived at different times!)

So yeah, well planned and kinda romantic...

[aMrsin09]

We were on a day cruise with his family in the Whitsundays. He had been figidty most of the afternoon but eh, he was trapped on a boat with his family.

At just about sunset, as we were in the Hamilton Island pass, he came up to me like he was going to ask me if I wanted a drink (he started the convo with "hey, so") but instead said "hey, so do you think you'd want to marry me one day?" I said of course.
A split second later my brain is going "wait a minute. was that a hypothetical, or did I just get engaged?" He followed with "So it will be OK if I start introducing you as my financee, because GF just doesn't sound right anymore"

Yep, I was engaged

ETA: There was no ring because he was planning on buying it when we were back in Sint Maarten that winter. When we found out we weren't going to t he islands, we found my ring in a little antique market in Villefranche France.

[popcorn]

May 28, 2012 4:02:18 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I don't have a story. We were just hanging out, talking about our relationship when the topic of marriage came up.
Nothing romantic. No ring. (I got one later) so sometimes I give my DH a hard time when I see a romantic proposal on TV.

And you?? Did your SO do something romantic?

This sounds very typical Spanish so know you are not alone. This is how almost everyone I know in Spain got engaged and the Hollywood engagements are only recently becoming kind of popular.

DH and I got engaged in a similar way. We were on the couch watching 30 Rock. He had come to visit me in Seattle while I was there for the summer -- this happened during that trip. Anyway, we were just talking more about marrige (the topic had come up a few times during skype conversations) and I remember that I asked, "So, does this mean we're engaged now?" in a joking manner.

He then looked at me and said, "Popcorn, I love you. Will you marry me?" And he had no ring because it was spur of the moment so he ran off, got his keyring and put it on my finger. To me it was very romantic.

We bought a ring two days later and told our families the night we had the ring. So it was our little secret for a bit.

For us, it was absolutely perfect. A little spontaneous, a little crazy, not done exactly the "right" way, but that is just how we are.

[travelingturtle]

I wanted to do something special with just the two of us around the holidays. We went through several options and finally decided to go to an exhibit at a nearby nice hotel, followed by dinner. His coworker knew someone at the hotel and had arranged to get us to the front of the line for the exhibit. For some reason, my H was very ridiculously excited about it. I didn't question it at all. We were going to see the exhibit and then go to the fancier restaurant at the hotel. I looked up the restaurant online and told him it was way too expensive. He told me not to worry about it, and I told myself that once we get to the restaurant, we'll cancel our reservations and just go to a less expensive restaurant.


Anyway, we get to the exhibit and he calls his coworker's contact who gets us to the front of the line. We're going through the exhibits and I see the contact again. H had set it up that he'd ask at one of the exhibits. So, we're standing in line and we got the people behind us to take a picture of us. I walked to the exhibit, turned and he was kneeling. I thought he had tripped. The contact was at that exhibit and had set up a hidden camera to take our picture. That's why it was so important for him to bring us to the front of the line so he could see who we were. Afterwards we went to the restaurant (and I didn't complain about the price anymore) and with dessert we got a little congratulations message. It turned out he had been working out with the hotel what would be the best way to do the whole thing and they made several suggestions. It was very sweet and very unexpected.

He told me afterwards that had I chosen to do something else (the other things I had considered were going to Disney (we lived in Orlando), the beach, or just a restaurant), he was just going to make his plans fit with whatever I suggested. He knew if he made the initial plan I would've been on to him.

ETA: I forgot this part. He asked my dad ahead of time (about a week or two before he proposed when we were at their house). My parents were coming into town to pick up my grandparents at the airport. I invited them over for lunch before we left, so I had thoroughly cleaned the apartment. Which is good because it was a disaster. When they were leaving, my mom told me to look good that night. She always tells me to dress up, but I did decide that maybe I can spend sometime on my hair and makeup. So glad I did. Then when we got back to our place my H had arranged for one of his other coworkers to come over while we were gone and put flower petals on the floor, flowers and champagne. Very unexpected. So glad I cleaned.

[popcorn]

travelingturtle and irish, those are some great, well-planned out engagements! I love it!

amrsin09 Yours gave me a little giggle. So fun that he just walked up like he was about to do anything other than propose. Very sweet.

[ktkl09]

Ours was not romantic. I had a visa issue, we had a stressful week-end in London searching all possibilities on how to stay together and how to get me back to Switzerland. It came down to let's get married and we got married two weeks later, 3 years now! :-)

[americaninoz]

dh asked my Dad before hand too My dad was cheeky and said 'what if I say no' dh said - well I'll still ask her anyway - my dad laughed and was happy with that!

we went to Germany for the weekend - flew into Munich and took the train down to Schwangau. I have ALWAYS wanted to see Neuschwanstein Castle and OMG I loved it - it was amazing. We toured that first day, then the next day we rented bicycles and rode around the gorgeous countryside. We ended up at a cable car and went up to get a great view of the castle. He had me walk a bit further up, away from people, then got down on one knee. I was SO shocked!!! He had this big ring box in his pocket all day and said he couldn't believe I hadn't noticed!!!

LONG before he proposed he had flown to Belgium & picked out the stone, the he designed the ring he wanted, they made it and the guy hand delivered it to him in London!! He put a lot of thought into it which I thought was lovely

[dulcemariamar]

OMG. These stories are so sweet.

Popcorn: I laughed when I read your post, because for a second, I thought your SO, really called you Popcorn during the proposal. But I guess he used your real name.

[NomadicMama]

I love threads like this!!!

My DH was getting orders to move from VA to CA. We'd talked about getting married and decided we would, but he wanted to wait to propose until he had the ring. He ordered it from Blue Nile--and something happened and his card was charged twice, thus sending up a fraud alert and delaying the order. He'd planned to take me, on our six month anniversary,to the restaurant we went to on our first date. Unfortunately, due to the delay, the ring was not delivered until the day after--and the day that I left for a weekend business trip to AZ. Ugh.

The day that I returned home, I flew into Dulles Airport (in NoVA) in the early afternoon. My mom was flying into National Airport in the late afternoon. Traffic was a beast getting from the airport to DH's apartment (we technically weren't living together, but I was there 99.99% of the time).

When I finally arrived home, DH took my suitcase and turned off the television (thank goodness, he'd been watching the Simpsons while anxiously waiting for me). He sat me on the couch, dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes, we hugged and kissed. Then, we were out the door to go to the airport to pick up my mom.

DH had not yet met any of my family. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to introduce DH to my mom before waving my engagement ring in front of her.

It's not the most romantic story. DH tried, but circumstances being what they were, he had to punt. It is quite typical of our life together. I'm not complaining.

[mrsukyankee]

In pajamas on the couch on April Fools Day. He's an idiot. But it fit him...and no ring either - he knew it would be better for us to shop together for one.

[pittpurple]

DH and I were living together and always talked about getting married. We actually designed my ring together (a family friend is a jeweler) so I knew it was coming... someday. So one Friday night he had told me we were going out to meet up with his coworkers (who I hated). I was really tired after a terrible day at work and kept insisting I didn't want to go. We ended up getting in a gigantic fight and I couldn't understand why he was being so insistent!

So we finally got in the car and headed up the hill to where he said we were meeting everyone. A bit before, he pulled into a super fancy restaurant I'd always wanted to try... and then I knew that I had been horrible to him on the day he was proposing. I felt terrible! But it really was a stupid lie - I mean, I would never have wanted to go out with his coworkers, couldn't he say we were meeting friends or something?

Anyway, we had dinner and he was really nervous! He proposed after dinner and it's a restaurant that's used to this sort of thing so the pianist played us a song and they brought us champagne. When we got home, I found roses and champagne that he had planted earlier in the day. It was really sweet.

But seriously... stupidest lie ever.

[jennybee1018]

Fun stories ladies! DH planned our engagement way in advance, unbeknownst to me.

We were staying in a fancy hotel for our anniversary and were heading out to a nice dinner. As we're leaving, DH said he forgot something so we went back into the room. He pulls out a box (too small to be an e-ring) and tells me to open it. so I do and it's a pin, which he tells me is called a Luckenbooth and it's usually given when you become betrothed.

Then he drops to hs knee and proposes with a ring we had looked at. I was so surprised and was crying! So then we go to dinner & he says I can't text anyone, we'll call our families after dinner. The restaurant knew we had gotten engaged & treated us to champagne & dessert.

Then we got back to the hotel & DH wanted to head to our favorite bar for a nightcap. They had just opened a rooftop terrace & it was summer. So we went and they said there was a private party on the roof, but they would take us up there briefly to see it. So we get in the elevator, and I kind of poked my head out at the top and started to get back in the elevator, and then I hear bag pipes and start to realize that I recognize all the people who are there!!

DH had been organizing a surprise party since Feb so that his family from Montana, my sister from Ohio & and a bunch of other out of town friends could be there to celebrate with us. I cried a lot but it was soo awesome :-) I'll never forget it!

[mrspurdy]

Mine is kinda a strange one. DH and I were sitting on our balcony watching one of our neighbours friends have a wedding on the beach of our condo unit. DH started making comments about "our" wedding we would do this or that and so on. That x-mas my parents came down for 4 weeks and stayed with us. I was positive it was coming at that time. He had been planning this big new years party at the bar he owns. My baby sister called my parents when they were here to give them the heads up to call the middle sister. She had gotten engaged at a family event on his side. MS told BS OH I bet mrspurdy is going to get engaged now and take away my special time.
So DH and I waited until last June after her wedding to get officially engaged. Before we left for Canada DH and I looked at rings online (not a good jewlers here) and had picked out a few to look at while up in Canada. DH called his sister to tell her we were getting engaged and she said his mother would have loved me and she would love it if I would wear his mother engagement ring. The only problem was getting it from London to Belize before we left for Canada.
In Canada DH asked my parents and also officially asked my 6 year old permission to marry me. We looked at rings still in Canada and I couldn't find anything I liked we did however buy my simple gold band wedding band which I wanted.
The day after my sisters wedding we announced to the family that we were getting married on Feb 29th, 2012 on Ambergris Caye, Belize (where I have lived since 2006)
On July first DH dropped me off to get my nails redone as I had nails put on for sisters wedding. He and my daughter picked me up and we stopped off at his bar where he then brought me and my daughter on stage went down on one knee and pulled his mother's ring out of his pocket and popped the questions. He had a friend who had gone to England bring it back without me knowing. So I cried and said yes. It turns out his mothers ring is exactly what I would have chosen.

[clickerish]

I consider my "proposal" to be the day she looked at me and said, "What if we just do it? What if we live together or would that be crazy?" She had never lived with anyone in her life and was terrified of commitment to anything permanent, especially insofar as sharing her space was concerned. We did it and have never looked back. She even wears a ring now (at her own insistence). And, in typical fashion wherein she refuses to follow any rational pattern, now that we live together and wear rings, she thinks she wants a ceremony. At least we don't have children, I guess.

[crimsonandclover]

DH and I had been dating for 8 months, but since it was all long distance except for 1 week when I visited him in Germany, we had pretty much discussed all the important issues to make sure we weren't putting ourselves through the hassle of an LDR for nothing. When he visited me in the States, we were at my college for 1 week then went home on my spring break to stay with my parents for 2 weeks.

While we were home, we were ring shopping, and I pretty much knew when he bought the ring, although even the jeweler (an old friend of the family) tried to make it more difficult, saying, "Ok, I ordered what you wanted, but it could take a long time to get in. Maybe a couple of months or so." It was a nice try, but I doubted that was the case.

2 days before he left to go back to Germany, he said he was taking me out to dinner, so I knew what was coming. It ended up, though, that he had asked my parents' permission then got their help renting a limo and making reservations at a local Chinese restaurant. While we were at dinner, I went to the bathroom and came back to find the waitress hitting on him. I wanted to tell her to lay off because he was going to propose to me that night, but didn't. ;-) When he reached for his wallet to pay for dinner, my heart jumped into my throat because I thought he was reaching for the ring, but he actually didn't propose until we were in the limo on the way home.

After I said yes and we kissed, he said, "I thought about waiting to ask you until you came to Germany this summer, but then I would have had to pay customs on the ring." ... ... I laughed. It's totally him - honest to a fault even with info that I really didn't need to know.

[Deleted]

Mine was short and sort of impromptu. We were at JFK, I had to catch a flight to Rome and we both knew we were going to be apart for a long time due to visa issues and work schedules. So anyways after having checked in we take a stroll in the terminal and right when we get to the gates he grabs me, looks right into my eyes and proposes to me, then as I start smiling thinking he was being funny - he kneels! In front of everyone! I start to cry and we kiss etc. etc. Taking that blasted flight was the hardest thing ever.
That was basically it, no ring at the time, I have an antique family heirloom ring that he arranged to have resized for me a few months later.

[dulcemariamar]

jewels: That is so sweet.

[potatopie]

Ours is a funny one:

DH didn't propose to me officially. But I wanted to sit down and officially ask my parents' permission.

We were driving to WI for a special lunch with my parents (they knew it was coming). My stomach started hurting but I didn't think much of it. But by the time we pulled into their driveway, I was sprawled out in the backseat.

My dad, who's a surgeon, laid me down on the couch, did a couple taps on my stomach and said, "let's go to the ER". I had to have my appendix removed that afternoon. DH had to leave that evening for a meeting in Madison. But came back two days later and we had a dinner with my parents then.

The funniest part was that for the rest of the week, my siblings kept announcing our engagement, but my stomach was swollen from the surgery so it looked like I was pregnant. We kept having to say, "yes, we're engaged. no, I'm not pregnant!"

[violetsmommy]

Aww those are all so sweet! The first time DH asked me I was only 13 obviously then I didn't realize wed really get married lol then 6 years later he got done on one knee outside of my moms porch and asked again. We got married a few months later and this June is our 5th anniversary.

[blushing]

Our 'story' actually starts 7 months before we got engaged. We were getting ready to go on our first trip to America the next month when we were visiting his uncle (and godfather) and aunt when his aunt suddenly says 'G, do you love this girl', and he is like 'yeah', so aunt says 'no I mean do you really love this girl', DH says, 'yes', aunt goes 'do you want to marry her', G says 'yeah, one day' so aunt tells DH to come to her room and next thing I know he is back with an engagement ring. Aunt tells us that we can have the diamonds reset if we want, but she wanted to give us the diamonds. I told DH that I did not want to ring reset as I love the sentimental value it carries as it is and it fitted perfectly. (The ring is NMS, I originally chosen a tulip shape ring with 0.25 carat diamond in white gold. This is a yellow gold ring with 3 0.4 carat diamonds in a row, so a lot bigger than I was going for). In the next month DH proceeded to ask my Mom's permission and my dad's permission and even told my BFF that he would propose before we got back from the States (we were going for 6 months).

Fast forward to near the end of our trip and we go to NYC for the first time (this is a week before we leave). I was sure he was going to do it there. We go on a carriage ride through Central Park, nope. We go up the Empire State Building at night, nothing. I slowly started giving up. We get back to Florida from NYC and go on a road trip to all these lovely places on the Florida coast, nothing. By this stage I am thinking that it is not going to happen. On the Thursday (2 days before we are due to fly back to SA), I cook him this lovely dinner with stuffed pork and roast potatoes and everything and then he suggested an evening drive because we had to return the car the next day. We went down to the beach and played imaginary volley ball and had a nice time just walking along the beach, and then I thought for sure he was going to do it. Again nothing. We get back into the car and by this stage I had actually just gotten myself worked up. He says that he wants to show me something. So we drive to the riverside and there is this lovely wooden gazebo (like the one I had told DH I wanted to get married under after seeing Cinderella Story). I say that it is lovely and we dance a bit to our own non-existent music. I then go over to the side to look at the water and turn around and there is DH on one knee asking me to marry him.

I obviously said yes, and then we dashed to Walmart (the only place still open by the time DH asked) and got some champagne. He asked me to stop giggling when we were there because people were staring, but I couldn't care I was just so happy. He had made reservations at a lovely fine dining restaurant the next night. He likes to be sneaky like that.

[anna7602]

I used to have our engagement story on my knot "web page" when we were engaged. No idea what happened to it.

In short, yes, it was romantic. We were in Philly, where we met, for a long weekend. We went to eat at our favorite restaurant there, and afterwards, took a walk in the freezing cold (February) to see the building where we first met. DH proposed in front of that building.

This was eleven years ago and I still get all sentimental when I think of it.

[elenetxu]

May 28, 2012 4:44:20 GMT -5 popcorn said:

This sounds very typical Spanish so know you are not alone. This is how almost everyone I know in Spain got engaged and the Hollywood engagements are only recently becoming kind of popular.

Add another Spanish nestie to that list. Except, DH got down on both knees in the tower of the castle in his grandpa's hometown and asked "You will, marry me?" His English sucks but I understood. No ring, no asking my Dad, but it was a very sweet moment.

[elenetxu]

May 28, 2012 6:48:54 GMT -5 jennybee1018 said:

Fun stories ladies! DH planned our engagement way in advance, unbeknownst to me.

We were staying in a fancy hotel for our anniversary and were heading out to a nice dinner. As we're leaving, DH said he forgot something so we went back into the room. He pulls out a box (too small to be an e-ring) and tells me to open it. so I do and it's a pin, which he tells me is called a Luckenbooth and it's usually given when you become betrothed.

Then he drops to hs knee and proposes with a ring we had looked at. I was so surprised and was crying! So then we go to dinner & he says I can't text anyone, we'll call our families after dinner. The restaurant knew we had gotten engaged & treated us to champagne & dessert.

Then we got back to the hotel & DH wanted to head to our favorite bar for a nightcap. They had just opened a rooftop terrace & it was summer. So we went and they said there was a private party on the roof, but they would take us up there briefly to see it. So we get in the elevator, and I kind of poked my head out at the top and started to get back in the elevator, and then I hear bag pipes and start to realize that I recognize all the people who are there!!

DH had been organizing a surprise party since Feb so that his family from Montana, my sister from Ohio & and a bunch of other out of town friends could be there to celebrate with us. I cried a lot but it was soo awesome :-) I'll never forget it!

I just cried. That's so sweet!

[allibally]

We got engaged Christmas Day. We celebrated his style Christmas on the 24th and mine on the 25th. He got me up early put a blindfold on me and drove me to one of the gondola lifts in Adelboden, Switzerland. (Where he was living and I was visiting) We took the Gondola up but then had to walk through this really deep snow to this igloo. Once we reached there he had a snow dog sled ride set up for us. Afterwards he proposed an we had champagne inside the igloo.

[NomadicMama]

Blushing, I understand, to a lesser degree, how you felt. I knew DH was the one and I knew he felt the same way. He had to go on travel for a month. I met him in St. Louis one weekend. I figured that he would propose at the top of the Arch. I was giddy with excitement! We got to the top. . . and nothing. <sigh>

We ended up talking about it at the airport, at the end of the weekend. Turns out that while yes, he did see us getting married, he was not feeling the same urgency I was. (FTR, my urgency was due to excitement.)

Well, the military intervened and we were engaged about a month later, married 24 days after that! ;D

[bugabean]

I don't really remember not knowing we wanted to get married. I mean, that point in time must have existed but I don't remember us really talking about it or having a 'moment' or whatever. We had both picked out rings, and one day when I was visiting him in DK, I suggested we swap them before I had to leave the country again. We did, somewhat unceremoniously, and then we kinda figured we should tell his family. lol

[allibally]

May 28, 2012 8:33:04 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

I thought about waiting to ask you until you came to Germany this summer, but then I would have had to pay customs on the ring." ... ... I laughed. It's totally him - honest to a fault even with info that I really didn't need to know.

LMAO! That such a German characteristic.

Poor DH had to have my rings Fedex to Switzerland and had to pay customs tax on them. Still cheaper then buying it there though.

[CakeLover]

We had been dating forever when his friend asked him if he wanted this job in Singapore in May 2007. I told him he would be a fool not to take it. So he did and we stayed bf and gf for the entire time and communicated through Skype. That Christmas I asked him if he was going to come home and he said no. I was bummed but in the back of my mind I thought for sure he would. His family has a large get together around Christmas and I thought for sure he would be home for that, he wouldn't miss it. During the family Christmas I kept looking at the door but he never showed up. I drove to my place 2 hours away, still holding out hope he would be there and he wasn't. The next day my mom picked me up and we went out to dinner.

Well what I didn't know is my mom was in on it. He called my mom, asked for my hand (my dad had passed), and told her he was flying in and needed her help with the proposal. He flew into my hometown and then stayed at her house. The next day she drove him to get my ring and when she came over to my house she dropped him off at the corner and unlocked one of my doors without my knowledge so he could come inside and wait for me.

After dinner we drove home and lights were on that I hadn't left on. Instead of thinking a burglar is in my home, I instantly knew he was home. I thought that was my surprise. I couldn't get the door open fast enough. He had rose petals as a trail to him and I found him and hugged him, kissed him and cried. I hugged him so long that he was like 'ok, I have to ask you something'. He got down on bended knee and proposed.