Marriage is a huge step in commitment and often marks the beginning of a phase of life that will involve all kinds of shared adventures such as home ownership, pets, jobs, travel, and even kiddos. Whatever is to come in your unique marriage adventure, first you need to figure out the perfect proposal. Here are a few ways to make your proposal as memorable and unique as that special person you want to spend the rest of your life growing with and getting to know.
Make It Personal
Sure, getting down on one knee may work for some couples, but it isn’t the right approach for everyone. Think back to some of your favorite times spent together as a couple and try to recreate that as part of your proposal. For instance, if you have a favorite spot on a trail you enjoy hiking together, plan to propose at that location. Or, if your first date was at a quirky little cafe, then plan to propose there. If you like to tease and have fun, you may enjoy creating a scavenger hunt for your beloved, or another fun game that contains the hidden surprise proposal. Pick a spot or an activity that is meaningful for your couple. Consider the spot where you had your first “I love you” or first kiss, a favorite vacation you enjoyed together, or the bookstore where you met your future-spouse.
As you look into engagement rings, think about what’s important to your couple. Ethical diamonds may be important to you, for instance, or there may be a special ring handed down in the family that you can have personalized, enhanced, or recreated by a jeweler. Some people do not like to wear rings, if this fits your couple, consider including a beautiful chain to wear the ring on a necklace instead, or talk with a good jeweler about other alternatives to rings. For some couples, they may even want to mark their engagement with tattoos or nothing at all.
Think about your proposal being a reflection of your relationship thus far, and an indicator for the kind of marriage you want to have. Be your authentic self as you propose rather than following a set of rules or expectations. It’s not about what you do or what you say, it’s about who you are and what you bring every day to your loved one.
Involving Friends and Family
Some couples will be more comfortable with a proposal that involves just the two of them, but others will love the participation of some key friends and family in the event. For instance, if you met your special someone through your regular Friday night gaming group, you may want to involve your gamer buddies in the proposal somehow. Friends like this may infuse some fun ideas into your proposal or help you to execute your plan to perfection.
For some people, family is a very important part of their everyday life. If your sweetie has a tight family, show how much you adore him or her by involving family members in your proposal plans. Likewise, if it’s your family that plays an important role in your life and your couple, then be sure to let them play a role in this special moment. Don’t forget what’s important to you and what’s important to your soon-to-be fiancé as you plan your proposal. If you overlook what’s important to you now, you aren’t setting the right tone for your marriage. If you involve others, then consider finishing your proposal off with an engagement party where you can celebrate your exciting news with the people you both love most in life, besides each other of course.
More traditional methods and ways of proposing marriage to a person still exist, and these are completely appropriate for some couples. However, hard-and-fast rules no longer apply in general to marriage proposals: they can be simple or elaborate; they can originate from either person in the couple; they can be spontaneous or can be part of an ongoing discussion in the couple. Whatever sort your proposal is, embrace the uniqueness of your couple and you cannot go wrong.