Engagement stories

[AlexMack]

I don't have one of my own, but I love hearing how people were proposed to. To share, I'll give a funny anecdote.
My family has a tradition of proposing while lying in bed. My parents took a vacation to Wales and it was (in my mother's words) "bloody cold!" so they were lying huddled up in their caravan bed, trying to keep warm, and my father proposed.
My sister, keeping the tradition going, was proposed to while they lay in bed on Valentine's day. My bro-in-law hid the ring in a box of Godiva chocolates.

I hope to break the tradition. So let's hear it!

[tunatartare]

Best proposal story I've ever heard hands down goes to my friend's brother:
They're Orthodox Jewish so he was studying in Israel while they were dating. She came to visit him once and he asked her how the trip was and she said "it was ok except that I hate flying alone" and he went "I promise you that the next time you fly you won't be alone." So then after they were both back in the U.S., he told her they were going on a date, in the car he went "I'm really sorry, but one of my friends is flying in from Israel today, do you mind if we go pick him up?" and started driving toward the airport then he asked if she has her passport on her. When they get there, he asked her again "do you have your passport with you?" and after she said no, he went "that's ok, it's a local flight." So he hired a plane to fly them around the city, and when they got in he went "I promised you that the next time you flew you weren't going to be alone." So as the plane was landing, he went "look out your window" and she looked outside and he had taken a giant sheet and spray painted on it "Chaya will you marry me?" so it was the first thing that she saw when she was looking out her window.

[AlphaFrog]

Did you hear about the guy who's proposing to his gf with an ad during the superbowl. They said he's going to film her reaction and put it on YouTube.

[LPIDelta]

My husband had informally asked me about a million times to marry him before I finally said yes. We were driving down the road, and he asked again because he was going to be leaving a few days later for six months in a war zone. I guess it was his leaving to that place that made me realize that I wanted to be married to him, and I said yes.

Because it was an informal proposal, he decided that he would ask me officially at a later date. For thanksgiving that year (he was still overseas) we agreed to meet in Germany and spend a few days touring the country and hanging out. Before I left, a family friend who is a jewler asked me to come pick something up (and of course, I assumed it was my ring). When I arrived in Germany, I gave my now husband the ring. My husband is great with picking our jewelry but romantic gestures otherwise are NOT his forte and the evidence is in how he asked me officially to marry him. Did he take me somewhere romantic? Propose in front of the glockenspeil (sp?) or a castle? In an really expensive restaurant? NO. We were in our hotel room at the Interncontinental when he said, "Well, I guess I better ask you now. Will you marry me?"

That's it? That's the proposal??? At least he got down on one knee but geesh!

To this day, whenever I see someone on tv getting proposed to, I look at my husband and note, "That was a little better than 'Well, I guess I better ask you now.'" To which he responds, "Well he only had to ask once." I hope that someday he will propose again....but if he doesn't, I love him anyway, and wouldn't trade him for the world. I've come to realize that its his heart that matters, not how he says it.

[So_Sweet720]

My husband asked me informally to marry him a few times as well before he got serious. We already had one daughter (1 and 1/2 at the time) and I was 5 months pregnant with our second daughter. It was a Sunday morning and I wasn't feeling too well that morning because of my terrible morning sickness so I told him that I may stay home (he was already at church for Sunday school). He told me not to come if I felt too bad but something in my spirit said to go. So I went. After the announcements our pastor turned on the new overhead projector and started to go thru a small presentation of how it worked and what it would be used for. I was barely paying attention to the whole thing but right before he showed the last screen he asked everyone to read it together. All I heard after that was the ENTIRE congregation asking me if I would marry my fiance'! I couldn't do anything but cry on his shoulder (probably the pregnancy hormones) and say yes. I delivered my second daughter June 28, 2006 and we were married September 16, 2006.

[MJo19]

My fiance drove 2 hours on Christmas morning to surprise me. Well, actually his parents drove him since he had dislocated his shoulder the week before and his arm was in a sling so he was unable to drive. The rest was pretty much the usual..down on one knee, etc.

[Munchkin03]

Well, after the pregnancy test came out positive, and my father took him out hunting, there really wasn't any surprise, you know?

[aephi alum]

My husband and I had been dating for about 9-1/2 months when he proposed. I kind of saw it coming, but even he was surprised at how, when, and where he proposed. He'd decided to propose a couple of days before he actually did, and he was trying to decide how to do it - romantic dinner out? weekend getaway? drop-poster in the student center?

One evening, we were walking over the Mass. Ave. bridge from Boston to Cambridge. We had been walking side by side, and suddenly he wasn't walking next to me any more. I turned around, and there he was, on one knee, holding out his brass rat (MIT class ring) and asking me to marry him. What could I say but yes!

He'd decided to chuck all the elaborate plans on the grounds that he just couldn't wait any longer to propose.

Of course, I couldn't actually wear his rat, as it was about 4 sizes too big. A week or so later, we went together to pick out an engagement ring, which unfortunately had to be sent off to be resized.

I announced my engagement to my sisters, and for the next several weeks (until the resized ring arrived) I couldn't arrive for a chapter meeting without being accosted: "Do you have the ring? Do you have the ring?"

Thanks to the MIT chapter of LXA, the Mass. Ave. bridge is marked out in Smoots (the bridge is 364.4 Smoots + one ear in length). So DH and I will always be able to find the exact spot where he proposed.

[WhiteDaisy128]

Chris popped the question on October 9, 2006 while we were on vacation in Maine. He has a strong photography hobby and begged me to get up at sunrise so he could photograph the sun rising over Boothbay Harbor. I finally agreed and we got up soooo early. We arrived at the perfect vantage point and he set his camera up. After a few shots, he asked me to get in the frame...the photo turned out just to be my silhouette against the brilliant sunrise in the background. He then said, "let's get a kissy picture" - and he set his timer. He came over, kissed me and the camera clicked...then it clicked again, and again, it kept taking pictures. While the camera clicked away, every 3 seconds, Chris took his hat off, reached into his pocket, and got down on one knee. I, of course, said YES! And we have a beautiful picture of our silhouettes at the exact moment he proposed!

[bcdphie]

In June, 2004 I was celebrating my 26th birthday and graduating with my second degree. For a birthday/grad present my husband told me he was going to take me to a B&B in Sooke (on Vancouver Island) at some point in the summer.

Well in late August we finally make out trip. We stayed at the Blue Waters Inn, an amazing little place owned by a Yorkshire couple.

Colin and I were wandering around on the beach on August 30, looking at the beach life. Suddenly he got down on one knee and popped the question. He didn't have my ring, as we had planned to get that together, so he was going to give me his fraternity pin; but he left it at home. So he gave me the seashell he was holding at the time he proposed. I still have that shell. And anyone who knows me well, knows how much I love anything to do with the sea, so the shell was a perfect gesture.

August 30, 2004 was a pretty cool day - the morning started with a small earthquake, then shortly before heading down to the beach we saw an orca pod swim by, then later that day Canada won the World Hockey Championships... a good day to get engaged.

[BetteDavisEyes]

We were at a gas station. No joke. We dated for over 8 years & knew we were going to get married. There was really no element of surprise. He didn't really ask me either. We were pumping gas on Veteran's Day when he just turned to me & asked me if I wanted to go pick out my ring. I was a little surprised but then figured, what the hell right? This way, I could pick out exactly what I want. We went to Robbins Bros. and I picked out a beautiful platinum, princess cut solitaire, 1.5 carat ring.

[Xylochick216]

We had been dating for over 6 years, so we knew it was inevitable. DH kept telling me he didn't have enough money for a ring (we were both in school) so I thought it would be awhile. He ended up conspiring with my roommates (who were all my sorority sisters) and arranged for his band to play a show at my school. They had a copy of the song he had written and had emailed everyone in the chapter to let them know to be there. His band played, and then he got up to sing (and let me tell you, he can't sing... he's a drummer). I just thought he was being romantic, but then he got to the end where he said, "Answer me this question please..." and everyone around yelled "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" I've never been more speechless in my life. Of course I said yes. It was special having over 100 of my sisters present, but it kind of ruined the candle pass :P

[Educatingblue]

My future husband and I had been dating 2 years and I was nearing the end of my student teaching in 2004. We had talked for a long time about what we wanted to do with our lives after graduation (we both wanted to be done with undergrad, working full-time, and enrolled in graduate school).

One day when I was leaving the school I was student teaching and getting into my car, I noticed a card on my windshield. I quickly read the card (not really paying attention and threw it in the backseat). My future husband sends me a text message and as I am fishing for the phone and pulling off, I see him walking towards my car with roses. He proposed to me right there in the parking lot!

[scbelle]

My future hubby and I were at the first party of the school year when freshmen could be at fraternity court. He had been educating some of the neophytes on how to properly take a tequila shot, so he was feeling no pain that night. Around midnight, he started kicking people out of his room at the house so we could go to bed. At that point in time, we'd been dating about 6 months. As we got into bed, he asked me if I thought one needed a ring to be engaged. I told him no, I didn't think so, since my parents hadn't had a ring until after my dad had proposed. He asked how my dad proposed to my mom, so I told him the story... Dad had knee surgery, mom was playing nurse for him and one day, when she asked if there was anything else he needed, he said, "Yes, I need you to marry me." He sat for a minute and then said, "So will you?" And I said, "So will I what?" And he said, "Marry me." I laughed. And then I told him he was drunk (from all the tequila before). He said that he wasn't, but that he would ask me again in the morning. So we went to bed. And when we woke up the next morning, he rolled over and said, "Will you marry me?" I still thought he was nuts, but I said yes, of course, and the rest is history. Not the stuff of romance, mind you, but definitely the stuff of lasting love.