20 Perfect Proposal Ideas
Traditional
1. Take her to New York, Paris, San Francisco or Las Vegas and propose to her at the top of a landmark skyscraper with the twinkling lights of the city below.
2. Take her for a walk on the beach and draw a heart in the sand and write, “Will you marry me?” in the center. Write it ahead of time and fill the heart with candles and rose petals. Just make sure the tide is going out and not coming in.
3. Treat her to a decadent breakfast at a five-star hotel, and tell her that you couldn’t wait until evening to ask her to marry you.
4. Pop the question at the location where you met or had your first date. Depending on where it is, you could bring a bottle of champagne with you.
5. Arm yourself with a good supply of rose petals then sneak into her house or office. Arrange the petals to read, “Marry me” on the bed, the floor or another flat place.
6. If you can sing or play the guitar/piano/accordion without making dogs howl, you can create a musical proposal. Compose a ballad or folk song, or pop the question with some pop music. If you’ve found the words but can’t carry a tune, hire a local singer or band to perform the proposal. If you can carry a tune but can’t compose, go to your favorite karaoke place and sing your favorite love song. Then, as the song ends, ask her to come up to the front, and propose in front of everyone!
7. Carefully open a box of Cracker Jacks, steam open the prize packet and place the real engagement ring in and then re-glue packet and box. Casually give her the box of Cracker Jacks during a movie and watch closely as she opens the prize.
8. Hire a car service that has classic cars, such as a vintage Rolls Royce, and drive around to romantic areas for an hour. Have the driver stop at a place that holds special meaning and propose. Then, spend the second hour of your elegant drive cuddling and enjoying your first hour as an engaged couple. Bring the champagne (not to be shared with the driver).
9. Hire a friend to take photos of you both just for fun. Then, surprise her by getting down on one knee and proposing. You’ll have photos you’ll both cherish forever.
10. Consider a holiday theme around Christmas, Easter or the Fourth of July. Use the magic of these celebrations to create a “halo effect.” Stash the box in her stocking or right under the tree. Or adorn the tree with lots of lights and garlands but only one ornament: a velvet ring box tied up with festive holiday ribbons. On Easter, give her a basket and hide plastic eggs in the backyard, one of which has the ring inside. During Fourth of July fireworks, pop the question during the finale.
Non-Traditional
11. Hire a magician to perform with the rabbits, the doves, the scarves and all the usual. As the last trick, he can make her engagement ring appear from behind her ear. It’ll be a truly magic moment.
12. If you are both golfers, have a ball imprinted with “marry me.” Give her the ball to put on the tee, but have her “inspect” it first. Then, open the golf ball-shaped ring box when you get down on bended knee.
13. Flying together? Join a different mile-high club. For this one, you need to let the flight attendants know your plan ahead of time. And that plan is to tell your girlfriend you are going up front to get some water/more peanuts. Then, ask the attendant to make this announcement: “Hello everyone. We hope you are enjoying your flight today. We have a special guest on board today, (your girlfriend’s name here) sitting in seat number X, row X. Go ahead and come on up here!” Then, you’ll get on the microphone, and tell her how much you love her, then propose 30,000 feet in the sky! Have the crew pass around bubbly (7-up will do) and celebrate with everybody on board.
14. If you attend a place of worship, walk up with her to the altar following a service. With the pastor, priest or rabbi there (and in on the surprise) tell her you want to stand at this location with her when you become husband and wife. Then get on one knee and propose.
15. Love to ski or snowboard? Propose at the top of a mountain. For you expert athletes, go for the top of the double-black diamond run!
Event
16. If she wakes up each morning to the clock radio, arrange for an ad on her usual station at just the right time so she hears your proposal when she wakes up in the morning. Try to be at her door (or beside her) when she hears your public proposal, and have the diamond in hand.
17. Place an ad in a local newspaper or on a billboard asking her to marry you. If you choose the newspaper, make sure it’s in a section you know she loves to read everyday. Be there when she reads it! (It’s a good idea to have a talented friend help with the design.)
18. Rent ad space for your proposal at a theater and invite her for a night out at the movies. Get there in plenty of time to buy popcorn before the ads begin. After your proposal has run, present her with a ring. Hooray for Hollywood!
19. Propose at a sporting event or concert. Arrange to have your proposal broadcast over the public address system or displayed on the large screen. You could also contact the team’s/performer’s public relations department and try to make arrangements to make your proposal on the field at halftime or during an intermission.
20. Hire a local high school marching band to play “your song” in front of her house. When she opens the door, kneel down and present her with the ring.
* Please leave a comment below if you would like to add an idea and share with our readers below:
