How did you propose?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The title is pretty much self-explainable, but how did you propose to your spouse?
For me, I was terribly non-romantic. We had just finished “the act” and my (now) wife said something along the lines of “good sex, I hope you really like me” (paraphrase.) Thinking I might not be with her forever, I realised I was truly in love. Nude, underneath the covers, I asked Mrs. Top to marry me. She was dumb enough to agree and we’ve been truly together ever since. Our marriage was at a Vegas tourist chapel, but it’s still one of the three times in my life I can remember tears welling up for any reason.
The first time was hearing “I do.” The second and third times were at the birth of our two (overall) perfect children.
So, Dopers, how did you propose?

Peace - DESK

2

Persumably you’re also interested in those of us that were proposed to? :wink:

My fiance arrived at work on a Friday at 4pm. I thought he’d got his time muddled cos I don’t finish till 5pm but he had arranged it with my boss. He whisked me away to a five star hotel in the city for the night, proposed on the bed and pulled a bottle of bubbles out of his bag for us to celebrate with.

The cutest part was when I said “nice wine!” and he said (with completely genuine-ness) “Yeah, it was the most expensive at the supermarket!”

3

My (then) girlfriend and I were having our usual Friday night boiled shrimp and salad at my house. (Because at the time, that was all I could cook)

But this time, there was a card with a big question mark on it resting against the salad bowl. At the bottom of the card was an engagement ring.

4

We were in a beautiful hotel room - we had gone to the ‘big city’ for a U2 concert. I was coming out of the bathroom exclaiming about how nice it was, when he turned away from the window and asked me to marry him. (We’d already planned our wedding before he even proposed - it was more of a formality -but still VERY sweet and romantic and funny all at the same time).

5

The currect Mrs Seven is version 2.0. Version 1.0 crashed in a big ugly mess. I wasn’t really looking to commit to the upgrade. I was happy just “renting” the next version.

After a few years my then girlfriend was showing interest in getting married but I was still sort of stand off-ish about the subject. I didn’t really see the need of getting hitched when we had already made vows to each other.

As time went on she was getting more and more interested in the idea. I’ll admit I was as well - but I didn’t let her know.

At the time there was an advert on TV for a jewelry store which gave a free stuffed bear to place your gifts in. My wife would joke about the stupid bear everytime she saw it. We both thought it was rather silly.

I found a ring at the jewelry store that fit my wife (she’s a nurse and couldn’t have a ring with a large pokey-out settings). It had a nice array of stones in a channel setting. Perfect for someone taking gloves on and off all day. I bought it and hand them stuff it in the stupid bear.

I bought a card and wrote something like “so? Is now the right time?”

A few days later we had a storm and it knocked the power out. I figured that would be the best time. I said “Oh, I have something for you. It’s not much but I saw it and knew you’d like it”

I had her open the ring box before the card because I wanted to play it off like it was just a silly bobble.

It was fun to watch her get the ring, then give me a look, read the card, then turn red. The only thing - after she turned red she started to cry.

Of course, in my silly style I said “don’t cry, we can take it back if you don’t like it.”

She laughed and then said “yes”

6

Well, it was mentioned over in the “Most romantic thing” thread, but it bears repeating because I like it!

My girlfriend and I were engaged in a very long-distance relationship (coast to coast). When she came out to California on the anniversary of the day we first laid eyes on each other, I knew it was the time. I took her to the Huntington Library, intending to propose in the rose gardens if any were still in bloom. It being September, the roses were all gone. As we wandered the grounds, I spotted a Buddha and meditation glade overlooking one of the koi ponds. We sat on a bench, I reached into a pocket, pulled out a ring and leapt headlong into the void.

It took her a few seconds to get her voice, but then she said yes and my heart could start beating again.

The hard part is realizing
I’ve made it harder than it has to be
When… all I gotta do is fall
Close my eyes and lean
Love will find the wings
I don’t have to understand
Where it’s going to lead
How I’m going to land
If this love will fly at all
All I’ve is gotta do is fall
All I’ve got to do
All I’ve got to do is fall

-Suzy Bogguss

7

We were sitting in the bleachers at Candlestick Park just before a Giants-Dodgers game. I proposed just moments before the first pitch. I didn’t actually get down on one knee: partly because there wasn’t a lot of room between rows of seats, but mainly because of the beer and mustard. Rhiannon8404 put on the ring, but didn’t actually say “yes” until about the third inning.

We got cheers from our fellow bleacher-bums, the Giants swept the weekend series, and we’ll be celebrating our 13th anniversary in May.

8

I asked her out for a short walk after dinner. When we reached a nearby piazza (actually a traffic circle, but we used our imagination) I put one knee down on the rain-slicked sidewalk and offered her a ring. I don’t think either of us actually spoke. There’s a lot to be said for non-verbal communication.
Of course, the funny part happened about an hour later when we each called our parents and friends. The chat with my father was particularly surreal:

Me: “Hey dad! Listen: [Mrs Alessan-to-be] and I are getting married.”

Dad: “What?”

Me: “We’re getting married!”

Dad: “To who!?”

[Pause]

Me: “To each other, Dad.”

[Pause]

Dad: “Oh. Terrific!”

Dad claims to have no recollection of the conversation.

9

Mr2U and I had talked about getting married, but it had been awhile since he had said anything. One night, we’re up late sitting watching TV and talking (it’s a Friday night thing we do) and out of the blue he says, “Remember that marriage thing we were talking about? Set it up.”

He’s a romantic fool, that one is…

10

My wife and I had been dating about 5 years at the time. Marriage was almost a forgone conclusion, but not so much that I wasn’t scared silly. I had bought a fairly cheap engagement ring at a local Service Merchandise (romantic!) a few days before. We were sitting on the couch watching a James Bond movie (romantic!) when I pulled out the ring and said the only thing I could think of: “Um, do you want this?” (romantic!). It took a couple of seconds for it to register in her mind what such a profoundly phrased question really meant, but she did me the honor of getting all excited, crying and saying “Yes!”. She’s a sweetheart.

11

We had gone up to Aspen, CO for a romantic weekend. I had my grandma’s engagement band and it sorta looked like it would fit her finger…kinda.

We were walking around town and I said that there was a neat Chinese restaurant near the gazebo in the middle of a small park, and we headed that-a-ways. Walking through the park it started to snow and I said “Hey, let me show you something.” And picked her up and carried her through the snow to the gazebo. She was a bit perplexed - it was snowing, cold and we were hungry…

And then I got down on my knee, pulled out the ring, and told her how happy she made me feel and how much I loved her (the first time I said that word to her)(well, techinically the second, but the first time was in Czech and I had meant to say ‘I like you’, but I messed it up). She said “I am not going to say I love you too. I love you. Yes.” (Which took me a few seconds to process, but as English is her second language, she was treating ‘I love you too’ as a bit of a weaker statement than the full-on 3 magic words by themselves.)

We then tried to put the ring on her finger and it didn’t fit. I was feeling pretty stressed/emotional and said “Shit! I knew that would happen!” (Which, to this day, I feel bad about saying…sorta brought the tone down, that did.) We kissed and cried and…We then went to Chinese, pigged out, went back to the B&B and knocked boots.

She left the next week for Christmas back home, and we wanted to be a bit traditional, so we planned on me asking her dad for her hand in marriage. She wrote down what I needed to say, I practiced it a few times, we made the phone call, and she got her sister to get her dad on the line…Her sister had a feeling what was going on and screamed for dad to hurry up. He gets on the phone sounding perplexed, I say my practiced line…

…And he says “No!”

My heart skips about 3 beats, I start to tell Wifecat “He said no.” and hear in the background her sister saying “ANO tatko! ANO!!!” and dad then quickly says “ANO! ANO!”

Ano is Czech for yes…but, when in normal colloquial speech one wants to say ‘yeah’ or ‘yep’ or ‘sure’ you shorten it… to ‘no’.

We were married 5 months later. 9th anniversary coming up.

-Tcat

12

We were already shacked up, and she knew it was coming, but one Saturday secretly packed a bag for her and asked her if she wanted to go out to eat. Once she was in the car, I drove her to St. Louis, to the place we met, and asked her.

13

Mr. Bunny and I had been going through a bit of a rough patch, our feelings for each other had not changed but something very sad and stressful had just happened in our relationship and we were trying to get past it. After work on a Friday, I asked him if he wanted to just get the hell out of town for the weekend and drive to the coast. We drove to Florence, OR and spent the night, then the next day drove to Newport and got the scariest, seediest little hotel room ever. We bought a bottle of cheap bourbon, killed about half of it, and then made our way to the beach. There were other couples walking all around us holding hands, and the sun was just going down, and we looked into each other’s eyes and I asked him if he would marry me, and he said yes. And then we made out like there was no one else around. :smiley:

Everytime we go back to Oregon to visit, we always head to Newport and stay in that same seedy hotel. I love that place.

14

I found a amazingly quiet spot at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and proposed there(on one knee).

We went back with my parents when they visited and they took a far away photo of us on the spot.

You can see it at the link below. I have my arm around her and am wearing red.

Temple of Heaven Proposal Spot

15

I told the story in this post in another thread.

It’s a lot to type a second time, so feel free to click the link!

16

I took her out to eat at Sheetz. She ordered a 12" Italian sub.
While were waiting in line to pay, I looked over at her and said “Bitch, soon’s we finish here, we’re going to yer place so you can pack yer shit. Yer moving in.”

17

After living together for a year or so, my wife and I sat down and did some financial planning. We determined that between taxes and health insurance, we’d save a few thousand dollars a year if we got married.

“So, wanna get married?”

“Sure.”

A month or so later we went down to the local courthouse and had the legal cerimony done.

Ok, so we’re not terribly romantic people.

18

It was a couple days after my birthday, and WVDad and I were heading up I-79 to see the WVU Mountaineers play Duquesne in basketball. He had given me a nice ring for my birthday, and although it wasn’t a traditional diamond engagement ring, it was pretty nice and about all he could afford at the time. He turned to me in the car and said, “You know, if we beat Duquesne, you can consider that an engagement ring.” I said, “OK.”

We won.

What a romantic.

19

Valentines day 1999, the now Mrs. Butler was nagging me that “You’re never going to ask me to marry you.” I countered with “What would you do if I pulled a ring out of the back seat?” Her response was humorous… “I’d shit myself.”

No question was popped that day, though there was in fact a diamond ring in my work bag in the back seat. I had a plan for the next weekend, where we were taking a long weekend to ski at Jay Peak in VT, and then travel up to Montreal for a short holiday.

I asked Mrs. Butler to be MY Mrs. Butler at the bottom of the mountain. We got a nice round of applause as folks walking by figured out what was going on.

Mrs. Butler proceeded (as she often does on vacations) to get horribly sick in Montreal, bringing our trip to an end a bit early. I did, however, get sent out to the bars (St. Catherine St.) while she slept in the hotel the first day there. It was very odd being a newly engaged man in the strip clubs, as the fiancee slept sick in the hotel a couple of blocks away. (Yes, Mrs. Butler knew EXACTLY where I was heading, she insisted I go, instead of watching her sleep!)

-Butler

20

While waiting for our flight home after my sister’s wedding, my mom asked us, “So, when are you two getting married?”

I turned to him and said, “How’s June sound?”

He said, “Okay.”

Pretty low-key.