The reason your favorite person is called “significant other” is because he or she is the human being you’d want to spend the rest of your life with. You’ve met thousands of interesting people, dated hundreds and perhaps even co-habited with a few, but you’ve finally found THE one. When the time comes to ask for her hand in marriage, lots of imagination is needed to make the proposal as significant as her – and as memorable. Proposing, by the way, is no longer the monopoly of men. Women have equal rights and can do the proposing if they wished.
Let’s see…there must be a handful of marriage proposal services that offer package deals that include poems, gifts, and dramatic effects…you know like the blimp that flies underneath the skies with the words “will you marry me?” written across it. Or the lady who almost swallowed her engagement ring because her beau had this imaginative idea of putting it in her baguette amidst the ham and the lettuce and the tomato.
The world will always welcome lovers…as time goes by – that’s the Herman Hupfeld tune that singers like Rod Stewart and others before him have sung.
Proposing to Your Significant Other – Why not Personalize it?
Unless you’ve always been tongue-tied and embarrassed about your communication skills, it’s fine to go for those packaged deals – they’re fun and undeniably entertaining. Your significant other will be impressed by the amount of trouble (and money) you spent on getting her to say yes.
But there’s nothing like a proposal that comes straight from the heart. Say it like you mean it, as they say. We’ve had amusing anecdotes tossed around about how this guy proposed to his girl – delightful little stories that we never get tired listening to.
Some men will go to great lengths to try their hand at poetry and who’ll give anything to imitate Shakespeare’s talent. There are ladies, however, who aren’t especially fond of rhymes and verses so bear this in mind if you’re thinking of taking the poetry route.
We also heard of this gentleman who took his significant other to his mountain chalet after an afternoon of skiing, lit up the fireplace, and then as his lady love was rubbing her hands over the fire, he suddenly knelt before her and joined his hands as if in prayer and begged her to marry him. Her knee-jerk reaction was one of fear because she thought he was having a heart attack after a strenuous afternoon on the slopes. She burst out laughing and needless to say, he didn’t find that amusing at all. In fact, she giggled all night. Personally, we’d feel very uncomfortable if someone knelt before us, no matter what the reason.
Of course, you can do what 75% of the male population does when they feel it’s time to propose to their lady friend. Book a quiet and romantic dinner table in a reputable restaurant, request candles, a couple of musicians and the house’s finest champagne. When you pop the bottle, you pop the question.
We repeat: make it come straight from the heart. And we’ll throw in another piece of advice. If possible, make proposing to your significant other a very private affair with just the two of you. We heard of some men having the whole clan over for dinner and in the middle of the meal, they stand up and announce their engagement – to her surprise. No clues, no warning signs. Don’t get the whole world involved if you’re not 100% sure she’ll agree. There’s always the chance she’ll say no.
The Joy of Creativity
We understand your wish of wanting your proposal to be unique and to go like clockwork. One article on the Net said that according to a survey, 85% of women said they were disappointed about how they were proposed to, and of that percentage, 81% would never tell their fiancé of their disappointment – especially if it’s obvious that he had gone to a lot of trouble.
It’s wonderful when men make a special effort to propose to their lady love. By special we don’t necessarily mean fancy arrangements like the carriage ride or the private plane or stretch limo which some women – believe it or not – don’t really go for. But let’s not take it to the other extreme either. For example, this man has been living with his girlfriend for something like eight years, wakes up one morning, turns to his girl and says nonchalantly, “maybe we should get married.” Just like that. No breakfast in bed, nothing. He didn’t even bother changing from his tacky pajamas into something more decent. Don’t make your proposal sound like a trip to the hardware store. “Think we should get some paint today?”
A writer by the name of Michael Webb who is described as a best-selling romance author wrote an e-book on tips for proposing to your significant other. He says it isn’t necessary to spend too much money to make your proposal a hit with your fiancée. Webb’s book was featured on the Oprah show.
Oh, before we forget, diamonds are not necessarily a girl’s best friend. From the stories we read online about how they were proposed to, quite a few women said they actually disliked diamonds. So if your woman is one who doesn’t go gaga over a diamond, you may want to think of a suitable alternative.
Speaking of diamonds and marriage proposals, you do know that Elizabeth Taylor – two time Academy Award winner – was married eight times. That means she received and accepted eight different proposals, but we don’t know how many she received but rejected. We searched far and wide for how these proposals were worded but looks like they’re a well-kept secret. Only Ms. Taylor will ever know who the best one was in terms of proposing. We’ll venture a guess: Richard Burton. He certainly knew how to win her heart. Taylor’s passion for jewelry was legendary. She owned some of the world’s best known pieces, but two of these caught the world’s attention: the 33.9 Krupp diamond and the 69.42 Taylor-Burton diamond – both were gifts from Burton.
