Ideas for your Proposal of Marriage

We would like to provide you with some inspiration for making a successful marriage proposal. Of course, no matter how you decide to propose, remember why you are getting married in the first place. Make sure you create something you will both be able to look back on as the moment when you knew you were going to spend the rest of your lives together.

1. Slip the diamond ring in her wine glass and offer a toast to forever.

2. Some movie theaters will let you buy a slide that plays on-screen before the feature. You can design your own to show to your bride-to-be (and the rest of the theater!).

3. Convince the local theater to spell out your proposal on the marquee.

4. Take out a full-page ad in a newspaper

5. Have your proposal painted on a billboard.

6. Gather all your friends for a big softball game. Give the outfielders signs that spell your girlfriend's name and "Will you marry me?"

7. Make a list of ten reasons you'd like to marry your beloved. Read them to her in front of a crowd, have a singing telegram deliver them, or send them written on note cards one by one over the course of a day (or ten!), with the last card arriving via personal messenger (you).

8. Create a Web page declaring your love and your intentions. Leave her a clue with the Web address written on it.

9. Draw a bath for the two of you and place a floating candle in the middle with the ring on it. Make a path of roses leading to the tub.

10. Turn off all the lights in the house and make a pathway of candles that leads to a circle of votives with the ring in the middle.

11. Be her knight in shining armor and ride up to her on a white horse.

12. Give her a foot massage and place the ring on her little toe.

13. Send her on a treasure hunt. Start with a clue at home. Then send her on a tour of your favorite spots. When she gets to the last clue, the treasure is you kneeling and offering up a ring.

14. Tie a red velvet ribbon from one spot in your home to another. Attach little notes recalling perfect moments in your relationship along the way. You wait at the last stop, ring in hand.

15. A surprise trip is sure to set the mood. Blindfolds and intricate secret plans (you'll have to pack for her) are a must to increase the thrill factor. Once you've reached your destination, pop the question.

16. Slip the ring on her finger while she's dozing and wake her with champagne and strawberries. She'll find your gesture really romantic and then she'll discover her new piece of jewelry!

17. Spell out, "Will you marry me?" in M&Ms, jellybeans, or Hershey's Kisses on the kitchen table, bed, or coffee table. Send her in to read it; when she says "yes," you can toast your future with a mutual sugar rush!

18. Freeze the ring in a homemade Popsicle, and give her two treats in one!

19. Spell your proposal in glow-in-the-dark star stickers on your ceiling. Get into bed and turn the lights off.

20. Surprise her with an intricate gift basket. Pile in yummy chocolate, wine, caviar, or coffee (whatever she likes). You could also include a beautiful scarf, book, or CD. Hide the ring (in its box, so it doesn't get lost) among all these wonderful presents.

21. Ask your waiter to write, "Will you marry me?" in chocolate sauce around the rim of her dessert plate.

22. Serve a dinner of aphrodisiacs at home and place the ring inside an oyster shell.

23. Make her breakfast in bed. Propose to her while she feels cozy and pampered.

24. Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk. Once you've convinced her to indulge in a little childhood play, replace the pebble you're using with the real rock!

25. Spell out your proposal with refrigerator magnets.

26. Scratch your proposal into the frost on her car's windshield.

27. Gather your families together for a summer barbecue and make your proposal a family affair.

28. Pick a bouquet of flowers that remind you of her. String the ring on a ribbon, and use it to tie the flowers together.

29. Go swimming and send the ring floating toward her on a raft.

30. Write your proposal in sunscreen so that you tan around the words.

31. Hire a skywriter or a plane to fly a banner with your "Marry me" message written on it. Take her to a wide-open space and point.

32. On Easter, paint one word each from the phrase, "Will you marry me?" on four eggs and hide them with the rest, so she has to find them all to make a complete sentence! Make "marry" the hardest egg to find. You can throw in other eggs with funny verbs painted on them to throw her off.

33. Present her with a potted plant. Put the ring inside (in its box, so it doesn't get lost). The plant will last a long time, just like your love.

34. Put the ring in a window box you have planted for her, and then assure her you will always give her flowers!

35. Sneak into her home or office armed with rose petals galore. In the biggest letters space will allow, spell out, "Will You Marry Me?"

36. If it's cold and snowy, build a snowman and have him hold the ring box with his stick arms.

37. Propose in a different language

38. Buy her a baby animal that she's always wanted and tie the ring around its neck. Or, substitute in a stuffed animal.

39. Sometimes the key isn't how you pop the question, but where. Find a special place that means something to both of you, maybe the place where you first kissed. Once you're in position, just kneel and ask. She will always remember that you remembered.