Some women out there are BOLD! These women are changing the world, by defying the gender-norms and asking their man to be theirs FOREVER! But these men have something to say about their girlfriends' proposals...
Utilizing The Baby In The Proposal Plan
“I had been with my partner for three years and had just given birth to our child. We had been wearing rings as a sign of commitment to the world since about a year in.
Anyways I had a photo session of the baby at 3 months and snuck in some ones of the baby with our rings. Went to work in photoshop, waited until my husband was super distracted on his phone and sent it to him. The look on his face was priceless. Never seen a guy smile so hard.
Got married a year later. Still together. Still happy.”
He Should’ve Brought The Ring On Their Trip
“My wife asked me to marry her. It was definitely unexpected, especially because about 2 weeks prior, I had made up my mind to ask her to marry me. I had bought the ring and everything.
We were packing up to go to NY to visit her mom, and I had planned on asking her mom’s permission that weekend. I left the ring at home because 1) I was petrified of losing it on the trip, and 2) I couldn’t figure out how to get it packed without her seeing it.
So we are on our way to Long Island and she asks if I want to stop in Manhattan for a drink since it was Friday night. We get to a cool looking bar, take 20 minutes to find a parking spot, and BAM- she pulls out a bag with 2 bronzed drumsticks engraved for me asking me to marry her (I’m a drummer).
I sat there in utter disbelief at my idiotic fear of losing her ring, because I was so disappointed I couldn’t just pull it out of my pocket and ask her back. Then she sees the look on my face and has a moment of panic…wondering what I’m thinking.
She says (now completely in doubt of her awesome plan because of my stupid face) ‘Uh, do you have an answer for me there, buddy?’ It all ended up great, but I was so bummed I didn’t have that ring on me.”
She Hijacked His Proposal Plan
“My girlfriend kind of hijacked my proposal.
We had been dating for 9 months; I was visiting her at college over a weekend. I had been thinking about proposing to her but didn’t have a ring or anything. We had just gotten done watching a movie and suddenly the urge just hit me to ask her then and there. She got up to go do something and I stood up, grabbed her hand and got down on one knee.
She dropped down on her knees in front of me and I said ‘No, what are you doing? Stand back up!’
She said ‘No, I’m asking you too.’
Just about made me cry.”
Anniversary Weekend With A Strange Video Surprise
“I proposed to my boyfriend last month. We had talked a lot about getting married and one time he jokingly said: ‘Well you can propose too.’ And from that moment, I realized, yeah, I could – and it would be awesome! He’s such a generous and amazing person that I wanted to do something special for him. So I started hatching my plan…
I decided it would happen on our anniversary, which conveniently fell on a weekend. Months in advance, I told him that I was going to take an extra day off for work. This felt like a big hint since I never take days off work, but I also played it off under the guise of wanting to do something special for our anniversary.
It took forever to figure out how to propose, but I finally found the perfect solution: a finger puppet play. I crafted finger puppets and made a video proposal full of our inside jokes. I shot the video, edited it, and waited for our special weekend.
We traveled to San Diego for the weekend. We woke up really early the day of our anniversary to go on a hike (you get a 360 view of San Diego at the top of this trail, which is pretty cool). We got to the top, took a breather, and I whipped out my phone, some headphones, and the video. He said yes. We hugged. We were sweaty, but it was sweet. I got the worst foot cramp of my life on the way back down.
But it was all worth the effort.”
Way Too Oblivious To Understand Her
“She wrote: ‘Will you marry me?’ In refrigerator magnets and then continued to ask me to get things from the kitchen and fridge all day.
She forgot how oblivious I am and got more upset as they day went on and I didn’t act differently.
That night in bed she starts crying, I’m super confused and she looks at me and she says ‘LOOK AT THE FREAKING FRIDGE, YOU IDIOT.’
I said yes but we broke off the engagement a few months before the wedding date. Good thing cause we both seem much happier now after 5 years.”
She Was Manipulated By Her Mom…And It Did Not Go Well
“I hated it…
We had only been together 5 or 6 months and although we were serious and committed, we had not talked about getting married.
It was spring. I got in from work and was watching the Master’s in golf.
She had been with her mom all day. She just throws out the comment that she found a wedding dress at about 80% off the tag and she went ahead and bought it. She goes around the house and does a few things and comes back to tell me she saw a ring that she would want me to have when we got married and she bought it because she was able to get a deal. Then she comes over and says she thinks we shouldn’t be living together if we aren’t married and since we are going on vacation in few months with her parents and my parents, we should just get married then. I was stunned. My mother planted this seed because she loved the girl but was not a fan of us living together. My mother told me a few times how simple it could be to get married and actually specifically mentioned doing it on our trip.
Now, the problem for me then becomes do I say yes when I really wasn’t sure this was normal behavior? Or do I say no, pack up my stuff and move it? I had always thought how I would ask the woman I married. She sucked the life out of it and me. I hated telling other people the story. And, to be honest, this whole episode should have told me how our marriage would go.
I’m not saying it can’t be done and be great, but my experience wasn’t a good one. I tell the story now only to demonstrate how unstable she could be. Could have been the girl and I shouldn’t have been together from the start.
That’s all I got. Thanks for the therapy.”
They Both Had Rings Ready…In The Same Bag
“I hate to say I have the best story ever when it comes to this situation.
I was wanting to propose to my girlfriend but didn’t have money at the time (school and mortgage = broke). But eventually saved up enough money to buy her the perfect ring. Throughout that time to ‘delay’ so I could buy the ring, I had told her that I loved the idea if she were to propose to me. Yes, I actually loved the idea and wouldn’t even hesitate to say ‘Yes.’
Fast forward, (queue tape noise), she had bought us a Bahamas cruise for our anniversary. I thought ‘Woot!’ perfect time to pop the question. For our excursion, we decided to do a lazy day at the beach. So that morning while she went to take a shower I had shoved the ring into the bottom of the backpack that I was going to carry for the day. After that, I took a shower then off to the beach we went. We hung out by the water for a while then decided to go grab some lunch.
After lunch, we both agreed to go back onto the beach to the farthest point on the resort and build a sandcastle. This is the time that I thought would be perfect to propose to her. Just her and I alone with no one around us. I go up to the backpack to see if I could sneak the ring out. I look back to make sure she isn’t looking and she is. I am like ‘what am I going to do?’ she keeps looking back. This happens like 5 times when I make up some sort of reason to go back to the bag (ie. for water or camera etc.). To take it up a notch, I asked her to come out into the water with me so I could sneak back yet again for a camera. I figured it was plenty of distance to grab it without her noticing.
So out to the water we go, and before I can start my revised game plan she tells me to sit down. I didn’t think anything of it as she told me to not turn around.
So there I was in the water not looking back just thinking man when am I going to be able to pull this off. She tells me to turn around and long and behold she had written: ‘Will you marry me?’ in the sand and put a ring she had bought for me in the ‘O’ of you. I was so caught off guard and told her ‘are you kidding me?!’ and storm to the backpack. She had no idea what was going on because I had left the ring she had got me in the sand. The only thing she could think of is that I was going to get a camera. I told her to close her eyes, got the ring out of the bag that I had struggled with all afternoon’ and proposed to her. She bawled and trembled (the part she loves to leave out) and said ‘Yes!!!’
So to go back to the beginning of that morning when I had packed the ring. When I had gone in the shower to get ready she had packed the ring in the same bag. They were literally inches away from each other but we both had no clue what each other had planned on doing. This is why she kept staring at me to make sure I wasn’t going to stumble upon it. It was funny because every time she went up there also I kept staring at her to make sure she didn’t find it.
Advice section::: She went on the trip with all of her friends telling her it was a horrible idea and not to do it. But she did what any person should do is follow your heart. If you believe that you were made for each then what does it matter who proposes first.
I am marrying my best friend and couldn’t be any happier and we ended up with an epic proposal story!”
She Literally Used A RING POP!
“My ex-wife proposed in the middle of an outdoor ice skating rink with a ring pop.
And to be honest, it was embarrassing and a little aggravating. She actually got down on one knee and held out the ring pop and popped the question. I felt like everyone in the place was staring at me cuz it was the opposite of what you would expect.
I had told her I was planning on marrying her many times before that, and that I was just waiting for the right time. Which was the truth… I was planning something really special and she just kind of did it on a whim. But I loved her, so I said yes. Which was a bad idea… She had no idea what it takes to make a marriage work.”
He Foiled His Own Birthday Surprise
“She proposed to me on my birthday, and I completely ruined her plans.
She was going to take me out to a nice dinner, a good little dessert place, and then a walk around Lake Eola where she was going to present me with a gift that was the proposal.
Well, I had a really tough day at work that day and came home stressed and with a headache, so when I walked in the door I said, ‘Honey, I really don’t feel like going out. Honestly, what I’d rather do more than anything tonight is order a couple of pizzas and watch a movie with you.’
To her credit, she took it in stride and said ‘sure, whatever you’d like to do for your birthday’ and ordered a couple pizzas.
About an hour later she asked me if I wanted to have my present, so she presented me with a box she had crafted that had some personal memories/jokes in the inside of it and an envelope. Inside the envelope was a 25 cent plastic gold ring (another inside joke between the two of us) and a note that said some personal lovey-dovey stuff and ended with ‘Will you marry me?’ I was really surprised but said yes. We are both private people and had already discussed that we didn’t want to do some grandiose proposal like from a hot air balloon or proposing in some fancy restaurant.
How did I feel about it? I was really surprised but I was planning on doing in a few months anyway so we both knew it was coming…she just beat me to the punch.
Honestly, the worst part about it was having to ask for her parents’ permission AFTER we had already gotten engaged. It’s not the way I wanted to do it and the whole conversation felt really awkward, but they were awesome about it after they also got over the initial shock.”
His Irish Girl Didn’t Miss Out On Leap Year
“My wife proposed to me and I think it is awesome. She’s of Irish descent and knew about St. Bridget’s Complaint. So, on Leap Day several years ago we went out for our usual date night. We were in the neighborhood of my fraternity (where we met) and for one reason or another we ended up heading over there. To make a long story short, just before midnight she asked me to marry her and presented an engagement watch to me.
I was completely taken by surprise and the first word out of my mouth was ‘Yikes!’ I then sat there for probably a good 5 or 10 seconds in silence (it must have felt like an eternity for her) and I said, ‘Yes.’
I think about this moment often and I don’t understand why folks feel this is an emasculating experience. I was – and still am – completely flattered that she asked me. I was lukewarm on the whole concept of marriage and she knew it. That took an enormous amount of courage on her part and it was just another example of her showing me how much she loved me.
I took some good-natured ribbing from my buddies, but no one thinks it was a bad thing or that I am somehow less of a man because she asked me. It’s a really great story and I don’t mind telling anyone that she was the one who asked.
He’ll Always Remember The Food He Was Eating When It Happened
“I was proposed to by my wife. I was sitting in my underwear, eating nachos while surfing the Webz after work, when she came home from work, came upstairs, placed her head in my lap, and proposed.
I cannot even make this up.
Although I am still waiting on my engagement ring. This October will be ten years married and twelve years together.
I knew it was True Love when a friend sent a party invite in Hex. She replied in Hex, I replied in Octal.
Really, Geek Love does exist.”
It Took Him A While To Realize What Had Happened
“My girlfriend proposed to me a few months ago. We have been together for about 11 years, some of them rather trying. For large portions of the relationship, I was not an ideal partner, but I have been trying to get better (with modest success).
Just a bit of back story: I was married previously. I was too young and it was a bad match, no hard feelings. I really haven’t been interested in marriage, but it has been discussed. Usually, the discussions went something along the lines of ‘It doesn’t really make sense since we don’t want kids and don’t own property, why not just be together forever?’ But during the times where we were feeling more romantic towards the other, we would often talk about having a party where we would stand up in front of our friends and tell them that we really wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Over the years, this has evolved into talk of maybe not hating the idea of marriage so much… maybe it was okay?
She took a 1-year job in another state about 7 months ago. We don’t get to see each other very much, but we do video chat quite often. During one of those conversations, she mentioned that she wouldn’t be opposed to getting married and that she couldn’t really see us being apart. (sounds really sweet, right?). This is where I really wonder how I’m not single.
I didn’t really respond at all. I think I might have jumped in with something about some really nice shoes I found for a good price or possibly felt it was really important that I make my feelings on people who can’t merge properly need to get termites in their house known.
We talked for a while longer and then a light went off in my head. I asked her: ‘Did you just propose to me a minute ago?’
Her: ‘Maybe. (insert snarky tone)’
Me: ‘Wow, that is really sweet!’
It turns out that I didn’t actually give her an answer for about 3 weeks. Not intentionally. I kinda figured I had said yes, but never got around to saying yes. Like I said earlier, I really don’t know how I’m not single.
Anyway, we were talking and she mentioned that I hadn’t actually given her an answer, which I found hilarious. So funny that I forgot to answer her again. The next day after that. I called and made a point of saying yes.
As for how I felt about it? The only answer I have is: great. She is amazing, my partner in crime and the woman I have loved for over a decade with everything I can muster. She is fantastic and I am lucky.
The part that I find amusing is that we aren’t really sure how or if we are going to bother with the paperwork. I figure that will work itself out.
The Trail Of Rose Petals That Awaited His Arrival
“My wife waited until I got out of basic training, as we walked through the door, I see a trail of rose petals and all these little construction paper hearts on the floor leading to the bedroom. I (knowing what it had to be but feigning ignorance) walked to the bedroom where she made this big poster thing on the bed that said, ‘Will you marry me?’
Of course, I said yes. Only after that did she tell me that all the little construction paper hearts had reasons why she wanted me to marry her on the back and I was supposed to read them on the way in. I didn’t find it emasculating, nor was I angry in any way. I thought it was sweet and heartfelt.
Of course, now we’re getting a divorce, but that’s neither here nor there.”
Casual Proposal Turns Into Cheating Scandal?!
“We were watching TV and just looked over at me and said: ‘Why don’t we get married?’ We had been dating for about 3 years and said ‘Sure!’
When she said that and I agreed, I didn’t know she had been screwing another guy semi-regularly for about 3 months or so. It didn’t work out for us, but she ended up marrying him.”
Scott Pilgrim-Themed Proposal
“I proposed to him this past September. I sent him on a scavenger hunt around Toronto. I gave him a stack of envelopes each with an address printed on the front. When we got to each location he would open the envelope and inside was a picture from his favorite graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim. The picture corresponded with the location we were currently at (Scott Pilgrim takes place around Toronto).
Our final stop was in front of Casa Loma. We sat down and I handed him the final envelope. Inside was a picture I drew of him in the style of Scott Pilgrim that read, ‘Dylan earned a fiancée,’ which alludes to a common saying in the SP novels. Inside the ring box were two rings and a picture of Scott and Ramona that said, ‘Level up?’ Afterward, we met up with a group of close friends to celebrate our engagement (which was also a surprise).
Dylan and I had been discussing marriage for quite some time before I proposed. I had read a story about a woman proposing to her boyfriend and I asked Dylan how he felt about that. He said that he loved that idea and the spin on traction: why does it always have to be the guy that asks? If he would have said otherwise I would have not been the one to propose. The last thing I want to do is make him uncomfortable.
Before I proposed I (jokingly) got permission from his mom. It was a really great experience. She was extremely excited and even joked that if I took him there was no giving him back. I love his family and am happy to be apart of it.
Tomorrow is our engagement party where all our family will finally meet. I know we’re both looking forward to getting everyone together. Now, let’s hope they all get along!
Her Creative Hidden Message Led To A Newfound Happiness
“My wife proposed to me on a rock overlooking my favorite river. She gave me a handmade book of photos and memories of our time together. After looking through it together, she told me there was a hidden message. One letter on each page was bigger than the others. Put together they spelled out ‘will you marry me?’
I said yes obviously. We both cried a bit and then went and had a nice dinner together and called our families.
Was it emasculating? Not in the slightest. Manhood is not defined by silly social conventions. It is defined by how well you know your own values and how well you live your life. I love her, so I was incredibly touched by her effort and bravery.
We have wedding rings but no engagement rings. Instead of a pretty rock, we put our money toward a down payment on a house.
Life is not a fairytale. So many young people get caught up in the rituals and expectations of others–thinking that those are the most important things.
Getting married is a huge commitment and it is guaranteed to be hard work sometimes.
The value of exactly ‘how’ you got engaged will fade pretty quickly.”
Five Months Together Can Lead To Possible Mistakes
“I was blindsided by it after all of five months together and kind of just agreed to it. It wasn’t anything special, however, just a casual question when I got home from work.
Then she cheated on me and we both lived happily ever after. I did, at least.
I have no issues with women doing it, but they should put just as much thought into it as we do. My current girlfriend is the traditional ‘ask my dad first’ type, so I’m positive that I’ll have to do it this time around.
If you’re certain that he’s the one and know that he feels the same, why not?”
He Truly Stuck To His Promised Words
“My dad proposed to my mom after they’d been seeing each other for just under two weeks.
She laughed and basically told him he was crazy, that it was way too soon.
My dad said, (and he is very proud of this fact,) ‘Fine. I asked you once. I’m not gonna ask again.’ My mom thought he was bluffing.
After a year of dating, she started giving him a hard time about not asking her to get married again, and he stuck to his guns and said she missed her chance and he wasn’t going to ask again.
My mom finally broke down and asked him to marry her. Made sure she properly took it out of him when she did it, too. Made a big show about asking his father for permission, got down on one knee in public, got him the gaudiest engagement ring she could find.
He said yes and they just celebrated their 30th anniversary.”