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At some point, proposing to your girlfriend went from being a private occasion between two people to something the gets splashed all over the pages of the newspaper. Maybe it was around out the time dudes started recruiting friends to hold up signs in Central Park, staging fake police raids and popping the question while 35,000 feet in the air. Aside from the fact that these crazy-elaborate proposals can not in any alternate universe be referred to as "news," they're also giving those of us without a ring on our fingers totally unrealistic expectations. Now I want my own proposal to be likened to something out of a Julia Roberts movie, and I'm bitter that you adorable people keep putting more pressure on my less-than-ingenious lover.
Oh, your fiancee dunked himself in chocolate and rolled around on a blank canvas to spell out "Marry Me?" Awesome. No. Not awesome.
'Cause when your crazy BF acts like a human Hershey's bar, it makes my future proposal over a fancy dinner seem lame. In fact, if my boyfriend did pop the question over steak, I'd forever have to preface the story with, "We're both really low-key people ... ," and hope to God my family doesn't notice the pained, disappointed expression on my face.
So really. Enough with the ridiculously over-the-top proposal stories. (Guy who spelled out a 227-foot proposal in bales of hay, I'm looking at you.) Or at least start sending my boyfriend some ideas.
Andrea Zimmerman is a Lemondrop contributor who is dedicated to uncovering weirdness on the Internet.
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Monday 24 August
By Clio
Hey, there is still hope for you! Case in point: a friend of mine got engaged when her boyfriend handed her a Taco Bell hot sauce packet with the words "Will you Marry Me?" printed on it. True story.
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Monday 24 August
By zoelouise
Guys only do that public stuff when they are afraid the woman will say "no".
It's gross.
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Monday 24 August
By Denise
Isn't the meaning behind the proposal more important than how the proposal is carried out? If all you care about is having some big, fancy, creative proposal to talk about years from now, maybe marriage shouldn't be on your priority list.
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Monday 24 August
By Nora
hahahaha I love this article! I laughed out loud atleast four times.
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Sunday 30 August
By Jessica
We were both seperated by long-distance, and my now-husband sent my ring to me in a UPS Box. Best package I ever got :). You don't have to go to ridiculous lengths to make your girl say yes, just be genuine.
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Tuesday 25 August
By valerie
My man proposed after a rather steamy sex session. I immediately said yes. We've been together 18 years...and we are both happy.
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Wednesday 26 August
By Teodora
This is a very good point. My fiancee wanted to do this ellaborate proposal for me, and for about two weeks he was nervous and anxious about it. I didn't know what to think 'cause he was snapping at me about every thing. Eventually, his ellaborate plan flopped and he decided to just propose to me in front of my whole family on Christmas Eve. Everyone was there, waiting for the big moment while I had no idea about what was going to happen. Then suddenly he got down on one knee and aked if I wanted to marry him.
Later, when we were telling this story one of his friends commented how he had huge balls to pull something like that off...and I got to thinking...that's true...he's only 23 and had the guts to kneel in front of our whole family and propose. I think it takes more guts for that than jumping off a tall building or some other crazy stunt.
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Wednesday 26 August
By panda
I love all the crazy elaborate stories of how men show their love. I think they are sweet and funny. Those stories didn't dampen my heart when my man got down on one knee for me. We are very in love and I couldn't be happier. We were alone on an early morning walk at a campground in NH with his family back at our site. We are getting married May 1, 2010.
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Thursday 27 August
By Beth
It's not about crazy over the top proposals, it's about meaning something to you. My husband didn't go all crazy with his proposal but he did it in an original way that really meant something to me, and always will. I will spare you the details, but I will say that we were the only people in the restaurant who knew we had just gotten engaged. No down on one knee, no hiding it in the food, no crazy movie-scene like applause from onlookers in the end, but I still get goosebumps thinking about the moment he asked me to marry him.
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Friday 28 August
By lulu
I think going out of your way to make is special is important when getting engaged, that certainly doesn't mean there have to be police raids or anything.
I must have the worst engagement story ever, I hate to tell it. My bf was moving out of state, so I was very upset as we were renting the truck to pack up his things. We came back out to the car to wait for something and he gets out this package and opens the ring box. He then proceeds to stare at me without asking me to marry him...at the gas station...where we were renting the truck for him to leave town.
It was great that he did this before he left town to let me know he was leaving for us (job while I finished school) and he intended on us being together as soon as school was done...the story...still horrible.
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Saturday 29 August
By Jennifer Gaines
My fiance asked me to marry him on instant messenger (aim) and then i had a panic attack and ruined it lol. I love it though because I don't know anyone who has gotten engaged that way. You dont have to be big for it to be remembered or unique.
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Sunday 30 August
By bleevinmiracles
Bro- in- law took the fast food route..they were poor law students and he figured fancy restaurants would be an easy tipoff...told her to get a table, brought her the requested burger.. the kind with hot/cold side..plunked the ring on the lettuce and wrote "will you mcmarry me" on the inside of the box..took her out to dinner to celebrate..she really doesn't care for mcdonalds..cute and funny, 21 years later, they are still cute and funny..my husband and I were living together for three years but in separate bedrooms as I was helping him raise his two daughters and waiting for his divorce to be worked out..otherwise he was dropping the kids off before work at 5 am because their mom wouldn't watch them and his daycare had closed so I moved in to lower our expenses..the penultimate why buy the cow story..the day the final paperwork came in my grandmother took it upon herself to call him and tell him she had purchased our china and flatware ages ago and needed him to do something about it, (we didn't have a dining room) he proposed with her on the phone, we got married two weeks later 14 years and another daughter later here we are...he gave me a beautiiful ring for our tenth anniversary but honestly my plain gold band from Service Merchandise is my treasure and so is he and our three girls
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Sunday 30 August
By Shannon
I USED to want that too, until I realized most of that stuff only happened in movies, and if a guy knew you expected that it puts unrealistic expectations on him. My husband said he wanted to marry me point blank and then we started making plans. No ring, no bells and whistles, just us. I think it is sweet when everyone else gets one of those fancy things, but I also know that was not for us. We also had a very low key backyard wedding, understated, beautiful and fun. No bridesmaids, no silly princess gown. I think it is lovely if other people have those things, but I know those things a marriage do not make. Too many (young and a few older) girls focus on the engagement and the wedding day and call it their "special" or "big" day. My husband and I look forward to our whole marriage which is the rest of our lives and to us, our whole marriage, everyday of it will be special, not just that one day. Like the Beatles said, all you need is love.
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Monday 31 August
By mireles2008
my lover asked me while we were naked in the shower. not as romantic as i would have hoped..but makes for an awesome story!
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Monday 31 August
By Lynne
My man took me to Paris and popped the question with a beatiful ring at the top of the Eiffel Tower. My first husband presented a ring in the parking lot of a convenience store. I prefer the former.
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Tuesday 01 September
By lex
My husband could have proposed to me behind a dumpster, and I would NOT have cared less. (He didn't propose behind a dumpster, by the way, but you get the point. How he asks shouldn't matter if you love him.)
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Thursday 29 October
By Angela
My fiance' proposed via skype while in Iraq (he's a marine). I got the ring in his truck when my plane landed to greet him in North Carolina the day after he got home. It was perfect, and private, and people give me sh*t for it all the time! =D
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Thursday 29 October
By Angela
My fiance' proposed via skype while in Iraq (he's a marine). I got the ring in his truck when my plane landed to greet him in North Carolina the day after he got home. It was perfect, and private, and people give me sh*t for it all the time! =D
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Saturday 12 December
By Marysol
I've never gotten engaged i dont even have a bf @ d moment lol but like some of the girls here said we wish we could have a fancy engagement but thats only 4 movies so as 1 of the girls said also that day shouldnt be the only "special day" its the rest of theirs lives 2gether what should be special. so instead of worrying about where n how its gonna be worry bout making the rest of ur life special w that special person next 2 u n then that proposal n wedding day WOULD BE SPECIAL just because it was w HIM the man of ur life!!!!!! =D
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Sunday 27 December
By HowIGotEngaged.com
Over at HowIGotEngaged.com we get engagement stories of all kinds, from the elaborate ones you mention to as simple as can be, e.g
http://howigotengaged.com/engagement/story/beth_and_nick
I think what we've found over the years of hearing peoples stories, is that it is all about creating something special between two people. Not about about staging the craziest, most elaborate engagement possible.
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