GTKY: Engagement Story

galentine · April 2019

For those of you who are married, tell us how your partner proposed to you (or how you proposed).

galentine · April 2019

My H proposed while we were on vacation at his family's lake house. It was fitting, because I took him fishing on our first date, and we first said "I love you" at the lake too.

He had bought a fancy picnic basket and had planned to propose on the boat with a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, the next door neighbor spoiled those plans by inviting us over for lunch that day. So when we did end up going out on the boat afterward, and my then-BF was carrying a brand new picnic basket, I was super suspicious. I kept bugging him about it, asking what was inside and why we could possibly need more food when we'd just had a big lunch with the neighbors. In reality, he was using the picnic basket to carry the ring and a bottle of champagne. When I wouldn't quit asking about the contents of the basket, he got all flustered and blurted out "potato salad! It's potato salad!" I knew we didn't have any potato salad at the house, so I knew then something was up, and I let it go for awhile. We fished and boated for awhile, and then I casually mentioned, "I'm ready for some potato salad now...." so i could see what was really going on. 😉

He pulled out the champagne and the ring and said some lovely things, and then asked if I'd marry him. It was sweet and so thoughtful of him to ask while we were at the lake, such a special place for us.

Potato salad has become an inside joke now, and whenever one of us is planning a surprise or has some sort of secret, we just blurt out "It's potato salad!" 😂

PenelopeSnuz77 · April 2019

We had just moved into the condo we bought in the city and it was the first nice spring day. We love to take walks down new streets and to new restaurants so that’s what we did this day. We started to walk to a new restaurant across town and he kept turning us down all these streets and making the walk so much longer.

I suddenly realized I was walking ahead of him and when I turned around, he was down on one knee in front of this house with huge lush gardens. We continued to walk down this incredible historic Chicago street with beautiful brownstone mansions until we got to the restaurant. When we walked in, both of our families were there. 💕

i loved having the proposal with just us, in a very us way and then sharing the excitement with our loved ones the rest of the day! It’s just about our 9 year engagement anniversary!

andrawrmeda2 · April 2019

We aren't getting married til next year, but we've been engaged for 5 years now. We were getting ready to go out for dinner on our one year anniversary and I had my head stuck in the closet looking for my favorite jacket. He was taking us to one of our favorite restaurants and originally was gonna propose during dinner but he gets so nervous easily, when I got out of the closet he was down on a knee and said well, home is just as good as anywhere because it's our home😍 we still went out for dinner and then we got ice cream and movies and stayed in for the night❤️

junebabyh · April 2019

My H proposed while we were at the beach, on the Monday morning of Memorial Day Weekend b/c he had been too nervous to do it at any other point during the previous few days. He said he didn't have an exact plan, and was just hoping the moment would be right at some point during the weekend, but it never was or we were rarely alone (we were staying at his family's beach house with his sisters and parents). Apparently the ring box was in his pocket at all times that entire weekend. Finally on Monday morning we went early to the beach to get in some time before having to pack up and drive home. It was that perfect hour of the day on the beach when the water is still calm and glistening in the sun, when it's mostly deserted except for a few other people sprinkled around. As soon as we opened our beach chairs and sat down H was kneeling (on both knees!) in the sand saying some very sweet things that I barely remember. I just kept thinking "this is it!" And of course I said yes and then we called his parents and sisters who ran out and bought mini bottles of champagne and we all toasted right there on the beach in our bathing suits and coverups. We ended up staying that night, too, and calling in sick to work the next day so we could keep celebrating.

Cass005 · April 2019

We got engaged on Christmas eve. He tried to hide the box in the tree but I had already seen it thanks to a random window in our living room (tree was on the porch). He "surprised" me with an extra gift, and after I opened it he just went "Well?.....what do you say" haha no actual proposal. Not very romantic haha.

quidditchcapn1120 · April 2019

We got engaged very young but had been dating several years prior (high school sweethearts). He proposed on one knee alone in my dorm room. It was right before something we called “hillbilly prom”, haha. It worked out because we have been married 13 years this summer.

theglitteredpterodactyl · April 2019

Not married but we’ve been together ten years. We did have our own version of an elopement though, saying vows to each other as we walked around the top of the space needle.

After Ziggy born we both liked the idea of me changing my last name to his and he “officially” asked with a chcolate beet cake, writing the question in frosting. It was cute. We made a chocolate beet cake on our first date together so it was a cute throwback. He turned the actual name change day into a total whirlwind romantic valentine’s day surprise, too, and he’s not a romantic at all so it was really magical.

prpl11butterfly · April 2019

DH waited fooorrreeevvveeerr to propose (started dating in 03, proposed in 2013). He got my ring in 2011...Anyway....

It was our 10yr anniversary and a particularly cold wet night for June. My mom watched N (who was already in our custody at the time) so we could go out to dinner. I was suspicious because after dinner he kept driving down random roads in town but we never stopped anywhere and eventually just ended up picking N up and going home. We had a typical night. Put her to bed, watched TV and had some icecream. Then it was our bed time. He FINALLY proposed just before we were getting into bed. I guess he had wanted to do it at a local park with a pretty gazebo but due to all the rain the whole area was basically flooded so we couldn't get to it. He probably thought I'd kill him if he went any more past 10yrs 😂

melanier26 · April 2019

People who know us are always surprised that our engagement story is simple. My husband is a “dreamer” and always has big ideas. He was hoping to do it at a restaurant overlooking the city on our anniversary.

He helped design my ring and the jeweler called him the day it was to come in to say it had been delayed. Later in the day he called back to say it had come in. My husband rushed to get there before they closed and was so flustered he decided just to do it on my parents front porch when he came to pick me up. I’m happy with the way it went though...I’m not one for having attention drawn to myself so it was nice being just the two of us

nnaelilak · April 2019

Both DH and I are really low-key and don't like having attention called to us, so I never expected or really wanted a big surprise engagement. But it ended up being even more low-key than I ever expected 😂 It was Valentine's Day, 2 weeks prior to our 7th anniversary and we were having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. If I remember correctly we were discussing marriage, and he just all of a sudden says I think it's time, we should get married. I think I said, sure! And we discussed a few more things and that was it. He had had a couple margaritas that night, so the next morning I verified he meant to ask before I called my mom, his mom and my best friend haha

ineedsixeggs · April 2019

We were long distance at the time, and he showed up super early one morning to take me to the lake. We'd had plans to go to the lake that weekend, but he's not an early riser, and it was still dark out so I had my suspicions

He took me out on our inflatable raft and dared me to try to stand up in it. I rose to the challenge and then saw him, on his knee, digging in his pocket. He pulled out a rock. An actual, heart shaped, rock. There was a ring, I later found out, but he was scared of losing it in the lake. I still have the rock, obviously.

sweetteaandswingsmama · April 2019

We got engaged and married young but had been good friends all through middle/high school. We were on our spring break trip from college with my family and his sister and I had a good idea that he had a ring and was planning to propose on the trip but it came down to the last night and I had pretty much given up thinking he would ask on this trip. It was April fools day, so I really didn’t think he would do it. Anyways we went down to watch the sunset over the ocean with his sister and her and I kept asking to get ice cream and he insisted that we stay and his sister could go get it. She finally agreed but when she stood up we heard a crunch and he went as white as a ghost. As soon as she was out of sight he starts panicking and digging in the sand and I couldn’t figure out why. It turned out he had put the ring in a shell for me to “find” as we collect them to make a picture frame with our favorite photo from the trip and she crushed the shell loosing the ring in the sand. After digging and taking a thousand-ish photos of the sand because it was now dark we found the ring and he proposed. We still tease his sister about giving him a panic attack that was worse than the nerves he had about proposing. We have been married 8 years and together for about 11 and now have 3 children and I’m currently growing number 4.

marbellie · April 2019

We got engaged in our 3rd year of dating, which was kind of early considering we met at 21 BUT we knew from the beginning and never shied away from talking about marriage (plus it clearly worked out so all's well that ends well).

We went to FL for Mother's Day and we were having a Mother's Day brunch for our moms and grandmas at my aunt's house (our families had become really close to each other by that point). Anyways, I walked in the door and everyone shouted "surprise!" at me because it was supposedly a congratulations party for landing my current job. I was dense and thought nothing of the large fanfare/congratulations signs. Then we got to the yard outside, which was decorated beautifully and there was even catered food laid out (again I was dumb and not tipped off). MH started off prayer but started veering off talking about our relationship and then got down on one knee. I was so surprised and happy, and to top it off then we got to celebrate it with the people we love the most.

Our families are tight-knit so he knew I would like to share the moment with them.

emily1052 · April 2019

Me and DH got engaged December 2015 (geez, didn’t realize it was that long ago). We had definitely talked about it and I always kind of expected it. We do lots of hiking so I was sure it was going to happen on one of our favorite trails. Boy I was wrong...

I have always wanted to go camping on the beach and since the December weather is decent in southern Texas we were able to go. We found our spot and were seriously the only people for miles. We got everything set up and a fire going just before sunset. DH climbed to the top of the sand dune and told me the sunset was prettier and to come watch with him. When I got to the top I noticed his heart was racing when I hugged him, which was strange. Then he got down on his knee. I was totally surprised!!

Later on on I was asking him all kinds of questions and one of his responses was “your dad told me to propose the first night, just in case something bad happened like crappy weather”. I completely lost it 😭😭 I kind of forgot the tradition of asking a fathers permission. As silly as it is, it meant a lot that he thought of it.

We had zero reception so it was really nice just to enjoy each other for the next few days.

sammygirl18 · April 2019

I love this!

My husband and I lived together, and we were finishing our basement. I drug him all over looking for furniture. There was a huge furniture place about an hour away. It happened to be close to scenic hiking trails. I hadn’t been in over 15 years and talked my husband into going hiking after furniture shopping. Towards the end of the day we were sitting on a secluded bench overlooking the river. A couple came up behind us and I told my husband we should move on to let the other couple sit down. We finished the loop and my husband wanted to go back to the bench. There was a couple eating lunch, so I said let’s just go home. We were walking to the car when he just stopped and started starring out to the river and slowing down. I thought: wow he is really enjoying this hiking more than I thought he would. It turns out he was just stalling because he was nervous! He then proposed in the middle of the trail. I was shocked. We had talked about it, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen that day.

jhokaj524 · April 2019

We went to Colombia to visit his family for Christmas in 2015. I picked out my ring and he had the stones changed to have it set with one emerald in the center surrounded by 2 diamonds. The jeweler hand delivered it to him in a mall in Bogota on Christmas Eve. After all the figures had been opened at midnight on Christmas Eve he said "Wait, I have one last present!" Then he went and retrieved the ring from a cousin and got down on one knee in front of family and friends and popped the question while his cousin video taped it.

We danced salsa and merengue all night until 5am with family and then went to see The 4th Hobbit movie on Christmas day.

cmbt2 · April 2019

Ours isn’t anything exciting. We got back to his apartment after going out drinking on my 24th birthday. We were talking on the couch. He kept acting like he had something important to ask, so I kept telling him to just say it. He blurted out he wanted to get married. We picked out my ring together a couple weeks later

mrsinterweb · April 2019

I proposed to him. Not as a point of being untraditional or anything, but just that when I make my mind up about something I want, I feel weird not asking for it. The idea of hinting around at it or having conversations about whether or not he was ready just because I was female and not supposed to be the one asking felt weird to me.

Anyhow, we had been together for about three years, living together for a year and a half and I'd planned a day trip to the mountain to go snowshoeing. I bought some nice sunglasses for him in a hard case (this was my equivalent of a ring in a box) and I put a note in the case saying "You are the sunshine of my life. Please make all my days sunny. Will you marry me?" When we got to the top of the mountain on what also happened to be a very sunny day, I handed him the glasses case and told him to read what's inside. Looking back, it was a little bit cheesy and awkward, but I think that describes a lot of proposals. Since it was such a surprise to him, he actually didn't give me an answer right away and wanted some time to think it through. This, I learned was the downside of not having those pre-proposal conversations! Oh well! He gave me his answer the next day and we went ring shopping the next weekend. That was all the way back in 2005, so I think it's safe to say we both made the right call.

elle-0409 · April 2019

@galentine Awww... that is so sweet! I love that you still yell "potato salad!" at each other.

@junebabyh I love beach proposals! How special.

@quidditchcapn1120 I need to know more about this "hilly billy prom".

@prpl11butterfly Aw, cute! My husband waited ten years, too. It's like, "I'm pretty sure you can ask now. We're both still here."

@marbellie Aw, I love that you never suspected a thing!

In 2014, I was studying French in Paris, France. My then-boyfriend planned a trip out there so that once my schooling was over we would travel around France and then visit London. I had a suspicion that he might propose because we had been dating for ten years and this was a huge trip for us. I kept trying to figure out when he would do it and would ask him things like, "So, what are you going to wear tomorrow? Anything nice? Or just something casual, or like, maybe, pants...?" But most men do not plan out their engagement outfit so that was poor detective work on my part. We ended up taking a day trip to Versailles to visit the palace and gardens the day after he flew in. That day it was a million degrees, there was an obnoxious amount of tourists, and I was sick and finishing up my finals, so I was in a terrible mood. We pushed our way through the (incredibly beautiful) palace, but I was eager to escape outside to the gardens to get away from the throngs of people. Once we were outside, he suggested we walk over to a shaded spot with literally nothing there. No statues, shrubbery, fountains, nothing. And that's when it knew it was going to happen. I turned around to "admire the view" and let him find the ring and get into position. I turned back around and he was on one knee, asked me to marry him, and then we moved into the palace from where I am now typing. Okay, that last part's not true, but let me tell you something: Once you get a beautiful diamond ring on your hand the heat, crowds, and complex use of the French subjunctive do not bother you anymore. We recently went back to the exact same spot where he proposed for our honeymoon and it was just as magical as I remembered.

My new home:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/6s/2xhxpddze1a6.jpg

jenferlee82 · April 2019

I love reading all of these!

I was convinced that the proposal would happen when we were on a week and half long tour of Italy in the spring of our third year dating. I expected it every night as we were in the most amazing and romantic places, like the top of a mountain overlooking Lake Como. Sadly, I was disappointed every night. LOL. He did not propose on the trip.

He did propose three months later on my birthday - and I found out later that he wanted to propose in Italy but hadn't quite paid the ring off yet so couldn't. So cute! Anyway, it was my 30th and as a treat a client of mine had comped us an amazing hotel room in the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta. We were pretty broke back then so this was just an insanely cool experience. We were up in the room getting changed to head to dinner, and he handed me a gift box with a beautiful necklace inside. I was oohing and ahhing over it and turned to the mirror to admire it. When I turned back, he was on one knee with the ring box in his hand. I blurted out "Are you kidding? Is this for real? Are you serious?" and he said "Yes, now be quiet because I planned something really sweet to say."

He proceeded to say all kinds of amazing and romantic things, and asked the question. I was crying and blubbering like a baby and ran over to yank him to his feet and kiss him. He said "So I guess that's a yes, huh?" and that was that!

cooaladolly · April 2019

We knew from pretty early on that we would be getting married and he joked about it often, maybe even as a way of feeling out my answer. But we had even gone ahead a bought a house together before getting engaged. My joke was always, "I don't need a ring, I have a 30 year mortgage around my finger." He also often had asked what kind of ring did I want. (He ended up doing an awesome job designing it without my help.)

We had friends that owned a very nice restaurant which we frequented regularly. This particular night we had gone out and I remember they brought us a couple of the same dishes that we had had on our first date, which also was there. I don't remember why but I had suspected that he might propose that night, but I remember putting my hand on his leg at one point and him brushing me away. He also had seemed a little spacey and distant at a couple other times throughout the dinner so I thought oh well maybe not tonight. We finished up dinner and moved over to their bar for dessert and cocktails as we usually did, and when they brought out my dessert the ring box was on the saucer. I don't even remember what the dessert was!

He had brushed my hand away from his leg earlier because he had the ring box in his pocket and was afraid I was going to feel it, and then kept his distance most of the night just so there wouldn't be a second accidental brush up, lol. I think what he said when "dessert "came out was "well, what do you think?" To which my response was "of course!"

grapeskittles4lyfe · April 2019

I love love love reading these!

We went to the courthouse and got married on our tenth anniversary; once we had DD1 we knew it was just a matter of finding a date that seemed right, so we didn't opt for a ceremony, just making sure that the date was set. Just a photographer and the clerk, no friends or family. (although the photographs turned out great, I'm so happy we have them!) But we're having an amazing garden party in July to make up for it (like not Martha Stewart amazing, just catered food and a band).

nnaelilak · April 2019

@grapeskittles4lyfe getting married on our anniversary was so important to us too!! We got married at his mom's house on a Wednesday on our 8th anniversary with just immediate family and best friends 💚 we then had a reception on the following Saturday!

SLou24 · April 2019

H brought me to a winery that we had been to when we first started dating. There’s this gorgeous hill that you can walk up to look out over the vineyard, the view is just stunning. So be brought me up there, and then when he got down on one knee he actually pulled out a ring that had been his grandmothers, and this is going to sound horrible when I say it, but it just wasn’t the ring that I had dreamed of, you know? But then he goes “I want to give this ring to our daughter in the future”, then he pulls out MY ring which was just freaking amazing, and actually the center stone was my grandmother’s diamond, and proposed.

It was perfect and just the right combination of private/public (no one was up on the hill with us). He then surprised me with a night in this amazing little boutique hotel downtown which was just icing on the cake!!

steminist · April 2019

DH and I were living in different cities at the time, but for my university senior spring break we were in Tampa together visiting his family. We took a couple days to go camping at a park by the beach, which we had done a year or so before. The first night, we made a plan to go and watch the sunrise over the huge bridge that spans the bay, again repeating our last trip, but come morning I did NOT want to get up and go that early. He basically had to drag me out of the tent to drive to the other side of the park to go watch it. I was grumpy and tired, but we laid the sleeping bags out on the sand and it was really nice and peaceful there by ourselves. We spent some time just talking about how happy we were and how nice it was to be together. For the past year or so, DH had been playing around with a ring that my parents had given me, fiddling with it on my hand and moving it from finger to finger. So, he was doing this at the beach, but at the end, traded it out for my engagement ring and slipped it on my finger. THEN, he asked me to marry him (How confident, eh?

) I immediately said "Yes! ...wait, really?" He said, "Yeah, look at your finger!" He also was sneaky and had set up our digital camera in the sand to record the whole thing, which is an appropriately embarrassing level of saccharine and mushiness.

GTKY: Engagement Story

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